Next update is Tuesday, unless I can type fast tomorrow on my other books, then I may update this too.
I did’t know what to say or do when I saw Lachlan panting breathlessly at the start of the dock, his chest heaving like he pushed himself to the limit to get there as fast as he could.His face is more aged, worn with stress. His eyes are wide in disbelief, and I can see Killian shining in them, making Val lose some of her malice with a soft, almost inaudible whimper inside my head. “Lira,” he whispered hoarsely, moving to walk quickly towards me. I stood frozen, not sure what to do. Everyone moves to give him a clear path, but before he can reach me, just as he steps past Cedric, Jack moves to tuck my body behind his. “That’s far enough, Alpha,” Jack warns Lachlan, his aura pushing out of him, stronger than I ever felt it before in defense of me. A menacing growl leaves Lachlan. “Move.”“Not a chance. Though, I’m sure my Ela could handle herself, I don’t like the crazed look about you.”“My Ela?!” Lachlan snarls. “She’s not your anything. She’s my wife.”Jack hums deeply in his c
“The contract Lachlan had to sign with your father to bring you back to life, my princess. We were all forbidden from telling you anything. It was a blood contract. He couldn’t tell you even if he wanted to, which I’m sure he did. Actually,” Cedric took another step forward, “I know he did.”I looked at Lachlan, Val stirring in my mind, desperate to know if that was true. “You made a blood contract with the Siren King? You?” He never would have made himself vulnerable to the leader of a different race before. Why would he do such a thing with my father? “Why?” I simply asked, wanting to understand. He had never trusted other races before. Is that why he was so open to sirens in this life? Because he had to be?His eyes are imploring me; for what, I do not know. He looks so desperate, so forlorn, that I feel my eyes softening in response. The stupid mate bond has my body reacting to him, even though I don't want to. It's like I can feel Killian searching for us somehow. How he has the
“I don’t need you to keep me safe,” I whispered. “I needed you to talk to me. To listen to me.” My eyes are burning, hot tears streaming down my face. “I tried to tell you. Countless times, I tried to meet with you to tell you why you couldn’t feel the mate bond, and that I was your mate. You wouldn’t even see me. You sent me away, then would fuck one of your Leonas, making me bare that pain.” Someone gasps, and I hope Percy doesn't find offense with me saying this. I know Yasmin was often one of those women in my first life, but I also know she would never do that now in this life, especially with Percy as a mate now. That was one of the reasons I thought this was an alternate timeline or another world mirroring the one I died in. So much did change, but I was still married to the same person in the end.... “I didn’t know,” his voice cracked, tears running from the corners of his own eyes. “Seeing you when I didn't know made resisting you even harder.” “THEN YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE RES
Update is coming in the morning. I’ll try to make it a double at least. I have one chapter done now but need to edit and my eyes won’t stay open and I keep messing up my edits. Sorry guys! Lachlan POV coming first thing in the morning. Also….Would you guys like a brief look at Riley as a special? I’ve been thinking about adding a chapter about his new life, but since it’s not important for the main story, I can not decide. I was thinking a special chapter of when Riley meets Wesley for the first time, or Riley being adopted by Kent even. Maybe just to lighten things up? What would you guys want?
Lachlan POV Seeing Lira on the dock as I came running from the packhouse was like a dream come true. That dream quickly turned into a nightmare as I saw how affectionate she was with this other man, watching him whisper in her ear and seeing her smiling brightly back up at him. His hands on her bare shoulders and his protective stance he had over her made Killian snarl in my head. He was ready to take over and remove the threat by force, but then she stepped forward, instantly calming him. All Killian or I cared about was getting to our mate, only….our mate didn’t want us near. She moved away from me when I tried to touch her, and I could see Val shining through her eyes, and recognized the tension in Lira’s body, like Val was ready to take over at a moment’s notice if she felt the need. Val, for the first time, didn't want her mate either. She was protecting Lira from me. I just wanted my mate, and I thought, with everyone on my side for once, that I might actually be able to co
“You never should have said that about the betrayal pains,” Killian tells me in a dead whisper, his pain too great. “You should never have mentioned the pain you felt. You should have fallen to her feet and begged for her forgiveness. Why?” He groans. “Why did you have to try to compare pain?”“I don’t know,” I tell him, my insides shattering with each breath I take as what Lira said plays over and over again in my head. “I’m an idiot.”“You are an idiot,” he agrees, then curls inward on himself, “Mate,” he whimpers, “My poor mate.”She went through too much. Her pain is something that would have destroyed anyone else. Thinking about how she suffered, I wish I could bring back every single one of those men we killed and kill them all over again, making their pain last weeks, just like hers. I am going to kill Wayne. There is no doubt about it. I will destroy him for what he did to her. “Who are you to bring up rejections at times like this?! You have no idea what he has done for her
Jack POV That bastard. My entire frame is shaking. Oisin, my Lycan, is snarling loudly, wanting blood. That bastard, Alpha Lachlan, basically called me a coward. Me. Cowardly is something no one has called me before. Oisin’s pride is critically damaged, and it’s taking all my strength to keep him at bay. Alpha Lachlan was the one who harmed Ela. He was the one who betrayed her endlessly for two years. He was the reason she ran away from him, not once but twice. Why am I the one who feels ashamed right now? He said I ran away? I’m a runner? He insulted not just me, but all my men. Running is what we all had to do. It was the only way of life for us after our packs were destroyed. He doesn’t know what it’s like being overrun but Alpha Wayne’s forces…. But that’s what he was trying to protect himself from. The thing he told Ela about thinking she was a trap sent by Wayne comes back to mind. Maybe he has an idea, but he doesn’t know what it feels like to have your mate raped and
12 HOURS EARLIER…. Elelira POV “We have a visitor,” Beretta nods in the direction of the treeline as she gets dressed. We just shifted back and she is slipping back on her pants after cleaning off in the stream. “I noticed.” Val sniffed him out the second he got there, but she was too focused on fighting with Beretta to stop and ask why he followed us. I’m glad it’s him and not Lachlan. That would have just angered Val more. Cherum was more than welcome to follow me around all he liked as long as he didn't try pulling that babysitter nonsense on me like he did before, have an army stalk me everywhere I go. Val would tear through any army he sent. Even the thought of taking on that many warriors in a fight excites her. She doesn't want to be overlooked or underestimated ever again. He didn't call an army, though. Cherum just watched, wincing when the fighting got heavy, and twitching like he wanted to step in several times. Val was winning the entire time, her aura and larger fra
~~~~~~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