Mimi can’t be saved. Not from this. She won’t die alone. There is a storm of people outside her door waiting to shower her with every bit of the love she deserves.Beretta is my sister. She is the strongest woman in the world after me, though she would argue that to the death claiming she is the strongest.I have the strongest mate in the world, ready to save her, and his best friend and brother. He is just waiting for me, making sure that I’m ready to either stay here or leave with him.It's my choice.He wants me to stay, and I trust my mate. I trust him to bring Beretta home. And with Jack, those demons will be facing a new kind of hell against both these Alphas.“I’ll be right back, Mimi. I’m going to talk to my mate, and I’ll be right back.”She nods weakly, then closes her eyes, no longer trying to put on the strong front. Gemma rushes to her side as Lachlan and I step into the sitting room to speak.A soft, relieved smile, full of sadness and warmth is on my mate’s face as he s
My uncle, the vile man whose death has been my goal, is standing before me, on the shores where just hours earlier I had wished my loved one goodbye.My thoughts were already such a mess before this, wracked with grief and raw emotion. Seeing him is like putting salt on an open wound. “We can kill him,” Val snarls, “We can tear his repulsive body to shreds.”She was pushing forward, ready to take the lead, but then several of my uncle’s warriors rounded the bend of the cliffs, coming from the place I used to wash my laundry and bathe. It was the place Beretta and I first walked the Hidden Cove shores together, sparring to release some of the fury that was pooling inside me on my return home. Those rocky grounds surrounding where the freshwater ran into the salty sea have always been a place of turmoil for me. In a way, it is fitting that that is where my uncle and his men would emerge. Though it is a mystery how they got to be there in the first place.“What are you doing here, Alph
Lachlan POVThis was different. Different from anything I have experienced in war before, and I have been in a lot of battles. More battles than you could possibly count.This isn’t a battle. Not yet. We’re just waiting. Waiting for the ball to drop. Waiting for them to make a move. If we make the move as things are right now, we will do more than cause more bloodshed on our side. That is the way of war. You wait for your opponent to attack first. We have never had to wait before. No one is attacking. No one is invading. When we rode to the place where my warrior last saw my Beta, the demons were already just waiting on the other side of our border, watching but not attacking. They were merely looking over the rocky landscape, waiting for us to arrive.I’ve never faced an enemy like this. What are they waiting for?The warriors who had departed with Nilo were torn to pieces, their bodies ripped apart along the bloody landscape. Evidence of the battle coated the ground all across our
Beretta POV“She’s coming to,” a female voice hissed quietly somewhere nearby. My entire body is aching. My jaw is throbbing. My head feels fuzzy, but then I hear my beast muttering softly in my head, whimpering as she tries to heal the worst of my body. I quickly remember why my body hurts so badly and my eyes fly open, expecting another attack. Instead, I find a wet, cold room, large but cluttered with rusty dank cages. In each cage are women of all nationalities, some fae, some lycan or were, and even a few humans among the mix. All of them looked scared shitless and worn for wear. I can only imagine the shit they had been through after what I endured upon getting to this hellhole, wherever in blazes it is. There are several women out of cages, looking better off even though they still look terrified. Most of the free women are cuddled in a corner on top of a stained mattress, but two women are hovering over me, worry on their faces instead of fear. One of them, a young red-he
Nilo POV “Hello!” I screamed for the hundredth time since waking in this sour, battered, shit smelling hellhole. Blood sprays from my mouth, foaming and sliding down the side of my face. “Just kill me, you fucking bastards!” I’ve been strung up ass-naked, arms stretched to either side of the narrow cell, feet shackled to the floor since I woke up getting what smelled like sewer water dumped on me and being pummeled in the back with a silver-laced whip. Those fucking bastards. They could not let me have any peace from the pain. They didn't have the decency to kill me. They just beat me until I was awake, cackling among themselves at my pain and misery. My shoulder is dislocated. The bones in one leg are shattered. My ribs feel as if they are stabbing into my lungs, which won’t fucking kill me fast enough. I don’t know why they kept me alive, but their wicked mutterings about waiting for the alpha to surrender to kill me makes me believe they are using me as leverage for something.
Adorable. She is fiery but adorable. I stared, hoping for her to turn so I could see more of the possessiveness that I caught a glimpse of on her adorable face.Beretta smiles, following my line of sight while looking truly happy for me. She lifts her shoulders, letting all the weight of what's to come bear down on her body again, then shrugs her shoulders with a deep breath before pulling away.“Okay, ladies. I have a mate back home to claim, and Cecilia now has one here that I'm sure she'd like to claim soon too. Let’s head out to-”“Beretta,” another woman from outside in the hall interrupted her. “There is one more prisoner in this hall.""One of our men?" She asked, looking at me before turning to look back at the woman. I didn't want to deny it was one of our warriors, but I don't think it is."I don't think so. She....She looks hurt. Badly. When you found your friend, we checked the other rooms and found her. We can’t get her chains off, though.”Beretta quickly leaves the room
“Not even a damn thank you,” Beretta muttered, shaking her head.I followed her lead and changed back into human form. My spirits sail when Cecilia reaches out to grab my hand on her own once I’m done. It’s a very possessive hold, and I love it. I hope she grows more and more possessive. I want her to be confident in her ownership of me."Do you want to go chase her down and force some gratitude from her?" I lifted my brows at Beretta."No," she sighs. "Poor thing was scared out of her mind. Can't blame her for that."I don't think she was scared of us. I think her breed just doesn't do well in crowds like this, and she left before she accidently hurt us. Beretta and many of the others might not even suspect what that girl was, but I can tell that the elvish girl had caught on. She gives me a wise, knowing look, and we both just keep quiet, keeping the girl's secret.“Let’s go,” Beretta, ushers everyone out of the room.I take the lead, Cecilia tucked behind me and the Elvish girl I s
Lachlan POVThe ride back from the border should have taken us all day, but Killian pushed himself to the limit, and then some. We made it back in hours. King Brennus and Cedric stayed with me, riding on my heals. I know it was the siren king's magic that helped my stamina and the stamina of their horses to keep up the heavy pace. I am grateful, because I would have killed myself trying to get back to her on my own abilities.Several miles from the castle, the mind links started coming in. The pack mind was frantic. There were so many orders being given by Cherum and Percy, and so many warriors and pack members responding that it was impossible for me to understand what was going on. Killian snarls ferociously through the link, “WHERE IS SHE?!”The link goes silent, just a rabid energy pulsing through. Then, Cherum makes my teeth grind together at his words. “She’s gone.” The pain in the pack mind link is suffocating. My pain is tearing my soul apart. “We are searching for her now
~~~~~~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