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Chapter 114
Last Updated:
2025-01-15 23:38:46
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In Service of the Alpha Chapter 115
MaraI slowly come awake. I'm warm, dry, and comfortable. The last thing I remember was running down that mountain, the rage burning through me like a wildfire.Rain pitter-patters overhead, but the room is light and airy.Confused, I sit up and look around. I’m all alone, in a room that looks very much like a hospital. The bed is slightly inclined, allowing me to sit half upright.I'm in Haven's Crest infirmary.What happened to my my mate? My friends? My pack? Where are they?Panic courses through my veins. I have to get Johnathan. Is he dead?No.I grasp my heart, as if touching my chest will bring my mate closer to me. I’d know if he was dead. I’d feel it.I mind link with Johnathan. He's there, alive, keeping the connection open, but not responding to my endless stream of questions, asking him where is, what happened, who died, who lived...I couldn't stand it. Watching them die. Our warriors. Ilse. The vampires. Even the nymphs. Every time I saw one of them fall, it was lik
Last Updated : 2025-01-16In Service of the Alpha Chapter 116
MaraThe mansion feels quiet and dead. A gloom has settled over our home, and I just want it gone. I don't like feeling this unsettled in a place I love so much.The Omegas aren’t here, lighting up the space with their laughter. The kitchen, always filled with warmth and light, is cold and dark. Gregory isn’t here, asking me to ‘come play dinosaurs with me, Mara.’“Where are Preston and Donovan?” I ask, hoping that their presence will lift the despair that settled like a suffocating blanket over everything.“Gathering the dead,” Johnathan answers. His face is passive, but his eyes speak volumes.“Should we go to the funerals?”My mate shakes his head. “It’s not a funeral. They will cremate the fallen together. It's how we honour warriors.”I’m relieved that we don’t have to go, but I feel guilty at the same time. I want to support our wolves - they need to know they’re not alone. That their King and Queen didn’t abandon them.But after even a day in the infirmary, I’m still weak. Even
Last Updated : 2025-01-17In Service of the Alpha Chapter 117
Mara“Why are you here?” I ask Kahn. “Can you please just get me a drink first… before you start interrogating me? Cooking sherry will do, I don’t care, just give me something.”Snorting softly, I get up and go to the parlour, hoping and praying that the two Betas have left. To my great relief, I find the door open and the lights off. Without bothering to switch on the overhead, I walk over to the drinks cabinet and get a fresh bottle of whiskey for Kahn.He’s agitated and out of patience by the time I return. “Took you long enough,” he says and tears open the seal.“Well, I move at the speed of a wolf, not a vampire. What’s wrong?”“Apart from the fact that Felicity had me drawn and quartered, mourning my head on a spike to witness by dangling torso, not much.”“Yu- you were aware of it?”“Yes.”“Last time-”He slams his head on the table. “I know what happened last night. Blissful memory loss. No such luck this time.” He pulls the cork out of the whiskey and starts to chug it. “Th
Last Updated : 2025-01-18In Service of the Alpha Chapter 118
JohnathanMara and I are both wide awake now, though she’s restless and paces around the bedroom, flitting back and forth like a gnat on meth. It makes me deeply uncomfortable watching her like that. She's filled with a kind of nervous energy that she needs to discharge before she explodes.When she comes around the bed for the fourth time, I grab her wrist. “Let's go outside. You look like you could use a run.”“Can we shift?” she asks, a hopeful tone in her voice.I pull her onto my lap and kiss her. “Of course we,” I say when we’re both breathless. “Or,” she suggests and swings herself around to straddle me. “We can just stay here and get rid of our pent up frustrations that way.”I laugh and drop my brow on her head. “Sorry, babe,” I say with real regret. “You’re still smelling a bit… heaty to me.”“Heaty?” she splutters with a laugh. “Is that even a word?”“I don’t know. Come on. We can get rid of our frustrations the wolf way.”"Shouldn't we stay away from each other? If I'm s
Last Updated : 2025-01-19In Service of the Alpha Chapter 119
JohnathanWe wake up at the foot of the mountain. My mountain, as everyone here calls it.Thank God Dante didn't get it in his skull to climb up there with Aria. She would have fallen to her death.The rain pitter-patters through the leaves, the steady drizzle already soaking us through to the bone. Shit. What happened?I look around and find Mara lying a few feet from me, curled up like a baby, hand clasps between her knees, wet hair clinging to her face. My stomach tightens, the muscles going tight as a drum. “Dante,” I ask. “What did you do?”He’s sulking. Refusing to talk to me.“Okay,” I try a different tact. “What did Aria do?”Nothing. Dead silence from my wolf.Sighing, I get to my feet and walk over to Mara. I lean over and gently touch her shoulder to wake her. She jerks and botls upright. Without any hit of shame or fear, she yawns, and stretches, giving me a good eyeful of her delectable body. “Are you all right?” I ask before she’s even fully awake. “What did Dante do
Last Updated : 2025-01-20In Service of the Alpha Chapter 120
JohnathanI am wet, I’m uncomfortable, I’m covered in mud and dirt, but none of that matters. all I can think about is my mate. Mara’s skin is so blue that she’s starting to look like the clear sky on a summer’s morning. I want to do is get home so I can put her in a dry, comfortable room while she has her vision, but it's impossible to carry her right now.The best I can do for her while I wait for Preston to make his appearance is hold her, and hope the heat from my body warms her up a little.Unlike Mara, I run hot. I never feel the cold unless the temperatures drop below zero. We’re not quite there yet, and up here in our magical mountain home it almost never happens, but I have enough experience to know that even a wolf can die of exposure when they’re in their human form.It’s Kahn who shows up, carrying the blanket in a backpack so it won’t get wet. “Preston asked me to bring this,” he says and pulls a blanket from the pack. “He figured I could get here faster.”Mara isn’t hav
Last Updated : 2025-01-22In Service of the Alpha Chapter 121
MaraI wake in Johnathan’s office. There’s a fire crackling in a hearth I didn’t know existed, and the room is filled with the scent of smoke, my mate’s comforting smell, and the spiced wine.The last thing I remember was walking back to the pack house, then the vision came. I tried to fight against it at first, but then I remembered Johnathan’s previous warning, and I gave in to it.I’m warm, comfortable, dressed in one of Johnathan’s t-shirts, and wrapped in a cozy blanket, but my insides are as cold as ice and as numb as the dead. I groan and sit upright, swining my legs off the couch as I do.I look around the familiar office with bleary eyes, searching for my mate. “Mara?” Johnathan asks. “How do you feel?”Worse than last time. I feel as if I’ve been assaulted by a lifetime’s worth of suffering and pain. “I-” I grab my throat and rub it. It’s dry, scratchy and achy and it's difficult to talk. “Whu-”“Don’t say anything right now,” Johnathan interrupts. “Remember how this works
Last Updated : 2025-01-23In Service of the Alpha Chapter 122
MaraJohnathan rubs his hands over his eyes, and pinches the bridge of his nose. Something he does, I’ve come to learn, when he’s tired and feeling overwhelmed, though he’ll never admit to it.At long last, he empties his glass and nods. “So Donovan and Haley make peace some time in the future?” he asks.It has nothing to do with what I’ve said, but I guess he’s not ready to face the big demons yet. “I guess, but the child… he wasn’t there.”“Shit,” Johnathan grunts.“Maybe I just didn’t see him.”Johnathan turns his face away and scratches his head. “Tell me about our daughter?”For some inexplicable reason, my heart swells and my eyes fill with tears. I don’t know what happens between then and now, but I know I love that little girl. I also know that I was terrified that I’ll lose her.When we ran for the temple, I kept praying to the Goddess, begging her not to take another one. There’s no way I can explain this to Johnathan though. I don’t want him to know. “She is beautiful,” I
Last Updated : 2025-01-24
Latest chapter
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 130
MaraMy heart fills with pity for the poor human who gave his life for the humans' misguided cause. I am not even sure he volunteered. He probably didn’t even know what he came up here to do.I can feel him. All his emotions. He's so very scared.Although, I am still wondering how the fuck he made it up here. Even Johnathan couldn’t do it, and if Oberon and Kahn are to believe, Johnathan can climb up trees and mountains like a cat.I kneel next to the human, and hover my hand over him, trying to find the energy he’s emanating, but it’s something new and foreign. It’s partly supernatural, but it has all been manipulated by human hands. “What do we do with it?” Kalypso asks. “Do we kill it or…” she shrugs, letting her words hang in the air.“I think we should attempt to disable it, and bring it with us. Study it,” Johnathan throws his two cents in the hat. “We do have scientists in town. Maybe we can find out what kind of… thing it is. What makes it tick. We can… dissect it, I suppose.
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 129
MaraThe trek to the foot of the mountain is relatively easy, if a bit difficult due to the rain. The neat footpaths have turned into little rivers that stream past our feet, dragging mud, leaves, and other mountain debris with it.The paths are as slippery as snot, and we fall down often, landing face or butt first in a mud pie or a puddle of water. Everytime it happens, we laugh until we can’t breathe. It’s not funny, considering where we’re going, but the laughter helps to ease our growing tension.The closer we get to the mountain though, the more I expect Johnathan to call off our search and retrieve mission, but it looks like he’s actually having fun. And as a result, so am I. It's a stark reminder of how much our respective moods wrap off on one another.I burn with guilt when I remember how I behaved. How hard it must have been for him to pretend nothing was wrong, while he basically had to walk on eggshells around me.Never, ever again, will I do that to him if I can help it.
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 128
JohnathanI’m not even sure where to start. The humans never breached our magical defences, but it’s possible that one managed to sneak by. The one carrying the weapon perhaps.There is no way to communicate with the gods. Not that they’re very talkative on their best days, but at least I knew I could ask for help, and more often than not, they'd answer. Not in words, but they'd show me the way - like Father Patrick's God supposedly shows him the way.Now I have nowhere to turn. The gods can't hear me, can't help us. We are well and truly on our own.I glance at Mara who is snug in her raincoat. She did not gripe or refuse to come outside with me, but she insisted on wearing a raincoat and galoshes. “I prefer snow,” she said as we got ready to head outside. “It’s cold, but at least it’s solid.”“What happens to the snow when it starts to melt?”“Mud.” She held up one of the galoshes. “That’s why we had these.”I laughed and swung her around into a hug. “You have an answer for everyth
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 127
JohnathanI get up and walk over to the door where I know Preston is waiting for me. One look at him, and I know he heard the entire conversation. His eyes are dark, filled with rage. It's not so much just because Pia is a shit mother, but because all of us suffered a wolf like her at one point or another. The callous disregard for her daughters hits home for all of us. “Please escort Pia back to the hotel. She will be stripped of her rank. She is to receive no special treatment. No Omega will serve her. She will serve the warrior Lunae instead.”“Yes, King,” Preston says.“Move her to a servant room on the ground floor. I want a guard on her twenty-four-seven, and her windows are to be barred with silver so she can’t escape.”My Beta nods. He doesn’t approve of my light sentence. Just like Oberon, he'd rather see Pia dead. Death is a release, not a punishment, and unless I can help it, I prefer not to give people such an easy out. Despite everything Pia had done, despite the pain
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 126
MaraThe people file from the library, including the vampires and Johnathan’s two advisors. “Come here, Pia,” Johnathan orders.My mother folds her arms under her breasts and gives Johnathan a defiant look. “I don’t take orders from men.”My mate slams the sturdy table so hard that it cracks down the middle. “You will do as you are told. Get over here. Now.” His tone is hard. Final.It sends a shockwave of pure delight down my spine. A few months ago, this version of Johnathan would have scared me. I would have hidden from him. Only now do I realise that he made himself softer on purpose, all so I’d learn that there’s no need to fear him.He talks about the blessing I am to him all the time, but I don’t think I’ve ever told him how much he means to me. What a blessing he has been for me. He took all my broken pieces, and patiently, lovingly, glued them back together with gold.I have been selfish, hiding in the folds of his love, using that same love as my shield, while he had to carr
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 125
MaraI sit quietly next to Rose who is regarding the proceedings with lively eyes. Pia is here, but Johnathan made her sit in the corner like a naughty child. I look at her, searching for the love I used to have, but it's all gone. The warm spot my mother used to occupy is now cold and dead./Kalypso, Oberon, Ilse, two women I’ve never seen before, Kahn, Preston and Donovan are all here, gathered around a round table in the library. It was the only place we could prepare on such short notice.Jonathan goes around the table and introduces everyone. He points to the first stranger sitting next to Kalypso, “Cora, leader of the changelings,” he says, and next to her, “Aurora, high priestess of the witch coven.”Cora shakes her head. Her long, blonde hair rattles and she changes into a little girl no older than five. She giggles and changes back. Changelings give me the heebie-jeebies. It’s said their true appearance is quite terrifying, but apparently their men find them irresistible an
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 124
JohnathanI never liked going to the temple, but tonight I dread it even more than usual. I’ve never gone in there during the normal full moon. I don’t know what effect it will have on me... on Kahn.But most of all, I fear that we’ll get there and the Goddess will be gone. The thought of going through the war without the gods by our side fills me with dread. Even with the gods, we're having a hard time fighting them.What will happen if they're completely gone?They must still hear our prayers. When the humans attacked, I begged for their help, and it came in the form of a deep, impenetrable fog.“What if the fog was the humans’ weapon?” Dante asks.Fuck.Shit on a stick.He’s probably right.“But the rain stopped. I very much doubt the humans have the ability to control the rain.”“You don’t know that,” my wolf offers up his unhelpful opinion.Great. Everything’s fucked. I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t know what comes from the humans and what are the gods’ doing. Who
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 123
JohnathanMara falls asleep under me. Her hands gradually slowing and eventually stopping completely. Her ragged breathing evens out, becomes deep and peaceful.She will have nightmares for a while. Unlike last time, she wouldn’t go into detail about the things she saw in her vision. I don’t know if she wanted to spare me, or if she was just overwhelmed, but my money's on the former. I can’t imagine that the things she saw were pleasant, and she wants to protect me the same way I try to protect her.I roll off my mate and pull her into my arms, holding her tight and close, hoping that my touch will be enough to keep the monsters away.“Johnathan,” Kahn whispers at the window.I’m surprised I even heard him over the noise of the rain and through the closed window no less. It’s getting wild out there. The wind is picking up, and the waters pour from the heavens non-stop. “What do you want?” I hiss back.“We really need to talk about what Mara saw.”Now is a really bad time. I have no d
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 122
MaraJohnathan rubs his hands over his eyes, and pinches the bridge of his nose. Something he does, I’ve come to learn, when he’s tired and feeling overwhelmed, though he’ll never admit to it.At long last, he empties his glass and nods. “So Donovan and Haley make peace some time in the future?” he asks.It has nothing to do with what I’ve said, but I guess he’s not ready to face the big demons yet. “I guess, but the child… he wasn’t there.”“Shit,” Johnathan grunts.“Maybe I just didn’t see him.”Johnathan turns his face away and scratches his head. “Tell me about our daughter?”For some inexplicable reason, my heart swells and my eyes fill with tears. I don’t know what happens between then and now, but I know I love that little girl. I also know that I was terrified that I’ll lose her.When we ran for the temple, I kept praying to the Goddess, begging her not to take another one. There’s no way I can explain this to Johnathan though. I don’t want him to know. “She is beautiful,” I
