ColbyWhile I was angry after learning what Jesse and Matt did, I was also happy because it meant that we were one step closer to putting this coven behind us. They explained to us everything that they learned from the scryer.The hills were a lovely area where people liked to hike, have picnics, and just relax. To think the coven had been hiding there the entire time pissed me off.It was a huge area that was going to require all of our package power. I thought about how we could do this quietly, and one thought I had was the use of a drone.“A drone?” Lia asked in disbelief. “You want to use a drone?”I nodded. “And I was thinking you could use one of your spells to mask it in some way. It’s a way to combine technology and magic!”Lia looked like she wasn’t sure about what I was suggesting. I know it was a little unorthodox but I felt this was the best option for us.“I guess we could make it work.”It would help us pinpoint the exact location. Then from there, we could attack them,
LiaSwitching back to focusing on the mating ceremony was a bit of a change, but I was relieved to do something on the normal side.Right now, Simone and I were sitting in my room. It was up to us to plan it. At least we were going to do the majority of the planning. I was ready, wanting to move forward with my mates.I twirled a loose thread from my sleeve between my fingers, barely able to contain my excitement as I turned to Simone. "So, I was thinking—end of the month. That’s when we should do it."Simone arched an eyebrow, a slow smirk creeping across her face. "Oh, we’re finally picking a date. I thought you were going to keep dancing around this forever."I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop smiling. "I wasn’t dancing around it. I was just... waiting for the right moment. And now it feels right.""Mmhmm. And it has nothing to do with you just being super excited?" She nudged me with her elbow, her teasing tone unmistakable."Okay, maybe a little." I laughed, shaking my head. "
RainI was more than happy to offer my help to Simone and Lia. As her future full mates, we should be helping her plan the ceremony! The guys were more indifferent about it, adding to my frustration.It got the point where I forced them into the living room so we could talk.“Why are we here?” Matt asked. “We need to go to practice in twenty minutes.”I scowled. “No first we are going to talk about some things first, understand?”“I’ll allow it,” Colby said, gazing at me with a smile.Sometimes I forgot that he was the leader so I should run things by him but all I could do was remember occasionally. My eyes locked with Jesse who blinked.“What do you want Rain?”“I want us to help Lia plan the mating ceremony!” I exclaimed. “You know she’s planning it with Someone who a lot can be right?”I loved Simone. She had become like a sister to me and most of the time we were on the same wavelength but right now I didn’t want the mating ceremony to draw the attention of the entire state.With
ColbyWhen the guys and I were getting ready that day, we didn’t speak much. All of us were lost in our own thoughts. I was unable to believe we were finally going to be mated to Lia. Rain was walking back and forth, muttering under his breath.He was thrilled but nervous. Rain wore his heart on his sleeve. I saw flickers of fear flash in those brown eyes of his. When we would lock eyes, he’d smile and try to pretend he was all right, but I knew he was worried.“Rain, it’s going to be all right. You’re freaking out for nothing.”Rain grinned, but I swear his left eye was twitching.“I’m not freaking out. Colby, I am the epitome of cool, calm, and collected.”Matt, form where he was standing, turned around and burst out laughing. “Yeah you are calm right now and Jesse is going to break out into song any minute.”“No,” was all Jesse said, blinking slowly.Rain huffed. “You guys are so mean. Teasing me like this.”“We’re not teasing you,” I said, stifling a laugh. “Okay, we are totally t
MattThe second we were in the hotel room in the hotel across the street, it was like everything flew out the window. Gone were us being careful or controlling ourselves. Now we had a chance to mate with Lia and it was going to happen.For the first time, we could say that we were full mates. My heart was pounding. Colby looked over at me, chuckling.“Join me, Matt.”He had pulled Lia onto the bed first, making quick work of her dress. Colby was planting deep kisses up and down her neck.“What about you two?” I asked, looking at Rain and Jesse.Jesse blinked. “Go on. I’ll watch.”“Yeah, I’ll jump in when I see a good opportunity.”Lia whimpered. She was enjoying this, being the center of all our desires. Colby positioned his fangs on the left side of her neck, kicking me into high gear. I did the same with her right side, biting down into the soft flesh just after Colby did.She gasped, unable to move with her sandwiched between the two of us. I encouraged her to bite me after she bit
JesseIt was quite a sight to see Lia laying there, all tired out from our night. When she woke up, she decided she was going to take a shower. I also felt the same urge, so I agreed to join her.She flushed, but walked into the bathroom with me.It didn’t take long for our clothes to fly off and I pinned her against the shower. Moaning, she tilted her head to the side. I knew exactly which bite mark was mine. With a growl, I sunk my fangs into the soft flesh, reopening the wound.But there was no pain. My saliva acted as a bit of a salve, soothing any pain she might feel.Whimpering to herself, she wrapped her arms around me, rubbing against my erect cock. It was enough to make my growl.“Everyone is going to hear.”“It’s only three people,” I pointed out, grinding against her damp sex.Lia flushed. “I know but it’s still embarrassing.”Chuckling, I rubbed at her clit. She cried out, throwing her head back as I touched the swollen nub. Lia was losing it, begging me to slip inside her
LiaWhen I told my mates I was going to meet Simone, they didn’t seem so nervous because the threat was over. They had to go to the rugby field so they bid me goodbye, even dropping me off at the café. Simone would drop me back, enabling me to have a ride both ways.I barely sit down before Simone leans across the café table, eyes practically sparkling with mischief. “Okay. Spill. Right now.”I roll my eyes, taking a slow sip of my coffee. “Hi, Simone. How are you? How’s life?”She waves a hand. “My life is boring. Yours, however, is not. You are just fully mated with four alphas. FOUR. Do you even understand how ridiculous that is? I need details. Immediately.”I groan, rubbing my face. “Why did I agree to this?”“Because I’m your best friend, and you owe me.” She grins. “Now. Tell. Me. Everything.”I sigh, stirring my coffee just to have something to do with my hands. “It was… a lot.”Simone snorts. “No shit.”“I mean it.” I shift in my seat. “It was overwhelming, intense… kind of t
LiaShe nudges my arm. “You’re happy though, right?”I lift my head, meeting her gaze. The teasing is gone now, replaced with something softer.I hesitate, then nod. “Yeah.”She smiles. “Then that’s all that matters.”Michael walks back in, scowling. “Are you done?”Gabi grins. “Never.”He groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I hate both of you.”I smirk. “Love you too, big brother.”It was glad that Gabi was smiling and at ease now. She had suffered so much. Finally, she was starting to move on from the kidnapping, little by little.However, I was starting to realize that Simone was right. I did want to consider sharing a room with the four or having a room where we could spend our time together. Then we would all have our own spaces.There simply wasn’t enough room here—especially with my brother and Gabi here. Then there would be the pups! By the time the pups came, there wasn’t going to be any room.“We need to get a bigger house,” I blurted out after a while.Michael blinked.
JesseOut of all the mates in our group, I was most aware. It wasn’t like I wanted to mock the others, but the fact of the matter was, I was the type of person to be aware of what was going on with everyone.If something was off, I was going to notice it.Now, with Rain, this didn’t count because he wore his heart on his sleeve. He always made it so obvious when something was wrong, and couldn’t hide his emotions even if he tried. If he did try, then he ended up being more obvious than usual!The others depended. Colby and Matt could hide their emotions, but not from me. Lia also depended, while Michael did a pretty good job of hiding it unless it had to do with Gabi and the kids. If it had to do with one of them, then he showed how upset he was because they were his family.Not that we weren’t, but they were his mate as well as children. It was a little different.Today I was out with Lia. The two of us were going for a walk, trying to enjoy some of the fresh air. I did offer the oth
MattThe past few days have been pretty crazy. I have been trying to deal with healing and then working as a coach while also spending time with my mate and pack. Everything was much better than it had been, especially with my former pack behind bars.I couldn’t stand them. Anytime I thought of them, I got upset, but right now, they were the last thing I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to focus on was the fact that Lia and I had made our way to her room, kissing passionately after going out to see a movie together.Honestly, I couldn’t even remember what the movie was. I remember the people being all romantic on screen and acting like idiots. This meant it had to be a romantic comedy. Was it obvious I wasn’t a big fan of romantic comedies? Because I wasn’t. They were stupid and a waste of time b but Lia seemed to like them.My favorite type of movie to see with Lia was a horror movie because then she got scared and cuddled up close to me. Who wouldn’t want to cuddle up with Lia wh
LiaI’m in the backyard, ready to start practicing. I have to always be ready. This is why I try to carve time for myself to practice magic. Everyone around here is always practicing their skills because you never know when something is going to happen.After the crazy time we had, I wanted to be ready for anything. How was I to know when a coven seeking revenge or some dragon shifters who had been sleeping“Okay… let’s not get rusty,” I murmured, staring down at the candle placed in the center of a circle I’d drawn with chalk. “Just a little warm-up. Easy.”“Talking to yourself again?” Rain’s voice floated over from the porch, teasing as ever.I didn’t look up. “It’s called focus. You should try it sometime.”“I’m very focused,” he said, strolling over with that infuriating grin. “I’m focusing on how intensely you’re trying to intimidate a candle.”“It’s not intimidation. It’s discipline.” I took a slow breath, letting the magic rise like a tide inside me. “Now hush.”“Shutting up,”
LiaNow that I’ve spent all this time with my mates, I wanted to spend time as a whole with everyone in the pack. This was why I let myself into the house my brother now lived in. See I had a key and he had a key to the place I had with my own mates. We were part of a pack so if we didn’t want to let the other in we would say something ahead of time.I found Michael in the kitchen, his head buried in the fridge like he was on a mission. “Hey,” I said, leaning against the doorframe.He grunted in acknowledgment, pulling out a container of leftover pasta and giving it a suspicious sniff. “Who made this? You?”“Gabi,” I said.He immediately popped the lid and started digging in cold with a fork. “Then I trust it.”I made a face. “Cold pasta?”“Don’t judge me. I’m a man of simple pleasures.” He took another bite, then finally looked at me properly. “What’s up?”“I was wondering…” I hesitated, then sighed. Why was this suddenly awkward?Michael raised an eyebrow. “You okay? You look like y
MattI found her on the porch, curled under a blanket like a cozy little woodland creature, mug in hand, book in lap. Honestly? Not fair how good she looked doing absolutely nothing.“Hey,” I said, leaning on the railing and trying to sound casual. Which meant I sounded like I was overthinking breathing.She glanced up, smiling. “Hey. Why do you look like you’re about to give a presentation in front of the school board?”“Because I’m brave,” I muttered. “And because I came to ask if you wanted to go for a walk. In the forest.”Her smile widened. “A walk?”“Yeah. Just us. Trees. Quiet. No one is trying to set the microwave on fire.”She sat up, already pulling off the blanket. “Of course I’ll go. I love when you get all woodsy and mysterious.”“I am always woodsy and mysterious.”“You spilled coffee on your shirt this morning and said, ‘The mug betrayed me.’”“It did.”She stood, and I thought that was that—until we heard it.Crunch.A very loud, very obvious crunch from behind the scr
ColbyEveryone was doing their own thing to bond with Lia. I decided that I was just going to cook dinner for the whole group, and then I would sneak her some dessert. Great for us to have a private dessert. Something chocolatey, maybe. She always smiled more with chocolate.“I’m making dinner tonight,” I announced, tossing my keys into the dish by the door and heading straight for the kitchen.Rain popped his head around the corner, eyes lighting up. “Ooh! Need a sous chef?”I didn’t even hesitate. “Not.”“What?!”Rain gasped like I’d just insulted his entire bloodline. “Banned?! That’s so harsh!”I had to stifle a chuckle even though he was just being his usual self. That was Rain for you. But he would be fine after a while. He just had to get over his little pouting session.Lia appeared behind him, crossing her arms. “Rain, last time you helped, the smoke alarm had to be reset twice.”“That was an accident!” Rain argued. “The stove was faulty!”“No,” Matt said from the couch witho
JesseAfter learning that Rain had a successful date, I decided that it was my turn to take Lia out. I had something in mind. It was a bit of an odd date—the two of us were going to play chess. Or I was going to invite her out to play chess.Chess was an awesome game that I loved. I tried to teach some of my friends the game, but only Michael was interested and now he had kids. Colby just didn’t want to waste time on it, Matt had no patience and Rain was well… Rain.If Rain ever came to me and said that he wanted to learn chess, I think I might die from shock.“I’m taking you out,” I said.She blinked. “Okay… where?”“The park,” I replied, dropping my hands into my pockets.Her head tilted slightly. “Just the park?”I nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to learn how to play chess.”Lia stared at me. “Chess?”“Chess.”“Like… with the little horses and castles and tiny guys in helmets?”“They’re knights and rooks and pawns,” I corrected, lips twitching at the corners. “But yes. That chess.”Ther
RainI had a plan and the plan was to do something romantic with Lia. It didn’t matter if it led to something more, but I wanted the two of us to spend some quality time together. The two of us hadn’t spent any time together with it just being us.None of the guys had been able to spend any quality time with her either because of all the shit going on in our lives.This wasn’t going to happen any longer.I had racked my brain, trying to think of something to do, and then I realized that I was going to surprise Lia with a private picnic in a meadow that was nearby.So I decided to go to her door to talk with her, letting her know that I was taking her out on a date.Well, if she wanted to go out on a date. She was perfectly capable of saying no. and could say no. I didn’t care if she did or not.No, that was a lie. I wanted her to say yes, but if she didn’t want to go, then this was fine too. Lia was her person and could decide what she wanted to do.“I’m taking you out tomorrow,” I sa
LiaAfter everything we dealt with regarding Matt’s old pack and Colby fighting them, we needed a break. I was planning something with my pack, or more specifically, my mates. We were just going to have a quiet evening at home and enjoy our time together.Simone was helping me plan. She was a great friend, doing what she could to help me plan this thing.Now the sun was starting to set. We had managed to get the guys out of the house so they wouldn’t bother either of us while we planned. Rain would blurt everything to the entire household if he caught wind of anything.Rain was incapable of keeping a secret. This was why everyone kept secrets from him and also kept him out of the kitchen, but that was a completely different story.But then they did come home, and I was forced to tell everyone what was going on. They started to do some things to help me prepare for the night, wanting to do their part.The sun was just beginning to dip behind the trees, painting the sky in streaks of or