Lachlan POVI love flustered Lira. She turns a beautiful shade of pink and can't sit still when I tease her. My little pregnancy comment and the way her whole body, from her chest all the way to her hairline blushed had me wanting to push her a little on the topic, but I know better. She’s still not ready. She’s barely an adult and I still don’t know what she went through in her uncle’s pack. I want her. Lord knows I want her. I am going to wait until she is ready, though, and if she never is, I will be okay with that. Anything as long as we are together.I still like watching her get flustered over me, though.The fluster she is in now is different from the embarrassed kind of flustered like earlier. She’s anxious about telling me why she went to the brothel today. I still want to know. I feel like I need to know. “I didn’t want to mention anything to you because of, um, your distrust in my uncle. I didn’t want to needlessly worry you,” she says in a small hesitant voice, looking
Meldec POV“Do you ladies still want me to show you how to do a fishtail braid?” Cedric leans over the bar, running his finger playfully down one of the girl’s noses, making her giggle. What the hell is a fishtail braid? My beast is snarling inside me, getting more and more upset by the second as I watch Cedric continue flirting with the brothel girls, completely ignoring me even after all this time. “Is that one of the services you were going to offer the Luna?” Another girl who is straightening a bright pink bow in his hair asks. This is what I’ve had to watch the past hour or so. All the women here are fawning all over my mate and I feel powerless to stop it. The girl that was messing with the bow in his hair was now leaning on his shoulder, laughing at something he had just said that I missed completely because I was too busy watching her touch him.That really gets my beast snarling, his growls echoing loudly in my head. “You fucked this up. Fix it!”“I would if I could,” I gr
Elelira POVLachlan and I started to ride back to the castle on his horse after leaving the cafe. It was a very distracted ride so far, though we haven't even made it to the outskirts of town yet. His hands as he helped me up to mount the beast sent tingles traveling all over me, and instead of the calming effect his touch has been giving me since I began accepting him, it’s now making my skin itch with some unidentifiable need. I know what I just confessed to Lachlan was basically an invitation, and it was the truth. I do have this desire that comes over me when I’m with him now…..But there is also this hesitation inside me, like my heart is trying to tell me I’m still not ready. “You’re just nervous,” Val grumbles at me. “It’s our mate, and he wants us. There is no reason to not finally claim each other.”“I feel like there might be,” I confessed, still feeling unsure. “Like what? Do you think he kicks kittens and taunts grannies by unraveling their yarn balls when you’re not a
Lachlan POV I watched as my wife, my mate, threw herself into the arms of another man. Cedric caught her, cradling her head with his hands, whispering words into her ear until her head went slack against his chest. “She was having another anxiety attack,” Killian whimpers, “And she wanted him and not us.” I narrowed my eyes at the man still standing on the other side of my horse. He was watching Cedric and Lira with an amused smirk on his face. Did she panic because of him? Did he hurt her in some way in the past? She clearly remembered him, but if remembering him caused her to react like that, what was she remembering exactly? "My mate," Killian whimpers, feeling tiny bursts of her anxiety and fear in his growing bond with her. I want to feel it too. Even right now, with her not alright, I want to be able to feel her directly too, not just feeling my lycan's reactions to feeling their bond. When I look back at Lira and her siren guardian, he has her asleep in his arms, holding h
Elelira POV“Lira?” Lachlan entered our room. He knocked first, but I couldn’t bring myself to move or say anything. After waking up back at the packhouse in our bed, I didn’t move at all. I just stared vacantly at the wall before me, only blinking and breathing. I felt the bed shift beside me, Lachlan sitting next to me and gently placing his hand on my back. “Are you alright?” he asked softly.Am I alright? No, I’m not. Not at all. Not only are those men here, many of whom were involved with…with the events before my death, but that man, Isaac, the way he stared at me….It makes me sick to even think about it now. Even before, when he came to this pack in my first life to examine me, he would visit my mother often. I was always hidden or sent away, but I remember my mother’s look of horror whenever she would see him strutting towards her. I had forgotten that, since it has been so long for me since I was last living in my uncle’s pack, but before I was sent to be Alpha Lachlan’s b
That filthy dog. I watch him as he storms down the hallway, his hackles raised for whatever reason. He says he didn’t do anything to my princess, but under the circumstances, I don’t know if I believe him. The ladies of the brothel all had stories of their alpha and his womanizing ways. Every one of them had claimed to have slept with the man at least once. I asked Meldec before sending him away if what those women claimed was true, and he confirmed it. Why Ela wanted to spend time in the place her husband used to frequent because of such vulgar circumstances is beyond me. She acted as if she wasn't bothered by it, but why wouldn't she be? I got jealous, despite myself, seeing my mate talking to the bartender in such a familiar way. I couldn't help but think about the possibility of the Gamma of this pack spending time in the brothels with his Alpha and Beta.When Cherum and the guard showed up to the packhouse after I brought Ela back and told me a bit more about the situation at th
Lachlan POV“Mate needs us,” Killian whimpers in my head again. I’ve just been staring up at the ceiling, ignoring him and everything else as I tried to get myself under control for the last few hours.My office is trashed. After my hopeless anguish dissipated, all I was left with was rage. I tried to keep my anger at those men and that whore under control, but feeling rejected by Lira made me blow up. It’s like everything is imploding all at once.“Get your head out of your own butt and go to mate!” Killian snaps at me, his temper rising as mine is finally settling down. “She needs us.”“I know,” I growled. I didn’t want to blow up like this around her. I push myself out of my chair, my limbs feeling heavy as my guilt starts to set in looking around my office. I destroyed another room because of my anger. I sent a mind link to the omega in charge of the cleaning staff to leave my office so I can clean it later. No one else should have to suffer because of my lack of control. “My
Cedric POVMy muscles are screaming at me by the time I get near the underwater cove that is hiding our grand kingdom. It is cloaked and hidden away by magic in the center of the ocean, and I had to swim at top speed to make it here quickly. I didn’t want to spend too long away from my princess. I’m worried about her. If I can’t get permission to reveal everything to her, I’m scared she will just keep hurting herself by keeping everything in. The underwater city is magnificent, the towers emitting their vibrant glow, lighting the city around it. The minimalism of everything makes the city's natural beauty shine through. Some parts of the kingdom are inside forcefield bubbles, keeping the space inside dry for whatever purposes the area serves, but most of the kingdom is entirely open to the ocean’s sea life and natural elements. The towers making up the castle the king lives in with his royal court and noble knights, such as myself, are at the center of everything, a beacon for all s
~~~~~~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