“I’ll have Mel and Kent help me with something so you have time alone with Cedric,” Lachlan says, opening the door for me that leads back out towards the warrior’s training grounds.“Thank you,” I smiled. That will make it less awkward for me and I appreciate it. I don’t think Meldec has ever been my biggest fan. Since he has been forced to wait for his mate because of me, I don’t blame him. “I want you to do something for me in return.” Lachlan's voice was decisive, full of determination.I stopped short, eyeing him skeptically. “I hardly think that this favor is an equal measure to me staying out of the fighting.”Lachlan huffs. “I’m not naive enough to think that would work. You have gotten frustratingly stubborn in your time away.”“I think I was fairly stubborn before,” I grinned. “I just have something to channel all my stubborninity into now.”“It’s true,” he chuckles. “You always took a front at the most exasperating times.”“Excuse me,” I scoffed. “I am not exasperating. I t
Cedric and I walk in an awkward silence, trailing behind the kids as they lead the way to the beach. Westley found a giant stick along the way, and snapped it in half, giving one part of it to Riley so they could use them as swords. I laugh when Riley twirls it above his head, and Westley’s eyes bug out in amazement. I love children. They are fascinated so easily. Taking a peek at Cedric, I can tell he is nervous. My smile falters as guilt settles in my chest. Tentatively, I reached out and touched the back of his hand. “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I was pretty horrible to you the last few times we spoke. You shouldn’t have to feel this nervous around me.” He gave me a hesitant smile back. “You were righteous in your anger. I would have been angry too if I had suffered as you did.” “Maybe, but I had no right to ever take that anger out on you. I didn’t even give you a chance to tell me the whole story. I got mad and sent you away. The fault there lies with me and me alone.”
All through lunch, I watched Jack. Really watched him and tried to see what Cedric was seeing. Cherum, Percy, Yasmin and Lachlan were there along with my two pirate friends. Jack and Joe sat across from Lachlan and me. Much to Lachlan’s annoyance. I knew Lachlan didn’t like Jack, but Lachlan also didn’t like Cedric when Cedric first came. I didn't read too much into it before. Watching Jack now, I’m still trying to pick up what Cedric was talking about, but I can’t really see it. Lachlan has his arm wrapped around the back of my chair, acting a bit possessive now that he has my permission to, but Jack is still his smiling, friendly self. When we got here, Cedric went off with Meldec and Westley to eat with Kent and Riley at another table. I keep wanting to slip over there to have him explain more about what was said between Jack and Lachlan on the docks days ago. I really want to know.“Did your talk with Cedric go well?” Lachlan leaned in to ask softly, his breath tickling my ear.
Lachlan and I walked alongside one another down the dock beside his personal ship. I used to walk here frequently in the past. I stared up at it as we walked by his ship, wondering what it might be like on board. I had never set foot on it before. I’m wondering if it is much like Jack’s ships I’ve grown accustomed to. “What a lunch, huh?” Lachlan says, bumping softly against me. “I know. I’m sorry about that.” I was the one who invited them to eat with us. I feel bad for extending the offer in my naivety. “You shouldn’t be sorry, Lira. Everything was calm and peaceful until he decided to change that.”I grimaced. “I’m sorry because I feel like I shouldn’t have invited him to be there in the first place. Poor Joe. He was even left abandoned after Jack chose to leave for whatever reason.”Lachlan scoffs. “The boy was indeed put in an awkward position. Don’t worry too much. Cherum is taking him to the warrior training grounds now and showing him the ways to become a warrior.”“Really
*warning: darker content and lots of triggers UNKNOWN POV“I’m sorry, Lord Tenebris. I can not speak with any confidence of the situation in the South. My team of men never returned. Not one of them. No matter who or how many we send out, they get lost at sea each and every time.”Intolerable scum. I have been waiting for the right moment to strike for far too long. This man promised me he could corrupt the pack from the inside, but he can’t even tell me the state the pack is in right now. "You test me, Alpha Wayne. I thought you said you could pollute the integrity of the pack with your whorish niece?""I thought I could. His reputation is well known. And she was desirable and seductive enough, according to my men, but I haven't been able to check the status of her womb and if she has conceived the young alpha's heir yet. Without an heir, killing him would be useless to me. I couldn't take control of his pack without that claim."A snarl vibrates through me. I had seen Alpha Wayne'
Jack POVStupid, stupid, stupid. I can’t believe I acted so stupid. Beretta was right. I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to see the proof of it. There is no denying it now. Not after I behaved so badly. My Ela isn’t my Ela at all. She is his. She was the one I angered. Not the alpha who has far more composure than the rumors suggested. She was the one who got angry at me.When she growled at me, I felt my heart shrinking inside my chest. The cold sweat that broke out on my skin had me itching for a drink. I wanted one, but that young lad earlier had already pointed out to Ela before lunch while they were on the beach that I had been wetting my lips more than I should have this morning. I couldn’t take out my flask. Not in front of her. Not while she was defending the man that was proving to be my greatest adversary at every turn. I thought her mate, her husband, would be a lesser man than me. I had hoped it was so.It seems I was wrong. So wrong. Just as wrong as I had bee
Elelira POV “Mmmh, this feels good,” Val purrs, enjoying the feel of the brush running through my hair. “I missed this.” “Me too,” I told her, being honest for once. I missed all of this. I missed my nightly routine with Killian and Lachlan. The past several nights have been the same familiar routine. Dinner with Lachlan in the garden, followed by our nightly hair brushing with our Lycans in control. So much has changed during these days. If I am not spending time with my father, getting to know him better, I am with the warriors and pirates, helping in the training so our forces can be more in sync and familiar with one another. Beretta has been helping a lot with that as well. Jack shows up to train a lot with his men too, but he has mainly taken to overseeing the navy and building our cooperation on the waters. I'm grateful. Ever since that awkward lunch I have become more wary of Jack. I try not to be alone with him or around him without Lachlan present. When Lachlan
Cedric POVThis is intolerable. Absolutely intolerable. Why? Why did I tell him yes? He has been trying to get me alone all day, and now I’m reduced to hiding in the servants' bathhouse, simmering in a hot pool of other peoples’ filth to prevent the man from tossing me over his shoulder and hauling me back to his room to complete what he has wanted for so long. To mark me. When we snuck off this morning together while Alpha Lachlan took over training the warriors in Meldec’s place, things got a bit heated between us while floating in the sea. We were swimming alone near a hidden beach on the other side of the cliffs, lost in one another as we teased and splashed in the shallow depts. Our fooling around and innocent touches turned into not so innocent touches. He would caress my fins in their most sensitive areas, especially my tail. I would move my tail into his bare pelvis, a thrill shooting through me seeing the impressive reaction he had to me.All it took was one look and I w
~~~~~~I had closed my eyes in hell, giving the rest of myself, all that I was over to the man I knew would fulfill the task that I had set out to do. Lachlan would bring my daughter happiness. He was giving her a family. He had already given her everything she had missed out on in her former life.As I closed my eyes, I felt peace, knowing they were going to be fine. I felt peace, knowing that my greatest accomplishment was finally seen through to the end. I felt peace….because I knew I could finally be with her. I could finally join my love. I had closed my eyes in hell, and I opened them again in the light. The light around me was brilliant, so brilliant I instantly knew where I was. There was no sun. No moon. No definition of time. There was just the light, and all the good the light had to offer. None of the pain and heartache of the mortal world could be felt in this place. My feet pressed into the soft, vibrant grass, like a pillowy carpet and without the harshness of weeds
7 months later on Elelira’s 20th Birthday….Elelira POVTonight was the night. It was finally the night I would turn twenty. Just a few more minutes, and the full extent of my power will be released inside me once again. “You look lovely,” Gemma gushed, standing beside me in front of the mirror. “She looks like she’s getting ready for something other than taking a swim,” Beretta muttered to Yasmin, who was feeding her and Percy's daughter. “Maybe a private swim in the hidden pools near the stream.”Yasmin snickered. “They do that plenty. Percy overheard the Alpha ordering the sharp stones be smoothed down so as not to hurt his Luna’s back.”“Will you both stop it,” I snapped, scowling at them in the reflection. “It’s just a robe.”“And what are you wearing underneath?” Beretta wiggled her brows.“You’re annoying. Don’t you have a pack to run?” I huffed. “Eh, it’s running itself right now.” She appointed one of the women who escaped the North with her, who was also originally fro
Lachlan POV“Where is she?!” I demanded, running through the castle after being called back from town. “Where’s Lira?”“Alpha,” Meldec was waiting for me, and was rushing to keep up as I stormed through the halls. “Ced and Cherum took her to the ocean.”“THE OCEAN?!” I roared. Killian was growling in my head, “This is not the fucking time to take a bloody swim.”“She kept demanding to be taken to the ocean, Alpha. She commanded it.”“Of course she did, that infuriating woman.” She goes into fucking labor the day she insists I pick Westley up to surprise Mel and Cedric. She was too excited about sending me away with their adoption papers they applied for last week. Because Westley had living relatives from another pack, we had to ensure they wanted no claim on the boy before we granted my gamma and Lira’s knight’s request. They didn’t want to take him in years ago, and they didn’t want the boy now. When we got the message back this morning, Lira insisted I handle it right away, but I
Elelira POVLife after the brief but impactful war was much different than our lives before. So much had changed. When the rest of our warriors saw that Lachlan had survived and I was also alive and well after running into literal hell, the celebration lasted weeks. Percy chewed me out, as did the rest of my guard, but they soon turned to rejoicing at our return from certain death. Our pack was celebrating, but our hearts were not in it.My father’s body was taken back to the sea by Cedric and Lillian after I was finally able to let him go. It took me days to accept that he was gone. I had been hoping that some magic was left in his body and could save him from death, and everyone allowed me to live in the fantasy until I came to terms with him truly being gone. He was to be laid to rest deep in the ocean, at the place where all the siren kings and queens were buried. I wasn’t aware, and neither was Lachlan, but when my father and Lillian had stormed into my uncle’s pack the day bef
Elelira POVMy soul was torn. My heart felt like it hadn't beat since the moment we felt the pain of his death. Val was howling and roaring furiously as we tore through the rugged terrain to get to the place we sensed he was. Something was pulling forward, whether it be desperation or insanity, or maybe some lingering trace of our dying bond, our body just knew where he was. He can’t be dead. There was no way he would die just like that after all we had been through. After everything we overcame to finally be together, I can’t accept that it was all ending just like this. I could sense others behind me, but Val wouldn’t slow down for anyone. She was maddened with her desperate need to see our mate. To see with our own eyes that this was truly the end. As we raced forward, I suddenly felt another tear in my heart that had Val roaring loudly with the pain. I’m choking with the dread of finding out what it was from. My world was collapsing, and we could do nothing but run towards th
King Brennus POVEverything happened so fast. I was already feeling weak because of draining as much of my magic into the necklace as I could. It was not just my daughter I needed to save anymore. It was all of them. My daughter, son-in-law….and their child. I wouldn’t let all the sacrifices her mother and I made be in vain. With the bond connecting them, I prayed that the magic would flow through that and keep her safe, while also protecting the one that will protect her and my grandchild in my coming absence. When my mate told me before we reset the fabrics of time once again that his happiness was hers, I didn't understand what she meant. I thought that just Elelira being alive and safe was all that mattered. Then, she ran away, joining the pirates, and though she was fierce and found her inner strength, I could see that it only made her bitter. Not happy.Her happiness didn't come until she finally forgave and accepted her mate. Now, he was dead, and everything was coming full
Jack POVThe sky was growing dark. Night was coming. The anticipation for the battle to come was now painful. It was festering. The anxiety it left in my chest was like an infection that I couldn’t cure. Even if I had a lick of alcohol, it wouldn’t help this feeling to go away.That, coupled with the fact I still had no idea if Beretta was alive or dead, made this entirely unbearable. I wanted to attack first. I wanted to draw first blood, and tear through any and everyone blocking my path to save that maddening woman. I knew why I couldn't. I knew I would never make it through the demons alive. All I would be doing is risking every life here. It didn’t make it any easier to just sit around and wait. “Gamma!” A group of freshly shifted men came running towards where the Gamma and I were sitting, staring at the growing dark army while discussing our plan of attack for our men when the time came. “Gamma!”“Percy?” Gamma Meldec stood up, looking curiously at the men that were left beh
Nilo POV“We have to stop her!” Beretta was hissing at me. “Do you know what he will do to her? Do you have any fucking idea what these monsters do to women?”I knew. I knew that too damn well. I wish I could do something, anything to stop her, but I feel helpless right now.Irrita used her magic to hide our voices, but the strain on her was growing. I could tell the energy was draining from her face. She may be free from the restraints, but there is no telling how long she and these other women were oppressed. They won't have the reserves of energy like a fit warrior would.The other women were holding Beretta back from revealing our location. When the Luna said she was here to trade her life for ours, I reacted the same way. The command Ela gave and my fear for my mate's safety were the only things keeping me from acting right now. When I saw Ela move to cut the throat of her own uncle, my blood ran cold. She is my Luna. I should be out there protecting her from the vile stares of
Elelira POV“Oh, really? Then what, pray tell, have you come here for?” The dark fairy was gazing down at me with sinister superiority. He did have the upper hand, but I had a plan. Val and I were discussing how to get Nilo and Beretta out of here, speaking about how we could use the magic still inside us to win this, even though the situation was not in our favor. We came up with one way, and it was something we never could have considered in the past. Something so grotesque and shameless that even suggesting it would have sent me into a panic before. I just need him to take the bait. If I can get him alone after I guarantee my loved ones’ safe passage to the south, I could finish this, and there will be no need for endless bloodshed. “I have come to trade myself for the prisoners you took from my pack,” I stated boldly. “I wish to give you my life for theirs, as long as you allow them to return home unharmed.”A vicious snarl ripped through a mind link that I recognized coming