ALTHEA. I wanted to call Lucy. As soon as I got to the room, I closed the door and grabbed the receiver to dial the Mystic Pack phone number. Lucy gave me her office number, but no one was picking up there. It was only a quarter past seven, and she might be asleep. But I had to try. I waited some more, as I was sure her phone line would automatically transfer to Alpha Adan’s office if she didn’t pick up. “Alpha Stone,” the man said from the other line. And from the grumpiness in his voice, I was sure he didn’t appreciate someone calling him too early. “Alpha Stone,” I greeted. “Althea,” he chuckled. “What the fuck is Blade doing that he let you on the phone at this early?” I smiled bitterly, only for my eyes to water because I heard someone peppering the Alpha’s face with kisses, and I was sure it was Lucy. A tinge of jealousy crept into my heart. Will I be able to experience what they have? “Can I speak with Lucy?” I asked softly. “No. We haven’t had breakfast yet. I need
BETA DALTON. If I could smack the Alpha, I would. If this were an ordinary day and he was not destroying anything, I would. But I knew my Alpha. This was one of those days where he would not listen to anyone. My only hope was that Luna Althea would be able to calm him. But it looked like she couldn’t. Something happened this morning, and I knew she was lying when she said she knew nothing. Blade smelled of sex when he came down. And even after the sex scent faded, his scent was no longer his own. I had lived all my life with this man, so I knew what scent he carried. There was a mixture of someone else, and I was sure it was the Luna’s. They mated. They completed the mating process, so I fucking wonder why he was throwing a tantrum at the moment. Blade’s family had always valued their mate bonds, whether fated or chosen, so I was sure completing the mating process was important for him. So I’d been wracking my brain the whole morning about what could have possibly gone w
ALTHEA. The walk from the packhouse to the clearing where Blade wanted my cabin was what I needed to clear my mind. I’d been in a push-pull state of mind the whole morning. I badly wanted to leave him, but then we had been apart for so long and had never really tried being together to face the challenges of being mates. So maybe Lucy was right. I couldn’t just give up. Besides, despite wanting to go, I didn’t want to be far away from him. But I also didn’t want him to treat me this way. I didn’t even know what I did wrong. I wished he would talk to me. But I tried not to think about him during the walk. Thalia was delightful to be with. She was four years older than me, but despite the age gap, she never made me feel like I was too young to be respected as her Luna. She asked how I was feeling, and I told her I didn’t want to dwell on it for the moment. So, instead, I asked her to tell me things about her. She shared that she and Dalton were never a couple and barely spok
ALTHEA. “I, Althea Vitali,” I began. I asked a member of Lucy’s pack how wolves go with rejection out of curiosity, but I could use it now to save what was left of my shattered heart. I thought Blade had so many opportunities to tell me about her, but he never shared anything. All I got were bits and pieces from Lucy when Alpha Stone would tell her something about him. And all the positivity of her being gone and me being here was no longer helping. I knew breaking away from Blade would shatter me completely, but this was already happening, so it shouldn't be harder. I wanted to be loved as me. Not as a replacement. Not because a certain bond made him do it. “No!” Blade roared as his hands clamped on my shoulders, painfully grabbing me. “Stop!” “Light witch of…” Tears trickled down my face as I stopped to gasp for air. My eyes were too blurry, so I could only see his silhouette. “I, Alpha Balderus Acosta, accept you…” Blade roared, deafening me, but my body was already rel
BLADE.“Tell me about your nightmares. I want to hear them. All of them," she said in a voice devoid of any emotion as she lowered her body to the ground, sitting a few feet in front of me.But where do I start?Should I begin from the moment I met a human who turned out to be my fated mate? Someone who was aware of werewolves but not comfortable around them?Should I tell her I used my best effort to convince Soledad that I was worth being a mate and worth leaving the human life she was accustomed to? But how do I admit to her that my first mate was not willing to take me as I was? Soledad wanted nothing to do with my pack and had convinced me to give up my post as an Alpha and live a simple life with her. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t. I never saw myself as anything but the leader of a pack.It had been an on-and-off argument between the two of us. I loved her, but I loved my pack as well. I was hoping I could make her understand that I didn’t want to choose between her and being a
BLADE. “You’re not a God, Blade. As much as you want to, you can’t save everyone.” How do I tell her if I just gave Soledad what she wanted? Maybe it didn’t come to that. But I shut my mouth and just nodded my head. My hand reached for the stray hair on her face and tucked it behind her ears. “If it was about me, then what was your nightmare last night?” She asked. “Last night, it was not Soledad who died…” I dropped my gaze from her after I said it, but I let my fingers play with the tip of her hair. “I didn’t die… I’m here.” “But what if…” I stopped. “What if I can’t protect you?” “You’ve been doing great at it since day one,” she said in a warm tone. That gave me a little hope, but I didn’t know what to say anymore. I was not good with words, and I had no idea how to convey the fear I felt. My hands clamped against her arms as I gently rubbed them. “I’m not as helpless as you think I am.” She added. “I never think of you as helpless, Althea.” “That’s good, then.” She
ALTHEA. I was not sure staying and waiting for Blade to tell me about his nightmare was even a good idea because every time Soledad’s name would come out of his mouth, it was like a knife piercing my heart. I needed to get past this part. Only then could I decide if this was worth fighting for or if I had already lost this battle from the very beginning. But everything he told me, even the bad and the ugly, warmed my heart. There was no guarantee Blade was one hundred percent mine, but it was enough that he wanted me. I could start with that. “My bad. So tell me now, Althea, what do you want?” His raspy voice made butterflies and ladybugs flutter in my stomach. I giggled, not being able to stop my excitement. Blade was giving me a dual personality — one that was upset one moment and the other, excited like a kid on Christmas day. “Are you sure you’re ready to hear it?” I asked playfully. He nodded. “Last time you asked me about my conditions, I had a long list, so it might
ALTHEA. My small hands were all over Blade, grasping and touching every part of his naked upper part. Until my fingers reached his neck and I remembered something. I pulled away from kissing him, and he grunted, pulling my body closer to him as his mouth devoured my throat. “Can I mark you? For real?” I asked, panting while my eyes were fluttering. “Hmmm…” He mumbled in response, and I was not sure if he even understood what I was asking him. “Blade…” I moaned because his lips were sliding down my neck, and I had no idea how he was able to flap open the front of my dress and get access to my breasts. But I didn’t mind. I liked that he was just as hungry for me as I was for him. “I will mark you…” “Do whatever you want with me, baby…” He said in a raspy voice, and the tingles all over my body intensified. He was not questioning my move. I arched my body, giving him full access to play with my breasts before I pressed my three middle fingers in the crook of his neck and began c
EPILOGUE 2 BLAIR.I showed Alonso my dagger—a gift from Mama Patrea and Dada Lucius. It was made in the underworld. Mommy taught me a spell where I could summon it even from a great distance, in case I needed it in a time of danger. But I didn’t tell Alonso I was not supposed to use it for simple duels like this. In no time, we were dueling, and I could tell he was going easy on me. Easy, but not really easy. “Oh, shoot!” His dagger slashed into my arm as he was backing away. It was painful, but it was just a small cut. Nothing that wouldn’t heal. He was about to approach me, but I held my hand to stop him. “Moved back. You’ll pay for cutting me.” I said, giggling, and before I realized what I was doing, I threw the dagger at him. Like I’d done twice today, and I didn’t throw hard. I knew he could dodge it.But for some reason, my surroundings felt too warm, like I was placed in a sauna. After that, everything happened in a flash.I saw the dagger flying at full speed toward him.
FIVE YEARS AFTER EPILOGUE 1 Blair 11 years old Alonso 16 years old Luther 12 years old Blast 7 years old Lukas 6 years old Lily 6 years oldALTHEA. I sliced another portion of the cake and placed it on Blast’s plate. He, Lily, and Lukas had been eating non-stop, and if I was not aware of who their fathers were, I would definitely ask them to stop. But I knew they could all handle the sweets and food. They had an appetite bigger than the whole Kalmerus. “And you were saying?” I inquired as I made my way toward the sink. I had to wash the cake knife directly and place it back inside the drawer afterward, as it’d be a big risk to leave it on top of the counter where Lukas could see it. Lukas had a fascination with knives, and at six years old, he had no control over his reflexes. Everything he throws would end up exploding. “Sorry, I spaced out,” I added.“I said Blair is doing great in the Alpha camp. It didn’t matter that she was the only female there. She could make all th
6 YEARS AFTER BLAIR’S BIRTH.‘Luna Althea…’ The Omega’s voice reached my head, and my heart dropped. She was panicking, and I could tell she was running.‘Where are you?’ I asked as I opened the door from where I was.I saw Meredith running toward us with Blair in her arms. I grabbed my daughter from her and checked for any injuries or something strange, but there was nothing. “What happened?” Blade asked as he stood behind me. He was holding Blast, our two-year-old son, in his arms. We were celebrating Blair’s sixth birthday, and we had a small celebration in the packhouse. I was in one of the receiving rooms with our guests when Meredith mindlinked me. She was Blair’s Omega, and she had been with her since she was a baby. When I was not with our child, she was the one responsible for her. So, the worry in her voice made me panic, too.“I turned my back to her for a few seconds, and when I looked back, she was already outside the door. I didn’t hear her open the sliding door. I kne
ALTHEA.“It is no longer in our control, Althea. But I’m keeping my hope that one day, Elliot will realize we are not the enemy.”Althea didn’t reply and just let the silence rule us. The last car passed by, and we acknowledged the nod of respect they gave us. Once they were out of our sight, Althea turned her body around and wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her cheek against my chest. “Shall we call it a night, Alpha?”“Hmmm… The night is young. Would you like to go somewhere with me?”“You know I will go anywhere you lead. What do you have in mind?”My eyes dilated before a smile graced my face. I licked my upper lip before I leaned down, my mouth brushing against her ear. “Rage wanted to take control tonight. If you let him…”She pulled away from hugging me, and I always laughed out loud at the way her eyes squinted and her lips pouted. “Rage or you? You’re always using his name…”“My Luna knows me so well,” I chuckled before pressing my forehead against her. She was so sho
BLADE.“You need to be careful with your words, Blade. He’s too young to be traumatized.” Althea said. “I’ll try my best…” I let out a breath and tried to calm myself. Althea was traumatized as a child, and she made it her advocacy to look after children’s welfare. She had built a women’s center in our territory, which was run by females and served as a safe haven for women and children. As much as I tried to have a peaceful territory, domestic abuse was still present, but no one was complaining about it. So Althea wanted the women’s center to reach out to every school and hold symposiums and meetings to build awareness that there was a place they could always go to. Her vision and effort were rewarded, as lately we were able to save two females and their children. It was not a big number, but it was still celebrated on our end. While one of the perpetrators managed to escape and has yet to be found, another has already received a whipping and is currently serving his sentence in
ALTHEA.Six months had gone by since Blair was born, and so far, everything had been quiet. We had not heard of Alastor. I was not even sure if he was aware that I had given birth already, as there were no strange occurrences within the territory.Blade had beefed up the security, investing in the same equipment that Adan had used before to detect a demon’s presence around his territory. He used Lucius’ body temperature as he was the closest to what Alastor was—a full royal demon. But we have not detected anything up until today. Either it didn’t work for Alastor, or he was really nowhere around us. We tried to live normally. Blair hadn’t stepped out of the packhouse grounds, but she was given an Alpha welcome in one of the hotels in this territory. We took a big risk that day because we wanted our people to see her. They deserved to meet their future Alpha, and I was grateful that everything went smoothly. There were also no signs of Alastor or even his aura. Four royal demons su
ALTHEA.After spending a few more minutes together, Blade helped me change into more comfortable clothes, and we finally let our family and friends see Blair.Patrea, Lucius, Lucy, and Adan came in together. My Beta Female Thalia and Gamma Female Sheena also came with the Beta and the Gamma. Lucy was holding her son, Luther, while Thalia had Declan in her arms. Declan was just five weeks old, and I had already fallen in love with him. I was lucky that my girl would have him. Based on how protective his parents were toward me and Blade, I knew the future Alpha would be in good company.With me and Thalia having pups, we had been teasing Sheena that it was her turn this year, so our pups’ ages wouldn’t be too far away.We had no idea if our teasing did it or simply because our Gammas couldn’t get their hands off each other. Sheena was already in her third month of pregnancy, and in less than seven months, our Gamma baby would be born. Sheena had already relocated to our pack and was
ALTHEA“Blade!” I screamed before I gave one last push, and I felt a large mass just swim out of my vagina as my whole body melted. I had been tired from doing rituals and spells and sex marathons with my mate, but I was never this tired. I felt like all of my limbs and even my internal organs needed a whole year to get their energy back.I was still lost in oblivion when a loud cry pierced the air, and Blade’s hold on my body tightened as he hugged me again. I was sure he had been whispering words to me, but I kept spacing out.“We have a girl…” He mumbled excitedly when I finally met his eyes.I couldn’t stop the smile from curling on my lips. I was actually smiling wide because Blade’s enthusiasm was contagious.What was funnier was that we knew all along that we had a girl. Guinevere confirmed it, and the ultrasounds said it as well. But the excitement on his face and his voice told me like this was the first time he found out we were having a girl.“Can you believe we have a girl
ALTHEA.A soft moan escaped my throat before I bit my bottom lip, suppressing any further sound from coming out as I arched my body. I woke up with a tingling sensation coursing through my core, and I was right — Blade was worshiping my pussy, feasting on it as if he were never fed. I just let myself get lost in the sensation, and it took a while before my surroundings sank in.We were in my cottage. In my old childhood bedroom. He probably didn’t feel right fucking me in my mother’s bedroom, so instead, he cramped us in my little bed. The last time I remember, we were inside the cave behind the waterfall. I couldn’t remember coming here. I must have passed out. My pregnancy was making me sleepy all the time, so falling asleep anytime, anywhere, was nothing new. And the way my body felt secure around Blade was most likely the reason I didn’t wake up while he walked us home.Then the memory of my conversation with Guinevere came flashing in my head. But was it real? Or was it all a d