I turn and walk back to my office without looking back at my Beta and shut the door. The physical separation between me and the rest of the world brings an instant sense of comfort. I take in a deep breath, grateful for the privacy, and look around. Shouldn’t I want to be with my pack? A few months ago, sure, but when I rejected Kas, Saint told me it was the end of our spirits’ journey. What’s the point of trying to put up a good front if it doesn’t fucking matter? Since then, I’ve been more and more content being alone. Maybe the connection between Kas and me was only because of the mate bond. It was supposed to be forever. What if it was never really love? I’ve spent months thinking about it and I’m still not sure. Sometimes I wonder if she meant all the things she told me when we were alone. I thought I meant the promises I made to her. I was a fool.The moment Kas died in my arms in that cell in the dungeon, I thought I felt guilty. I thought it was my fault that she died. I was
“He’s our miracle baby.” Shelly strokes Andy’s white blonde wispy hair to the side after I explain how Kas’s father died. “Dave’s mother told us she had never heard of a werebear being able to have a hybrid baby. We just assumed we were on our own and we were okay with it. Half the time, Dave’s out wandering the woods anyway, but he’s gotten better about staying close to home these days.” “Yeah, things used to be quiet around here. Shelly woke up one morning with crazy morning sickness. I thought something was really wrong with her.” Dave pulls her close and kisses her forehead. She smiles and scrunches her nose while she almost disappears into his arms. “We found a werebear shaman who confirmed she was pregnant. He was able to treat her throughout the pregnancy. Unfortunately, they don’t stay in one place very long. The day Andy was born, he said our cub was healthy, gave him a blessing, and wandered off. Haven’t seen him since. Last I heard, he was in Alberta. We’ve been lucky. And
Saint’s POVEven seeing Endymion in person didn’t convince Bronx that he’s wrong about our mate. Wait until that cute little kid grows up and finds out what Bronx did to his baby girl. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see the demigod grandson of the Titan Perses go one-on-one with the first Alpha. Place your bets now, folks. It’s gonna be a grisly one.I probably won’t get to see it, though. Knowing Bronx, tonight’s my last night of freedom before he blocks me. It’s a shitty way to end my spirit’s journey. Hopefully, the Moon Goddess has answers for me before she lets me rest.The dark sky reminds me of my mate, Elexis. Lex has silky black fur and beautiful violet eyes. We’ve been in love forever. I wish she was here. I guess I’ll never see her again.Whatever her reason for letting Lenora die, it had to be worth risking everything. Hopefully, Milo and Reggie have an answer that will convince Bronx to clear her name. She still won’t be our mate, but at least she’ll be able
Bronx’s POVI push against what feels like black walls made of tar that don’t actually exist. The more I push, the less I feel the outside world. It’s almost like I’m being suffocated from the inside out. He fucking blocked me? Over my dead body. This fuzzy white prick thinks he’s going to block me from having any control and get away with it. As soon as I can feel something, I force my way forward and grab at anything I can. A slight violet aura surrounds my consciousness, giving me more strength to fight against the confinement. At least having some of Kas’s power rubbed off on me has proven useful. When I get a firm grip on him, and yank Saint back so I can shift.“Fuck off, Bronx.” Saint sneers as he lets himself fall back. Between how hard I pulled on him and how little he fought back, I feel myself shift too quickly.I tumble forward from a height onto the floor with a hard thud. When I look up, I’m in my office with Milo and Reggie looking at me suspiciously. It looks like I f
All I want to do is close my eyes when Milo and Reggie get me back to my bed, but they have other plans. They spread out dozens of photos and stacks of papers, only giving me enough room to sit at the edge. Reggie explains what they are before I can protest. “So she made a Goddess rehab facility… using magic?” I look at the photographs of the beautiful mansion in awe and confusion. It doesn’t make sense. How could she pull this off? “Kas knows how to build cakes, not houses.” “It wasn’t just magic. She literally used her own essence, and the energy siphoned off of other creatures and beings to make it. Bronx, Kas has been planning this for centuries. She knew the Leaders needed to be stopped. Cora was kind of… collateral damage… but she loves Kas so much and believed in the cause enough that she sacrificed herself.” “Kas ordered Cora to be murdered too?” My mind immediately goes to my baby in the suite next door. Is she safe in the suite with Kas there? I feel myself getting angry,
Milo and Reggie leave the papers and photos for me to look through more carefully when I feel better. I pick up a picture of the front of a binder. There is a sticker on the front in Kas’s neat, loopy handwriting that says ‘Menae Notes’. The next few photos show snapshots of the contents. Cut outs from home decorating magazines, information about new appliances, upholstery samples, and furniture. The more photos I look at, the older the contents of the binder look. Old scraps of paper that show names and abilities associated with each. Diagrams on how to connect spells. Notes about elements that don’t exist on the periodic table. The last couple show pieces of scrolls written in ancient languages with unusual symbols and charts. This must be the binder I threw in the fireplace before they could scan everything in. I fall back on the bed and cover my face with my hands. Milo was right. If Kas would have told me she wanted to go on a suicide mission, I would have stopped her or made h
“Alright, now for Andreas, yeah?” She reaches out to take Maya from me. I reluctantly pass her the baby and wait impatiently to meet my son. I already miss Maya’s scent and the weight of her in my arms. I look at my hands, wishing she was back in them. The nurse comes back with a light green blanket. “Alpha, I know they warned you already, but the first glance at him may be a little… unsettling. I assure you, the doctors have run every test they can think of. He’s little, but he’s as healthy as he can be under the circumstances. We are feeding him a formula with extra vitamins and protein. He’s gained almost a pound since he was born. Which is a pretty big deal.” “Alright.” I nod and puff air out of my lips, preparing myself for the worst. As she approaches, the scent of pine needles grows much stronger. She places the blanket in my arms, but I can barely feel any weight when she removes her hands. I feel an instant connection to the baby bundled up inside. My heart pounds as the
I sit in the hallway of the children’s ward and read Kas’s instructions: - Don’t lose concentration. - Think about the end goal. - Constant flow of energy. - Remove everything else from your mind, like meditating. - Move slowly. - Stop if you’re tired. The last one makes me a little more nervous though: - If anything happens to my baby, I will never forgive you. Neither will any of my sisters. I crumble the paper up in hand and hold my fist up to my forehead. Never? Like actually never? And she pulled the Menae card? Shit. I could really go for a drink right now. Another wave of dizziness washes over me in response to the thought, making me sit back and close my eyes. I take deep breaths, trying to stop the nausea from taking over again. Not now. I have to help my son. I don’t have time for this. Not now... Not now. “Alpha, you can come in. We’re ready for you.” The nurse’s quiet voice cuts through the hallway like an exploding bomb. I open my eyes with a sharp breath and
TWO YEARS LATER “There’s no way this is it, Lex.” I stare at the ancient temple. “This is what we’ve been looking for, for almost two years, and it’s abandoned. Leticia must have had the wrong coordinates.” “Well, Zeus doesn’t like people looking for them.” She huffs at me. “If you want their help, have faith and believe that you’ll find them. I recommend closing your eyes and fixing your damned mindset, Kas. That’s the only way we are going to get home.” Leticia was released from the Waiting Room about six months after she and Aphrodite were sent there. After a while, she realized she didn’t need to use dark magic against the Goddess of Love. When her thirty days were up, she got to leave, but Aphrodite is still trapped there. The Menae have tried to counsel her on what she needs to do to escape, but she refuses to comply. We used Leticia’s informants and connections to find out where The Fates reside in hopes of helping change Bianca Beryl’s thread. It’s an outside chance, but M
“Hey Little Sister, I got a little somethin’ for ya.” Milo’s hand pushes past the door of my office with a plate containing an omelet, sausage, toast, and a pastry. “Can I come in?” “Of course you can.” I lean back in my seat and smile, secretly grateful for the interruption. “Mrs. Miller is worried that you’re not eating enough.” He sets the plate and silverware rolled in a napkin on my desk followed by a cup of coffee. “Are you doing okay?” “I won’t lie to you, Milo, so…” I press my lips together and look around the office. “No, I’m not okay. It’s been almost three weeks and still no word from Bronx. I have no clue when he’ll be back and there’s literally nothing I can do about it. Maya and Dre keep asking about him. The last time they saw him he was fighting the Minotaur, then he disappeared into a portal wearing his boxers and your tac vest. I can tell Tavi misses him, too. I’ve been letting her sleep with one of his shirts, so at least she has his scent with her, but… do you k
“Kas, pacing a hole in the floor won’t help.” Lex jumps in front of me, blocking my way. “You heard Mother. We need to be patient. Why don’t you sit down and eat something?”“Is food all you think about, Lex?” I drop my shoulders and try to step around her, but she side steps, to stay in front of me. “It’s been hours. What if Zeus put Bronx in Tartarus or something?”“Kas, I love you, but you’re driving me nuts.” She pulls on the edge of my nightgown to the small table. “No news is good news. Now sit. Eat.”The table has a delicious spread of breakfast foods and pastries. None of it looks like it will take the knot out of my stomach. I settle for a cup of tea with a pleasant Jasmine aroma and look out the window. The enormous white horses buck and play in the field with no cares in the world. My mind wanders. I wonder what is happening to our pack right now. Who is watching our children? Does Lady Camille still have Tavi in the coven’s realm, or was she able to bring her home? Are Co
Kas’s POVThe scent of honeysuckle pulls at the edges of my mind. It reminds me of my mother. I open my eyes. Where I could be. It’s an airy room, but there are no defined walls. I see low backed, ornately decorated chairs surrounding a small table with a teapot and fine china cups. There is a wide window on my left. The window is open, letting the honeysuckle scent in on a gentle breeze. Outside, there is a meadow with a few olive trees and large white horses grazing. Coffee and dark chocolate overtake the honeysuckle, making me smile. I roll on my side in the silky white sheets. Bronx is sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. He is pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. A lit cigarette rests between his fingers. I watch a fine stream of smoke rise from the tip. It leaves the burnt tobacco aroma I thought he left behind years ago.“Please don’t be mad, Baby. I just needed this one.” He whispers without looking at me before he takes a long drag from the ci
When I don’t go for an immediate attack, Ares gives me a stupid smile and rolls his shoulders. “Ready to submit, Child of Perses?” “Yeah, I don’t go down that easily, you stupid fuck.” I give him a dry laugh and swing the sword around, letting its weight settle into my hand. I don’t care how desperate things may seem. He won’t get the reaction he wants out of me. I’ll go down fighting.This time Ares half runs, half hobbles at me. I roll to the side to protect my injured shoulder, but he lunges and grabs me by the armpit, digging his thumb deep into the open wound and squeezes hard.I use a jiu jitsu throw Kas has successfully used on me by planting my foot and throwing him over my hip. His ass hits the ground, shaking the throne room. Glass shards shower us from the ceiling, slicing into my skin.Ignore the pain. Ignore the pain.I let my body weight drop into a roll, giving us enough momentum for me to land on top of him. It’s a short-lived achievement. He throws his elbow out and
Ares is standing between me and Kas. I listen long enough to make sure her heart is still beating while I assess the room. Not that it matters. I’m going to destroy him, whether she’s breathing or not. His mouth is full of blood, and the inside of his knee is deeply bruised. I don’t know what Kas did to his mouth or how she could reach that high, but she was trying to take his leg out. He doesn’t seem in a hurry to come to me, so he must be in pain. That’s my girl.“Bingo.” Saint hisses at the realization that our target is already injured. He pushes forward, heightening all my senses. “Are you ready to break a kneecap?”“Give me a second.” I continue looking around. “He’s got at least seventy pounds on us. He’s definitely injured or he would have already attacked first, but I still need to check the room.”The Menae’s barrier is still in place - Ares can’t escape. Broken marble - potential weapons. A section of Aphrodite’s whip - another potential weapon. Puddles of dark blood - sli
The beast’s roar pierces my ears. My muscles strain to keep the door closed while it pushes from the outside. Saint extends his claws from my toes to dig into the floor still slippery with Sondi’s blood. “Saint, I need all your strength.” I grit my teeth and brace myself as the Minotaur slams its body weight against the door.“YOU ALREADY HAVE IT!” He growls. “You think I want that thing getting in here?!”The growling and howls from the other two cells remind me I’m not just fighting for my life and the lives of our packs pups. I’m fighting for our whole pack. “HOLD THE LINE!” I scream out loud. No one answers, but I don’t need them to. I just need them to know that I’m still with them.“Bronx, we’re through the portal.” Milo finally comes through. “We’re on the way.”“We’re under attack!” I pull my head back as the Minotaur tries to push his horns through the cell door. “The entire pack is here. MOVE!”“Get some kids to pull their trackers off.” Reggie sounds out of breath. “It wi
“Aphrodite, let them go.” I growl at the screen. “This is your last warning.”Aphrodite throws her head back and laughs. The sound pierces my ears like nails on a chalkboard. “You’re in no position to give me warnings, Demigod.” She snarls at the screen.There is a flicker and glitch in the feed that makes her pause. Her face darkens at the interruption. She looks beyond the screen then back into the camera, making hand motions I have seen Delilah, Leticia, and Kas use in the past. She’s using magic. Just like Kas said, she must be bad at it.“She’s using magic.” I mutter under my breath. My mind tries to connect with why it’s important, but the screaming coming from Ashley’s cell is distracting me.The feed stabilizes, and Aphrodite regains her composure. “I have control here. Iokaste and I had a deal, and she broke her promise. Now, I will destroy ALL aspects of her life and you will be participants. I’ve already sent a fun surprise to one cell. Don’t worry. There are two more surp
“Marco, I need your help.” I send him a mindlink. “Once we have the kids settled, you can get back to your pups.”“What’s up, Alpha?” He comes over and squats next to me.“We need to get the kids organized and as quiet as possible.” I lower my eyes and concentrate. “Uh, let’s see. Kids wearing a shirt under their uniform sweaters need to take the sweaters off. Figure out how many babies are here. Get them all wrapped in sweaters to keep them warm. Assign the oldest kids to take care of babies. Oldest gets the youngest until you pair everyone up. If there is an odd number, Andy is with you.”“Okay. We can do that.” He stands up to complete the assignment.“Marco, we need them to be quiet. The door opens inward. If anything in that hallway hears them, we’re sitting ducks. Tell them there’s a damn reward for the quietest or some shit.”“Got it, Alpha.” He claps my shoulder. “You help Sondi.”I watch him walk away, clapping quietly to get the children’s attention, then turn back to Sondi.