RIVER BROWNNausea, headache, my body feeling like I’ve been sleeping under a bed of thorns for a century.The minute my eyelids shutter open, I let out a strangled breath ready to fight and attack.“River?” Brit calls out.I struggle to stand on my feet but the men who’ve got their hands on me, the men whose fingers I want to rip off hold me steady.They have no clue who they just messed with, Gypsy hungers for blood, a little shifting and everyone here will be dead that’s how little control I have on my body.And for once since I got my wolf, I don’t care if I spill blood, I don’t care if there are some innocent bystanders in here.Taking another gulp of breath, I close my eyes for a second opening them and taking in the sight in front of me like it is an apocalypse waiting to happen.“Uh-uh sweetheart. Don’t even think of shifting. Wouldn’t want her sweet little pup dead, would you?”My heart squeezes in my chest, my throat constricts with bitterness but more than bitterness, my ha
SHANE KINCAID‘Oh Goddess…more, please’‘S—Shane, too good.’“Gotta head out to work but not before you eat, River”“Now? Can I do it later?”“No. Get your ass up”“It’s too early, I’m still tired”“I know. That explains breakfast”“You made breakfast?”“Yes, with your favorite mango juice on the side”“Fine”“I’d love to stay in bed with you all day”“I know but work calls right?”“Yes”“Are you gonna watch me eat everything on this tray?”“Yes”“It’s too much”“You need it. Gotta keep your energy up. What? What’s that smile?”“You—you all saved me from my nightmares last night. I thought I was going to die until you all barged right in and saved me”“You liked it?”“Feeling all of you three make me come one after the other when I was asleep? Yes, I liked it. I’ll always like it”“And we’ll always be here to slay the monsters in your nightmares”“I already have monsters. One of them just made me breakfast and the other ones are snoring beside me. I like you three monsters”“Finish yo
RIVER BROWN‘Wake up, River. Wake up!’Gypsy’s voice flogs me from my induced sleep.The moment I open my eyes Landon’s face is so close to mine I almost feel sick.“Get away from me!”I shout, my fists touching the fabric of the sheets under me.I look around, Landon sits on the edge of the bed and it takes a minute to adjust to the new scent, to adjust to everything around here and when I do, my throat clogs with bile.“We are in Brackenridge”, I spit bitterly.“We are home, sweetheart”, Landon muses touching my feet and I pull away from him scooting further into the bed, holding the sheets so close to my chest before I take a sneak peek at what’s terrifying me the most.Did he touch me?Oh Goddess, the clothes I had on are gone and are replaced with new ones, did he touch me?“Relax, one of the female betas changed your clothes”“I wouldn’t put it beneath you if you changed me yourself and decided to touch me when I was unconscious. Where are my friends?”“Can you relax? I kept my
RIVER BROWNRed lipstick, a tad too dark than any shade I would wear.A pink blush on my cheeks meant to hide my sorrows. The same sorrows I wear on my face like an insignia.The dress on me a sage-green one at that.A perfect replica of how I had worn the day me and Landon were supposed to be linked forever.The woman in front of me coats my eyelid with more powder, she sees my distress, she is one of Landon’s betas, she knows I’m being forced to do this but she just doesn’t care and the thought that the once peaceful people of Brackenridge I wanted to rule over can be so cruel shows me why I never belonged here in the first place.She puts on a heavy necklace around my neck, the one that hides my marks and she doesn’t bat an eyelid while she does so.“He is planning on marking you today. Right after the elders announce you as his Luna, he’s gonna sink his teeth in your neck in front of everyone to see”“I’ll die. You all know this”“Yeah, but Landon thinks you hold some kind of powe
NEO KINCAIDGetting here by sunrise wasn’t an option we could afford.The more minutes Landon O’Connor spent with River, the more minutes we were risking her safety, risking Ria and Brit’s as well.The roads might have been inaccessible but figuring out Landon O’Connor’s way of travel hadn’t been hard once we all let our emotions run down and started to think as one.The slimy bastard used speedboats to get to and from Brackenridge that fast.A little bribe by the Marina had us in Brackenridge earlier than we thought.Blending in with the town folk hadn’t been hard either.Not when everyone was going to the alpha’s mansion to witness Landon O’Connor getting mated to my mate.The rumor mill also helped in feeding us what was going down tonight.Landon O’Connor was as stupid as they came, no surprise there but his stupidity reflected in the way he reasoned, in whatever he was going to do to River tonight.The sleaze ball was going to mark her without giving a second thought that she was
RIVER BROWNHis scent wraps around me like a warm blanket and I bathe in it holding him tight, letting his shirt wipe away the bitter tears.“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry”“I tell you to come, you fucking run to me River. No stalling, no negotiations”, he lashes out at me but his hands hold me like he’s afraid I’ll vanish into thin air and that is enough for me to take his scolding and admit I made a mistake.He sets me down on the base of the last stair, I sniff back tears as he strokes my hair away from my neck checking for any injuries. He hugs me for a minute trying to check out if my back has any slashes of some sort and I hold him tight.“River-““I’m sorry for everything I said. I didn’t—I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean any of it”“I know”“I didn’t think you’d show up…I didn’t think you’d want- “He pulls away from me kneeling in front of me and placing his huge hand on my cheek.Then Neo’s blue eyes twinkle at the sight of me, “You are ours for eternity River nothing is ch
RIVER BROWNI feel it, deep in my bones, deep in my heart I feel his absence and it chokes me so bad I think I fail to breathe for so many seconds as Malia drags me away and into the woods.I can feel the mate bond severed by their rejection, severed by Connor’s…Connor’s…no.“We—have to go back”, my throat bubbles with a sob.I stop, the tears free fall down my cheeks as everything turns hazy.We have to go back.For Connor.I have to hold him. I have to give him warmth, he was so cold, he was…so unmoving.I have to wake him up.Malia’s hand lands on my cheek but I don’t see her.I can’t see her when grief subdues me and holds its ugly claws to my neck.“They rejected you, River! One of them is gone, there’s no going back from that. I’m sorry, okay? Landon wouldn’t have fired his gun if I hadn’t gone to the cursed lands but that’s already done, River. Listen to me, they won’t get over this. I don’t think they consider you anything to them so do as they said, sister and get out of her
RIVER BROWNMy head stings, my face feels swollen and so does the rest of my body as my palms land on the soft sheets beneath me.The light from the window right across me nearly blinds me as I try to piece together my memory and how and where I’m at the moment.With one bed, the one I’m sleeping on, a few posters of people holding drinks on the wall and a few flowers by the night stand, I should be scared that I don’t know where I am but the room doesn’t exactly scream danger.It’s the opposite.The only scary thing where I am is the smell.Everything smells different, including the air itself, the flowers, the atmosphere itself stinks a little and the noise that hurdles from outside sounds like I’m back in the city.Except New Hawk wasn’t this noisy.“Gypsy?”I call my wolf, the headache elevating to a migraine.“We are not in the cursed lands, River. I can’t feel anyone”“Where are we then? There was a light, a woman. Did we shift? Did we attack her?”“We can’t shift. I think we pa
EPILOGUE: KINCAID BROTHERS’ POVNEO KINCAID“Keep you boys away from my kids”, Kane grumbles, I chuckle looking at said kids.Callum is dressed in a tux, his unruly dark hair carefully gelled back, an action that took Shane more than ten minutes.More than looking like a little gentleman, his little hands are all over Jessica, tickling her.Jessica Grey, Ria and Kane’s daughter, chuckles until a second later, the fit of giggles turn into tears of happiness.Callum removes a handkerchief from his tiny pockets, wiping the tears on her eyes and cheeks.The second he touches Jessica’s lips with the handkerchief, I’m already headed in his direction before Kane even thinks of punching my face to the ground.“Cal, hey. Come here.”My boy kisses Jess’ cheeks before he runs to me and I have no doubts he took over Connor.He’s cheeky like that.I kneel when he stands in front of me and I push lint off his suit.“What did we say about lying low when it comes to Jess? You know her father wants yo
RIVER BROWNThe ripple of his deep voice carries in the air and vibrates against my skin.My nipple puck as my hips buck taking every lash of his tongue like the good girl, he just declared me to be.I drown in his scent, in his taste, taking his tongue, matching the crescendo that’s us kissing like maniacs.Teeth gnashing against teeth, tongues fighting and him winning, his teeth biting my bottom lip before he sucks it like it’s supposed to give him energy.My pussy clenches when Neo goes ahead to play with my nipples.Not soft. Not gentle.But hard.His kiss is punishing.Him pinching my sensitive buds feels like he’ll draw blood and I damn know very well he’ll suck that blood and I will be hornier than ever before.By the time he goes to my neck, my heart beat accelerates like a motor engine. I growl for more knowing very well I’m out of breath and the building pleasure rioting in my body will be enough to bring the roof of the room down.My mates pick up on that.A second later, t
SHANE KINCAID“You ready to rodeo this shit?”Connor yells.I grip the chains harder, my boots sinking into the sand. Then I take one good look at the old man from his high seat looking at us like he thinks a couple of wild boars will be able to get rid of us.I’ll kill these beasts. I’ll pass whatever trials he has for us.And when we are out of here, I will fuck my mate senseless and mark her again if need be just to show the old man his daughter is mine.His daughter will always be ours.“Ready”, I retort over all the noise and the upheaval.Silva latches on to the neck of the boar up ahead in seconds.That’s one boar down.And the other is boar headed to us while we still can’t shift.“One.”I can hear the amusement in his voice.My brother is having quite a little bit of fun in this.I would find the whole situation funny if it wasn’t for the fact that we’ve been dangling in a dark room for days taking beatings from omegas we could have well killed.I’m pissed at everything.I’m
RIVER BROWNA few days of being here and Brit and I have searched for them to no avail.It doesn’t help talking to Osiris—my father because he has relentlessly refused to let me see my mates no matter how I ask my mother to knock some sense into him.“I chose them. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I have made my own decisions for a long time long before you even showed up in the picture.”“Osiris- “, my mother pleads.My father’s face softens but that mask of overprotectiveness is back as soon as he holds my eyes tenderly.“I’m here now and you do not have to do anything you don’t want to.”“You think I don’t want my mates? I love them, they are my mates!”“Do you know if they are? Or did they tell you they are your mates and you went along with it.”Britney scoffs next to me.I fight the urge for an eyeroll because deep inside, his question boggles me.I admit at first, I didn’t feel anything towards them that classified them as my mates.Sure, they called me their mate first
CONNOR KINCAIDMotherfucker.The silver digs into my wrist, at this point it might as well be filtering into my bloodstream, weakening Killian and I.Shane’s the one who’s taking this harder than ever.Pissed as ever, exerting energy he doesn’t have trying to free himself, I know the silver stings him harder than all of us.“I’m calling it now”, Shane grunts, the chains rattle from the damp ceiling, “this is the last time we let any of River’s family members close to us. There was the delinquent sister and now there’s the psychotic father.”I cough.Blood taints my lips, almost choking me.Feeling the blood tainting my teeth, I smile and then I erupt into a full-blown pained chuckle.Curse our fucking luck.After all we’ve been through, to get River, to get the kids and the only thing stopping us now is a pissed off father-in-law who thinks we’ll corrupt his daughter.Our mate for Goddess’ sake.We’ve corrupted her so much, not even another man can breathe down her neck.We filled her
SPECIAL CHAPTER: ALPHA OSIRISWhen life has taken a lot from you, quite literally and figuratively, nothing surprises you anymore.I’ve seen everything the realm and the worlds have to offer and nothing in my entire lifetime has boggled my mind since.They call me a traitor, a traitor I have lived.My people were fickle and if I was a man who cared about the rumors and the backlashing, I would have slaughtered them. Had some peace, enforced the power I craved so much in my youth.Yet one thing changed in the equation and life was as meaningless as the walls I erected to keep the outside world out.My lotus flower died.My human mate left me to rot in this wretched world.Not a single day has gone by not wishing I could join her wherever she went.Humans believed they went to heaven when they died.Werewolves believed there was only two paths in the afterlife. To the Goddess or to hell.I hadn’t done a lot in my life that made the Goddess like me but I would have done anything to join
NEO KINCAID“Iridian? Lotus flower, is that you?”Osiris asks like he’s floundering in a vast pit of his own self-loathing and guilt.I can’t imagine what it’ll feel like knowing he has twenty-six-year-old twin girls, one of whom he just threatened to kill for the punk standing pale next to him.My little boy grins, turning around to look at us.“Meemaw, he knows your name”, Niko says.Iridian slowly steps forward, lips quivering, her hands covering her mouth to stop the sobs.A few of the shit betas and omegas in the room with us murmur.Some of them might know her.Some of them think she’s a fraud.But most of them smell it in the air.River and my kids smell like Iridian, only different.And Iridian smells like what she is. A human.Maybe that’s why Osiris picks Niko from the floor and in his hardened scarred arms taking painful steps to meet us.A minute ago, I thought we’d take out Osiris and get to the displeased omega who’s only gotten paler.Right now, we all watch as two love
CONNOR KINCAIDFor a myth guy and for a guy who’s been a traitor to his species, Osiris didn’t earn the title for the most powerful alpha in the realm for nothing.We thought we were rogues.Osiris makes us look like a bunch of fools from Brackenridge.You can tell by the infrastructure in Gozam, the gravel-built houses surrounding the castle for protection.There are the omegas guarding the gate and as we move inside the city, there’s the betas guarding the inside of the city, guarding the outside of the grotesque gothic mansion up ahead.Each tumble of the jeep we are currently occupying raises our guards up.River’s father might be some bigshot but bigshot or not, we don’t give a shit about his power or his city or his shit guards that stare at my kids like vermin.As soon as we get Levi, we are out of here. Back to normal. Back to making up to our kids for missing in action in all five years of their lives.River and the kids are up ahead in the jeep halting in front of the castle
RIVER BROWNI have been biting my nails since they disappeared into the woods.At some time in the night, Gypsy alerted me she heard screams. I wanted nothing more than to let my curiosity take over but the thought of leaving my kids stopped me.They left us with a couple of omegas to protect us.And then there’s Gio who’s protecting the premises with a bat in case of trouble. We all know that bat won’t stop anyone but I let the old guy think he’s doing something.Mom hasn’t stopped looking out in the woods yet and I get her.Brit is out there too and by the look on her face when she left, she’s determined to see this through to the end.I’m determined to put this behind our backs and start a life without wars and hunting and constant danger.The Moon Goddess might have heard my prayer because the trees by the west ruffle and the moon’s light reveals the triplets’ faces.Brit follows behind them but that’s not the only one tagging along.Some guy is being yanked and forced to walk beh