The orphanage was a long walk from the part of town we were in, and Cherum tried to get me to wait for warriors to bring us horses to ride, but I was fine with the walk. I used to walk a tortuous hike up jagged rocks to do my laundry up the stream from the castle, in terrible shoes. My new shoes are quite comfortable, and I’m enjoying stretching my limbs and the conversation with Yasmin. I’m also uncomfortable riding a horse, and do not wish to embarrass myself further today. I don’t want to admit that, though. A lycan scared of being close to a horse is not something common among our kind. When we finally get to the orphanage, I stare at it in wonder. It’s a beautiful building right by the sea, with an intricate iron fence circling it, and children running around gleefully in the yard. It's made of white stones that shine in the sunlight and look majestic against the sea view. The roof is clay tiles and there are stained glass windows decorating the entire front of the building, dep
“Miss Ela, what’s wrong?” Westley asks, looking at me curiously from where he is squatting down in the sand. I can’t find words to answer, still scanning the ocean for some sign of the mystery siren that is again, just gone. Why does he keep appearing then disappearing just as quickly? Why is he here at all, and why does he dive under the water every time I notice him? "Come back," I whispered to myself, then felt a pulsing around my neck. I reached up to touch my necklace, but frantic yelling coming from behind me brought me out of the trance that the magical pulse started to put me in. “LUNA!” Cherum yells, racing down the hill to the beach, “What the mighty hell? Why did you leave on your own?” I didn’t even turn to acknowledge him, still hoping to see the siren pop up again any second, not wanting to risk missing it for anything. The pulsing from my necklace died down, but I still feel little flares of its magic emanating from it. “ELA!” Cherum reaches me, grabbing my shoul
My editor just fixed chapter 39 for me! I had to delete the book from my library and re-add it for the changes to show, but it is fixed. The word count of chapter 39 is larger than chapter 40, so those that already purchased it are not losing any money. You actually got the chapter for cheaper. I'm sorry again for the mix up! Next chapter will be out tomorrow. I'm going to try to keep this on daily updates now that the holidays are ending. If I'm going to miss a day, I'll let you guys know, either in the comments or in an author note.
Lachlan POVAfter King Brennus left, in a manner that was way angrier than when he came, if that is even possible, I was left in a state of dread and confusion. That necklace. I forgot about the damn thing after giving it to her last night. The more I think about it, the more I can’t help but recall Lira the night she rejected me. I was overwhelmed by her ethereal beauty in her thin silk slip of a dress, and then by her rejection. The sight of her when she said those words, rejecting me with so much fortitude, like she couldn’t wait to leave me after the years of being trapped in our rough marriage, it’s an image I will never forget. I tremble in anguish as the feelings associated with that night come forth with the image of her, all the heartache and regret like a ton of bricks compressing on my chest. Killian is lamenting in my head, that image bringing nothing but heartache and loathsome thoughts towards me from him. I messed up so much in our first attempt at life. Immensely.
Elelira POVCherum and Maurice try to coax me away from the man while Percy retrieves Yasmin, holding her away and shielding her view of the naked Cedric with his body. I refuse to let him go, though. I finally found another siren. I don’t want to risk losing him, especially without finding out who exactly he is and why he keeps calling me princess. “Luna, I must insist you let him go and come with me,” Cherum tries to pull my arm to get me away, while Maurice goes to grip my other arm. Cedric, with lightening speed, slams his fist down on Cherum's wrist, forcing him to let go of me, then his arms snake around my waist, and he twists our bodies around, turning with me so I’m out of their reach, which just angers my guards further. Cherum growls, and Maurice reaches for the blade strapped to his waist. “I believe my princess does not want to go with you,” Cedric purrs in a composed, elegant voice, full of certain authority. “I can’t say I blame her. Witnessing just a bit of your
“You know my father?” I said in a stunned whisper. I can feel my throat clogging with pent-up emotions. All I’ve ever wanted was to find my father, and this man is telling me that my father not only knows about me, but he is waiting for me. “See,” Val’s voice rings excitedly in my head, “This isn’t the same life! Your father never knew you in your first life. This life is different.”I feel like Val’s excitement is more about the possibility of Lachlan being different than about my father knowing me, but I chose to ignore that for now. I don’t want to argue with her again. Not when I’m standing before a connection with my father. Cedric smiles at my stunned expression, then nods. I throw my arms around his neck, my tears spilling free, and after a few seconds, I feel his arms hugging me back, rubbing my back soothingly as I cry.I can feel that familiar magic from the sea from Cedric's touch, but that relief is short-lived.“Luna!” Cherum yells, and then I feel his familiar protecti
Lachlan POV“Where are they?” Killian growls in my head. He’s restless, fearful of what this siren man might be telling our mate. Fearful of what she may be telling him. He was fearful that the naked siren she was clinging to and crying on, as Cherum told us, might be able to accomplish in the single hour I gave them to get home what I may never accomplish in the next two years. Not with the rate we are going.I share his fears. If this man tries to steal my wife and my mate, I will be helpless to stop it.“They still have 10 minutes to get here,” I tell him, “10 minutes, then we can panic.”Killian scoffs, “Don’t try to claim you are not panicking now. We share a mind, idiot. I know you are just as frantic as I am.”Yes, but if I let that show when Lira gets here, I could upset her even more than I already have, and I’m trying to win back her affections, not drive them away even harder. “Alpha! The Luna and her guard are approaching the gates!” my warrior called down to me from the
I somehow manage to swallow down the growl building in my chest when Cedric stares down at my wife like she is the very reason for his existence. I want to rip that smile off his face, Killian wants me to rip his head off, but I know that isn’t the way to get into Lira’s good graces. “While my Delta takes my wife to rest in our room, why don’t you and I take a moment to discuss the arrangements that need to be made for you to stay here for the long term. I can have my Gamma make room for you with the warriors.”Cedric turns that aggravating smirk back towards me, tilting his head to the side. “Princess?” he whispers down to her, “Would you mind terribly if I left your side for a moment to speak with your husband.”My lip curls menacingly at the way he says ‘husband’, like it is an insult to the term. I somehow am able to keep my composure, even watching him whispering intimately in my wife’s ear. Somehow, I don’t think he is doing it for any reason other than to antagonize me. I don
~~~~~~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