Beretta POVDamn pirate bastard. The fool didn’t even have the sense to follow after me.Pathetic. All around pathetic. I was going to return to the ship, but I'm not in the mood to see anyone familiar at the moment. I feel anger and shame and I know in my current state that I would snap little Joe in half if he started following me around asking where the captain ran off to. I'm not up for covering for Jack as he hides somewhere pickling his liver in his own bout of self-pity.The man picked himself up by his bootstraps and built the greatest pirate fleet the seas have ever seen while recovering from his own grief. Pity is something I can not feel for that man. Yes, what his pack and mate went through was tragic and unbelievably horrid, but we all have stories such as his. He wouldn't allow any of us to drown ourselves in pity. I don't see why I should allow him to do it. I'm not going to enable his behavior. Not at the moment.The bastard told me I was crossing the damned line. Scr
Elelira POV I rushed through the courtyard on my way to the dwelling of Yasmin and Percy. I just saw Percy in the dining hall, but he said he left Yasmin to sleep in this morning with a smug smirk on his face. A very proud, smug look. I even know what that means. That’s exactly why I need to speak with her now. Once Lachlan left to plan whatever it is he is arranging for tonight, my nerves got the better of me. I have no idea what I’m doing or what to truly expect from a consensual night with a man. My past life was nothing but traumatic experiences. I have nothing to reference. Lachlan and I almost crossed that line before I ran away in this life, but that was ruined by the arrival of the men who tortured me unto my death. I don’t want those memories or experiences to get the better of me tonight. Lachlan wants tonight to be perfect. I do too. I want this to completely override everything. I need Yasmin’s help or I will implode from anxiety. I wish Lachlan had just rushed me
“You look so alluring, Ela,” Yasmin gushes, making me spin around in a circle in front of her mirror for the hundredth time. “I knew it would look perfect on you. It never looked right on me.”“That’s because you have a fatter ass,” Cedric teased, lying across her bed with his head upside down. Yasmin smacks him with a pillow, making him grunt and laugh. I feel so uncomfortable. Yasmin forced me to bathe completely, even calling maids over to wash my hair and polish every inch of my body before lathering me in this sweet smelling body oil. My hair was dried to perfection, falling in soft waves down my back when they were through. My skin felt raw when they finished scrubbing me, but now it felt fresh and powdery soft since the oil had absorbed into my body. After that was complete, and she was completely satisfied with my appearance while I was still in the nude, she dug out a slinky outfit from her brothel days. It’s more modest than some of the others I have seen in her closet, bu
Lachlan POV “Bite it,” Killian growls. “Just a nibble.” The second Lira stepped out of her dress, he went wild, telling me to eat her in every way imaginable. I'm usually the one he tries to keep in check around her. Now the tables are turned. Right now, staring at her from behind, he’s mentioning every red-colored fruit there is, telling me to see if she tastes like any of them. The red lingerie is bringing out his wild side, making a hunger build inside of him. That hunger is in me as well. Cherries, strawberries, apples; I don't think any of those could come close to being as sweet as my Lira. I’m tempted to see for myself. I’ve never been more tempted in all my life, but I just got her comfortable with me. I’m not pushing her or acting like a wild fucking animal. Not yet, anyway. After leading her to the bed, I slowly and deliberately kiss her neck, making sure the bond she feels with me keeps her relaxed. Killian and I talked at length about this all day while we were m
“Lira. My Lira,” Lachlan’s rough voice kept whispering against my skin. There was no fear. No hesitation. Everything that once held me back from loving this man has been replaced with this unyielding, all-consuming devotion, like my world revolves around his very being. My mark is now on full display on his thick neck, the faint light reflecting off the now scarred tissue. Pride fills me. He's mine. Val is already engrossed entirely with her mate, the two of them mirroring the elation that I feel.Lachlan lays me on the bed, his eyes intensely staring at me while stripping off the last of his clothes. His body has always been impressive to me, but now, in this context, I'm appreciating him in new, exciting ways, knowing that every single inch of him belongs to me. I feel it. The bond demands it. This man belongs to me and no one else.His hands work the delicate fabric off my body, his mouth hanging open and soft gasps leaving him as the sparks rush over his body with each touch. He
Lachlan POV“Mine,” I whispered in her ear for the hundredth time tonight. “My Lira.”Lira looks absolutely lovely, her face glowing as she stares up at me with the most stunning smile on her delicate face. I trace her lips with my finger, my heart hammering against my chest from the thrill of the sparks I feel traveling up my hand. She’s mine, in every sense of the word. She is my wife, my mate, my entire world. Everything I am is hers, and she is mine. “Mine,” I repeated again, making her laugh in that amazing way she does, where her shoulders shake and her belly tightens, her legs folding up with the movement. She puts her entire body into that laugh, which fascinates me to no end. “Yes. Yes. I am yours,” Lira says in a voice that is hoarse from the passionate love making she had to endure all night after I couldn’t restrain myself any longer. She demanded nothing less of me, and soon my fear of hurting or scaring her left for good. I rest my head next to hers on the pillow,
Jack POVI’m pacing in front of the damned armory, a trail forming in the dirt from the hours I have spent here, walking up and down the same few feet of shadowed walkway, waiting to hear some news about the party that left early yesterday morning to check the borders of this pack. The party that left with my crew mate. The maddening woman did not even bother to ask me if I was bothered by her leaving with the group of men or not. Mostly, if not entirely, unmated men. All of whom I'm sure would jump at the chance to keep her warm at night.Lucky is the one who found me at the bar to tell me, and I almost wrung his neck at the time. I want to wring someone out now for allowing such disrespect.Who does she think she is, just abandoning me like this? With several unmated men at that.“You were the asshole who drove her away,” Oisin grumbles, annoyed with me more than anyone else. “By doing what the woman told me to do! How was I to know she would act this way?”“She’s a woman. A woma
Beretta POVIt happened as we were resting by the campfire, enjoying the start of our dinner of jerked beef and dried fish with crackers. One of the men had picked wild herbs while collecting firewood, and one of the towns we had passed through had offered the Beta jared vegetable stew for our dinner. We were waiting for that to heat up over the fire, and the kettle of wild chamomile and mint tea to brew. The day had been interesting. I would even go so far as to describe it as fun, though riding all day was hard on the body.I got to see the outskirts of the pack’s territory, and it truly was a magnificent place. The beauty of the land inward matched the beauty of the sea. The lush greenery and fields of wildflowers were vibrant with wildlife. Deer and elk were in abundance, not even scared of our movements as we passed through. The towns were picturesque and added to the scenery instead of taking away from the natural wonder of it all. You could see evidence of war in many of the
~~~~~~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