Vampyr territory was a wild expanse of forests and mountains. I had expected something different, a little more urban. So the gigantic redwoods and the clumps of wildflowers threw me. There was no civilization past the border. "Are we sure we are in the right place?" Xander huffed a laugh, keeping his eyes on the winding road in front of us. "Yes, Maddie, we just haven't made it into the city yet."The city. The one controlled by the Dragul colony. The one where I would meet Tatiana Rossi, the Dragul Queen my parents were apparently working for. My belly clenched as my mates' scent assaulted me. Being in close confines with them made it hard to resist them. I shifted in my seat. The feeling had been growing the last day. Something was off. Their scents were more overpowering than they had been the whole trip. I was a wanton witch. At least, my bottom half was. My brain was too full of betrayal and secrets to c
The car was dead silent as we all reflected on our forest tryst. It was one thing to act in the moment of passion, but another to be urged on by a primal need. I didn't regret it. My hand fell to my belly. Was a Were's gestation period the same as a human's? Would I know sooner than six weeks? This wasn't something they covered in my classes as a Bride. The Accords were kind of shifty on the information. Of course I was sitting in the car with two fonts of knowledge. Time to pick their brains. "Does a female typically get pregnant their first time in heat?" The words hung in the air around me. Xander shifted uncomfortably and I could hear Rhys sigh behind me. "It's not–""I mean we–" They both tried to talk at the same time. I suppressed a smile. "Maddie, we weren't trying to–" Xander started. "Take advantage of a situation." Rhys finis
"I'm sure you would like some time with your father." The Vampyr Queen rose from her bone chair, dropping the chain with a small smirk. I couldn't speak, even if I wanted to. A sick feeling spread through me as the thin chain fell in a glittering arc. So many secrets. So many lies and half truths. All for what? "We would appreciate a few moments alone for Maddie to greet her father, yes." I was grateful for Xander. He was calm, collected. Everything I was not in this moment. I was angry. Beyond pissed actually. Livid might be the word, but terrified. My father was the strongest man I knew. If he was now the plaything of Tatiana, then something truly horrid must have happened to my mother. And if that was the case, I would definitely be causing another interspecies incident. The Vampyr Queen gave me a grin. She was purposefully goading me. For no real reason. But I would bite my tongue
My father led us from the building in silence. I patted the pocket of my jeans where the paper with the directions to the Grimm society headquarters was tucked away. I was going to ask for help. The rows of guards glared at us as we made our way from the building. I was tempted to glare back, but Rhys' elbow in my side pushed that thought away. Flipping diplomats. We paused at the fountain. "This is as far as I can go, Maddie." My father stood there in his ridiculous leather outfit. "I'm no longer allowed to leave the grounds of the Queen's compound."I threw my arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as I could. "I'm going to get help." my words were soft, barely a whisper."For your mother. I have to remain here to make sure you are both safe." He clung to me like I was a lifeline, his strong arms caging me. Tears tracked my cheeks. "I can't do that. You know me, Dad. You raised me." My words were choked as
I stared up at the fae woman, blinking stupidly. "I would ask that the training class be dismissed." Her voice was amused. "There are details even Madame Reva does not need to be aware of." Callie, Camelia, and Trisha all shared one long look, then nodded imperiously. Reva squeezed my shoulder and Priscilla gave me a small smile as they all shuffled out the way we had entered. "What is this all about?" Xander stepped back into me, shielding me from view. While I appreciated the notion, I was very much capable of handling my own matters, thanks. "This is about a passing of the mantle, so to speak." The fae woman smirked past Xander. "I have been following Madison since her birth. Daughter of two noble war heroes, swimming in secrets. Goddess blessed and born from love. To be honest, she's any power hungry Supernatural's wet dream.""But why?" Rhys crowded closer to me. "She is pure powe
"You are my mate!" Xander's yell ended in a howl. His body shook, my rejection pounding through us both. "I am your Alpha! You can try to reject me, but I won't let you."Ridiculous man. Couldn't he see I didn't want to do this as much as he didn't want it done? Couldn't he see me breaking into pieces in front of him? The first love is self love. How could I love anyone if I didn't love myself enough to stand up for me? Being forced to just accept the decisions Xander wanted to make for my life was, at best, enabling his superiority complex, and at worst, spiraling into a toxic relationship. I had enough of men deciding they knew the way the course of my life should play out. "I am a person, not a doll that you can just play house with." My words were gritted out through my clenched teeth. The pain was overwhelming. I struggled to my feet. "We could have discussed this, like adults in an actual relationship. But instead you decided to take away my autonomy. And still you refuse my r
Three years was a long time. And not long enough. My chest ached again as I slid through the movements. Xander or Rhys was out there enjoying someone else's body. It's what I wanted. What I had asked for. And I hated every single moment of it. "Again!" Etna stood at the entrance to the training room, her blue eyes narrowed as she watched me move. I would be competing against Thunderbyrd later and needed to get my body ready. That wasn't the only thing I would be doing. My fight against the current reigning champion of Lilith's amazonians was a ruse. The real fight would be even later. When I finally pulled Tatiana's still beating heart from her frigid chest and made her watch as I crushed it in my hand. Finally freeing my father and mother. My mother who had endured three more years of 'hospitality' at the hands of Tatiana's guards. I slid low and lost my footing, tripping and falling flat on my face. "You're distracted Maddie. You have to get your head in the game. You can't los
Linnea's room was dark as I crashed inside. My toddler could sleep through anything, and I was thankful as I started shoving clothes into a bag. I had made friends, alliances. I wasn't alone. I had places I could run and be free. "Mommy crying?" Shitballs. Linnea stared at me with her wide blue eyes. I touched my cheek, dripping with salty tears. I hadn't even known. "It's okay baby. We are going on a little trip." "No, you're not." Mother effer! I whirled to the two hulking shadows darkening Linnea's doorway. Hellfire and damnation! "So this is where you've been hiding." They hadn't noticed Linnea yet. I sidled sideways. If I could keep their attention on me–"Tatiana has been taken care of." Xander crowded into the room. "How?" "We remembered. And we handled it." Rhys' voice was low. "Three years, Maddie?" The betrayal in Xander's voice made my heart ache. "You somehow made us forget you for three years?!" "What have you been doing?" Rhys reached out his hand. "Oh, y'know
"What?!" I gripped my coffee cup tighter in my fingers. Etna swatted the back of my head. "Quit moving or I'll never get this mass of hair done in time." "Mabon escaped. No one has been able to find Heather. Robin and that Beta of his took off after him before the trail went cold." Lilith leaned back in her chair. My mother sat next to her, her eyes shining suspiciously. "I can't believe my baby is getting married." I blushed. I couldn't believe it either. For nearly four years, I had been a Moon Bride. So much had happened. I got my parents back from an evil Vampyr queen. I lost my new best friend to a stolen heart. I became a werewolf, found not one but two mates, had a daughter, and killed an evil fae queen. Apparently my parents had been at the Battle of Godmother's Justice as the Unseelie were calling it. They had been using my father's little scraps of magic to transport the legions of imps from Daemon territory directly into the Unseelie Palace. Apparently Maeve had atta
I floated on a sea of blackness. If this was death, sign me up! It was the most relaxed I'd been in, well, years I suppose. The world around me shifted. It was a subtle shift. I slowly became more aware of my surroundings. Silver topped sand dunes glowed in the distance. I was sitting on a rug in the middle of a desert. The moon hung low in the sky, big and bright and shining. I wasn't sure how I had gotten here, but I wasn't panicked. A sense of peace and rightness washed over me. "Welcome back to Zolon, Madison Timms." I glanced up lazily. The woman in front of me was silver layered on even more silver. Her silvery white hair hung in waves, mingling with her silver gossamer dress. Her skin was so pale that it was a translucent porcelain, and her eyes a silvery gray rimmed in darkness. She was beauty and grace personified. I'm sure if the lethargy that weighted my limbs was gone, I might've jumped to my feet to show my respect. But I couldn't really pull myself together enough t
The howl was loud enough to echo off the high ceilings. It came directly from the wolf pacing angrily in the back of my mind. Had I lost track of time? Was it so close to the full moon? 'We should rip them apart, human. They have our pup!' Eclipse growled angrily in the dark corner of my mind she typically went to. After she had faded away, only the three days of the full moon allowed her to talk to me. This needed to be dealt with immediately. I couldn't wolf out as a prisoner! I might hurt someone that didn't deserve it.I jerked back to myself, trying to ignore the slavering wolf in my head. Eclipse was ready to spill blood. The howl seemed to echo on, which should have been impossible, when I realized that it wasn't my howl. The echo from that had faded. I blinked, glancing at Robin sharply. He shook his head and spread his hands. I turned, my jaw dropping as I glimpsed Linnea. My daughter was stiff in the arms of her guard, back bowed, mouth opened wide as her howl split what
Ella finished her tidying and bustled out. It was a power move. A flex, really. Letting me see that my friend, while tired and underfed, was alive. Would we get a chance to see Heather?My hair was in my face, the dark strands sticking to my wet cheeks. I lifted my hand, my fingertips pressing into the flesh under my eyes. I was crying. I didn't even realize it. I must be hormonal. Thankfully, when a wolf was mated, the heat was only in the vicinity of her mates. Not saying I didn't feel the press of it, but it wasn't overwhelming. I needed to get my hair out of my face. Having it cling to me itched at me, it was overwhelming. Thankfully, I had slid my special chopsticks into my sleeve rather than leave them in my case. I tugged them out, swirling my hair on top of my head and jabbing the sticks in savagely. "What are those?" I smirked at Robin. He wouldn't have been aware, but I had Little John assist me with a side project at his pack house. "My game plan." "What do you mean
Robin whistled under his breath as he unfolded himself from his tiny sports car. Little John looked like he was crawling out of a clown car as he slid from the passenger side. It was enough to make me giggle. "If I had known we would be rubbing elbows with real royalty, I would've dressed up.""I guess the Prince part of Aeryck's name escaped you." I crossed my arms and leaned back into Rhys' heat. I expected our morning after repairing our mate bond to be awkward. But it wasn't. My guys had woken me with gentle kisses and lovemaking. Promises of autonomy and professions of love. I was so here for it. A day and a half later, we were now standing outside Aeryck's palace. "It didn't escape me, Godmother, I just didn't care to remember." Boy, Heather was going to have to take this prick to task. Too self-assured. He needed to be knocked down a peg. "Thank the Goddess you've arrived." I glanced as Aeryck shuffled down the stairs, nonplussed. Usually, Royals greeted their guests in t
My body burned as two sets of eyes drank me in. They had given me their oaths. They swore to allow me my own choices. To let me live my life as I chose. My thighs clenched as heat flooded through me. I wanted–no, needed—them. Both of them.My shoulder twinged as I reached up for Xander. The pain cleared my head enough to make me aware of the pressing need that flooded my body. Heat. I was in heat. Dammit. I sure as hell wasn't about to stop this. I wasn't sure I could even if I truly wanted to. But I had been so long without the touch of my mates. I needed to heal our bond. To undo the rejection. Xander groaned, leaning into me. His lips whispered across mine, leaving a trail of fire. The kisses turned insistent, and Rhys let out a soft sigh at my feet. I reached out a hand to him, and he clasped my fingers. I needed them both. "I can smell you." Rhys ground out, before heat washed across my lower belly. I peered around Xander to see Rhys' face buried against my pelvis, breathing
"So, if I'm a true mate to someone this Mabon has enchanted, then why would he send someone after you, and not me? Kill me, and there's no more threat to his enchantment." Robin leaned back in his chair, turning his mismatched eyes on us. We were called in for an audience with the Sure Wood Alpha when I had been patched up. My shoulder throbbed in time with my heartbeat, and I was exhausted. I had lost a good amount of blood, and silver wounds took time to heal up properly. "Because I made an enemy of him three years ago, when I alerted the Seelie King to the betrayal happening right under his nose, and to his then fiancee." I shrugged, wincing as the wound tugged. That was going to be different. I hadn't healed human slow in so long I forgot what it was like. "And you are one of these Fae Godmothers?" Robin gave me a sardonic smile. I understood the sarcastic confusion. Having the Accords thrust on you, finding out the law that governed our world was living, wild magic…that could
There are very few things in my world that are deadly to Supes, aside from other Supes. Mostly they just keep on living their best lives while the human population dies of a great many things. But for Weres, it was silver. Apparently the DNA structure included a very real, very deadly allergy to silver. Which is why the knife currently protruding out of my shoulder was a touch worrisome. 'Don't pull it out, Maddie.' I heard my father's voice as I slumped against the doorframe. It was from one of the many lessons we had in the yard of the farm. Honestly, I was so naive. How had I not known they were soldiers? Pulling out a blade or any object that has embedded itself in the body would apparently damage you even more. Not like I was going to get a chance to really find out. Pretty sure the silver intolerance would take me out first. Blood seeped down my shoulder and dripped from my fingertips onto the clean floor. Whoever mopped was going to be a tad upset. My mind skipped around an
I heard the growls before I smelled them. Shitballs. We didn't need an incident right this second. My eyes were locked on Little John's, and he seemed just as loath to look away. The growls grew louder, and then I heard my mates burst through the clearing at my back. Well, half-rejected mates. Jeez, this was too complicated. A head rested on my shoulder, and I sighed. "Friends of yours, lass?" "Unfortunately." I shook off the furry head, turning to glare at Xander and Rhys. They were in their wolf form, shaggy and magnificent. Which kept complicating things because my heart ached for them, so I could be complete. But they really pissed me off sometimes. But we needed to find Heather and break the curse on her, so Robin was our best bet. Which meant playing nice with the Sure Wood pack. My belly fluttered. John was a tall drink of water, that was for sure. I was doomed if we hung out here any longer. "We are here to see your Alpha. On official Godmother business." "Ooh, fancy