When I walk back into the room and see my mate awake, Cyran immediately starts purring in my head. The sound is so unexpected that it takes me a second to respond. ‘The fuck Cyran?’‘What? She’s our mate. She’s beautiful, perfect.’Great, my wolf is already head over heals for this tiny girl. I’m not there yet. I have a lot of questions.I don’t know how much she remembers, but I figure an introduction and quick update would be helpful. I’m annoyed when I see that she’s pulled out the IV. I’m desperately trying to keep her alive and the first thing she does when she wakes up is try to undo what I’ve been working so hard to do.I’m even more pissed at her response to me wanting to heal her. I know I shouldn’t be. She’s been in a vampire coven for who knows how long. It’s a question I intend to get the answer to today. Her scars make it seem like it’s been a long time, or maybe the whole fucking coven was feeding on her at once, who knows.I can’t help but smile when she tells me her na
Seven years? I lived in hell for seven years? Those horrible vampires took so much from me. If I ever find them...‘I will kill them.’ Alessia finishes my thought.I don’t know how I feel about more violence. I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime of violence and I’m only 23.I didn’t realize Liam was holding my hand until he gently squeezed it. I want to pull it away, but it feels comforting to have him holding it.“I know this is hard. Can you eat any more? You need to get your strength back. We can talk about something else while you eat.” Liam says to me.I look down at the food when there’s another knock at the door. I smell Dustin this time and know it’s him. I hope he has clothes for me.“Come in Dustin.” Liam responds, not releasing my hand.Dustin comes in carrying a second tray and a bag, presumably with clothes. He hands the tray to Liam who puts it on his lap, still not releasing my hand. Dustin notices but doesn’t comment, turning to me.“I wasn’t sure about your size. You’re
Seven years? No wonder I’ve never found her. My mate has been a blood bag since I came of age. If she hadn’t escaped when she did, I still wouldn’t know she exists. And because of how much time had passed, I was willing to take a chosen mate. My hatred for the vampires is overwhelming. They have kept my mate from me and they will pay for it.When Dustin returns, he flirty interactions with Angel piss me off. I know he’s doing it intentionally, and I know a Beta should care for and respect his Luna, but he’s pushing my buttons.It bothers me that Angel thinks I would give her back to the leech. I can tell she doesn’t recognize the mate bond, but she has a very skewed idea of that an Alpha’s role is in a pack. She may not be one of my pack members yet, but I would never send her back to the hell she must have come from. No self-respecting Alpha would. Which makes me wonder what exactly her ideas are of Alphas. Knowing that her parents left their pack, it had to be because of the Alpha.
When the doctor first walked in and spoke to me, I recognized the voice as the one from when I was unconscious. She had been talking to Liam while I was out. I was surprised when Alessia pushed forward, ready to snarl at her. I quickly pulled her back. I can’t have her give us away. I noticed Liam looking at me, but he didn’t say anything.When the doctor tells me she wants to hook me back up, I’m afraid I’m going to have another panic attack. I don’t want to be tethered anywhere. I’m surprised but thankful when Liam asks if there is another way. I’ll do just about anything to not be tied up again. I’ve had enough of that in the last seven years.When the doctor leaves, I relax until Liam asks about me taking a bath. If I’m honest, nothing sounds better right now than a long soak in a tub with hot water. Showers in the coven were cold because the vampires don’t feel the cold. So, I would get in and get out as fast as I could. I haven’t had a warm bath or shower since my family and I l
When I take Angel into the bathroom, I know she’s expecting me to do something sexual or lewd. So, I make it a point to not look at her, well, not much. I’ve already seen her body, several times while she was unconscious. It’s already etched into my mind. I know that you can see every rib, that her hips bones jut out too sharply, that her shoulders have more bone than meat on them. She’s not only a small girl but she’s been starving for a long time. I can’t wait to see what her body looks like when she fills out. Cyran and I will make sure she eats and gets enough food. She will never go hungry again.When I tell her to lay back so I can wash her hair, I can feel her eyes drilling holes into my head. So I fight the urge to look her over. I know her body won’t have changed, she’s only had one small meal. So instead, I look into her eyes and wink at her. Her jerk of surprise almost made me smile. The whimper of pleasure when I began washing her hair definitely had me smiling. It feels g
After the bath and the food, I’m exhausted. I’m so thankful that Liam doesn’t start peppering me with questions again. It scares me that Alessia will start to get stronger and we might be found out, but I’m also thrilled at having my wolf back. She’s been more active since we woke up, much more so than she has been in the past couple of years, so I’m hopeful that she can get strong and we can leave before Liam realizes what she is. I don’t remember falling asleep, but I’m suddenly back in the feeding room. The screams, the smells, all of it batters my senses again. Somewhere in my mind, I know this is a dream but it feels so real. When Prince Keenan turns his gaze to me, his eyes are blood red, his fangs are extended. “Did you think you could escape me? Did you think I wouldn’t find you and bring you back? You belong to me. You’re mine!” He snarls it at me before grabbing my head, pulling my neck to the side and sinking his fangs into my neck. I’m scream, sitting up in bed, still fe
Dustin is seriously pushing my buttons. He knows that I’m feeling possessive of my unmarked mate. Deep down, I know he won’t do anything, but it’s still hard to keep that in mind when he’s antagonizing me. ‘He touches our mate and I’ll kill him.’ Cyran snarls. My wolf, who has already fallen head over heels in love and is wrapped around the finger of that little slip of a girl. My wolf, who is the most fierce and savage beast I have ever met on the battle field, is a puddle of sloppy adoration for our mate. ‘How many times do I have to say it, she’s perfect.’ ‘And you’re ridiculous. I’m surprised you didn’t roll over and ask her to rub your stomach.” I retort back to him. Although, I have to admit, he got more out of her in a few minutes than I have in several interactions. ‘She likes me better. And if she wants to rub my tummy, I’ll be glad to roll over for her.’ I roll my eyes. Her fear of the vampire prince, Keenan she called him, is profound. Her grip on Cyran was painful, but
After Liam leaves, I try listening to some of his music. It’s all very angry and loud. I only try a few before I give up. I don’t know how to find songs and I don’t want to do something I’m not supposed to do, so I set it aside and turn to the books. I read for a while before getting tired and moving to the bed to lay down. Dustin comes in while I am trying to get on the bed, and he helps me up. “You know I’m going to be in trouble if something happens to you on my watch, right?” He asks me. “Sorry, I was just getting tired and was ready to lay down.” I sleep for a while then Dustin brings me food. I am starting to feel stronger, so I make sure to eat as much as I can. They are still giving me more food than I used to get in a week at the vampire coven, but maybe once Alessia is back to full strength, this won’t seem like a huge amount of food. After lunch, I hear some noises outside and I go to sit by the window. I watch as the warriors train in one area behind the packhouse and m
Three years later It’s amazing how much changes in three years. Two days after Sarah and Dustin officially adopted Sienna, Sarah found out she was pregnant. It worked out okay because her pregnancy was very difficult. As expected, she was on bed rest for most of her pregnancy. Dustin would take Sienna with him to his office or I would keep her with me, having set up a kid’s play area in my office. Sometimes, Dustin would carry Sarah to her desk when she got too stir-crazy and needed a break from sitting in her bed all day. At least being in the packhouse, he and I were always close and could monitor her. The doctor told her she’d have to have a C-Section because her internal scarring was too severe to allow for a baby to pass through the birthing canal. And five months after adopting Sienna, they welcomed baby Jackson Dustin Roberts into the world. They named him after our previous Gamma, since he had given his life protecting Sarah and the others who were in the bunker that day. Ca
Three months later To say that being a father has changed my life would be an understatement. You don’t know how much you can love another person until you hold your child in your arms for the first time and your heart aches because it’s so full of love. The mate bond is one thing, that is a gift given by the Moon Goddess and nothing could ever compare to that. But being a father feels like the greatest achievement of my life. My son is perfect, of course. All ten fingers, all ten toes. He was born with soft fuzz for hair that has started to grow in now and he definitely got my golden, curly locks. However, every time I look into his gray eyes, I see his mother. Angel says his eyes are the only thing he got from her and that we’ll have a mini-me walking around very soon. Works for me. I figure our little girl will look just like her mother. I hope so, it means she’ll be beautiful. Yes, it means I’ll have to go all Alpha on any male that looks at her but having a miniature version o
After the terrible week of funerals, the pack began the slow process of rebuilding. We had to fix several homes, the back of the packhouse and the bunker. Liam refused to let me assist and he also refused to allow me at training, so instead, I started training with Sarah. Since werewolf pregnancies are much shorter than human pregnancies, five months instead of nine, I only have a couple of months before my stomach will be too big to do anything. I went with Sarah to see Dr. Phillips. After letting Dustin mark her immediately after the war, she wanted to know if she could have his children. She had extensive testing and Dr. Phillips decided that any human would struggle with the shorter gestation of having a wolf pup. The scar tissue would cause problems with getting pregnant, during the pregnancy and delivery, but since she would put Sarah on bedrest anyway, it should be possible. Sarah had told Dustin that they could have pups but that she would have to be on bedrest during the ge
When the doctor told me that Angel was pregnant, I was concerned that she had kept it from me before the war. I was happy to learn that she hadn’t known until her strange walk with Clint who apparently brought her back to me. I’m not sure what that means or why it happened, but I’m forever indebted to him for bringing my Angel back.Dustin had prepared the funerals and pyres for our pack members. He had talked it over with me while Angel was unconscious, and we had agreed to have three days of funerals. There was so much sadness and pain among the pack members, but each of them deserved to have their time to say goodbye to their loved ones.I had spoken to Rik about the loss of his pack members. After Cara’s show of power, I wasn’t sure how many in his pack had survived. He lost nearly 100 pack members after losing the mates of those lost in the war. Thankfully, Cara’s power surge only seemed to knock their warriors out, not kill them as it had the vampires.Her strength was chilling.
When I wake, it’s in a dream state. I’m walking in a forest. I can hear small animals moving around, but nothing else. It’s very quiet here. Beautiful, but lonely. Where is everyone? “Hello? Liam? Alessia?” I call out loud. ‘I’m here.’ Says an exhausted sounding Alessia. ‘Where are we?’ In my head, she lifts her head off the ground, looking around. ‘I know this place.’ ‘Where is it? Are we near the pack lands?’ ‘No.’ she says, just as Clint steps out of the trees in front of me. “Clint!” I run to him, throwing my arms around him. “I thought you were dead!” “I am sweetheart. It was my time. But why are you here? It’s not your time.” I look around me again. “I don’t know why I’m here. I woke up here.” I turn to look at him, horrified. “Am I dead? Where is Liam?!” I demand. “Can you hear Alessia in your head?” He asks me. “Yes. I can hear her.” “Then, you’re not dead. How about we look around and try to figure out why you’re here.” He puts his arm around my shoulders, guiding
The blast threw everyone into the air and off their feet. When I get my senses back, I realize two things. Angel is unconscious on top of me, and I hear a keening sound in the distance that makes my heart hurt. I sit up, holding Angel in my arms, looking around. There are fae warriors and werewolves around me, shaking their heads trying to figure out what happened, just like I am. I follow the sound of the keening and realize it’s Cara. She’s holding her father’s lifeless body in her arms, rocking him back and forth. Oh no. Please tell me Clint isn’t dead. I see Rik, picking himself up off the ground, going to Cara. He pulls her into his arms and begins rocking her, trying to comfort her. I know the sound a person makes when they lose someone they love. That’s the sound that Cara is making now. It’s the sound of your heart breaking into a million pieces. I know that Clint is dead, and Cara’s heart is broken. What I thought was a bomb going off must have been a power surge from Cara,
When Keenan sends his first wave, there are hundreds of vampires. The power that Cara, Clint and I have together can only hold for so long. It drains all of our energy. We are able to wipe out the first wave of vampires, but the second wave mostly gets through. By the third wave, we break off and begin fighting individually. We stay together as long as possible, and I see Rik and Liam throwing vampires to Clint to take out. He’s a machine. He always was. Alessia remembers him from his younger days. He’s stronger than an Alpha, so powerful. Even now, in his revised wheelchair, he’s taking on more vampires than most of the wolves on the battlefield. I wasn’t expecting to be able to feel the death of our pack members. I’ve never been a ranked pack member and it’s hard to concentrate constantly hearing the howling of wolves in pain and then feeling their death in my mind and heart. Thankfully, my Guardian instincts kick in and I’m fighting like my Guardian spirit has fought for centurie
I snarl at Keenan’s comment to Angel. I wasn’t sure which one was him, but I knew it had to be one of the two pompous looking leeches. And now I focus my attention on him. He’s mine. For everything he did to Angel, I will kill him. Angel and the power of the Guardians, give them pause, but only for a moment. They must give a signal that I miss, because suddenly, hundreds of vampires are heading our way. Angel, Cara and Clint push out their aura, Angel making sure it’s directed in front of our line of werewolves and fae. A second wave starts almost immediately after the first. The first group runs right into the Guardian aura and are instantly turned to dust. The impact is taking its toll on them because the second wave starts getting through and another wave is right behind them. I see several vampires heading toward Angel and Cara and I jump into the fight. Cyran bursts through at the same time Kai, Rik’s wolf, does. We begin tearing through the vampires. Remembering what they sai
When I get back to the packhouse, I call the leaders of each safe room. “Are we ready? Is there anything at all that is still needed? War is imminent.” After making sure that we are set, the leaders of each room and I begin going around to make sure that all pack members know that the rooms are open. Anyone that may need some extra time to get to their safe room or bunker can head over now and get themselves set up. We have one she-wolf that is on the verge of delivering her pup. I have assigned a doctor to the safe room where she will be. We have also made sure that any other pack members that may need medical assistance during the war are in this same room. I’m just finishing up and getting the older, slower pack members settled in the safe rooms when I get the mind link from Liam. “Angel, where are you?” “I’m finishing getting the elderly and pregnant into the safe rooms.” “They are coming. They will be here at dark tonight. I’m headed back. Start getting ready. I’m about to se