I took a bite of my apple as I examined Tiffany's new shoulder accessory. I smirked, observing Tiffany’s calm demeanor today. Nathan was much more at ease as well that he had left his imprint on her collarbone."Well, now I know why you two were conspicuously absent last night," I said, trying to break their flirting moment.Tiffany grinned at me, unapologetic. "We made it longer than you two did, and Nathan has told me that he loves my lingerie collection."Nathan leaned in close to her ears. "Ah, but they're much more beautiful when they're on your body."His whisper was soft, but our hearing was sharp, and we were close right here with them.Chloe shook her head, slightly disgusted, and said, "Okay, you two, not at the breakfast table, please."They both smiled at Chloe before returning their attention to the drool-worthy breakfast meal but still serving each other and finding ways to flirt. I shook my head and can’t complain for Nix and I have done those things absentmindedly duri
My head shot up an hour later when I smelled a strong and odd scent from the west. I mindlinked Ruby, "West… Watch the forest to the West! Something is approaching, and it isn't ours!"I know that Ruby was aware of it too but I couldn’t help but communicate everything that I sense. Now that they were close enough, I could detect the attackers. At least a hundred people were approaching, and none of them belonged to our Starblood pack.Over the last hour, all of the fighters had gone silent, leaving the safe house fighters nervous and on edge. Those who went to scout also went silent as soon as they encountered the enemy. The strangest thing was that they were all still alive. We didn’t sense any deaths among our pack members.This was the closest safe house to the approaching group, and they were clearly on their way here. As the attackers appeared along with the town in both wolf and human forms, I sensed our fighters becoming agitated and uneasy.They advanced slowly until the fight
As we both watched the invading group hauling unconscious people to various locations along the town's main street, I silently dropped onto the branch beside Raphal."I've never seen anything like this before," Raphal murmured softly."I couldn't remember anything like this before. Ambush by using herbs and tranquilizer, their objective is unknown," I replied quietly. "Do you see how they're splitting up the groups by gender, age, and fighting ability?"He hummed softly. "Yes, those three Enforcers are heavily bound and separated as well.""Yeah, don't remind me," I mumbled, trying to observe Nix in his unconscious state. "If it hadn't been for the fact that I couldn't even lift those chains in either form, I would have probably tried to free them. At the moment, the mate bond is causing me quite a bit of grief."He also gave a faint growl in response to the situation and his frustration with it, saying, "I, too, am somewhat handicapped in this situation. We are not immune to their he
I was high up in a tree, well hidden in the canopy's leaves and branches, watching the massive Alpha below. His eyes were frequently out of focus, indicating that he was mindlinking his people almost constantly. I carefully selected an arrow and took the tiny vial of liquid from a pouch.It was a particularly deadly poison, a concoction of extracts from several lethal plants and snake venom from several different species. Raphal had given it to me, and I had no doubts about its effectiveness. This was the most lethal poison he possessed.It should be able to kill an Alpha in under five minutes. I dripped the thick liquid onto the arrow, coating the arrowhead as well as a portion of the shaft. I carefully nocked the arrow and drew my bow as I focused on the Alpha below. I had previously observed his pacing; he had beaten down a circle in the grass and circled it continuously.I waited for a longer period of awareness while he deliberated on a difficult decision. When he went to relay p
I aimed a poisoned arrow at the milling crowd. Things were falling apart in the attacker's organization, but just as Raphal and I had suspected, there were a couple below who were keeping the original plan, whatever it was, in motion. Raphal's presence was palpable as he moved into position and readied himself.I stepped out from behind the tree and aimed my arrow at the third in command. I quickly transformed into a wolf and crept behind a large log. That guy had been keeping the majority of the attackers in line. He screamed in agony as his hands gripped the arrow lodged in his stomach. As they approached him, their heads turned toward him before spinning in the direction of the treeline.I took a deep breath to boost my confidence. I would have shaken in my boots if I had been wearing them. I must be crazy. What was I thinking when I agreed to this?!I climbed to the top of the log."There!"One of them had noticed me right away. I proudly raised my head before grinning at those wh
"Etheral… Please tell me that you were unaware that you were pregnant when we did all of those risky things. And did you know that you are using a poison which you could inhale?" he said slowly as if he was pretty sure he knew the answer.Of all people to notice, Raphal was the first one to break the surprise. I was filled with chagrin... In Raphal's mind, allowing someone expecting a child to get in the way of any potential harm was right up there with possible death. There was no point in lying because he would pick it up right away. In defeat, I sighed."I realized a few days ago."Raphal's rage grew, and I braced myself for an explosion. When it didn't arrive, I was surprised. His rage had subsided and he was now irritated."I can't believe you didn't tell me before I let you go off on your own. If I had realized that, I would have tied you up and hid you deep in the woods while I took them all out by myself."I grinned, thanking the heavens for my good fortune in today’s fight an
Tony was still chained, and he stood there watching us as the other three men worked on his chains. "Any idea what they were after?" Tony asked the Alpha. "I have never heard of an attacking group simply chaining up Enforcers. They usually try to kill them outright. I am glad I am alive, but it just doesn't make sense to me.""This was actually a pack from far east. Part of their plan was to come here and wipe out our pack and kidnap the women and children to boost their own numbers," Kalil explained. “The main reason why they simply tranquilized everyone down was that they knew there was one person in particular that they were after, but they didn't know who it was yet. They didn't want to endanger the person they had come to see."Tony asked, perplexed, "Who were they after?"He sounded just as perplexed as I was. Why would a pack attack another pack just to kidnap one member? Confusion was present in the minds of everyone else who was listening, with the exception of the two Alphas
I smiled as I saw Raphal give Ruby a rose. He had carefully removed the thorns from the stem. Ruby wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. Raphal could hardly be pried away from Ruby's side, and she was equally smitten with him. In her curiosity, she had agreed to the strange conditions revolving around their first meeting four days ago. Raphal had been really strict with showing how sacred the mate bond and Ruby felt the same way. It’s been a week and they had barely left each other's side. Raphal got accepted in the pack and performed the acceptance ritual yesternight."I simply cannot think of mates better suited for one another, except for us," Nix said as he winked at me.I shook my head with a chuckle. "They are so similar in terms of being ferocious that it could almost scare the whole town. You and I seem to be almost opposites in most things though," I replied thoughtfully.Raphal and Ruby approached us and sat on the padded garden bench across from us.
Nix and I have been keeping an eye on the kids while we are traveling. They are inside a basket so they won’t have to run along in their wolf forms. Nix was the one who carried Garox in the other basket while Mua offered to carry Etheal. Etheal was scared of Mua but overcame her doubt when Mua handled her with care.As a previous rogue and Omega, all of my passive senses were open and sharp. With painted wolves running with us, I doubt that any wild animal or wolf would come closer. I looked to my right and felt Alpha Kalil’s overpowering aura. Even if you are meters away from him, you would instantly back off and avoid confronting him. The Betas and fighters stayed in our pack with reinforcements from Alpha Trevor and Beta Mike in case an ambush would erupt.Nix has been having those darkened eyes from time to time whenever he senses something dubious from afar or a rustling sound within the forest. It’s always like this whenever we travel. And I am starting to regret taking the kids
Nix and I tried to smell the air once more; testing if there was an odd scent closing to us. But then the scent was gone. I mindlinked Nix and he said that maybe it’s nothing. I believed him and was about to take a seat with our kids around the table until we heard a sudden knock. It was a heavy one knock like throwing a stone onto the door.“Mom? Dad?” Garox called over our mindlink. “Someone’s at the door…”Etheal blinked, puzzled by our reaction. “Should I open it?” Etheal asked, unaware that we couldn’t smell that person knocking.“No, don’t…” Nix warned.As I slowly stood up, Nix held my hand. Nix mindlinked me privately that he’ll open it with me. I smiled and nodded. Nix and I walked carefully towards the door and once we reached the knob, we slightly opened it and crane our necks to see who it was.The person who knocked furrowed her brows at us and crossed her arms in annoyance.“Mua!?” I exclaimed. “Goodness, welcome back!”Nix let out a chuckle, relieved to know that the od
5 years later.“Nix… Nix! NIX!” I hollered his name, trying to wake him up. “I can’t find Garox and Etheal in their room...”Nix faced the other side of the bed and groaned. “Love… it’s the middle of the night.”I scoffed. “Did you hear me? Garox and Etheal are gone!”Even if I yell close to his ears, he wouldn’t wake up so I had to pinch his nose. Seconds later, he felt like drowning in his dream and had to jump awake at me. We hit each other’s forehead and Nix quickly apologize and kiss the spot where it got hurt.“I am fine, Nix, but the kids are not in their room. I knew I heard something come out the door so I had to check them. When I got there, I saw pillows arranged to guise their absence.”Nix groaned because he is still half-awake and gave me squishy hug. He stood and yawned, stretching his body before he says, “Come on.” He then extended his hand to reach mine. “Let’s look for those two.”We started looking for Garox and Etheal inside the house until we decided to go out an
Eventually, Luna Mary told us that the banquet is ready and we should head to the dining hall and continue the conversation with the other pack and tribe members.Nix and I walked behind them when Nix suddenly mindlinked me. “How about we skip the celebration and dine inside our room instead? I am certain that you won’t like the noise and strong smell of beer.”I had to give him a skeptical look. “And why would we skip this? They will be leaving early tomorrow. And I will never miss this chance to witness the painted wolves celebrate with our pack.” I raised a brow at him. “Besides, who said that I will hate the noise and smell of beer? You are out of excuses, aren’t you?”Nix grinned and shook in disbelief. “Alright, you win.”That made me smirk and then give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t frown, love, it’s a jovial celebration.”***We enjoyed the stories and how open the painted wolves have become. Two of them are in their wolf form since they have just arrived here and not
Nix mindlinked me that the ambush of feral wolves failed. They weren’t able to infiltrate the pack borders because painted wolves have killed the feral wolves before they got close. He also told me that one painted wolf was injured but his wound quickly healed on its own since it’s just a wolf scratch.Later on, Evan announced over the pack wide mindlink that we can go back to the town and respective houses as they have confirmed that we are safe. After a while, Luna Mary has called all the cooks to go back to the kitchen and prepare for the welcome feast and victory celebration.Nix told me that I must go back to our room and wait for him. He emphasized that I shouldn’t stray or leave the room unless I am with him. But I am also a cook, I have a duty to fulfill. So, I followed the cooks to the large kitchen and helped them.“I am glad that we were able to survive this night,” Sylvia said out loud so the other cooks would hear it while grabbing the clean plates out of the cabinet. Eve
Nix’s POVAlpha Kalil sent a messenger to Alpha Trevor and Beta Mike, requesting for reinforcements. We have sent fighters on every side of our pack borders. There are fighters guarding the town and the safe houses. Ruby was designated to guard the town but I had to mindlink her to guard the first safe house to ensure that Etheral stayed inside. Ruby was kind enough to obey my order since I already sent a fighter to replace her spot.“Etheral?” I mindlinked her since I can feel her apprehension flowing through the mate bond. “How are you?”“Ruby is with me right now; some pack members will be sleeping in their own house as it is close to the safe house. Majority are cramping here on the first safe house. The other safe houses are fully occupied as well.”I heaved out a relieved sigh. “And you? Are you safe?”“Nix, I am. I am going to send you an image of Ruby.” Etheral sent an image of Ruby’s cold and stone face. “I am safe.”“Good. These feral wolves aren’t coming out yet. It’s getti
Once I woke up, Nix wasn’t on my side. He must’ve gone to patrol the pack borders or help Alpha Kalil. Since I reek of Nix’s scent, although his smell is quite comforting, I still need to go to the bathroom and take a shower before going downstairs. I went to find Ruby but she was on duty while Tiffany is nowhere to be found, she must be shopping right now.After a while, I decided to look for something to eat in the dining hall. And there I saw some of the painted wolves. I was about to sense their inner emotions out of habit but decided to withdraw my senses from touching their minds or else, they might take it as a provocative action. Talking to them might be the easiest and only way to understand them.One of the painted wolves I can name is Mua; she is currently busy grabbing food. “Hi,” I said, approaching a little closer. “Mua, right?”Mua gave me a quick glance before returning to her silver tray. “Aye. Good day to you,” she replied.“Thank you. Good day to you as well. I am E
Nix was surprisingly early today and quickly dragged me out of the room. Tiffany greeted us once we went downstairs and handed me a handkerchief. I said I don’t want to wear a blindfold but Nix insisted that it wouldn’t be a surprise without it.Obviously, I couldn’t see where we are going, but I used my senses to smell the surroundings. Cheating but I dislike the suspense I am feeling. In the first few minutes of our walk, I smelled the scent of some pack members busy in town and heard a lot of noise. Then that noise faded and the smell was replaced with forest and mushrooms. Nix and Tiffany weren’t answering my questions and they simply guided me on what I am stepping on. I tried to reach Nix’s surface emotions and I can sense his excitement with a tone of protectiveness still. I didn’t want to ruin his mood so I try to act as unaware as possible.Slowly, I can smell the faint scent of Ruby, next to her are Raphal and Nathan.“We are here,” Tiffany said, holding back her anticipatio
Mua and Ren stayed beside Alpha Arva’s side while Kyi, Pau, Koe, and Lea dine with us. Koe and Kyi are basically twins and Lea and Pau are mated with each other. Everyone in the dining hall seems surprised to see the tribe staying in our pack territory for a while. My Omega senses are open and have been receiving positive emotions from the pack, some are in doubt and fear but most were fascinated by their human form. This is the first time I have seen them in their human form too. When in human form, they seem approachable and innocuous. Painted wolves rarely shift forms on land, only when sailing that their human forms took over. That is to keep the enemies at bay.I had a dream of joining their expedition once when I was young and fond of reading history books but history says that only their tribe member could accompany them in voyaging the vast ocean. I even believed that they own the ocean.“I assume that Ren is the Alpha’s mate?” Nix asked, still irritated by the presence of pai