Josh POV
Damn it all to hell.
Yet again, I’d fucked up.
My brother told me not to go. Dad had warned me not to go. And what did I do? Snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to join the battle. I hadn’t even taken my phone. Where did it get me? To the Jade Willow Forest. Almost to the brink of death, twice. To Allie.
Unlike last time, she wasn’t with me when I opened my eyes again. I remembered how worried I was when she disappeared. I remembered the shock and disbelief when she stabbed me. That could never be Allie, and it wasn’t.
I remembered the blast of water as Tatiana knocked the imposter backwards and the boggart’s disgusting face was revealed. Running, swimming, Tatiana, the waterfall, the rocks b
Josh POV I raced over to the cell door just as she appeared in front of it. The relief and worry that hit me simultaneously almost made my knees buckle on the spot. Allie was trying to communicate with her eyes, and I followed her gaze to the guard stationed nearby. She wanted me to be quiet. She approached and held out the breakfast tray, but didn’t release her grip on it. “Did you attack me?” she whispered. What the fuck? The boggart. “No, but a boggart disguised as you stabbed me,” I whispered back. She lowered her eyes and a look of guilt swam on her face that felt like a punch in the gut. “Allie, how could you think I’d do that to you?” “I didn’t want to believe it, but it was so real, Josh,” she said quietly, those
Josh POV We raced outside. There was an eerie, foreboding sense of calm that encircled us. Prisoners had broken free, but now they were outside, they weren’t sure exactly what to do. Several elves charged out behind us, and I clutched Allie by the waist and manoeuvred her out of harm’s way to let them pass. They reached behind the large bushes in the raised flower bed across from us and pulled out handfuls of roughly made spears and began passing them out. “What now?” one of them asked, turning towards Allie and the ginger elf next to us. My eyes scanned the darkness, trying to get my bearings and formulate a plan. The Obsidian elves hadn’t been alerted yet. They’d retired for the evening, leaving only a few lookouts in this section of the village. When we move
Allie POV After the dullahan left, we slowed down and walked. We were all fatigued beyond sense and needed a reprieve. The dullahan had put me on edge. I’d read about them before and Mulberry was right, they were always a bad omen. I wasn’t sure if the others had noticed, but I felt its gaze linger on me longer than them. I wondered whether that meant I was the target. Was it predicting my death? Josh and Mulberry cared about me, but then I cared about them, too. Could it mean one of them would die? I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about it. I couldn’t think about it. Mulberry was like the best friend or sister I’d always wanted, and now that I’d found Josh again… ugh. I knew it was going to end badly. I knew it was going to end with me heartbroken, watc
Allie POV It felt as though we were giants walking through a tiny village. The buildings were unlike anything I’d seen before. All reds and earthy hues and exquisitely built from clay and brick. The level of detail would have taken my breath away, except there wasn’t much left. The tunnel had opened up into a large underground cavern which housed the village, and small waves of claustrophobia nagged at me. I had to take a few deep, steadying breaths to try to stay calm, but they were only delaying the inevitable. There was nothing but earth above us, and the thought of it caving in, along with the ever present potent smell of earth, made me feel ill. My breathing increased, and I felt the familiar flutter of panic. But this time, Josh was right there behind me,
Allie POV “These are giant spiders,” said Gerard. “Even the babies that have just hatched are bigger than the three of you.” Spiders bigger than us? Trapped underground with them? Oh, dear Goddess. I leaned over and checked under the bed and Gerard laughed in a slightly unnerving manner. “Won’t fit under there,” he chuckled. “You three get some rest. You look like you’ve seen better days. There’s a washroom through the back there with spare clothes and anything else you should need. I’ll be back in the morning with breakfast.” “Is it still night, or is it night again?” Mulberry mused out loud.
Josh POV I felt as though my entire body was a dead weight. I’d slept so deeply, I was sure I hadn’t moved once all night long. I may have been on the floor, but it was no worse than the so-called bed in my cell, or the ground I’d been sleeping on for the last few weeks. I heard movement across the room and opened one eye to see Mulberry moving about in the kitchenette. I felt a weight on top of my head and turned to find Allie lying face down in the bed, her hand hanging over the side resting on my head. What the? How did I end up next to her? I’d set myself up in the middle of the living room when I went to bed, and now somehow I’d made it across the room and was right next to Allie. I sat up and tucked he
Josh POV By the time I’d washed up and dressed after breakfast, Allie was awake and eating. Thankfully, I didn’t think she was aware of our closeness during the night. She got embarrassed too easily over stuff like that. It was better that she didn’t know. There was a knock at the door followed by Gerard greeting us and he motioned us to step out into the village. We walked through the small town until we came to the entrance to what looked like a mine. Several gnomes stood eyeing us, holding tools. “The community has agreed to make you weapons as you requested yesterday,” said Gerard, and a flutter of excitement ran through me. If we were going to get out of the forest, we needed a way to defend ourselves. “The only thing we ask for in return is a day’s hard work.”
Allie POV Fear raced through me as I watched the giant spider knock Mulberry to the ground. I ran to her, trying to grab hold under her arms to drag her away, but she pushed me away. Her eyes never left the spider’s. The spider had stopped moving and instead cocked its head, as though it was letting each of its eight eyes inspect her in turn. A flash of movement caught my eye, and Josh charged at us. He held his pickaxe above his head as he came in to strike. I moved out of the way to give him room, but Mulberry screamed at him. She jumped up and pushed him out of the way with all her might. They stumbled and fell, the pickaxe falling from his hands. “What the fuck, Mulberry?” he yelled, waving his arms in ob
Allie POV Six years later… The jade green clouds were high in the sky and the sun shone brightly in Olive’s glade, as my family rained utter chaos on the poor unsuspecting forest. Really. Just pure chaos. But in the most lovely of ways. These picnics started off with just the Tanners, but had eventually expanded to include all four of the Alpha families from the packs bordering the forest, plus our fae friends. Bringing us all together as friends and allies. They quickly escalated into events of epic proportions as each of our young families expanded rapidly. Leo sat with Zac and Zoe’s youngest son in his arms. He was the newest grandchild, and number fifteen in total for the Tanners. Julie held a wriggling blonde toddler who was screaming for snacks. Josh and I named her Bree; he calls her Breezy, but really Stormy would be a more accurate nickname. What could I say? She was a girl who knew what she wanted. Queen Neva and King Roman sat alongside them with their new little pr
Allie POV One month later… My favourite moment had fast become Olivia’s late night feed. Sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery with just a dim lamp on in the dead of night, the packhouse completely silent, just me and her. She would look up at me with her big blue eyes, her perfect little hand curled around my finger. And her smell, oh man, her smell. We were all addicted to her. She had everyone captivated. Her dad especially. She couldn’t so much as whimper before he was picking her up, fussing over her. I’d found myself blubbering an extraordinary amount of times in these past few weeks, just from pure happiness, in total bliss, and drunk on love. “Hey, I didn’t hear you get up,” whispered Josh from the doorway. “Do you need anything? Snacks? Water?” He really was the best. “Yes to both, please.” He returned five minutes later and sat next to me, feeding me and holding the water for me, while I fed our daughter. “Can you believe we actually made her?” he asked, soun
Josh POV Several months later… “Have you seen Mum?” asked Allie, standing in the office doorway frowning. “She’s gone with Samson to visit Queen Neva.” “Again?” she snapped. Uh oh. I hopped out of my chair and put my arms around her. “What did you need her for? Is it anything I can help with?” “No, it’s ok. She was going to help me organise all the baby’s clothes.” I swept her feet up, picking her up bridal style. “Let’s go then.” “Josh, you don’t have to.” “I want to. You and Maggie have done almost everything else, I can help with this. Let’s go get snacks first.” That made her smile. She kissed me and snuggled her head into my neck. Her belly was now huge, and she was often tired, grumpy, and completely over being pregnant, but she’d never looked more beautiful. Watching our pup roll and kick around in there was the highlight of every day. I sat her down in the rocking chair, handed her the slice of banana bread we picked up in the kitchen, and she put me to work. I stac
Allie POV I’d spent all day with Mulberry and Spidey helping in the village gardens, and my eardrums still felt like they were bleeding after the moment I’d told her I was pregnant. Her squeal almost rivalled the ones Mum and Julie made when we told them. Aunty Mulberry was just as ridiculously excited as our family were. This baby was definitely one lucky and loved pup. On the way home, I stopped at Olive’s glade. The new saplings were thriving thanks to the extra care of the elves tending to them, and a little magic. It would take some time, but eventually these trees would be full grown, and the cocoons of the new dryad spirits would form. I couldn’t wait to meet them. I filled the watering can up at the lake and watered the saplings and pulled a few weeds. Sitting down, I looked up at the light green clouds and gave my tiny little baby bump a rub. My whole life had changed so quickly. I was still trying to adjust to having a life outside of the packhouse walls, yet here I was
Josh POV“Alpha?” I glanced up from the computer to find the head housekeeper standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you have a moment?”“Come in, Laura,” I replied, gesturing to the seat across from me. “What can I help with?”“I don’t want to bother you or Alpha Allie, but the kitchen staff reported that trays of croissants had been made overnight and were left cooling on the benches this morning. Croissants that none of them prepared or baked. And the wait staff said all the forks in the main dining room have gone missing.”“Was the kitchen locked overnight?”“Yes, Alpha.”I let out a breath and ran a hand through my hair. These little incidents had started happening across the pack the moment Allie became Alpha, but they were now increasing in frequency, and a lot of pack members were now on edge. It wasn’t normal for the fae to be on our territory.Most instances were harmless. Some were good deeds, like the croissants, or doing housework tasks, and some were pl
Allie POV “Baby, sit still,” laughed Josh as I bounced up and down in the passenger seat of the car. “I can’t help it. Drive faster,” I whined. His wide smile told me he was equally excited as I was, he was just doing a better job of holding it in. It was the first time we’d ventured this far into the Jade Willow Forest since balance had been restored, and it was a completely different experience travelling by car. Most of the old highways and dirt paths had grown over after years of abandonment, the forest swallowing them whole, so it had taken some work from each of the four bordering packs to get them cleaned up and usable again. For now, it was just the main roads open, but over time, the rest would be unearthed again. The news from the fae closest to the Viridian Creek border, was that the fae were just as excited to have visitors again as the packs were to visit. Trades of supplies and products were already underway, and for the most part, the Obsidian Court was keeping
Josh POV The cold and damp conditions of the underground cells mingled with a fetid stench in the air that had my gut churning. This place was miserable, and pretty much summed up what I’d expect from Maurice Everett. I wasn’t unhappy with the fact he was now locked up in this hell he’d created. I squeezed Allie’s hand as we approached his cell and the guards nodded and moved to give us privacy. I pulled over two chairs and we sat, staring at Maurice, who was perched on the end of his bed. “Have you come to gloat?” he asked with a slight scoff. “I’ve come to find out what I need to know about the pack,” replied Allie firmly. “No one can recall seeing Beta Kyan in the last few days, and he’s missing from the pack mind-link, so I’m assuming he’s gone rogue–” “He is dead. He started sticking his nose in where it wasn’t necessary and made Ellis question some of my methods, so I got rid of him.” This guy was unhinged. A complete mastermind who managed to get away with his corrupt mo
Allie POVAs the life faded from Ellis’ eyes, I felt a surge of power run through Stella, right before the howls rang out from all around the pack, recognising the death of their Alpha.Stella raised her head to the sky and let out an almighty howl in response, answering their call and staking her claim as their new Alpha.Slowly, more and more wolves appeared on the packhouse lawn surrounding us. Those in wolf form continued to howl their loyalty to their new Alpha, and those in human form took a knee before Stella. A maid ran out of the packhouse with a dress for me to slip on as I shifted back.I felt his eyes on me before I spotted him pushing his way through the crowd and raced towards him, throwing myself into his outstretched and still bloodied arms. He burrowed his face into my neck as I clung to him tightly, kissing the side of his head.“You fucking did it, baby.” His voice was hoarse and littered with raw emotion. I needed to address the pack that had assembled, but I didn’
Allie POVEllis and my father were similar people. They liked control, and they liked to hold all the knowledge and power. For that reason, I knew Ellis was not happy at being blindsided by the fact that not only did I have a wolf, I was the Jade Wolf… and I was challenging him. I was certain it would be affecting every part of his being.He lunged at me, starting the battle, but I easily dodged. Nate said my best strategy would be to let him lead, watch his moves carefully, and try to spot any weaknesses that I could take advantage of later. Stella was light on her feet, so it was a simple task.Ellis’ overconfidence began to show. His wolf growled and snarled as it snapped its jaws at me, and his moves became sloppy as he interpreted my hesitation for fear rather than observation. He lunged again for my flank and Stella finally made her move, dodging left, then pouncing on his exposed neck. He evaded the hit to the neck, but couldn’t move quick enough to avoid Stella’s teeth as the