ALLISON KEELER "I'm gonna need you to sit still and shut your mouth!" Gamma Adrian pointed to the high stool in the middle of the darkly lit room. He didn't seem too gruff and his tones weren't harsh so I obeyed him. It was a relief when he didn't bring up Mr. Smith all the time he had me sprayed with some liquid which had this sweet musky scent. I was unsure why they would spray me with the sweet smelling liquid but I chose to remain silent, counting the stripes from the whip on my arm and legs. "What is going on, I want to see a nurse." I demanded. He acted like he didn't hear me. He remained silent until the spraying was over. His phone buzzed for the hundredth time and he answered. "I'm with the girl." He paused, listened, and shrugged, "Rogues?" His eyes considered me shortly before he moved away from me so I didn't get to eavesdrop. After a while, he returned. "Go wash off," he commanded. "It doesn't matter, I will still get punished." I remained right where
ALLISON KEELER "You haven't written anything," Gamma Adrian sounded paranoid as he returned from freshening up to meet the sheets still blank. His face was white from the shower and his blond hair was brushed nicely. I just couldn't look away from him. "I already told you I know nothing about Colton. That's the truth." I spoke quietly so as not to rile the handsome Gamma up. He glanced at the questionnaire and then to my face again, "The first sheet has to do with you. He growled. "Well I don't know what to answer there," I shrugged. "You fucking don't know your name, age, wolf's name color and weaknesses?" His hardened tone raised with irritation. "Oh!" I gazed blankly at the sheets again. I swiped my sweaty palms on my outfit as I picked the pen up, I went over to scribble something down but what and where? Adrian didn't have enough patience to spare, he slammed his hand on the stool, this quickened my nerves and made me incredibly scared. "I'm dyslexic." I confes
ALLISON KEELER "Can you feel that?" Adrian asked as he poured some more ointment into the palm of my hands. Adrian was running a test to determine if I had a wolf. He didn't fail to let me know the council of elders were curious to know. But why? Was I such a threat to them? Did they imagine I was just playing the role of an Omega to fool the entire pack only to bring down the Pack when they least expected? "Can you?" He raised his bushy brow at me. I listened, paying close attention to my body, when I felt nothing odd I shook my head. He brought out a silicone rod from the box before him in the little room we were in. He placed this silicone rod lightly on my temple, his eyes not leaving my face, his left hand placed gently against my jaw. "What can you feel?" He asked. "Your touch." It was the only thing my body reacted to. The silicone rod had no effects on me but being alone in this little room with Adrian this close to me, his breath fanning my face stirred
ALPHA COLTON Ron placed my coffee on my desk, he didn't look his usual self. His eyes were sullen and his face grim. I never meddled in his private affairs, anything other than work was best discussed outside the office premises if ever he cared to share and Ron was never the type to wear his emotions on his sleeves. The one reason why he fitted perfectly into my executive assistant position. "There's a response from Hornsgate. They accepted our invitation." He announced with an inscrutable tone. "With their plus ones?" I looked away from his face at the computer on my desk. "Yes, my Alpha!" He bowed slightly. "Great. I will need you to have an apartment in the mansion prepared for their stay. An apartment with room enough to contain everyone." "But the hotels are reserved exclusively for the dignitaries..." "I want Grimsby close. I need him as close as possible." I took the phone to my ear, "Grimsby's attending the festival... I'm in my office." I hung up and in no tim
ALPHA COLTON Shirley sauntered into the conference room. She looked confident, she looked beautiful. I averted my gaze from her beautiful face to Karl who was fighting to train his gaze on the coffee Ron was serving him—anything to keep his gaze from wandering to her. Karl wore a cast around his left arm which was signed by a few people, everyone close to him but me.Shirley sat in a seat Ron held out for her, her thick lashes fluttered at me before a smile twitched on her lips. Ron had scheduled the meeting and had pushed it back three days from the day the elders had initially visited. I had requested Shirley's presence at the meeting. Here she was looking as beautiful as ever. Sir Ferren spoke on behalf of the elders sent out to represent the rest of the council. His speech was thick with insinuation, this didn't seem to faze Shirley. "All I said is that I can't have my baby outside the walls of a long-term commitment with your Alpha." She brushed back a swathe of her blonde
ALPHA COLTON"You've changed. Big time." Shirley muttered when she got to my table at the restaurant where I had lunch out with Vinny later that noon. "Shirley, please give it a break, damn!" I released a breath. This was exhausting. Having her nag me about our baby was draining. "No!" She pulled out a seat and dropped on it. A waiter darted forward to take her order. "I'll have the chicken Caesar salad with no croutons.""Why are you here?" I asked when the waiter had disappeared to bring her order alongside Vinny and mine. "I need a little cash to get some things done." She flashed me her sensuous smile. I couldn't help but get lost in her bright stare. "How much do you need?"She delved into her purse and retrieved a nicely written list. For the first time, it was short. She dropped it before me with another radiant smile on her lips. My eyes skimmed through the list."You're buying a house?" My confused gaze left the list to her face. "You don't imagine I'll be having my
ALPHA COLTON Haedon returned from the inner chambers of his sacred temple where he had gone in to complete several rituals for the forthcoming moon festival. "Like the eagles, so shall your strength be my Alpha," He blessed and took a seat facing us. His attention was directly on me, moments like this were the most suspenseful moments of my life. "I know why you're here," He looked away to the crystals in his hands, "As clear as these crystals, you're on a thorny path. Our Goddess has turned her back on you and your territories." "That can't be," Karl murmured with a chuckle. It wasn't funny. "I don't get why." Vinny sounded bothered. I knew why. "It doesn't matter." I tried to maintain a detached and clinical composure. "It is clear in these visions, that the strongest shall be swallowed up by the weakest territories and strength shall spring up from the weakest Lycan territories because she pleases the goddess." "Still doesn't explain why the goddess chose to for
ALLISON KEELER The Pack nurse checked me and gave me some drugs and supplements. For the first time since I was declared pregnant by Glomé, I could see the bump starting to grow. A smile creased my face. "You look happy." The nurse returned my smile and handed me my card. I placed it in the little bag which held my drugs and other supplements. "Of course I am happy." I waved at the nurse and headed back to my room. The only place where I felt at peace. I stripped and stood before the mirror, the bruises and the ugly marks on my skin were fading. It was a good thing. I had a shower, got into my uniform, and headed out for lunch. "Phoebe's here," Evelyn whispered as she linked our arms. "So?" "You've forgiven her?" "I have nothing against her. We have different lives, we chose our paths."I sat on the wooden seats where a few other girls joined us as we awaited lunch. "Allison?" Payton approached our table with flushed cheeks, leaning into me she whispered, "Gamma Adrian is
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