“Mel!” I yelled out, walking around the armory and offices for my ranked warriors. “Gamma Meldec!” I roared, getting fed up with looking for him. I want to get rid of Cedric so I can get back to my wife. His very presence is grating on my limited nerves. “Do even your commanders hide from you, Alpha?” Cedric muses, “My princess and her handmaiden must not be the only ones.”“Fish pond,” Killian repeats, “Better yet, just give him a damn trough. The horses will share.”“I could just put him six feet under,” I tell my Lycan.“Oh, I like that idea even better.”Killian and I were lost in my head for a moment, snickering about all the degrading places we could shove our merman guest, when Meldec finally appeared walking out of the warrior's lodging.“There you are. Where the hell were you?” I growled. He looks up in surprise, eyeing Cedric for a moment, freezing in his tracts before shaking his head and looking back at me. “Alpha. I was just sorting out a dispute in the dorms,” Mel sa
Elelira POV“Thanks, Alpha. We’ll do that," I heard Percy say.I couldn’t believe the conversation I just heard between Lachlan and Yasmin. When I heard Percy say ‘Alpha’ as the bedroom door began to close, I hurried over to step in and defend Yasmin once again if I needed to. I never expected to hear Lachlan apologize to Yasmin and be so generous and congratulatory about Percy taking her as a chosen mate. “See. He’s different in this life, and he had his reasons,” Val tells me once again. I’m still not convinced. I’m sure he is different in this life. That can not be argued. I’m not sure if he is someone I can trust.“Apologizing to her was a huge sign of humility, Elelira. He’s an alpha, and he clearly had his reasons for acting the way he did towards her. He didn’t have to apologize, and he sure didn’t have to go out of his way to do it. I half expected him to only apologize to you, and if he did apologize to her, I thought he would do it in front of you so you could witness it.”
“Ela, I brought the, uh...,” Cherum stops mid-speech as he walks past the door to the parlor in my bedchambers to find Lachlan and I sitting at the cozy table at the center of the room. “Alpha? I didn’t expect to see you here,” he states, looking worriedly at me, as if he was gauging if I was okay with this situation I put myself in. Not that he knows that I was the one who invited Lachlan to stay. He probably assumed that I was being forced into this arrangement.“I invited him for tea, Cherum,” I smiled reassuringly at him, “Thank you for bringing it.” Cherum sighs deeply, looking much relieved, then smiles as he continues walking towards the table and sets the tea tray down in front of me. There are two cups turned upside down on the tray, along with a covered teapot and a plate piled high with cookies and pastries. I know he had every intention of joining me, but with Lachlan here, he sets the extra tea cup in front of Lachlan instead.“Good to see you here, Alpha. I was just abou
Lachlan POV I knew this was coming, but my stomach still drops to the floor when Lira asks me that question. “The necklace?” I repeated her question, anxiety eating at me. How do I tell her with the damn blood oath in place? I feel my throat closing up just thinking about telling her about her father. “Didn’t, uh, Cedric tell you?” She presses her lips together, staring at me pensively for a moment. “He did. He told me that my father was the one that told you to give it to me. Is that true?” Thank goodness she asked a yes or no question. Open-ended questions seem to be where I get hung up on the oath. “Yes,” I murmur, pleading with her with my eyes not to be mad at me. We were just caught in the first decent moment where we were both laughing so carefree, almost like the events of this morning hadn’t happened. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispers, looking disheartened. This is going to be the hard part. How do I tell her without telling her that I couldn’t tell her? “Quit ta
Elelira POV“Thank you,” Val whispered to me in my head. She was happy that I gave Lachlan a chance to explain himself a little, and I didn’t start accusing him of the worst-case scenario right off the bat. I wanted to, but the connection between Killian and Val in the bond is undeniable. That’s the only explanation for why I was feeling the way I was towards Lachlan. Why I was getting flustered with all of his actions and why I couldn't bring myself to fully hold on to my negativity and wariness towards him.Maybe if our Lycans had met in our first life our marriage could have been like this. Maybe that’s what is different in this life compared to the other. This life, I wasn’t an annoyingly eager blushing bride with high expectations staring down the aisle at our wedding when we first met. I was the complete opposite. I know I was cold and indifferent, and I will not apologize for that. I think I had the right to be after what I had been through in what felt like just hours before
Lachlan and his men, including Cherum, had to hold some meeting on Nilo’s return to the castle, so Cedric eagerly volunteered to go for an after-dinner walk with me. Maurice and Thomas followed at a distance to keep me safe. Lachlan tried to refuse Cedric on my behalf, thinking I was still tired, but I reassured him that I was fine, feeling better after eating. I wanted to talk with Cedric alone. I had so many questions about my father.“You and the Alpha seemed to be on much friendlier terms,” Cedric tells me, sounding almost amused as we walked alongside one another along the docks. I huffed out a laugh in the back of my throat, not sure how to respond. I’m not sure if we are on friendlier terms or if the bond and my lycan are just that much of an influence on me now. I’m scared. I’m scared because I clung to hope for so long in my first life that things could be better if I could just get a moment alone with Lachlan to tell him we were mates. I think keeping my heart open and ho
Lachlan POV “Did you reach all the villages in the territory?” I asked my Beta, who was kicking back in a chair in the armory, drinking a beer by the fire and scarfing down leftover stew. He just got back and I wanted a debrief as soon as possible so I could get back to Lira. The afternoon with her has been so great and I just want to retire for the evening, not having to worry about work again until tomorrow. “I want to brush her hair,” Killian has been pestering me. He wants to have some kind of contact with our mate too. He was jealous of me holding hands with her all through dinner. “Let’s get this done, then we can ask.” I don’t think Lira will mind as long as Killian agrees to not kissing her again. “Yes, Alpha. Jeez. I did exactly as you asked, and now the whole territory is excited about this festival that we have yet to finish planning.” “Did you even start planning it?” Meldec asked. “I thought you just had the idea. I didn’t know it was a sure thing.” “Of course i
Cedric and I were walking back along the docks when Lachlan came out to meet us. After what Cedric and I talked about, it was hard to keep the heat out of my cheeks watching him walk towards us. He was very much an attractive man, with his strong physique and dark features set on a handsome tanned face, and now that I was trying to stay open to the bond for Val’s sake, it’s harder to bury down the natural reactions my body has to him. “Lira,” he said my name with such affection that I lost the battle of trying to keep a blush off my face, “I was just coming to find you.” “She’s been here with me,” Cedric smirks, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, making Val growl slightly in protest. “We were just enjoying a lovely stroll along the water’s edge if you would like to join us.” Lachlan could barely hide his disapproval, because of both Cedric’s suggestion and of his arm around my shoulder. The pestering bond is making it impossible to feel at ease in this situation. I don’t want to d
~~~~~~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