At least their argument is getting them somewhere and clearing up some miscommunication.
Today has been my life’s most stressful and emotional, well maybe top three. I don’t think being in this situation with Alexander could top witnessing my parents’ murder. Nothing could ever be more stressful and emotional than that day. And I don’t think hashing out our issues like this would truly unseat being drugged and kidnapped by Doctor Silvano. ‘Though that day ended well enough. The war ended, Alexander saved you, and you got to cuddle with him in your hospital bed. Maybe if we play our cards right, we can get him to cuddle again.’ Helia commented. ‘That sounds unlikely. Remember how he looked like he was going to kiss me? Then he felt my baby bump and immediately disengaged. He doesn’t like that I’m pregnant and probably won’t touch me while I am, if ever.’ I frowned as that thought hit me. I don’t know the details or full extent of what the aftermath of Liar and her failed baby trap did to Alexander. Being pregnant triggers him. But I can’t help that. I can’t just stop bei
Call me a coward if you want, but I know myself well enough to know I needed to get out of that room before I said something upsetting her. I needed to go before I had another episode. I left because it was what would be best for my mental health and her general health. You could argue that my departure and distance put a strain on her. Do you know what I have to say to that? No shit Sherlock. It doesn’t take a medical degree to know that. However, I must also consider my health and how having another episode would affect her. So, you can sit there and judge me all you want, but this isn’t your life. It’s mine, and I’ll make the judgment calls on what is best for me, even if that makes me fundamentally selfish. I did what I thought was best. I called Annamaria to attend to Delilah’s medical needs. I’d done my task of repairing the placental abruptions. Her actual attending obstetrician could do everything else. That is not my area of expertise. It is not what I specialized in at un
I don’t know which sound was louder, my pounding heart or the soft squeak of the bedroom door as it opened. I was ready to fight whoever it was. André and Darren would have announced themselves aloud or in the family link. Lando would have also announced himself. And no one else would waltz up to the Alpha villa and into the guest house. I could only assume it was someone who wanted to hurt me or, more so, the heirs. No one is hurting these babies. I don’t care if some members of Madonie still haven’t accepted André and Darren’s reign. Their closed minds caused them to go this path to have an heir instead of naming Lando as the heir. Or if it’s not someone from Madonie, it could be a rogue. Not very likely, but there is still the possibility that one got past the borders. I tried remaining as still as possible while concentrating on using Helia’s power. A vine had grown from my hand, down over the edge of the bed and across the floor, and when whoever was breaking into my room steppe
“Delilah? Hello? Don’t tell me that pregnancy brain hit you again.” Persephone sighed as she shifted Jacira in her arms. “Huh? I’m sorry, Persey.” I apologized with a frown as Jacira started to fuss. “I’m so sorry, Jacira.” I apologized sweetly to my two-week-old niece. “It’s okay, Delilah. I’m just worried about you. You called me and then went silent with a far-off look. I would say I wasn’t used to that, but you’ve met my mate. He can easily get distracted. It’s just that you don’t usually do that.” Persephone sighed. “And don’t worry, Jacira is okay. I just think… yep…” She wrinkled her nose holding Jacira up. “Jonathan. It’s your turn, and your daughter left you a ripe one.” Persephone grinned. “I’m a little busy.” I heard Jonathan in the distance. “And I’m talking to Delilah. So, stop adding nitric acid to that before….” She winced, and I heard a muffled explosion in the background. After living with them while I was abroad, I can attest that it’s not uncommon for there t
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in bed when I heard a grunt followed by my mattress being lifted, forcing me out of bed to land on the rather unforgiving hardwood floor. I growled and opened one eye as I tried to orientate myself. I’ve been gone for so long that I’ve gotten into the habit of not remembering where I fell asleep. “Thank you, Ivan. I can handle things from here.” I recognized the voice of my Mama and groaned. This is just what I needed, not. Mama had traveled from Incubi to my villa and brought the newest family member as her muscle. At least she only brought him to force me out of the bed. That is her working smart having him do the heavy lifting. Depending on why she’s here and how much she knows, I should count myself lucky that I only landed on my floor, not a marble slab or a statue. I heard a second grunt which I took as Ivan’s farewell, as I felt his heavy footfalls leave the bedroom. Still weird that he’s mated to my baby sister, and they are expecting a baby s
I’d just gotten off my Facetime with Persephone when a call from Regina started to come through. Usually, I’d be thrilled to catch up with my best friend. Since we are both pregnant, we often catch up on how the pregnancies are going and share little tips we’ve found work for things like morning sickness and heartburn. Yet I’m unsure if I want to answer. I shook my head because that was unfair of me. I should avoid Regina because her brother is avoiding me. We haven’t talked since Alexander returned, so I haven’t even had a chance to tell her he’s my mate or what happened with the babies. I took a deep breath and slowly released it as I readied myself. I don’t know how Regina will take finding out about me and Alexander. As I hit the accept button, a thought occurred to me. What if Alexander has already told his family? What if he’s been in Incubi this whole time, avoiding me? What if Regina has been keeping his whereabouts from me? Or maybe this is her calling to tell me where he is
What exactly did I do in this life or a past life that was so terrible that I needed to have this shit happen? Yes, I slept with women that aren’t my mate. Plenty of people have, but an argument could be made that the pregnancy scare with Lia was to teach me a lesson in continuing to sleep around. Fine. Lesson learned: I will have PTSD for the rest of my life. Sure, I can medicate and go to therapy as necessary to mitigate and control my attacks, but there isn’t exactly a cure for PTSD. I do not need crazy ass bitches drugging me or whatever they were doing. I was livid as I watched the footage of Anastasia helping Domitilla and the old woman I didn’t recognize get into my home. In the years that I’ve been Beta, I’ve never had an issue with Anastasia. She was part of the housekeeping staff at the pack house, and after, Nicolao was next in charge of the staff. I’ve never had an issue with her before. Now… now we have a BIG fucking problem with her. I don’t know why she was helping Do
I am not generally quick to anger and certainly not first to violence. It’s never been my nature. That has always been Persephone’s wheelhouse. I’m the one that wants to think calmly about things and find a way to move forward without violence. However, since I awakened Helia, there have been moments when I’ve felt the need to act in violence. But even then, I want to resolve things without bloodshed. That is not the case now. Call it the mate bond. Call it pregnancy hormones. I don’t care. All I know is that I’ve been seeing red since Alexander said he’d possibly been kept drugged. And now that he’s told me his housekeeper, her DAUGHTER, and some old woman were behind all this, I could feel my blood pressure spiking, and I’m sure it was through the roof when he said they are related to Lia. Can we not be rid of that woman? First, she sets Ivan up to remain on house arrest and blames Alexander. Then she falsely claims to be pregnant with Alexander’s baby. She threatens to make me sta
I’ve felt anxious since André told me that he and Darren told their children I was their surrogate. I knew the day would come. We couldn’t keep it from them forever. It was only natural that they’d be curious. Especially now that Amaryllis and Éowyn were starting to look more like me at their age with hints of Darren. It was easier when they were little and looked more like Darren. Caspian and Aragon still look more like André, but there are moments when they say or do something, especially their smiles, and I can see myself in their faces. Alexander didn’t help my anxious feeling when he told me Chris went to see the quads so he’d know, too. How would he handle that? I wished Alexander hadn’t let him go to André’s villa to hear this from the quads. I was napping and needed the rest since Clover had been teething. She’s been extra fussy because of the teething, and beyond lack of sleep, my breasts are tender from her feedings. It’s not like I haven’t been through this before. Our old
I may only be ten, but I know enough about the world and my future role in it. I’m the Madonie Beta heir, and as much as my parents wanted to shield me from knowing it, I am the Petridis of the Blue Moon prophecy. These roles are my fate. It wasn’t my choice, but it is what the Goddess ordained, and who am I or anyone to argue with her will? The prophecy doesn’t affect my day-to-day life. It just means the only witch I trust is Zia Kat, and I don’t trust angels, period. Being the Beta heir does affect my day-to-day life. It has defined my education and friendships. I don’t want to think the only reason I’m friends with Caspian, Aragon, Amaryllis, and Éowyn is simply because one of them will be my Alpha. They are my cousins, so to speak. Our Papas and Monnos have been best friends for years, so we are like family. Though it’s always felt like there’s more to it than that, when my family link snapped into place when I was nine, I realized I had a link to them. Sure, it could be explain
Caspian POVThis wasn’t going the way I thought it would. We’re the ones that are supposed to be guilting Papa into the truth about our Mama. Instead, we are getting a guilt trip about Dad and our guards being worried that we snuck away. Maybe we couldn’t escape them so easily if Filiberto and Dorian were better at their jobs. I know they are good warriors, and given the trauma they went through with Zia Amelia during the war, Papa and Dad are kind to them, but if four twelve-year-olds can escape them, what good are they at protecting us? I do feel bad that we worried Dad and Papa. I won’t feel bad for our guards. They need to be better at their jobs. And maybe we should have more than two guards. There are four of us, after all. This isn’t the first time we’ve duped Filiberto and Dorian. Aragon and I are identical, though we style ourselves differently—the same for our sisters. I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve fooled our guards and the staff at the school into thinking we were
Amaryllis POV I’m not saying we’ve been lied to for our WHOLE lives, but people need to realize we aren’t babies anymore and stop trying to spare our feelings. We are the heirs of Madonie. We shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves. And while nothing would ever change how much I or my siblings love our Papa and Daddy, how could they expect us never to find out? They teach us about the mate bond, females going into heat, and sex at school, for the Goddess’s sake. We were bound to learn that a baby cannot be made without a female. Even if that wasn’t all a factor, Éowyn and I are getting older, and it’s easy to see we don’t look like any of the women in the D’Amore or Delaney women. We have Daddy’s eyes and ears, but that’s like it. If anything, we look more like Nonna Crista and especially Zia Delilah. Maybe if we were naive people, we’d write it off because they are family. But Nonna Crista is Papa’s matrigna, so we aren’t blood-related to the Fayte line. At least not that anyone’s admi
The following chapters are a bonus story called A Mama's Love. I know it's a couple of months early, but the idea came to me and couldn't be helped. So the following short bonus story is a Mother's Day Celebration that takes place the Mother's Day after Clover is born. I hope you enjoy it. Story Blurb:It’s been nearly thirteen years since Delilah Fayte gave birth for the first time. Now that the Madonie Heirs know the truth, they want to join their half-siblings... er cousins... it isn’t very clear to celebrate the woman so full of boundless love she has brought nine lives into this world. Besides, no one throws a party like a D’Amore.
Dear Readers, We have reached the end of another book. It's always bittersweet to publish the final chapter of a book. These last few chapters may have felt like we skipped some things. Yes, we glossed over some moments as they were less significant to the story, and trying to write a chapter of Alexander or Delilah sitting in the therapist's office wasn't exactly compelling, nor was it enough to fill a chapter. Please don't worry- there are always chances to get glimpses of those smaller moments in more detail in future books or possible bonus stories. Now for the question everyone's been asking. WHAT'S NEXT!!?? I am taking the month of November off from my current series to participate in NaNoWriMo. For those who don't know what that is, I'd like to explain. NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. During November, writers from around the world will challenge themselves to start a new project and write 50,000 words in 30 days! This is the first year I'm going to give this a
I always knew I wanted to be a mama. I dreamed of having a big family with my future mate when I was little. When I discovered that Alexander was my mate twelve years ago and the drama we faced, I started to think a big family might not even happen. I’d been pregnant when we reconnected, though not with children that would be mine. He had PTSD from the emotional damage Liar had put him through two years prior. However, the biggest reason I worried we might not have a large family, let alone children, was the blue moon prophecy. Ersilia did awful things to get her hands on the blue moon child of prophecy. A child she assumed would be conceived on a blue moon from Alexander’s line. She hurt Alexander. She hurt her great-granddaughter. She even got angels involved in it. And she paid the ultimate price for it. Despite our worries about the prophecy ten years ago, Alexander and I started our family. We thought we’d taken all the necessary precautions to avoid the blue moon. While Ersilia
Since we know about the prophecy, Delilah and I have been cautious in our family planning. Delilah wanted and needed time to recover from fully emotionally being a surrogate. I was more than willing to give her that time. Then, we also wanted time to be just a couple before risking starting our family. We decided we would try to start our family late last year. We were trying to be as thorough in our baby planning as possible. We even checked the upcoming year to identify any blue moons. Given that I’m not the blue moon prophecy child, I knew Ersilia was off the mark in thinking the conception needed to be on a blue moon. So Delilah and I wanted to avoid delivery on a blue moon. We knew there would be a blue moon in August, so we were actively targeting to have our baby either before or after August. We even stopped having unprotected sex when her possible due date could have landed anywhere near the blue moon. And our planning paid off. When we learned Delilah was pregnant and calcu
I won’t go into how much I ended up paying Amelia in damages to her little cottage after spending a weekend there. I consider myself lucky that she didn’t keep any family heirlooms there. The furnishings destroyed during mine and Delilah’s mating weren’t antiques or anything she or her brother held dear. All you need to know is it wasn’t cheap. But that was a month ago. A month of being fully mated has been great for us. After Delilah’s heat ended, she finally asked to see the heirs. I don’t know if it’s from her therapy or because we completed our bond, but her emotions about André and Darren’s children leveled out. It was still an emotional visit, especially when she held each of them. That first meeting was a huge step for Delilah. She saw, held, kissed, and whispered sweet words to them. She got to say goodbye to their connection and move forward to the new connection they’ll have. Delilah was already the most selfless person I knew. She became the bravest after seeing her keep h