AUSTIN. “So what are your plans now? It doesn’t matter how old you are. Without the Claiming, no one can claim and mark you,” Conrad told us. “Well, I will force Austin to build a new pack so he can be an Alpha and have the right to the Claiming, and we all know he can beat everyone’s ass in combat,” Lexi said in a serious tone before a smile cracked on her face, and it made Conrad and I chuckle, too. “Seriously, I can stay unmarked for the rest of my life. I have Austin and our child. What do I have to lose if I don’t have his mark on my neck? I have the man. I have everything I need.” She added. The last part came out sincerely, and I felt it in my soul. My eyes watered, but I blinked it back right away. Lexi eased back into her position, and her back touched my arm resting on the backrest of the couch. My hand went to her arm, and I squeezed it gently. Conrad nodded and didn’t say anything more on this part. “They are requesting to meet you personally, without Gamma Austin or
LEXI. After the camp activity and dinner with the delegates, Austin and I headed home to the packhouse. There were nights we would spend at the barracks, as we would hang out with them without any pressure from the camp, either outside in a big bonfire or in the playroom inside. However, we had to come home tonight because it was a full moon and there were two pups shifting. Although this one would be led by Alpha Jace and Menard, Austin wanted me out in the full moon as well, like we’d been the past few full moons. We kept trying to summon my wolf. I knew I didn’t feel anything strange today, so this would likely be another failure, but there was nothing wrong with trying. After Austin and I bathed David, he read him stories about Lycans while I lulled him to sleep. David had been an easy pup, as soon as he smelled me and I carried him, he would eventually fall asleep. And although we barely spend daytime with him, he was not making it hard for Mom or the Omega to watch him. I k
HARLENE.I only have one task tonight: keep my best friend Marcia safe from her heat, which means making sure no unmated males are near her and attending to her once it comes.But what do you do when your best friend cries in front of you and confesses all the emotions she bottled inside her about her fated mate? The one she didn’t want to be mated with, but the one her wolf was pining for? What do you do when she makes one request to see him so she can ask for a rejection?I said no a thousand times, but she kept asking. She told me she was still not in heat, and she thought her heat would come way past midnight as her mom’s heat always comes around that time.I had no idea about heat since I had never met my mate yet, and my mom never had one, as she and Dad were not fated mates. But let me tell you, despite not being fated, I wanted the love between them. My mom was accustomed to receiving lavish attention. She grew up spoiled, and although her brother, Uncle Paul, was strict, he m
MARCIA. I just got off the phone with my parents. They were still outside the territory but heading home and wanted to check how I was. I told them Harlene was here. Mom also told me that she called Gamma Austin and informed him they got caught in bad traffic in the city because of some accident, so the Gamma would send two mated males here. I thought they were overreacting. What could go wrong? I could stay here and lock the door, and no one would smell me. Or I could go to Randall and ask for a rejection. That way, my heat would not push through. I already knew this was where our fate was heading, so why delay it when it could help me with this heat? But the thought of Randall made my pussy throb. I excused myself from Harlene, who was comfortably lying on her stomach in my bed watching some assassin movies, and headed off for a shower. I might need to touch myself again, as I have been doing a lot lately since I smelled him. But no matter how much I tried playing and touc
RANDALL. “Linus…” Marcia’s sweet but trembling voice came. Linus and I stopped fighting for the key as our attention turned to her. “Hi, Linus…” She smiled at him, her lashes fluttering, and Linus growled. So did I. I was fucking jealous. Marcia was looking at us as she shifted on her feet, making her look more innocent and alluring. My cock was hard as fuck, and I was sure I wasn’t the only one sporting a hard dick. Then she smiled at Linus, and he tried to break free from my hold, but I pulled him again, slamming his body once more against the bar. The more I held him, the more energy kept surging out of me, and the next thing I knew, I had already twisted his arm as more jealousy brewed in my chest, but the fucker just grunted and kept reaching for my female. I kept slamming Linus to the bar until I realized Marcia’s eyes were shifting between me and Linus’ pants. She was telling me something. Only then did my senses come back to me. I grabbed the keys and pulled them h
LEXI. I clung to Atlas tighter as we sprang forward toward the security building. I was hesitant to have Austin go there, as the Alpha and Beta were also going there. They were mated and marked, but Austin was still unmarked, and he could get affected by Marcia’s scent. But he assured me he knew what to do. Austin said this was not the first time he would smell a female in heat, and even if he was a fuckboy before, he was able to control himself. He said he only needed one person to snap him back to his senses, and it would be easy to fight it off. And me being there would help him a lot. Although I was frightened, I had to trust Austin like I’d been doing since we committed to each other. I thought there was a great commotion going on in there, but I was mistaken. The grounds were empty, although we could see movement inside the lobby of the building. Alpha Jace and Beta Tyler, as well as Austin, shifted into their human forms, and we all made our way inside. The Luna and Cath
AUSTIN. “We can all agree that what Marcia did was wrong.” Aunt Clair began. “But do any of you know how it feels to be in heat?” “Hmmm…” Jace mumbled again, and my eyes flew to Uncle Jake, who was just looking outside the window. “There are two types of heat for unmarked females. The heat where you know your mate wants you just as much as you want him. That’s a perfect heat.” I bit my bottom lip and remained quiet because I already knew where this was headed. “And there’s this heat where you have no idea where you stand in your fated mate’s life.” She smiled warmly, but I saw pain in her eyes. I was sure she was remembering a part of her life in that situation. “It was the ugly kind of heat. You have no idea what to do. It’s like you want to walk away from the mate bond, but all of your being is drawing you to your mate. And then there are many men coming after you, and although you feel sexually aroused, you know they are not the ones you want. It can make you feel scared, beau
AUSTIN. Jace and I hurried to the basement, but he held my shoulder, stopping me from walking further as we reached the middle of the stairs, heading to where Randall’s cell was. “Can you smell any heat scent?” He asked, and I shook my head. “Her heat finished too early.” He added. “Weird, but it makes sense if it arrived too early.” “Could be. Unless she’s not there, but I can assure you, I don’t smell anything strange or something that makes me drool.” “Then you are good to go. Let’s go…” He patted my shoulder, and we proceeded to hurry down the stairs. We found two mated warriors outside the cell, and they were talking with Randall inside. Their attention shifted to us the moment we approached them. “We locked the cell, Alpha, even if Marcia insisted on staying inside.” One of them said, and my eyes went inside the cell. Marcia was sitting at the end of the bed, her hands gripping the edge while her gaze was focused on her feet. While Randall was standing, his back was agai