This chapter aligns right after Chapter 7 in "Design of Fate" just so that you understand the context. Ziyah and Imeela have a connection that neither of them anticipated.
ZIYAH “Are you ready, babe?” Dante asked as he entered the room. We were on our way over to Dark Moon so that we could handle the security issues that we had discussed. I was actually very excited to have been asked to help because this was one domain that I loved working in. I had put a lot of hard work into learning everything that I could to create the safeguards that I did. The fact that my barrier had been strong enough to keep out Hesthes of all people had been a huge ego boost. “Let me just slip on some flats,” I told him. His eyes were burning holes in me as they greedily swept over my entire outfit. I was not wearing anything special, but he always made me feel like I was. The seafoam dress showed my little bump. It was a damn good thing that Fae fetuses were typically smaller as they developed because it kept these Alphas a bit smaller than they typically would be. I was not certain how it would work with hybrids, but Fae grew quickly after birth. I went to grab the bag
DANTE By now, I had firmly learned that the Goddess was the ultimate Grandmaster when it came to creatively entwining fates. There were many examples of this and all you had to do was look around you. Look how many mates found each other between the four allied packs. Then there were all of the people who were reunited or introduced. Janina and Ziyah. Janina and Astrid. Imeela and Valis. Imeela and Ziyah. So on and so fucking forth. The connection between my girl and Imeela had thrown us all for a few dozen loops. I knew for a fucking fact that I had not expected that the vampire mate of Jackson’s would end up having a shared connection with Ziyah. It thrilled me though because I could feel how excited she had been at realizing who she was. My girl had been over the fucking moon when we had gotten back from Dark Moon last night. She had been hurt and saddened when she had learned about what had happened to her friend and their coven. She was bound and fucking determined to keep Ime
ZIYAH My mind was racing through various scenarios that could account for someone in her condition to make it an hour from that pack. I doubted that she was dumped here because they would not be stupid enough to leave loose ends that could point their finger at the pack. No. It seemed likely that she was able to escape and made it here before succumbing to her injuries. Fate was a curious thing alright. So many lives had to overlap perfectly for certain outcomes to occur. For instance, she had to have been found by us, on that road and at that particular time, for us to bring her here where Ashton had been visiting his niece. Three hours after we were told that she was being prepped for surgery, the doctor finally came back out to update us. Dante had come to wait with us too, giving support to Ashton and his new mate. “We were able to stop the internal bleeding. We had to wrap her ribs, set her fractures, and put dissolvable stitches along some of the deeper gash. She is out of im
DANTE Had you ever encountered someone that you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt would be your absolute downfall? Anyone who ever had to face my mate should know that it was her that would be their downfall. We had gotten everyone together today in order to devise a plan for the Slater pack. With both Haleen’s and Pamela’s testimonies, Coverstone had enough to launch an investigation. However, that could be extremely problematic because it would show that Pamela had survived and was taken in by another pack. They might begin searching for her. They would do so under a ‘dead or alive’ order. We would rather avoid that at all costs because they would accomplish it by whatever means necessary, no matter who they would hurt in the process. So, we had to come up with another plan. My mate knew that she could not be a part of this fight because she was pregnant, so she was leading the planning in order to make up for it. I had to admit that she was very sexy when in charge. Ziyah’s fury
DANTE We were heading out to Slater pack shortly, but I did not care one fucking bit at this exact moment because my mate commanded all of my attention. My pants had just hit the floor, and she pushed me down into my office chair. I was already hard and ready for her. The sexy Fae in front of me stripped off her dress, making me realize that she had been walking around without a bra or panties. She had been completely bare under that dress. Fucking hell. My eyes greedily raked over her entire body, savoring each inch that was revealed to me. Her perky breasts with nipples that were already hardened peaks. Her trim waist that had our branded tattoo. There was a baby bump there now too, reminding me of our precious little blobs. The normally bare pussy had something new. The initials D and R were created by just a little bit of hair. Fucking right, babe. That pussy did belong to me. ‘Perhaps you should see if she’ll let you tattoo that right there,’ Byron suggested, excited by the s
DANTE My eyes scanned our surroundings. Alpha Dion and who I would presume to be his Beta stood in front of the training field. They were both only wearing basketball shorts. Tattoos covered their bodies, but they did not look tasteful like mine and Kade’s. Men and women were dressed in workout clothes, listening to the presumed Beta go on and on about the importance of following orders. I could only imagine what the fuck this could apply to – every dirty thing that the Alpha wanted done was to be done. Too many Alphas were like that, and it was disgusting. “Everyone wants to be at the top,” he said, staring the crowd down, “but not everyone deserves it. You have to fight for what you want or watch someone else rip it from right in front of you.” He called a man and a woman to the front of the group. One of them looked like he was built from a fucking mountain, and the female did not look like she was built from even half of what he was. They looked at each other nervously, either
DANTE My shooter did not look like he was all that happy with his restraints. If looks could kill, I would definitely be dead. He could not kill me with a bullet, so he was resorting to glaring me to death. Chris and I stood in front of him, facing each other, with arms crossed over our chests. Unadulterated amusement. That was what we were experiencing right at that moment. We came. We saw. We conquered. Now, we got to fuck with people. Fucking with our enemies was always the best part of any battle. “You know what I think?” I asked Chris. “Hmm.” He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Only pussies shoot guns. Actually, I take that back. Pussies and wannabes. He wanted to play with the big boys,” I pointed out, bumping his shoulder with my own. “Should’ve just gone for a headshot. Looking at him, I bet that’s what he aimed for, but he got scared, started shaking, and lost his sight through all of the fat tears rolling down his cheeks. Then bam. Got you in the gut,” Chris mused, snorting
DANTE As exhausted as I had been after finally hitting the bed, my mind would not shut off. So, I just held my mate while she slept. I felt fear the moment that I was shot. I feared that I might not see her again, hold her, and have the future that we had begun building. Byron and I had feared that we would never hold our pups. We took a shower once we got back to our suite. She had been adamant that it was her turn to take care of me. I knew that she had also felt fear since she was not by my side. She had been afraid that something – anything – could happen. I saw the truth in the way her lips quivered as she undressed me. I saw it as her hands shook when she washed me. So, I gave her what she needed to banish that fear. I gave her control. Her heart began thundering in her chest, but she was still asleep. Fear rushed down the bond, so I tapped into my gift. - I was standing in a massive ballroom that was decorated for a party. A banner hung between two marble pillars that said,