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Chapter 26
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In Service of the Alpha Chapter 27
MaraAs I shower and get ready for supper, I realise that this will be my first weekend at Haven’s Crest. I’ve been here since Monday afternoon, and the week flew by in a blink and blur of activity.It amazes me how quickly I settled in and how comfortable I am. So much so that I plan to ask Johnathan if I can go into town tomorrow. I want to treat Rhoda to lunch. I haven’t seen her since they brought me here, and I want to thank her for all her help.There’s still a little money left on the card Johnathan gave me, and while I'm in town, I want to buy a swimsuit. The Alpha was right, I regretted not having one. I watched the father and son sliding down the smooth rocks, splashing into the deep, cold pools below, and I wished I could join them. Johnathan already saw my scars, and I think Gregory will just accept them the same way he accepted my bruises.I think I'll be okay if it's just the three of us.I saw a different side of Johnathan today. A playful, fun side. I saw a man who kn
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 28
MaraI sit on the edge of the pool, dangling my legs in the cool water. It's another warm night, and the urge to simply slide into the water is powerful.The wind is blowing from the direction of the town, carrying with it the sound of laughing humans and a cacophony of different kinds of music. The air smells like barbeque fires, alcohol, and suntan lotion.The town is alive tonight.It sounds, smells, and feels like the summers at Red Ridge when I was a little girl. Before life came around with a series of blows that almost robbed me of the will to live.“Oh God, what a day,” Johnathan says from the patio doors and walks out onto the deck. “Did you tell Preston he had to beat Ally?”I nearly dislocate my neck when I whip my head around to look at Johnathan. “What?” I ask, alarmed by his question. “No! I would never do something like that.”“According to Ally, you did.”“I told her that I was spoiled too, until Lucas beat it out of me.” I pull my legs out of the pool and shake the wa
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 29
JohnathanThe panic that rises up in Mara is palpable. Not that I blame the girl. I don’t feel much better about the whole mate issue and rushed mating ritual. We have another two weeks until the next full moon, and I did plan to ease Mara into it. If it weren’t for Douglas’s plea to mark his daughter still ringing loudly in my ears, I would have told the whole lot of them to go to hell.This is not the right way to do it. Mara is still terrified of me. There are moments, glimpses, when she lets her guard down and shows me her true strength. And then there are nights like tonight, when I snap at her and instead of fighting back, she pulls back into herself, shutting me out."Answer the girl," Felicity urges me. "Does she have to be marked tonight?"“Yes,” I finally say, wondering how much of my conversation with Mara's father I have to relay to her. “Your, uh, your father also requested that we do it as soon as possible.”“My- my dad?”“Yes.”“Why?”I look at Felicity who is regarding
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 30
JohnathanFelicity returns just as the curfew alarm jangles in the town.Tourists are told that the curfew is for their own safety. We put notices up in all the bars, pleasure houses, clubs, hotels, and the mountain resort. The official excuse is that the town attracts wild animals, and we don’t have enough rangers to patrol the town.No one ever questions why said wild animals don’t enter the town during the day. The promise of stiff fines and the possibility of being eviscerated by wolves and bears is enough to keep them in check.Sometimes, fear, or the threat of danger alone, is enough to keep humans compliant. “So?” I ask the vampire.“She’s still alive,” Felicity says. “I couldn’t get close enough…the witch put up some kind of barrier.”“What?” I snap and jump to my feet. “How is the spell-”“It is a powerful spell. A dangerous one. You knew that. Sit down and relax.”As if it’s that easy. My mate is out there. Alone and in peril. The desire to protect her is all-consuming, and
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 31
JohnathanDante catches Mara’s scent and starts to follow it. For a while, I try to wrestle back control, but our wolves have no sense when it comes to their mates. He’s not giving in, singularly driven to get to his mate, and my halfhearted attempts to take back control goes unnoticed by my wolves. Not that I'm trying all that hard. I want to get to my mate, and blaming whatever happens next on my wolf will be a convenient and accepted excuse.Felicity lands in front of me, her fangs bared, hands curled in claws with wickedly sharp fingernails glinting like blades in the moonlight. “What are you doing, Wolf?”Dante snarls at the vampire. In vampire to wolf combat, we have the upperhand. Our bite is venomous, our blood poisonous. Felicity’s bites and scratches won’t harm me. They’ll hurt, and they’ll take forever to heal, but she can’t kill me.Unless she manages to rip my throat open. My coat is thick and difficult to penetrate, so I’m not too worried. “If you interfere now, you’
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 32
MaraJohnathan walks into the lake with me still in his arms. The water here isn’t freezing cold as it should be, but it's still cool and refreshing on my feverish body.The Alpha doesn’t ask any questions, he simply sits down on a rock in the middle of the lake and starts to wash me.I don’t know what the sticky substance on my skin is. It wasn’t there when Aria surged and the witch forced us to shift.Gradually, the warmth of Johnathan’s body seeps into mine and I stop trembling. My chattering jaw stills and I relax in his arms. Healing my wolf was easy. Gertie did it within minutes. Shifting again for the first time in two years was a different matter. Aria didn't want to do it. She was still weak and frightened. "If you do not shift now," the witch said. "You will for certain die on the next full moon. You have to shift or the spell won't take."I forced Aria to shift. Like a butterfly breaking out of her cocoon. It was painful and difficult, but I refused to give up.I felt eve
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 33
MaraThe mansion is eerily quiet when we return. It’s well past the six a.m. waking hour, yet no one is about. “Where is everyone?” I ask.“It’s Saturday. The staff gets the day off,” Johnathan says. “I’m not a complete fucking monster.”I smile. I haven’t stopped smiling since I shifted again. Aria is quiet, but I can feel her. She’s here with me, tired and weak, but alive and well. I've missed her so much, and I periodically feel as if I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.“Are you still planning to go out today?” Johnathan asks and folds his hand over his genitals.“No. I don’t think so.” I’m suddenly very aware that I’m completely naked. It did not bother me when it was dark and no one but Johnathan was around to see me. Now I want to run and hide. What if Gregory wakes up and sees me?“Go upstairs and get some sleep,” Johnathan says. “I have a few phone calls I need to make.”“What about the marking ceremony? You promised Gertie you'd mark me right away.”"Yes. T
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 34
Johnathan“Hey Johnny,” the council elder, Liam, says and shakes my hand. “So you really made it happen, hey? Found yourself a worthy Luna before the deadline. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed.”“Don’t call me Johnny,” I say automatically. Eli used to call me that, and I hate it when others use the name. “It’s Johnathan. Why are you disappointed?”My first guess would be that he doesn’t want to incorporate a rogue pack led by a rogue Alpha, but it's not unusual. “I lost a bet because of you. A pretty hefty sum,” Elder Liam says with a guffaw that makes me want to tear his eyes out. “I can be petty and not register your union in time. Win my bet. Or you can give me my money back, and I can register your union right away.”I hang on to the red-hot rage that tries to consume me. “Are you trying to extort me?”“Oh.” Liam gives me the fakes laugh I've ever heard. “Of course not. Think of it as a business deal.”"No," I say firmly."Oh, relax," he says with that same fake laugh. "I
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In Service of the Alpha Chapter 71
JohnathanDinner passes rather tensely. Mara keeps shooting me dirty looks, as if she’s just waiting for me to say something in Rose's defence. I decide to keep my mouth shut. The vision is still too fresh in her mind, and we have the uncanny way of self-fulfilling prophecies if we’re not careful.The Rose thing is going to come back to bite me in the ass. I should have sent her back home, but my conscience wouldn’t allow it. She’s a child, brainwashed by a cult into believing that she has to start breeding for the good of her tribe.The Lunae must be desperate if they’re sending their children out to have babies. Their pack was decimated - they probably want to repopulate as fast and as soon as possible.Rose came home with me, but I’m not her Alpha. She did not swear loyalty to me. I'm under no obligation to protect her, and she will never accept my authority over her.Yet, I want to protect her - even against herself if need be - just like I want to take care of every lost child. M
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 70
JohnathanI get up and massage the soft spot below my thumb. Mara’s vision lasted a long time, but I did not expect it to be so detailed. I’ve seen seers go into trances for hours, only to come out of it and give me a useless little vision that couldn't have lasted more than five minutes. Half the time, the biggest challenge for a seer is to come out of the trance.“You did well for your first time,” I say and return to my desk to get my notebook. I tried to write everything down exactly as she told it. I want to keep a record of her visions so I can remind myself from time to time. I used to record seers’ accounts on my cellphone, but I have a tendency to lose my phones. I lock the notebook in the top drawer of my desk, then return to the thick file Douglas sent. I hold the file up for Mara to see. “From your father. Money.”“What?” Mara asks. “The humans didn’t just take it?”“No. Your father was clever. He hid his tracks well. On paper, every penny belongs to a human.”“What human
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 69
MaraI stop talking. I’ve reached the difficult part. The part where Johnathan dies. I don’t want to talk about it, much less think about it.But the image is there, forever etched into my brain like a brand.“Mara?” Johnathan asks and looks up from his notebook. “Is that it? Are you done?”I shake my head. “Remember? I told you… I told you that I saw you dead.”He nods and picks up his wine glass. He doesn’t look nearly as worried or afraid as he should be. “We can stop for now. Pick it up tomorrow.”I hesitate, gripping the stem of my wine glass like it’s a live preserver. The premonition plays itself out in my head again, vivid and unbearable, but I force myself to forge ahead. "No. I want to get this over and done with.""Okay," my mate agrees. "Go ahead."“After Rick took me-” I clear my throat in an attempt to get rid of the frog that caught there -“he took me into the mansion. To my father. They had him locked up in the wine cellar.” I let out a mirthless little laugh. “You sa
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 68
MaraWhile I spoke, Johnathan wrote everything down. There’s a small frown between his eyes as he reads back. “What did Rose do?”I shrug. “I don’t know.”“But you told Kahn things with her didn’t work out.”“Yes, but I don’t know what she did. I suppose it still has to happen.”He puffs his cheeks up and slowly blows the air out of his lungs. “Fucking premonitions. I now kind of want to kick her out, but I don’t have a reason.”“That’s what you’re worried about?”“Yeah. We can stop Donovan. Now that we know she’s coming, I can go get Haley before she comes here, make sure she’s safe.” He keeps reading, the frown between his eyes deepening. “This doesn't make sense to me... I'm not the kind who'll just discard a pregnant she-wolf like that.”I shrug. “I guess a lot of shit’s gonna happen between now and then.”He nods and pours a glass of the spiced wine for himself. “Can- can the future be changed?” I ask.“Yes, that’s the whole reason the Goddess sends premonitions, so we can alter
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 67
** TRIGGER WARNING: Infant death. **MaraSix months after Donovan joined Haven’s Crest, Haley showed up here alone. I saw her when she entered town, coming over the mountains. She was haggard, her clothes torn, and clearly starving. She was at the end of her pregnancy and could barely walk.I was surprised that she hadn’t given birth yet.My first instinct was to attack her. She had taken my mate. Caused my banishment. But then I saw it for what it really was. My pride. She wasn’t a danger to me. If anything, the tables had turned, and I was now a threat to her. She did me a favour, really, and the least I could do in return was to make sure she was okay.I had forgotten all about the threat Donovan made all those months ago. He had become a part of Haven’s Crest, and Johnathan paired him with a new Alpha called Luther. They were always off in the forests somewhere, training with their new squad. Johnathan wasn’t with me when Haley showed up. Like everyone else, he was preparing for
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 66
Johnathan“You’re probably just having a premonition. Focus on what you're feeling,” I say.Mara shakes her head and starts to hyperventilate while trying to cry at the same time. “Can’t… breathe,” she gasps. "Dying."“No, no, no,” I say and grab her face, forcing her to look at me. “You are having a panic attack.”She violently shakes her head.“Yes. Listen to me. The more you fight it, the worse it will be. It will happen whether you want it to or not. Just let go. It’s like falling asleep.”“No… scared.”“I know, baby,” I say gently. “It is very scary, but I’ll stay right here with you. I won’t let you go. It's just... it's a dream. It can't harm you.”Mara lets out a long sigh. Her eyes roll back in her head and she goes limp, falling forward and into my arms.I pull her off the chair and sit flat on the floor with her on my lap, cradling her like a baby while I wait for her to come out of her trance. As I watch, a tear rolls down her cheek. The warm droplet falls on my hand, sen
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 65
JohnathanGregory's mouth runs like a freight train on our way back to the mansion. The kid barely stops to breathe wihle he excitedly tells me about his week at Zach's house. We popped into one of the many diners in town for a burger and a milkshake, and the kid is in a fantastic mood. God, I missed my boy. I smile and adjust my wristwatch. I promised Mara that I wouldn’t be long, but it turned into a three-hour-long exercise, starting with Kelly who insisted that I stay for coffee and cake.I glance at my chattering son in the rearview mirror. “And I told Zach he can come play at owe house, ‘cause he don’t have a pool o' nothing.”"They have a big pool in town," I say. "Didn't Kelly take you?""No. She doesn't twust the men thewe."Oh-kay. “All right kiddo,” I say as we pull up to the house. “Settle down a little, will you? My ears need a break.”Gregory undoes the buckles on his carseat by himself and patiently waits for me to open the door. Grabbing his backpack, he hops out and
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 64
MaraJohnathan grabs me as I walk past him to the door, curling his long fingers around my upper arm to keep me in place. His grip is strong, firm, but he holds me in such a way that he doesn’t hurt me.“Is that what you think?” he asks. “That I’ll protect you to death?”I falter a little. “Well… yes. I’m sorry, but I kinda do.”“Have I been coddling you like you’re a child?”I quickly shake my head. “But you didn’t want to tell me about my father.”“Yes,” he admits and slides his hand down my arm to take my hand in his. “When I spoke to you dad, we had just met. You had so much going on. You were so… vulnerable. What should I have done? Should I have piled on and made it worse? Would you have done anything different if you were me?”I don’t have to give it much thought. He’s right. When I came here, I was on the brink of death, and so much happened all at once that he didn’t really have the time to sit down and talk to me about my father and everything that’s been going on at Red Rid
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 63
MaraI stare blankly at Johnathan, not sure how to answer him. I knew he’d ask me sooner or later to spend the night with him, but I thought it would be later. What’s more surprising is that I’m not afraid by the prospect of sharing his bed - I’m enraptured by it.“Why do you want me to stay?” I ask nonetheless.He shrugs and steps into his linen trousers. “I missed you.”“You did?”“Of course. You are my mate.”“You barely even know me.”“Didn’t make me miss you any less.”I smile. I’ve been smiling a lot lately. If I'm not careful, I'd go so far as to say that I'm happy. “Okay,” I agree at last, “but I train with Kahn at night.”“Not tonight you don’t.”“He’s not going to like that.”“He can go fuck himself,” Johnathan says with a soft little snarl that sends a weird little rocket of exhilaration down my spine. "I am in charge here, not Kahn."My mate doesn’t bother to put his shirt on. Instead, he sits next to me, but keeps a healthy distance between us. “Why do you trust Kahn?” h
