ANNA WAS STUNNED to hear the news when Collin returned. She never imagined that Nicolas could turn dark. He was always such a gentleman, but then again, after what they had all been through, it was a huge possibility.She never said anything, but for a split second, while she was Victor’s prisoner, she thought of going dark. Not joining Victor, but finding that darkness inside her that would get her out of there. She also felt it the day she chopped Victor’s head off. She had always believed that everyone had a bit of darkness in them and that at any time, they could decide to feed that darkness.So, too, did she believe that every evil person had light in them somewhere. She wanted to offer her help but she was no longer linked to any of them and she wasn’t sure if it would work.“So, what is your father’s plan? What are they going to do to help Nicolas?” She frowned.“Well,” Collin sighed
There was no way of finding out if Joshua survived until he made contact and he couldn’t take the chance of doing so until he was sure he was safe. The waiting for word from Joshua was the worst part of their plan. As days turned into nights and nights turned into days, it became almost unbearable, but they had to push through. They had to wait for Joshua to call. When the call finally came, Beverly felt an adrenaline rush through her body.“I am safe.” That was all he said before he hung up.Vlad had taken a keen interest in Joshua as they expected he would. At first, he was suspicious, but soon he found an ally in the young boy who so clearly blamed Nicolas for what happened to both him and his sister. Things, it seemed, were going a little haywire in Nicolas’s house and, by the sound of things, Vlad would soon be able to take over everything without much resistance.The first thing he would do, of course, was to get rid of Nicolas’s hybrid mate. Vlad didn’t want that vile woman in
“We will surely keep that in mind, thank you, Vlad.” Vlad wondered what she meant since her facial expression told him they weren’t interested at all. He had to find out what exactly was going on in the towers and the only person who would be able to tell him that was Joshua.Vlad still wasn’t entirely sure if he could trust the boy, but so far, he had checked out. Unfortunately, Vlad also knew that if Joshua was a spy, he wouldn’t play his hand too quickly. Vlad had to be careful. This could very well be another of Nicolas’s plans to gain access to the council. Vlad would be damned if that hybrid-loving bastard got a seat on the council! His mind drifted back to the time when things were very different. Both men were in the running for both council and control of the nest.In the end, Vlad’s mentor suggested that he go for the council seat since it would grant him far more power than just being the leader of a vampire nest. In those days, being part of the council did carry more weig
COLLIN BURST INTO ANNA’S office, looking furious. There hadn’t been rogue attacks in a long time, and suddenly, out of nowhere … As rogues normally do … They attacked. They ran away like the cowards they are when the warriors started to fight back, but some of the warriors were badly injured.Anna and Collin rushed to the border where they could assess what happened and what the chances were that the rogues would attack again. Unfortunately, they both knew that rogues never gave up. Once they found a pack, even if they were outnumbered, they kept coming back until they were all dead. The only good thing about this attack was that it seemed as though they weren’t feral. Feral rogues would never have run away. They would have kept coming until they were eventually killed.They assessed the surrounding forest and it seemed as though the rogues had just happened to find their border, but Anna felt that feeling of unease creeps in again. As if they didn’t already have enough to worry about
Anna saw Sebastian on the other side of the blood bath running toward a body on the ground and she made her way there. She couldn’t hear anything or feel anything through the mate bond and tears flooded her eyes as they reached Collin. He was in human form, which could only mean one thing. Sebastian checked his breathing and then his heartbeat before starting CPR.Anna’s mind felt as if it was a total blank as she watched Sebastian trying to save her mate and then an idea struck her. They all had vampire blood in them! She bit down on her wrist and tried to get her dead mate to drink, but his lips wouldn’t move. She tried again after Sebastian gave Collin mouth-to-mouth. Opening Collin’s mouth, she let the blood flow down the back of Collin’s throat.“Please, please babe, drink.” She kept begging him while tears streamed down her cheeks. Sebastian checked Collin for breathing and a heartbeat, but still, there was nothing. “Collin, I swear if you don’t wake up now, I will never forgive
Everything wasn’t going to plan, but some of what Nicolas predicted about Vlad was. The pack was on high alert to expect more attacks and the packs around them had been informed about what was happening. Not everything, but the important part is that there were clearly rogues around. The packs had been in an alliance to help each other since the war and if Collin’s pack was attacked again, the rogues would be in for a surprise.At Nicolas’s home, things were getting a little crazy. Nicolas had six newborns in the basement turning while his new warriors continued their training. His nest was growing a lot faster than he originally planned, but with a possible war looming over his head, he had no other choice. Beverly spent her nights running the club while Nicolas oversaw the training of the new nest members.Joshua and Amber were at the council castle, but since they could no longer give Vlad information, he didn’t seem interested in them anymore. That was until a huge box arrived in
WHEN BEVERLY CALLED, Nicolas knew that Vlad was doing it all for the show. He had to show everyone in their community that he had saved poor Joshua and Amber from Nicolas’s clutches. It might make things more difficult if they wanted to turn more vampires, but Nicolas felt good about the numbers he had. If he turned too many, the council would definitely believe any story that Vlad told them.Nicolas was fighting every urge to go to the club and smash Vlad’s face in. They had to keep playing along if they were going to get rid of him once and for all. Nicolas had also spoken to Sebastian and Collin, who were on their way to make a complaint to the council. This was a large attack that had to be reported to the council. They had lost many of their members and if they ever wanted to make their pack bigger, they needed to inform the council.Nicolas stood staring out of the window of their apartment as the city bustled below. He thought back to when the city was just a small town startin
NICOLAS WAS SURPRISED when he received the call from Anna. He was under the impression that she had lost all her powers when the link was broken, but now it seemed she had a secret little weapon! She asked him not to say anything to anybody, including Collin and Sebastian, and he agreed.Vampires with other powers were very rare, and Anna was a hybrid with special powers. It seemed truly one of a kind. If the council found out about it, they would lock her away and study her to the point of pure insanity! He needed to make sure that when they found out, and he was sure they eventually would, he could make sure that she was protected.He thought for a moment about telling Sebastian and then decided against it. He promised Anna he would keep it a secret and he gave her all the information she needed. Now he had to wait until she let him know that she found out what her power was. Once she knew that much, they could train her and then her mate and father-in-law really needed to know.The
ANNA LOOKED AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR while her team moved around her to get her ready for the day. Collin cleared his throat and they all moved out of the room discreetly. He stood behind Anna and breathed in deeply.“It’s time, babe.” He sounded so proud that it gave her the last push she needed to get through this day. She stood up and he pulled her into his arms. “I know you say that I don’t need to say this, but I want to say it.” Anna was about to open her mouth and then closed it. “You are a warrior. You are strong and beautiful, and an inspiration to us all. You are breathtaking and amazing. You are the queen and the Alpha of all Alphas, and I’m so damn proud of you that I could just spontaneously combust!” He grinned and she breathed in his scent before kissing him.“Thank you.” She took another deep breath before they left the room. They arrived in front of the huge wooden doors that led to the throne room. Her family gave her a last hug and then left her alone for a moment.
THE MEETING WITH THE purists was thick with tension right from the start. Anna has announced that her little friend had been executed for treason against the crown to show her power. It put the purists right onto their back feet and she could probably have handled things differently, but she wasn’t going to back down. Either they fell in line or she would take care of them as well.She wanted peace for her people. All of her people. If the purists didn’t see themselves as part of that group, they were her enemies. It saddened her to see that most of them were vampires, but it did make sense. They had always been a bit much in her mind. Nicolas sat on the opposite side of the table for once as the vampire representative, but Anna and Nicolas had their discussion before the meeting and she knew where he stood.He had to speak up for his people, but he didn’t necessarily have to agree with their views. Nicolas was merely there to make sure the vampires' rights were protected according to
THINGS AT THE CASTLE were running so smoothly that Anna felt uneasy. Things were running too smoothly. She knew she was being paranoid, but things in the supernatural world were never that easy. There was always someone in the background plotting and when things were running this smoothly, it was because someone had forced it.When things were running this smoothly, it was because someone was trying to hide what they were doing by making you think everything was going so well. Anna asked her assistant to keep her ear to the ground for any gossip, but they both knew that nobody was going to talk openly in front of the girl. Unless … Unless they thought that the girl could be convinced to spy on the queen …“Are you insane?” Collin threw his hands in the air and Anna shushed him. She had just explained her plan to him and he was pacing back and forth in their bedroom. She had been thinking about it all day. “Okay, so are you feeling this way because of your powers or just because you th
AS NEWS OF THE NEW royal councillors spread, Anna was flooded with nominations. She wasn’t just grateful that most of her kingdom seemed to be happy about the new developments, but she was relieved that people seemed to accept her as the new ruler. She was expecting much more resistance.In the back of her mind, however, she kept wondering if she was missing something. Were people just being nice while they were planning something in the background or were they honestly relieved that someone had sorted out the damned council for once? Thankfully, she didn’t have too much time to ponder it all. Life as a queen wasn’t exactly what she thought it could be.Her images of parties and leisurely hanging around a pool were definitely not going to happen. There were going to be parties all right, but they would mostly be stuffy, uptight, official events. As Anna and her assistant walked into Anna’s new office, her assistant started to go through the diary for the week. They had already covered
“CORONATION DAY!” The voice rang through their room and Anna rolled her eyes. Her assistant was far too chipper in the mornings when she woke her up. Anna plastered her smile on her face before sitting up so she could receive her breakfast and, as usual, her hands went straight for the coffee first.Today was coronation day for Collin and their son and it was going to be an amazing day. As her assistant drew the curtains, Anna felt her smile becoming real. It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining and she breathed in the scent of the flowers when her assistant opened the window. Seconds later, Collin’s personal valet walked in with his breakfast and Collin pretended to groan beside Anna.Deep down he was excited. Anna could feel it, but he was pretending to give his valet a hard time. He mentioned something the night before when they went to bed that he just loved seeing the man try and hide his eye roll. Anna was happy that Collin had found someone that basically replaced h
NOW THAT THEY WERE GOING TO OFFICIALLY BECOME the royal family, Anna had a lot to take care of. She had to arrange for their coronation ceremonies, which, although they were going to be a lot smaller, still had things to be taken care of.Anna wasn’t very happy that her family decided it would be best for all of them to move to the castle, but she had no other choice but to agree. It would cut down a lot on her travelling time for meetings. She just didn’t like living in that place. Thankfully, she had Collin to take care of the necessary things to make their wing of the castle a home for them. He made sure it was private enough and that nobody would intrude on their family time. The council wasn’t very happy about the changes to the old castle building, but they were at least satisfied that the royal family was now living where they believed the royal family belonged.A couple of days before the final move, they had the alpha ceremony at the pack house and Elana and the pack started
ANNA ASKED HER FAMILY to meet her in the boardroom. She had just gotten off the phone with the head of the council, who for once seemed elated about her decision. She tried her best to keep a straight face as she walked in with her two assistants behind her and she quickly took a seat, clearing her throat.“I’ve called you for this meeting because things aren’t working out.” Smiling on the inside, she took a deep breath and didn’t look at any of them for a moment. “The council and I have decided that I need more help to run the kingdom.” He hesitated and she could feel Collin growing angry. “We want to make you, Collin, king consort so that you can take over some of the responsibilities.” An array of emotions flashed over his face and a huge grin broke out all over Anna’s.“Our son will become the crown prince and my heir to the throne, and Sebastian and Leah, I want to know if you would be interested in being our first official lady and lord. There will, of course, be some responsibi
ANNA WAS FEELING so much better now that she and Collin were more intimate. The council also came back with a couple of changes to her protocol, but she refused to make them and she felt good about it. They were still trying to push all the responsibility on her, and she wasn’t going to allow that.They finally came back with a date on which they wanted to vote. The council decided since they were going to be a government of the supernatural world, they wanted to do things right and vote for who should be in charge of what. Anna was very happy to hear this and she spent the time at the castle that was needed to arrange the entire thing.She wanted it to be fair, which meant someone had to be in charge that wasn’t involved in the process. Some of the positions were filled before the vote since only one person was nominated for that position. Only two positions were up on the day of the final vote and she wasn’t surprised. The head of the council and the head of the judicial department.
ANNA STOOD AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE and took a deep breath. Leah had had a brilliant idea while they were working on this presentation and Anna was ready for anything the council might throw at her because of it.“In every part of life, there was a system … An order of sorts. The packs have their ranks that help everyone know their position in the pack. In the vampire world, they don’t have ranks, but there are the leader, the day walkers, and the night walkers. I’m sure that it’s the same for every species, including humans.” Anna had to explain properly or they wouldn’t go for it, but she also couldn’t dwindle on one point for too long or she might lose their interest.“You’ve accepted and crowned me as the queen of everyone, and with that position comes certain protocol. We just have to look at the way I am treated now by the council compared to the way I was treated before all this happened.” Anna gave them a moment to process what she was saying.“When we found out that I had thi