Thank you for waiting! ❤❤❤
ALTHEA. “No!” I screamed as my eyes flipped open, and I found myself in the warmth of my mate’s embrace. My body shook as tears rolled down my cheeks, but having Blade’s arms around me gave me the comfort and security that I badly needed. Another nightmare. And it was always the same thing. “Shhh… It’s just a nightmare. It will never happen again… I’m here.” He kissed my head as his hand smoothed against my back before he lifted my body and let me straddle his thighs. Three days had gone by since that fateful day we almost lost Dalton and the same day that I finally let out the dark power within me. As the darkness was unleashed, so was my memory, which was suppressed in my head for thirteen years. I couldn’t believe how a child’s memory could be so vivid. I remember every lash, every slap, every kick, and every burn like I was reliving those dark days. The physical pain was no longer present, but the ache in my heart remained. How could the elders of my very own coven b
ALTHEA. Everything fell silent except for the beating of four hearts, and the moment Blade let us know that he was ready to face Fabian, Lucius and Adan laid out their hands, and we did the same process as earlier. In seconds, the blackness came, and we landed on another solid ground. We were inside the abandoned well. My eyes saw nothing except cobwebs and dust. “He’s behind us. Turn around when you’re ready.” Lucius said, and I let go of Blade’s hand as I slowly turned my body around. My lips quivered, but I did my best to suppress the sobs that were trying to escape my throat. I blinked back the tears forming in my eyes as I stared at Fabian’s body. He was sitting, and his back was leaning against the rough brick walls. His shirt had dried blood, but his face was clean of anything, and I wanted to assume they cleaned him up before taking us here. His body was not decayed yet, like what happened to Mom, but then Mom’s body was covered in snow, and he was not. But he was pro
ALTHEA. After the fire had taken all of Fabian’s physical body and there was nothing left but his ashes, the people began leaving until it was just me and Blade left. We sat in front of the big fire as he told me about their childhood. How their parents died together in an accident when he was already an Alpha, and how Fabian came home after that. Fabian left their pack when he turned nineteen. He wanted to do things to follow his heart. He loved traveling and painting. For three years, he traveled around the world, but he never forgot to send pictures to Blade. He knew Blade couldn’t do what he was doing because he had a pack to manage. So he told him he would see and discover the world for both of them. For three years, he was able to do what he wanted, but when their parents died, he came home without being asked. And he had never left Blade’s side ever since. He said it was just the two of them, and they should stick together. Fabian kept that promise, but Blade didn’t.
ALTHEA. “They don’t want to be here.” Blade’s voice came out hoarse, and I knew it dampened his already grieving spirits. “They don’t know why you want them here,” I replied before I smiled warmly at him. “Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. They are also grieving.” Blade had requested the crowd at the cemetery meet him at nine in the morning at the central plaza, but it was already five minutes before nine, and the crowd was not even half of the attendees at Fabian’s burial. “We can always command their presence here, Alpha. They can never say no to that.” Dalton suggested. Blade shook his head. “I will not be imposing on them just so I can explain my side. It was enough that there were some who showed up.” “There’s a lot of people who showed up. Not all of them are here, but many are still here. As long as we have someone here, whatever you say will spread out. That’s good news already.” I added, trying to sound optimistic. My mate didn’t reply, but I saw him correct h
BLADE. “I lost everything… but I found Althea. She’s the only light that I see in my life right now.” I said this without breaking eye contact with my people. The atmosphere in the crowd changed, and the stare I was getting became warmer. Maybe this is what my pack was waiting for — for me to explain my side. This pack has always been supportive, despite my not showing any emotions almost all the time. Before I met Soledad, I would always get an invitation for any celebrations, no matter how small they were. Some I would attend, and some I couldn’t. But they never took it against me, and I would always get another invitation. It changed after I came back. There were no more invitations, and they barely acknowledged me in public. Whenever I would walk the streets, people would hide inside their homes or shops. The elders no longer stopped by the packhouse for brief conversations, nor did they send me flowers or pastries. Although, lately, Althea has been getting gifts — just for h
ALTHEA. It had been days since we laid Fabian to rest, and every day was turning out better than the day before — and I didn’t mean just between me and Blade but with the whole pack. I had no idea a packhouse could be this busy, but lately, more pack members have been coming to visit. Thalia had to start implementing visiting hours and appointment schedules so the members would not be taking all our time. And nobody got offended by that. I guess this was how they were before, and this sounded reasonable, as we also had other things to do aside from accommodating the visitors. But overall, the pack was moving forward, and everyone was starting to heal. Just the other day, Blade had taken me to the Women’s Center, where the trades were run by females. Thalia served as the overall executive in this department, but Blade told me that she would transition this to me once I was ready. He said I didn’t need to be rattled as there were females running the whole section, but I would a
ALTHEA. “I hope I’m wrong with my intuition because there’s no way I would let my child be with Alastor.” I let out a sigh as I leaned back on the small couch inside the cabin. We moved from the outside, and we’d been discussing this topic for the last ten minutes. We just kept going around in circles, as we had no answers to any of our questions. “I’m sure there’s another reason and not that one. Besides, Lucy was a half-wolf, too, so she got mated to a wolf. Alastor is a pure demon, so there’s no way…” “I’m a pure witch, but I got mated to Blade.” I cut Patrea. “What I’m trying to say is that it looks like a werewolf could be mated to other species, not just their own. So a possibility exists that my child could be mated to another species, such as a demon.” “I know. But let’s not let that idea get to us. We should be celebrating your child. We only need to keep that witchling safe against Alastor, for whatever reason he wants it alive.” I nodded. Patrea sat beside me before
ALTHEA. After my conversation with Patrea, we walked back to the packhouse. She made me promise to tell Blade what I told her. But, to be honest, I was not sure I wanted to. First, the issue of our child being mated to Alastor is not yet a fact. I didn’t want to burden him with those thoughts when our child was not even a month old in my stomach. We should be celebrating life and not waiting for Alastor to appear and create havoc. Secondly, the coven. I was one hundred percent sure Blade would not let me go there alone. Bringing anyone in there would only make the dark witches capable of holding someone hostage to get what they want from me. But if I do that alone, I only have to protect myself. With the knowledge I had and the things I would learn, I knew I could find a way to get what I wanted and make it out there alive. “Are you going to stay for lunch?” I asked as we neared the packhouse. “No. Lucius and I had to go to the depths of hell to get energy for our demons. We 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