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Chapter 60
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Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 61
PerrinThe hours seemed to pass faster than either of us wanted them to.The sunrise had greeted us as she let me worship her body, breaking through the windows as she exploded into pieces the last time. Since then, Lo had fallen asleep. She now slept soundly, tucked in my arm, her breath light and warm on my chest as she dozed. I stroked her hair, caught in my own state of blissful reverie before we broke the spell around us.A baby. Goddess. Lo was pregnant.It was a blessing. A surprise, of course, but a welcome one. Given my history with Jesamine, I had never let myself ponder the idea of having a family of my own. Adopted? Maybe. But Jesamine had put the brakes on that before the wheels ever started to turn. Goddess, that seemed like such a long time ago.But seeing Lo again this past year. Getting to know her. Falling in love with her? It had been easier than falling asleep; slowly, then, before I knew it: all at once.I could sense it now, even swear I could hear the heartbeat
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 62
Chapter 62PerrinTwelve years ago“Perrin? PERRIN!” My dad’s voice carried harshly through the hallway of the Beta Suite. “Perrin sweetie, are you here?” My mother’s voice carried more smoothly through the foyer on the heel of my father’s. Her words, however, had sounded sad.“Here mommy!” I leapt up from where Ethan and I had been playing on the floor of his bedroom. “Can I meet him?” I shouted through the hallway, running to meet her. “I can’t wait!” I remember my voice practically squealing at the thought of becoming a big brother. But seeing him? Mommy told me he’d have a squishy face and be all red but I didn’t care. He was my brother.But I rounded the corner, and, based on what I found, I skidded to a halt. Ethan, hot on my heels and also eager to meet Jamie, bumped into me and almost knocked me over.Mommy was sitting in a wheelchair, Dad behind her with his hands on the back, steering her inside the doorway. She was wearing a long loose dress. Her hair was unwashed and lim
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 63
PerrinPresent DayIt had taken me several years to understand what had happened that night. To understand what my parents endured, saying goodbye before his life had even begun, and burying my sibling out by the temple. I wished that I had been there, or had at least seen his face one time. I’ve spent years imagining what he would look like, haunted by the unknown. Would he look more like my mother? My father? Would he have looked like me? Nobody had talked about it back then. Mistra and Kyle had told Ethan not to say anything to me, so we didn’t talk about it either.One one hand, I felt a little grateful that I had never known him. It would have been horrible to have him taken away after I had grown to know him and love him. But the problem is that I had loved him. Loved him before I knew him. Loved him as a big brother should. And while I mourned as a child for the baby brother I never had, I mourned now with a deeper understanding of what it all meant. A parent should never b
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 64
Perrin“We need food,” she had said, after an hour or so lounging in silence. She was right. Of course, Lo was always right… especially when it came to food. We ordered room service, too consumed by the onslaught of emotions we had shared over the last few hours. About twenty minutes later, Dina brought up an overwhelming breakfast tray, filled with everything we could dream of. Steaming eggs. Bacon. Waffles. Strawberries and blueberries and toast with fresh jam. And the largest van of steaming coffee I had ever seen. Accompanied by a large carton of cream, of course. Chilled in a pitcher on ice, crisp and cold, just like Lo liked it.“Decaf, Perrin?” Dina grinned at me with a questioning smile. “Too much natural adrenaline, eh?”I grinned back, happy to be the excuse Lo needed as she was only going to be able to drink decaf until she gave birth. Dina’s all-too-knowing wink at me and my bare chest was all the embarrassment I could handle at the moment, however.Lo practically squeale
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 65
PerrinCharlie drove us to the infirmary. I shared a knowing look with Lo at the thought of what may happen if the two of us were left alone with a car again. For some reason, Charlie smirked at me as we slid in the backseat. He couldn’t know, could he? Lo agreed to come with me before meeting with Jennivah, insisting that her encounter with Jesamine had been brief, if not hijacked, by Justin. We had discussed it, and in addition to getting an appointment with Jennivah to ensure everything was progressing smoothly, we knew it would be important for Jesamine to be aware of ours news before anyone else. Not that she had a right to it, but given the modern family that would result, it was the right thing to do. We had wanted to tell my father. Deidre, Ethan and Kira and Gia–but when we had talked about telling her mother, Lo became dismissive. Not that I could blame her. Her mother had gotten engaged, let alone engaged to an Alpha. What that said about her childhood and the relationshi
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 66
PerrinJesamine and I don’t speak for the duration of our walk. She’s cold and brooding and I’m as lost in my own thoughts as she is.I still can’t get over what Lo did. What she actually offered. Did she understand that she had essentially written Jesamine a blank check for the future of this pack? Our family?The hour is over faster than I realize. I escort Jesamine back to her room, and she sits without a word, removing her shoes and rubbing her feet.“We’re going to have to make some decisions soon,” I say to her, unsure if she’s even hearing me. “You heard her. We have one week.”“You can force her hand. Give us more time.” She says is so casually, but it hits me like a ton of bricks. Us. I stutter, aghast that it’s the first time she’s actually referred to us in a joint way since the conception. ‘Us.’ As is, we. The parents. Both of us. Together.But I know that even one week is generous. Lo’s condition, like most secrets, will come out eventually, and likely sooner than we expe
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 67
Kira I really didn’t want to go this morning. Not because I had anything to hide. I didn’t. I haven’t drank since the incident at the infirmary, but Goddess knows I didn’t want to talk about that. Fuck. Just thinking about last night makes my blood boil. I had gone to fucking apologize. And I had no idea how that had happened. He had been… almost… almost sweet. He covered for me with Perrin when I was crying in the car. Had been a perfect gentleman. He had even wiped my tears… he’d been some combination of friend and… and… And what? No. Nothing. It must have been all in my head. Maybe I was still hungover. Fuck. And then I showed up like some desperate, crazy psycho girl outside of the Archives in the middle of the night and seeking what… approval and forgiveness for something that I didn’t do? No. This was all insane. I should never have gone. Besides, I walked in on whatever type of booty call he was conducting in the archives. Fuck. If Mark or Marge got wind that he was entert
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 68
LoThe old church building looms high above me. I can’t wait to get inside. The stained glass is already gleaming from the afternoon sun and I can practically picture the glow inside the stone walls.I let myself in and approached the circulation desk. Like usual, nobody seems to be here. I ring the bell on the counter, its soft tinkling sound echoing throughout the main lobby area. “Marge?” I call tentatively. “Are you here?”I hear a small cough of exclamation, and a few moments later, Marge emerges. I’ve only been gone a few weeks, but to my dismay she seems older somehow. She walks with a cane, more hunched over than before; whether from aches or the physical loss of Alby, I don’t know. But she gets to the desk and beams at me, the lines in her face creasing deeply as she does so.“Luna Select!” She says warmly, her eyes bulging like a bug behind her thick lenses. She adjusts her glasses.“Hello Marge,” I say, “but please. We don’t need to bother with that. Please call me Lo.”“Le
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Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 160
Deidre“How about this?”Mistra shakes her head, the pink dress I’m holding not doing it for her. Of course it wouldn’t. Mistra only wears dark and… darker. Except for the day she came back from vacation. From ‘visiting her son.’ Here. In Texas.“How about this?” This dress is darker, with a slit up to the thigh that should make any she-wolf her age think twice.“Too revealing,” she dismisses it. The hangers clank loudly on the rack as she disapproves of yet another rack of options.“Mistra?” The clacking plastic stills in response. “You wore pink when you came back from Texas. You think I didn’t notice?”A considering pause follows, then, “I was in a different mood, then.”“Oh?”“Yes. It was… the fresh air.”“So logic would dictate the color would suit you now as well, wouldn’t it?”Another pause. “I suppose.”I thrust my arms around the corner of the clothing rack, holding the original pink once again. She grabs it reluctantly and holds it up to her chin in front of a full-length mi
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 159
Perrin The sound of my camera phone clicks and I don’t bother checking it before sending it to Lo. Then I switch shirts, and send another. PERRIN: Blue or green? LO: Either. They each bring out one of your eyes. LO: Goddess you look good. Before I can type a response, a video call from Lo pops up on the screen. I can tell based on the angle of the camera that she’s propped me up against a glass on Dina’s counter in the kitchen. “Hey there, beautiful.” Beautiful doesn’t do her justice, even mid-meal. Her eyes are bright and full of laughter, as if she’d just been joking with Dina. She munches on a carrot stick, grinning. “You know it’s not fair for you to just send me pictures like that.” She lowers her voice. “When you know I really want the other kind of picture.” I laugh, angling the camera so she can see my bare chest. “Gross,” I hear a mutter somewhere off-camera. “I’m not going to be attacked while I’m having lunch, Jack. You can be excused for ten.” “Thank Goddess.” Ja
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 158
Deidre “Fontaine?” I flick through my mental list of scholars. Nothing registers. “Well, if he’s not a medical scientist or researcher, I probably wouldn’t have heard of him.” Mark grunts, throwing his phone down next to his lunch plate. “I’ve got nothing. The internet is supposed to be helpful. All I have are a bunch of university papers and a bunch of research I can’t make heads or tales of.” “Ah yes. My husband’s Beta, ever the academic,” I smile over the brim of my cup. “Quit it,” Jason growls, absorbed in his own phone screen. “Janas is keeping tabs on him, but other than going back to the infirmary, he hasn’t done much apart from call a taxi to take him to a restaurant.” Mark blinks. “A restaurant?” “Yes,” I quip. “The social environment in which people elect to eat and enjoy one another’s company–not that you’ve been to one in the last ten years.” “Seriously?” Jason snaps, head swiveling between Mark and I. “This is the last thing we need.” “A restaurant is not a securit
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 157
Kira The tour was incredibly boring. Ben was professional and polite, wandering at a pace that Lo could keep up with, without getting breathless and being able to contribute to the conversation. It annoyed me how courteous he was. Jack spent most of the tour looking around inconspicuously for all of the cameras, finding their hidden reflective lenses in the niches of wood and leather around the Archives. From what I could tell, he’d found twenty-six of thirty. A flashing, toothy smile catches on another camera. Fine. Twenty-seven. They were just making the far side of the stacks, near the stairway that led down to the pack Archives, when Sirius became incredibly more interested. “And what are these?” He asked pointedly, looking at the stairs and the ropes that separated them off from prying visitors. “Ah. The Royal Archives of the Aperture Pack,” Ben said admiringly. “Home of our pack lineage, royal birth and marriage documents, copies of temple ceremony proceedings, and histori
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 156
Kira I watched through the screen as Lo’s baby bump proceeded the rest of her into the frame, extending her hand to greet Ben’s. It was more formal than I’d ever seen either of them interact; but I recognized the show. It was all about appearances. Impressing this scholar. A moment later Sirius eased into the frame, his height nearly blocking out all of Lo except her belly, his own graceful hand extending to capture Ben’s as they exchanged greetings. “Good morning, Professor–?” Ben opened warmly. Smooth. And good. Since I still had no idea what this guy’s last name has to do a thorough background check. I looked at my legal pad, tapping my pen on the blank page. Mark was clear with his instructions, and so far I wasn’t doing very well. “Oh! Just Sirius, please. No need for formalities.” Lo stepped out from behind Sirius, her face beaming with that pregnant glow of hers, despite the gray-scale of the monitor. “Sirius, this is Benjamin, the scholar and historian I was telling you
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 155
Kira Janas walked me through my controls. Eight screens, two keyboards, something that looked like an old-school joystick, and enough cords and plugs to cover the majority of the Luna’s office. I wondered what she’d think of it now; it’s usually pristine surfaces now covered in a jungle of electrical equipment. “Got that?” Janas said for nearly the seventh time. “Yes,” I muttered, sitting down in the seat behind the Luna’s desk. It was the last place I ever thought I’d sit, and shifted uneasily as I put down my crutches. The ruse was still necessary in case anyone came in here with Cynthia while I was working. I had felt the glances as Janas wheeled me in this afternoon, crutches across my lap as we passed the busy lobby of the pack house. Many offered greetings and wishes for a speedy recovery, all genuine. It made my back stiffen at the deception. I made a mental note to talk to Perrin about just how different his legacy was going to be from his father’s… and despite my own sel
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 154
BenMy alarm goes off, and I don’t even want to reach for my phone.It’d be great to stop the two-day hangover that plagues me. But something else entirely when I’ll look at my screen and realize Kira hasn’t called me back. Or texted.Not like she would.I roll over, swatting blindly at my bedside table until my phone drops onto the floor, vibrating and jittering across the cheap carpet like some strange bug.I test my eyes, flickering them open against my ceiling.Well. At least my hangover is gone today. I exhale. I’d rather have the pain of that hangover instead of the anger I feel at myself. Not just anger.Shame. Annoyance.And the worst part? The self-pity.I’ve drowned in the feelings of the last few days, addicted to the self-sabotage of not eating, not consuming anything and not trusting myself. I’ve been sober for years. And doing this now? Giving into temptation? I want to blame my thesis. My stupid failed research. I want to just burn all of it to Hell and back. But gnawi
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 153
Perrin“Holy shit.”Mark softly whistles behind me, unnerved at the site of it as we drive in. The Chiyad training facilities is enormous. No. gigantic. Whichever one is bigger.“This is where Ethan’s been training,” I say unnecessarily, awed at the outside of it. I wondered if Ethan could escape being the favorite for the Beta championship by just having access to state-of-the-art facilities. Mark doesn’t answer, but drives to a series of parking spots on the side of the building. “I know Ethan’s been working hard,” I go on as we get out of the car. “And Justin had only mentioned they were working on getting their facility renovation underway. Is this the before or after? They couldn’t have done all of this in just a few months.”Mark’s neck cranes to look up the side of the building. “I don’t know.”We walk into the large side entrance, automatic doors whooshing in around us with crisp, air-conditioned coolness. I blink twice as a discreet whirring sounds, a scanning of our bodies
Chosen Mates, Stolen Fates Chapter 152
KiraI set the phone down on the bedside table, pulling my blankets over me at the chill that had nothing to do with the temperature of my room.What the hell?But I couldn’t help but smirk. My gut instinct about the visiting wolf hadn’t been totally off. Something hadn’t been right about Sirius. Not wrong, per se… but definitely not normal. Were all European wolves that way? And how Mark had discovered our pack had a visitor less than twelve hours after they’d left? I didn’t know. Some type of Beta secret perhaps. He’d tell me in time. I was beginning to realize just how much I had to learn.I frowned, knowing Royhill would likely come pick me up in the morning. I stared at the clock. It was way past my bedtime. Not that I cared. I scratched at the stupid fake brace on my leg.On the positive side, apparently hiding away in the Luna’s office was going to be exactly what I was up to, the joke made earlier to Jesamine in jest or not. And sooner than I had anticipated; Naineeve was her
