The second Aylin and I cleared the treeline, every single vampire turned their head to us. I smiled wickedly as the distraction cost some of them, their throats getting torn out before they could even process they found what they were looking for. To their credit, not one single wolf looked at us, refusing to be distracted. Making sure my mental shields were in place, I let loose any hold I had on my power as it surged to my fingertips and the vampires that remained, fell to the ground writhing as I focused on all their nerve endings. They were all dead in an instant as their opponents ripped them to shreds.
There was a split second of silence before I felt the vibration of feet on the ground. We all braced ourselves, and then a herd of vampires cleared the borderline and jumped right onto us. Black tinted the edges of my vision and I didn't fight it away this time. I knew my eyes must have been completely black because the battlefield before me took on a dark tint. I spared my*Trigger warning: There are mentions of rape and a detailed memory recounting the rape that will be portrayed. There will also be detailed torture.* I will put a recap of this chapter in asterisks at the end, so those who had to skip know what happenedWe showered and got dressed in a heavy silence. Neither of us had anything to say, and the only way we communicated was through touch. The majority of our shower Roman held me, and I held him back. We washed up quickly, and when I heard Aylin approach the door, I opened it, and instantly portaled us all to the dungeon in silence.The two vampires we kept alive were in cells on different floors, so they couldn't communicate. Aston and Seth took the one on the second floor, who appeared to have been just a standard warrior, and left this one to the three of us. I recognized him as the one that led the second wave of vamps to us. So, he must be some kind of troop leader then.He jumped, straining against his chains as we p
"So...you gonna explain what that was?" I ask Amara as we land in our room"Well, it seems as though I taught myself how to use my mind reading trick" she says, shaking her head as if she wanted to shake whatever she saw out of her head. Couldn't say I blamed her, I wouldn't want to see what went on in that thing's head"What did you see?""A bunch of flashes of things that didn't make sense, but they have five thousand vampires left, they started off with ten thousand but it seems they lost half of them actually finding me, and they undershot their attack here, sending less of them than they had been sending to the other packs. I still don't know what our numbers are like" she says, she sounds a little shaken."Not five thousand. Half that, maybe a little more" I say and she nods, honestly the numbers were the least of my concern at this point. I needed to know what their actual plans were, numbers alone don't win you a war. Surely it helps, but it's all s
I wake up against my will as Roman crawls back into bed. I groan as the morning light assaults my eyes and pull my pillow over my head as he pulls me to him. But, I have to get up and train. Ugh seriously, why did I resent being able to sleep in back at the Red Moon pack? I truly didn't appreciate that while I had it. Everything else though definitely sucked."Why did it take you so long to come back?" I whine as I snuggle into Roman's embrace. What could a few extra minutes hurt?"Had to visit the families of the dead, check on the injured, get reports on what happened at the other battle sites, it took longer than expected. Go back to sleep, baby" he says tucking my head into the nook between his neck and shoulder and resting his chin on my head"You know I have to get up and train, don't tempt me to stay in bed" I say, pushing out of his arms and sitting up on the side of the bed"No, no come back" he whines. Well, we're both in great moods this morning
I wake up to Amara shaking me, a golden light is shining through the curtains, telling me its probably past five in the afternoon and I slept way too fucking long."Aylin just called for us. She said to bring your head warrior, beta, and gamma. She told my dad and Az to come too" Amara says.I look at her, she's sitting up in bed, one leg held to her chest, the other crossed. Her eyes are red like she's been rubbing at them and the black and blue under them tells me she didn't sleep at all. I can't blame her, I only fell asleep so easily because I was practically a walking zombie. I got a solid two hours in the morning, but after a battle it just wasn't enough."Alright, I'll mindlink them to meet us in my office. Did you sleep?" I ask her, sending them all a quick mindlink. She shakes her head"Too much on my mind" she mutters and I nod my head"We'll get through this, we have plenty of people on our side. You've come such a long way. I'll hand my so
Training, sleeping, trying to eat. That's what the last week has consisted of. Nothing but toast and peanut butter has appealed to me. Roman at least went and got an herbal ginger tea from Blair so I'm not nauseous all the time from the anxiety.Anxiety is eating at me, I jump and call my twin blades or dagger to my hand when I hear any kind of noise, thinking it's the alarms signaling an invasion. It makes me just want to train more, and I'm already training morning to night with my dad, Azrael, and Aylin being here. I even sparred with Roman and Seth a couple times when I was feeling restless. Then, I crawl into bed and fall right asleep, sometimes even without a shower, or without Roman there. The last time we even had sex was in the shower while we were in the Underworld.I've barely talked to Tamisra either, she's unusually sleepy. Even when I'm training, she's snoring in my head and I have to block her out. Something is up, I've had anxiety since my parents died, but
I just showed the last group of the Fae warriors to their temporary housing, and I'm starving. I get out my phone to order food when I see Amara texted me twelve minutes ago.Amara: Heading to Blair's to get more tea. I need you to come home as soon as you're done with the Fae.Roman: Be careful. I just finished up. I'll head over now. Is everything OK? Love youI wonder if she finally went and saw a pack doctor; I've been worried sick about how unwell she's felt. It's beyond anxiety at this point. There's something wrong with her. Adonis is equally concerned, begging me to take her to a doctor.'Something is wrong. Mindlink border patrol, I can feel something isn't right,' Adonis snarls in my head. I'm about to do just that when I feel Amara's link open up.'ROMAN,' Amara screams, and instantly panic surges through me. I shift into Adonis, starting to run in the direction the bond was pulling me to, and then the bond goes blank.'Amara? AMARA' I yell b
I groan, waking up a little as I'm dropped onto a hard surface, hitting my head. Fuck, my head hurts, my jaw hurts, my neck hurts. Why does it smell like mold and mildew? What the fuck happened? I try to ask Tamisra what the fuck happened, but when I don't feel her, I'm immediately flooded with the events of today. Adrenaline shoots through me, my eyes fly open, and I sit up.My baby! My baby, I close my eyes and listen, hearing his strong heartbeat and sighing in relief that he's okay. Then, I look at my surroundings. I'm in a cage, one I've seen before, in that bastard's memory. It looks the same in person. There's the dirty cot with a paper-thin mattress, a puke green blanket that makes me itchy just looking at it, a stained pillow, chains with handcuffs on either side of the bed, and a bucket beside it. I shudder.I turn around when I hear metal screeching and clunking, seeing Felix close and lock the door. Well, I was much happier when I thought he was dead-Ayl
The door opens into a stairwell. I start to run down it based on the sheer fact that most people keep their prisoners in the basement. When we come to a door, I stop Seth and listen. I don't hear a thing, not even a heartbeat, so I move on. We do this for a couple floors, and now easily, at least 10 minutes have passed, and I'm growing angrier by the second. This was meant to be quick. They have probably already moved her by now.We come to another door, and it reeks of Amara. I instantly rip it open and jump in. Adonis and I both let out a snarl when we find it empty. I turn and see a huge pool of blood on the wall next to the door, a bunch of shattered ceramic under it. That would be why this room reeks of her, and now they would know she was pregnant. It would have been foul tasting if they tried to drink her blood. Pregnancy hormones turn blood rancid tasting to vampires. It's the fetus's way of protecting its mother against an attack.Her scent is so potent everywhere
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