Ian’s POV It’s Ruth’s turn to receive “50 questions” and my nerves are on fire. My internal guilt is already mounting but watching her make her way up to the stand, my nerve endings are aching. Luckily her situation was not as cumbersome so hopefully she won’t have to be as interrogated. They question her for maybe 30 minutes and then release her. As she’s making her way back to me, I’m extending my arms to receive her when I hear my name called to stand. What? Me? I’m not supposed to testify. Am I? I look at Liam. He links me, “did you know about this?”. It’s the defense attorney who has called me so I’m not surprised he learned my link to this whole shit show. I stand slowly, unfolding my hand from Ruth’s. She has an apprehensive look. Kissing her cheek, I whisper that it will be alright. And boy, they don’t waste any time. “Ian, what is your relationship to the Hardbrook family?”. I look at him like he has 100 eyes. “Ruth Hardbrook is my mate, Alpha Liam’s sis
Emma’s POV Everyone is too tired for a family dinner, so we all opt for dinner in our rooms and early bed. There’s extra security I notice around the packhouse. When I make it back up to the apartment, the lights are dimmed. “Liam?”. It’s so quiet. Setting my cocoa down, I walk towards our room where there are no lights on. I smell him before I see him. He snakes his arms around me, ever so gently. “I am so incredibly proud of you, my love. You are amazing, you know that?”. Turning around to face him, I lean up and wrap my arms around his broad neck and shoulders. “Not as amazing as a mate I know”. Soft lips graze mine. His tongue gently caresses my mouth. As our kiss progresses, his hands squeeze my ass and he picks me up. I wrap my legs around his toned torso as he carries me towards the bathroom. The bathtub is surrounded by candles and a bubble bath drawn. “Your cauldron milady”, making me giggle. Liam slowly peels off my clothes, layer by layer. When h
Michelle’s POV Leo did not sleep all night which kept me on high alert too. He was tossing all night. I just want to get today over with. Savannah, Dana and I all testify today. Leo keeps fussing over me as we’re getting ready. “Baby, please… I need you to calm down a little bit. You’re making me nervous”. I’m not trying to hurt his feelings but he needs a Xanax or something. Maybe someone has some pot? Something. Geez. Maybe Grace can tranquilize him? We get to the courthouse and I’m determined. Emma meets me at the front, “are you ready?”. “Ready as I’m going to be”, I reply. I mean how does one ‘prepare’ other than reliving these damn memories. I’ve been trying to kill them. So close. “Okay hun, let’s do this”. As we enter, we take our seats in the front row bench to ready ourselves for when the prisoners enter. Leo has his hand on my thigh for comfort. The prisoner door opens and the sound of shackles clank. Suddenly I see a face that is so familiar to me yet I d
Liam’s POV I carry Emma to the privy quarters. “Emma, why did you strike Erik? What’s gotten into you?”. She’s uncontrollably crying. “How do you know him?”. She’s pacing around the room when suddenly she stops and stares at the door… oh my goddess… “Mi mi is Michelle. Michelle… Erik is E. Liam…”. She isn’t making any sense. “My dream! Liam!”. She bolts from the room before I can stop her. She races to the courtroom and finds a still shocked Michelle. Sitting next to her is that unknown ‘guest’. Emma approaches cautiously. “Grace, I need you to take mine and Michelle’s blood and do a DNA match”. We all look at her like she’s crazy. There’s a few moments’ pause. “There’s no need, Luna”. The ‘guest’ speaks. “Michelle is in fact, your sister”. Emma looks at Selena. “How do you know and why do you look exactly like me, who are you?”. The woman looks at all of us. “Let’s get some air shall we?”. She nonchalantly walks outside and expects us all to follow. Leo lo
Michelle’s POV I gasp for air as if my lungs are full of water. We emerge from the memory with Selene. Emma and I both cling to one another. “Regan? Is our uncle?”, I ask… barely able to hold my own head up. “But why? Why would he kill our father… why?”. My head is killing me, it hurts so bad. My lungs hurt, my eyes hurt. All of me aches. The only thing holding me up is my sister. Leo can feel my pain. He scoops me up and pulls me tight into his chest. “I think we’ve had enough of this for a while, no offense moon goddess”, he states defensively. She looks at him solemnly. Emma hasn’t said anything. She’s not crying and hasn’t moved. Suddenly she shifts her eyes so she’s staring Selene directly in her own. “If we are somehow related to you, how could you watch all of this suffering unfold; not to mention what Michelle and I went through for the last ten years past that and not do a fucking thing to stop it?”. There is venom in her words. Lee goes to interjec
Liam’s POV Emma just busted this case wide open. Part of me is ridiculously proud of her but part of me is also terrified for her and our unborn pups. This stress cannot be good for any of them. She links me, sensing my anxiety… “go big or go home baby”. I just shake my head. “Can you prove that they are of relation to you Luna?”, one of the elected officials asks. Grace stands, offering DNA analysis which would require Regan’s permission of course unless he were to be arrested. “I suggest someone go in there and straight up ask Erik about his relation to Regan and myself. I suspect he’ll tell you the truth. Ask him what happened to Damen 20 years ago and why Regan killed him or rather had him killed by rogues”. Matteo stares at me for a good long minute. “I knew your father very closely Emma. I believe what you’re saying to be true. I knew the moment Erik saw you and Michelle today, that he recognized you both. We thought both daughters were lost in the attac
Liam’s POV Before Matteo was back in the room, I had already ordered guards to capture Regan. “We’re too late Matteo, he’s gone. He escaped. He counted on us playing the fool for too long”. Matteo looks stern but confident. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him. I’ll set out a team. It’s been a long day. Perhaps you’d like to take your Luna and your family home for the night. We’ll deal with Regan”. Emma is far too quiet. She is still staring at Erik. Suddenly she stands and quietly heads for the door. No one asks her anything or dares to speak to her. I’m about to follow when I see her walk into the interrogation room and close the door behind her. The council stirs uneasily behind me, “quiet… let her have a moment with her uncle. She deserves at least that much”. She stares at him, still unmoving but seems to be calculating him. “What powers did she have? Our mother?”. He looks almost scared to speak when suddenly he motions to the chair in front of him and she does, she
Regan’s POV After being denied entry to Erik’s private trial, I knew I needed to flee. This could only mean one thing… he’s going to snitch. “Cody, we have to move”. He already had our bags packed. “The girls?”. I had already forgotten about them at the hospital. “Fucking leave ‘em, apparently this place is a haven anyway”. I jump into the back of the SUV and Cody hops into the driver seat. “Step on it”. “And I don’t want to hear ‘I told you so’ from your damn lips Cody”. He had told me that coming to this thing was a bad idea and could implicate me”. Cody just eyes me in the rearview but races down the road. Suddenly there are several unmarked pack cars behind us. “Fucking lose them!”. Cody hits the gas with immense force, throttling me into the seat in front of me. “Put on your damn seat belt Regan, goddess!”. Thinking on my next move, once we make it out of their territory, we’ll have to lay low for a while. There will be a warrant out for me I assume. Where
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