EMMA It had been an entire day since I woke up here at Blood Moon. Everything had been pressing down on me. I did not know which way was up, and I felt drained. My night consisted of a brand-new round of nightmares. The new stars of it were Xander and Ethan. Ethan had been giving me time to process everything, but I was not even sure how to do that. I spent so many years pushing the unpleasant experiences to the back of my mind. Brushing off emotions and becoming numb to the reality around me was the only way to survive and not give in. Papa taught me the strength of one’s character could help them survive even the most hellish of situations. I often wondered if he was just preparing me for life or preparing me for the future I was going to have. In a better world, Ezekiel never attacked our pack. Papa never died. I would become the Alpha heir once Papa was inducted, and I would have taken over as Alpha once he stepped down. Some people would have fought it because I was a she-wolf
EMMA I reached out to Ethan once we got closer to the packhouse. He forced me to shop, so he could help carry the damn bags. Emma – “Hey, I bought Rome on your credit card. We’re five minutes out. Can you help get the bags?” Ethan – “Only if you brought me gelato.” Emma – “Fresh out of gelato. How about I make you some pie?” Ethan – “SEE YOU IN FIVE” “Ethan will help us get everything in,” I said, putting my phone back in my purse. Diana smiled, pulling onto the drive that led to the packhouse. “I think you’re really good for him even if it is just as a friend. Ethan has always been a little shit who needed someone that could put him in his place. Be patient with Xander. Being Alpha hardened him, but I think you may be able to break through that.” I just nodded without responding. Ethan was a great guy, and I was thankful for his friendship. Was it possible that Diana was right about Xander? That was an area that I had no knowledge in. I hoped she was because I could not shake
EMMA “There we go. There will be training manuals in there as well. I have a feeling that the reading won’t bother you. You’re a nerd – I mean perfectionist – after all. Although, I’m always available if you need help or want to run something by me. Now, pick a color for your personal devices.” He pulled up the list of possible colors, and I chose teal since silver was out-of-stock. Silver was my favorite color after all. And, no, it had nothing to do with the silver rings around my irises. Well, maybe it did. I was born with the silver rings. I never learned what caused it, but I figured I needed to embrace what made me different or shy away from it my entire life. It was Papa who encouraged that type of thinking. Therefore, I was a sucker for all things silver. “It’ll take about forty-eight hours to get the devices, but it includes a laptop, tablet, phone, and a few other pieces of equipment that have been encoded with many security protocols. The security team sometimes has to h
XANDER “Hey, you got a moment?” Ethan asked nervously as he came into my office. Ethan did not do nervous, so I immediately felt uneasy. I motioned for him to come in and sit down. He looked out towards both sides of the hallway before shutting the door behind him. My eyes followed his movements, not sure why he was acting so skittish. Blood was smeared on his bottom lip from a cut that just healed. He always had a nasty habit of biting his bottom lip when he was stressed out. “Are you here to murder me and take over the Alpha title? You can have all of it without the murder,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. Ethan chuckled, but it sounded hollow and off. His body was tensed, as if being weighted down. And quite honestly he looked like shit. Ethan dealt with shit differently than I did. I withdrew and closed my emotions off to get by, but he embraced his. Two opposites but exactly what balanced us together. For him to act this way meant that something happened. “Seriously, t
EMMA Coffee was just as important to my well-being as air was. The coffee pot beeped, and I sighed happily. Thank heavens that it was done. I eagerly filled up my cup and added just a bit of cream before taking a long sip. The delicious caffeine was exactly what I needed this morning. I had a shit night for sleeping. There were maybe three hours of actual sleep if I was being generous. Then my mind decided to kick into overdrive, ensuring that I got no more sleep. It was a relief to get all of that off my chest with Ethan yesterday. But it also made me think about things that I had pushed away for so long. Granted, now I realized that refusing to deal with all the shit I went through was the wrong move. I never worked through it all, so I would have to find to deal with it and finally let go of the pain. I was worried about what would happen now that those memories were fresh again. Eight years of memories was a lot to work through, and I was worried that they would break me in hal
EMMA I was pulled from sleep with a sharp knock on my door. “Go away,” I grumbled. I buried my head underneath my pillow. It was too early to deal with anyone just yet, but apparently the idiot on the other side of the door failed to get the memo. The knocking continued until I jumped out of bed and flung the door open. “What do you want, Ethan?” I asked, saying every word with a distinct pause. I was running on about an hour of sleep. I just wanted to pass back out, but he was keeping me from doing that. Sleep was something that I never had have in spades, so I coveted every moment of it that I actually got. He was a monster for trying to split up me and sleep. Ethan leaned against the doorframe, dressed in a pair of black shorts and grey tank top. It showed off his sculpted muscles and tattoos. His hair was styled perfectly as always. Both Xander and him had the sides shaved and top longer, but Ethan styled his hair while Xander looked like he just rolled with it. I had yet to
EMMA I thought about what he said. I knew I liked Xander. Maybe he was just having as much conflict with this as I was. I dared another look at him. He looked up and smirked right at me. I could not help but return it. Perhaps Diana, Sylvie, and Ethan were right all along. Although, I would never tell Ethan that or else his head would grow even further. Ethan chuckled, obviously catching the smirk war. “Now, go join that group,” he pointed to a group of six people. All eyes were on me when I approached the group. I kept myself from running back to the packhouse, so that was a plus. Little steps. It would take time to branch out from the habits formed at Blacktree. I needed to get used to overcoming my aversion to being near people and interacting with them. A tall redhead smiled and bounced up to me. They all looked around my age, so I wondered what their fighting style was like. “Hey, I’m Freya. You’re new right?” Her voice was very upbeat and peppy, which was like how Marsey no
XANDER I headed out to the training grounds a bit early to get things going. This tournament was a great idea proposed by the squad. It would shake things up, and I was eager to see how well everyone’s hard work was paying off. People fought harder when they had something to fight for. Offering up a coveted patrol position was enough to attract seventy-three contestants. Not a bad turnout. This also meant these people took their training seriously. Our training protocols were the best of any pack we had ever met. No, that was not me being a smug Alpha or anything. Other packs often sought us out for training their warriors. There were various packs that we sent our best warriors to keep their warriors on their toes, implement new training protocols, and make sure their new recruits had every advantage for success. There was bound to be a lot of potential mixed in with horrors of inadequacy in our own pack during this tournament, but all in all it was still a good idea. Today was a
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