Elle finally got her answers. She also finally got some solace about her fears and worries.
KADE It pained me to hear how she saw herself due to a lifetime of pain. It was a lifetime of people taking what they wanted from her while spitting on the broken body left behind. My mother’s story seemed to resonate with her because the shame and guilt that had been flooding her was overshadowed by determination and acceptance. Then she uttered words to me that lit my soul on fire which burned only for her. I had begun to heal her. “So, what would you like to do about what we learned?” I asked her softly, hoping that it would not evoke the same reaction as before. She played with the back of my hair while she thought about it. This was a big decision to make, and I would support whatever she chose to do. I could not begin to imagine what it must have been like this entire time to not remember anything. That little bit of time that I remembered my mother was imprinted on me to this day. It helped make me into a man that I hoped that she would be proud of. Gabriel said that it frus
ELLE Being on the same page with Kade was something that made my heart flutter in a foreign but welcome manner. I was glad to know that I had not been the only one feeling that way. I had been afraid to say anything incase it was just one-sided for the time being, but it was not that at all. It sounded so sweet to hear those three words from his mouth. “Tyre is jumping at the bit, demanding to know when he gets time with Faye to complete their bond,” he said with a sigh. I could tell that Tyre could be just as annoying to him as Faye was to me when she wanted to. We were perfect complements, so it would only make sense that they would be perfect complements too. “Faye’s doing the same exact thing. Although, she took it a step further and threatened to lock us both out of the driver seat if we don’t give her an answer.” His eyebrows raised right up in surprise with my words. “Is that something that she can actually do?” Faye pushed forward and cupped his cheeks before pulling hi
KADE “You got this, baby,” Elle told me. Her lips brushed over mine softly, leaving sparks in their wake. ‘I’ll reward you by letting you have your way with me however you want to tonight if you keep from killing him for now,’ she purred to me. I growled at her offer because nothing would stop me from getting that reward since she was my addiction. If I thought that her scent was my crack then I was sorely mistaken because her body was even more euphoric. The sensations that her body could make me feel were overwhelming between the feel of her silken body which felt warm and pliable beneath my touch, sparks that set each of my nerves alight, and the way that she thrived within everything I gave her. “You drive a hard bargain, darling. You got yourself a deal,” I said, smirking as a shiver went down her spine. I loved how her body responded to me. “Apollo will come out to get you when it’s time to make your debut.” Her eyes flashed with mischief which just amused me. We were both a
ELLE Watching Kade take control of the situation with the Elders was very sexy because he was in complete control of the situation and set it up for the bastard to crash and burn. Not a word was uttered that did not slice into him. Not a move was made that did not ensnare him. Kade was the apex predator stalking his prey. The sexiest thing I had ever witnessed in my entire life was when he threw the bastard off the stage before diving off after him, fluidly pinning him to the floor without so much as exerting a single ounce of effort. I embraced what he and I had talked about previously when it came to me being asked if he said anything. Kade was giving me a choice whether to disclose or not. He would never take that choice away from me, nor would he pressure me into speaking about something so private. I embraced my inner strength to make sure that the bastard’s character would truly be seen. He needed to be held accountable for what he did to others. “Luna Elle, it’s nice to of
ELLE Kade shot up at the sound of my scream, looking around to find the threat but saw none. I was not being attacked, but the pain was there though. It felt like a red-hot poker was searing itself into my flesh. I shot out of bed to turn the light on and pulled off my shirt. I knew exactly where the pain was coming from, but it made no sense at all to me. “Do you see anything?” My voice was high-pitched even to my own ears, but that was not my concern at the moment. I turned around and showed him my birthmark, the one that they used to verify my status as the Power Giver. Kade stood behind me and gently traced the birthmark with his finger. I turned my head to look at him, confusion written all over his face. “It’s glowing. Does it hurt?” he asked, pulling his finger away as an afterthought as he remembered my scream. “It did. It was excruciating. This is the birthmark that the file mentioned.” I took a look in the mirror, and he was right that it was glowing. The crescent moon
ELLE ‘Everyone should be in wolf form,’ Faye said the moment we touched down. I turned to Kade and relayed what Faye told me. I felt his worry even though he nodded. This was a risk because it could paint a target since Faye was completely unmistakable as being a special wolf. However, he knew that Faye would not suggest it unless it was necessary. Being my mate apparently came with its own challenges, but Kade and Tyre rose to the occasion each and every time. They were our Kings. “We’ll all leave out in wolf form. For anyone who isn’t aware, Luna’s wolf can send mindlinks to everyone despite pack or affiliation. We have no idea what we’re walking into, but what she says goes. Understood?” Kade asked, looking around at everyone who just nodded in turn. Kade grabbed our bags before we departed. His hand was firmly placed on my lower back, and I did not need the bond to feel his concern. This was more than just outing Faye. This was us going into an unknown situation where anything
ELLE “You ready to go meet everyone?” Kade asked. He could feel my emotions which were currently storming within me. I was nervous and worried about what they might think or feel with all of this. What if they thought that we had anything to do with this? “Can we just jump back on the jet and fly home?” I asked instead. “We could, but that would be a tad rude,” he said, kissing the tip of my nose. “Nothing to worry about, darling. I’m right here beside you every step of the way.” His sincerity tipped my lips upwards into a smile. It was great to know that I was not alone any longer. I had an amazing mate beside me from here on out. My smile faltered when I felt a strain on Gabriel’s bond. Something was wrong. “We have to find Gabe,” I told him quickly. We ran back towards everyone because that was where he should have been. His mate had been in the pack members there. I had no idea what was wrong, but the bond never lied. It saved our asses many times over the years. “Gabe!” I
ELLE Kade held the door for me, kissing my head as I passed. All eyes turned to us when we entered. The room was packed, and I blushed under the weight of their stares. I hoped that they had not been waiting long. This conference room had a very large table that could fit all of us. There were about twenty in all between our people and theirs. I made sure to tuck my nerves down deep so that I did not embarrass myself with first impressions and whatnot. “Join us,” my mother said with a soft smile and gestured to two empty seats. I sat next to Gabriel who sat next to Ansley, and Kade sat next to Apollo who sat next to Vienna. The four of them seemed happy to have found their mates. It was radiating out of them, and I did not even need Apollo’s gift to notice it. My heart was filled with joy at their pairings. Kade radically changed my entire life in the short time that I had known him, and I knew the same would happen for those two guys as well. “Food will be brought around soon sin
SNEAK PEEK FROM FATED SOUL – FATED LIGHT – DANTE “How did you do it?” I asked Kade as I ran my fingers through my hair for the hundredth time today. He pushed a glass of Bourbon to me. It was gone in one swallow. I was a little on fucking edge. Sue me. “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s fucking difficult. I have no idea how I did it because I wanted nothing more than to rip the last breath from each person that hurt my mate. I wanted to watch as their lifeforce left their bodies. Fucking hell. I wished that I could murder every single bastard that even thought something negative about her. However, I realized that destroying them was also about me. It wasn’t just about what happened to Elle. It was about me feeling like a failure for not protecting my mate even though I didn’t know who she was yet.” Kade placed his hands on my shoulders and gave them a comforting squeeze. I came to Kade because he had been in a similar position to what I was in right now. His mate, my sister, ha
ELLE “You can sit the presents over there,” I said, pointing to the table. Today was the twins’ first birthday. Everyone decided to throw a huge party in celebration. Nightshade, Shadow Falls, Dark Moon, our vamps, our Fae friends, and our fiery dragons all came to spend this special day together. Our boys were little heartbreakers already. They were Alpha pups on steroids when it came to their strength and size. They looked more like they were two instead of one. Then they had the intelligence of years beyond themselves. They were their own species so to speak. It was exciting and scary at the same time. We just wanted them to be carefree pups, but they were destined to be so much more. “Oi,” Denny grunted as Gabriel Reece plowed into him. Our boys began walking at about six months. They were little hellions with how fast they were. Not to mention that they were already befriending the shadows. Oddly, the boys never did anything harmful. It was like they were self-aware. Caiathus
KADE Time had passed by quickly, and life moved on with it. Those bastards involved in Ada’s murder and Anya’s attempted murder, had been tortured until every single detail was spilled. There really had not been much left in them, but we enjoyed exacting justice for what they did. Apparently, Ada had no idea who the bastard was when he got her pregnant. He essentially had roofied her at the library one day when she was studying. It made sense why she had dropped out of school and moved back to the pack after that. She had been drugged, raped, and gotten pregnant from it. It was not until they were torturing her that she learned the truth all along. The bastard took great pleasure in detailing exactly what happened, including using illegal herbs to force becoming pregnant. Elle made sure that I sliced his dick off for that bit. Only my mate could sit in the corner of a torture chamber and eat mint chocolate chip ice cream while giving us suggestions here and there without being aff
ELLE Kade insisted that we get a checkup when we got back to the pack. I could not deny him the reassurance that the twins and I were okay because I knew how terrified he had been about me being on that battlefield in the first place. I had asked Dante if he wanted to come as well since he had not really been present since he was at Dark Moon during everything. It was where he needed to be, but he was back here now. “We’ll be doing your scan. Is there anything new that you’ve experienced, Luna?” Dr. Silva asked as she prepared the machine. I bit my lip, trying to think of how to explain the odd occurrence on the battlefield. I had not even mentioned it to anyone, so I hoped that Kade remembered how much he loved me. “There was an unavoidable situation –” I was cut off by my mate. “She means a battle,” Kade interrupted, giving me a pointed look. Dr. Silva looked at me with widened eyes as if that was the last thing she had expected to hear. I understood how this looked from an ou
ELLE The battle with Bandore really had not been a battle at all. The closest thing that I had experienced were feeding rooms. However, even that did not compare to this right here and now. Adrenaline pulsed throughout my body, reminding me to stay alert at all times. There was no room for our failure here because that would mean the death of all involved as well as the pack behind us. There was no greater honor than to be given the opportunity to save those who needed us. Brynn had an important destiny, one that I was not privy to know the details of other than she was a prophesized and chosen Vessel. My cryptic ass wolf just loved annoying the shit out of me like that. ‘You know me so well,’ she cooed. ‘I couldn’t ask for a better wolfy than you.’ ‘And I couldn’t ask for a better human than you. I’m blessed that Selene chose me to be your wolfy.’ I smiled despite the carnage everywhere. Faye just proved that there was beauty that could be found even in the midst of damaging ch
ELLE Kade and I grabbed a few hours of sleep before making our way down to the Command Center as Apollo so conveniently named it. We had all of our leadership, a conglomeration of our vamp friends, Caiathus’ brothers, the Council, Mystra, Fyst, and Celeste as well. Gabriel and Ansley pushed in coffee carts, and my entire day finally felt right. I eagerly grabbed my specialty drink that was always perfectly made. I sighed as the first sip hit my taste buds. “You still really suck, sis. It’s not fair that you can drink caffeine,” Ansley huffed. “You could always take it up with Selene,” I said coyly, taking another sip. Gabriel vehemently shook his head back and forth behind her. He apparently did not like that idea whatsoever. “Why would you be against your amazing mate asking for such a simple thing? Do you not want her to have caffeine? Perhaps you shouldn’t be having caffeine either then if you’re going to be unfair to my amazing sister,” I told him with mock shame. Her head
KADE I was waiting for our people to finish putting the trash in the cells and join me in the office. Honestly, I needed a bit of time to cool down before I dealt with them unless we wanted to just snap their necks and be done with it all. That seemed too lenient a punishment for them though. The memory of finding Ada’s body would forever haunt me until I drew my last breath. Nobody deserved that type of treatment or death. I sighed, rubbing my eyes, and scrubbing a hand over my face. It was seriously throwing me for a loop that we had traitors in our pack and in our ranks yet again. Would there ever come a day when traitors would no longer exist within Nightshade? It was like an endless cycle that we could never break from. Ada and Anya deserved justice. What would that be though? How much would be enough? Honestly, nothing would ever be enough because they suffered far too much. I grabbed the framed scan of our pups from my desk and smiled at it. They were such a blessing alrea
ELLE His daughter. Anya was his daughter. I tried, and failed, to understand what that claim meant because he willingly murdered his own pup. He did not know she was alive, and he never would. He was a threat that we would eliminate before he could even think about sending any harm her way. “You knew who Ada was to you,” Kade said, coming to the same conclusion that I did. “Of course, I did,” he said nonchalantly. “Ada was a full-blooded witch. I was only half-blooded. However, I knew that a child between the two of us would yield even stronger magic than if I sought someone else out. It was for the greater good.” Kade did not like that at all, so a shadow slid across the bastard’s throat, strangling him. My mate held it for a count of five before the shadow relaxed but did not move from his throat. “You mean it was for your greater good,” I spat coldly. He smirked at me and looked very pleased with himself. I returned the smirk with one of my own because he was about to see a s
KADE I woke up with a start, heart pounding, and not understanding what was going on. It felt like my emotions were drowning me. Elle’s side of the bed was cold, causing me to jump out of bed and find her. We still had no idea who the hell killed Ada, so we had no idea who we could trust outside of our own leadership. We had been down the road of traitors before, but I did not expect us to be back there once again. Was this a cycle we would always face? I threw on some shorts and went to find my mate. It was not hard to find her, but my heart broke when I did. She was in the living room, rocking back and forth on the floor, sobbing her heart out. “I’m here, darling. I’ve got you,” I murmured as sat down and pulled her onto my lap. She buried her face in my chest and continued to cry for Ada and Anya. I was right there with her as tears welled up in my eyes as well for them and for her as well. My mate was the strongest person that I knew. She survived years of being tortured in e