"Since your memories seem to be far clearer than my own, why don't you jog my memory. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be remembering.""We had a picnic that year to celebrate the opening of the week. My mom had spent all week planning it. Our house was tense. I didn't know that Dani was my little sister then. I wouldn't know for a long time yet. But her mom was having a really hard time back then and went on a bender. She dumped her on our front door with a little pink suitcase. I don't remember exactly how old she was, but five or six I think? That's got to be around right. I think she was missing her bottom two teeth.""Anyways, my mom told my dad to take her to one of the old ladies in town to watch her and he told that she could go fuck herself. He hadn't really spent any time with Dani and I guess he was curious what she was like. Fuck, she was just like him, except not evil. Stubborn and willful and clearly Alpha-born. I think he was proud of her after spending an hour wat
Teo was pacing back and forth across his bedroom. He'd been excused for the day by Lars, told to go home and sleep for six hours before he was expected back to work again. They'd all been working around the clock since the attack, snatching bits of sleep in rooms in the packhouse when they could afford to take them. And Teo knew that a six hour break was a luxury. But despite the fact that his body was nearly overcome with exhaustion, he couldn't sleep. He lay back on the twin bed in the undecorated room that he'd picked for his break and stared up at the smooth white ceiling. He was missing something. It reminded him of the time when he'd been wrestling with one of the bigger boys when he was still pretty small and he had dislocated his shoulder and his father had run across the exercise yard to pop it back into place. There was something that was just slightly askew in his mind and if he could only shift the idea, feel it move into place, everything would make sense and he could
When he returned he'd claimed his position as Beta. He'd stuck by Luca's side. But he hadn't been the same. There'd been some talk in the pack of his new, nearly silent personality, with occasional outbursts of rage. Most of the older wolves said it was because he'd grown up. When things were good with the pack, Lars was somber and serious. He didn't laugh. But he worked hard and he was devoted to his Alpha. And he was extremely devoted to Lyra who many assumed would someday be their Luna. Teo had hated Lyra. She'd acted like a princess who was above most of the pack. He'd been happy not to have to guard her, even if it was, technically, a big part of his job. Fuck. He cursed silently. It was all so obvious now. Teo would have been willing to bet his left nut that Lyra was Lars' mate. And had she rejected him? Not exactly. What she had been doing for the last twelve years was warping his soul. Lars had stepped into the position. He had guarded Lyra closely. They were often alone t
"I missed a call. I didn't even feel it vibrate." Luca frowned down at his phone, his mind still reeling with the pieces of history that they were beginning to put together from the year Vos' pack had hosted the yearly Alpha meeting. Luca's body was still shaking with anger, but at least he'd managed to convince his wolf that it wouldn't help anyone if he exploded out his skin right now in the passenger seat of the SUV.Luca pushed the phone back into his pocket. He'd already missed the call and the signal here was extremely weak. He'd check for a voicemail once it was stronger. Right now all he could focus on was what Dani's older brother had shared with him over the course of the previous two hours. And he had to admit as the days went on, he was beginning to view Alpha Vos as Dani's older brother because Vos was stepping into the role with more and more confidence.The night that Luca's father, the then Alpha West, had arrived with Alpha Harding at the Vos household, Vos' mother
Stella opened her eyes, blinking twice before closing them again quickly against the light flooding in through the window. Her entire body ached. She reached out with her mind, seeking the comfort of her wolf, but found only silence, an empty hole in her psyche where her wolf's presence usually filled the void. A wave of nausea rolled through her body, forcing her to push herself up onto her elbows, her eyes opening again, one hand shielding them from the light of the window.Someone had placed a wastebasket with a plastic bag in it right next to her bed and she slid down on her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach, which by now wasn't much more than stomach acid, into the bottom of the thin bag."Welcome back to the land of the living, Stella West." Stella froze, her fingers digging into the edge of the thin metal bucket as she realized that she wasn't alone. She wanted to stand and wield the small trash can as some sort of weapon, proving to herself and her weapon master th
"I'm going to tell him, Dani. If that's a problem then tell whoever it is that you're with to take you somewhere else. I don't fucking like West, but I sure as Hell am not going to lie to our Alpha. Even for you."Dani was sitting in the back of the luxury sedan, her fingers lightly running across the stitches that Michael had closed the wounds in her shoulder with, while Waylon took a turn driving after she had explained that her healing capabilities were not quite the same as other wolves. She squeezed her eyes closed at this admission from Kent, although she wasn't completely surprised to hear him say it."Honestly Kid, I'm surprised you haven't already told him.""Kid." he snorted and she knew he was probably rolling his eyes at the nickname that she'd called him since they were in middle school. "If it was anybody else I would have. But my wolf is just the tiniest bit protective of you too. And as you probably can guess he doesn't want to give you back to West either. Especia
"The fuck? Alpha commands don't work on your sister?" Luca slammed his hand forward, acting like he was about to chuck his phone out the window, but he didn't let it go, managing to get a hold on his temper in time to save the expensive device from hurling through the windshield of the car."Nope. It's one of the many annoying and special gifts that the Goddess bestowed upon the pain in the ass that is your mate." Vos had turned in the passenger seat to stare at Luca, his eyebrows raised as he waited to hear the fallout from the conversation that the other man had obviously just had."That was her." They had pulled off onto the shoulder of the road again and Luca was gripping the steering wheel so hard that Vos was honestly a bit worried it might crack in his hands."I sort of figured that part out. But go on. And maybe ease up on the car a bit so we still have a way to get around.""She's on her way to New York. She wants to save Stella and-""Kill Harding." Vos interrupted him,
After washing her hair with Fern's help and bathing in the oversized bathtub in the bathroom that was connected to the luxurious room that was now her prison, Stella felt slightly more human than she had when she had first opened her eyes and realized that she was no longer on her pack's lands. Fern had brought her a pair of soft grey sweatpants and a t-shirt, and had helped her to make her way back to the king sized bed as she began to really look around the room for the first time. The room was the furthest thing from a prison in appearance that Stella could imagine, but she knew without a doubt that she was a prisoner there all the same. The bed was huge, with a golden Parisian headboard that arched above the head of the bed, and pale blue silk sheets. The walls were every bit as grand as the bed, which Stella couldn't help but think had been inspired by some European palace like Versaille, with more gold snaking its way up the high walls, and an enormous crystal chandelier domin
This is the last chapter. Thank you all for supporting me! Wish you all the best in life. Lots of love!"Come on Dani, you can't be late to your own baby shower!" Stella was dragging her down the hall as Dani rolled her eyes. "I can't move that fast anymore Stella. I know that you've never been pregnant yet but ask Emery. It slows you down. Especially twins." "She just can't wait to see her Bestie. Fern. They haven't gotten to see each other in a month since the last council meeting of Alpha's when Kent was officially sworn in. Do you know how moppy my husband has been since he lost his third in command?" She turned her eyes accusingly on Dani who ignored the question, instead turning towards Stella. "I thought I was your Bestie!" She said in a teasing tone. "We're all best friends you guys." Stella linked arms with the other two women as she walked between the two Lunas, slowing her pace. "And when is the next time we're all going to be together?" "Probaby when she pops?" Emery
"Now lets see if this fits." He helped her slide the ring onto the fourth finger on her left hand and she finally got a good look at it. The ring was a simple, gorgeous, round cut diamond and it fit perfectly when he slipped it onto her finger."I love it." She said, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face against his chest. "It's perfect." As she pulled away her eyes drifted back outside to the valley below. "You still haven't told me where we are. Where did you buy a home?""Kittilä." He replied, staring out the window at the beautiful white landscape below.She shook her head. "I have no idea where that is.""Lapland. We're in Finland in the Artic Circle. I promised you Northern Lights. I know it's early in the year still but so help me I'm giving us our best chance at Northern Lights on our week long trip. At least we're pretty far north this time." "We could just wait a bit until it's later in the year.""I don't want my mate to have to wait for anything after
"Where are we?" she asked as he began to lead her, blindfolded, towards the door of their personal jet. It wasn't tropical or humid. In fact, it was rather cold and she hadn't even stepped outside yet.Dani had slept for so long on the plane that she had no idea how long they'd been flying. They could be anywhere at all in the world. And she was impatient to know where Luca had taken them and what exactly his plans were. She had never been good at waiting for surprises."Kitten, you told me that you were going to let me make this a surprise for you. Don't try to peak now." One of his hands was on her side, as he tucked a long puffy jacket over her shoulders."Is this new?" she asked as he helped slide her arms into the sleeves."Here, step. How do these boots feel?" he ignored her question as he helped her into a pair of comfortable new boots that she couldn't see."They feel perfect. How long have you been planning this? And where are we?" Her hands, which were now being warmed
"Do you know that you are approximately eight weeks pregnant?" The doctor's eyes were glued to her face when she asked the question, as Dani sat on the bed frozen, feeling her own eyes grow wide."I- I-" whatever it was she had thought to say was trapped inside her head so she let out the breath she only just realized she'd been holding and tried again. "I guess I had begun to suspect it in the last few days. I'd just started to feel sick. And the healing thing.""The healing thing?""I don't know if you noticed my old injuries? Dani began."Yes. Your wolf actually was able to heal most of your injuries before you got here. There wasn't all that much to do. You didn't even need stitches. It was impressive. But we checked you over carefully for other injuries and we could tell that there were old injuries that hadn't healed the way they should have if you'd had your healing abilities intact, and that those were both bone breaks and the ones that included your old scars.""Just bef
It was morning when Dani woke up in a hospital bed in New York City. She blinked, gazing around at the brightly lit room. In a moment Luca was by her side. "This room is insane." she whispered, her throat feeling scratchy and dry.Somehow Luca had managed to get her a corner room with glass windows that made up a huge portion of the walls with incredible views of the city. Before she'd spoken and woke him up, she realized, he had been sleeping in a comfortable looking recliner. And her bed was much more comfortable than a typical looking hospital bed. The sheets and blankets looked like they should have been in a fancy hotel."The doctor will want to know that you're awake. They wouldn't tell me anything until you woke up. But it looks like your healing is accelerated again for some reason. As soon as they removed the knife I could tell that it wasn't like before. Your wolf started to help with your healing. I should have noticed it earlier in the cuts and bruises from your fight wi
Dani knew that Luca had won his fight, somewhere behind her, when she smelled the blood of Beta Reed spill across the cold tile of the floor. She knew Beta Reed well. He'd taken his turn torturing her when she lived here. He was every bit as cruel as his Alpha and she felt her snout curl in an approximation of a smile before she focused back on the battle before her. She had an idea of how she might take down this Alpha, but it was risky.Could she get Alpha Harding to let down his guard because he believed her so weak she wasn't worth guarding against? It would be ridiculous for him to do it, but he was an Alpha, and nothing if not arrogant beyond measure.Dani charged at him again, doing the exact same thing she had done the previous time. This time he sent her sprawling with another powerful blow of his paw. She noticed that his claws weren't even extended. He'd never once hurt her in his wolf form. He preferred to torture her as a human.He'd hit her hard and she'd slid all the
Dani shoved down the wave of nausea that tried the push its way up her throat. She didn't have time for any of that. If she survived the attack she would worry about what the way she had been feeling these past few days might mean.She hadn't gone into heat. What were the odds of getting pregnant if she hadn't gone into heat when she was with Luca? Hell, she'd never gone into heat once in her entire life. Privately, she'd believed it was because Harding had done something to break her body, between the hard physical abuse and the injections. She'd intended to talk with Luca about it, but the time never seemed right. And she hadn't really known if her body didn't work the way the Goddess had intended it to, which had made it even harder to bring the subject up. After all, what exactly would she say.When she'd tried to bring it up with Dr. Evans, back at Harvest Moon, the doctor had ordered an ultrasound and some blood work and had then assured Dani that everything looked to be in wo
"Thank you for joining us Fern." Alpha Harding hadn't looked up, and Stella, with her now human hearing abilities, hadn't heard the frail looking girl arrive, but when he said her name, every head in the room immediately turned in her direction.The little maid looked nothing like she had when she had first knocked on the door to Stella's room. Stella remembered that Alpha Harding had mentioned earlier that "they" had picked out a dress together. Stella was certain that Fern had had no part in picking out this dress. Like so much of Lyra's clothing it was crimson red, just like the lipstick that was now smeared across Fern's full lips.The dress itself was simple. It was cut low on top, with Fern's small, full, round breasts, which fit her frame nicely, nearly spilling out of it. On the bottom it was so short that Stella could tell that the little maid's fingers were itching to tug it down so that it would cover more.As a child who had been forced to wear many dresses that she was
"It smells like summertime. Like rainbows. Like everything that's good and pure in the world." Waylon was following close behind Dani, as he had been since she first left Alaska, but she had never felt so tempted to give him a good hard smack upside the head. "Head in the game, Parker. What are you drunk?" she hissed the words under her breath as she moved forward through the dark tunnel, her steps slow and silent, her mind vaguely registering her own surprise at knowing his last name. "If I didn't know any better I would think that you just found-" she let her whispered words trail off in the middle of her sentence.No. That was impossible. The odds of what she had almost suggested were a thousand to one and it would be cruel to give Waylon that sort of hope, especially when they were on this sort of a mission and she had no particular reason to believe that it was true. It was more likely that the poor man hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in the last week, since he was so worri