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Chapter 40: Eye of the Storm
Lady GwenSorry this chapter is a little delayed. It was election day here yesterday, and that has a huge impact on my day job. Also, as the timeline begins to merge with the timelines in the beginning of the book, I am going a little slower because I want to make sure any inconsistencies are 100% intentional. (So not really inconsistencies.) Good news is that we are getting closer to the first major reveal, as well as the fight between Xander and Piper.
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Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 41: The Curly, Red Wig
(Beta Jonas POV)“You got me a present?” Piper asked cautiously.Aiden nodded, and then gestured for me to pull the wrapped box out from where I had hidden it. Admittedly, the gift was a little strange. However, what it symbolized was important.I was actually a little surprised that Aiden was willing to give it to her. He had been waffling for days after I first suggested the idea, in part because he not-so-secretly continued to be uncomfortable with the idea of Piper dating, being mated, or leaving Moon Shadow. Perhaps confirming that Piper was not his fated mate made him more open to the idea. Although, now that we knew that she was not his mate, it only begged more questions. Why were Aiden and his wolf so protective of her? Who was she, really? Aiden had never acted this way with any other female, so there had to be something about Piper that was triggering this reaction.To that end, I knew that Piper had secrets. I knew that I knew some of them, but there were pieces o
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 42: Not Who I Thought He Was
(Alpha Aiden POV)By the time that Jonas found me in the warrior gym, more than an hour had passed, and both of my fists were raw and bloody. Not that the blood did anything to slow down my rage or the punches I was leveling at the punching bag in front of me.No, I was not angry at Piper. Anything but. However, if what I thought was true… if what I thought was real… I wanted and deserved explanations. And the wolves who put us in this situation? Those wolves I wanted to kill. Even if I had to dig them up from the dead to do so.“Took you long enough,” I said as Jonas walked in.“I went to your mom’s house first,” he explained. “I was worried you would go and confront her.”I frowned as I punched the bag yet again. “No. I wanted to, but I did not want to upset Natalie.” Natalie was my 11-year-old little sister.“Well, at least now Natalie will know what to expect in her future,” he joked.I stopped punching the bag and glared at Jonas.“Too soon?” he asked.“Yes,” I growle
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 43: Getting Ready for the Ball
(Piper POV)With the exception of the weird interaction with Aiden and Jonas on my birthday, the peaceful eye of my stormy life continued for another week. Looking back on it, it was almost like an eerie prelude to the chaos and pain that was coming.Regardless of what it was, I enjoyed it. Even today, I think back on that week and the subsequent mating ball with fondness.Jonas was gone doing something the entire week; Aiden seemed to be largely avoiding me; and Daphne inexplicably continued to work the night shift.With those three occupied, Maya had plenty of space to keep me happily busy during almost all of our non-working hours. I seriously think that she was more excited about the mating ball than I was, even though she was not old enough to meet her mate. “Mating balls are perfect non-pressure opportunities to practice our flirting skills,” she had explained. “And working behind the bar at one is an even better way to make sure we get a lot of that practice with a lot of
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 44: The Mating Ball
(Piper POV)I’ll start with a quick spoiler. Aiden did not find his mate at the mating ball. Neither did Jonas, and —as far as I knew at the time— neither did I.Even so, we all had a good time.Contrary to Maya’s expectations going in, working at the bar made it a little tough for us to practice our flirting skills. It was simply way too busy, and Aiden was being far too protective. (Every time a male wolf would linger for too long, Aiden would approach and ask, “Are you mates with one of them? No? Move along.”) However, we still got hit on a lot; we made face to face contact with A LOT of wolves —both male and female; and the conversations that we had time to have were definitely interesting.For example, I spent about ten minutes talking to a handsome wolf named Chase. He was a 22-year-old gamma wolf with siblings who ranged in age from 2 to 38. We briefly bonded about having both lost our mothers, and he talked to me about what it was like when his father met his second ch
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 45: Really Bad Math
(Xander POV)Kill me now.I have been in a complete and total panic for the past two days, after realizing that I am a total moron.I had been so focused on how long Piper had been gone and how I was going to get her back, that I made some serious miscalculations in my planning. I mixed up a bunch of dates. I did the wrong math. And I forgot Piper’s birthday.HOW DID I FORGET PIPER’S BIRTHDAY?!?!? I plan to spend the rest of my life with her, and I forgot her birthday. And not just me —Gunner too. How did my wolf forget Piper’s birthday? He is supposed to be the voice of reason between us.If I could, I would kick myself. And that is not just because I feel badly that I forgot. It is because all of my calculations have been based on me having more time. Somehow in my head I started using the date of Piper’s escape to calculate things, even though all of my original calculations had been based on Piper’s birthday. And I messed up other dates too. I started counting minutes
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 46: The Cousin Trade
(Leo Bloodstone POV)I am currently working in the office that I have taken over while I am at Blue Ridge. It is not the alpha’s office —as tempting as that was to take— but an office a few doors down that was previously used by visiting alphas. Now it is used exclusively by my father and I. It is hard to believe that it has been as long as it has, and I am still no closer to finding Piper than I was before. It is even harder to believe that Blue Ridge is the same pack that did such horrible things to my family years ago. The pack I’ve been watching the past two years seems more like a pack of pansies than the monsters we know they are…. although I admit that a small part of me is starting to wonder if it just pack leadership that is the problem.Regardless, I am tired and even crankier than normal. I have not gotten much sleep since Piper’s birthday. My father has tried to reassure me that there is still time —that we do not know for sure when Piper will meet him, whoever “him”
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 47: Almost Married
(Leo POV)Xander quickly leaves the office, leaving Addie and I alone.“Drink?” I ask her.She nods.I take a bottle of scotch from a cabinet and pour two large glasses.“You look like sh&t, Leo.”“I haven’t slept in a while.”“You still haven’t found her?”“No. I assume you still haven’t found your mate?”“Nope. I’ve had some really cute boyfriends though.”I ignore the latter comment and hand Addie her glass.“Please tell me you aren’t really related to that a&&hole.”“He’s my cousin.”“By marriage?”Addie chuckles. “No. Our mothers are sisters.”“You know if my father knew you were related to the Ross family, he never would have considered an arranged marriage between us.”A truer statement could not be spoken. My father hates the Ross family with a passion. And for good reason.“Well, lucky for me then those talks never went beyond a few friendly conversations.”I nod as I briefly think back on my history with Addie. Things between Ingrid and I had just fallen apart, and my
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 48: Confusing Answers
(Alpha Aiden POV)It is late evening, and Jonas and I are in my office. I am holding a picture of my mother, father, Natalie, and I in my hand. It is the last picture that we took together before my father died.“When are you going to tell Piper?” Jonas asks me.“I don’t know.”“What about your mom? And Natalie?”“I don’t know.”“It has been over a month since the DNA test confirmed it. You need to tell them. This is too big of a secret to keep to yourself.”“I will tell them. Just not yet.”“Why not?”“Piper deserves to know first. And I haven’t figured out how to tell her.”“It isn’t that hard, Aiden.”“It isn’t?”“No. All you have to do is repeat after me: ‘Piper, you are my sister.’ The end. How hard is that?”I shake my head. “I definitely can’t tell her like that, and you know it. This sort of thing has the potential to upend the world as she knows it, and she is going to have a lot of questions. Questions that we do not have the answers to yet.”“So talk to your mo
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