EMMA “How about we go exploring a bit? I would love to see the gardens again.” I asked my boys. They agreed, so we got up from the floor. I certainly felt better after talking to them. I knew that I could not do this without them because they were the only thing keeping me from having a nervous breakdown right about now. They always gave me clarity and strength regardless of the problem. They were the absolutely best mates I could have ever been paired with. They were my entire completion. This kingdom was new to us all, so I would love to explore it in its entirety one day. Perhaps Papa could give us a tour soon. It looked like something from a picture book, so it made me insanely curious. I never imagined seeing such sights, and I was eager to begin learning about the inhabitants. My love of learning would aid me so much here. All of us were equally amazed by it all. “Luce.” It popped up bright and happy. I loved this orb and had become quite fond of it already. “Hello, Princess
EMMA That was fifty steps above what not to say. My anger burst out of me as I lunged at him. My wolf-form shifted mid-air. The spike of fear in Kestian’s eyes was rightfully earned. He tried to mask it, but I knew him all too well. I knew every single tell and weakness he had. He knew none of mine though because I never wanted him to. I had always been the master of controlling my emotions and reactions. It was not Blacktree that taught it to me. It was my time as a Gaisreen. Part of training was learning to withstand torture of all kinds and degrees. I had also been tortured by the Nokaura more times than I ever wanted to think about. They had no qualms about fileting skin from someone’s body. As such, I became the master at this. Kestian was puppy chow or about to be. He was about to learn to keep his damn mouth shut. I warned him more than once. The only thing that ever got through his thick skull was pain. I would make him hurt so much right now that he would learn not to fuck
EMMA “Princess, you have for visitors,” Luce announced as we were headed for breakfast, before bouncing off for the dining room. The smirks on all our faces matched one another. “You don’t think Asshat came back, do you?” Kai asked, putting his arm over my shoulders. “I don’t know. He’s a bit of a sore loser, so he won’t let yesterday slide. However, Barachiel would’ve already punished him. He’ll stand by my threat, as well. If Kestian goes against my wishes, therefore giving me a reason to end Kestian’s life, Barachiel won’t stand in my way.” Gaisreen had specific customs and rules to abide by. Even though I was no longer in command, I had not officially stepped down yet. Therefore, I was still Kestian’s superior. He openly challenged me, lost, and was warned against specific actions in the future. It was my choice on the punishment if he did not comply. My threat was not empty either. I would end him if he pulled that shit again. “I already like this Barachiel,” Xander said, pla
KAI “How?” I asked urgently. This was the first time that we could not get the veins under control. Doll was thrashing on the floor, but I was holding her as best I could. She was in so much pain, and it broke my heart. Tears fell from her eyes which were opened and focused on me, and I knew she was using me to be her anchor. I felt useless because I could not help her. I could not protect her from this. Zane grabbed a silver tipped knife and sliced down Doll’s hand. He sliced mine as well before he clasped them together and uttering words that I did not understand. A faint white glow encased our clasped hands. Her cries lightened, and the veins began receding. Doll’s cries stopped, so I pulled her onto my lap. I stroked her hair and held her to me while her breathing stabilized. I hated that she had to deal with this. It was not fair at all. Her eyes were still focused on me, so I sent her as much positive emotions as I could, and I felt her muscles begin to relax. Little by litt
EMMA It broke Papa when I told him what Selene had done to our species. It was her fault that Kai never had his own body before. Papa felt like he failed everyone, but he did not. I refused to allow him to place the blame on himself for the horrible things that she had done. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and talking with Papa and Leonidas. They told us many tales of when they were younger and all the trouble they got into. Papa apparently had a wild side and would use his magic to pull pranks on his siblings. He was a child of five. He had two brothers and two sisters. He showed us memories of them when they were younger, and they all looked like him. You could obviously tell that they were related. It made me wonder about my…mother. Obviously I had to have one, but I was not sure that I was ready to take that leap into hearing what happened. She was not here, so either she hightailed it or died. I was not ready to know which one. I remembered Papa mentioning something
EMMA We walked down the hallway while I took in what Q said. He had a point, but it was not that simple in my mind. “That was different. I led those under my charge and protected them with my life. I haven’t really done anything for the Royal Guard.” Commander Frost scoffed at my words. I looked at him with an amused smile because not many people had been so normal with me from Aedrul. It was very welcomed. It made me feel normal again instead of this Royal Princess which had made me feel like a child playing dress up. “Apologies, Princess. We would gladly lay down our lives for you. It is the biggest honor to protect you. You have given our kingdom our freedom. Word has already gotten around about how well you treat your people. It is not different.” I had not really thought of it that way. I supposed it was no different than how a pack was set up. It also made me happy to know that I was making some positive impact. “My brother is right, Emma. You may be the King’s daughter,
EMMA I gave them a moment to take that in and digest it. It was a lot to wrap one’s head around. However, I knew that what was coming next would be even more difficult to understand. They looked around at each other before looking back at me with a complete loss of what to say. Trust me, I completely got that. I still had not fully wrapped my own head around it all. “That’s actually the easiest part to understand…Ethan can you by chance get some drinks? I think we could all use some.” Alcohol would make this so much easier because the rest would be painful for them to hear and understand once they realized who our enemy had been all along. I hated the truth for what it was. Selene was a sadistic bitch who never deserved people’s loyalty and devotion. Q chuckled and went to his bag in the corner bringing back two bottles of Casteano. My smile spread wide because that was my favorite drink while Xander, Kai, and Ethan preferred the Aedrul whiskey. “I am not Ethan, but I had a feelin
EMMA They both opened their mouths to speak, but a knock on the door stopped them. She always had impeccable timing. I was giddy as I opened it. Oh, how I longed for this reunion. We had been close from the moment we met when we were both ten. “Miss Luna,” Brian greeted happily. He ran into my open arms. I picked him up and swung him around before placing a kiss on his head. Now, I understood why I was so drawn to this boy. He was indeed important to us. He leaned into my ear and whispered, “Mom said that we’re going on a trip with you.” I nodded my head just as she came into the room. “I missed you,” we both said at the same time as we smooshed Brian between us in a hug. Instead of being grumpy, he just laughed. He really was a cool mini-dude. I took a moment to look at her, truly look at her. She looked amazing, and I could tell she was incredibly happy, eager, and a bit anxious to come clean to Ethan. I could not imagine what that must have been like for her. She lived for cen
EMMA I went into labor during the middle of the night, and it scared the living shit out of my mates. It was adorable while also being a little comical. Most soon-to-be fathers were like that. We had everything ready because we knew it was possible to go into labor a little earlier than expected because of having twins. Oddly enough, this pregnancy had no true complications. Most shifters who had multiples typically had complications. However, I was thankful that everything had gone as smoothly as possible. The sigils truly helped with the pain of the delivery because it would have been torture otherwise. I felt horrible that I did not already have these on hand for when Bellamy was born. “You have this, Emma. One more push and your baby boy will be here,” Tilly said. It had been ten very long hours of labor, but it would be worth it in the end. Kai was sitting behind me, lending me strength during this time. He had a hold of one leg while Xander had a hold of the other. The thre
EMMA It was still very surreal to think that I had been in Tylaphina’s realm for six entire months. However, I was able to bring back messages to Papa and Leonidas from our family. They were amazed as I told them about spending time with everyone. Their parents wanted me to tell them how incredibly proud they were of them both. They were proud of Papa for being the King that our people needed. They watched as he transitioned to the ruler of Aedrul and were thankful for how he protected everyone that he could from Selene until she could be taken care of permanently. They were proud of Leonidas for everything he did to help Papa rune Aedrul. His strength and perseverance made the entire Venscothi line puff out their chests in appreciation and admiration. My mates and I wasted no time in completing our bond in wolf form as well as completing the Goddess of Fate ceremony. It was very intimate and quite pleasurable. It was interesting to say the least because we watched as our souls mom
EMMA The pain from Asry’s shards slicing through me disappeared. Had I died? Nae did not say that was a possibility, but even she could not see every outcome. “No, you are not dead,” a melodic voice said. I opened my eyes and was in a beautiful field that was adorned with flowers of every color. My body was bathed in incredible warmth from the sun overhead. It was so peaceful, and my heart felt whole. It was a nice change from it feeling ripped apart, so there was that at least. There were wolves of all sizes sitting around, curiously watching me. It was a little creepy, but they looked happy. A beautiful woman stood between two of the larger wolves who looked as big as Krosthani. She was easily seven feet tall and had an ethereal glow around her. Her light brown hair cascaded in waves all the way to her waist, and her eyes were the most vibrant honey color which complemented her light bronze skin tone. “My name is Tylaphina, and it is because of you that I am free now. I was the
KAI “Why would you do that?” I screamed at her. There was only one explanation of how I was unharmed when she was not. She used Nata’s magic on me when I did not even realize it. She saved me instead of herself. I had never been more furious with her than I was in this moment. Macario and Tilly needed me to move away from her, but I could not do it. I could not let her go. “We have to let them take care of her. She needs them. Come on,” Xander said. I could hear the same anguish in his voice that I felt. I placed a kiss to her lips before setting her back on the ground and standing up. He pulled me a little further away to where Zane was. We watched as they assessed her. They spoke lowly to one another, but none of us could hear it. ‘She used Nata’s magic to protect me,’ I told Xander. I collapsed to the ground under the weight of it all. It was me that should be there and not her. She always took every fucking risk, putting everyone else before herself, when she should have pro
EMMA The success of tonight depended on my ability to play my part perfectly. Thankfully, that was one thing I excelled at no matter in which life or situation it was necessary. I steeled my shoulders and turned around slowly to see Asry’s smug face smirking at me as if he was the one in charge right now. As if he was the one who fooled me. Oh, how the mighty would fall. “Can’t say that I’m surprised that you’re here with mother bitch,” I said dismissively. “Ungrateful brat. Who do you think you are?” she hissed at me. I looked at Asry imploringly who just laughed and waved me on. He did not care about Lenora one damn bit. He probably was not wanting me to kill her, but I still would. This was something that I thought about extensively since we put this plan together. I needed to make him believe that I would consider being on his side. Then I would kill her so that she was out of our hair while also ensuring that his vessel was no more. This would solve one of the issues tonigh
EMMA Couples danced around the room, twirling, and dipping their partners. There was a string quartet playing on the balcony that oversaw the room. Acoustics amplified the music throughout the room as if it was right beside each of us. Despite the mission of the night, it was great to be in my Handsome’s arms once again. I loved sharing moments like this with my amazing mates. They were near and dear to my heart. No matter how much time we spent together in life, it would never be enough. Kai’s copper and silver eyes peered into mine while a handsome smirk pulled at his lip because he was thinking the same thing. We learned how to read one another better than any mindlink ever could. ‘Anything?’ I linked out. One of the sigils ensured that there was no evidence of a mindlink between any of us. That was the only way that we could pull this off. It also kept an open line of communication among everyone while in this room. It was a bit awkward right about now because there were many
EMMA The stress about tonight faded away the moment that my eyes locked onto my mates. I was never able to comprehend what I did right in life to have them willing to stand next to me no matter how crazy or bizarre the situation was. They were beside me every step of the way from that night at Olly’s until this moment as they pulled me between them. “You are absolutely stunning, love,” Xander said. He and Kai stalked around me to get the full view of my look. The matching low rumbles from their chests showed me that they certainly approved. “Doll…” He could not even finish his thought because his eyes flashed with an intense desire. “You get even more gorgeous every time my eyes look at you,” he said, caressing my cheek with his thumb. My body instantly flushed in response to his words. It was not certain that I would ever get used to everything they made me feel. I felt cherished, complete, immensely happy, and I felt loved most of all. All of those emotions flooded through my bo
EMMA We all ate a late breakfast together. It was not a joyous occasion, but we tried to make it as lighthearted as possible. The mission tonight was weighing heavily on everyone’s mind. It was not something that we discussed or alluded to, but it was the gigantic elephant in the room. I was really trying to keep my emotions under control because my mates would feel them and worry. We could not change what would happen tonight because we all knew the truth. Asry was too dangerous to let live. He would never stop coming for me or my family. We had to take him out of the equation to ensure our safety. I had a feeling in my gut that Nae’s vision of me being in a coma-like state was going to happen. This was the one thing I had to keep from my mates because they would call all of this off right here and now. They already felt guilty enough about me being in harms way, but there was nothing that we could do about it. I would just bury that thought as deeply as possible so that it did not
EMMA I woke up between my sleeping mates and smiled at them. They gave me the best ending to our night yesterday. That bath was perfect and incredibly relaxing. Today was going to be difficult on all of us but more so on them because they would be fighting against their instincts to protect me at all costs. Was I terrified to face Asry today? Absolutely. I would be a damned fool to feel giddy about facing an ultimate evil that wanted to enslave me as his Queen. However, that terror would solve absolutely nothing. For the time being, I would just shove that terror down as far as I could. Everyone needed to remain focused for today because our futures could finally begin once he was gone. A mischievous grin tipped my lips up as I looked between the two of them. Eenie…meenie… My gaze landed on Xander, so I carefully maneuvered myself until I was eyelevel with his glorious cock. I remembered the first time I saw it and how excited it made me. It still did to this day. I would never get