“Oh,” Cherum mutters. “Um, found you.” Cherum is shifting awkwardly on his feet, knowing ghee interrupted a moment between his Alpha and Luna. He doesn't leave, though. He is probably putting my well-being and the need to eat dinner above making his Alpha happy. Lachlan growls, resting his forehead on mine. “I’m going to kill him,” he huffs angrily. I laughed softly at his expression. "No you won't," I teased him, “And I won.” His eyebrows pulled together, and he looked searchingly in my eyes for a few seconds before his eyes dropped down to stare at my lips. That longing expression returns to his face, and he sighs deeply. “Not yet, you don’t,” he rumbles, surprising me as he quickly stands, lifting me over his shoulder and runs in the opposite direction Cherum came from. “Hey!” I yelled out, “That’s cheating! He has already found us,” I stammered, lifting my head to see Cherum watching us with a confused look. Right before we reached the first hedge, Cherum started to take off
Leona POVMy stomach churns as I step off the ship, my feet finally hitting dry land. For some reason, the Gamma sent warriors and scouts on this ship too. I was already on board when they boarded at the last minute before the ship cast off. I’ve had to stay hidden away like a rat in the bottom quarters of the ship ever since. I wouldn’t have even known the men were scouts if two of them hadn’t been frequent customers at the brothel. They sought the mousier women, not able to handle what I had to offer, though I offered frequently. Being Lycan, not human or werewolf like the other girls, I guess I was too intimidating to the weaker customers. The alpha was the only customer that I actually felt any joy from being with anyway. Who wouldn’t, with his dominant, aggressive bedroom manners? He didn’t get as rough with the other girls as he did with me. That’s how I know I meant something to him. He treated me special, being wild and rough with my body on the nights we shared. Yes, he ma
*trigger warning*3rd POV The young boy wailed loudly, his cries not just for himself, his tears burning as they ran down his stinging, dirty cheek, still throbbing with the pain of the woman's slap. He's crying for more than just that. He is remembering the day his mother was taken, forcefully pulled away from her family. She wasn’t alone. He and his father were walking back home with her after making a rare visit to the beach to collect shells. His father thought it would be safe since we were together as a family, the path cutting 15 minutes off their walk home. That shortcut cost more than 15 minutes of their lives. It cost his parents everything.The guards took her, ripping her clothes from her body as they dragged her into one of the buildings to take down to the cellar. They had hurt his daddy when he tried to save her, breaking both of his legs and leaving him outside the building with his own measly knife he tried to fight them off with, forcing him to listen as they brutal
Lachlan POV Since that night, our relationship has only gotten better. That walk to the garden, and finally being able to confess to my wife that I knew she was my mate, was the start of her truly opening up to me. That evening, dinner was intimate. Most of the pack had eaten, leaving only the stragglers and Cherum. He grumbled a bit when first seeing us, asking Lira if she was alright, but when he noticed the change between us, he excused himself to another table, claiming he needed to talk with someone about a cream delivery or something along those lines. I didn’t question it, and Lira giggled at his excuse, distracting me once again. Her giggle and laughter is like a soothing balm to my anxious soul. It’s the most reassuring sound I’ve ever heard. It’s like my soul is crying out that if she is happy, everything else will be okay. That night, I held her as I usually did while she fell asleep, but we talked, truly talked until her eyes fluttered close and her breathing evened out
Elelira POV“Are you excited about this weekend?” Yasmin asked me as we sat in the finished dining hall, sipping tea after lunch. The men went back to work to get ready for some festival happening this weekend. Lachlan and Nilo have been consumed with preparations for it all week, but today Lachlan asked for my guard and Cherum to accompany him too. Cedric, Yasmin and I were left behind with a stern request from Cherum to not leave the castle under any circumstances. He's a worry wart. “I haven’t been to a festival before,” I wrung my hands in my lap. “Shouldn’t I be helping too if I’m the Luna now?” “Psh, no,” Cedric grins, tracing his finger along the grain of the table. “Just relax. You shouldn’t have to do anything when that ape you married is the one who came up with this idea, even if you are Luna.”It still feels weird to say it out loud. Being accepted by Luna and being treated like Lachlan’s mate is such a weird concept for me. I like it. I’m starting to like Lachlan a l
“Oh my goodness. You look so pretty with black hair, Luna,” Yasmin gushes for the tenth time. “It makes your green eyes pop even more.” “It’s itchy,” I grumble, scratching at the back of my head. “Why do you even have this sort of thing?” Yasmin shrugs, pulling the hood of her shawl over her head as we pass a couple of guards on the road to town. “When you are in that line of work, wigs are sometimes needed. Men have different preferences,” she blushes. “Oh,” I suddenly have the urge to wash my hair when we get back home. I don’t mean to judge or think too deeply of the subject, but the thought of some random man performing those acts in such close proximity to an accessory I’m currently wearing I find mildly disturbing. I hope she washed it afterward. “Does your mate have many preferences too? Does he get the urge to imagine you as a raven-haired beauty to get him going?” Cedric asks teasingly, making me gasp. I’m embarrassed just hearing that question. “No,” Yasmin slaps Cedric
Lachlan POV Killian is pacing back and forth in my mind, restless for some reason, making it hard to concentrate on this meeting. We are working out the final details of the festival this weekend, and I want it to be absolutely perfect. I wish he would calm down and let me focus. “I need to see our mate in order to calm down, jerkface. Hurry this up and go find her.” “She's fine,” I sighed internally. “That annoying merman is with her.” He likes to try and get a rise out of me, but he is diligent about keeping her safe. I saw a visiting merchant drunkenly run into her in the packhouse’s courtyard and before I could even react, Cedric had him by his throat against the wall, forcing him to apologize. I ended up being glad he reacted instead of me, because Lira was upset with him about it for the rest of the night. She called it overkill when I thought it wasn’t enough. “Can we move this along?” Meldec surprised me, saying the same thing as my Lycan in my head. “This is getting too
Elelira POV When we got to the brothel, Lady Vera was not only willing to talk to me, she invited all of us in for a drink. She grabbed a couple of pints of beer, even though it was barely after lunch, and sat the two of us down at a table in the corner while Cedric and Yasmin remained at the bar, talking with her friends. “I barely recognized you with that wig on, Luna,” Lady Vera commented. “It’s one of Yasmin’s, isn’t it? I remember sending it out to be cleaned not long before she quit.” Oh good. At least now I know it’s been cleaned after use. I was trying not to let it bug me, but it was. “I would have smelled scents on it if it was dirty like that,” Val tried to tell me, rolling her eyes. “It’s just the fact it was on her head while someone was doing that to her. It’s just a minor phobia.” With my past life, can you really blame me? Thinking of any man doing those acts grosses me out and makes my throat swell. My anxieties begin to rise and I feel like I’m about to slip i