In all honesty, the rest of the night was fun. After I introduced everyone, who thankfully already were briefed on the circumstances, My father didn't contribute a whole lot of conversation, he was just observing, and if roles were reversed I would have stayed quiet too. He did talk here and there though, not enough for me to learn much about him. Nonetheless, I felt lighter having him there. I guess I didn't realize I expected him to be nothing short of a monster. I had just shown Sophie and my father to their rooms, and now Roman and I were walking up to ours."So today was certainly...a day" he says"Today was the equivalent of 4 days" I sigh"How are you doing, feeling?" he says, taking my hand in his and kissing my knuckles, I smiled despite what was about to come out of my mouth"I think I'm just trying to process it. It's not like it was a shock that he showed up, I'm just surprised that I was so emotional over it, you know? I didn't really expect to feel
We take our table numbers and I lead him outside to a more secluded area. I don't plan to hide what I am from the pack, but I'd rather not start rumors before Roman and I can even announce it. Although, I'm marked by their Alpha, so I can sense the confusion when they feel that power radiating off me, mixed with their Alpha's scent. Well, I guess that cat's out of the bag."So Seth is your only living family?" my dad says as we sit down"Yes, that I know of anyways. Both my parents died in a vampire attack, and their parents died before that. Both were only children. Do you have any family in the underworld? Did you take another mate after my mother?""I had two children prior to meeting your mother. You have a sister and a brother, your sister is my heir to the throne. As for family, my mother is still alive, and I have 4 siblings, you likely won't meet them. And no, I haven't and don't plan to take another mate. I have my heir, and your mother was the only queen my
"I don't believe you" I said to my dad, sadly "I have a feeling we're underestimating the vampires. I don't know anything at all about angels. But I just have a horrible feeling about the vampires" I tell him, looking down at my coffee and trying to find comfort in the aroma it gave off, but not even that beautiful smell could ease my anxiety. He visibly stiffened, and that made me feel even worse."I believe you" he said, grabbing my hand before continuing "one of your gifts is intuition. We will take their threat seriously""How do you know that?" I ask him, I knew he had the last 20 years to prepare for this, but my mom said nothing was known of my powers"I resummoned Deumos a couple years ago. After years of researching myself, and the elders, to no avail, I swallowed my pride. It seems she has her own agenda, that or she's just bored, because she fully prepared me for everything you would be. I did considerable research on the tribrid, the elders did as w
When we get home from the cafe, I let my father wander off around the perimeter and I find Sophie, Violet, Blue, Gemma, Cici, and Serena in the dining room, eating a lunch of their own. I walk up to them and snag a scone out of Sophie's hand. She yells in protest at me, but quickly grabs another one. I sat down in the chair next to her, munching on my stolen pastry."Whatcha guys doin?" I say"We were just about to go walk the trail around the lake, do you want to come? I told Sophie how pretty it was" Cece says sweetly"Yeah, I don't think I've been there yet! Let me go find Roman though, I haven't seen him all morning. Can you guys wait like 20 minutes?" I ask, suddenly really missing Roman, I was too distracted to miss him earlier but now that I'm not preoccupied, I just want to curl up in his arms and never leave. Ugh, this damn mating bond has me ungoddessly clingy."Of course, we all need to change clothes, anyways. Meet us on the benches by the training gr
"This is a power I've wielded several times before, take a second and look at him, let the tether to your magic loosen, and then will it to surround him with protection" my father says as I stare at Seth, trying to put a shield around him to let him into the Underworld.I do as he says, and when my power reaches Seth, I see him stiffen for a second, but relax as it surrounds him entirely. I can actually see it around him, like a light haze. I smile, completely unrestrained as I realize it worked! My eyes dart to Roman's for a beat, noticing the pride and softness in his gaze.'I love that smile on you' he says through the link and I look away, I'm probably blushing like a freaking preteen"Good. Now do that to everyone else here, with the exception of your mate" my father says"Maybe try and look a little less like you're constipated this time though." Seth teases me, I shoot him a glare and he yelps. I jump, not expecting that. "Goddess, Amara. Are you go
I brush off her comment about earth, but she thinks this is hot? Werewolves definitely run hot, but this would be considered comfortable weather for us. I shake my head and blow out a breath as Roman starts to walk over to her and my father, pulling me along with him. I then see a small outdoor table next to the pond, nestled behind a couple trees. The trees at least looked similar to what I was used to. A little taller and wider, with darker shades, but still obviously trees. We all take our seats, Aylin at the head, me next to her, my father opposite of me, and Roman next to me. No one says anything as a couple servants sit a pitcher in the middle of us. Aylin is the first to reach for it, pouring her own glass and saying thank you to the servant who bows before walking away. The same silver-y liquid fills her cup and she passes the pitcher to me."So, this is your mate I take it?" Aylin says eyeing Roman"Yes, this is my mate, Roman, he's Alpha of Ivory Moon pack back h
The rest of lunch was nowhere near as intense. We made small talk, my father mostly asking about Roman's upbringing and childhood, how he runs his pack, his family...and really just all details about his life. Nosy bastard my father was, but it still warmed my heart nonetheless that he was so interested. He was growing on me, I suppose. I had asked about Azrael, to which Aylin said he likes to spend time in town. She had said it was important for the royal family to be involved with town life, and Azrael took it upon himself most of the time. Afterwards, Aylin showed us to our rooms and told us to meet her back in the throne room in 15 minutes and she would show us to the training arena. That was 10 minutes ago.I was unpacking my clothes and changing into my training attire-just a sports bra and high rise yoga pants that went to my knees, when Roman came up behind me and pulled my back to his chest. One of his hands went to my throat and the other circled my stomach right above the
We trained for a good 3 hours, mostly just perfecting my aim with magic and quickening my movements with it. I had a few moments of doing something I didn't know I could do, one of them being that I accidentally took away Aylin's sight and hearing. It took me a couple minutes to figure out how to give them back to her, at which point she magically threw me across the field and threatened to rip out my esophagus if I ever did that to her again. I had wanted to go watch my dad kick Roman's ass but I was too caught up with my own training.Aylin was a badass, it seemed like she was trained in everything-hand to hand, magic, and she was a boss ass bitch with her dagger. I practically begged her to train me with a dagger and twin blades. I did get the upper hand on her once or twice, but both times she managed to get her dagger and held it to wherever she would have stabbed me. I guess I should be proud that she has over 250 years of experience on me and I held my own.The two of us plus
Surrounded by Violet, Serena, Cici, and Sophie, I look at myself in the mirror as Aylin finishes my makeup and Gemma does my hair. Aylin must hold more magic than I thought because she managed to cover up these bags under my eyes. I almost look like I did pre-motherhood, minus the breast pump milking me like a cow. Remind me why I insisted on having my Luna ceremony, the equivalent of my wedding, after I had Delaney? Because I wanted to drink at my own ceremony? It seemed so logical at the time. Now, I wanted to go back in time and slap me upside the head, Aylin style. Delaney screams in Sophie's arms in protest at how long it's taking me to pump. In the hospital, the nurses and pediatrician on the postpartum unit said she lost too much weight by the time she was 24 hours old. It was before my milk supply came in, so they put it down to lack of production, but when I filled up a syringe with colostrum, they had a lactation consultant come see me. She had said Delaney's latch wasn't ef
Three weeks laterI breathe through another contraction. They're coming every five minutes now, but I didn't exactly feel like going to the hospital just to be sent home for another false alarm like I did last week.'Uh, you going to explain why I feel like I'm being ripped apart from the inside every five minutes for the last two hours?' I hear Roman's voice come through my head as I feel the contraction start to come down'It's still early labor, probably. No sense in going to the hospital yet, if it even is actual labor.' I tell him'Alright, well, I'm coming back in and getting the hospital bag, so we're ready. The books said once they're every five minutes, we should think about heading in,' he reminds me.I don't respond just as I'm hit with another contraction and suddenly feel like I peed myself. Oh, good Goddess, here we go. I put my walls up so he doesn't have to feel anything.'Scratch that, my water just broke,' I say, and not even twenty se
One week laterThat's precisely what we did. We had funerals for those that wanted their loved ones buried and ceremonies for those who opted for them to be burned on pyres. Aston, being a ranked member, was burned on a pyre with the entire pack present. We put some of his ashes in an urn necklace for CiCi and then released him into the river.While I've seen Roman tear up, or get choked up, that night, he cried with his head in my lap. He fell asleep after hours, and I didn't dare move a muscle all night. My heart was already broken for him; Aston was Roman's Sophie, but something about seeing my brooding Alpha mate break down like that killed a piece of me.CiCi wasn't doing any better; one of us was still with her almost all the time. I spent a couple nights with her, but mostly Serena was staying with her since they were always connected at the hip anyways. It was an effort to get her to eat or even go outside, but I wouldn't give up on her; both she and Aston des
Roman's POVI hated battle, but I hated the aftermath even more. I made a list of all the fallen I could identify, so I could visit their families later. The ones I couldn't, their family or packmates who saw them fall would have to report to me, and I'd go from there. Max and Seth took Aston's body to the morgue before we were even back.Fuck that hurt. My best friend since we were in diapers, the one who evened out mine and Max's broody demeanors with his stupid ass jokes. Gone. Fucking gone. What was the point? The point of all this death and destruction?I stopped in my tracks, shutting my eyes as they became glossy. His death will gut me until the day I die. The day I die? I'm immortal. Fuck. I could live another thousand years, and I wouldn't have seen him for over nine hundred and fifty of them. How is that fair? And CiCi. I have yet to find anyone who wasn't of Alpha blood, or royalty in Armaros' case, that lived past the first year of their mate dying. But we
I watch in horror as Silas grabs Adonis' face, Silas' red eyes glowing into the night, and Adonis...Adonis goes limp. I waste no time before concentrating on Silas' body and start burning him. He screams, and Adonis goes absolutely feral and proceeds to rip his own body apart. I pull my powers back immediately, and they both stop thrashing. Adonis' eyes are glowing red now, and terror, like no other, seizes me when Silas grabs him by both ears, twisting his neck, and Adonis does nothing to fight back.I look to my father, who is holding his own against the group of vampires attacking him, but can't help me or be distracted without risking his own life. Then, I look around for Aylin, Az, Seth, or anyone to jump in and help, but no one is around."No one is coming to rescue you this time, my sweet Amara," Silas hissesI only stare at him and then at my mate. Maybe...maybe...I slam my mental talons into Roman's mind, but he only whimpers and starts to thrash again.
It's been four days, and Roman's shadows still haven't found any evidence of Silas moving toward his home; it looks like he will be coming to us. He's been rallying all his people into one spot; even people from his kingdom were seen moving out, so everyone is on edge, including me. I suggested moving in once he had them all together, but Roman said it's better to let him think he has the element of surprise, and it will give us the "home-field advantage." I wanted to just get it over with; the stakes are so much higher now. Given that we're unsure if he will lead with those half-Kudde beasts he made, Roman had the security system expanded so my family and I would have time to take off and neutralize that threat.Thayer, Dahlia, and all the troops he planned to send are here. Roman called and updated him on the situation, and he said he'd rather come now if an attack is imminent, so they could get familiar with the land. It was no question whether or not we would be atta
"Let's hear it then. Start with his kingdom's main territory.""His kingdom is not far from here. While he does have armies there, their numbers could be better, and they're his lowest-ranking soldiers, all of his best he took with him. Since he's been tracking Amara over the last couple of months, his favorite Duke has been in charge over there. Outside the wall of the castle and its main village, you'll find crowded poverty. He allowed his people to starve, telling them it would start wars if we hunted humans, wolves, or fae after they stopped donating blood to us. In reality, he cut off all contact and trade with them, allowing his people to believe they were trying to starve us out. That's how he got most of his willing soldiers initially. From there, he made life for anyone who was his soldier comfortable. If you fought for him, you and your family could move over the wall, where you were given the bare minimum food and housing."The room falls into a disgusted silenc
I was finally discharged after my next ultrasound. My powers and Tamisra returned about two hours after my first ultrasound, so I insisted I was ready to go home. But considering it was already eight at night, Roman and the nurses convinced me to stay. I'm at least allowed to eat again, and goddess, I'm fucking ravenous. I feel like I can't eat enough. Roman and the nurse, Jess, tried to get me to slow down, but at my ultrasound, Dr. Crowen said as long as I can handle it, I should eat whenever I want to keep up with baby girl's growth rate.Speaking of, she gained another two ounces overnight. It didn't sound like a big deal to me, but I have no knowledge of anything in the medical field. Dr. Crowen said it was very significant, given that wolf pups are expected to gain two ounces weekly at this stage. Everything points to me going into labor at the end of the month, which I don't want to think about.But this isn't exactly something I can just block out. Thankfull
There's a knock on the door before it opens, and the same person who took me to my MRI, Justin, I think, comes in with a wheelchair. After my MRI, they brought me to a different room with a bigger bed that looked a lot more annoying to move.Honestly, I could have walked. Now that my supernatural healing kicked in, I feel fine. Starving, but fine. The doctors said I have to eat very slowly to get my digestive system working properly again and that if I ate an entire jar of peanut butter like I wanted to, I would just throw it back up immediately and feel like shit. So, my new best friends were crackers with peanut butter and a side of chicken broth."Hello again, Alpha, Luna. Dr. Crowen is ready for you in the ultrasound room," he says as he locks the wheelchair.I sit up and swing my legs around to get out of bed. Immediately, Roman and Seth jump up, trying to help me. I roll my eyes."I told you both, I'm fine!" I say, getting up and sitting in the chair