5 hours until the full moonAVAAt 7pm on the dot, I burst into the clearing to see Elijah waiting for me, just as expected. I shifted back, standing opposite him, not really caring that I was naked.I dropped my guard, making sure that my scent would be all over this clearing if anything were to happen.“Oh, Avelina,” he drawled. “You really did grow up to be a beauty, didn’t you?”I didn't answer, instead, I just stood and watched him. The longer I silently watched him, the more agitated he got.“Avelina,” Selene whispered in my mind. “From here on, I'm limited on how much I can help you, my child. As soon as you truly confront him, you're on your own, I cannot interfere.”“Selene… What should I do? How do I… win this?”“Avelina… There are no true winners tonight. You live, as do your mates. But sacrifices will have to be made before the night is over.”“What sacrifices?”“Your lover will have to make a choice, Avelina. A choice that will cut him deeply for the rest of his life.”“O
4 hours until the moon is fullAVAI woke up freezing cold and wet. At some point whilst I was unconscious, someone had pulled clothes on me, so at least I wasn’t naked.I could hear Elijah talking to someone near me, and decided that my best chance of survival was to pretend to still be asleep.“Artemis, are you okay?”She didn’t respond.“Artemis!” I shouted in my mind.Fuck, why can’t I talk to Artemis?I heard footsteps walking towards me, and felt someone kneel by my side, just before fingertips stroked my cheek. “Soon, my dear, you will be mine,” Elijah drawled. His fingers moved to my neck, scratching the three marks on my neck. “These will be gone, and you’ll be bonded to me. I will control you. Together, we’ll rule Eclipse Mountain. We will reinstate the old ways, where the Lycans hunt werewolves without retribution. Together, we’ll remake the world.”I fought to stay still, to keep my body limp and my breathing even, even though his touch made me want to be violently sick.
OSCAR“Selene said I’d know when to go to Ava, that time is now, Callum. We need to move.”“She said the same to me, Oscar. I don’t think it’s time yet.”I stared at him.Then it clicked.“Our times are different,” I whispered. “Maybe I’m meant to go now and I go straight to Ava, but you come later? What did your prophecy say?”His mouth fell open like he’d just had an epiphany. “I take the long road. I must have to deal with the rogues. ‘Her protector walks the weary road, bearing the weight of the heavy load… with every step, a challenge new, obstacles that block his view.’” He met my eyes, his still wide. “I know what I need to do. You go straight to Ava. You are her strength, you help her keep going, no matter what he puts her through.”“What do you do?”“I take out his army.”My mouth fell open.“‘And when the final hour draws near, when all is lost and ruled by fear, he’ll rise above, through blood and flame, to save her soul, to speak her name.’”Fuck, that meant we had to spli
3 hours until the moon is fullAVAI came around on the wet ground. Apparently Elijah had knocked me out again. My body was in agony, I still couldn’t talk to Artemis and I had no idea what any of my kings were doing.“What the Moon Goddess doesn’t want is inconsequential, Avelina,” Elijah smirked. Oh how I wanted to punch his stupid face.“The Moon Goddess gives us all our mate bonds, Elijah, she can break them too.”There was another massive thunder clap, as if Selene herself was helping me illustrate my point.“Where are we?” I growled. “We haven’t gone far, my dear.” He stroked one finger down my face, sending shivers, and not the good kind, down my spine.His hand moved back to my neck, tilting my head to the side, his fingers lingering around my mating spot. “Maybe I should just mark you now?” he murmured, stroking my skin. “You can’t mark her yet, my King,” the doctor from earlier moaned as he spoke.“It won’t stick, she… she’s not your mate.”Elijah stomped towards him and b
AVAI wasn’t looking forward to this conversation with Oscar.I knew what the endgame for the night was.Somehow, at midnight, I needed to (eww) be in front of Elijah letting him sink his disgusting teeth into my neck. At the same time, I now knew that Artemis needed to still be unconscious, so the mark from Elijah doesn’t stick.But I also need to somehow sneak up on him but not have him catch me whilst Artemis is unconscious… this was starting to feel impossible.“We need to find him, we need to know where he is going to be at midnight and make sure we’re there. I need to be there the second the moon is at its peak.”I paused, searching Oscar’s eyes. “I… he…” I let my eyes fall closed. Oscar wasn’t going to like this bit. “He has to think he’s going to win. He has to think he’s going to get… me.”What I wasn’t going to tell him… is that Elijah has to actually bite me for this to work. The concept made me feel sick to my stomach, but it was true. His teeth actually need to sink into
One hour until the moon is fullNOAHAn hour before the moon peaks and the pack was chaotic. All night, Beta Alex and I had been turning the pack territory upside down, digging out weapons, traps, all kinds of random stuff we’d not even realised that we still had after the last major battle a decade ago.Anyone who could fight was ready to do so, with newer and weaker fighters backed up by more experienced members in the areas that were best protected naturally.We’d moved pups, pregnant women, the elderly, unwell and anyone else who couldn’t fight into the safe rooms earlier in the day since we had no idea when the attack would actually come. Now… we just waited… for the attack to come.Rogues were lining up all around the border close to the trap that Ava and Jeremiah had concocted, so we’d placed a good chunk of our forces there, with the remainder spread out around the rest of the border to go after the stragglers.I’d tried to reach Ava a few times over the last hour… I couldn’t
MidnightNOAHI was in the middle of a battle when it happened. When I felt it.When I felt my mate being ripped away from me.My knees buckled and my body forced me to shift back to human form as a shooting pain shot through my body starting from my heart. I lay on my side, and I could feel myself shaking in agony.“Noah!” I heard someone calling, but they seemed far away. “Noah, fuck!”A face appeared leaning over me. Alex.“Noah, can you stand?” He was checking my body for signs of injuries that would explain my collapse, but didn’t find any.I shook my head, my breathing heavy.Alex’s arm wound around my waist, helping pull me up to stand. He motioned for someone to help, one of the warriors.The pain eased off and I was able to take some of my own weight, but that didn’t last long. Another sharp pain shot through my body, bringing me back to my knees. When I woke up, I was in the hospital.OSCARI knew he was going to bite her, but nothing at all could have prepared me for the a
ALEXA battle still raged throughout the pack territory.We weren’t entirely sure what was happening out in the big, bad world, we just knew that it wasn’t good. After he collapsed, we’d taken Noah to the pack hospital. He had been screaming, truly screaming in pain, crying about Ava, but not able to tell us what happened.The awful thing is… how he was reacting reminded me of something horrible.Fifteen years ago, I lost my wife. My fated mate. The mother of my boys.The only reason I got through it was my boys.There’s a reason a lot of wolves lose themselves, their minds and often their lives after their mate dies. Our mates are the other half of us. If you lose them, well. It’s like you are being torn apart from the inside out and your soul is being ripped out. It’s like your very being is being destroyed.You had to find something to live for to be able to carry on living.If Noah was in this much pain… something happened to Ava. Which meant my boys would also be in this much pa
AVAThree days after the coronation, my Kings and I went to one of the Crown’s countryside properties to celebrate on our own. It was needed. With everything that happened in between us arresting Elijah and the coronation itself, we all needed to just unwind for a little while.We spent five perfect days enjoying each other’s company, swimming, relaxing by the lake, and just celebrating everything in our own way.We’d been through a lot in the last six months, and it was time we took the time to reflect, celebrate, and breathe a sigh of relief.The following weeks and months after we came back were chaotic.Of course, we had brief glimmers of normalcy when Theo and Oscar turned 18. We had to have a ball that the Kingdom could attend, but after, we hosted a party just for family and friends, and I spoiled the two of them rotten.My 18th birthday followed six weeks after theirs, and after the huge fuss that was my birthday for the Kingdo
Three weeks laterAVAThe three weeks following Elijah’s arrest were chaotic. The police had their work cut out for them, as did the courts. In the end, Elijah was sentenced to death for crimes against the Crown, as were some of Elijah and Matthew’s closest and most dedicated cronies.As for the rest of them, they were locked up, and most of them would stay in prison for a very long time. A few were genuinely forced to cooperate by Elijah, and so had to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation programme to make sure no traces of his influence remained.I even succeeded in charging Minister Byron for encouraging the breaking of laws that were fundamental to the safety of millions of women and girls. He’d spend the rest of his life locked up too.
AVAWe had a time and we had a place. A time and a place that as far as we knew, Paula believed to be correct. Of course, we weren’t going to put all of our eggs in one basket, I didn’t trust her that much after everything she’s done, but… we had to try.We moved kids, the elderly and anyone else who couldn’t fight, including my parents straight to the safe room as soon as we finished talking through a plan. I couldn’t risk it any longer. I needed them safe.I needed my mum safe. Since it reduced the chances of me trading myself for her, everyone else was on board with that plan too. I assigned four members of my Queen’s guard to look after the safe room, and Jacob had assigned another six of his own warriors.
AVAThe whole thing with Paula… was a shock, and it wasn’t a shock I really knew what to do with. I'd known and loved this woman for a long time; she was key in helping me feel at home here, or, at least I believed she was.And now, to find out she betrayed me, my family and everything we stand for? No. That was a fact neither Artemis or I really knew what to do with. We needed closure, but how do you get closure when someone has maliciously tried to stop you ever having children of your own?I hardly slept that night. I just kept remembering my mum's face as she sobbed on the floor and the look of utter disgust that my dad gave Paula.The morning after, I got a frantic link from Alex. Far too early in the morning for problems to be coming up.
AVAMy stress levels were still through the roof the next morning. We had an appointment with the doctor to talk about the chemicals that he’d found in my bloodstream, to see if we could work out what the long term effects might be.My four Kings made a point of truly worshipping my body… but it didn’t help, not really. No amount of explosive orgasms was going to distract me for that long.When we reached the hospital, it was crystal clear from the doctor’s face that it wasn’t good news.Once we’d all sat down and exchanged pleasantries, he ran off a list of chemicals and compounds that were used to make this poison that was in my blood. It was a long list.“We have people running simulations, my Queen, a
AVAProblems are like buses.For a while, everything is all hunky dory and there are no problems for anyone to worry about (apart from Paula being MIA, which she now had been for a week). But they are like buses. So after a period of calm… three come at once.We were woken up in the middle of the night by an emergency alert across the pack. Rogues.“Ava, you need to get to the safe room,” Jacob insisted. “They’re here for you, you know that.”“I’m not hiding, Jacob,” I replied as I ran around pulling shorts and a t-shirt on, before sprinting out of the room with my Kings behind me, the six members of my Queen’s Guard who were on duty quickly catching up. The other six were out look
CALLUM“Paula. Paula let Matthew out,” I growled. “Ava trusts her.”“I know,” dad replied, his voice pained as he winced under the weight of my aura. Realising that… I forced Ares to tone it back, but he was not calm, and he really wanted me to know that.“We need to talk to Ava’s parents.” Noah sounded just as pissed as I felt.I nodded. “You’re right. They’re close to Paula too.” I linked Jeremiah and then Ava’s parents, bringing them all to Jacob’s office as quickly as possible.
AVAThe next morning, I made a point of distracting myself from as many problems as I could. I went for a run with Alex, swam in the lake with my Kings, and made cookies with Paula.I needed to clear my mind of nonsense to give myself a chance to solve some of the pressing questions that were floating around my mind. What better way to solve a problem than to not think about the problem?It was shortly after the cookies went in the oven that I realised something. Something… big.Why wasn’t I pregnant?I had been having a lot of sex, unprotected sex, with four men for months. I had my usual monthly cycles, and everything seemed normal. But sure
AVAWe all needed to unwind with the party, but of course, we were still caught up in the middle of an absolute shitfest, so the happiness and chill-vibes were never going to last forever.I sat at the desk in my office, staring at the map of the Kingdom I had pinned to my whiteboard. My Kings, Jacob, Alex and Jeremiah were all with me, and we had extra guards on both my office and the packhouse door. I refused to get caught short again.Jeremiah and Alex between them were marking all the locations where there had been known rogue attacks and where there had been encounters with either Matthew or Elijah over the last few months so we could try to work out where either of them would be hiding. Was it going well? No.