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081 | Chalice of Bravery
Last Updated:
2023-05-07 18:03:09Related chapters
An Affair with the Alpha 082 | Why do I want you?
Stephen’s POV“This year, the Chalice of Bravery is awarded to Hyacinth Fox!”I stared up at the Alpha, raw panic engulfing me. It grew and grew, flaring out of control as almost an entire minute passed – probably – with Hyacinth not appearing.“Hyacinth Fox?” repeated Alpha Caleb, frowning out into the crowd. “Hyacinth, are you here?”The raucous applause morphed into concerned mutters. Everyone that knew Cin knew she wouldn’t miss something like this – especially not when she was due to receive such a prestigious award. I mindlinked her again, desperation seeping into my tone. ‘Cin? Is everything okay?’She didn’t reply. That sent the panic into a frenzy. My hands started to shake; I tapped my booted foot against the floor and gnawed on my bottom lip, turning around in my chair to look for her.I knew, in my heart, in my soul, that she wasn’t here. I didn’t know how I knew; it didn’t make any sense, not when my mate was sat next to me, but there was an emptiness in my chest that to
Last Updated : 2023-05-08An Affair with the Alpha 083 | A way to end this
Rhiannon’s POVI stared helplessly into the wardrobe. My knees hurt from being pressed to the floorboards, but I could barely feel the pain. I was dimly aware that it was there but numb to everything physical.“No,” said Stephen. From the corner of my eye I saw him shake his head vehemently. “She wouldn’t have just run away. Why would she? Things are starting to look up. We have a food supply again. And she was about to be awarded the Chalice of Bravery! That’s never been given to an Omega before. Never. Why would she willingly miss out on that?”“I don’t know,” I whispered, reaching into the pile of mess at the bottom of her otherwise empty wardrobe and pulling out a tatty old sweater. It had been her favourite as a child; it was hideously pink and sparkly, with fluff around the hems, but she’d worn it until it had come apart at the seams.I smiled to myself, but it was a sad, sorrowful smile. “Dad had to sew this up for her,” I murmured, more to myself than to Stephen. “He sewed it
Last Updated : 2023-05-09An Affair with the Alpha 084 | She's my mate, not yours
Caleb’s POVPain.Agonising, heart-wrenching, soul-destroying pain.That was the only way I could describe it, and even that didn’t do it justice. One second, I was grinning out at the assembled wolves, a glass of wine that didn’t taste alcoholic at all sloshing in my loose grip, a cheer rising in my throat – and then, boom.I was doubled over, my blood turned to fire in my veins, my heart beating out a rhythm that sent shards of glass slicing through my skin. The scene of the Pack Awards before me swayed and blurred; I slammed my eyelids shut and dug my nails into my thighs, trying to ground myself.“Alpha?”Harley was quick to steady me, hoisting me up and making a quick, flippant joke about me over-indulging on the wine – even though we all knew it hadn’t had a chance to be fermented anywhere near long enough to have that sort of fun effect on me.“I’m fine,” I rasped, struggling to right myself. She steered me away from the crowd, pulling me through the door into the hall and pus
Last Updated : 2023-05-10An Affair with the Alpha 085 | A load of old poppycock!
Stephen’s POV‘Excuse me, good sir!’ cried Brian, pointing his paw accusingly at the Alpha. ‘How dare you insinuate such a thing? To claim our mate as your own is treason indeed!’ He huffed. ‘Rhiannon is the Alpha’s mate? Ha! What a load of old poppycock. His mate? His? One gets more experience from years lived than any books or flashy titles, and I have more years under my belt than any of you! Those years have taught me what love looks like – and it is not rugged good looks and bulging muscles, you dallying bastard!’‘Brian!’ I exclaimed. ‘What? He is a dallying bastard! He’s been trying to get his claws in young Rhiannon and her delicious wolf for far too long, and this – this! – is the last straw.’Brian’s anger was a mirror to my own. Held up to my own rage, it doubled it.“Your mate?” I scoffed aloud, trying to snatch my hands out of his grip. My wrists were throbbing concerningly, both of them red-hot and pulsing with pain, and the snapping, grinding sounds coming from them we
Last Updated : 2023-05-11An Affair with the Alpha 086 | Dealing with the consequences
Rhiannon’s POVI frowned at Stephen. “Why would this make her run?” I shook my head, then took a deep breath. It didn’t calm me in the slightest.It was damn near impossible to keep it together. I couldn’t believe Caleb had outed us like that, in a fit of rage like some stroppy teenager. But he had, and now we all had to deal with the consequences.Stephen swallowed hard, his gaze flicking away. “You’re right, it wouldn’t.”I kept staring at him. He was hiding something. I tried to force my sluggish brain to work, half of it still back in the living room, sat on the sofa, staring helplessly at the letter from my dad. That hadn’t had a chance to sink in yet, and now I had this to deal with, too. More tears stung my eyes. I blinked them back. I’d let myself fall apart too easily already; I would not be doing it again.“No, Stephen,” I said. “I’m not leaving here with more questions. You know about us, now.” A fact that was making my insides wither up and die a bit. “Let’s get everythi
Last Updated : 2023-05-12An Affair with the Alpha 087 | I'll take that wine now
Rhiannon’s POVI.Kissed. Your. Sister.The words didn’t make sense to me in that order. I understood all of them individually but, as I stared at Stephen, I couldn’t quite grasp their meaning.Caleb sucked in a sharp breath and slowly lowered his hands.“I don’t understand,” I said eventually. “You and Cin?”Memories flashed before my eyes. Hyacinth and Stephen cuddling on the sofa, twined together in sleep. Stephen not coming to bed, but instead staying downstairs with Hyacinth. Stephen mindlinking Cin, not me, when he’d been poisoned.“Oh my goddess,” I whispered, my stare turning to a frown. “You and Cin,” I repeated, firmer this time.“I’m so sorry,” he whispered back. “I never meant it.”I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be downright fucking furious. But what he’d done was no worse than what I’d done. In fact, aside from the fact it was my twin he’d fooled around with, it was probably better. I felt dizzy. I couldn't think clearly. I was a jumbled mess of feelings and thought
Last Updated : 2023-05-13An Affair with the Alpha 088 | Family or freedom?
Hyacinth’s POV‘Girly, are you sure this is a good idea?’ Dolly asked me again.‘No. Yes. No. Oh!’ I threw my hands in the air. ‘I don’t know, but I don’t know what else to do. This is all I can think of.’Foxy Spangles cast his shrewd eyes upon me as I knelt down in front of my chest of drawers and started flinging clothes out of them. I tried to give him a placating smile, but it made me think that I might not ever see him again, and then I thought about never seeing Rhi again, or Stephen, and a sob bubbled up in my chest.“What am I doing?” I warbled around my cries, hugging the pile of clothes to my chest and squeezing them tight. ‘You’re trying to be brave,’ Dolly murmured gently. ‘That’s what you told me, anyway. If this is what you want, sweet girl, I’ll support you.’‘It’s not what I want,’ I mindlinked back to her, unable to speak aloud any longer. ‘But Rhiannon always does everything she can for me. I can’t bear to tell her that I’m Stephen’s true mate, and I don’t want to
Last Updated : 2023-05-14An Affair with the Alpha 089 | Returning that which should never have been taken
Rhiannon’s POV“Does he have to come?”I glared at Stephen. It was a half-assed glare; I was so emotionally exhausted that I couldn’t put my back into it the way I usually would.“He just wants to help,” I muttered, looking away and back at the letter from Dad again. “We don’t need his help.”I sighed and put the letter down. “He’s the Alpha. I don’t see why you’re being like this, not if you’ve found your true mate too. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but you didn’t tell me either. We can be glad we all know the truth now, or we can bitch and snap at each other for things that have already happened.” I put my hands on my hips and waited for his verdict.“You slept with him, though. I never slept with Hyacinth.”My eyebrows shot up. “You want an award for not having sex with my twin sister?” I slow-clapped. “Gold star for you, Stephen.”“Don’t be like that.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, then scratched the back of his neck. “I just meant… oh, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”“Me, too. I
Last Updated : 2023-05-16
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An Affair with the Alpha 127 | Epilogue
Rhiannon’s POVSix months laterThe Night Wind Pack needed this, I realised, beaming around at the crowd as I stepped off the stage. Though there was a notable sadness still clinging to the wolves – my wolves, I realised with a heady burst of shock, not unlike being doused in cold water – most of it had been shoved aside for tonight.It was a celebration, after all.The night sky was alight with glittering stars and the full, fat orb of the moon. Our unnatural spring had blurred into the real thing, and now the first signs of summer were in the late-evening warmth and glossy green leaves on every deciduous tree.Lamplight lit up the stage and the seats before it. Smaller bulbs were strung over the heads of the crowd, fluttering slightly in the wind. Something made the back of my neck prickle, like I was being watched – but of course I was being watched. I brushed my fingers over my new ring, and my smile widened impossibly further. Caleb helped me down the last step, his grin even bi
An Affair with the Alpha 126 | I want to mark you
Caleb’s POVNight Wind settled into our new spring with trepidation. Of course, there was joy too – so much of it I’d had to look the other way when most of my Omegas turned up to their cooking and cleaning shifts still drunk on honey mead and sweet berry wine – but it was undercut with uncertainty and loss.We’d had a day of silence for Luna Amelia. Her death was a dark shroud over the entire pack. Even when we were drinking under the stars, lying on the fresh spring grass and looking up at the blooming buds on the branches above, we were toasting to her memory. I’d heard more wet-voiced, “Three cheers, in honour of our fallen Luna!” in the last week than I’d ever wanted to. It was a knife through my heart every time.We still didn’t know what had caused the Eternal Winter and, even after Rhi had told me everything she’d experienced on the border between us and Moon Chasm, over and over again until she was blue in the face, I still couldn’t make sense of it. I’d paired her account o
An Affair with the Alpha 125 | The long walk home
Rhiannon’s POVReturning home was… confusing.I was torn between awe and heartache, love and loss, a giddy, child-like glee and the raw sort of grief I’d only known once before, after my father’s death. The sun glittered overhead, the sudden spring my death had brought on as unnatural as the everlasting winter had been before it. It was beautiful, too, the kind of beautiful that made my throat catch and my eyes glisten with unshed tears. Caleb’s hand in mine was steady and grounding, and whenever I stumbled his arm looped solidly around my waist. As always, he caught me.That bliss only compounded the unfairness of it all. I had lived, but Amelia had died. Kieran’s cries still echoed in my ears.He hadn’t come back with us. Nobody had been able to move him away from Maeve’s fallen body. I hoped he was okay but I knew, I knew, that he wasn’t. I inhaled sharply.“You all right?” murmured Caleb, squeezing me.I let my weight rest a little more on him. “Just thinking about Kieran.”He sh
An Affair with the Alpha 124 | Enough is enough
Stephen’s POVI hit the floor hard. I didn’t quite black out – but I wanted to.The pain was everything. There was no part of me not consumed by it. My blood burned and my skin turned to ash. But it was my heart that hurt worst of all.It was ripped from my chest, torn and bloody and, when I thought it couldn’t possibly hurt any more than it already did, some otherworldly hand took my heart and dunked it in acid. I had a vague, distant awareness of movement. I couldn’t focus on it, on anything but the agony echoing through me.When the pain started to ease, I opened my eyes. The world turned sideways as my vision struggled to cling onto a single spot, but eventually my focus steadied on Hyacinth’s face.My lower lip trembled. “Beautiful,” I mouthed, no sound coming out.It hit me then, full force, how striking she was. There was no way I could’ve been so blind, all of this time. Rose petal lips let out a small, relieved gasp, and icy blue eyes, never before so blue as they seemed rig
An Affair with the Alpha 123 | We'll wait for the dust to settle
Stephen’s POVHyacinth was kept under observation in the medical centre for a full day after Rhiannon left, despite her repeatedly telling various doctors and Omegas that she felt fine, thank you very much. I stayed with her the whole time, leaving only to collect a basket of fruit from my family and bringing it back to her.When we finally made it back to her cabin – our cabin, although it felt weird to say that, knowing I’d moved into it to be with her sister – there was a fresh fruit basket awaiting us on the kitchen table. I muddled raspberries and boiled water, and told her to wait on the sofa, under a blanket, for her tea.“So.” She swung her legs and gripped her mug. She still looked even paler than usual and sleep-deprived, with heavy bags under her eyes and sallow cheeks. “What happens now?”My throat bobbed. “What do you mean?”She gestured vaguely towards me. “With us.”An awkward silence sat between us. I glanced at the fire, remembering the feel of the rough wood against
An Affair with the Alpha 122 | Why did it have to be her?
Kieran’s POVI stared down at Maeve. I tried to see around the blood drying across her fur. I tried to see past the slack way her jaw was hinged, past the tiny sliver of glazed eye peeking out beneath her closed eyelids.I couldn’t. Not anymore. Those things were focal points now, the only parts of her I could really see. There was no life left in her. There was only death.My hands curled into fists in her fur. Another sob tore apart my throat. I didn’t feel like a person anymore; I was an empty shell, the wreckage of a ship left to drown. I was a scattered hull and deck, planks of wood and metal, all floating separately to drown in the darkness of an unforgiving sea.Gentle hands touched my shoulders, breathing a mimicry of life into my lungs. “Kieran? Kieran, is she…”I twisted around, my eyes as glazed as Ames’s as I looked up at Rhiannon. I would’ve frowned, had I been alive enough to do so. I hadn’t registered much in the last… how long had it been? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Day
An Affair with the Alpha 121 | A million miles away
Rhiannon’s POV “Rhiannon?” Caleb cupped my cheeks. His hands felt a million miles away. “Rhiannon, this isn’t funny. Wake up,” panic leaked into his voice, “please, Rhi, wake up!” I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to hold onto him. I wanted… I wanted… What did I want? The darkness was closing in. There was no way out of it, this time. That knowledge settled deep in me, heavy as a stone sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Even the pain of my wounds was starting to ebb away. My neck had been one burning, pulsing, point of red-hot pain, so sore that even the flow of blood over my torn skin had hurt, but now it felt more like the after-ache of getting a piercing. Soft, gentle, but still a little sore. Not the ripped-to-shreds agony of having my throat torn out of my neck. Instead of comforting me, it panicked me. The further from the pain I got, the closer I got to leaving my life behind. Caleb. Hyacinth. Stephen. Even Amelia and Kieran. And, oh my goddess, little Foxy Spangles.
An Affair with the Alpha 120 | All things end
Caleb’s POVI watched Rhi fall to the ground in slow motion. It was eternal, that moment, as her body slumped, her weight suddenly too much for her to hold up, and she fell to the earth. Her limbs cartwheeled; blood poured from her neck.I reached her as she hit the ground. “Rhi,” I rasped, pressing my bound hands to her wolven shoulder and shaking it gently, terrified of hurting her more. “Fuck, Rhi, oh, goddess, fuck.” I couldn’t think properly, couldn’t say anything more useful than the string of mumbled curses falling from my trembling lips.“Liam, enough!” roared Luna Fiona. “This is wrong! The war is over; we should never have… never have…” Her throat closed around a sob as she looked down at her daughter.But Alpha Liam wasn’t listening.And then he turned his attention to me.I snarled at him. My heart was beating so hard I couldn’t hear myself think, but I stared him down, in his huge wolf form, his jaws stained with my mate’s blood, and I knew – I knew – that if it came to i
An Affair with the Alpha 119 | Alpha Can't-Handle-His-Emotions
Rhiannon’s POVPaws battered my side, my neck, my cheek. Red-hot pain lanced across each of those places. Alpha Liam was too fast for me; he clawed me, pulled back, clawed me. I could barely see his movements before he landed each strike.‘Move!’ Caleb screamed into my mind. 'Move now, Rhi!'I darted back, letting Tiger take over as Alpha Liam lunged at us again. She ducked down, narrowly escaping the slash of his teeth, the lock of his jaw. I heard his teeth clack together above my head and shivered.Blood rolled down my side, burning hot against my chilled fur.I was, to put it frankly, fucked.“No, Liam!” cried Luna Fiona, from somewhere off to the side. “This isn’t right!”I turned to look at her, confused by her seeming to side with me, and saw her bowed over Amelia, her face set in a cold mask. The only emotion was in her eyes – and they were swimming with agony.I’d let myself be distracted a moment too long. Teeth clamped down around my neck.That was it, then. I squeezed my e
