YENA
My first thought when I saw the news was: This can’t be happening.
I got an alert first on my phone. Then I ran downstairs and turned on the TV in the den, and sure enough, it was there on every channel: Adan had declared war against Nolan.
Evan appeared at my side and said something, but I didn’t hear him. I was deep inside my thoughts, searching my memories, trying to process what this all meant.
Adan, smooth talking and insidious, had tricked me once again into thinking he was an innocent bystander, when really he had still been plotting against my husband all this time.
My mind flipped through all our conversations over the past weeks. Adan must have had an ulterior motive for all the attention he’d been paying me. He’d been trying so hard to get back into my good graces.
Surely he had been using me. But for what?
Had I betrayed any information to him? Given him something he could use aga
YENA A wave of unexpected sadness crashed down over me. I certainly hadn’t been planning on telling Nolan that I wanted to go back to the palace. It was just what came out of my mouth in the moment. But even though it was something I said on an impulse, the way he responded still hurt. I offered to stay, and Nolan told me to go. That seemed like a pretty clear message. I felt rejected all over again. Of course, the way he put it, it did sound like Nolan had my best interest at heart. But I couldn’t help but feel that deep down, he simply did not want me back. Maybe my association with Adan was a betrayal that Nolan could not forgive. After all, I had specifically promised him I would not engage with his half-brother again after the last time Adan messed with our lives. Evan rapped lightly on my bedroom door, stirring me out of my reverie. I opened the door and found Lucy standing there, and Evan’s back retreating down the stairs already. “Lucy.” We traded sad smiles, and I pu
LUCY“Let’s get out of here for a while,” Yena said, standing. “Maybe Evan could take us to that boxing gym I told you about. Working out always helps me get out of my head when I’m feeling bad.”Lucy looked around at all the clothing and packaging that she’d come over to help Yena with. “But we have work to do. Tomorrow’s your last day and I promised I’d help you with all the business stuff.”“We’ll do it later.” Yena waved dismissively at the business supplies. “Lucy, there are bigger concerns in the world right now than whether someone gets a dress delivered on time. I mean, your ex-boyfriend just declared war on my ex-husband, for goodness’ sake.”Lucy laughed, then covered her mouth her hand to stifle it. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny. Just when you put it like that…”“It’s okay,” Yena replied, smiling. “Sitting here crying and worrying isn’t going to help anyone. Come on. Let’s go do something fun and try to forget about it all for a f
NOLAN“I assure you,” the prince said confidently, his already commanding voice amplified by a small microphone fixed to the podium, “this would-be usurper will not prevail. Adan has pledged to declare war on the humans should he rise to power. He wants to destroy not only their world, but our own as well, dragging werewolves back to darker times. I simply will not allow this to happen.”The crowd was silent, hanging on Nolan’s every word. He gripped the edges of the podium and gazed out at the sea of werewolves before him. It was a bright, still day, the air clear and sharp like Nolan’s mind. His body was pumping adrenaline nonstop, his mind in a state of deep focus. He hadn’t slept but wasn’t tired. He was on alert, but calm and collected. Standing at the top of the steps that led up to the House of Parliament, Nolan was delivering a formal response to Adan’s declaration of war. Gamma warriors and members of the prince’s staff flanked him closely on bot
YENAI don’t think I could have slept if I tried.It was the night before the big trip, and my mind was abuzz with excitement, anxiety, dreams, memories, just… everything. So I busied myself with work, trying to focus on something productive during the dark, quiet hours of the late night and early morning.I looked into how to get myself a business license in both countries, bookmarking the application pages. Filling them out would be time-consuming, a perfect activity for all the tedious downtime I had ahead of me on the plane.Then I started some new spreadsheets to track my financials. The handful of sales I’d made online so far – phew! I couldn’t believe the numbers I was looking at as I typed them into the columns, copying transaction info from my cash app. I enjoyed crunching the numbers more than I expected to, finding it oddly satisfying to obsess over calculating margins and creating budgets for new projects.I was overdue for co
NOLANIt was another sleepless night working with his team, and though Nolan felt mentally alert, he found it impossible to remain seated or even to stand still. He wound up pacing the length of his office tirelessly for hours as they talked, strategized, debated, and gave and received updates to and from others outside the palace.The prince was busy making choices, confirming instructions, and delegating tasks. Sounding confident and commanding on every phone call. Being the calm voice of reason.But his wolf just wanted to run. The large muscles in Nolan’s thighs were screaming, tight with the pain of inactivity, and his joints felt stiff and aching, needing to be stretched and engaged.But even if he did have time to run, Nolan no longer had any means of leaving the palace privately anyway, having sealed off his secret passage to the forest. Since Adan had been the one to show him the passageway in the first place, Nolan couldn’t risk leaving
ADANEverything was falling right into place.Adan swirled the last of the whiskey in his glass, holding it up against the sunlight pouring in through the open windows, taking a moment to admire its beautiful amber hue. Then he downed it in a single gulp and slammed the empty glass down in front of his friend. “One more?” Kerr asked, mid-pour as he filled another glass for himself.They were in Kerr’s office at the back of his mansion estate, awaiting nine other guests expected to arrive shortly. It was a small but continuously growing group of powerful allies that Adan was satisfied, for now, to consider his inner circle.“No,” Adan said simply, already walking off in the other direction. His heart was beating fast. It had been hammering in his chest like this for days. The excitement of everything coming to fruition had him completely wired, high on adrenaline and anticipation.He started pacing the length of the enormous offi
YENAI was getting so sick of hearing from Lily.She would not shut up. It was all anxiety, all talk of Nolan and how I should go back to him.He doesn’t want me back, I told her. I offered to go back, and he told me no.The only way to argue against that logic was to repeat herself over and over like a lunatic.“He does love you,” she insisted stupidly. “Go to him!”Evan was quiet throughout the drive. I was grateful he was distracted with his own thoughts, because I needed all my focus to deal with Lily. And he didn’t seem to notice as I shook my head and rolled my eyes in frustration with her while we argued in my mind.Each lost in our own worlds, Evan and I were both a bit startled when the car parked alongside the curb at the airport and we realized it was time to get out already. Time to fly.Dense crowds, bright lights, and a symphony of noise swallowed us as soon as we set foot inside the airport. My stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. And that was even before peopl
ADAN The others had been sent away on their assignments. Only Adan and Kerr remained behind in the mansion after they concluded their meeting with the inner circle. Only the two of them knew precisely what was happening tonight, and where, and how. They had set up their control room with two leather armchairs facing a big wall-mounted TV, on which a video feed was streaming live. The camera was attached to their assassin’s glasses, and right now the feed showed nothing but an empty room. The assassin was as still and quiet as a living person could possibly be. The video held perfectly steady. The man’s breathing was slow and shallow. He had been lying in wait inside an air duct for nearly fifteen hours before the prince finally arrived at the orphanage, and had squeezed his body out of the chamber, inch by inch, only after the Gamma warriors had swept the building and determined it was all clear for Nolan’s arrival. Now the assassin wa
YENANolan took one look at me, as I stepped out into the surprisingly bright morning light, and placed a hand flat on his chest. His mouth dropped open, releasing a sigh.I watched as his keen eyes roved the entire length of my body, taking in every detail. From the clear glass peep-toe high heels on my feet, to the dress, the earrings, the hair, and… the finishing touch: my golden laurel leaf crown. The one Nolan gave me the first time we married, which marked me as his Luna.I had to stop in my tracks and catch my breath, myself. This, I realized as I took everything in, was the wedding of my dreams.To my surprise, our friend Cindy was standing under the very center of the vine-laced archway – she was clearly all set up to be the officiant for our ceremony. She grinned and winked at me when our eyes met, as if to say, Surprise! The King and Queen stood to one side of the aisle, eyes on me as I walked down with my parents, each with approving expressions and slight smiles. At Nola
Evan smiled broadly at the sight of me and Lucy in our dresses, our hair and makeup all done up. “Whoa,” he said, going wide-eyed. “You girls look incredible.”“Oh my Goddess, back at you!” I cried, making my brother blush. Evan was all cleaned up, had even gotten a haircut, and he was wearing a gorgeous, expensive tuxedo with a boutonniere in the lapel that matched my bouquet. “What is all this?”“Oh. Didn’t you know? I am the Best Man.” He grinned guiltily, cheesing with his teeth clenched.“Oh, that is so…” I felt tears pinging at my eyes, thinking about Nolan making the gesture of asking Evan to stand beside him at our ceremony. That must have been what they were discussing at Tina’s. “That’s sweet, Evan. I’m sure it means a lot to Nolan. Thank you.”He shrugged, starting to look awkward.“Be right back, guys,” Lucy said, heading for the fancy little half-bathroom that was directly across the hall from my studio.“Yena, I’m really happy for you,” Evan said to me quietly once she w
“Can I see it?” Nolan asked. His green eyes lit up with curious excitement.He and I were just finishing dinner together, and I’d told him all about my day with Lucy and how hard we’d worked to finish my wedding dress for tomorrow. I was absolutely thrilled with the end result, but my eyes were also tired from all the focused work and lack of breaks, and my fingers were stiff from so much sewing. It had been a while since I had done this much detail work in such a short period of time. “Hmm.” I thought over Nolan’s request. “Can you wait? I think it’ll be more fun if you see it on me tomorrow for the first time.”He nodded reluctantly. “I can wait. If I must.”“I’m so excited.” I beamed. I didn’t mean just about the dress. “This is going to be really fun. Thank you for doing this with me.”Nolan offered me one of his own big, beautiful smiles in return. “I’m excited, too. And listen, I had an idea…” He pushed his dinner plate away and turned his full body to face me.“Oh? What’s that
Nolan shook his head and mumbled “no” between soft little kisses. “I don’t want to do that to you too much, Yena. Not if I don’t need it.”I hummed out a reproving, “Hmmm…” and used a single finger to gently guide Nolan’s face up to mine. “You don’t have to hold back with me, you know.”Suddenly, while he held my gaze, I felt Nolan’s big dick starting to swell, tapping against my thigh.“Bite me. Drink my blood. Please.”My voice took on a silky quality.“I want you to. I think you do need it.” I moved my mouth to his strong neck, planted a soft kiss there and then dragged my lips up to his ear. “And you know that it feels good for me too, right?”I teased his ear with my tongue, and Nolan groaned.I angled my hips up toward his, and soon he was easing himself inside me while I breathed deeply and mumbled lot of little begs for him to keep going.He moved one hand to the back of my head and fisted a sloppy bunch of my hair.My eyes flew open—I didn’t realized they’d fallen closed. His
YENAWatching my adoptive mother embracing my giant husband right now was hilarious.Tina did this to everyone she loved – and who knows why? – tried to show them how much she cared by embracing them in tight, smothering bear hugs. If I hadn’t known it before today, I knew now that she loved Nolan like family, because she appeared to be trying her best to strangle him to death.The look on my Alpha’s face was what was killing me. Nolan didn’t know what to do, how to escape Tina politely and with dignity. So I sacrificed myself to save him, squishing between the two and taking the next big hug from Tina for myself.“Oh, I was so very happy to hear from you, sweetheart! To what do we owe this visit?”Tina released my bear hug and started playing with my hair, fluffing it up and pulling loose curls forward over my shoulders. I could tell she was admiring how long it had gotten.“Well, we have something to invite you to,” I said vaguely. “But I’d rather wait to talk about it till we can a
NOLANThick morning fog rolled through the cemetery in a hurry, kissing the edges of headstones that cluttered its path. It dissolved under the slow footsteps of three black-clad mourners crossing the dewy grounds as they picked their way toward the yawning mouth of an open grave.A lone priest in a long black cassock stood waiting near the casket. In one hand he clutched an old book, a fragile artifact bound in soft purple cloth. The other hand rose in greeting as first Nolan, then Yena and Cindy came into his view, stomping out fog in their wake.Nolan let go of Yena’s hand when they reached the old man’s graveside. He exchanged some words with the priest, with whom he’d earlier spoken on the phone, and then made introductions between the holy man and his wife and good friend.“An honor to meet you all.” The priest bowed his head. “I am very sorry it is under these circumstances.”The man was middle-aged, but his voice sounded weathered, perhaps permanently hoarse from decades of ov
YENAI’m not sure how exactly, but I felt Nolan’s presence as he approached from down the hall. I looked up, expecting to see him in the doorway, but he was not there yet.The sound of his footsteps on the marble floors hit my ears next. Then finally my prince appeared, pausing at the threshold of my studio and raising his hand to knock on the open door. He met my eyes instantly, since I’d been watching for him. “Hey.” He lowered his arm and stepped inside.“Hi. How’s your mom?”“She’s good. She seems to like the idea of the vow renewal ceremony.”I stood as Nolan reached my desk. He bent to kiss me, his arms wrapping around my waist. I circled his neck with my forearms and let him lift me up off my feet for a second.He put me down, pulled away and smiled. “You’re in a good mood.”“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you.”He shrugged. “Maybe I am. Kind of strange.”“Being in a good mood is strange?”Nolan stepped away and started a slow stroll around the room. “Honestl
Nolan teased me with his fingertips till I was writhing, unable to stay still though he had a tight hold on my body and kept me seated in his lap. His mouth was busy on my neck, alternately breathing heavily to take in my scent and giving me hard, sloppy bite-kisses that felt like they’d leave bruises.I ran my fingers through his hair, slid my hands down his neck and all across the broad muscles of his shoulders.And grumbled impatiently, “Oh, fuck me.”“Thought you’d never ask,” he said, then he stood up with one easy step, turned, and threw me down onto the bed.He climbed on top of me. My legs wrapped back around his middle like they belonged there. His mouth went my ear and he licked the edge of it, giving me a chill.Then he whispered, “Any other requests?”“Hmm. Just a question.”He arched one of his dark, thick and lovely eyebrows. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”“Do you want me to be quiet this time?” I asked. “Or do you want everyone on this train to hear what you can do to me?”The
I had not meant to bring up the subject of sexual fidelity. But that’s what I did, by accident.That’s what a wedding ring represents, isn’t it? And here I had gone and asked my husband if he ever took his ring off. Just after we reunited after being separated.“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “I’ve never taken my ring off, not since you gave it to me. When I thought you really wanted to divorce me, I thought about it. But it seemed wrong and sad and I never could do it. And I didn’t mean to imply anything by asking you that…”He arched an eyebrow. Said nothing. And kept watching me, with less and less patient curiosity, as I continued on with my efforts to remove his wedding ring.My little plan was not going super smoothly so far.“Yena. Why are you trying to take that off?”“Hush,” I said, giggling nervously. “I will explain in just a minute. I only want to take it off for a second, okay?”“Okay.” An amused smile tugged at his lips, but his eyebrows still looked stern.“Why didn’