Liar is going to learn that running her mouth has consequences.
Delilah’s hug helped, but only to a point. I don’t think anything could chase away the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Seeing Cesare was hard enough, but at least he was innocent. Seeing Lia, however, is a different thing altogether. I had already lost interest in her before she told me she was pregnant, but the pregnancy and the fallout of it have made me truly disgusted by her. I’d expected to be triggered when I finally stepped in behind Delilah. Or I should say triggered by how I have been about Delilah’s pregnancy, so sucked into darkness and feeling paralyzed. However, this was a different reaction. I didn’t feel panic when I saw her. I felt rage, pure, unfettered rage. It wasn’t just the rage of two-plus years of repressed anger boiling to the surface. That was there, oh was that there. But this rage was more because Lucius was pissed too. Lia did what she always does, talked without thinking. And this time, Lia ran her mouth about Delilah, and neither I nor my wolf would le
I’m not going to lie to you. I felt satisfied watching Alexander break Liar’s nose as he stood up for me and claimed me as his. We know we are mates, and a few people know that fact. And while we’ve indirectly acknowledged we are mates, this was different. This was him claiming me to someone outside the family. It was more than just claiming me as his mate. He made it clear that we had a future. He wouldn’t have called me the next Beta female if he didn’t believe we could and would make this work. And that indirect affirmation made my heart swell with joy. I was confused by how he left paternity and, in general, the background of my condition so ambiguous. I mean, he was accurate that I carry the future leaders of Madonie. They are the Alpha heirs. But he didn’t specify that, and I could only assume he did that to ensure she didn’t know I was the surrogate of the Alpha heirs. He’s been more worried that this attack against him was in some way related to the heirs I carry. And we have
At least it made sense why André was panicking. He knew basic first aid and had a prisoner, a packmate, who had gone into cardiac arrest while under his alpha command. My cousin can be sensitive, so he saw this as his fault. It’s not. Darren was right. This is on the witch. And since Katrina was already on her way here, she knew who the witch was, and it won’t be pretty. I’m not heartless, so I do feel bad for Domitilla. She and her mother never really came off as the plotting types. Lia always had that vibe that she was the kind of person that would do whatever it took to achieve her goals. And I don’t know why or how I ignored that even to get laid. It’s not like I lacked options or that it was all that great. Even if Lia had been willing to try things others hadn’t, it wasn’t worth it. I need to stop thinking about the past and focus on the present. We have an out-of-control witch working with Lia’s family in whatever their goals against me are. I can’t imagine what their endga
My heart broke for Cesare. This poor little boy was innocent in everything. He doesn’t deserve to have his world turned upside down like this. He also doesn’t deserve to have such a negligent mother. I don’t understand Liar’s thought process. I know why she targeted Alexander. She wanted to be a Beta. She was supposed to be a Beta female with Gastone. However, that doesn’t answer why she neglects her duties to Cesare. He may not be of the paternity she desired, but he still deserves her love and care. I can’t wrap my mind around her behavior regarding her child. She carried him in her womb for nine months. As disappointed and outraged as she was to learn that her plan to trap Alexander failed, it’s no excuse to mistreat this sweet boy. I didn’t want to let him go when I held him. He’s two, but he felt so light, and that only made me angrier at Liar and more heartbroken for him. Maybe it’s because I have many hormones from the pregnancy, but my feelings about him and his plight were h
As a doctor and even more so as a Petridis healer, I hated being on this side of the viewing window. No one in the medical profession likes to feel helpless or useless. As I stood by watching my cousin take on a witch’s curse while one of my packmate’s, even though she wronged me, life hung in the balance. I felt helpless and utterly useless. It was about how I felt when Tiberius was found barely clinging to life during the war. I was able to keep him stable, but it was only Katrina that could save his life. I know she could kill Melania because of her magic, but I still believe their mate bond allowed Katrina to combat Melania inside Tiberius’ mind. Will a mate bond once again be needed to save Domitilla truly? Katrina can force out the curse. I don’t doubt that for a second. My cousin is the most powerful Crone the Oscurità e Luce Coven has ever had. There isn’t anything magical she can’t do. The red glow surrounding Katrina became intense as it became flames. Only Tiberius and And
I have witnessed some of my short life’s scariest and heartbreaking moments. I didn’t think anything could come close to scaring me or breaking my heart as seeing my parents being murdered by Ignazio. That was until today when Alexander seemed to be almost in a daze as he went from trying to shield me from Katrina’s power to going into the room with her. He ignored everyone, even me, as we told him not to go in that room. It took Darren and André to stop me from going after him. I know it would have been stupid of me to go in there. Helia had been whimpering at the intensity of Katrina’s power, and I was pregnant with the heirs of Madonie. Going there to get my mate would have risked my life and theirs. Yet despite knowing all that, I wanted to get to Alexander. I had to stay outside and watch as Alexander was thrown against the door by Katrina’s power. Once again, I tried to rush to him but was held back. I understand why they wanted to hold me back. I truly did, but it didn’t make
I should have kept up with the conversations happening around me. I didn’t have the energy to split my focus between whatever everyone else was discussing and considering the multiple scenarios of why I have an old witch after me. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve been racking my brain to try and find a reason for all this. Despite having very little appetite, I managed to eat a little before a roll was thrown at me. And it might sound bad, but I was ready to check out of the conversation again when Katrina brought up Zoe calling her. If she had killed that douchebag Beta of Silvermane, our Papa would have handled the fallout. So no need to get me involved. However, when Primo was mentioned, Katrina had my full attention. I hadn’t considered that pack members were now traveling to gatherings. If he were anyone else, I wouldn’t think twice. But he’s related to Domitilla, which means he’s related to Ersilia. I don’t know how far-reaching this plot against me goes. Would Ersilia tap her
A prophecy about Alexander? Or at least about a Petridis. I don’t know if he or anyone else in his family is connected to the blue moon, so all we know is that the phoenix implied a Petridis. Is this what Ersilia was after? How far back does this go? Was Liar’s baby trap based on this prophecy? Was Cesare conceived on a blue moon? When is the next one? When Alexander rushed out of the room, I hurried to follow him. As much as he may want to be alone, I won’t let him be. He’s going through some seriously scary and overwhelming things. These aren’t things to face alone. We aren’t meant to face troubles alone. That’s why the Goddess gave us mates, so we would never be alone in facing the difficulties and craziness of this world. I frowned as I saw him hunched over a potted plant throwing up what little he’d eaten. I approached him slowly, cautiously, as I didn’t want to startle him. I don’t want him to feel trapped or suffocated by my presence. I’m here because I love him. I’m here beca
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