CHAPTER #25“TEMPER TEMPER” MEREDITH’S POV: As I heard that final seatbelt bell sound through out the cabin, I peered over and stole a glance of the formidable Alpha King grumbling and semi snoring in his seat beside me. He had slept nearly the entire flight as we had opted to take the red eye from Edinburg to New York City. When we had transferred flights just a couple hours earlier, he had gathered our luggage, and I do say, our luggage, carried all of it himself to the private hanger and set it down beside the private charter he had scheduled the day before. Then lumbered back into the plush private jets posh leather seats, leaned back and once again, took to napping. Meanwhile, I had slept very little, maybe only a couple of sporadic cat naps the entire 8-hour flight. I found myself glowering at him irritably. Not fair, not freaking fair, how he could sleep so comfortably when my best friend, his daughter had been kidnapped by Goddess knows who. I crossed
CHAPTER #26“RAINA” LUCCA’S POV: I walked out of Evan’s home feeling defeated. I knew he had her, I was sure of it. I could smell her all over him. I walked down the steps and onto the driveway, scanning back up at the medieval atrocity he called a house. I noticed a figure peering out of a second story window and I couldn’t help but crease my brow when I recognized the old man, Oliver. He looked somewhat pleased with himself smiling at me from the window and offered me a half-hearted wave. I felt my heart sink even more at his acknowledgement. I needed to regain my wits about me and fight to get my Luna back. As I walked down the driveway, I noticed a couple of younger girls peering at me from the side door of the kitchen and I nodded to them politely. One, a striking young brunette, probably not a day over 16 years, pointed over to the woods and slowly began walking along the side of the house, ducking at every window. I picked up speed and hurried to the e
CHAPTER #27“BACK TO CRESTRIDGE MOON”LUCCA’S POV: “I heard a muffled cry from behind me, that unmistakable sound of pain combined with terror. My wolf slid to a stop and before I had time to process what was happening, Enzo had already spun around and was speeding back to where we had left the girl. “That girl is not going to die today, especially since we can damn well do something about it. She will not die because of us. I am going back for her.” My wolf roared in my head. I bowed my head, too ashamed to dispute my wolf’s intentions. I knew he was right; he usually was. We hadn’t even made it a mile when we reversed course and began running. As we neared, I could see Evan had buried his head into her neck, and I felt myself pause… he wasn’t going to mark her, was he?! Enzo flared his nostrils and faltered slightly in stride, hesitating slightly. “He wouldn’t…” my wolf grumbled, silently stopping, his paws were quieter than a cat, while traveling
CHAPTER #28“SHIFT AND MAKE UP”MEREDITH’S POV: The wind stung my eyes as we flew down the mountain to the valley below, doing anything we could to intercept the Alpha King. I was pleasantly surprised by how fast and strong my mate was. I was thrilled as we came up behind the other wolves as quickly as we did. My biggest fear would be that I would not make it in time to stop Ethan. I knew his heart was breaking due to the loss of his daughter and it only made matters worse that a stranger and marked and mated her without his permission. And while this would be difficult for any father to take, it was that much worse for a king. I felt my Ryder dig his heels into the soil and begin sliding to a stop, and with that I flew over the top of his head and landed in a heap a few feet in front of him. I grunted and turned my attention over to Ryder, who I swear I caught his wolf smile at me mischievously. “Paybacks.” I heard a voice quietly echo in my head.
CHAPTER #29“PLANS FOR ME”BRIDGETTE’S POV: I had been left alone in this white sterile room shortly after the Alpha had vacated. The witch had made me some lavender tea before she had left, and the smell and favor relaxed me as best it could considering I was a captive. However, despite what I was struggling with, my heart pained for the women that had been subjected to this lunatic longer than I. Those that had been raped, abused, and murdered had hostage over my mind. Alpha Evan James was a madman, plain and simple. I finished up the remainder of my tea and gently set the styrofoam cup down on the table beside the hospital bed. I had tried the exit door earlier, however as expected, it was locked. No surprise there. So, with a great sigh, I wandered back over to the young human that laid in a hospital bed on the opposite side of the room and studied her carefully. She was so battered and bruised, marks of one kind or another riddle all over her body. My hear
CHAPTER #30“IN LOVE WITH THE DEVIL”EMILY’S POV: I slowly rolled over in bed, stiffly, trying to stifle a cry as a pulsating pain radiated through my back. I knew it was simply another bruise from Evan when he tossed me against the cement block wall of the hospital to prove a point to Bridgette. Typically, I was not the target, I had never been used to sway another. No one ever cared about me enough for me to be used as a pawn to influence another. I laid silently and pondered the fact that Bridgette had cared enough about me to fold, to submit when Evan had told her how he would hurt others. I felt an arm tighten around me and remembered that I had been summoned to the Alpha’s room once again, like I was most nights. I fought a tear, how disgusting was it of me to love this man, he was the second part of my soul, and yet, he didn’t want me. He wanted Bridgette. He had brought her here only a couple of days ago. She awoke yesterday after the massive dose of wo
CHAPTER #31“WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE”EVAN’S POV: The delightful smell of chocolate and mint filled my nostrils as I left the bedroom, I shared with my second chance mate. I nearly marked her! I ran my hand through my hair in exasperation as I walked down the hallway. My wolf was already bonded to this female, and I had to fight him everyday not to mark her. I couldn’t risk losing my chance at being the King of all Alpha’s for a single little witch, despite how foxing I found her. As I walked briskly to my office, I allowed my mind to wander, I had admitted my feelings to her, yet told her the truth about my ambition. She had screamed at me, cursed me, the broken look in her eyes pained me deeply, but I needed to remain strong, and she needed to understand. Honestly though, I didn’t believe she did, and I was going to have to be very careful with the way I handled my little witch from now on if I wanted her to remain loyal, despite having her sister locked awa
CHAPTER #32“REALIZATION”BRIDGETTE’S POV: Emily and I were lead away from the great room, down the corridor and back to the infirmary that I had been kept in since my arrival here. Neither of us said a word, and while we were entering the hospital room, the doctor and nurse came running out of the room like their tails had been set ablaze. I was beyond exhausted and could have cared less what anyone else was doing at this point. I allowed Emily to help me over to my bed and I slowly crawled into it. I simply wanted to lay down. The events that had transpired downstairs had taken every ounce of energy I had. Aurora had even dared come to the surface despite the high amounts of wolfbane we had been given over the past few days, or however long I had been trapped here. Alas, however, my beautiful Lycan was so weak that she had reverted into my mind and had gone silent once again. I knew that it was going to be a long while before I would be able to shift or hear
CHAPTER #56“PROLOGED TO THE HYBRID MATES”(First Sequel of HIS HIGHLANDER LUNA and the HIGHLANDER SERIES) My memory is a blank space. I sit idly in the darkness while my mate sleeps in our bed, I have hence vacated to the love seat in our bedroom. I know my mate is a wolf, I can sense it, I can smell it, but I have no recollection of how or why I know any of this. Is he really my mate? Something in my heart tells me that I do indeed have one, although I do not have a wolf to guide me. I know I am not a wolf; my mate has told me that I am a witch, but I do not recall that either. I recall nothing. A clock ticked the seconds away, the sound echoed in my head, as I pulled my long walnut hair from behind my neck over my shoulder and played with the ends between my fingers, thinking silently to myself. Who was I? Was I always a witch? How did I end up here? I had a strange accent compared to everyone else in the castle, so I knew I was not local. For that matter, I
CHAPTER #55“WITHOUT MEREDITH”LUCCA’S POV: It had been nearly a month since we had brought my beloved home. I loved my Luna more than I could have ever imagined. The mate bond was real, and I thanked the Goddess every morning and every night for finding her. She was everything that I could have ever wanted. Beautiful, passionate, funny, and highly intelligent. We found that we had similar interests, and she began working with me part time on historical renovations within my company Crestridge Builders. Watching her face light up when we brought on a new project filled my heart with love and joy. Bridgette was brilliant at her work in the office, and yet still made time to be the most incredible Luna the pack and I had ever seen, and that wasn’t just me being bias. She had a knack for treating pack members like beloved family, she was the perfect pack mother. Disagreements had resolved over sixty percent simply by her communication skills over the pack. She als
CHAPTER #54“TAKEN”BRIDGETTE’S POV: The blue haze that I was so familiar with now surrounded me in the darkness. Everything was silent, and I was alone. I could feel the claustrophobia overtaking me as I reached forward in the night searching for my escape only to feel and find nothing. The faint scent of menthol cigarettes lingered in my nose, and I could feel my anxiety rise, as I wanted nothing more than to break down and panic. To lose my self-control and cry, scream until I knew I was back into the arms of my loved ones. Instead, I stood in complete darkness, like an empty realm trying to swallow me. I felt the first distinctive squirm in my stomach, causing me to instinctively lower my hands protectively to my belly. I was feeling overwhelmed, I wanted to scream, yet I bit my lip and fought with the tears. I refused to be defeated because I was left alone in darkness. The silence was deafening, the blue haze cast me in a cocoon, illuminating only inches
CHAPTER #54"BATTLE OF THE ROGUES”BRIDGETTE’S POV: Aurora’s senses were up as I shook my room mates. They were less than impressed with me and rousing them was nearly impossible. However, I knew in my heart that tonight was the night that my father and my mate would be coming for me, for us. To free me, to free us! Our reign of terror would be coming to an end soon. I felt giddy at the prospect of being saved. “My father and my mate are coming to get us. Common, get ye up!” I badgered the girls and pulled the cotton quilt away from Rose’s face. A hand came up and swatted at me, but I dunked my nose. “Your daddy and mate can’t do anything against an entire rogue army. Your hallucinating, although wishful thinking.” Ava said as she attempted to grab the blanket back from me. I smiled; an evil smirk hazed onto my face. She had no idea, I was simply a regular girl, a typcail she-wolf with perhaps a handful of allies and a mate somewhere. Most would rati
CHAPTER #52DELAY NO LONGERLUCCA’S POV: “Where is Meredith.” Those words out of Ryder’s mouth haunted me, the hair rose on the back of my neck, and I felt my soul become cold. We couldn’t be looking at another kidnapping, could we? Was Evan crazy enough to come, or to send some one within yards of over 150 warrior wolves, three Alpha’s and the Alpha King to grab a Celtic witch, and for what reason? How would he have even known about her, or known she was here? He would have to be utterly mad! My face was blank and I heard a woman’s voice, and then a gentle petite hand shake my shoulder. “Lucca, snap out of it. What are you thinking? Undoubtably the girl just wandered off. She’s a witch, she will be fine in this area.” Evelyn said calmly, trying to gain my focus. However as I glanced at Ryder, I could tell by the expression on his face that nothing was fine, and my instincts, as well as Enzo screamed that the girl was gone. The problem was, I could
CHAPTER #51“THE BRANCH OF WAR”LUCCA’S POV: I had shifted into my wolf Enzo while in the cabin and had followed the Alpha King out to address our warrior wolves. I was surprised when he shifted mid-step as exited the witches house, but I kept forgetting he was a Lycan. The other thing that he was able to do was mind link and open hold conversations with any pack member telepathically. It really expressed the superiority that he held in the wolf community. I had to break into a trot to keep up with him, and I noticed Ryder out of the corner of my eye just loitering along the tree line. I couldn’t mind link him because he was not affiliated with my pack, and especially not in his human form, only the Alpha King could. I sighed inwardly; I would have to update him later on the plans. I also knew the fact that his mate was here and had not readily accepted him wore heavily on his mind. I remembered the fear and anxiety I had when I had first met Bridge
CHAPTER #50“THE FATED BITE”EVAN’S POV: I raced blindly into the forest, where I went didn’t matter, all I knew was I needed to get away from that cabin, from her. I don’t know how long I ran, I ran until my wolf was on the verge of collapse. How stupid I had been, things were going just fine until I listened to my father and took that stupid Princess. I had my second chance mate, my concubines, my pack… I should have killed my father instead of allowing him to interfere, pervert my mind into thinking I could become King. Me, a lowly North American Alpha, King of all Lycans and werewolves. How stupid and deluded had I been. What was I thinking? Granted, their was no dispute that producing an heir with the lineage of the Alpha King would be amazing. The resulting pup would be a royal no matter what happened, or who the father was, and Bridgette was beautiful, no one could deny that. She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever laid eyes on, but regardless
CHAPTER #49“A GIFT FROM THE GODDESS”RYDER’S POV: Evelyn was instrumental in helping the Alpha’s with planning. She told them where the camp was, provided maps and access points they would need to access the mountain and to defeat the encampment of rogues. The remainder of the day both Alpha’s were on their phones coordinating with other packs, council members and allies. They were planning the attack for tomorrow at dawn before the rogues caught wind of anything. Hiding at my grandmother’s house was strategically the best thing for us. We were far enough away from the rogue’s patrols to keep them from finding us here, yet close enough to keep a keen eye on what the enemy was doing. The most important thing at this point was making sure Evan and the rogues stayed put. If Evan decided to move camp, or worse yet, remove the girls, we would be forced to start all over again. Meredith had steered away from me and had spent most of the time talking with my grandmot
CHAPTER #48“THE CURSE”BRIDGETTE’S POV: Trent and Trey took me into a large room on the left side of the rustic stairway. They opened the steel door with a large skeleton key and gently escorted me inside. They were respectful to me, and I smiled kindly to them. Although they were in the wrong, they were simply following their Alpha’s orders. They closed the door behind me and left me standing alone in this simple barren room with a grouping of twin beds lined up against the wall. I heard a door close from behind me and spun around quickly to see a pretty girl with freckles, grey eyes and sierra colored brown hair, hanging just past her shoulders, dripping wet. She held a white towel around her tiny body, her eyes filled with alarm at seeing me and she quickly took a step back. “Ava…” she said in a weak cracking voice. I stood my ground and watched as another girl, taller yet just as thin raced to the other girl’s side. This girl resembled Emily, s