ALLISON KEELER "So I won't have to scrub the floor and do laundry anymore?"Hope resonated in my tone as I considered Matt in the beautiful garden, he had taken me on a tour around the mansion. "There's not quite a lot of things to be done here," his smiles helped me relax, "I'll show you around the pack at every chance we get. It's lovely here and I'm glad to be back.""Sounds like CaeHills is a better place to be, well, except your boss shows up.""Don't get her upset then you're good." He shrugged clinically. "I feel like just being around upsets the hell out of her.""She vents on people a whole lot but you're going to be good." He handed the sunflower he had plucked from the bush of beautiful sunflowers. This brought out a smile from me. Matt was so kind to me. "Is the Alpha of this Pack aware of this arrangement? I don't want him to think I'm a trespasser.""Flynn's not the Alpha but I guess he's quite aware, you don't have to be afraid. I'm here."I sniggered at how he tho
ALLISON KEELER "Have you ever for once imagined Alpha Colton would choose you over Shirley?" Faye asked with humor plain on her face and tone. The mockery glimmering in her eyes stung pretty badly. "I don't care who Colton picks, it's not some match. All I want is to be happy with my mate," I replied as honestly as possible. "That's cute. But we don't get to have what we want." She placed the teacup back on the white saucer and went back to her phone. I stood watching her on the terrace hoping she would dismiss me but she looked away from her phone, planting her gaze on me again. "You've no idea how disappointed I was when I realized you're Colton's mate. All my dreams of bonding with Shirley Hilton came crashing down." She also had no idea how disappointed I was in Colton when Grimsby took me away. "But the goddess has found a way to make that dream come true for me and you're not going to stand in the way the second time, are you?" She waited until I shook my head before
ALPHA COLTON Having Grimsby Evans back in my pack in such a short time was something I never thought would happen but it did. He was amongst the first set of pack rulers to arrive in my territory for the festival. I had him under strict surveillance. He was being watched, tracked, and hacked. I needed all the information I could gather that could give me a hint on how to find Allison just in case he wasn't so keen to break this deal over the fat s of money I set aside as a bribe. Grimsby and his Luna and other Commanders looked more than thrilled to be here in my mansion. I needed them close. "It's such a shame there's no Luna to back you up on a special occasion as Slitaé." Haedon handed me a brochure with a croaked chuckle. Haedon moved from his temple where I sat on a mat on the floor with my limbs folded and my gaze now on the voluminous book in my hand. "You are going to read and know each line by heart. Learn its truth and it shall guide you." He added. "I appreci
ALPHA COLTONMy gaze remained outside the windshield, my mind traveled as I drove through the bustling streets. There were Slitaé banners and posters raised in every corner of the streets, balloons and gimmicks, clowns and music suggested there was merriment thick in the air. "Now Slitaé is going to be an actual festival to honor my coronation as their Luna." Shirley sounded delighted in the front seat of my car. I glanced her way the second time since we left the mansion, she was engrossed in her phone, and her boundless joy to be married to me radiated on her face. "It's going to hit everyone as hard as a rock out of the blue." She glanced my way before adding, "That runt can rot in Hornsgate!"I stepped on the brake pedal as though to gain control of my heart from how hard Shirley's words hit me. Allison rot in Hornsgate?A car disrupted my thoughts as it slammed into mine from my recklessness. The driver honked and spat out a curse at how terrible I was behind the wheels cau
SHIRLEY HILTON Colton glanced at his wristwatch and muttered a curse. He was running out of time. He was running out of patience. "You know what today is. You know I have important people in my Pack." He willed the anger out of my tone just to not upset me.It was how much he cared about my mental health. I stood speechless before him. He let out a breath and moved towards the main entrance of the council building. The security guard escorted me right after him. My heartbeat accelerated, and fear descended on me making me feel as scared as a skittish fawn caught in the garden when the waiting elders gazed my way. This was all too much to bear. Two months wasn't enough time to pull off this lie. I had everything to lose including my life. Taking the oath meant signing up for my untimely death. I could face the greatest shame of my life when my baby was born. It wasn't worth the lie. After all, Jace had a plan. Making up my mind, I gently tugged his arm behind and he glanced a
ALPHA COLTON The Pack's exclusive banquet hall was in its glory as I stepped in that evening. Nothing mattered to me more than the joy on the faces of the nobles and the Pack Commanders I had invited over for the first banquet. King Baldwin was missing at the head of the table, I could understand. His health was going downhill as the data went by so I didn't expect him to join the celebration. I took the seat at the head of the long and endless-seeming table. My eyes scanned the merry faces of everyone. It brought joy to my heart. It was always a moment of delight. "I'm quite honored to be here." Grimsby beamed from where he sat a few seats away from me. He needed my attention and now he had it. My gaze moved from his broadened face to his lovely Luna and his commanders. "It's always a pleasure." I nodded his way. I could spot Melissa and her girls at the far end of the room alongside other dignitaries. My eyes never wandered away from Grimsby all through the dinner. M
ALPHA COLTON We lost the smell that suggested there was a witch in my Pack after a while of searching, however, the search wasn't over. Not yet. "I'm not giving this up." I glanced at Karl who looked too worn out to want to continue wandering the forest until this foul smell grazed our nostrils again. "We've tucked our senses out and can't find anything, I think we should let the witch hunters take over from here." He was out of breath from trying to match my pace. "Sounds like a loser thing to do. You can retire if you're too drained for this task." My eyes roamed the thicket before me and my mind on how to cover more ground. "You aren't going to get scared of being here all by yourself?" He quipped. I didn't buy his joke, I was too occupied with thoughts to want to consider his jests. The lives of these Pack members and the visitors in my territory rested heavily on my shoulders. I couldn't risk the safety of the pack, especially now I was vastly aware an enemy had so
SHIRLEY HILTONWith the right shapewear, I snatched my waist and appeared flat in the tummy area, one could barely tell I was pregnant. I couldn't let gossip fly. I was no longer with Colton. I couldn't be in the pathetic category, not during the festival. Not appearing at the fountain that morning by Colton's side was only going to stir up reactions. "Can I at least remain by your side as you stir the sacred fountain?" I texted him and waited patiently in the backseat of my car for a reply. He left me on read. Perfect.I waited by the fountain in a wonderful white dress that flowed to my ankle but snatched my upper body. I dressed to fit the Luna position, I had a statement to make.Colton loved it better when I left little to the imagination, he was never going to look away from me, not when I was rocking his favorite look of me. A rat was feeding me all I needed to know about his confidential involvements. He informed me Colton had a meeting that morning with Hornsgate commande
ALLISON KEELER"What's going on?"I asked Alan after it took Dane forever to spill whatever he had in his guts. "We just received an email from the Western territories of the kingdom." Dane went ahead with a tone that sounded more husky than businesslike. "There's bound to be a war."A war? My face conveyed my shock. War was never a good thing especially when my territory was starting to thrive and recoup from bad governance."Our territory is safe." Alan must've caught the dismay on my face so he chipped in. "We're sealed by magic, it would be hard for the Outlanders to strike.""So why then is everyone acting this way?""The westerners solicit our amalgamation." Dane dragged out the words as though it was supposed to affect me. It did.The Western territories revolved mainly around Colton's territories. His territories were the majority. If we amalgamated our territories that meant going for those meetings, running into Colton, and risking the big discovery of the child we had to
ALLISON KEELER "There's a notice from the border," Alan dropped the folders in his hands on my desk, "It's a good thing we were on guard last night.""We would have been swept last night if we didn't take security measures?" I asked to be certain I understood him. "Here's your speech for this noon." Luca dropped a file on my desk. Smiling, Luca took a photo of me on my executive desk and smiled broadly into his phone. "Hmm, look how good you you look!""Delete that!" I growled at him stretching out to snatch the phone from his hand."You will need some executive photos," he held the phone out so I could see the photo. A smile curled on my lips. I looked so good. "Delete that," I said regardless. "We will have more patrol teams on the borders and send spies and trackers to see what they can gather." Alan went back to business. "You will address the entire Pack today by noon."I already knew that. Thoughts of standing before the entire Pack kicked in my anxiety. "Your executive a
ALLISON KEELER"Congratulations!"Evelyn gushed as I descended the stairs the night of the full moon. The silver dress I wore was perfect as the glow of the moon shone on it, and my hair and makeup looked extremely perfect. This was one of the things that kept me smiling all through. "So we get to leave this hole?" Darlene snorted. "I love this place." I did. The size didn't matter to me, all that did was have everyone together. Sir Garfield, although placed in a facility to help him recover quickly, was now an integral part of my life. A bigger mansion was no doubt going to fit everyone but it wasn't what I fancied at that time of my life. The ritual that night was a rare lucid moment. Without a trace of doubt in my heart, I picked Alan as my Beta. He knew so much about the pack and I was unsure why I picked Dane as my Gamma. This caused a stir in my circle but none of them seemed to own up to their thoughts. Was it because of the crown on my head now?"I don't know what's goi
Alpha Colton"Bullshit," I spat with vengeful eyes on Grimsby. All he said to me made no sense at all. "Where the hell is she?""You're not here for war now are you?" Grimsby sounded nervous but he kept a feigned composure. "You give me the girl and we're all good." I tried not to let my fury consume me. "She's not here." Grimsby huffed.My face dissolved into a confused frown. What did he mean she wasn't here?He met my inquisitive eyes and chose to explain things."Allison is safe. Trust me but I'm not the only northern ruler bonded to this deal, we don't want to turn this into some bloodbath." His tone was gravely low, "Let's talk at my office."Vinny released a breath glancing my way. I completely understood the dangers of striking out at the moment. The risk to these innocent pack members' lives was great and even worse, the weaker Western territories were going to feel the heat. The northerners were only going to strike brutally as revenge. This didn't feel right. "It's jus
ALPHA COLTON "I can't sense her," I informed Vinny the second we made it through Hornsgate borders. "You don't expect her scent to waft up your nostrils if she's a million miles away from here." He replied, his gaze on the map on his phone. "Hornsgate isn't that big a place." I inwardly scorned it. I had been to bigger territories, this was absolutely not one of them. "Grimsby will realize we're in his territory in no time." Vinny glanced from his phone. "I want him to as soon as possible. I just can't wait to end this." I hissed and drummed the steering wheel as the car zoomed through the highway. The thoughts of the northerners pooling in on us were now so overwhelming that I gestured to Vinny to get the anti-wolfsbane and anti-silver spray that Haedon had given me. If anything, this barbaric Pac was only going to try to use these two lethal forces on us. I knew just that. From a distance, three trucks zoomed up behind us. There was every possibility they were Gri
ALLISON KEELER"Would you abandon your territory to become Colton's Luna if he wanted you?"Dane typed a few things on his computer making a few edits to the speech Luca had just sent him. My coronation speech."My people are now my priority. So, no." I was unsure why he brought this up. Dane rarely talked to me and lately, he was all bent on asking about Colton. Did he fancy the ruthless ruler as well?He stretched and glanced at his wristwatch before he put his computer away. "I want to grab dinner," he slammed the computer and got to his feet grabbing his keys, "Coming?"Me?I thought he didn't like having me around but what did it hurt? I nodded and got to my feet. I left Sir Garfield's home office to first check on Fihl before I followed Dane out towards his Rover. "I want to see the pack, I want to meet with and get to know my people," I said in the front seat of his car. "You will, in a few more days." He glanced at me and reached out to grab the little fancy gift bag stre
ALLISON KEELER Matt was eerily silent all through the meeting with the pack elders. Alan and Chase did most of the talking. The elders swore their fealty and were more than willing to back me up on my rulership as the Luna of the pack. The day for the official crowning was the next full moon which was in just six days. I was happy. My joy was radiant but Matt's silence caught me even as we were all gathered for dinner he didn't say a word. All he did was cast me weird gazes and toy with his salmon. Something was bothering him and he denied it each time I asked. I offered to help Evelyn clear the table and stack the dishwasher. She was teasing me all over again about Grimsby's felicitations. I rolled my eyes and remained silent. "A diamond ring?" She gasped, "That's an awfully expensive one." She was talking about the ring Grimsby had sent my way amongst other gifts and items which were now in Darlene's possession. I didn't want anything from Grimsby. But what if it was
ALPHA COLTON "This is extremely impulsive," Vinny breathed, "We don't act on impulse." "If Grimsby wants to make this into a war then so be it." "This can cause a lot of damage, this can lead to regret." "I'm already wallowing in both." I hissed, "There's nothing left to lose." "Your territories?" I flail my hand in the air in an attempt to ease the fury inside of me. "I've already made up my mind. Do what needs to be done around here, I'll be back in a few days." "I'd be doomed if I let you off on your own." He met the fury in my eyes and quickly added, "You're a strong Alpha no doubt but the Northerners..." "I want the Pack matters that need my attention to be instantly sorted out, I want you to..." "Fuck it, Colton, I'm coming with you." "You're not leaving my territory unguarded, you're the Gamma of this pack..." "Karl will take care of what needs to be taken care of. We'll find a wolf to track her scent and I..." I hoisted the backpack from the coffee table and hea
ALPHA COLTON "Not that frown again," Shirley clucked her tongue with a broadening smile on her face. "What do you want?" I asked my face, suggesting I was not pleased to have her meddle in my part of the property. I had been unnecessarily liberal when I chose to offer Jace a part of my mansion to live in. Now I had to deal with it. "I miss you." She pursed her lips reaching out to touch my face. I acted instantly to prevent her from touching me. Whatever we had ended a while ago. She was now with my stepbrother. There had to be some boundaries. A lot was going on with me and having to pick a fight over a girl with Jace became a luxury I couldn't afford. "From now on you will speak discreetly. There's nothing between us anymore so I expect a more discreet relationship." The smile on her face faded, and a snort appeared on her face. "There's no gain being with you." She hissed, "Jace had a lot more to offer. I'm happy and content with my small family." "I'm glad to hear t