ALPHA GRIMSBY EVANS Karla disentangled her long limbs from mine as she slipped out from the warm and comfortable bed coverings. "Another meeting with the Darkmoon Pack Commanders? So much for the festivals." My eyes remained fixated on her perfectly sculpted body as she went for her deserted clothes on the floor. I fought the growing urge to pull her back to bed and make love to her all afternoon. But there was an important meeting with Colton in a few hours, a meeting I needed to be prepared for. Colton wanted his mate back. He wasn't the guy with perceptible emotions but I could see the desperation in his eyes. It was the utmost avenue I needed to exploit his weakness. If I could take advantage of this weakness, if I could get into his head then I could lay claims on his territories. If I could divert his wealth to my territories then I was said to become one of the wealthiest territories. His need to bring Allison back to his territory had hit me like a bolt from the
ALLISON KEELER I was eager to meet Matt. It had been about three weeks now since they returned from the Darkmoon Pack. A part of me knew he was unable to get the little oak box from Maeve, if he did, he would have given me a while ago. But I wanted to meet him because he was the only one I could talk freely to here. But it seemed he had returned to Hornsgate with Grimsby but how could he when Faye was his boss? Was he avoiding me? The latter seemed like the case. So much for promising to be around more often. I was heavily pregnant. It was my third month and I was certain I could give birth any day. The thought of having a baby felt so exhilarating, so frightening. I barely could move, I felt so heavy. My meals were brought up here which made me stay indoors, practically trapped in this room by the window all day. Finally, it was going to happen. I was going to have my baby. There was a knock on the door. I had people come around here only during mealtimes. Who could it
ALLISON KEELER "I think I'm having my baby!" I announced with my eyes searching Matt's eyes for an assurance I was going to be alright. Darlene, the girl who usually brings my meals, walked in further into the room and placed my lunch on the table. "I'll call the clinic to send in an ambulance. You're going to be fine!" Matt instantly took the amulet from my neck, slipping it in the pouch. I couldn't care about the amulet or why he was acting so sneaky, all I cared about was having my baby most healthily and safely. Darlene held my hand and remained by my side. "It's going to take forever before the ambulance gets here!" Darlene's panic was perceptible in her faltering tone. "Do you have any other options?" Matt sounded calm as though he had the situation under control. We didn't wait as long as I had imagined when I heard the ambulance. My water broke then I got to my feet. It really was happening. "Keep the box safe, please, it's all I have from my mother." I coun
ALLISON KEELERI was more than eager now to have my baby in my arms, the nurse was taking forever to bring him. This had me terribly scared. "Is everything alright with him?" Tears trickled down my face. "I saw him, looks healthy like a horse." Matt offered me an encouraging smile. "The most important thing now is that you're awake. I've watched you sleep for four days.""And Faye allowed that?""I resigned." He shrugged and smiled cheekily. I blinked rapidly at him. "I'm fine now, go back to your work!""I don't want to. My loyalty is now with you."I chuckled amusedly, "I thought for a second you were going to say your loyalty is with my son.""You and your son, that's where my loyalty lies.""We're not going to pay you, we don't have money." I lose interest in the conversation, "What is taking so long?""Want me to go check?" He got to his feet. And headed towards the door leaving me alone with my thoughts. If something has happened I never was going to forgive myself. I said
ALLISON KEELER Darlene was of great help to me, she assisted every time she could drop by. As an inexperienced mom, I went about taking care of my baby with maternal instincts. I had no one with experience to talk to, Darlene was equally as clueless as I was. I breastfed my son and rocked him in my arms singing sweet lullabies for him. My heart swelled each time he looked me in the eyes. There was a bond I believed nothing could break, a bond I was determined to strengthen for as long as I lived. The door flew open, startling not just me but my baby. Faye was by the door. Her face suggested she was not pleased to see my son. "Did I not say no to that thing in this mansion?" "He's my son. If I stay here then he'll stay. There's no one else to take care of him." I used the most soft tone I could so as not to rile her up. "You have options, he can put him up for adoption." She came closer to me, "You don't deserve that baby in your arms." "Yes I do, it's why the goddess
ALLISON KEELERIt started to rain the second I stepped out of the bathroom that evening. It was a premonition from the Goddess to remind everyone what that night was. Eclisir was what it was called. I heard the tale of the cursed moon, I knew it by heart. My eyes dropped on Fihl and he was kicking in his cot. My heart skipped the way it did every time I saw him. I got into comfortable nightwear and headed to feed him for the night. I made sure to pull the blinds and dropped on the seat with my son in my arms. The doorknob turned but the door didn't open, I had locked it. A loud bang at the door accompanied it. I gently placed my son in the cot and headed to the door. I opened it to see Faye by the door. What now?She stomped into the room. Her eyes searched until they landed on the cot with my fragile son in it. My heart thumped faster and my helplessness was plain in my eyes seeing the sly smile tugging the edges of her lips. "Did I not say no to that boy staying here?""Faye
ALLISON KEELER The forest was stone cold and every little noise was consumed by the thoughts and fear in my heart. I was afraid because I had no idea where they had taken my son or what they had done to him. I was beyond weak from the silver and drained from crying. This was the first time I was apart from my son since he was brought to me in the hospital, this was the first time I had been extremely hurt. At that moment, alone and frightened, my heart wished immensely that I was strong. For if I had possessed a strong wolf then my son wouldn't have been taken and these people wouldn't have treated me the way they did. I wished I possessed a strong wolf so no one ever hurt me or my baby anymore. But in the pit of my soul, I knew wishes never came true for if it did I would have been happy. I would have been with my son. I tried for the hundredth time that night to free myself from the silver chain but it wrought more damage on me than to free me. It weakened me every ti
ALLISON KEELERThere was a throbbing ache in my head as I stirred and turned in my sleep. It felt warm, it felt hard. My eyes flickered open and squinted at the sunlight. Instantly I sat up and darted my gaze painfully around to notice I was out here in the wild. My eyes dropped to the lark watching me from a few trees away. Then it hit me, the night before. My son. I didn't give the silver chain a second glance, I didn't remember how I got freed but all my heart was on was finding my son. I dust off the dirt on me ready to find him. It was strange how I could sniff his lovely soft scent. He smelt floral and I started towards the scent feeling more energetic than I ever felt in my entire life. I trailed the scent until I got to the back gate. I knocked lightly to alert the gate guard that I was out there. But no one answered nor did the gate go open and without wasting any more seconds I pushed open the gate. Strange. Strange how they left the gate unlocked but it was not of any
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