EMMA My eyes scanned the crowd. They were all shaken by my wolf. Rightfully so since my wolf-form was completely badass. Far larger than any wolves I had seen which included Alphas. Words also came from my wolf’s mouth. All new things. The crowd was now beginning to understand how fucked they truly were. My eyes bore into Marsey’s. Her fear was nearly palpable, and I loved how the tables had turned. “I would like every single one of this pack to know this one simple fact. You failed to break me. I allowed these scars to be carved into my flesh, my bones to be broken, and nine years of utter torment to occur to protect you all. Ezekiel was killing people to keep me in line. No matter how low I thought of you, I knew that Papa, the one who helped build such a supporting and loving pack, cared for each of his pack members. He instilled that pride inside of me. I refused to let others die because of Ezekiel’s fucking obsession. So, I took the bruises and breaks, the taunts, the wolfsban
EMMA “Damien, can I talk to you for a moment please?” I asked and nodded for him to join me in the kitchen of the packhouse. Damien joined me and looked at me shyly. I could tell that he was still ashamed of what Ezekiel had done. Ezekiel was a real piece of shit. He held nothing back with his torture techniques of me. I could not even begin to imagine what he did to others. I hoped that within time Damien would be able to learn to let go and place the blame where it truly belonged which was not on him. “How are you doing? I don’t want to hear that you’re fine, because we both know it will take time for you to get to that point.” I raided Xander’s whiskey stash and slid the glass over to him. He knocked it back in one go without flinching. That was impressive given it was the first time drinking in his new body. “I’m pissed off and angry and ashamed of what Ezekiel did. I had to witness every person he tortured and all the lives he took. I also had to witness everything that he d
EMMA “Emma, my lovely,” Diana chirped as she and Sylvie made their way down the hallway. I had Ethan bring them in the backway so that they did not get swept up in the hecticness going on out front before I had a chance to talk to them about all of this. It would be a lot for them to understand, and I wanted to talk with them privately. They were important to all of us. They both looked absolutely gorgeous as always. They had a natural beauty about them that could not compare. I noticed the faint dark circles under Sylvie’s eyes like she had not slept well. I knew it had to do with Devon, so I could only hope that the truth would somehow help her move on and heal. She still had a mate out there somewhere, and I would do everything in my power to help her find him or her. “Girls, it’s great to see you,” I said, smiling widely. I had truly missed them. They wormed their way behind all my defenses within the first ten minutes of meeting them. We embraced one another, and I ushered t
KAI “Dude. Chill. You look fine,” I said to a pacing Ethan. “Fine? This is my first formal impression for her. She’s going to absolutely amazing. And I just look fine,” he whined. Ethan went back over to the mirror and straightened his already straight tie and his three-piece suit. This whiny Beta was one we had never seen before. Xander and I exchanged looks of pure exasperation. I walked over to where Brian was just finished with getting his hair fixed by a tall guy with cat eyes and pointy-tipped ears. It was really cool to see the diversity of Aedrul. We had not gotten a chance to see it all yet, but we would one day very soon. I knew that Doll was chomping at the bit to visit it but had been focusing on all the other shit first. We had a few things on our plates lately. I knelt down in front of Brian and placed my hands on his shoulders. “Please save us from the misery that is Ethan. He’s freaking out about making a good impression on your mom. He’s whining like a she-wolf w
XANDER Emma was straight from a dream. She had always been extremely gorgeous, but tonight she radiated a brilliant light from within herself. Rose blossomed across her cheeks as she stood up from the car and took in our appearances. That blush would always be the death of us. Without even coordinating, we both brought her hands to our lips. Her heartbeat picked up, causing us both to smile. It was a great truth to know that we still affected her like that despite how much life threw at us. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I knew that she would always make my heart stop just from a single smile – just as she had done since that first minute at Olly’s. “There are no words to describe how you look tonight, love.” “I’m glad that you kept the dress a secret because seeing it now… damn, doll.” She chuckled softly but stopped as she fully drank in our outfits. Her lips parted slightly, but I could tell that she had stopped breathing. Her eyes roamed over our faces, and it looked like she was
EMMA Well, the announcement went a lot better than I thought it would. I originally dreaded how the pack would react to it all. It was a lot of unbelievable information being thrown at them. However, they took it in stride just like my mates thought they would. There was still about an hour before the ceremony, so I was not exactly sure where we were headed, but my mates said they had something important to show me. We pulled up in front of a cottage, but they still had not told me what we were doing here. I looked at them both curiously, yet they just had smirks plastered on their incredibly handsome faces. “So, you brought me to a cottage in the woods to off me?” I asked. Xander turned to me and placed a finger over my lips. “I enjoy having my cock sucked by this pretty little mouth. If I off you, then all I have is Kai, and we’re both extremely straight. We share your pussy, ass, and mouth, but that is the extent of our sharing-is-caring attitude.” I expelled a breath against
EMMA “Can one of you please do something to entertain them? Show them some cool magic or something while I deal with this?” I asked Q and Macario who were right there as we stepped off the back of the stage. Q gripped my shoulders and nodded his head. Macario did as well. Up the stage they went. I took a steadying breath because now I had to deal with dumb shit first before we could carry on with one of the most important ceremonies for our pack. There were going to be other people recognized that nobody but myself and Papa knew about. This better not take long. Xander and Kai followed me until we were in an open space. A crowd of people of at least thirty or forty came to a stand in front of me. I gave them all a moment to hopefully think about their words carefully because I could only handle a certain level of stupidity. “Mrs. Fairchild, I understand that you’re upset. Freya had indeed been leaking private information to the Blacktree pack. She’s been doing so for weeks now. It
EMMA “This first person has strength and bravery unlike anything I have ever witnessed before. I was in awe of him from the moment I met him. A training program will be opening up within this next year to begin training a younger division for the Royal Guard. He will be my right-hand in this program as well as all future training programs underneath this banner. I could not imagine anyone more worthy than him and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he will help make these programs prosperous. Please help me in welcoming Brian Stevenson!” We all let out a thundering round of applause. I turned and waited, knowing that he was at the back of the stage. I caught Nae’s teary eyes as she looked right at me. Ethan also had a sheen in his eyes as he hugged Nae. Brian’s head was held high as he took deliberate steps. He carried himself just like the warrior that he would become in no time. There was determination in his eyes as he smiled at me widely. I could tell that he was incredibly su
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