I woke the next morning with a small bundle of warmth tucked into my side. I released a sigh that had been trapped in my chest. Xander and Rhys were back. Three years of being on my own, down the drain. I had questions. Lots of them. And it was time to get some answers. I carefully slid out of the bed. Linnea made a grumbling sleepy noise. I still couldn't figure out how she was making it into my room at night. When she was a year old, Lilith had announced it was time for her to have her own room.But once she got to walking good, every morning I woke with her curled into my side. It shouldn't have been possible. We locked her door, we even barricaded it. No one wanted a toddler running around a hold in the middle of the night. And yet, here she was. I suspected she had one of the imps on her side. The little beasties loved Linnea, and treated her like she was their queen. It was nothing to find my darling daughter holding court in her pink palace playroom with an entire fleet of i
Sweat poured off me as my muscles ached in that delicious way that meant I would be too sore to move later. Etna held the mitts, her fire stoked to a pleasant warmth. I stepped forward, delivering a solid punch to the middle of one mitt, and the skin on my knuckles split open. Finally. It had taken nearly an hour and a half this time. When I first started training with Etna as a way to beat depression, my knuckles split in five minutes. I had grown soft. An imp scampered into the room. This was a new one. I thought I had been introduced to every imp in the compound. His obsidian skin gleamed in the low light of the training room, ivory horns jutting from his brow proudly. His manhood dangled between his legs. Yep, must be new and hadn't been told the rule of clothes. All imps were now required to cover their nethers. He jumped onto Etna, wrapping himself around her body possessively. She had told me once that she preferred imps because they didn't talk, and had a mean tongue game.
"How do you lose a whole flipping person Aeryck?!" My voice shook as the line crackled with static. Service was spotty in Lilith's villa. She wasn't much on modern conveniences like cell phones. She preferred a good old fashioned summoning. "It wasn't like she wasn't under guard, Godmother." Aeryck was troubled, I could hear it. Hell, I was troubled. Heather had been in a stasis for the last three years. Again I wondered how Lilith's deal had affected Xander and Rhys, had they remembered where Heather was? Guilt twisted my stomach. "I'm not Godmother yet, Aeryck.""May as well be. Liz has all but stopped her duties while training you. It's chaos out here in the Territories. We need our Godmother." I sighed, scrubbing my hands across my face. He wasn't wrong. I hadn't really known the sheer amount of work a Godmother did until I was training to put together the Accords for their happily ever after. The Grimm society kept tabs on running tales for me, but it was still overwhelming wi
The Sure Wood pack land was probably the most gorgeous expanse of forest I'd ever seen. Not that I really saw much. My eyes skimmed over the trees with the hanging Spanish moss, while my mind slowly rolled my conundrum around. I had no right to be jealous, but honestly, knowing that my rejected mates had been intimate with Tatiana…well it kind of chapped my nerves. "So, how is it the Alpha and Beta of Wild Hearth pack became intimately acquainted with Tatiana?" The question burst from me in a flurry of jealousy. Dammit. Xander shifted uncomfortably, shaking his head. "It's not a simple tale, Maddie. And frankly, not really any of your business. It ceased to be your business when you rejected us." The words stung. As they should. "I didn't want to reject you!" Cool the defensiveness, Maddie. "You kept making my decisions for me." I was petulant. Wasn't I supposed to sound more grown up than this? I was twenty-one now. Couldn't I be a little less childish? "And look where your deci
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
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
"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
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
"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