Ash
She was late. She’s never late.
He felt nervous and from the fidgeting Leo was doing, so was he. Oliver was scrolling through his phone, probably reading some article or doing research for something, but even he had a frown creasing his brow. That was the most he would do to show his discomfort to those who knew him; he was a master at a deadpan expression.
Glancing at his watch, he noticed she was ten minutes late. Well, not late, but later than usual. They were usually at school pretty early, but she hadn’t shown up yet.
Alpha AnsonFor the past three weeks, he and Tom had started working on righting everything that Ember had given them information on. They had first opened the second hand brand name and vintage store in the city, calling it Treasured Elegance, and it was making a killing.They had more than enough stock to start with and soon people came in with the certified brand name items and vintage clothes and shoes that they had no use for. The grand opening had been a resounding success and they had made a few thousand in the first couple of hours alone.They had a team of four working under Jade’s lead and she was
EmberWaking up, she felt strange, she felt claustrophobic, like the room she was in was too small. She realized she seemed to be in a pack hospital room, but she didn’t know this hospital. She could hear wolves walking around outside and the faint mutter of voices. She knew this was a pack hospital, since it was much more up to date than the one at River Ash and any she had seen off pack grounds.The lighting seemed too bright, but she was sure the migraine had made her eyes and ears extra sensitive. Sitting up, she found an IV in her arm and she frowned at it with confusion, the bag at the other end of the IV was empty.
AshThey had finally gone home late the previous night when Dr. Victor had informed them that she was stable, but that they would need to run some tests when she woke, since he had no idea what was happening to her.He was up early to visit her, knowing that she wouldn’t know where she was when she woke up. And if he knew anything about Ember from watching her these last few weeks, he knew that she needed to be in control of her surroundings.He understood it was her way to feel like she had some control in this world after everything she had been put through and he knew she would be scared when she woke up
EmberThe trio’s teasing was making her so angry, but for some reason she was doubly angry. As if there was another entity being angry with her, especially when Leo said she’d be an adorable puppy the size of a handbag dog. It always angered her when he called her tiny or small, but this time it was downright insulting!At that moment there was a sudden surge of rage that tore through her and shot out to every small cell in her body and she would have screamed at the sudden and overpowering agony that shot through her, but it was over so fast that all she could do was just lie there panting at the sudden release from pain and how entirely exhausted she was.
AshWhile he stood guard in front of the shed for Ember, he had a discussion with Blaze, since he knew that if Ember was his mate, he would’ve felt it before she turned.“Why did you hide it from me? You knew she was ours from the start.” He accused with a feeling of betrayal.“The Goddess asked us to hide it until she shifted. It was meant for her protection.”
BernadetteThis was the worst day of her life!She had been unable to reach her lover from the academy, so she didn’t know how badly the little brat was suffering at the hands of the Bane pack and he hadn’t come around to shower her in gifts and affection. Granted, he had a thing for the schoolgirl play-acting, but she sort of enjoyed it when she could relive her youth with her teachers.So she went for a walk to work off her sexual tension, since her lovers had all but disappeared and she would need to find new ones. It was horrible that her lovers left when she was banished from River Ash, as if the
Leo CooperHe’d always wanted a little sister, but his mother had been unable to have any more pups after he was born. He didn’t know the intricacies of why not and personally he wasn’t sure he wanted to know that much about his mother’s body and his parents’ sex life.All he knew was that he would never have a blood sibling. He’d been feeling like he was missing out on something his whole life. He watched Oliver with his younger sister and Ash with his younger brother who was also in school with them, but made a point of hiding his true identity from the school at large. No one would guess they were brothers since he had signed in under their mother’s maiden name.Rhodes was more of a researcher than anything, though not as geeky as Ember. He was an accomplished fighter like most alpha-born pups, but he wanted anonymity. They often speculated that Rhodes would choose to go into the un
Alpha AnsonHe’d spent the night working through the contract; it was a fairly straight-forward contract aside from the non-disclosure clause that included everything to do with the pack, including the alliance they would share if he signed. That was new and different.What were they hiding from?Tom had been doing research since he’d phoned him the previous day, but he seemed to come up with very little information on the Bane pack. Even with all his contacts, there wasn’t much to find and that both baffled and worried him.His god-daughter was in their pack at this moment, a single human girl; alone. Was she really safe with them? What would they do to her? He didn’t get an overly negative sense or any sense of lies from their alpha, but that didn’t mean much when she was unprotected. Why wouldn’t they let him into their territory to see his child?He had been having a hard t
AshWalking hand in hand into the school the first morning back at the academy, he was amused to see the clear change in the students around them. Ember was still her happy self, chatting away on ideas with Nova and Charlotte. Apparently the three of them had decided to have their own corner in the lab and computer rooms.They had grand plans and he was sure no one was ready for it. Ember had picked up doing her repair videos, since her fan base had requested it. But now Nova and Charlotte would have their own videos on things as well. They took it in shifts now and it seemed like it had become their own side business.It hadn’t taken them long to start doing their videos after they had done an introduction of Charlotte and Nova. The living room in their pack suite now had a recording corner with a green screen behind it, but they kept it to everyday things like toasters, tricks to clean things faster and more effectively and even making your own products.It seemed very popular
LeoHis life was awesome! First he found his baby sis that he always wanted and she was so adorable he could just pinch her cheeks all the time. Alright, there was the horrible part in the middle where she got kidnapped and beaten – he still thought that bastard Balor came off much too easy for everything he’d done – but then when they found her, she had his mate with her!He’s beautiful, amazing, strong and smart mate that was officially his moon and stars! But then his baby sis and best friend go off to complete their mating by getting laid and his baby sis actually bounced him to the ground! Like Tigger!She was all giddy and giggling and happy and…man, his friend had to have some good dick! Saying that to his friend earned him a slap behind the head. But only a half-hearted one, because who could be annoyed when Ember was home and so happy that her smile lit up the room and everyone fell that
AshHe would have never guessed the complete change in his mate during the weekend they spent at the cabin. If he hadn’t experienced it himself, he might not have believed it was possible. But then it could be the heat. Where before she had always been reserved and unsure about her role in his life, she now would just crawl into his lap when she needed affection.And she needed it a lot. He wasn’t complaining at all. It soothed him to know that she now felt safe enough with him that she would at random moments just crawl into his lap, where before she had always tried to keep some distance.He wasn’t sure if it was because of her heat or because she could now sense his emotions. Maybe it was because she was sure of his feelings for the first time. But she wasn’t as reserved as she had been and she was much less prone to shut herself down and focus on something she could do alone.Even the s
Ember*TW: Fun Times ahead, if you’re not interested, you can skip it without missing out on the story line*Everything seemed to happen at once and before she knew it, they were in his car speeding along a road with the airconditioning at full blast on her face. “We’re nearly there, Ember. I know your first heat is the worst, but I’m here with you and you just have to tell me what you want.” He soothed her, while he rested his hand on her thigh.Her skin seemed to sizzle and cool at the same time where he touched her and she craved more of his touch. It felt so good! “He’s ours, girl. Claim him!” Lume insisted when the car suddenly came to a stop.His hand left her thigh and she whined in complaint, but it seemed a moment and a lifetime later, he was reaching for her from the passenger side door. Ember leaned into his arms
AshWhen she’d opened her eyes that morning and just stared into space, he’d thought for sure that she still couldn’t see, because her eyes had a purple tinge to the gray irises he had adored, turning her eyes almost violet.But then she met his gaze and his excitement had caused their room to be crowded with those who loved her. It was during all that celebration that his adorable mate finally understood that she did have a family; she wasn’t an orphan.The day would only get better, since they had a celebratory breakfast and the doctor finally cleared her for light training as long as she continued eating healthily. Thankfully they decided to do pamper treatments without taking her away from him again. In fact, Ember had insisted that she would not be separated from him that day.So she got a fresh manicure and pedicure while they were watching movies; in fact all the females spent the day with them and he would
EmberThe day she is meant to do the marking ceremony with Ash, she wakes to find him leaning over her expectantly like he did every morning since her return, waiting to see if she could see him properly.This morning she could see him clearly; his deep expressive hazel eyes, his unruly hair toppling over onto his brow and that handsome face that she had drooled over the first time her eyes had fallen on him. She was so relieved that she could finally see and so happy to have him back that she started sobbing.“Em-Baby, I’ve got you; it’ll get better…” He soothed, clutching her to his chest like he’d done every morning. She was sure with all her mixed emotions it was difficult for him to sense which one had brought her to tears.Honestly, she was nervous and scared about the marking ceremony, since her last one was still so fresh in her mind. Happy that she was blessed with such a supportive mat
AshDespite the fact that she couldn’t see well yet, she mentioned being able to make out shadows of people in the purple mist by the second day safe and sound in the palace, his amazing mate was helping to search for any information they could use in the trials for the males that currently filled all the cells in the palace dungeons.Ember had written a short program with his assistance of reading the information for her. What he found fascinating was that she knew exactly where the keys were on the keyboard. She pointed out that the F and the J both had a small mark on that one could feel with their fingertips, but it didn’t make it any less amazing that she knew all the keys by heart simply by finding those two keys.Calum and Ilene had also joined the others scouring through paperwork and arranging them according to the information that could be gleaned from them. Cassie was also impressed with the small program she had written that searched for certain key phrases that made the
CharlotteShe was still a little star struck being around so many important wolves. She was from a small pack that worked hard all the time to be seen; not that she was trying half as hard as her father was. Her brother would be taking over from their father when the time came, so she had been informed by her stepmother that they would try to find a good match for her, never once considering that she would want to be with her mate. Her stepmother was working so hard with her father to accomplish his dream to make the pack be seen that they didn’t care about her dreams. And that was why her father hadn’t even known about her creations and personal pass-times. She was amazed to meet the princess who was entirely down to earth if somewhat shy. The way her stepmother had read her demands when she had forced her to get dressed in that horrid pink gown, she would have thought that the royals would be condescending and aloof, but they were acting like normal wolves with normal lives.He
Alpha AnsonWatching his little girl grieving for yet another thing that was taken from her, broke his heart and he wished he could shield her from the pain she was currently feeling. It broke him, knowing that he had been unable to protect her from it all.Calum laid his hand on his shoulder with a look of understanding. “You can’t protect us against everything, Dad.”“I should’ve protected her from this.”“None of us knew who to protect her from, but she’s safe now.” Calum insisted and he nodded, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he should’ve been able to protect her. And what about the future; did they have any guarantees that someone else would not try to take her for her rank in the wolf kingdom and the Bane pack?After a short silence during which no one seemed willing to talk, the king finally cleared his throat. &l