Lee’s POV. Making my rounds around the pavilion, I see so many happy faces. Faces of children whose lives are saved or those of women who will never know an unkind hand again. I nod and smile as I walk along, offering to help with small tasks as I go. Eventually, I find myself in a quiet, isolated wing. There is a shrine dedicated to Selene here. There I find a very young woman staring at the statue. I quietly approach and stand next to her. I feel for her aura but find none. She and her wolf are disjointed. This happens when there is significant trauma at an early age. My heart aches for this child. “Don’t feel sorry for me”. Her words are confident but her voice is weak. Spoken like a true warrior. She’s been fighting for a long time. “Pity is for those who do not deserve salvation. I do not pity you my dear girl, I simply hope for your healing”. I feel her curiously eyeing me. “What happened to your wolf if I may ask?”. Our gaze still hasn’t left the sta
Danny’s POV *Ring*Ring*, “Yeah?”... “Transport is here”. Fucking great. “Okay, I’ll be there shortly. Let Liam know please”. Hanging up, I head out of the office to find Lee. Where has the old man escaped to? That man I swear. I wander around until I hear voices in the back kitchen. I hear an unfamiliar, faint female voice that perks my wolf’s ears. Getting close enough, I hear grandpa talking. It’s my mate and she’s telling him about her childhood as an orphan. She goes on to mention the last year at Erik’s pack and without realizing, the door frame crumbles beneath my fist. Shit. I stand just outside the kitchen, listening to them finish talking as my heart silently breaks. How can I ever be what she needs me to be? How will she ever accept a mate after what she’s been through? My phone buzzes, reminding me I need to find Liam. Walking down the corridor, I hang up with Zak. We all arrange to meet at the prison to discuss next steps. We still have to de
Emma’s POV It’s still really early. My limbs are heavy. My eyelashes are heavy on my cheeks. Morrigan is way too active for it being this early. “Mor, settle down, what are you doing?” I scold her. “It’s not me Em”. What is she on about? The babies are way too young to be moving in my tummy that much and why am I… wet? My skin is wet? I bat my eyelashes open to a very concerned Liam with obsidian eyes. I don’t dare move. “Mor, what the hell is he doing?”. She huffs, “Kalen has been licking you for an hour Em. I’ve been trying to wake you up but you’re like waking the dead”. I keep watching him. He’s literally licking my stomach. Why? And rubbing his scent on me. There’s literally no question whose mate we are… what is he doing? Oh… he’s going south. “Oh, Mor… did he do anything while we were… asleep?”. She blushes, “no Em, they wouldn’t do that”. Oh… my… goddess. I draw the line. “Kalen… are you smelling my um… ?”. He looks up at me. “You smell so divine mat
Emma’s POV Liam finally let me leave our suite this morning. I’m not complaining. I loved every minute of it. I loved getting to spend intimate time with both of my mates, especially before this belly gets any bigger. Bumping into Michelle on the way down the stairs, I’m pulled out of my blushing thoughts. “Girl, you’re tiny but we need to go maternity shopping. Twins grow fast”. I nod, “you’re telling me. I have like four outfits I can wear”. Dana jogs up behind us. “Hey, sorry I’m late”. She looks flush. I look at Michelle and bite my tongue. Dana blushes, “shut up”. I giggle. “I mean, shut up… Luna, please”. “Okay, we have like 30 minutes before Grace and Ruth come in. Grace still doesn’t know about Ruth’s burrito in the oven so we gotta get this banner up”. Leo pops out of the kitchen carrying a tray of mimosas. “Someone say ‘muscle’?”. He winks at Michelle. “Okay girls with babies in the bellies, the pink ones are ‘virgin’... which none of you are any
Liam’s POV Mid baby shower, Ian informed me his team had found the “items” on his family’s property and were bringing them to our compound. He assured me this team could be trusted and he sent a few of my trusted men with them too, which definitely made me feel better. I receive a message saying the King’s envoy has arrived. Me and the “boys” as we’ve started calling ourselves, now that there were too many of us to name individually, head to the front of the packhouse to personally welcome his ‘majesty’. I roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. Lee also insisted on being present which provided some extra comfort. The lavish SUVs, all 15 of them roll to a stop in succession. Zak leans in, “Jesus, how many people did he bring? We have enough space for all of them?”. A security agent steps out, opening the back door and out steps a young man, no older than myself, wearing a hand tailored Armoni suit with leather crafted Gucci shoes. He’s tanned, with c
Emma’s POV I was able to distract Cody and the girls throughout brunch. My concern was when the women started trickling out of the pack house. One, Cody had his eye on a few of our women a little too closely which creeped me out and two, what about these girls? Think Emma… think. I link Liam, “baby… we have an issue…”. Within two seconds he links back, “baby, where are you? Twins okay?”. I try to look inconspicuous, “meet me in the kitchen”. Letting grace know that I’ll be right back, she keeps a close eye on the remaining guests and these three. Sneaking off to the kitchen, Liam comes bounding in through the back door. He hugs me like he hasn’t seen me in weeks, making me purr. “Oh that feels amazing baby but as much as I love that, we’ve got a problem”. I explain to him what happened, what Lee found and he hesitates… “baby, please, please don’t be mad but Ian sort of told us yesterday that the king has in the past trafficked and we’re gathering evidence as we s
Regan’s POV “What do you mean they got sick? Where the fuck are they Cody?”. Cody is kneeling in front of me, explaining how they got enticed into some baby shower bullshit which is why they were late getting up here and now this? “And did you see the rash or their illness?” He pulls open his phone, showing me pictures of vomit and rashes. “Ok, fucking gross. I don’t need to see that shit. Fine, whatever”. I kick the throw pillow off the couch in frustration, “real fucking convenient. I was looking forward to an afternoon fuck”. Suddenly, it dawns on me. Cody and I have messed around before. “You two, out. I need to talk to Cody alone”. Cody is about to stand when I push him back down, “you are right where I want you for the moment”. He smiles up at me, unbuckling my pants. This is exactly why I keep this man around. He does a lot to keep me happy. After our ‘exclusive’ conversation, I invited some of my security back in to sweep the room. Probably shoul
Emma’s POV Liam and I walk out of the closet/niche area hand in hand, bumping into the rest of our group who are just now coming down for dinner. We receive quite a few odd and goofy looks. “It’s not what any of you think alright… Kalen was scenting me”. That made it much worse I think. Liam chuckles, “not sure that cleared anything up baby”. Liam pulls me to a stop quickly, I see his eyes glaze over and the other guys’ arms wrap tightly around their mates’ waists. Leo steps forward, “are you fucking serious right now Liam?”. He looks at me, “now your scenting comment actually makes sense”, making me giggle. Dana looks at me, “can someone fill us in on what the hell is happening?”. I pull her, Michelle, Ruth and surprisingly Savannah is here tonight too which makes me happy, into a small huddle. “The king is a total pig apparently and was being very inappropriate towards me with Liam. Like staring and commenting. Just be cautious around him, stick to talking to
Liam’s POV *about six weeks later* “Liam, stop pacing”. I look up at Emma who is in labor but can’t push yet. “Why is she so calm?” Kalen nudges. I just shake my head. I have no idea how she’s this calm but it’s going on 20 hours now of labor and contractions but she hasn’t been able to actually push yet. “Oww… ehhh”, Emma lets out a slight shriek. I rush over to her. “Baby, tell me what you need”. Grace comes in, also cool as a cucumber. “Is this like a woman thing Liam?”. Kalen is just as nervous as I am. “Kalen buddy, I have no idea. But I’m freaking out too”. She squeezes my arm, oh shit that hurts. “Oh sorry baby”. I rub her hand, “no, squeeze all you need it’s fine”. I may regret that later. Grace checks her progress, “ooh, Emma my girl, you are finally ready. You feel like you can push?”. Emma takes a breath in, “no, I’m just gonna chill here a while and do a crossword”. She giggles, “yes, please… get them out of me!”. Grace looks at me, “you
Emma’s POV “I can’t believe it’s already been three weeks. Are you sure everything is ready?”. I’m a nervous wreck. Ruth is curling my hair, getting us ready for the ceremony. “Relax, Emma. Darling. Everything is set, just chill”. Grace comes in, followed by Savannah, Michelle and Dana. They’re all dressed and look stunning. Each chose their own style of emerald dress with gold jewelry. Grace in a gold dress. “Mama Grace!”, I look her up and down. “You are gorgeous”. She twirls and curtsies. Ruth scolds me, “quit moving child”. I sulk, “sorry mother”. She finishes my hair and light makeup. “Oh boy, the moment of truth. Hopefully it fits”. I step into the bathroom and shimmy into the gown only this time Grace steps in behind me. “Oh honey, you look stunning”. I look at myself in the mirror as she laces up the gown. “Thank you Grace”. She pulls a box from a bag and reveals a stunning pair of emerald earrings. “Oh my, Grace. That’s too much”. She swats my hand
Liam’s POV Luckily we anticipated these waits and brought a deck of cards. We got some odd looks but we had fun with our parking lot poker. Finally my Luna emerged after what felt like eternity. “You win us some money honey?”, her voice is like food for my soul. I scoop her up and spin her around, making her squeal a little. “We get to pick lunch huh?”, as I leave a little kiss on her mark. “Yeah, you guys pick Hooter’s or something?”. I squeeze her into me as Zak chuckles. “Why on earth would be take an entourage of our women folk there?”, Zak chides. “Culture Zak. Besides, Ian’s never been I bet”. He busts out laughing. I nip Emma’s shoulder lightly, “what did you guys do in that dress shop that has you so defiant miss Emma? No. We aren’t going to Hooter’s nor would we. Believe it or not, we’ve actually never been AND… I’ve heard their food sucks. Besides, I’ve got all the hooters I want right here”. I playfully caress her boob. Dana giggles, “You started
Emma’s POV Since Ruth got Liam on board with shopping, we just lumped the maternity wedding session into the trip too oh and… PEDICURES! The boys don’t know what’s coming. As we roll into the salon parking lot, Liam grumbles something and looks at Zak. “Zak, did you know about this?”. Dana and I giggle, “remember what you said Alpha, that you’d be willing to do it with me?”. His face goes super serious and almost pale. “Luna, I’d literally die for you but this… this is a lot to ask. Zak help me out”. There’s a smirk on the Beta’s face, “sorry boss, no can do. I do remember you saying you’d try it. Besides, my woman wants one too so here I am. Just suck it up”. Liam wraps his arms around me and kisses my temple. “You’re lucky I love you so damn much. And you…”, pointing to Zak, “definitely knew about this”. As we exit the SUV, Zak quips back, “pretty sure you’re the only one who doesn’t know Liam”. No one could miss the group of our brooding men, who insist on walkin
Erik’s POV As I lay on the mattress, I am at peace with the decision to die. I deserve it and I hope it’s not swift or painless. I deserve whatever is coming. There are no clocks in these cells so I have no way of knowing the hour. I begin to doze off eventually until I hear a voice in my cell. That’s the same voice that rang through my head in court that day, telling me judgment was upon me. I open my eyes and see a pair of purple eyes staring at me from the corner. “So it was you? Why you’re interested in these matters I don’t know but…”. She comes out of the shadows somewhat, revealing her face. Her long hair cascades down her face, framing her angelic face. “To what do I owe the honor of a visit from a Goddess?”. She’s studying me, not speaking. Finally, I relax back into the bed and lean against the wall. “My blood asked me to grant you a delicate death but I sense that isn’t what you want”. Her blood? Who would…? “Are you saying Emma is your blood
Liam’s POV Holy crap. My Luna just suggested anal to me. Kalen comes forward, “it’s natural bud, go for it”. I scowl at him, “maybe for you, you’re a dog. Besides, I don’t want to hurt her”. Wait, does this mean she’s done that before? Suddenly I feel insecure. And on cue, Emma tells me I’d be her first. Great, now my dick is impossibly hard. There’s no going back from this erection. She leads us into the bedroom and reaches for a gift bag. “Who gifted you lube?”I'm suddenly very pissed. She giggles… “no baby, it was a gag for the baby shower- it’s KY jelly. They use it for birth but um… well, I sort of googled this once like last week… cause…”. Before she could finish, I had her pinned on the bed. She laughs in between kisses, “so you’re not mad I googled it? It was a ‘how to’ but yeah, a lot of ummm interesting things came up. But I wanted to be prepared and I wanted to try this with you”. I kiss all along her mark, making her arousal thicken around me. “No ba
Emma’s POV As soon as Liam left, I realized I only have two hours to accomplish my plan. I reach out for Selene, praying she’s listening. “It’s sort of an emergency and I wouldn’t be contacting you if I didn’t need to”. There’s a tingling in my mind followed by, “meet me downstairs for tea”. I gently make my way downstairs, honoring the promise to my mate and doctor. I love referring to Grace as my doctor. It makes her sound so official. I see Selene sitting in a corner chair, sipping on a cup of tea. “I’m glad you’ve made yourself comfortable”, I tease. She smiles, “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better”. As I take a seat, I remember Liam screaming at her last night. “Does my feeling better have anything to do with Liam cursing you last night?”, I lift a brow questioningly. She smiles but doesn’t reply. “What is this favor you speak of?”. I grab for the second cup of tea, secretly wishing it were hot chocolate. Only when I look back at the cup, it’s cha
Michelle’s POV During recess, I let Dan and Savannah have some private time. At this point, I no longer cared about my own testimony but she was pregnant with that monster’s child… My uncle’s. How would Dan react? If roles were changed and it were me, I’m not sure Leo would be so happy. Sure he’d accept it because it wasn’t my fault but he would try and kill Erik I’m sure of it. I’m brought from my thoughts with the smell of coffee wafted under my nose. I giggle, opening my eyes to find Leo baiting me. “Don’t think too hard darling, that’s my job”. He kisses my cheek, handing me my coffee. We sit in comfortable silence for a bit, soaking up some sunlight when we’re summoned back into the courthouse. “The council has agreed after deliberation that all parties tried, are guilty of all charges laid before them”. They laid out the punishments for the lower ranked members and finally made it to Erik. “With regard to the former Alpha Regent, Erik is to be execute
Savannah’s POV I had been feeling extra emotional these last few days. I chalked it up to the impending trial and everything as a whole. This has been a tense time for the pack and group. Seeing Erik yesterday was overwhelming. It caused a lot of flashbacks and worsened my already bad night terrors. Dan has been such a sweetheart. He gives me plenty of space which I know is so hard for him, especially being an alpha but I know he knows I’m going through a lot. I have kept a secret calendar marking off the days since the horrid night Erik took my virginity. It’s been 45 days and no cycle. Shit. When I had been at Ruth’s house, I remember she had some pregnancy tests in her bathroom but how the hell would I get in there? What about the clinic? Would they just give me one discreetly? Dan cannot know about this. Waking up extremely early, the morning of the trial, I ran over to the hospital where I had been visiting the girls- Anna, Hannah and Bree; that Regan h