-RAINA’S POV-For a while, I walked through the area to meet and greet a few Bolivian and Ugandan Elders and Alphas. Venus disappeared, taking the girls with her. It did not bother me. There were so many enthusiastic faces that expected to have a moment with me.Approachable and humble, I interacted with them until my feet hurt, and I decided that it was time to have lunch. Luckily, they freed me from the social binds.“Peaches!” I spotted her under the blue infirmary tent. I waved her over. “Oof!”I bumped into something.No.Someone. Oops!Quickly, I lurched my hand out to grab her arm, keeping her on her feet. I checked on the old, gray-haired, short woman that I almost knocked to the ground. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”The wind blew her wizened and straw-like hair as she raised her saggy chin. She wasn’t smiling, but her wrinkled eyes, a deep, amethyst color, laser in on me as if I was her target for the day. Warily, she took my hand in hers. Her touch was light and gentle.“You wa
-RAINA'S POV-Distraught and caught up in my own world as I sat on a cherry log by the punchbowl waterfalls, I stared mindlessly at the crashing stream across from me. It channeled from a narrow hanging gorge, shooting over a ledge and roaring straight into the round plunge pool below.The scene was so glorious that I was fixated on the sky’s sultry reflection that emblazoned onto the clear diamond water surrounding it.The tumultuous ripples robbed me of any hopes for a eureka moment, and more of my not-so peaceful life. The elders gave me the creeps. I couldn't help the awry inkling that churned in my gut.How much did they know?Drawing in a deep breath of the sap, sweet air of citrus, I exhaled lengthily, trying to clear my mind.Venus was right, though.It was a splendid idea to have our lunch picnic on this shallow cliff and to go swimming later at Dovery Falls.Not too long ago, I wandered away from the vivacious group to think about me and Valen, and our future. Only to miss hi
-RAINA’S POV-Theo couldn't wait to bite into the smoked rabbit fast enough. Shimmying and wiggling his butt, he did the tasty food dance as he chomped on it. When he started rocking, you knew it was knocking down that drool from his mouth.Thaines, in his glory, gnawed on a large barbecue rib bone like a feral pup."Bah ha ha!" I couldn't help but laugh as he snapped at Benji's hand when he tried to grab it.Glancing around, I saw everyone in a shining light. Free-spirited and merry. There was no longer a secrecy barrier separating us. This fun funky time was rather refreshing."So, what's up with you cooking an entire butcher shop today, Vee? I mean, it's great, don't get me wrong, but there's so much food!" Penn exclaimed with her lilac eyes sweeping across the delicious feast as she masticated a grilled pork chop.Venus beamed while chewing and twirling her napkin. "There's no such thing as too much food here. Leftovers will go back to the pack house kitchen and won't last long. Mo
-RAINA’S POV-Sloanne’s rejection shattered us all. A gloomy vibe threatened to break up our jovial party. A sadness fell in Zack’s Sacramento green eyes. His features were sullen, confused, and wounded. My heart broke knowing how much this meant to him.“Wiccan obeisance of celibacy?” Zack reiterated lowly. Repressing his disheartened emotions, he wiggled like a grubworm in the weeds that bound him and glanced from Sloanne to Penn to me, and then back at his mate.“There's a lot more to it than that,” Benji explained with hands behind his head, capturing Sloanne’s attention. “Mate bonds are unpredictable because it’s the Moon Goddess that does the matches. She peeks into our souls to make sure we are the perfect fit. Two halves of a whole that bring out the best in each other. You only get one mate in a lifetime. That's why they're so precious."“Yes. Now, please release him.” Penn pleaded, solemnly.“I-I don't know.” Sloanne was hesitant. Her forehead creased with worry because Zack’
VALEN’S POV-"Valen!" Raina moaned out my name as I filled her to the hilt.Our bodies melded together on the bed as I kneeled behind her, and she was on all fours. The crescendo of our desires built up into a dynamic explosion, flaring like fireworks across our skin.“Yes! Oh, baby.” She mewled out a delicious melody as my cock pulsated inside of her slick drenched hole. She milked me for everything I had as her legs trembled in an attempt to meet the heavy pressure of my climax.Raina wanted me to stay like this. Our bodies compressed with my dick embedded deep, fucking and feeding her until she was a whining, whimpering mess. Until she was struggling with the mind-blowing sensation. Until her body couldn't keep up with her desire for me any longer.Yesterday, as soon as we got back to the pack house, she told me to ruin her. We ended up in the Alpha suite, and she showed me that she meant fucking her until she was completely burnt out. Unnerved by Venus’ proclamation, she wanted to
-RAINA'S POV-“Vaheed is coming home.” These four astounding words from Venus’ mouth had changed the entire atmosphere of the picnic yesterday. “I felt him.” She beamed with mirth glinting in her harlequin green eyes. Their twin bond linked for a few seconds, and then it was gone, but she was positive that he spoke to her.It explained why she had been so chirpy lately. A spark of hope flared into life that Vaheed would show up any day now. Still, was it true?Breathing out the barest, wishful sigh, I too, desire for my second best friend to come home. However, there were many questions clawing at the back of my skull. Had he escaped the Worgens? Where was he? Would they come here after him?Well, today was another day, but it was not a good day. After donning a white dress that was above the knees with a tie at the bust and ruffled hemline, I paced my bedroom back and forth, wringing my hands anxiously.Swiveling around, I bumped into a hard chest that knocked me backwards. I was so
-RAINA’S POV-The bond strummed, coaxing me to glance at my mate. Valen’s sharp jewel-like eyes fixed on me, building a warm sensation in my gut. Silently, I understood the message they conveyed. I could feel the pull from inside of me that he wanted to hold me in his arms. It was soothing.“Don’t focus on the one reason you think you don’t deserve this, that you overlook the other hundreds of reasons why you do." He whispered through the mind-link.Valen moved from the Tuscan pilaster and stepped forward to the table to stand by his Dad’s side. Bracing his weight on his knuckles, he leaned over the table rather intimidatingly, oozing power and dominance.Maintaining our eyelock and knowing that they would take this as impertinence, I uttered just the same, “Not having a wolf does not affect my ability to lead and stand for my people. I'm still brave, considerate, and committed to the realm. Who I am is not defined by the crown or my wolf, nor does it negate the fact that I am Valen's
-RAINA’S POV-“That's it, Elder Jacob!” Alpha Vance bellowed at the accusing elder. “Consider yourself relieved of your duties and no longer affiliated as an elder of Dark Wolverson for sprouting such slander!”It took Luna Sianna a gripping hug and a few kisses to calm the raging Alpha King as he barked out his vicious displeasure. Mom had to do the same to Dad.Rumormongering. Typically, disproving a rumor was more difficult than proving a rumor. Our parents boiled Elder Jacob's words down to wedge-driving hearsay.Sianna got to her feet and luna-commanded with hands patting the air. “Everyone, quiet! Please!”“Alpha King, the mere fact that Raina has remained silent is proof enough.” Elder Jacob's spat over the lowering voices, standing his ground.Luna Sianna pursed her lips into a thin line, and thinking that she could render his declaration pointless, she looked at me and asked, “For the sake of these imprudent Elders, please clear the air.”Everyone was unstirred. The tension s
THIRD PERSON’S POVThunderstruck.Several aspects of what the Worgens saw were unexpected. The fighting scene between the Alpha Princes had them tight-lipped and uneasy.On a cauliflower-shaped cumulus cloud in the hot, blue sky, Seff, Jarvaldo, Rovell, Farrah, and Dymian watched keenly at the brawl on the concrete roof below. Rovell navigated his clouds with stealth in order to conceal their location from the irritating eagle guardian."What the fuck?" Rovell exclaimed, forgetting that they were covertly hanging around to evaluate their enemy's power and skills.Observing Valen would inform them of the level of power that protected the werewolf kingdom. A chain was as strong as its weakest link. Sadly for them, Valen appeared strong."OMG!" Jarvaldo muttered, half astounded and half pissed.Seff snapped his quizzical eyes at him. "OMG? Is that a new weapon? Show it to me!” He said, peering down at the brawl and earnestly searching them with his eyes for some shiny new weapon. “Show i
VALEN'S POVA dark, menacing harlequin flooded each iris. There he was, grunting, thick with scorn. “Well, if it isn’t the realm’s treasure.”Scanning over his appearance, the dirty pants that he wore were threadbare. The afternoon's cool breeze blew open his unbuttoned shirt, billowing at the sooty material to expose his bare torso. The hems of which were jagged. He expelled an offensive odor, which intensified by the minute and seemed to go up to the little hairs in my nose to stick to them.Vaheed’s putrid stench nauseated me from a distance and the sun's rays were evidently kicking his ass. He perspired like he'd been beaten in a marathon he had just run in the sun's barraging beams.Finding him at last, provided minor relief. The search was over. Now I had to ensure that he did not slip away from me.Cautiously, I assessed his aura. Zeus shifted within me. He brooded with impatience. We knew something was off because we felt a darkness within him."Zuzu, what do you read?" I aske
-RAINA'S POV“I can't stop. I won’t stop. Not until I get my wolf.” I replied with all seriousness, showing my determination. Then sadness overcame me when I thought of everything that crashed into my life. My voice dropped, softening. “I'm scared, Valen.”This doppelgänger was as impassive as the first time I met him. This was the Valen who was incandescently in love with Villainess Snow, also known as the nefarious Mercedes.Scanning his features, his edgy mohawk had gotten a lot whiter with a sleek shine. From this angle, the loose black strands were barely noticeable with the bulk of his long hair combed over to the right. This time a thicker, short beard covered his sharp jawline, and he pinned me with a hateful glare. Strapped and overpowered.“Then find your mate.” He simply said, annoyance still palpable in his demeanor.I shook my head stubbornly. “I need some answers, or I'm stepping through.”His eyes hardened at me. Anger, like stone, set in his features.“Why did you try
RAINA'S POV-“When your Grandma said she would keep my snow globe safe, she really wasn't kidding,” I muttered with sarcasm as I walked down the dark passageway. Our feet thudded on baked black mud with its walls decorated with brown-black, twining, trunky vines.Leading with a torch in her hand, Pennelope chuckled and then uttered with dramatic emphasis, “Grams never—and I mean never joke around.”“Your home is creepy as hell,” I swear the big vines moved sometimes.Witches' houses were truly a haunted horror for intruders. You could get in, but only the goddess could help you to get out. A modicum of dread weaved through me, but with Penn here, I thought I would be alright.Get it together Raina.It's amazing how the home could transition from a lovely spacious cottage on the upper floors and then descend from the basement into a whole murky forest with thin, white smoky ghosts popping up here and there, whooing around. Ancestors, Pennelope called them.Marlena told me the snow glob
VALEN'S POV-Zeus' volcanic rage was swarming me. It was hard to control him like this. I never expected Devin's revelation to propel my wolf into a hissy fit. Vaheed's attack on my best friend left a bitter taste of betrayal.Not to mention, his actions with Raina were incomprehensible because he was marked by his own mate. Once again, my brother was after my mate. Why? I thought we passed this stage, but no. He’s a damn dickhead who has gone off the rails.“Alpha, did you get the new location?” Jason’s voice came through the communication earpiece.“Yeah,” I replied in a not-so-nice tone. “We’ll move in five.”Nuuk, Bahia Blanca, and Isiro were fruitless. This was the last sanctuary that was on our agenda to investigate. However, Heidi had found that this one in Waipu had a branch in the United States. Pennelope also confirmed high amounts of camouflaging magic that were widespread across the town. All of its energy waves pulsed from that synagogue.I stood to the side with my rifle
VALEN’S POV-I caught Jason standing from his chair with his head down. He was scratching his forehead with his palm blocking most of his eyes, but I saw them sneaking upwards to watch out for my reaction.Guilty as sin. He had to be the culprit who provided the girls with everything they needed, including war gear, despite that he knew how we felt about our women on the battlefield.I growled at him.“We're coming on the mission.” Venus was always the boldest to speak first.With hands on my waist, I rebuffed, “No, that's a negative. You've been up all night, and it’s two a.m., plus the Howl De Lune cannot be planned by itself. The team and I will be gone for days.”“Cleo and Mom are here,” Raina argued, failing to see my point. She shrugged and emphasized, “I’m safest when I am with you.”“Mom left you in charge.” As I spoke, my feet crossed the space to draw closer to her. “Everyone else has to be here to assist you. Besides, the Bolivian and Ugandan wolves rely on your presence. Y
VALEN POV-“This coffee is shit,” Theo’s deep grumpy voice complained, almost spitting the liquid from his mouth after taking his first sip from the cup.“Too bad, I thought it was the perfect flavor for you,” Jason sassed with a cocky grin from around his grand U-shaped desk with the multiscreen computer system up and running.“You are the greatest hacker I know, and you can build the most advanced techno shit. That you can do, but you can’t make a damn good coffee?” Theo exaggerated, gesturing to the hot cup in his hand.Jason huffed and turned his head back to the computer screens, typing away on the keyboard. “Screw you.”“I would, but not today. You’ve got to buy me a beer first,” The Gamma twin jested back and stepped over to Azara with the coffee in his hand, giving it to her.We were at the IT Hub, which was Jason's domain. It was a fawn-colored, single-story federal house located across from the Training Center. He worked hand in hand with the Gammas, being our eyes from the
VALEN’S POV-I side-eyed Gamma Blayne furiously. He immediately bowed his head and averted his gaze.The stench of blood got stronger, permeating my senses, causing my legs to speed up. I can't stand the thought of any more of our members getting hurt or killed."What the hell..." I trailed off as I inched closer, crouching down and examining the line of dead bodies. It was just downright sick and twisted to use them for a ransom note effect.A chill entered the air that made everyone shiver. Raina’s eyes widened at the gruesome sight.Venus gasped, going pale with a hand flying over her mouth. “This is barbaric.”All their necks were slashed by claws and two of the deceased were used for the punctuation marks. Reading from left to right, it stated: ‘We have not forgotten, and we are coming for her.’Gamma Blayne crouched at the lifeless body next to me. He touched the wound on the man’s chest, inspecting it. “The gashes aren’t as deep as you’d expect, but this one got a double tap en
VALEN’S POV-Together, Theo, Thaines, Jason, and I pushed forward in our wolf form. Leaves and twigs crunched under our pounding paws. The sight of the full moon took its turn in the sky and the faint wind skimmed my fur.The grim sound of battle reached my ears long before we reached the outskirts of the station. We arrived united, skidding to a halt as we met the bloody scene with hard eyes and fangs bared. The air was thickened with the stench of sweat, blood, and death. Gruel residues of combat.Looking around the field for a target, the sounds of gnashing teeth, angry snarls, and painful shouts that had previously filled the air vanished with the rogues that swiftly fled through the tree line, leaving an eerie silence.“Cowards!” I roared internally, anger filling my veins.“Go now! Don’t let them get away!” Gamma Blayne shouted orders to a specialized team of elite wolves to pursue the escapees. He stood naked, heaving and curling his hands into fists, and his head whipped to spo