Our easy-going Cayd is having a rough time hearing about his mate's torment.
How close did I come to losing my mate because some asshole Alphas were abusing her? She nearly died, nearly starved to death. I don’t think humans can go days without water and if they took her clothes and left her in a cell…she would have been frigid. The image of my mate, laying naked in a ball on the concrete floor of some pack’s cells had come unbidden to my mind and Baron and I had felt the need to kill Alpha Alec. If I had known last night…if I had known what he did to my mate, he would never have gotten out of this city alive.‘Cayden, sweetheart, I know that you and Baron are struggling with what you’ve heard, but your mate needs you. This is hard for her to tell us. She may not understand why she isn’t afraid of you, or why your presence helps her to feel safe, but it does. Take some breaths and come be here for your mate,’ my mother’s gentle voice floats into my mind.‘Mom…’‘They will pay for what they did to her and what, I assume, they are doing to others,’ she says, this
I like Angel. She’s very sweet and I realize quickly that she’s a lot of fun. Since she has four daughters, she’s used to shopping, much more than I am.“I really don’t think we should spend so much of Cayd’s money,” I say to her for the hundredth time.“Trust me, sweetheart. He will be very happy to know that you have clothes that you’re comfortable in and that you like. Believe me. I know my son. This is important to him.”“Because he found me and I asked for his help? I really didn’t mean for him to do all of this when I asked for help.”“Even if my son didn’t do this for you, my mate and I would. It’s the right thing to do, but I also don’t want you to think that all of us are like what you’re experienced,” she says, looking around. She told me she’d prefer to shop in the town that is on pack lands, but when she asked me, I told her I’d rather stay in the city, so we did.I’m trying to be careful, in case he has a girlfriend who might get jealous of his attention of me and all this
My dad, Xander, and I met to talk about buying out the rest of the building. We’re all in agreement that it would be a good idea. Xander likes it because then we’d own all the stores on the first floor which includes Maeve’s witch shop and the restaurant on the third floor where our staff and others from outside the building come to eat. So, those businesses would pay rent to us. The other floors we would begin to renovate as apartment condos for our staff. The twelfth floor is where our company is located and since humans don’t build a thirteenth floor, it’s a large space with high ceilings. Xander now owns the fifteenth floor for him and his family. Currently we own the eleventh floor to the fifteenth.Currently, the fourteenth floor has multiple residents, but my father suggested that I look at remodeling it to take over the entire floor like Xander has done on the fifteenth floor, and moving the residents to other floors. Because we still bring in individuals who need assistance, w
I wake up with that same scent of buttery maple syrup in my nose. I love that smell.I open my eyes, disoriented again. I look around, taking a minute to realize that I’m in Cayd’s bedroom again. How did I get here? It takes another minute but then I remember. We were attacked by Alpha Alaric. I sit up quickly, remembering that I passed out.I can hear a man’s quiet voice in the other room. I’m guessing it’s Cayd. I want to know if Angel is alright, so I get out of bed and make my way to the door.“I can’t thank you enough, Maeve,” Cayd says. He must be on the phone, but he doesn’t sound upset, he sounds relieved.“I do, because it helps me to know that my mate is safe,” he says in response to whatever Maeve said to him.His mate? Who is his mate? Who is safe? Not his mother. There weren’t any other women there today…except me.I feel like my stomach falls to my feet. His mate? Don’t werewolves get all sorts of possessive about their mates?Before he gets off the phone, I carefully mak
When I walked into the room, carrying the plate of hot pancakes I’d quickly made for Madelyn, I realized that Meadow had put a spell around them so I couldn’t hear their conversation. That explains why it went very silent right after Madelyn asked if I could hear them. Of course I was listening in. I want to make sure that my mate is okay.But then, when Meadow whispers that she’s safe, I’m worried that I’ve done something to make her feel unsafe.“Is that for me?” she asks, not answering my question about not feeling safe.“Yeah, you said you wanted pancakes. They’re still hot so be careful.”I hand her the plate, letting her get settled back on the couch.“Did I do something to make you feel unsafe?” I ask, watching her.She stops cutting her pancakes and looks up at me. “No, you didn’t. But I trusted Alpha Alec and now I don’t trust my instincts.”“I’m nothing like him,” I say, sitting on the edge of the couch and making sure that I’m not touching her. I don’t want her to get scared
Wow! Cayd’s body is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I mean, I knew he was muscular, but…well, it’s one thing to know someone is muscular. It’s quite another to see his sculpted chest, his washboard abs, and his very defined adonis belt that led straight to…wow. There are no other words. The man is gorgeous everywhere and he has a LOT to offer a woman. I guess that woman is me…When Baron had jumped onto the couch, he’d laid his head across my lap. I’d done the natural thing and began to run my fingers through his soft fur. He started purring as we watched the movie, and somewhere during the movie, the warmth of Baron's body and his purring had lulled me to sleep because I wake up once again in Cayd’s bed.I take a minute, looking at the pictures on his dresser. I wonder if one day my picture will be up there. And that is a dangerous thought to have. I’m surprised with everything that has happened that the idea of Cayd being my boyfriend, of being his ‘mate’, actually sounds appe
I knew she had bruises. I’d seen some of them. Emlyn told me she was covered in them, but it still surprised me when I saw them on the back of her neck in the shape of fingers. Someone touched her, hurt her, left marks on my mate.I’m working hard to get my anger and Baron’s under control so we don’t scare her, when Reagan has to say something about her hugging me. Yeah, like she wants to hug one of the monsters that did that to her.But then, she surprises me and opens her arms. I don’t give her a chance to change her mind. I rush to her, taking her in my arms carefully, very, very carefully so I don’t leave any marks on her. I don’t want her to ever fear my touch.I bury my face in her neck, taking deep breaths of her sweet pear scent.‘We’ll be in the other room,’ Reagan says in the mind link, and I hear her and Meadow walk into the kitchen.I don’t let go of her, not even when she tells me she’s okay. I still don’t trust myself. I’ve been angry before. I was furious when I saw the
While I take a shower, I try to get my racing heart under control. I know they can hear it, but hopefully they can’t while I’m in the shower.When I’m done, I pull on a pair of jeans, a sweater, and the new boots that I got yesterday. I smile as I look in the mirror. Angel had said that I should get this sweater. It’s bolder than I would normally get. It’s red and it makes me stand out, which is something I usually try not to do. However, I’ll admit that my light blue eyes look more pronounced and my black hair contrasts nicely with it.When I step out of the room, Cayd’s appreciative look makes me glad that I went with Angel’s suggestion.“You look fantastic. Not that you didn’t before, but…wow,” he says. I notice that he’s changed into casual jeans and a tight black t-shirt while I was showering. Talk about wow…I see his nose twitch and I wonder if I smell differently when I’m drooling over him.“Ready?” he asks, holding out his hand and I nod, taking it.“So, dad says you’re planni
We have lunch with Luna Grace, who told me to call her Aunt now that I’m part of the family, Alpha Eli, who told me to call him Uncle, Alpha Emerson, and Quinn. Quinn insists that I’m her sister, so I shouldn’t call her Luna and Emerson told me whatever made me most comfortable was fine with him.I’m pretty sure they asked more questions about our time in Araphyra than I did about the trial tomorrow. Everyone was shocked that there were two prophecies about me and Uncle Eli and Emerson asked Cayd a lot of questions about us bringing the return of the dragons. I could tell Cayd was proud that he was mentioned in my prophecy, but honestly, if he’s my mate, who else would have been mentioned?Because it’s winter and we stayed for several hours, the sun was beginning to set before we left and I had a chance to see all of the sprites' witchy lights begin to glow in the forest.“We definitely need lots of lights,” I tell Cayd as he walks behind me, wrapping his arms around me.“Should we get
I could feel Madelyn’s sadness as we left Araphyra and I wanted to make it go away. It occurred to me that this decorating thing might make her happy again, and I was right. I’ll decorate my entire apartment if it will keep my mate happy. Hell, I decorate the whole damn building if it makes her happy.I may be more like my mother than my father, but I learned from my father and my brothers that you’ll never be happier than when you make your mate happy. And they are right. Feeling Madelyn’s sadness turn to happiness makes me feel like the king of the world.While I drive, Madelyn turns on the car radio. She begins singing along to the songs. I don’t know any of the words, but I dance along as she sings happily. She’s still singing as we pull up to the entrance of Safe Haven. I stop at the guard gate.“Can you let Alpha Emerson and my sister know that Alpha Cayden and his mate, Madelyn, are here to visit?” I ask the guard.“Go ahead, Alpha. I’ll let them know you’re coming.”“Thank you
I can feel Cayd’s pride in me. There’s so much goodness in him. His heart is gentle and kind. I know that others described him that way, and I knew it from our interactions. But knowing it and feeling it are very different. Everything about Cayd is warm and inviting, drawing me in and making me want more.“So, Madelyn, tomorrow at 10am, you need to be ready to face Alpha Alec and maybe some of his pack members. I’m also expecting that he’ll bring other Alphas with him since we killed his father,” Lily says.“Those Alphas are probably in league with him,” Cayd says.“I’d bet money on it, which is why all of the Guardians are invited to attend tomorrow. We shouldn’t need them since Riley, Leana, and I will be there along with Mehira and Ennata.”“Well that covers the big factions, and it will be interesting to see how these Alphas feel about a council of all females making judgements about them,” Cayd smirks.“I doubt they’re going to like it very much,” Lily says, her smile a bit more v
I stare at my mate’s mark on my neck. I understand now why she wanted me to see it. She wasn’t worried that I wouldn’t like it, it’s just unlike any mate mark I’ve ever seen before.I stand from the water, turning to my mate. I’m not sure what she sees on my face, but she frowns, just a moment, before I take two steps and have her in my arms, devouring her mouth in a possessive kiss.I think I understand the power that I felt now when she bit into me. She gave me her dragon’s magic. Much like she will be stronger with my mark, I’m now stronger with hers. And maybe it’s because I’m a shifter that I feel it more than she has , but damn, dragon magic is very powerful magic.I pour my love and appreciation of the gift my mate has given me into the kiss.When I pull back, we’re both breathless and I can feel her dizziness from the power and emotions in my kiss. I’ll never get tired of this feeling.“I’ll never get tired of it either,” she says, her eyes still closed.I frown at my mate.‘Ca
I could feel Cayd’s body shaking with the control he was exerting in order to go slowly with me. I appreciate it, but something about his touch continues to light something inside me. The more he touches me, the more I want and need his touch. It's like my body is drawing him into me.I begin to feel a possessiveness, a need to have this man in my life, to have his mark on my neck for the world to see. And even more than that, I need the world to know that he is mine, only mine.When his canines enter my neck, and I feel like I’m going to explode with the pleasure inside me. It’s like the light inside me needs a place to exit, as if it’s expanding and is about to burst. My body jerks with the orgasms that Cayd has given me, one after another, but it hasn’t released the light inside me.It isn’t until I feel him release inside me, feel the warm jets of his cum coating my insides that I find my outlet. Something stings my gums and going solely on instinct, I bite down on Cayd’s neck, the
“Are you going to mark me tonight?” Madelyn asks me as soon as we get to our room.I look at her a moment. “Come sit with me," I say and rather than letting her sit in her own chair, I pull her into my lap. I wrap an arm around her waist and take her hand in my free one. This is the moment of truth.I take a deep breath, but then focus on her when I feel her nervousness, her fear that I don’t want to mark her, that maybe I've been putting her off because I had no intention of ever marking her. I quickly put my hands on her face, turning her head so she's looking at me. I am not Alec.“That’s not it at all, Madelyn. I would hope, after everything that we’ve been through here, that you realize that I will never, ever betray you. I will never leave you. I will never want any woman other than you, ever. You are it for me. What you saw was me preparing for YOU to not want this. Because you have to know that once it’s done, that’s it. There is no going back. There is do-over, there is no div
My mate still has no idea how incredible she is or how much power she has. Thankfully, she uses her powers for good.I tune into her mind as Baron runs. She loves riding on his back and howling with him. When we pass the trench with the giants, she howls at them and they raise their giant fists into the air, pumping in their version of a hello, I guess.Once we’ve passed the trench, the woodland creatures join us and my mate, my wolf, and all the woodland creatures begin howling again.When we get close enough to the castle, I hear Hera, Lily’s wolf, howling a welcome to us and we all howl again.My mate is laughing as Baron slows to a stop, letting her slide off our back. Lily smiles at her as I shift and pull on clothes.“Did you have a nice time?” Lily asks.“We did,” Madelyn says.“You could have told me that you’ve been sparring with Hope much more frequently,” I growl at Lily.“Where’s the fun in that?” Lily asks, unable to hide her smile. I knew she did it on purpose, hoping I’d
The giants are sweet. Okay, they’re a little scary, but I can feel their excitement to have a dragon in their midst again.A dragon. I guess I’ve accepted that I have dragon blood. It’s hard not to here, where everything feels magical and safe and loving. Okay, maybe that’s mostly Cayden that feels that way, but it still adds to the overall magic of Araphyra.When I’m done, Cayd shifts back into Baron and I wave at my new friends, the giants. Then I climb onto Baron’s back and howl. That’s another silly thing that I love doing. Howling with Baron. His answering howl is instantaneous and I grip his fur as he takes off again.This time, there are no woodland creatures flying with us. Cayd mentioned that Hope lives if the taboo land and no fae go there, not even Lucero, who stays back as we run forward. When Baron slows down, it’s eerily quiet. Unlike the woods in Araphyra and even back in Cayd’s family’s pack, the aren’t any sounds in the forest. No birds, no crickets, nothing. Just quie
I can tell that all of this is beginning to overwhelm Madelyn. It was a lot to begin with and it just keeps piling on.“Hey, why don’t we go for a run. We can go see the giants and Hope. Baron would love to run with you on his back again,” I say, watching her face. She might need some rest instead of an invigorating run, but she seems happy with anything that will get us out of this room.I see Buppig and Lily about to argue, but Madelyn has had enough for the day.“Why don’t you two speak to Aolis and Ailduin about what we’ve discussed, get their impressions. Madelyn needs to step away. Remember, she’s learning all of this about herself in just a couple of days. It’s a lot," I tell them.“Of course, Madelyn. You must think I’m a terrible Queen,” Lily says to her.“Not at all. I think you’re everything a queen should be, smart and beautiful and caring,” Madelyn says.Lily smiles. “I can see why King Ailduin was so taken with the dragons. You really do have a pure soul, don't you? Hopef