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101 | From above
Last Updated:
2023-06-06 23:59:08
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An Affair with the Alpha 102 | Exalted
Stephen’s POV Everything I’d been feeling – the good, the bad, the guilt – came to a head in that moment. When I saw Hyacinth there, looking so very small, curled up in the snow, I knew it was all true. All of it. Rhiannon had never been my true mate. Hyacinth was. Brian shifted out as I reached her. I fell to my knees at her side, carding my fingers through her hair, tracing the perfect pout of her too-pale lips. She was still, too still, and as I bent low over her, cupping her frozen cheeks, I felt my heart splinter. Distantly, I heard the others come over. Distantly, I knew they were asking me things, asking her things, trying to get close enough to feel for her breath, to feel for her pulse. I also knew they were the things I should’ve been doing – but I couldn’t. I was as frozen as she was, my hands barely warmer than her pallid cheeks, my wide eyes locked on her closed ones. Then her eyelids started to flicker. “Hyacinth?” I whispered, the sound desperate, pining. “Cin?” ‘
Last Updated : 2023-07-03An Affair with the Alpha 103 | We're being watched
Rhiannon’s POVThere was a prickling feeling nudging at the nape of my neck. I twisted around; Tiger stiffened as I took control of her body, giving me the leeway I needed to investigate my Bad Feeling.It was too easy for me to do. She was still weary, still tiring too fast for me to feel entirely confident that she – and I – were back to normal. The prickling grew, eclipsing my worries about my wolf in an instant. We were only walking, but I stopped, narrowing my eyes at the barren, snow-dusted trees behind us. The skeletons of bushes gave some cover, but not enough to hide someone fully. I couldn’t see anyone – so why did I feel so convinced that we were being followed?Caleb slowed, coming to a halt beside me. ‘Are you all right?’‘Do you feel like there’s someone else here?’He paused; his hackles rose. ‘Yes.’I’d expected him to brush me off, to tell me I was letting my worry for my sister make me suspicious of everything. I’d half thought that myself. It would make sense; sinc
Last Updated : 2023-07-04An Affair with the Alpha 104 | My love, my life
Amelia’s POV‘It’s him,’ said Maeve. Before I could fully process what she meant, my wolf came to an abrupt halt. Then I scented what she had. Carried on the winter wind was him: bravery and cleverness and silliness and wide, toothy grins and deep, dark, longing looks. Too-long legs and powerful muscles and calloused, gentle hands.Kieran. Distantly, I felt a body smack into my rear. I didn’t care; I didn’t even bother to look at who it was. They mindlinked me. I didn’t care.I shifted out, needing to go to him as myself. I wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to feel his bare skin against mine. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before, this need; it ate away at me, pulling at my soul as I turned back towards my love, my life, and drifted over to him on feather-light feet.It didn’t matter that I was naked. It didn’t matter that there were people watching me. I was barely aware of them. I just wanted him. My blood burned in my veins. I flexed my fingers; each joint ached to close arou
Last Updated : 2023-07-05An Affair with the Alpha 105 | Spring fling
Caleb’s POVThe ground had frozen over when we got back to Night Wind. It was like stepping onto an ice rink and being unable to hop back onto the solid ground beside it. There were no barriers to grab and no way to get off it. And it was everywhere. It glittered in the dying sunlight, shining gold and scoring a path across the ice that pointed straight to the pack house. It didn’t even look slightly tempted to melt, despite the golden hour sun hitting it.It was just another problem to add to my increasingly long list.My head was scrambled. Between the messy bundle of emotions keeping Rhi at arm’s length and the fact that my so-called allies, Moon Chasm, who, by the way, were the literal parents of my Luna, were going to attack, kill me, and claim my land as their own, I was barely able to function.Let alone deal with the crowd of people that surrounded me as soon as I set foot back on my pack lands.“Alpha!”“Alpha!”“Alpha Caleb!”“Come quick!”Harley was in the crowd, pulling a
Last Updated : 2023-07-06An Affair with the Alpha 106 | Thoughts and theories
Caleb’s POV… And immediately fell on my ass. Groaning, I rubbed at my sore backside and tried to stand up. Only to slip over again. I gritted my teeth. For fuck’s sake. Knight laughed at me. ‘Come on, Alpha,’ he teased, ‘it’s only a bit of ice.’‘It’s not only a bit of ice, though, is it?’ I grunted. Before he could reply, I added, ‘Maybe you should shift out and see how you cope with it.’‘Get undressed, then.’‘Fine.’‘Fine.’I wrenched off my clothes and bundled them up into a ball so he could carry them in his mouth. He shifted out, his huge form bursting out of my human frame, and then his claws dug into the ice. They gripped it, cracking through its surface as he steadied himself, and then he was off.I huffed. ‘Show off.’‘Sorry, I think you meant to say, “Thank you, Knight, for being so helpful.”’‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’‘Stop being so salty. Nobody likes a salty prune.’‘Nobody likes you,’ I muttered. ‘I don’t know why you’re taking your bad mood out on me. Do you want to
Last Updated : 2023-07-07An Affair with the Alpha 107 | Lose yourself in me
Caleb’s POVI kicked off my shoes. My bare toes dug into the thick rug on the floor; its chill bit into my soles, the fire just starting to take in the hearth and not yet warm enough to fill the room with its heat.Rhiannon’s room was all her. Her scent was everywhere, pine needles and the air before a storm, perfumed with lime and basil. It clung to her checked bedding, to her curtains, to her. I inhaled deeply.She sat on the bed, looking up at me as she tugged off her boots, keeping her eyes on mine as she curled her socked feet under her and rested her hands in her lap. She looked innocent and inviting in equal measure; her breasts pressed together where she was leaning forward, their curves calling to me.‘So poetic,’ laughed Knight. ‘And all for breasts.’‘Do breasts not deserve to have poetry written about them?’‘They don’t do anything for me. A nice tail, however, or a good pair of ears…’My reply to him was eclipsed by her. She shifted back, slowly sliding her leggings down
Last Updated : 2023-07-08An Affair with the Alpha 108 | Hurt, used, alone
Rhiannon’s POV“Nothing happened,” said Caleb, his eyes narrowing on something I couldn’t see. I watched Caleb as he watched the window. I wet my lips at the sight of his strong muscles bunching and relaxing with every slight shift of his weight. My core clenched, but I had no desire to drag him back to the bed. Not right now. Not with so much else playing on my mind.That wasn't all. Something about tonight had bothered me. We'd both wanted to put aside our feelings for a while, to use each other to forget about the world, but an emptiness had taken the place of the strong emotions I usually felt when we got close.I sat up, plumping the pillows behind me and leaning on them. Rather than feeling relieved after we’d finally got close again, after we’d finally been able to put our shit aside for a while and just be with each other, I felt uneasy. It had been amazing – believe me, it had nothing to do with that – but something about it hadn’t felt right. And now Caleb was pretty much
Last Updated : 2023-07-09An Affair with the Alpha 109 | So close, yet so far
Kieran’s POVBeing so close to Ames again was like the kind of agony the poets described. It was the sort of agony that haunted the midnight hours, the kind that cleaved souls in two.Goddess, it was worse than being apart from her. I’d thought nothing could come close to how I’d felt on my arduous journey back to Night Wind, not ever knowing if I was too late, not knowing if I’d find her, not knowing how she’d react if I did. My imagination ran me ragged, picturing her smiling and running into my arms – and being able to – one moment, only for that image to be shattered the next by visions of her sneering at me and sidling closer to Alpha Caleb.‘You’re just a barrel of laughs, aren’t you?’ teased Bo. ‘I still think you should’ve gone with my last plan to win her back–’‘Oh, my goddess, absolutely not.’ I rolled my eyes at him. ‘Bo, buddy, you wanted to find a railway track – which, might I add, don’t even exist anywhere near us; they’re a human thing – then get someone to tie Ames t
Last Updated : 2023-07-10
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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
