Two today
Deimos POV I stop at the gate of the Dark Moon Pack. There is a caravan of beat-up old cars following me. I roll down the window and gesture to the guard. “Let them through,” I tell him. His mouth is hanging open like a dead fish. “All of them?” “Yes,” I sigh. Reluctantly the guard moves out of the way and lets me pass. I can feel the eyes of the pack members standing alongside the road as I lead the caravan through the pack. Pack members are huddled together in groups whispering loudly. I can feel their distrust following us. I should have known this was going to be a problem. First, I kick my father out of the pack, and then I bring in rogues. This is bound to end badly, but my father left me no choice. Bandit’s mate is sitting in my passenger seat. She hasn’t said a word to me since she acknowledged that I had to kill her mate. I glance at her out of the corner of my eyes. Her fingers are perched on the edge of the window as she lets the breeze blow throug
Deimos POV Bang. Bang. Bang. I am jerked from my sleep. My head is resting on my desk, and there is a puddle of drool on the papers under my head. A piece of paper sticks to the side of my face as I lift my head from the desk. Bang. Bang. Bang. The abrupt knocking echoes through my office again. I rip the paper off my face and wipe the drool from my face. “Come in,” I call out gruffly. My Gamma, Sam, comes bursting through the door. Frankly, I am surprised to see him. “I thought you left with my father,” I tell him. Sam is panting heavily. “Your father is on the move.” “What?” I growl. “I just left his camp,” Sam tells me. “He is planning on striking the Moonstone Pack today.” I narrow my eyes at him. It feels like a trap. “Why are you telling me this?” “I knew I made a mistake as soon as I left the pack,” Sam explains. “Your father is unhinged. He is expecting women and children to fight against the Moonstone Pack.” “You realize that I will kill you
Deimos POV Ace holds up his arm and stops my warriors and rogues from entering the forest after Sam. The forest is eerily quiet. I keep my eyes on the spot where Sam disappeared and wait for him to reemerge with Nico’s army. “What are we waiting for?” Ace whispers. “Don’t you think it is odd that Sam hasn’t come back out of the trees looking for us?” I snap at Ace. As if on cue, Nico strolls out of the forest, dragging Sam along with him. He has his arm wrapped around Sam’s neck and a silver knife held to his throat. A growl leaves Nico’s chest as he rips the knife across Sam’s throat. Sam’s blood sprays from his neck, coating the ground in front of him. His eyes are plastered open wide as Nico lets go of his body. Sam falls to his knees before landing face-first in a puddle of his own blood. “My son has returned,” Nico laughs as roves of warriors come out of the shadows. Nico spreads his arms open wide and walks toward me. “And you have brought me an army.” “Fuck
Willow POV We pull up to the location I had a dream about, and I pray that it is not too late. The sound of growls and howls are loud in the air. I look at Osiris, and I can see the panic in his eyes. We put our trust in the wrong man. Osiris grabs my cheeks and forces me to look deeply into his eyes. “Go find our daughter,” he whispers. “You are going to need my help,” I say with tears in my eyes. “I don’t need your help,” Osiris lies to me. “I have my warriors.” I blink away the tears in my eyes and nod my head. Osiris places his lips on mine. The kiss is short but full of love. It is a promise that we will make it back to each other. Osiris gets out of the truck and blows me a kiss before he runs toward the battle. His warriors don’t need a command to follow him. I watch in silence as they disappear into the forest ahead. Sliding into the driver’s seat of the truck, I do a U-turn in the middle of the road and head to the Dark Moon Pack. The drive to the Dark
Willow POV I don’t know what I am looking for as I flip through the Omega’s memories. I hop from memory to memory in her brain, trying to find something helpful. I try not to stay in one place for too long because her brain is deteriorating quickly, and everything is beginning to burn away like a photo in a flame. There are many memories of this Omega and Nico at the forefront of her mind. It is clear they had some sort of intimate relationship. She did his bidding time and time again, even when she didn’t want to. I try not to feel pity for her as I move through her mind. Her life has not been easy. Just when I am beginning to regret shooting her in the head, I think find what I am looking for. I pause in the memory, trying to get as much information as I can before it is gone. The Omega is standing in a cell at the end of the dungeons with a tray in her hand. I move closer to her so I can easily see her movements. She presses a brick on the wall, and the back of the cel
Liz POV I am curled up in the back of my cell, trying not to make eye contact with the guard standing outside. He is standing close to the bars, licking his lips as he stares at me. Dainn keeps growling at him, but I wish he wouldn’t. He needs to preserve his energy for when we escape. After I attacked Tracy, guards showed up. They haven’t left for anything. There is one outside of my cell and another down the hall. It is hard to tell how many more are down here. I make the mistake of looking in the direction of the guard, and he has his hand down his pants. I can see the steady jerking moves he is making. Vomit rises in my throat, and I have to fight not to puke. I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he is making me ill. The guard grunts loudly and pulls his hand from his pants. He wipes his come on his pants and winks at me. A shudder runs through my body, and I tug my legs closer to my body. Resting my head on my legs, I try to hide the fear in my eyes. “
Deimos POV I fall to my knees as my father’s men continually attack me. Duko is providing me with as much strength as he can, but it is not enough to fight off five warriors at once. The one warrior still has a grip on my shoulder, holding me in place. The others are circling me, taking turns biting at my flesh. Darkness is filling my vision, and I am swinging wildly, trying to make contact with any of the wolves. I refuse to give up. Just when I think I cannot take anymore, I feel the warrior on my back being ripped from my flesh. I roar loudly in pain as he takes a piece of my shoulder with him. I stay kneeling on the ground, waiting for the next attack, but it doesn’t come. My vision starts to come back as Duko uses all of his energy to heal me. Squinting my eyes, I look around to see wolves I do not recognize ripping into the wolves that were surrounding me. I stagger to my feet and lean up against a tree. I need a moment to collect myself. Reaching around my back
Deimos POV It is now early the next morning, and the fighting has yet to die down. My leg is aching, and so is my shoulder. Duko has not had time to heal me. But still, I fight through the pain. I have not seen my father or Damon in the battle, but I am sure that he is nearby. How else could he be commanding his forces? I have just plunged my hand into the chest of one of Nico’s warriors and ripped out his heart. It is still beating in my hand as I look around the battlefield. It is littered with bodies, and it is hard to tell who is who. A loud howl comes from just inside the forest. I immediately know who it belongs to. Nico. My father’s forces all raise their heads into the air and begin to retreat, but Osiris’s men aren’t willing to let them go. They continue to attack them as they try to run away. Another loud howl sounds off over the fighting. This time, I take off running toward the sound. My father is calling for his warriors to retreat, and I refuse to let h
Liz POV I am staring out of the window with a checklist in my hands. Each item on the list has been checked several times. There is nothing else that I need to do. The Lunar Ball is already underway. From my window, I can see groups of people slowly making their way into the town hall that has been transformed into a ballroom. It has already been decided that I will be arriving last, even after the royal Lycan family. Stepping away from the window, I check my makeup in the reflection of the mirror. My face is still round from being pregnant, and my belly is still swollen. Thankfully, the dress that Stella picked out for me hides my round figure. I almost look normal. A quiet knock on my bedroom door pulls me from my reflection. “Come in.” The door only opens slightly, and my sister, Belle, squeezes through. I expected to see her in a ballgown, ready to join the party, but she is not dressed for the occasion. She is in her leather fighting gear. Her hair is pulled ba
Liz POVThe sun is warm on my face, and my eyes flutter open. A blue sky spotted with fluffy, white clouds comes into view. I lay my hand on my stomach, and it is flat. No trace of my pregnancy. Quickly, I get to my feet and look around. Once again, I am in the clearing behind the Moonstone Pack house. The place where my parents died. Everything feels warm and inviting. Is this what death feels like?A woman walks in my direction, and I immediately know who she is. “Mom,” I call out as I run toward her. I reach out my arms to embrace her, but my hands move through her body like she is made of mist. Looking between my hands and my birth mother, I am confused. “Why can’t I touch you?” I cry. My birth mother lets out a sharp sigh and wipes the tears falling from her eyes. “Now is not your time.” “I’m not dead?” I whisper. “You are stuck between this life and the next,” my birth mother explains. “You have a choice. You can stay here in the afterlife. Or you can fight to
Liz POV Six Months Later I have been staring at this screen for so long that my eyes are starting to go crossed. Since the battle, there has been so much to do. Each of the rogues that was detained has been questioned and subsequently put to death. As much as I hated to admit it, Faris Jr was right. A precedent had to be set that we were not a pack to be challenged. As if there wasn’t enough on my plate, Faris Jr decided that the next Lunar Ball would be held at our pack. It is only a few weeks away, and almost all of the planning has been done. I slam the screen of my laptop shut and pinch the bridge of my nose painfully. The pup growing inside of me kicks me roughly, and I groan uncomfortably. My stomach has grown to an enormous size over the past six months. Just when I didn’t think it was possible for me to get any bigger, I did. Bracing my hands on the arms of my chair, I struggle to push myself out of the office seat. As I am attempting to stand, someone knocks o
Deimos POVI know I am leaning heavily on Elizabeth as we make our way out of the forest. My arm is flung over her shoulder, and she is struggling to keep me on my feet. But she doesn’t give up, and she doesn’t complain.As soon as we break through the tree line, I see medics running toward us. Elizabeth lets out a sigh of relief, but I am not ready to go to the hospital. As Alpha of the pack, I need to oversee the cleanup of the battle.The medics take me from Elizabeth. They try to make me lie down on a stretcher, but I refuse. “I need to see my men.”“Alpha,” one of the medics tries to reason with me. “You are injured.” “I am not dying,” I groan at the medic, and I struggle to make my way up the hill to the pack house. My hands claw at the ground in front of me as I try to make it to the top of the hill. I can hear Elizabeth groan behind me, and she wraps her arm around my waist to help me to the pack house. “You really need to be seen,” she hisses under her breath. “La
Liz POV I don’t look over my shoulder to see what Faris Jr is doing, but by the look on Nico’s wolf’s face, it is horrific. I can tell that Nico’s wolf wants to run from the Lycan King, but something is keeping him here. He has to know that this is a battle he cannot win, but it appears he is willing to die trying. Something furry brushes up against my leg, and I glance down to see Duko standing at my side. He looks awful. Deep cuts are oozing across his black fur, and chunks of flesh are missing from his body. I don’t know how he is still standing. ‘I’ve got it from here,’ Deimos voice breaks through my mind. But I don’t move from my protective stance. ‘You are injured.’ ‘I have been worse,’ Deimos lies to me. ‘This is my fight, not yours.’ I know I have to back away. Deimos needs to be the one to kill his father. After everything he has been through, he deserves that much. Nico’s wolf is pawing at the ground, growling at Duko. They are getting ready to attack ea
Liz POV “You can run, but you can’t hide,” Nico calls out from behind me. “I know these woods like the back of my hand. I will find you.” Panic and adrenaline are coursing through my veins as I slip between the trees. I duck under low branches and squeeze through narrow tree openings. Trying to find any way to slow Nico down. My feet are slipping on the fallen leaves as I run, but I try not to let it slow me down. I have never done much training, and I am beginning to get winded. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can run,’ I whine to Majesty. ‘You just have to keep going for a little longer,’ she encourages me. ‘Our mate is on his way. I can sense it.’ I don’t dare look over my shoulder as I flee. I don’t want to know how close Nico is to catching me. He is faster and stronger than I am. I may have been able to take down Brittany with just my claws, but I won’t be able to take on Nico alone. I trip over a fallen branch and tumble onto the ground. Glancing over my s
Deimos POV Willow jumps right into the action. Balls of flames burst from her hands and they hit the enemies in the chest. The fire engulfs their bodies and immediately turns them into piles of ash. Once the flames ruin their target they fly through the air, back into Willow’s hands. She is miraculous to watch. Ripping off my shirt, I leap into the air. Before my feet hit the ground, Duko has taken control. His paws hit the ground with a thud and a fearsome growl leaves his lips. Several of Nico’s warriors turn and look in my direction. I have never faced a lycan before, but they are much more terrifying than I expected. They look kind of like a wolf standing on two feet, but their limbs are long and gangly. Terrifying claws extend from the end of their human-like hands. Several of them surround Duko, and I have to push back the fear that is building in my chest. A lycan standing before me looks at me, and an awkward smile spreads across his grotesque face. With
Liz POV I watch Deimos for only a moment before I run toward the door that leads to the cells. I promised that I would hide, and I will keep that promise. I tug on the door, and it swings open easily. Rushing down the stairs, I let Majesty guide me through the dark. The dungeon is silent. All of the cells are empty as I rush past them. I make it to the cell at the very end of the dungeons, and I swing the door open. I press all of the bricks on the wall until the back of the cell opens. The secret door opens loudly, scraping against the floor of the dungeon. It causes me to cringe, and I hope that no one hears it. I slip through the door and push it shut behind me. Bracing my hands against the hidden door, I allow myself to breathe loudly. I don’t think anyone will hear me in here. Resting my hand on my stomach, I remind myself why I am hiding. I have to save the next white wolf. The sound of dripping water echoes in the distance, and memories of being trapped down
Deimos POV I am standing on the front porch of the pack house, staring out at a mass of lycan warriors. King Faris Jr is standing at the front, commanding his forces. Ace is standing at my side with his mouth wide open. Ace nudges me on the shoulder, and I tear my eyes away from the army in front of me. “Did you know that they were coming?” He asks. I can only shake my head. When Willow said that Faris Jr was going to take care of the Nico problem, I had no idea that it was going to be this. I walk down the stairs of the porch and stand at Faris Jr’s side. As I approach him, I bare my neck in submission. “What is all this?” I ask Faris Jr. “I am here to help you,” Faris Jr replies with a smile on his face. “This isn’t your fight,” I remind him. “It became my fight when Nico recruited lycans,” Faris Jr growls. “I have to remind my citizens of their place.” “When is Nico coming?” I ask. “That’s the thing,” Faris Jr says hesitantly. “I am not sure if he is brav