Asher
Mari was a lot slower than I’d anticipated, but I didn’t complain as I reduced my pace to make sure she didn’t overexert herself. I wasn’t about to rush my true mate, and for once, my wolf and I were on the same page.
I had a makeshift bag slung across my back that held a few items, but the insignificant mass barely registered after the initial irritation of it faded.
We ran across one lone rogue during the hours we’d been rambling through the forest, but it was simple enough to dispose of him before my soulmate was in any danger.
Night had rolled in in a hurry, but I knew we were almost to our destination. I could hear the water lapping against the shore in the distance, and the trees had disappeared a while ago.
I indicated Mari should stay hidden where she was behind the small structure as I took in the scents of at least two wolf shifters down by the dock. There was a decent size sailboat moored, and I was hoping it
Marigold My head thumped painfully against the solid surface in front of me with the momentum we’d built up as our section of the hull went down. Agony spiraled out from the point of impact, and then, blackness reigned. I must have lost awareness because the last memory I had was of me plunging into the glacierlike water with my mate holding onto me for dear life, the sea gulping down our mode of transportation into its churning depths. When I awoke, it was to freezing air biting into my exposed skin, whipping against my water-logged clothes and causing my teeth to chatter, but the frigid temperature was forgotten the second that I noticed I was flying through the night sky. Asher still had a firm hold on me, but I was freaking the fuck out as I took in the ocean sailing by below us around the chunk of debris that I observed two scaled talons holding as I damn near did a 360 with my head. Ash clasped me tight to
Zacharias I answered the alpha wolf’s question, knowing better than to test the limits of his jealousy at the moment after catching a glimpse of his claiming bite when I’d moved forward to cover the female in my cloak. The look of disdain on the blonde man’s face was laughable, but he couldn’t protest my action with the frigid temperatures. For that reason, I directed my concentration to the girl, needing to know the name of our soulmate, so I rattled out, “What’s your name, beautiful?” It was obvious that she was skittish, but I could see she had relaxed some as she noted I’d sent Maverick and Finn away. I already knew I would have a shitload of questions to answer later, but they would have to wait until afterward. The male opened his mouth, but I watched as the she-wolf rested her hand on his chest, pacifying his ire before I ensnared her within my gaze de novo. I didn’t have to repeat myself, her pretty li
Zacharias I made it all the way to the small table against the far wall in my room before Maverick’s voice intruded on my one-track mind as he said, “I will wait out here until you’re ready for me, Rias.” Glancing around as my friend shut the door behind him, I noticed Asher was still wearing the same damp clothes that he’d arrived in, and it dawned on me then that I hadn’t had the forethought to provide anything dry for my mate either. Damn, some host I was turning out to be. Remedying that oversight now, I trudged to the closet, tugging a couple of T-shirts from the hangers before I grabbed some sweats from the dresser at the back. I was aware these would be big on Asher, and they would probably swallow Mari entirely with the abundance of fabric, but it was all I had in the moment. Howbeit, my dragon received a thrill at the idea of our mate being totally immersed in my scent. I could see Asher wasn’t happy about the prospec
Marigold My eyes were sealed shut, and I was reveling in the tingles still sparking from my lips and every point of contact that Rias had made with my oversensitive body. My wolf was baying with bliss in my head, but shame crept in as Asher’s lithe body pressed in close, filling the spot the other male had only just vacated. I didn’t know what to think about my warring emotions, but Ash’s voice intruded on my internal battle, reassuring, “Hey, gorgeous. Don’t do that. Don’t second guess how you feel. It’s clear that Rias is also yours, and I’m not going to force you to choose. I can’t promise to be perfect, but I will swear to try my best to put aside any lasting jealousy.” Asher’s mature response shocked the shit out of me, something he seemed to be doing an awful lot of here recently, but I didn’t have the energy to think about anything further than sinking into the inviting bed situated a few feet away. My blood still simme
Marigold I learned I had slept through the night and the better part of the next day, but I obviously needed the rest if I had been out for that long. My mates’ unique fragrances twisting together around me had aided me in sleeping easy, but I could already feel the knots forming in my shoulders as my mind got a head of itself like always, leaving me with a jumbled mess of emotions to sift through. While I had been hesitant to set off by myself with Rias’s mother at first, it didn’t take me long to figure out how blessed I was to cross paths with her. She was refreshingly genuine with her caring nature, and I felt accepted the second that she’d wound her deceptively strong arms around me. I felt more at ease with her during the brief time we conversed than I had with my own mother after damn near my entire life living under the same roof, but any thoughts about my family fled my mind as I reentered the kitchen a few hours later in a s
Asher As I held Mari tight in my arms that night, I was realizing there wasn’t shit I could have done if the male Rias had referred to as Knox had decided that he did want to fly off with our delicate true mate. My heart stopped beating in my chest during the thick of things, and I was relieved that Rias had been there to take the lead, my only thought at the time being about Mari’s wellbeing. I’d lost myself to the green monster riding on my shoulders prior, and I felt like an ass as a result for the entire day as Rias continued to do nothing but prove how devoted he was to making sure Mari had what she needed. I noticed his consideration didn’t just extend to our mate though. Rias had assured me there was nothing romantic between the two of us, and I was pleased we were on the same page in that respect, but I still appreciated the easy relationship he seemed determined to create with me. Despite all the dick moves I’d pulled
Marigold The atmosphere around us had seemed to gain mass as the afternoon dragged on, taking a turn down darker avenues as Rias shared the awful story of his own traumatic past with his family. It had answered the question I’d had about his father, and about Annie’s reaction to the mention of him previously, but I didn’t feel any better knowing the circumstances of his demise. My heart went out to Rias, and I was crawling into his lap before I realized what my body was doing. Yet, it felt right being in his capable arms, and I sensed how my presence helped to calm some of the hurt that would no doubt endure for a very long time. Relaxing into his embrace felt natural, and I didn’t register when Ash had migrated closer at first, casually resting his palm on my thigh without any carnal intention behind the action. For a while, no one broke the tense silence as it continued to encompass the last of our respite from reality befor
Zacharias I was kicking myself for bringing up what would happen once we reached the wolves’ territories, but on the other hand, I was also grateful I’d had the forethought to ask what my true mate was comfortable with. My dragon was sulking in the back of my head as I held my mate’s small figure tight against my chest, and I couldn’t say I didn’t feel the same as my inner animal. The twin sounds of even breathing told me both of the other members of my triad were out cold. Although this wasn’t how I was imagining the night would end after Mari had requested for me to join her and Ash, I rejoiced in the chance to pass the night with her in my arms, all the same. Her intoxicating smell of rainfall lulled me closer to dreamland as the seconds ticked by, dulling the discomfort of my aching dick until blackness consumed my awareness. The morning came too fast, and we were setting off for our first stop before the sun had peered ov
Hello wonderful readers, This is the end of 'The Luminary Quartet." Thank you so much for reading and for all the incredible comments y'all have left along the way. Please do me a huge favor and leave a review on the book's homepage (for this book and any of the other three if you haven't already!) I need twenty something different reviews for my rating to officially show, and the first is the only one I've managed to accomplish this with so far. My next book is titled 'After the Downfall," and the cover is already up on social media. I'm tweaking the blurb, but it will be up tomorrow, as well. I'm going to start uploading chapters this weekend to the website, but I will be getting it signed ASAP so it shows on the app, too. This book was intended to be a standalone, but I may reevaluate depending on how well it's recieved. It is another werewolf romance with a post-apocalyptic spin, but I do want to stress that this does not mean I will only be limiting myself to these types of
Marigold Five Years Later Glancing around the large clearing here to the north of Forest Glen, I let myself revel in how far we’d come over the last five years. Dragons, wolves, bears, and, hell, even a few humans, all coexisted in peace as they had since that final fight, interacting without any drama in the wide-open area before me. Granted, it wasn’t all smooth sailing at first, and there were still the occasional troublemakers to deal with every now and then. It wasn’t a walk in the park to push past the prejudice when it did occur, but we’d found that most of it was due to misinformation that my father and the other former elders had spread throughout the years. For that reason, I’d advocated for the annual gathering that we were all enjoying now, ensuring it was open to everyone. Initially, there was more friction on the human side of things, but Finn and Maverick had handled any issues on that front in the aftermath of all the mayhem my father had caused. I’d felt guilty
Marigold I was locked in place as turmoil ruled around me, Maverick and his team of males trying their damnedest to pull a miracle out of their asses. Nicolai was unconscious, badly injured from an ambush during his rescue mission with one of my true mates, and now both pieces of my soul were bounding off into danger de novo, my sister still in the clutches of my manipulative father. How much more fucked up could my family get? Letting the terror win as I drowned in my misery, I don’t know how long I stood there before someone broke me out of my stupor, but once the haze cleared, I was searching for some way to contribute, not wanting to be the damsel in distress. Still, I was being yanked out of the street by one of the healers before I could move an inch myself, and one look up told me the reason why. The dragons who were at the root of Nic’s suffering had decided to try their hands at finishing the job. To further complicate the situation, the humans impending arrival couldn’t
Zacharias I didn’t jump at Asher’s disruption, not surprised in the slightest. Rather, I used the opening he afforded to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak. Launching myself headfirst into the commotion, I maneuvered my arm up into the gap between Magnus’s and Iris’s bodies, using it to block the blade he still wielded as I concurrently swept his feet out from under him. The stinging ache from the knife slicing deep into the muscle of my forearm hardly registered in the heat of the moment, relief being the chief emotion in my head at averting the male’s sinister plans from coming about in his final act of desperation. Both of his fists unclenched as he tumbled to the ground with a growl, releasing Iris’s blonde tresses and the gore-splattered knife in the process. The blade clunked heavily as it dropped to the floor in front of him, and I hurried to kick it out of reach. As much as I wanted to stick around and deliver some of my own vengeance for present and past hurts, Ir
Asher One second, I was sprinting for cover as we came closer to saving Iris, my gaze pinned on a nearby building, but then Nicolai was roaring in alarm, his body crashing into me and bringing me down face first into the concrete sidewalk in front of me. The nasty collision set a chorus of bells off in my brain as my senses picked up on several things simultaneously, time seeming to slow to a crawl as anguish exploded from my head down. Heat was rapidly spreading from behind me until it became equally as unbearable as the ringing in my mind, yet I didn’t miss the agonized howl piercing the air above it all before darkness reigned, my body shutting down to protect itself. When I came too, it was by increments with pain radiating out from multiple points, but it was the ache from my face that commanded the bulk of my notice. It took me a minute to comprehend that someone else was moving my body, flipping me over so that I could see the smoke darkening the sky, and it took another on
Zacharias Finn had contacted me earlier during our flight into the Western Province. He’d let me know some of our males would be arriving throughout the day, but he’d also mentioned that he was planning to scout ahead in order to get an idea of what we were looking at. I let the others know as much before Asher and I escorted Mari up to the room, the fatigue crashing down on her all at once by the looks of it. When we returned, those that were left for the meeting had moved into the living room. Our location made no difference to me, so I took a seat in a recliner, listening as Nicolai and Asher discussed different tactics for approaching their mission to extract Iris. Mari had given us as much as she could recall of the secret route into the town earlier. It turned out to be an underground tunnel, which wasn’t surprising given all I’d discovered about the former elder of the lupine species. Moreover, I would be able to give t
Marigold My mind was a million miles away as I went through the motions of getting ready for our flight the next morning, every waking thought reminding me that I’d failed to keep Iris safe. Rias and Asher had taken care of packing any supplies we might need, so I’d only been responsible for making sure I dressed appropriately for the trek to the Western Province. More than once, my mates tried to pull me out of my own head, their delectable fragrances and compelling personalities enough to give me a fleeting reprieve from the recurring thoughts, but I was left with an abundance of free time while they ran around, tying up loose ends before we set off. Annie and Ruby joined us for breakfast, but no one was in a talkative mood with the daunting next couple of days ahead of us. Hence, it was a quiet affair before we said our goodbyes. Nevertheless, Annie hurried forward before I could follow my mates out the door a while later, stopping me in my tracks as she wrapped a heavy coat ar
Zacharias Mari was practically falling asleep in her food, but I knew she would resist any attempt I made to take her up to bed, so I didn’t bother wasting the effort. We’d been holding off on strategizing while everyone devoured the food someone had thoughtfully prepared beforehand, but I could see Ruby and my mom were finishing up their meals now, both of them slipping off a few minutes later. Nicolai and Maya had drifted towards the living room, but Asher and I had remained at the kitchen island with our mate sandwiched between us while she picked at her food. There wasn’t much conversation between anyone given the somber mood surrounding us, but I wasn’t idle in the silence. I may have botched rescuing Iris before those bastards stole away with her, but I was doing my damnedest to make up for it now. As it so happened, I had males positioned in the Western Territory still, keeping an eye on what the Western Clan of dragons
Zacharias My dragon roared to life within me, slashing to be set free with the impending danger heading our way, and I was already ripping my clothes off as I left Mari, racing towards the clearing so that I could take to the air. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, there was no coincidence about the timing of the stray rogues’ and Keith’s assault, and there was nothing that was going to convince me otherwise. As I flew over the land, scanning my surroundings for any signs of intruders, my sharp eyes picked up on movement towards the north. Utilizing my shrewd senses, I zeroed in on the figures winding their way through the trees, realizing these were the rogues who were trying to infiltrate our territory after another minute of observation. I took note of their activity, making sure I didn’t miss anything. Honestly, there didn’t seem to be many of them, but I shot out a warning with the intel to Asher anyway while keeping the ma