There's a knock on the door before it opens, and the same person who took me to my MRI, Justin, I think, comes in with a wheelchair. After my MRI, they brought me to a different room with a bigger bed that looked a lot more annoying to move. Honestly, I could have walked. Now that my supernatural healing kicked in, I feel fine. Starving, but fine. The doctors said I have to eat very slowly to get my digestive system working properly again and that if I ate an entire jar of peanut butter like I wanted to, I would just throw it back up immediately and feel like shit. So, my new best friends were crackers with peanut butter and a side of chicken broth. "Hello again, Alpha, Luna. Dr. Crowen is ready for you in the ultrasound room," he says as he locks the wheelchair. I sit up and swing my legs around to get out of bed. Immediately, Roman and Seth jump up, trying to help me. I roll my eyes. "I told you both, I'm fine!" I say, getting up and sitting in the chair Roman's nervousne
I was finally discharged after my next ultrasound. My powers and Tamisra returned about two hours after my first ultrasound, so I insisted I was ready to go home. But considering it was already eight at night, Roman and the nurses convinced me to stay. I'm at least allowed to eat again, and goddess, I'm fucking ravenous. I feel like I can't eat enough. Roman and the nurse, Jess, tried to get me to slow down, but at my ultrasound, Dr. Crowen said as long as I can handle it, I should eat whenever I want to keep up with baby girl's growth rate. Speaking of, she gained another two ounces overnight. It didn't sound like a big deal to me, but I have no knowledge of anything in the medical field. Dr. Crowen said it was very significant, given that wolf pups are expected to gain two ounces weekly at this stage. Everything points to me going into labor at the end of the month, which I don't want to think about.But this isn't exactly something I can just block out. Thankfully, my dad offered
It’s been four days, and Roman’s shadows still haven’t found any evidence of Silas moving toward his home; it looks like he will be coming to us. He’s been rallying all his people into one spot; even people from his kingdom were seen moving out, so everyone is on edge, including me. I suggested moving in once he had them all together, but Roman said it’s better to let him think he has the element of surprise, and it will give us the “home-field advantage.” I wanted to just get it over with; the stakes are so much higher now. Given that we’re unsure if he will lead with those half-Kudde beasts he made, Roman had the security system expanded so my family and I would have time to take off and neutralize that threat. Thayer, Dahlia, and all the troops he planned to send are here. Roman called and updated him on the situation, and he said he’d rather come now if an attack is imminent, so they could get familiar with the land. It was no question whether or not we would be attacked at night
I watch in horror as Silas grabs Adonis’ face, Silas’ red eyes glowing into the night, and Adonis…Adonis goes limp. I waste no time before concentrating on Silas’ body and start burning him. He screams, and Adonis goes absolutely feral and proceeds to rip his own body apart. I pull my powers back immediately, and they both stop thrashing. Adonis’ eyes are glowing red now, and terror, like no other, seizes me when Silas grabs him by both ears, twisting his neck, and Adonis does nothing to fight back. I look to my father, who is holding his own against the group of vampires attacking him, but can’t help me or be distracted without risking his own life. Then, I look around for Aylin, Az, Seth, or anyone to jump in and help, but no one is around. “No one is coming to rescue you this time, my sweet Amara,” Silas hisses I only stare at him and then at my mate. Maybe…maybe…I slam my mental talons into Roman’s mind, but he only whimpers and starts to thrash again. “Aht, at. You may be powe
I hated battle, but I hated the aftermath even more. I made a list of all the fallen I could identify, so I could visit their families later. The ones I couldn't, their family or packmates who saw them fall would have to report to me, and I'd go from there. Aston and Seth took Max's body to the morgue before we were even back. Fuck that hurt. My best friend since we were fucking pups. Gone. Fucking gone. What was the point? The point of all this death and destruction? I stopped in my tracks, shutting my eyes as they became glossy. His death will gut me until the day I die. The day I die? I'm immortal. Fuck. I could live another thousand years, and I wouldn't have seen him for over nine hundred and fifty of them. How is that fair? And Serena. I have yet to find anyone who wasn't of Alpha blood, or royalty in Armaros' case, that lived past the first year of their mate dying. But we would do everything in our power to take care of and be there for her regardless. I wouldn’t let Max’s
One week later That’s precisely what we did. We had funerals for those that wanted their loved ones buried and ceremonies for those who opted for them to be burned on pyres. Max, being a ranked member, was burned on a pyre with the entire pack present. We put some of his ashes in an urn necklace for Serena and then released him into the river. While I’ve seen Roman tear up, or get choked up, that night, he cried with his head in my lap. He fell asleep after hours, and I didn’t dare move a muscle all night. My heart was already broken for him; Max was Roman’s Sophie, but something about seeing my brooding Alpha mate break down like that killed a piece of me. Serena wasn’t doing any better; one of us was still with her almost all the time. I spent a couple nights with her, but mostly Cici was staying with her since they were always connected at the hip anyways. It was an effort to get her to eat or even go outside, but I wouldn’t give up on her; both she and Max deserved better than t
Three weeks laterI breathe through another contraction. They're coming every five minutes now, but I didn't exactly feel like going to the hospital just to be sent home for another false alarm like I did last week. 'Uh, you going to explain why I feel like I'm being ripped apart from the inside every five minutes for the last two hours?' I hear Roman's voice come through my head as I feel the contraction start to come down'It's still early labor, probably. No sense in going to the hospital yet, if it even is actual labor.' I tell him'Alright, well, I'm coming back in and getting the hospital bag, so we're ready. The books said once they're every five minutes, we should think about heading in,' he reminds me.I don't respond just as I'm hit with another contraction and suddenly feel like I peed myself. Oh, good Goddess, here we go. I put my walls up so he doesn't have to feel anything.'Scratch that, my water just broke,' I say, and not even twenty seconds later, he appears next to
Surrounded by Violet, Serena, Cici, and Sophie, I look at myself in the mirror as Aylin finishes my makeup and Gemma does my hair. Aylin must hold more magic than I thought because she managed to cover up these bags under my eyes. I almost look like I did pre-motherhood, minus the breast pump milking me like a cow. Remind me why I insisted on having my Luna ceremony, the equivalent of my wedding, after I had Delaney? Because I wanted to drink at my own ceremony? It seemed so logical at the time. Now, I wanted to go back in time and slap me upside the head, Aylin style. Delaney screams in Sophie's arms in protest at how long it's taking me to pump. In the hospital, the nurses and pediatrician on the postpartum unit said she lost too much weight by the time she was 24 hours old. It was before my milk supply came in, so they put it down to lack of production, but when I filled up a syringe with colostrum, they had a lactation consultant come see me. She had said Delaney's latch wasn't
I watch from the trees as Amara kills the Vampire King, staring at his body like a woman possessed. The feathers of the blue jay I shifted into ruffle in anger as I watch the Demon King, the man responsible for the destruction of my life, approach her and put an arm around her lovingly. I resist the urge to squawk in anger, remembering the loving arms of my own mother. The mother fled the underworld with her twin boys in tow because she was forced to work in the brothels, constantly being denied the position of a castle servant by the King. That was all we incubi and succubi were suitable for sex and slave work, in his eyes. So, my poor mother, unable to bear having her body used to keep me and Axel fed and safe, fled to Earth. Only we were worse for wear there, unable to blend in when we were amongst humans, and no hope of a werewolf pack or Fae court taking us in. So, we build a house in rogue lands, somewhere no sane supernatural being ever ventured to, and no human ever came
Surrounded by Violet, Serena, Cici, and Sophie, I look at myself in the mirror as Aylin finishes my makeup and Gemma does my hair. Aylin must hold more magic than I thought because she managed to cover up these bags under my eyes. I almost look like I did pre-motherhood, minus the breast pump milking me like a cow. Remind me why I insisted on having my Luna ceremony, the equivalent of my wedding, after I had Delaney? Because I wanted to drink at my own ceremony? It seemed so logical at the time. Now, I wanted to go back in time and slap me upside the head, Aylin style. Delaney screams in Sophie's arms in protest at how long it's taking me to pump. In the hospital, the nurses and pediatrician on the postpartum unit said she lost too much weight by the time she was 24 hours old. It was before my milk supply came in, so they put it down to lack of production, but when I filled up a syringe with colostrum, they had a lactation consultant come see me. She had said Delaney's latch wasn't
Three weeks laterI breathe through another contraction. They're coming every five minutes now, but I didn't exactly feel like going to the hospital just to be sent home for another false alarm like I did last week. 'Uh, you going to explain why I feel like I'm being ripped apart from the inside every five minutes for the last two hours?' I hear Roman's voice come through my head as I feel the contraction start to come down'It's still early labor, probably. No sense in going to the hospital yet, if it even is actual labor.' I tell him'Alright, well, I'm coming back in and getting the hospital bag, so we're ready. The books said once they're every five minutes, we should think about heading in,' he reminds me.I don't respond just as I'm hit with another contraction and suddenly feel like I peed myself. Oh, good Goddess, here we go. I put my walls up so he doesn't have to feel anything.'Scratch that, my water just broke,' I say, and not even twenty seconds later, he appears next to
One week later That’s precisely what we did. We had funerals for those that wanted their loved ones buried and ceremonies for those who opted for them to be burned on pyres. Max, being a ranked member, was burned on a pyre with the entire pack present. We put some of his ashes in an urn necklace for Serena and then released him into the river. While I’ve seen Roman tear up, or get choked up, that night, he cried with his head in my lap. He fell asleep after hours, and I didn’t dare move a muscle all night. My heart was already broken for him; Max was Roman’s Sophie, but something about seeing my brooding Alpha mate break down like that killed a piece of me. Serena wasn’t doing any better; one of us was still with her almost all the time. I spent a couple nights with her, but mostly Cici was staying with her since they were always connected at the hip anyways. It was an effort to get her to eat or even go outside, but I wouldn’t give up on her; both she and Max deserved better than t
I hated battle, but I hated the aftermath even more. I made a list of all the fallen I could identify, so I could visit their families later. The ones I couldn't, their family or packmates who saw them fall would have to report to me, and I'd go from there. Aston and Seth took Max's body to the morgue before we were even back. Fuck that hurt. My best friend since we were fucking pups. Gone. Fucking gone. What was the point? The point of all this death and destruction? I stopped in my tracks, shutting my eyes as they became glossy. His death will gut me until the day I die. The day I die? I'm immortal. Fuck. I could live another thousand years, and I wouldn't have seen him for over nine hundred and fifty of them. How is that fair? And Serena. I have yet to find anyone who wasn't of Alpha blood, or royalty in Armaros' case, that lived past the first year of their mate dying. But we would do everything in our power to take care of and be there for her regardless. I wouldn’t let Max’s
I watch in horror as Silas grabs Adonis’ face, Silas’ red eyes glowing into the night, and Adonis…Adonis goes limp. I waste no time before concentrating on Silas’ body and start burning him. He screams, and Adonis goes absolutely feral and proceeds to rip his own body apart. I pull my powers back immediately, and they both stop thrashing. Adonis’ eyes are glowing red now, and terror, like no other, seizes me when Silas grabs him by both ears, twisting his neck, and Adonis does nothing to fight back. I look to my father, who is holding his own against the group of vampires attacking him, but can’t help me or be distracted without risking his own life. Then, I look around for Aylin, Az, Seth, or anyone to jump in and help, but no one is around. “No one is coming to rescue you this time, my sweet Amara,” Silas hisses I only stare at him and then at my mate. Maybe…maybe…I slam my mental talons into Roman’s mind, but he only whimpers and starts to thrash again. “Aht, at. You may be powe
It’s been four days, and Roman’s shadows still haven’t found any evidence of Silas moving toward his home; it looks like he will be coming to us. He’s been rallying all his people into one spot; even people from his kingdom were seen moving out, so everyone is on edge, including me. I suggested moving in once he had them all together, but Roman said it’s better to let him think he has the element of surprise, and it will give us the “home-field advantage.” I wanted to just get it over with; the stakes are so much higher now. Given that we’re unsure if he will lead with those half-Kudde beasts he made, Roman had the security system expanded so my family and I would have time to take off and neutralize that threat. Thayer, Dahlia, and all the troops he planned to send are here. Roman called and updated him on the situation, and he said he’d rather come now if an attack is imminent, so they could get familiar with the land. It was no question whether or not we would be attacked at night
I was finally discharged after my next ultrasound. My powers and Tamisra returned about two hours after my first ultrasound, so I insisted I was ready to go home. But considering it was already eight at night, Roman and the nurses convinced me to stay. I'm at least allowed to eat again, and goddess, I'm fucking ravenous. I feel like I can't eat enough. Roman and the nurse, Jess, tried to get me to slow down, but at my ultrasound, Dr. Crowen said as long as I can handle it, I should eat whenever I want to keep up with baby girl's growth rate. Speaking of, she gained another two ounces overnight. It didn't sound like a big deal to me, but I have no knowledge of anything in the medical field. Dr. Crowen said it was very significant, given that wolf pups are expected to gain two ounces weekly at this stage. Everything points to me going into labor at the end of the month, which I don't want to think about.But this isn't exactly something I can just block out. Thankfully, my dad offered
There's a knock on the door before it opens, and the same person who took me to my MRI, Justin, I think, comes in with a wheelchair. After my MRI, they brought me to a different room with a bigger bed that looked a lot more annoying to move. Honestly, I could have walked. Now that my supernatural healing kicked in, I feel fine. Starving, but fine. The doctors said I have to eat very slowly to get my digestive system working properly again and that if I ate an entire jar of peanut butter like I wanted to, I would just throw it back up immediately and feel like shit. So, my new best friends were crackers with peanut butter and a side of chicken broth. "Hello again, Alpha, Luna. Dr. Crowen is ready for you in the ultrasound room," he says as he locks the wheelchair. I sit up and swing my legs around to get out of bed. Immediately, Roman and Seth jump up, trying to help me. I roll my eyes. "I told you both, I'm fine!" I say, getting up and sitting in the chair Roman's nervousne