[Axel]
"Axel, sit down," my grandmother orders, pointing to a nearby bench. My body responds like it always has when my grandmother makes a demand.
I sat. Immediately.
"Good boy,” she grins down at me. If she pats me on the head, I’m biting her hand off. I don’t care if she’s my grandmother. She’s pissing me off.
“I’m not a puppy,” I growl at her, letting a bit of Conner shine through with the glow of my eyes. “And I’m not your little boy, not anymore. I am Alpha of the Eel River Pack and a companion to your King and Queen.”
[Rosalynd] Laughing, we are all out of breath as we tumble into the cottage at the end of the little forest path. From the outside, it looked like a simple country cottage, a cozy and romantic getaway that might have a small table and chairs, a little kitchen nook, and a bed pressed up against a corner. I wasn’t expecting it to be one giant bed. The canopy was made of living lilac branches that reached up to the ceiling, grown into the house itself, and covered with sweet-smelling flowers. The bed frame was also made of living wood, branches that were encouraged to grow specifically to form the edges, holding the bed slightly suspended above the ground. Hanging from the canopy are
[Evander] Watching my two loves approaching me with passion and desire takes my breath away. I have lived for over 200 years, and in my life, I have loved and lost my heart many times. But none of those moments can compare to this one. I might be a leprechaun king but I am still a man with a heart that bleeds and breaks as easily as it loves, and if there were ever two people in the world with the power to tear me into pieces and leave me shattered and unable to mend, it would be these two. As much as my heart is overflowing with love, I have never found myself as afraid as I am at this moment. I know that even if they never leave me by choice, the universe could have other plans, and I could find myself dying without their touch, fading into nothing without their love. Today we could have forever, but tomorrow war and pain could tear us apart. Happiness is fleeting
[Gideon] I love seeing the look of shock on Evander’s face. There isn’t much that shocks that old man, but I can tell that seeing me like this, possessive and in control, is exciting to him in ways he wasn’t expecting. I have both of them in my thrall and the power of their anticipation is like sweet nectar on my tongue. “For what I plan to do, Rosalynd,” my smile grows as she shivers at the sound of her name on my tongue. As I kneel in front of her, my hands slowly massage her thighs apart as I explain my intentions. “I will need you to be relaxed. Completely. You will need to be so wet and loose that you can take both of us inside of you.” Her eyes widen. “Is that
[Axel] It is weird being at a party where the only people you know are a bunch of witches who like to tease you about your vanilla sexuality while your Luna is off screwing your best friend enemy who also happens to be your cousin. The other option is for me to chat up my not-so-dead grandma who looks like a 25-year-old debutante on the prowl for a hot young husband to “form an alliance with.” Egads, how did I end up here in the first place? At least the food is good. And the beer. The live band is also okay. Actually, for a wedding, this isn’t half bad. I wonder if the band ever plays Earthside.
[Axel] I might be part Fae, or dryad, or whatever, but in my heart, I am 100% alpha wolf. And werewolves, once we find our fated mates, mate for life. Or as close to that as we can manage. We love you with our whole hearts. Which is why I ended up saying goodbye and goodnight to the pixie woman I had asked to dance with me. My heart was stinging at the understanding that she had taken not just Evander as her husband, but Gideon, who must have disappeared with the both of them rather than returning to the party. The only one who was not a part of her special day was me. I was the first one to find her, to love her, and to claim her, and yet here I am waiting to finalize our relationship, waiting in
[Rosalynd] After having our ways with one another in every possible way, we all fell asleep in each other’s arms, completely satisfied with life and love.I woke up first with the sound of the birds in the trees, some of which made up the bower itself. The sun, or what we can see of it refracted through the crystals of this subterranean realm, was not quite shining, the sky still mostly dark but lightening.Sore in more places than I’d care to count, my body is stiff with the aches and pains earned the night before from our marathon love making sessions. There is something to be said about taking two lovers to bed instead of just one. It requires far more stamina and creative positioning. Had I known what the night would hold, I’d have taken a nap
[Axel] I’m a wolf. And apparently, I’m also the official fae guardian of the redwoods. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, because this shouldn’t be real, this can’t be real. My mind is still reeling at all the ways my world has changed. Yes, I am a wolf. I am also fae. And I have magic. Or at least enough magic to talk through a mirror and walk from one dimension to the next because my grandmother was right, not only am I able to wear this ring, but I can use it as well. I just needed to close my eyes and think of home while taking a giant step forward. She didn’t warn me about how I’d feel like there was no solid ground, that my foot would just keep falling. Nor did she warn me about how it would feel like a long slow eternity until my foot found solid earth again. She did warn me about the spinning, so I knew well enough to keep my eyes closed until my head stopped feeling like it was twirling inside a particularly vicious blender. I open my eyes to the sight
[Rosalynd] “He went home,” my heart sinks a little at the news. I knew that this wedding would be hard on him, but I guess I didn’t think of how bad it would get. I had been selfish. I was so enraptured with my other two men and our shared passion that I forgot about him for a moment. And he deserved so much better than that. I should have made an effort to reach out to him before things got this intense with Evander. We should have had more time to finish our bonds. He was my first love. My first real love. And I ruined it.
[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