Here you go, lovelies. Drop a gem if you enjoyed Granny's lasso. Up next will be the part dealing with the assholes.
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,
DANTE ‘Stop it, babe. It wasn’t your fault, and you shouldn’t feel guilty. He shot me because he did. It was his choice and wasn’t your fault. Your aura saved my life and saved our people from getting hurt by the fuckers that it knocked out. I wouldn’t have changed a single fucking thing.’ Her eyes met mine, and I saw the guilt lessen as my words washed through her. This was not her fault at all. I had never truly been able to understand what Kade had gone through when he was in front of those who had hurt my sister. Well, that was until I had experienced it with Ziyah. Now, I was able to understand the pull between destroying the threat and leaving said threat to experience the painful consequences of their actions. This fucker before us was one who hurt my mate. Byron was pissed. I was pissed. We both wanted his blood, but we also wanted his suffering. Our instincts quieted some when Ziyah had her cousin bring something that she had created. It did sound really fucking painful.
DANTE I had never really been a morning person until my mate became pregnant and began doing prenatal yoga each morning. The pack had quite a few pregnancies right now, so she started a morning class for all who were interested. There were over twenty. Each class gained at least one new participant. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a creepy fucking stalker?” Chris asked, leaning along the railing next to me. “Yes, they have,” I said matter-of-factly. “However, if I’m one then so are you because your eyes haven’t left your mate.” He chuckled because he knew I was right. This class started because Ziyah needed to do it for our blobs, and she felt that it would be good for Charlene as well. After this class, we were heading over to the estate so that she could get checked out by the team there. We were curious about the genders, but it would be easiest done by the specialists. It did not matter to us what they were, but we were both the type who preferred to be as prepared as p
ZIYAH Two girls and a boy! I still could not wrap my head around that. I could not wait to hold them in my arms and show them how much they were loved. I had honestly given up hope of ever being a mother the moment that I woke up, chained to that concrete floor. It just proved that there was hope even in the most terrible of situations. “I was thinking that we could go somewhere special,” I told Dante with a mischievous grin. I had already planned on visiting Solana the moment that I knew that we would be coming to the estate. There were questions that I wanted and needed answers to. The only way I would be getting those was from her. We would be forced to deal with the Darkies sooner or later, so we needed all of the intel that we could get on them. Until I had escaped, I had only ever been in two rooms. Then I had always been blindfolded when I moved between the rooms. Solana would be our source of intel because she had visited there. I highly doubted that they would have treat
ZIYAH Solana’s suite was locked up so tightly that nobody but her could enter it. Well, we will see about that. There was something that many people did not realize about setting magical locks like this. Any lock could be broken as long as something stronger acted as the key. It was the same way that I worked with the locks on the shifter at Alpha Peter’s pack when we went to save Ashton. Solana, despite having added outside power into her magic, still had far weaker magic than I did. Therefore, all I had to do was magically smash the locks. Dante watched me with morbid curiosity as I broke through each layer of defense. It only took about five minutes for her door to swing wide open. I flashed him a smirk and walked into the room. Honestly, I had never been in her space before because she and I had never gotten along once. She was older than me and held some stupid grudge because I put the time and effort into excelling at what I did. She just wanted prestige without all of the h
ZIYAH Twenty Years Later – “Momma, are you ready?” I turned around and saw my beautiful girls. Blakely and Grenza. By the gods, they have grown into amazing young women. I was so incredibly proud to be their mother. Blakely was our kindhearted spitfire who would go toe to toe with anyone in order to protect someone who needed it. Dante always teased her that she took after me because of that but also because she developed a combat magic soul skill as well. It was one reason why she headed the warrior and combat division of our pack and moonlighted when other packs or academies needed her expertise. Blakely’s skills were highly sought-after. She has had her own issues this year with a mate who recently made a mess of things the moment that the bond snapped into place. I was holding onto the hope that they would work things out. Fated bonds were not always easy in the beginning, but they were such a precious gift from the Goddess. Trust me when I tell you that Grant and Gabriel wer
DANTE 100 years later – I leaned against the railing of the balcony, looking out over our amazing pack. Shadow Falls started out with just over a hundred people when we were still Shadow Creek. It grew to five thousand when our triplets took over. Now, our pack was triple even that. Each of our seven children took after their mother when it came to their passion and desire to become fucking badasses. Our triplets were exactly what this pack needed to flourish and become more of a force than our pack had ever been before. Every new set of leadership made us so fucking proud. Byron and I knew what it meant for us when we found out that our mate was Light Fae. Our lifespan would lengthen to that of the Fae. We would have a long life with Ziyah, but that did come at a cost as well. We outlived most of our family and friends. Goddess, it was so fucking hard to deal with. We learned how important it was to appreciate the good times, acknowledge the bad, but never take a single moment for