"We apologize for that." Alpha Zane said aloud.Wolfaraine barely paid them any attention because it was all focused on his mate and his sister. His wild sister who'd refused adamantly, repeatedly, to leave her room.Emotions clouded his throat. No matter how hard he blinked, he could not stop his eyes from watering."Alright, that's enough for tonight. I think it's time we all leave." Alphose addressed the alphas. "Well, it's obvious we can't go back to the Rat Clan. I'm almost home already." Adanel muttered."Ours is far but way closer than the Rat's Clan." Rodarh said, and Onaries seconded with a nod."So, I think it's better we all just go back to our various homes, since we already came out this far." Alpha Morose agreed.Alpha Asissy stepped forward, "It's not all the time we get together like this. What do you say we all go running and hunting before we all separate?""That's a great idea," Rodarh nodded his head, followed by the rest of them.With that, all the Alpha took on
"Oh, damn. There was a 'caught'." She muttered in sheer horror while her dangerous actions in the last several hours flashed through her mind. He is gonna be so mad!As he walked closer, her nervous system took over, words started rushing out of her mouth. "I know you are so mad at me, I did something d-dangerous and stupid. You told me not to do anything dangerous and trust me, I listened to you really well. It's just that my brain kept sending signals to my body that we can do this. I truly wanted to help Nalaila, I had high hopes that I could reach her because I reached her before, you know. Yes, it was a dangerous thing to do but it was also worth a shot, I had to do it. I know what the next action would have been and I didn't want you to have to choose to do something like that to her because it would hurt you so bad...and hurt her too. I know you're mad, please, don't be mad—"The breath whooped out of her as he got too close and pulled her into a crushing hug. He was holding h
By dawn, Nalaila and Ismena have become very exhausted. "We will call it a night." Ismena looked around, "Or a morning."She was soaking wet as a result of playing in the lake and she was starting to feel cold too. But even at that, she was still grinning ear to ear, standing beside the wolf. It straightened and shook its big, white body to get rid of the excess water.Wolfaraine has a smile tugged on his lips when he saw the exhaustion dripping from both parties. He rose from the wood and made his way to them.He didn't get into their space, instead he stopped a few feet away. "I will walk you back home. You look exhausted. She does too.""Yeah, we are ready to go home now." She replied, beaming at him.Home. He feels...things when she uses that word.He removed his robe and walked quietly to her while gauging the reaction of the wolf beside her. Either it was already too exhausted or it simply did not care because the wolf paid them no heed.His eyes returned to Ismena, "Remove you
"It would have been. In our animal form, we are less cognitive and more primitive. Less civilized. We are mostly instincts before reason. The rational part of us is our mortal side inside the animal, trying to control it." Sadness welled in his own eyes, "Nalaila has not been in touch with her human side for more than eighteen years now, Ismena. She could have easily hurt you. Just the thought of it...""But she didn't." She moved close to him and settled a comforting hand on his arm, "She could have but she did not. That is what matters, Wolfe. I know I scared you and I am really sorry about that. I promise to be more careful from now on."He nodded then, her promise reassuring him. "Above all odds, you still prevailed. You made it happen. She didn't only go for a run, but she had fun too. She enjoyed herself. Nalaila has always been a playful child, even at eight, but those monsters forcefully took away everything from her, including her childhood."Swallowing tightly, his blue eyes
"The wolf is okay. I know how badly your kind love taking their women in this position and I know you want it badly too. I-I know you are worried about losing control and making a shift, but I don't want you to be. If it's the wolf, it's okay. I can take the wolf. I-I want to."By the moon, the woman is not helping at all. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think above the well of both the desire to fuck her and the desire not to shift."I think you can too, baby, but this is not the right time. It's very risky for my male form to retreat and give the power to my wolf form...knowing how badly the cougar wants that power. With my male form retreated, it will be hard to control the shift if the cougar fights to take over." "Oh," she straightened, turned around, and faced him again. "I understand now. I'm sorry..."But he shook his head, "Don't be. I'm the one who is sorry for having a...feral part. A damaged part that is much more animal than male. A part that hates your kind and w
In the next week that followed, things changed considerably well for some people, while for others, it was just as it always is.For Eline, she was the happiest at work. Not only because of her promoted status which gained her more respect than usual amongst the other sentinel but also because she get to work at the Tower, which is one of the most prestigious places a sentinel can ever work in. Also, she gets to see her human best friend more often.Most of her break time, she spent with Ismena—that is if Ismena herself is not busy. She works with the Alpha King in his study and it's a very big step in their relationship. It's still hard to believe that he has finally let her in like that.For an Alpha, their work to the clan to their businesses both in Naturiah or outside of it, is something they hold very dear. It takes a certain kind of trust for them to let a person in on it, talk more of letting the person work on it with them.It makes Eline happy that the Alpha King has not onl
"Yes, you can." To Alphose, he said, "You can leave without me, Alphose. Degar and I have something to discuss." Alphose nodded and inclined his own head as a greeting to both Alphas which they also mirrored before he turned and walked out. "To my study, please." He said to Degar. Turning, he headed back to his study while the leopard Alpha followed him. When they got to his study, he reached for his pocket to fish out the keys before he noticed that it was open. Followed by the familiar scent of Ismena. The frown on his face disappeared, replaced by a feather of a smile as he held the door handle and opened it. She was staring pointedly at a paper in front of her, but looked up when the door opened. The serious look on her face was gone, replaced by a radiant smile. "Alpha King," Her addressing him with his title occasionally shouldn't sound as sexy as it does, every damn time. "Ena. How is it going?" "Tough, but great." She beamed at him, raising the file she was studying wh
Ismena was at her happiest, and she could barely hide it. This week with Wolfaraine has turned out to be the best time of her life. He was freer with her more trusting. More open.Oh, he still has a deep frown on his face sometimes, but then again, she no longer sees it as his default setting because those dark lines dissolve whenever she comes into sight. He does not smile much, but he doesn't frown as much either. Big progress.Also, they were closer than they'd ever been. And she's not talking about the nights when they make love and they converse for most of the night if she's still awake after that, before he has to retreat to his bed chambers. No, it's not only in the bedroom, they are closer everywhere.As for Nalaila, it's still baby steps with her. She has only been able to spend more time with the Wolf three times after that night because the wolf sleeps a lot. Wolfaraine said it is not normal, but it is not bad either. She sleeps like that because she is always in wolf-form
When the full moon eventually came, screams from two women in two different parts of Naturiah were particularly high in the air because two couples were getting mated. One from the Cougar Clan, the other from the Heart of Naturiah.In the Cougar Clan, Alphose held his woman close as he gave her all that was him. She has never taken all his forms before, but tonight she was going to before the mating ritual is performed. Her sweaty body shook under his, and he could smell her fear too. He whispered words of love and encouragement to her ears as he filled her body from behind yet again and began thrusting again.They were in their bedroom, kneeling on the floor with Kassandra's upper body lying on the bed and Alphose's own blanketing hers from behind. They've been at it all night. She has lost count of how many times she has released. At this rate, her soul was going to leave her body. Alphose was the best lover she'd ever been with—hell, even the word 'best' does not do him justice. G
"I love you too, baby." He rose with her in his arms, withdrew a gold ring from his pocket, and slipped it into her ring finger. "It's so beautiful..." She cried, staring reverently at the sparkling jewelry. "It looks so good on you," he whispered to her. That night, they made passionate love together. As always he took his time arousing her body, touching her everywhere until she begged him desperately to join them intimately before he proceeded to do just that. They created the perfect rhythm together, moving sensuously and whispering words of love to each other. Wolfaraine took his time making her go wild in pleasure in his arms, he savored the cries, the litany, the sounds he drew from her as they pleasured each other for hours. Afterward, they lay together, sated and happy. He caressed her belly, cradling their child as Ismena burrowed closer to him. "I'm so glad that it was my father that helped us escape. We were victorious because of him." She played with the soft hairs
The next day, Onaries was publicly executed in the square at the Heart Of Naturiah, before the people. Crowds gathered to watch it and it gave them great satisfaction to see the shame, the humiliation on the psycho's face before he was beheaded. To Onaries, it was the worst punishment. He should have killed himself when the lab was invaded—it was better to die in battle than to be killed by public execution where the people get to laugh at him, spit on his face and call him names. He'd been tortured for days by his own Head Sentinel, Rodarh who took great pleasure from the act. He tortured Onaries until he lost his pride and begged to be killed. But Onaries, that monster, had denied him. Until today when he was publicly executed. As for the human doctor, Beloca; Alphose, and Degar had taken turns beating the man up, they carved his skin out of his own body, his screams like music to their eyes. They tortured Beloca to an extent that he stopped breathing several times, but they did
"Nothing, Miss Kassandra; I only forced your dormant hormones to come alive. My 'attempted claim' on you forced your body to wake and take on your mate's scent." He smiled a little, "Now, you practically stink of him." Sandra doesn't understand. "Him?" She asked, confused. "The Steele trying to break down that door, ma'am. You are his mate. There was a time you were very sick, right? To the extent you thought you might die, right?" Sandra doesn't need to think hard about that. "Yes, when I was very young, I suffered pneumonia." He nodded knowingly, "Whatever drugs humans used to cure you suppressed your hormones that made you a potential mate. So deeply suppressed that they wouldn't have stirred if you hadn't met your lifemate, my twin brother, and I wouldn't have been able to awake them if I didn't push as hard as I did. I'm sorry for hurting you, lass." The man wasn't as bad as she thought he was, Sandra thought, and some of her fears dissolved. Instead, joy began spreading thr
When Ismena heard the news about Alphose and Kassandra, she left the Tower and went back to Eline's house to be with her best friend. Sandra cried on her shoulders, dreading every hour that passed, every ticking of the clock because it was a reminder that Josiah was already on his way to Naturiah to claim her. She told Ismena that she didn't wanna do it. She just wants to go back to the human world. It's better to go home to live the rest of her life alone than to be with a man who isn't her Alphose. Although it killed Ismena to do it, she talked her out of it. How will she live the rest of her life knowing that she could have met her soulmate? She could have been with him, but she gave up on it? She talked her into giving Josiah a chance. After all, who knows? It might be the best decision she has ever made in her life, right? The Alpha King, on the other hand, could only pat his best friend's shoulder, commending him for doing the right thing even when the 'right thing' hurts. B
He smiled, "She is. Do you remember all your time together with her?""Oh yes. She is my best friend.""She will be so happy to hear that. It'll probably make her cry. She thinks of you that way too. Maybe even more.""I want her to stay with us forever. You're going to mate her, right?" "Yes, I will. If she will have me." Wolfaraine stated matter-of-factly. He has no doubt anymore. He wants to spend the rest of his life with Ismena. In fact, he cannot imagine his future without her in it."I'm glad. I hope she will have you, too. We will be one big family. She is so brave. She's everything you need in a mate. She always came by my room, all the time, no matter how scared she was. She came every day. I knew you two fought when she didn't come by for a few days. I was mad at you because you let her go.""Is that way you growled whenever I came close? I thought perhaps you hated me.""I never. I was just mad at you, madder, because I couldn't tell you how I felt. I'm happy you two sort
He walked into the room, quietly closing the door behind him, and took a few minutes to just stand there and watch them. The two most important women in his life. He felt lighter and refreshed, his heart filled with happiness like he'd never known before. How his life has changed in the past few months. He'd resigned himself to a bland life filled with guilt, sadness, and loneliness, never taking a mate, never having a child of his own, and living day by day with the fear of not knowing when he would lose his sister forever. But Ismena came into his life and changed it forever.He'd felt more in the past six months than he has in almost twenty years. The past no longer fills him with rage and sadness, his cougar wasn't as rough and out-of-control as before. He has a mate who is so highly compatible with him, his child is growing in her belly, and his sister, who he thought was lost forever was back to him again.Complete. He feels complete."What are you thinking so hard about?" Ism
Gasps of disbelief filled the air. The people were shocked and excited. They found it hard to believe that their King's sister—someone who they'd all given up on—would take her mortal form again after all these years. Murmurs rose in the crowd, bits and pieces of them could be heard audibly."Did you see that—" A voice said."What just happened!?" Another added."She took her mortal form again...!" "Bless the Lord!""May the deities be praised...!""Did you see that too?""...thought it'll never happen for her.""It's been eighteen years."Wolfaraine Daminor Throne stood frozen. He glanced down at the small, pale, feminine hand in his larger one. His eyes trailed from her hand to her arm, up to her shoulder, her neck, and her teary face. His throat constricted at the sight in front of him.She was more beautiful than the distorted image his mind had desperately held onto all these years. His sister was ten the last time he saw her face. His eyes watered as he gazed into eyes as blue
All the leading Alphas of Naturiah were there, the sentinels, the Betas, the Omegas, the houseworkers. He could see Eline, Mirian, and Kassandra too, even the Alphas that fought with him in the human world earlier in the day. They were all gathered there. They rose and greeted him respectfully when he walked through the door with his mate in his arm.Then they were crowding him. The joy and relief on their faces, filled his heart with love for his people. The females had tears in their eyes as they came really close to him. Some were hugging him, while the others were kneeling at his feet—a gesture of welcome and respect. They were all careful not to press tightly against him because of the woman in his arms. Ismena wiggled a bit, a sign that she wanted to be on her own feet, but Wolfaraine glanced at her and shook his head slightly."Please, I'll be careful, and I'll be right here by your side." she pleaded, a hint of her smile on her face. She knows how badly his people wanted to g