Derrick’s POVOne week.Seven days.One hundred and sixty eight long hours filled with six hundred four thousand, eight hundred seconds of loneliness since the last time I have encountered my mate. Though those numbers could go in either direction depending on just how many hours have actually passed since the last time that we spoke, but that is besides the point…the point is that I miss her terribly. Hunter has decided to not speak to me at all since I allowed our mate to cry herself to sleep on her hospital room floor, and the silence from him has only increased the loneliness that has been clawing at me with every second that passes. I have done my best to give Salara the space that she has demanded from me, even if the distance is slowly tearing at my soul, causing me to weaken. If I don’t claim Salara or at the least reject her soon then I risk weakening my pack immeasurably. A warning growl reverberates through my mind. The only indication I get this past week that Hunter is
Derrick’s POV“I don’t want to live without you any longer.” Salara’s whispered words stop me in my tracks. My heart begins to beat furiously in my chest as my brain attempts to grasp hold of whether those words were truly spoken or not. A look of embarrassment passes over Salara’s face as she turns her head away from me with the cutest blush I have ever seen on her lovely face. Time passes between us slowly, the both of us stuck in a paralyzed state as we try to digest the sudden change in our relationship. Hunter muscles his way through the barrier that I had put up against him, his anxious energy taking hold of me as he waits with bated breath for our mate to say more. Salara shuffles her weight from foot to foot, snapping me from the dazed trance that had taken over me. I go to open my mouth to respond to her words, but before I am able to say anything, she has already excused herself from my presence, her whispered words of beratement filling my ears as she escapes down the ha
Salara’s POVHenry and Derrick both stand on opposite sides of me glaring at each other as we wait for the doctor to return to do the ultrasound. I don’t know what came over me when I agreed to allow Derrick to tag along to my doctor’s visit, but at the time I didn’t think it was such a bad idea. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be apart from him.Those thoughts and feelings are what has led me to suffer through the most awkward doctor’s visit I have ever attended. Between the constant glares and periodic growls that erupted from both of them, it has been very difficult to concentrate on the things that Dr. Boyd has been telling me about mine and my baby's health. Usually the constant silence that appears whenever we are all together makes me feel nervous, but this time I am thankful for the quiet so I can focus on the words that I have said to Derrick. I don’t know what came over me when I revealed to him how I have been feeling inside, but it was like something was pushing me t
Salara’s POVHenry’s invitation to lunch caught me by surprise and I find myself pausing in my footsteps towards the door. Henry and I haven’t spent much time together since our meeting in the kitchen a week ago. Training has kept him busy this past week and I have been busy recovering from my attack from two weeks ago. My eyes drift over to where Derrick stands to my left without thought, my mind wanting to gauge Derrick’s reaction to Henry’s invitation. From the tension I can see barely hidden around his mouth, I can tell that either Derrick or Hunter is not happy about the lunch invitation and a part of me wants to turn Henry down because of it, but I know I can’t avoid Henry forever. Releasing a steadying breath of air, I return my attention to where Henry stands expressionless to my right, his focus completely on me. My eyes widen in surprise when I notice that his usual bright blue eyes appear to be a darker, almost black color as he watches me intently before they flash back
Derrick’s POVI tried really hard to concentrate on the meeting with the pack Elders this morning, but my thoughts keep going back to Salara and the kiss that we shared in the hallway. The feelings revealed in that single kiss was unlike anything I have ever felt before. If I was unsure about her feelings before this morning, they are in clear focus now. ‘If only that annoying human hadn’t wandered onto our floor.’ Hunter grumbles in my head, his dislike for Henry coming through loud and clear with his words. ‘I still think we should have killed the useless husband while we still had the chance.’ Hunter’s pouting causes a chuckle to tumble out from my lips before I can prevent it from escaping. My eyes quickly snap in the direction of my four Elders, a sheepish look taking over my face. Charles casts me a knowing look, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively as he guessed just where my thoughts had wandered off too. Elder Winifred gives me a disapproving look when I glance in her direct
Derrick’s POV ‘What has that useless husband of hers done to her now?’ Hunter’s anger burns through me as I make my way through the pack house towards the kitchen. ‘Now can we kill him?’ It is hard to hold back Hunter’s murderous rage when I myself am close to losing control of my senses. “She ran off into the woods just behind the dog houses.” Charles runs close behind me, his connection still open with the border patrol that notified him of Salara’s disappearance. What the hell was Salara doing near the stretch of dog houses? The last time that I saw her she was heading off towards town with Henry, and that was only around an hour ago. What in the world could have happened in such a short time that would cause her to run away. ‘Why didn’t your useless border patrol stop her from running off into the woods?’ Hunter grumbles in my head, his anger rising inside of me. I can feel the ripples begin just below the surface of my skin as he claws to be released. ‘Wait until we get o
Henry’s POV‘I have warned you about talking to my mate in that way.’ The menacing growl enters my head, startling me for a moment. I thought the dreadful beast had tired himself out and disappeared, but clearly I was wrong. Letting out a tired sigh, I ignore the annoying voice in my head and continue to make my way to the training grounds in search of my trainer. ‘Do not ignore me, puny human.’‘Oh shove it you annoying old wolf! You and I both know that you can’t do anything to me. So just SHUT UP!’ I must have slipped and yelled the last part out loud because the looks that those around me are giving me are not flattering. After taking in a steadying breath, I smile charmingly at the wolves surrounding me. After giving me a wary look, they all wander off in to different directions, avoiding me as much as possible. With my eyes closed, I look up to the sky and hold my breath for a few. This damn wolf has been nothing but a headache since I discovered that there was one inside of my
Henry’s POVBlood drips down Salara’s neck, leaking from around my teeth as I send my teeth even further into her collar bone to ensure that the mark is prominent. Beowulf howls in my mind angrily, but I ignore him and pull Salara in closer. Her body goes limp in my arms, causing me to wrap my arms around her tighter to prevent her from falling to the dirty ground. Beowulf stirs in my mind, fighting at the tiredness that is draining away his energy in a bid to take control of my body. I pull back on my canines, pulling them out of Salara’s swollen neck before licking her wounds like I remember Savannah doing after marking me as her mate. A frown tugs at the corners of my brows when I notice that instead of healing, her wound is looking worse by the second. ‘What is happening to her?’ I ask Beowulf, releasing him from the box that I placed him in earlier. ‘Salara is not your mate you STUPID, FOOLISH human!’ Beowulf growls at me the moment that I allowed him to join me in the forefro
Salara’s POV I suck in a steadying breath, unsure if I am ready to face my husband once again. Before I know what is happening, Leigh has taken control of my body and has us running in the direction where the previous hoard of wolves came from. Standing there in the middle of the field with his eyes widened in shock is none other than Henry. But something looks different about Henry. His body mass has grown in size, causing him to rival even my Alpha for his height and bulk. Something I never thought I would see on Henry’s small frame. There is also a different aura surrounding him than what I am used to, this one is much more calm and less menacing. “You are alive.” He whispers out, his eyes roaming over my body in hunger when we stop a few feet away from him. Watching him take in my curves with such hunger does things to my body that has me feeling ashamed. I should not feel this way for anyone other than Derrick, and the guilt causes me to lash out. “No thanks to you I hear.”
Salara’s POVLeigh is going crazy inside of my mind. Two wolves had run up and tag teamed the old Alpha when he was trying to protect us from a sneak attack of our own. Despite how strong and mighty the Mountain pack Alpha is known for, his old age had slowed down his reflexes enough to hinder him in this battle, costing him his life. Leigh is feeling guilty because we had left his side to save Derrick from being attacked, but I can’t help but feel grateful that it was the old wolf that passed away, and not my Alpha. The saddest part was the smile that was spread across his face as he expelled the last breaths from his body and went still. In the end, the old Alpha was happy that he got the chance to protect his mate once more before his time was up. Leigh has told me the history between the two of them, but I feel like now is not the time to ask when we are covered in the blood of many wolves and howling up to the night sky in victory. To my surprise, the rest of the pack joins us
Derrick’s POVMy wolves that were present for the ceremony are quick to respond to the sudden threat from the incoming wolves. With a mighty howl directed towards the full moon, the pack members spread out before me rush towards the wolves, shifting into their wolf forms as they ran. The feral sounds of wolves crashing together fills the serenity of the night, sending all creatures in the area to run off or go quiet. “I tried to handle this peacefully-” I cut off Alpha Leo’s words with a savage growl, allowing Hunter to push towards the surface in preparation for the quick change that I can feel coming soon. “You will never have her.” He growls out before exploding from my body like a bullet and launching from the stage and landing on top of him. Within seconds Alpha Leos head was detached from his body, his warm blood covering me with its stickiness and awakening the beast inside of me that I usually keep locked away. I turn my eyes in the remaining two Alpha’s direction where the
Derrick’s POV Hunter surges forward in me the moment that the wolves emerged from the woods bordering the pack house. I narrow my eyes as I look in the direction where Malcom, the Alpha of our neighboring pack, is currently standing with a cocky grin on his face. He truly believes that my pack will just hand her over to him to avoid a fight. We didn’t get the name of the fiercest pack in the region by sitting by and letting other Alpha’s make demands of us. Taking a step forward, I move Salara until she is secured behind me and out of Malcom’s sight. Hunter lets out a menacing growl, worrying me a bit with how animalistic it came out, but I file that away for later use. “You will not touch a hair on my Luna’s head.” My voice comes out low and gruff, the sound of Hunter’s voice mixing with mine as we release our Alpha aura into the crowd, being careful not to allow it to affect my members who are standing around. I watch as Malcom swallow a lump down his throat while he tries to m
Salara’s POVNerves wrack my body as I stand up on the stage set up by Beta Charles and Luna Evelyn. Every eye in the crowd is glued to where I stand and being the center of everyone’s attention is causing anxiety to course through me. Derrick reaches over and grabs my hand in his, soothing away some of the nerves with nothing but his touch. He always has a way of calming me down whenever he is near. Just the slightest touch from him is enough to chase away my worries and doubts and make me feel calm. I know it has something to do with the mate bond that I don’t quite understand just yet, but the reasons behind are irrelevant to me. The only thing that matters is that he brings me peace. Something that Henry never did.I might have suffered a lot thanks to my life with Henry, but I have to admit that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. While I am sure that the Goddess would have found a way to bring us together, he is my destiny afterall, I can’t help but feel like e
Derrick’s POVSalara and I have spent the last thirty-six hours locked away in our suite making love to each other over and over with only breaks for napping and eating. I am almost reluctant to let her out of our suite, but if we don’t make our way out of the door soon then we will miss out on everything that Charles and my mother have worked so hard to put together so quickly. “What time will the twins be shifting for the first time?” Salara’s voice from the bathroom pulls me back to the fact that we are about to be late for her Luna Ceremony. She emerges from the bathroom wearing an all white knee length dress that hugs every one of her curves in the most delightful of ways. The sight of her takes my breath away. I stand there in the middle of our bedroom, staring at the ethereal sight standing before me. Never before have I seen a woman as beautiful as her in all of my life. Her dark looks compliment her all white attire perfectly and I can feel my cock getting hard in my shorts
Derrick’s POV“Are you sure you want to do this without first speaking with your Luna?” The concern that I see etched on my Beta’s face irritates me and my wolf extremely. Clenching my jaw, I turn away from Charles, completely ignoring his question. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I asked her about it, now would it? What kind of a stupid question was that? I can see Charles from the corner of my eye as he wars with himself internally over something that he clearly wants to say. Letting out a frustrated growl, I turn in his direction and bark out at him. “Say what you want to say Charles!” He jumps in place, a sheepish look appearing on his startled features. “What if she doesn’t want to do the Luna ceremony so soon?” I could see the moment Charles regrets opening his mouth to say those words to me, the moment that murder entered my eyes while I fought off my very pissed off wolf.Charles bears his neck to us in submission in an attempt to cool our rising anger and save himself
Salara’s POVFingers move slowly up my leg, starting at my feet and making their way up until they reach my inner thigh. Shivers run through my body creating more heat to pool between my legs and fragranting the room with the smell of my arousal. With my eyes covered and my hands tied up, it has caused my other senses to go on overdrive. The feel of Derrick’s fingers against my skin is magnified tenfold, sending even more of those delicious sparks to course through my system with every gentle touch of his fingers. The absence of my eyes has heightened my hearing, allowing me to tune in to the smallest of movements from my Alpha that I normally wouldn’t catch. Meanwhile, my nose was picking up every scent that clings to his God-like body. From the smell of sweat that lingers from training this morning, to the pre-cum that has coated the tip of his cock from his excitement.Never would I have ever thought that my senses could be so tuned in to the world around me, but ever since givin
Salara’s POVI zoned out during the remainder of Derrick’s meeting, my thoughts lost in the back and forth with Leigh. She is dead set against us ignoring the Alpha that resides inside of Henry, meanwhile I don’t want to do anything to make Derrick question my feelings for him. We wasted a lot of time thanks to Henry, and I don’t want to put him right back in the middle of a love triangle. At some point Leigh finally stopped pestering me and wandered off into the back of my mind to pout, but that didn’t help with my concentration one bit. I can’t deny that a small part of my heart skips whenever I think of the nice Henry that I came in contact with in recent weeks, but those thoughts only bring about more guilt than I know how to handle. Derrick’s hand on my shoulder startles me out of my thoughts and to my surprise, we are the only two left in his office. I run my eyes around his empty office as if my looking around would make everyone magically reappear. “Mom is keeping the kids