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
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
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
** 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
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
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
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
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
MaraI expect both of them to go their own way once we’re home, but Ilsa and Rhoda follow me into the pack house to the kitchen. “Are you hungry?” I ask Rhoda, who nods and takes a seat.“We should have a girl’s night,” Ilse declares. “Booze, bad movies, complain about our guys.”“Tha’ actually sound like fun,” Rhoda says.“What about your guy?” I ask her and go to the fridge to check what we have.We’ve been missing a lot of meals, but the Omegas still come to the kitchen to cook every night and store our meals for us.“Lemme do tha’ lovey,” Rhoda says and rushes over to the fridge to take over. “Yeh shouln’t be serving me anyway.”“Sit down,” I gently order her. “I don’t mind, and you must be tired too.”Despite her cheerful, almost flippant nature, towards me, I can see how troubled her eyes are when I tell her to sit down.I look at the vampire who is regarding us with a small little smile. “Do you want a drink? We always have whiskey and I think there’s wine.”“Wine doesn’t have
MaraJohnathan shows up at the hospital just as I start to leave. After twelve hours in labour, Haley finally had her baby, a strong, healthy boy. It has been a long day, and all I want to do is go home, take a long shower, and crawl into bed.“Hey Johnathan,” says as he gets out of his car. “How did it go?”“As good as it can go with these things, I guess. Healthy four kilogram baby.”Johnathan whistles through his teeth. “Big boy.”I nod and yawn, wiping sweat from my brow. The days are growing increasingly hot and muggy. “She named him Nelson.”“Interesting choice.”“It was her father’s name.”“Ah,” my mate grunts. “Both are doing well?”“Yes. Tell you what, though… I was completely wrong. I’m never having any babies.”Johnathan chuckles. “Yes. Seeing it in person is not as magical as it is on television. But, truly Mara, there is nothing like holding your baby for the first time. It’s like… your heart is beating outside your body and inside that kid.” His eyes grow misty. "And wat
JohnathanBefore I can interrogate Kahn any further, he’s gone again. “Fucking vampire,” I mutter to myself, but I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it looks like I’ll be very busy today,” Donovan says dryly.“Hm,” I grunt. “Where the hell did he get one of those soldier things?”“At Red Ridge?”“Kahn hasn’t left Haven’s Crest for months.”“Are you sure?”I nod. “Quite.”It takes Kahn an inordinate amount to return, but such is the nature of this beast. I’ve come to learn that the kind of warfare I chose, comes in flurries of activity, and long periods of quiet unease that could drive a person up the wall with madness. I keep reminding myself that we are playing a long game and we have to be patient, but we are wolves. We’re not made for this kind of fight. We like a more hands-on approach.Kahn reappears just over an hour later, accompanied by a willing super soldier. On the outside, he looks like an impressive human, almost
JohnathanMara lies tightly curled against me, fighting hard not to fall asleep. Kahn told me what she said to Eli after we left the temple, and it blew me away, just confirming that I made the right decision. Having her father here with her, will give her some peace.Sending my weakling brother and a flip-flopping vampire like Thrax to Red Ridge as a Lycan was an extremely risky move, but I can’t go and Mara with her abilities should definitely never be captured.Putting Thrax back together was horrific. We could hear his body joining, flesh squelching, sinews creaking, then the sudden whoosh of blood starting to circulate. The vampire inhaled deeply and screamed as he sat up, nearly shattering our eardrums.“Oh, shut up, you drama queen,” Kahn said and knelt in front of him with a bottle of fresh blood. “Has no one ever cut off your head before?”“No, as a matter of fact, that has never happened,” Thrax said in a breezy, pained voice.“Fun isn’t it?” Kahn asked and held the bottle t
MaraJohnathan insisted on taking Eli into the temple by himself while we waited outside for them to return. They have been gone for longer than an hour, and I can’t tell who is more concerned - me, Donovan, or Kahn. Given how time moves inside the temple, they should have been out by now. It only takes a few minutes for the Goddess to accept or reject a wolf.The vampire glances up at the sun. “They’ve probably been in there a week,” he observes. "In temple time."I don’t know what to do. A big part of me wants to go inside and check on them, but a much bigger, louder voice, keeps warning me to stay out of it, that I have to let Johnathan take care of this one his way and by himself.“Maybe we should just head on back to the pack house,” Donovan says. “Check in with Preston. Make sure he’s still alive.”“Preston is fine,” Kahn mutters and kneels at the entrance. “I swear, if Johnathan’s not out in ten minutes, I’m going in.”Exactly nine minutes later, as if he heard Kahn, my mate a
MaraEli is wholly unimpressive. He’s shorter than most Gammas, greying around his temples, and his bushy salt and pepper beard makes him look like a caricature villain from a cartoon. He looks much older than his forty years. His body is soft, and his blue eyes watery. Yet, he still carries himself as if he has the authority of an Alpha - and I think he believes deep down to his being, that he is an Alpha. I can see it in the arrogant way he looks at Johnathan, and how he regards the rest of us. As if we’re beneath him.Even if I didn’t know what he had done to Johnathan and the Misty Mountains pack, I wouldn’t like him. He has a thoroughly disagreeable aura, and his energy is nothing short of toxic. The atmosphere is thick and heavy. We all want to run as far away as we can from this man. He's trouble. Nothing less, nothing more.My biggest concern is for Johnathan though. The moment he heard that Eli was here, I could see the little boy he once was. Terrified, lonely, and almost
Johnathan“Felicity is gone,” Kahn declares one bright, spring morning as he strolls into my office to give me his daily report.I drop my phone and look up at the vampire. I'm not particularly shocked, nothing can shock me anymore, but I'm still surprised. “What?”He nods. “We released her weeks ago, told her what Thrax did, how he fucked her up mentally… last night, she told us that she failed us, broke everyone’s blood bonds and just… left.”The vampire looks devastated. I think he loved Felicity more than he led on - or perhaps even more than he knew.Mara looks up from the laptop. We’ve been going out of our way to track and monitor the humans’ sympathies. Large movements against supernatural persecution are starting to form, and everyone’s jumping on their favourite new bandwagon.We’re trying to figure out how to capitalise on the outrage while the wheel is in full motion.More and more supernaturals are revealing themselves, going on the news and internet to tell their stories
JohnathanMara wipes her tears away and gives me a stern look. “Stop feeling sorry for me.”Surprised, I just look at her, scrambling for something to say. “I’m not-”“Then you’re feeling sorry for yourself… but whatever it is, stop it.”Dumbfounded, I just keep staring at her.“You are an Alpha. A Lycan king. Did you expect this job to be easy?”“No.”“What life did you envision?” she asks and pushes away, her eyes piercing straight through me.I actually haven’t given it that much thought. Whatever it was, it was simpler than what we have now. “A house, a few kids, our pack-”“And what else?”I roll my eyes at her. “That’s not enough?”“Sure, but difficult as it may be... I think this is a worthwhile life. If I stayed with Lucas, he would have beaten me to death. If some other Alpha bought me, he would have bred me to death. Or, I would have married an Omega, sweet and kind -we would have had a boring uncomplicated life… until the humans came to kill us.“At least with you, I’m doin
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