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Chapter 62
Last Updated:
2024-11-14 22:30:20
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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?” he
Last Updated : 2024-11-15In 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 Ridg
Last Updated : 2024-11-16In 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 while 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 owuh 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 an
Last Updated : 2024-11-17In 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, send
Last Updated : 2024-11-18In 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
Last Updated : 2024-11-19In 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
Last Updated : 2024-11-20In 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
Last Updated : 2024-11-21In 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
Last Updated : 2024-11-23
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In Service of the Alpha Chapter 144
MaraI stumble through the mansion, barely seeing anything around me. I have no idea where I'm going or what I'll do when I get there. I just know that I can't stop now. I can't think about what we've done. If I do, I'll never be able to get back up.As soon as the crew cleared out, I killed Finnian. The only ones I would allow to stay were Johnathan and Kahn. I love them. I trust them. It was worse this time because I knew his name. He wasn't just a threat I needed to get rid of. He was a person to me, and he wasn't our enemy. Not really. He didn’t hate us. He had no problem with us. He just wanted to save his child.Shortly afterwards, Oberon showed up and wanted to take my pain away, but I refused. I can’t keep hiding from it. Easing my suffering makes it too easy. Everytime he does that, I feel a little less, and I am sure if he keeps doing it, I will become cold and indifferent. I can’t allow that to happen.At long last, I I turn right into an unkown room, and end up in one of
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 143
MaraThey enclosed the brain thing in a glass container that reminds me a lot of an upside down bowl. It’s to contain the toxic gas it’s giving off, but I think it’s harming him. He looks sick. Greyish-white, the pulsating slow and uneven, like he’s gasping for air.He’s well away from the rest of the town, hidden in a vast cave that's not too high up. “We can’t film him like this,” I say and give Johnathan a pleading look. “They will call us cruel.”My mate nods. “Agreed. Everyone stand back. I don't know what that gas will do to you. I’ll release him.”The film crew that came with us disappear from the cave, but Kahn doesn’t budge. The vampire’s eyes are filled with sorrow. “You know… at least we have the decency to treat our blood bags well.”“Yes,” I answer without missing a beat, “but the problem is that you think of them as blood bags, not as humans with feelings.”“We acknowledge their feelings,” Kahn says in a huff, “which is why we don’t lock them up in cages.”“Don’t argue,
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 142
JohnathanMara is sitting in her favourite spot on the windowsill, staring out over the wilderness. The storm clouds are gathering again, and I expect another good downpour as soon as tonight.She is upset. Six of the wolves didn’t make it. Even with her present in the temple, and with Oberon’s shield, they still burst into flames immediately.But she is not upset because they died. It’s the way they died that bothers her the most. “Are you okay?” I ask as I adjust the towel around my waist, and run my hand through my wet hair.“They died terribly.”“Probably for a good reason, Mara,” I say. Not that I disagree with her. Watching someone burn to death is horrendous. “We couldn’t trust those wolves. The Goddess allowed everyone else to turn.”She sighs, a heartbreaking sound that tears me to pieces. “I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”“No, it doesn’t. There’s something else we need to talk about.” And she’s not going to be happy. Not at all. I’m not happy about it ei
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 141
JohnathanI catch Mara and Donovan just as they leave the forest. They are surrounded by dozens of wolves - the ones I’m starting to think of as the originals - who went to visit with their children.“How did it go?” I ask.As soon as I ask the question, my mate’s eyes are filled with tears. “I almost couldn't say goodby to him. I didn't want to let him go.""I'm sorry, baby," I say gently. "I know it's not ideal.""He asked about you.”A heavy weight of guilt settles where my heart is supposed to be. “What did you tell him?”She pulls one shoulder up her ear. “I told him that you are working very hard to keep the pack safe, but that you will go see him soon.”I feel my own tears trying to push their way up my throat. I swear, I hadn’t been this emotional and teary since I was a child. “He was okay with that?”“Yes, because his daddy is his hero. He is very proud of you, Johnathan.”The love that wells up in my chest is overwhelming, but so is the sorrow and longing to see my child. “
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 140
JohnathanI sit with Rose and try to follow her disjointed report. She is speaking for all the Lunae and the whole bunch of them are babbling at once.It takes them a while to settle down and allow Rose to translate.As far as I can tell, each of them explored a different part of Red Ridge, and they are not telling me anything I don’t already know. Experiments, pain, suffering, families torn apart, unbelievable, unbeatable soldiers. Everything Mara already saw in her vision.It was an absolute waste of time and resources to send the Lunae to Red Ridge, but at least I now know that Mara’s visions are scary accurate.Which does not bode at all well for our future.“Last I go see Douglas. He feel Lunae presence,” Rose says.My stomach goes a little cold. “What was he doing?”“I no know. He sent me away. Say we need run. Hide. He no help.”I slowly nod. “Where was he?”“In big white room. Lots of glass… what you call those things?”“Test tubes?”Rose shrug. “Machines I no understand. Bloo
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 139
MaraFor once, it’s not raining. The sun shines brightly in the clear, blue sky and birds chirp merrily in the trees.Johnathan is still asleep, wrapped around me like a blanket. I slide out from under him, grab his t-shirt and walk over to the window, throwing it wide open and inhaling the clean, crisp air.The sun might be out, the clouds might be gone, but it’s fucking freezing cold. I feel like it should be snowing, not raining.Running on my tiptoes, I head back to bed and crawl under my mates warm arms. It’s just cozy enough so I won’t freeze to death, but not so hot that I’ll dehydrate.“Morning,” Johnathan says without opening his eyes.I jerk at the sudden sound of his voice. There was no indication that he was waking up. His breathing didn’t change, his heartbeat didn’t speed up - nothing. “I think it’s closer to afternoon,” I reply.“It might be,” he says and finally turns his head to look at me.His eyes are clear and wide awake, but he’s deeply troubled. I can tell that
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 138
MaraI pull Johnathan into the shower with me. He follows me inside without any complaint, even allowing me to help him wash. It’s awkward and difficult—he’s so tall that I can’t reach everywhere, but he still lets me do it.I don’t know what his plans are anymore. I don’t know if he changed his mind at all, but I saw him fight for us. I saw him stand up to Thrax, brilliantly weaving a strategy I would never even have considered.I am not sure if he was just acting in the moment, and if still wants to abandon the pack, us, and go his own way. And I will not ask him. Not tonight anyway. He’s carrying a veil of sorrow around that’s so thick I can feel it, and I refuse to let it consume him.He needs to know, has to understand, that I am here for him and that he isn’t the one who always has to keep me standing. He has to know that it goes both ways.Johnathan grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to look at him as he shields me from the water with his body. Then he a
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 137
JohnathanStaring at Thrax’s disembodied head is quite disconcerting. I hold him up by his hair, looking into his slack-jawed face. His mouth is open in a silent scream, and his eyes keep blinking at me. “How do we keep this thing alive without blood?” I ask Kahn.“A vampire as old as him can go several months, if not years, without blood. He will be fine.”Donovan holds a canvas bag out to me, and I drop the head into it, rubbing my bloody hands on my jeans. Not that it helps much, but it makes me feel better.That was absolutely revolting, and probably one of the worst things I have ever done in my life. “Do not beat yourself up, Warlord,” Oberon tries to comfort me. “He deserved it.”Maybe he did. But it still feels so, so wrong. The floor is slick with blood, we’re all covered in it, and my office smells like death. “I need a shower.” And about twenty bottles of rotgut whiskey to forget this night. I'll take the cheap moonshine the rogues used to distill - it's a hundred perce
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 136
JohnathanI wish I could say that drinking Kahn’s blood was one of the more disgusting things I’ve ever done in my life, but that would be a lie. I have had far worse things in my mouth than a little vampire blood over the years.And it did work. Not only did it sober me up, I am wide away, and I feel stronger than usual. No wonder the vampires don't share their blood.When Thrax showed up, Kahn whispered four little words in my ear. “Careful. Don't trust him.”While Thrax went on and on and on, I managed to put up a wall, blocking him, and I could contact Preston, who went straight to work - he found Oberon, he rallied the troops.I am still not sure if I changed my mind about our future. But what I have to worry about now is this new threat. There will be no future if Thrax kills us all. Or worse, hands us over to the humans. I knew the vampires, especially Thrax’s younger children, wouldn’t be able to resist the nymphs. Much like Lycan blood, theirs is considered to be a rare deli
