I don’t think he understands what he’s about to do.And I don't know how to do what I want to do because it’s going to be hard.It’s hard for me to keep on lying to him and I can't reveal I know anything too sensitive about Nikolai’s pack, but I have to stop this. I can’t let him enter into an alliance with Nikolai. With a look of desperation I ask, ”Are you sure they’re going to help you?”A look of annoyance crosses Raiden Tempest’s face, but I see him suppress it. I see him push it back because he doesn't want to act the way he did with me earlier, and I don't want that either. Living here for the past two weeks has shown me that the Tempest pack adores their Alpha. They’re a small pack, nowhere as large as others, so he doesn't have the resources other Alphas have to give to their packs, but unlike large packs where every other member is treated like just another pack member, Raiden knows his pack and the people in it.He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders… and if I kee
I sit on the bed and stare at the contract, a feeling of pure and total disbelief overcoming me.That’s an alliance contract.THE Alliance contract between Nikolai’s pack and Raiden’s. An alliance between a man I want to stay away from and a man in whose pack I'm hiding to stay away. How did Nikolai even choose the Tempest pack as the pack he wants to make an alliance with!?Is there any way he could know I'm here already, so he’s using this alliance as an excuse to gain access to Raiden’s pack and come get me?A cold feeling settles on me and a shiver runs down my spine as I remember Nikolai’s last words to me.“You’re always going to be caught in the crossfire, Emery.”Always.He’s not going to let me go.Not if he finds out I'm here, alive. He’s just going to take me back to his pack where I'll be his slave again. His fated mate, at the mercy of his chosen wife. Only a tool for him to cheat on his marriage again and again because he was too much of a coward to stand up for himself
Raiden’s pov.“Do you think we should wake her up?”Mort, my beta, stands beside me, watching the same scene I am, except he doesn't have a frown on his face, which means that to some extent he finds this funny, but I don't.She looks like she spent the whole night working on this.Multiple sheets of paper are scattered all across the room. There’s also ink smudges on her cheeks, like she was writing things and then rubbing sweaty, nervous, hands on them over and over again. She could have also written on her hand and then wiped that hand on her cheek, or”Why are you staring at her like that?”I snap my gaze to my Beta and see a smirk on his face. The same smirk the bastard always has on when something he shouldn't be thinking about is running through his mind. I mutter as I close the door and head back down the hallway, “You and Morwenna are exactly the same.”Mort simply chuckles, “Maybe that’s because we’re siblings, and nice try, I'm not letting you off that easily. Why were you
My door comes open and my eye snaps to it immediately.”Alpha Raiden.”The Alpha of the Tempest pack raises an eyebrow at me and my cheeks heat slightly at how that just slipped out. I look away.I’ve spent all night looking through the treaty and each time I've seen his name, it has come with an Alpha behind it. That just stuck to my head and slipped out of my mouth.”Can I come in?”I nod, even though his question is odd. He came in here yesterday without anybody’s permission. Why is he asking now?A small voice in my head responds to me. It tells me Maybe it’s because this isn’t an ambush, and he’s here on business other than the questions i might be asking to endanger his pack.I take my mind off that as Raiden steps into the room fully. He looks….. fresh. There’s no sharp edge to his aura today. He doesn't look like he’s pissed. He’s wearing a fresh set of clothes, neat and straight, and his hair is styled. He’s very handsome.Thank the stars he didn’t come in here earlier. He
Raiden’s eyes lock onto me, and for a few seconds I can't breathe. There’s no air in my chest and I grip the towel tightly. Raiden’s nose flares and on instinct, I make a dash back into the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind me.Fear makes it hard for me to breathe properly, because I know if he decides to break down the door, there’s nothing that will stop him. I’d be the one blamed for whatever he does to me.Me and my stupid forgetfulness.”Are you okay in there?”A frightened squeak leaves my throat. His voice is coming from directly behind the door and my heart begins pounding faster.”Emery? Are you okay?”My mind fails me and I find it hard to produce an answer. Another feeling creeps in slowly. This voice tells me to be calm, and that I have nothing to fear. That voice was never right before.”I’m f..fffine”My chest still heaves lightly but I try not to focus on it. I try not to focus on the panic.”Your heart is racing. Did you hurt yourself?”I shake my head even th
What does being rewarded by an Alpha look like?Raiden leads me to his office and offers me a seat. He’s staring at me through hooded green eyes. I should tell him that makes me uncomfortable but I know he’s doing it to intentionally make me nervous.I stare back but it’s impossible to hold his gaze. It would be disrespectful too. He saved me from death and I owe him a lot for that. He’s also let me stay in his pack without squeezing who I am from me. That’s more than what most Alphas in his position would do. If he’s trying to make me nervous, then maybe I should let him.”You can ask me two questions.”My eyes meet Raiden’s as he speaks each word carefully and precisely, “You can ask me any two questions you want and I'll answer them. I know you have some you’d like to ask.”He holds my gaze as I look for any sign of dishonesty on him, “I can ask about anything?”Raiden nods and I get the feeling he’s feeling bad about how he shut down my questions yesterday.”But I get to ask you
“What’s your second question?”I don’t think I want to ask any more right now. Raiden’s being so honest and open with me, while all I'm doing is not telling him the things he needs to know about me.I’m sitting in his office, hiding in his pack, and the only truthful thing I have told him about myself is my name and the fact that my parents are dead.”How did your parents die?”Raiden appears to silently brace himself again before he responds to me, “They were out on an expedition six years ago.”I settle into the seat and watch a tender light enter his eyes as he continues, “When I was four, my parents decided to become explorers. They developed an obsession in the dying werewolf culture.They wanted to find evidence of how the packs before us lived and thrived. I think they were more than obsessed with it actually. At the time, there was the talk of war between some of the packs. Most packs began to keep to themselves and my parents were trying to distract themselves from what that
I don’t think I've ever done this.I don’t think I even saw where my parents were buried. Looking at the headstones of Raiden’s parents makes me wonder what happened to mine. Were their bodies taken by their killers?Were they thrown into a ditch, or left to rot where they had died?Raiden is silent and the sunlight shining down on us makes warmth roll in through the air, but the heat isn’t sweltering, and even if it is, I don't mind. I think back on the memories of my parents and for the first time, I tell them how much I loved them.I tell them how much I still love them. I tell them that they were the biggest influences in my life and that the influence they had, it won’t be something I take for granted.I tell them that I'll take care of Raven, and that I'll love the child in my womb. I’ll love this child regardless of who his father is.I’ll love this child because the child is mine. This baby is ours, and the love they poured into me is the same love I will pour into my child.
“Konstantin and Irene were to each other, one half of the same moon, each half shining brighter than the other.Their love was forbidden because no one knew where Konstantin was from and no one knew his origins, but Irene was a princess of Tempest.She was born of storm and wind.She had power, more than anyone in her time did.”Mor is clearly rushing over the tale and because of that I can tell that Irene wasn’t just any other princess with power. No, her tale was something special in the Tempest pack.Why Raiden said he didn’t know who she was, I don't know.“Did she die?”Mor nods, “Tragically too. But our pack legends say she shed her power into our pack, into every corner of the land and its people, and she became a protecting spirit. The ghost princess of the Tempest pack.”Silence comes afterwards and it takes me some time, but I rift through all I've learned and listen to the things that are not being said.”Why would she appear then?”Mor shrugs, “What did she look like?”I f
The moment I get back to the house I seek out Mor. When I see her she frowns, I frown too and take a deep breath before approaching her, "We have a problem on our hands.”Mor frowns, because before this she was lounging in the chair and now I'm pestering her. Still she gets up and walks over to me,. grabbing me by the hand and dragging me outside, roughly too I might add.She takes me to the back and we stop at the edge of the treeline, “Look at it.”I’m slightly blown back by the beauty of this place but I don't know if that’s what Mor wants me to see. Still I look at the treeline. The bounty of brown and green, the large trees and spindly shrubs.I take a deep breath and find my heart slowing down. It slows, and only then do I realise my heart has been beating fast.Faster than it normally should, and I didn't notice it at all.”I could hear your heart racing from the door, Emery. Whatever it is, I'm sure it’s not that bad.”For once Mor is being kind, and i do my best not to smile
In a few more minutes we’re all settled in. There isn’t that much furniture in the house but there’s enough for people to sit on without knocking knees with each other.Mor has already made dibs on one of the rooms upstairs and Raiden has informed me that I will be having the other one. The boys will rough it out downstairs.It’s a bit late into the day by the time we’re truly settled, but we don’t have that much time here to spend it resting anyways.Raiden and I go out, taking Bryce and Cetus with us. Just a father and mother, and their two teenage sons.We want to see if there’s nothing too peculiar about werewolves, aka, will the humans spot us from a mile away?We get a few stares here and there, mostly from strangers we simply pass by the side of the road.Bryce and his cousin already know the drill. Do not draw attention to yourself. Do not growl. Do not snarl. No flashing eyes. Nothing that marks us as werewolves.Raiden told them this himself, but I think he forgot another
A week ago when Raiden came to me with news of the exams Bryce and Cetus would be writing, we went over the college requirements together.The first obvious issue was of course the fact that they’re going to human schools.It’s in a city that’s just at the edge of the werewolf borders, but it’s also one of those cities where there’s no doubt that there has been some leakage over the decades.A human city this close to the werewolf borders will have people occasionally slipping through from both ends. Some come in legally, after going through rigorous vetting and checking at the borders, but others slip in and out like little phantoms in the night. We're not going to be slipping through, but we also aren't going to be going through the normal ways.Mor throws a glare my way as her way of asking, "Are you ready for this?"I can almost hear the thought leaping from her head, but she's not saying it. I don't think she wants me to act as Raiden's wife, but she's doing her best to get cool
Raiden doesn't ask me any more questions after that and I'm able to go through the rest of my breakfast in peace.It’s not like he disturbs me. It’s just that up until now, I still don’t know why he left the packhouse that afternoon.The day Max was here they did speak, but they didn’t tell me what they spoke of. Raiden admitted he and Max had a conversation. But if it was concerning me or the pack, i don’t know.He’s refused to tell me why he went off all alone that day, or what was in the letter he read from Amanda.Speaking of Amanda, I turn to Mor and dare asking, “How’s the boy? Julius.”About a week ago, Raiden left the pack and came back with a young boy. About seven or eight. He said the boy was Amanda’s brother, Julius. The pack received him in with open arms and he's been with Julia ever since.She’s been taking care of him, and sometimes I've been changed to see both of them. I think I can say Amanda was particularly drawn to Julia because she reminded her of her brother. N
”Shouldn’t you be outside, celebrating with your friends too?”Bryce settles in the seat beside me with his breakfast in hand and shrugs, “I already did. Last night.We’ve said our goodbyes, plus everyone celebrating right now is celebrating Cetus. His whole band of soon to be warrior friends will probably try to make anyone else feel bad if they were to celebrate and I don't want to make any noise.”“But you should.”Bryce looks at me and I nod, because while I understand why he doesn't want to overshadow his cousin’s happiness, he has to realise he has a claim to happiness as much as anyone else.He’s grown into a beautiful young man in the past month I've been here. He was striking because of his scar the first time I saw him. But it’s like everything about his features have settled into serenity now.He doesn't look odd. Even the scar looks like something he can’t do without now. His body might have changed but his character didn’t change much.He’s still the weird kid obsessed wi
~Two weeks later.~“Emery!Emery where are you?!”Mor’s voice grates against my ears but I remain silent. I’m putting the final touches on my look and I need total concentration for that.If I'm going to pull this off, then I need to be unrecognizable. I need to make sure no one who knew me before would know me now.I stare in the mirror and let the moment drag forever. The woman that stares back at me is different from the one that came here.To begin with, her hair is no longer the raven black it had always been. Now it’s a dark gemstone red. It’s not ruby red because I promised Mor I would kill her in her sleep if she made my hair ruby red out of spite.I was fully prepared to cut it if she did me like that.But to her credit, she didn’t. She gave me a red bordering on such black that if I stand in a shadow, my hair looks black, but when I step into the light, the red bleeds through..I’ve put on a bit of weight because the pregnancy is coming along quickly, but not enough that I c
I turn my head to the side to look at Max and he’s looking at me too. His eyes hold a firmness that tells me he’s serious about what he’s saying, but I anticipated this.While I was going through the mechanical motions of taking care of the wounded, I thought about this. About what I would say if Max decided he wanted to try and convince me to come back to the pack.He is Nikolai’s Beta after all. No pack’s Alpha has ever had their mate live in another pack. I asked myself what I would do if he tried to convince me to come back, just for the sake of the pack and the man he serves.”What would I do if I went back to the pack?”Max takes a deep breath and proves me right. He’s also been thinking about how he’ll convince me to come back to the pack with him.He has a list neatly set out. A picture in his head. A perfectly male picture in his perfectly male head.I listen as he tells me about the house a little ways into the woods at the edge of the pack. A quaint three bedroom house with
Bernard leaves me on my own for the rest of the day and I try not to let myself think too much concerning what he said.I’ve long ago stopped trying to make myself feel like I might be special in some way. I had enough time in Nikolai’s pack to think and wonder about myself.The long hours spent waiting for Nikolai to come back from work, well when i wasn’t thinking of him, and wetting my panties at the thought of him, i thought of myself, and how i didn’t have a wolf.How i probably won’t ever have a wolf, because no matter how much my parents tried i couldn’t shift.Everyone knows a werewolf that can’t shift into their wolf form is no better than a human. There’s nothing they can do to help the pack. They’re not special in any way. A wolfless wolf isn’t a werewolf. A wolfless wolf is useless.And I tried to make myself feel like there was something else to me than what meets the eye. I tried to find it, but there was nothing there.I had no gifts to speak of. No special ability. No