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Chapter 42: Not Who I Thought He Was
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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
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 49: Romancing Amanda
(Two Hours Earlier)(Xander POV)“Xander, what is this?”My heart stops. I have just gotten out of the shower at the hotel, and Amanda is holding up three large prescription bottles… the ones with the herbs that I brought for Piper.With how clingy Amanda has been lately, I should have known that something was up when she did not insist on joining me in the shower. Sex has been a big point of contention for us lately, and her missing an opportunity to get me naked should have been a huge red flag.“What were you doing going through my stuff, Amanda?” I ask angrily. “Answer the question, Xander. What is this stuff?”Ignoring her, I snatch the bottles out of her hand and put them back in the zipper compartment of my suitcase where they had been. I then quickly throw on a pair of boxer briefs, jeans, and a t-shirt.“I am waiting for an answer, Xander.”“You had no right to go through my things, Amanda.”“I was looking for condoms.”“Like hell you were.”Amanda puts one hand on her hi
Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 50: Xander's Plan
(Xander POV)As I successfully made my way to Moon Shadow Pack —first on foot; then by taxi— I could not keep the big, goofy smile off of my face. I was incredibly excited about seeing Piper again, and I felt like the Moon Goddess was finally, FINALLY, answering my prayers in a positive way.The last two years without Piper had been awful, and I did many things that I was not proud of. However, it would all be worth it in the end.More importantly, I knew that, very soon, I would get to see my girl, the love of my life. Instead of fantasizing about her from afar, I would be able to hold Piper in my arms and tell her how much I loved her. Even my anger about what she did a year ago… and my fear about what Amanda may have up her sleeve… could not overshadow my excitement. All that mattered was that I had once again managed to get away from Leo’s men, and that I was now in a position to secure what I wanted…. and what I believed and hoped Piper wanted too.All the way to Moon Shadow
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Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal Chapter 180: 48 hours earlier
