[Axel]
Kissing her sweetly, I set Rosalynd down on the edge of the bed. The sun is high, not quite evening, so we should have a couple more hours before the rest of the pack arrives.
Tonight, when we descend the stairs to join everyone, we will be a newly mated pair.
Despite all my big talk downstairs, my hands are shaking. I didn’t know I could feel so intensely until I met her.
Rosalynd leans back, breaking our kiss. She unbuttons her jeans and I help her slide out of them. She is completely bare from the waist down, not a scrap of fabric to hide her from me.
[Rosalynd] “Shouldn’t. We. Get. That.” I can barely speak as Axel takes me from behind, the sound of the phone ringing again punctuating his movements as our bodies slap together enthusiastically. “No,” he grunts. “Not a chance." His pace begins to quicken, becoming more demanding. "The boys. Promised. Uh. No. Calls. Tonight.” “Ahh…Axel,” he has me so close to going over the edge again. I want to enjoy it, but I have a feeling that this might be more important. “Ahh…Axel…we.ah.should.answer.it…ah damn! Axel! Ah!!” I release as he pours inside me again, finishing together. We haven’t stopped going at
[Rosalynd]I shake my head. We only just mated. I doubt he could have gotten me pregnant.But we also didn’t take any precautions.“I think I should probably go on birth control.” I say out loud to myself. “If it isn’t already too late.” I did not need to have a baby right now.“You probably should have thought of that before,” Willow muses. “But you were just too horny…”“Damn it, Willow! You aren’t helping.”She starts roll
[Axel]After completing a few sweeps of the grounds and not finding any signs of intruders, I rushed back to the house to get changed for the barbeque.By the time I returned, Rosalynd had already changed into the clothes and shoes that my father left for her, relics from my childhood that instantly bring back memories of my mother wearing these items to official pack functions. Seeing them on my mate makes my heart swell. It's like my mom is here with us too, approving of our union.When Rosie turns, the violet undertones of her gray eyes make them appear almost lavender as the purple lace dress draws attention to them. She has pulled her hair off her neck, using two pearl combs, putting her fresh mark on display, and from each ear dangles a matching teardrop earring. She is wearing a pair of my mother&
[Gideon] Damn it, Axel! Answer your phone!! I’m trying to keep my mind focused on the road ahead of me as it winds through the redwoods, but my mind keeps coming back to Rosalynd. She and Axel have no idea what is coming for them, no idea that something is even coming. We've been trying to contact them for the last three hours, but non once has he picked up and when we tried to leave a message, we discovered Axel’s voicemail box to be full. Rosalynd's phone service has been canceled, most likely by her mother. Not being able to reach them is making all of us anxious.
[Rosalynd] With her black hair piled on her head in long loose curls, wearing emeralds at her ears and a dark green dress, Alexa would look stunning if her face was not red and speckled with white dots of rage. “What are you telling my son?” she seethes. “Stay away from him, don’t talk to him, it is not your place to explain our mating rituals to him.” “You’re right,” I agree as I rise. She takes a long look at my mark, not so different from the scar on her own neck, and she hisses like a stray cat. “It isn’t.” “It’s your job,” Axe
[Axel] "No, you are not," I growl. Rosalynd places a hand on my arm, but no amount of soothing is going to keep me from fighting tooth and nail for my boy. "You do not get to come in here and..." "Actually," Alexa produces a piece of paper from her bag. "According to this court order, I am entitled to visitation rights. I'd rather we work something out between us," her eyes grow cold. "But I'm fine getting the courts involved." "Michael," I stare him down. At least he has enough sense to look ashamed of himself. "Are you going to go through with this? Why are you trying to steal my son?" "Axel I..." Reaching across the table I grab his collar. "Isn't it enough that you stole my wife out from under me, you need to take my kid too? Make your own damn son if you want one so much but you can't have mine!" "We can't!" Alexa shouts, her face red, her hands shaking. "We've tried. I...I can't get pregnant." "What do you mean," I look back and forth between the two of them. "You
[Evander] The darkness is complete. Blinking, the quality of light does not change as there simply is no light. My Fae eyes were designed to work in the faint moonlight under trees and there has never been a time when the light was so complete that I couldn't see at least an outline or a silhouette. But tonight, there is not even the smallest flickering of a candle. The sounds around me are calm, the slow drip of water, the sound of soft footsteps on earthen floors. There is a gentle murmuring just outside my range of hearing, muffled as if heard through several walls and doors, so far away as to not be discernible. Lying prone on my back, the feeling of fine silk under my fingertips is cool and smooth. As I move my legs, it creates the crisp rustling sound of fine silk fabric. The pillow underneath my head is soft with bits of solidity, not the even fluff of modern synthetic fibers, but the old familiar feel of goose down. Feather pillows give comfort like no other. Weigh me do
[Evander] "Get me my coat!" I leap from the bed. "I need to get back to the surface." "Brother," Burdock tries to get me to sit, but I hear him coming and grab his wrist, twisting. "That wasn't a request." [Gideon] “Is there no way we can get around this traffic?” Jasper whines, looking around at the carnage left in Slone's wake. “This sucks. I don’t want to stay here all afternoon. How are we going to help anyone from here?”
[Rosalynd] I’d like to say this is a happily ever after, and I guess in some ways it is. Girl meets boy. The boy turns out to be a wolf. The girl meets another boy, who is a witch, and then another boy who happens to be a leprechaun. They all fall in love and have a lovely life full of magic and love. But fairy tales only seem simple on the outside. And our story is still beginning. Evander has been busier than ever ruling his kingdom. He spends as much time as he can here, but Tara is calling. Soon, he may need to stay there for longer. I’ll miss having him with me every day, but I understand. And It’s not like I can’t be there with him. It’s just a simple flip of a coin. Axel has taken his new duties as Guardian of the Forest very seriously. His new abilities from his time as the void have made him useful when it comes to detecting warlock mischief. Yes, we are still dealing with the warlocks, as before, but with their leader gone, they are a lot less powerful. Gideon has resum
[Evander] I’m not sure what Rosalynd is going to think when she sees this. I hope she takes it well. It’s been two months since our daughters were born and sometimes her emotions overtake her. “My Love,” I call out as I cross the threshold of our home in the woods. Today is Rosalynd’s day with me, and I can’t wait to come back to her from my dealings with the new council, even if I have some difficult news to share. My “surprise” is hidden in the satchel lying across my chest. She’s become such an intuitive witch since the babies were born that it is almost impossible to keep anything from her. She’ll likely sense the contents or see a vision or some other trick of the universe that will reveal everything before I open my mouth to tell her. Sometimes I wonder why any of us boys even bother to try. “Back here!” She responds from the kitchen, her voice strained with effort as if trying to lift something heavy. The kitchen is the last room I’d expect to find her in and prob
[Rosalynd] The chaotic hubbub that my announcement created would be comical if it weren’t happening to me. Thankfully we didn’t have to worry about much, we already had a room set up for the birth. One of the advantages of being married into a family as magical as mine, I have no shortage of highly capable hands to help me in this new adventure. This birth will be a bit more exceptional for a few reasons. Firstly, I am not entirely a wolf or even a simple hybrid. We have no idea how being part chimera is going to change things. Second, I am carrying two children fathered by two men. None of us know how the DNA was passed or what to expect. Will they be witches, leprechauns, wolves, or something else? The only thing we know for certain is that they will NOT be human. Nor will their powers be weak. They are the children born of deities and avatars, crafted from the flesh of some of the most powerfully magical beings on Earth and in Faerie. Thankfully, the Eel River pack already h
[Axel] Things have been different since we returned home. It has been months, and even though everything seems to have settled back to “normal,” there is no denying that things will never be quite the same again. Since the night I agreed to let the Void take over my body, I hear voices in my head. Sometimes I see things that others cannot see, even Rosie, our own personal goddess. I am myself, but I am also something else. Even Connor has been affected. After that night in the bunker, his coat had gone completely black, and his eyes glowed with the hot blue fire of the stars. He insists that he is an unchanged wolf, just better looking, but I would be a fool not to be disturbed by the changes. But today, I promised to put all of that aside for the sake of having one, perfect moment. “Are you ready,” Evander smiles from the doorway. His navy blue tie matches the color of my formal suit. Seeing me struggle with my own tie, he walks into the room and takes over for me. “Cousin
[Evander] I can feel the moment that Rosie gives into the Void. It feels like a cold chisel cracking into my heart, seeking to break the ties that bind me to her, that bind all three of us to her, leaving only the darkness within. Axel thinks that by welcoming the void in, he is getting his opportunity to be with her forever. But he isn't. The void does not need his soul once the darkness completes its work. As she kisses Axel, sealing their union, I know that even with the Universe’s blessing shining within me, I understand that If I do not act swiftly, we may all be tied to the void forever. Or worse, we could lose her to it. “We claimed her first and that bond cannot be broken so easily,” the Universe speaks to me, through me, filling me with the knowledge of what it sees as it fills my body, taking command. Reaching deep within myself, I can feel the truth of those words. The void tried to break us, but it failed. All three of us are still tied to her with shining cords o
[Gideon] His voice is like a cancer, rotting my soul from the inside out. Vincent. I thought I was free of him when he took Esther south when he left our coven behind. “You can never be free of me,” he laughs in my head. “We were never truly apart. Once you merge a soul with another, you are always connected. I was your coven leader. I will always be your coven leader.” “Not if I kill you,” I promise aloud, my body struggling against the magical restraints that Evander placed on me. His cackling laughter fades into the background. He is done with me for now. I can rest and regain my strength so that I can fight him off again next time. Unlike Slone, there is nothing that he can offer me that I want, so there is no way for him to find entry into the deepest parts of my soul. With Rosie and Evander in my life, I have more than I deserve. I wake up in darkness. The room is cold, colder than I expected it to be. It is like all the warmth vacated the room through every little cr
[Rosalynd] I lie there frozen as I watch the black of his eyes expand to overcome the sclera. Wide and unblinking, they stare into my own and I find myself falling into them, losing all sense of where I am. My body is present in the here and now, but my mind and soul have moved on to someplace so vast that galaxies are formed and die around me as I watch. And I remember. I remember being pulled to a place like this once before, at the moment of my almost death, when I had to make a decision. And I stand in that darkness now, the room gone, only darkness remaining. A man steps forward. Whereas before the void had no shape, now that it has a form to inhabit, he takes the shape that has become familiar and comfortable and wears my fiancé's face as he waits for me to come to him. He is still dressed for a wedding, but the clothing doesn't seem out of place here. In his natural element, the void incarnate looks regal, his body radiating power in dark waves of energy. "Do you remember me
[Evander] By the time I reached his location, it was already too late. Axel fell through the opening in the sky, hungry arms grabbing him and drawing him in. It was as if the void itself took him. I have been flitting through the shadows, looking for a trace of him. Wherever he was taken does not lie within the shadow roads. My best guess is that he is somewhere inside one of these buildings. My worst guess is that he is somewhere I cannot follow, deep in the void itself, unable to reach any of us or call out for help. “If you are listening, Universe, we could use your help.” The universe never answers, at least not with words, but my instincts are telling me to head toward the smaller of the two buildings. I cannot blink beyond the walls without knowing what is on the other side. Which means I need to get close enough, undetected, to see where I might land. And then I need to search and keep going until I find him. Until I can find both of them. Because I am not leav
[Rosalynd] The creature wearing the face of my mate walks towards me. He is dressed for a wedding. Top hat, tailcoat, white gloves, and a silk cravat and dress shirt all in varying shades of black and gray, like fog at midnight. His chestnut-colored hair has been slicked back and put into a ponytail, a ribbon of black silk tying it back. None of this feels right. It isn’t Axel’s style. Even at our true wedding, I would more likely expect him to wear designer cowboy boots and a pair of dark denim. But that isn’t the part of him that bothers me the most. It was his eyes. Black as slate, cold and dark, they are the opposite of those warm, honey-brown orbs that stole my heart all those months ago. “What are you?” I hiss, struggling against my bonds. "And where is Axel? Where is my mate?" He places a gentle hand on my cheek, making a shushing sound as he tries to soothe me. “He's still here, watching you, protecting you. Even now, he fights to be by your side," his fingers re