Emma’s POV I head into the kitchen to grab some coffee when I hear Leo making some sort of bargain with Ruth. “Ruth, that is not the place I told him we were going. He’s going to skin my ass alive if we change plans now”. She throws her hands up, “Leo, drop him the pin. If you do this, I will have dinner with you. Paalllleaaaseee”. I see him ponder for a serious, solid minute. “FINE. But still just these two places. And you better not flake on dinner”. She brushes his cheek and I see him flush. Ruth spots me, “Hey Em! Ready for our semi girls’ day part 2?”. I just giggle at her. “So what is it we are doing exactly?”. She takes me by the elbow toward the coffee pot. “First up is pedicures followed by a surprise”. “Pedi what?”, I ask looking confused. “It’ll be a first for you and Leo both”. I turn around to a very confused Leo, “hell no! I am not gettin’ no pedicure Ruth, that wasn’t part of the deal!”. She just shrugs, “suit yourself”. We finish our coffee and h
Emma’s POV My toes looked actually really pretty and my feet have never felt so soft. I used Ruth’s facebook to send Liam a picture of my toes. His reply was hysterical, “Ruth why on earth are you showing me your toes?”... “Those are Leo’s”... “Gross!”.... “Hahahahhahaha, no they’re Emma’s. She wanted to make sure you like polish or not. They look pretty huh?” “I do like them… ON EMMA.. and remind me to get her, her own facebook”. Next, we pull up to a very elegant looking building with dresses in the windows. As we walk in, the whole staff is lined up waiting for us. What is going on? “Ruth, dearest! This must be your sister, the bride!”. I immediately feel overwhelmed by the attention and try slinking somewhat. “Oh no you don’t Emma, you get your buns over here!”. Ruth grabs me and pulls me toward the lounge area. I hear a click behind me and see Leo locking the doors behind us, strange. He stays standing by the doors. We enter this back a
Emma’s POV I am relieved to be back in my normal, everyday clothes. Apparently we have to come back for a “fitting” so they can hem the gown. I was noticeably drowning in fabric. Lacey is a very sweet woman. We say our goodbyes and Leo has gone to get the car. Ruth and I are walking arm in arm toward the parked car. Suddenly behind us there are screeching tires. I look over my shoulder, recognizing one of the cars. “Ruth, go!”. I shove Ruth toward the car, hoping Leo will grab for her. I make a dash for the car myself but am grabbed by my hair and a bag thrown over my head. I thrash harder than I have ever thrashed. I hear a man groaning and I try running, only to land on the pavement, scraping my hands and knees. I hear Ruth scream and a shuffle. Where the hell is Leo? This is all happening in slow motion. I’m dropped into what I assume is a trunk, hearing a thud followed by screeching tires. Feeling around me, I can only feel the carpet. “Mor, we are definitely
Grace’s POV My lab was down all of Monday due to a weird power glitch. Turning on the screens, I am searching for Emma’s results while they’re out shopping. Scrolling through, nothing is of serious note until I see… HcG POSITIVE. Well, this is good news! Unexpected, but fantastic news. I cannot wait to tell Liam and Emma when they’re back home tonight, together. My phone vibrates, “Emma… Ruth… SOS”. What the fuck? It’s from Zak. I instantly call. “Zak? What are you talking about?”. I hear yelling in the background, “Ruth we’re coming up the drive”. He hung up. I run out of my lab and down the corridor. Sprinting, I head to the door. Liam, Zak and Danny come busting through the front doors. Obviously something isn’t right. “Zak, what is happening?”. I dare not talk to Liam with the tension he’s exuding. “Emma and Ruth were taken. We don’t know many details yet. Leo was drugged which is how it happened”. Liam is stalking down the hall to the conference room.
**Potential Trigger Warning. Chapter contains violent material** We sneak along the dark spots of the building, spying on the groups of men. There are dozens of women, locked in metal cages. “What the fuck Emma? What is this place?”. I shake my head. “Mor, we can’t leave them here, that is certain”. Our first goal is to find Ruth though. This building is huge. We make our way almost entirely around until we spot her. She’s hog tied and gagged in a solitary cage. No one is guarding her. I look around in all directions and see no one. We sneak forward carefully, looking for traps and see none. Ruth sees me but I motion for her to stay silent and she obliges. Trying to stay on the outskirts of the well lit space, we’re almost to the cage when a well known voice rings, “here kitty, kitty kitty”. “Em, we’re so close, unlatch her cage”. I’m frozen in fear. I don’t know what this man has over me. I can feel Morrigan fighting for control. My fear, drowning her. “Emma, let me o
**Potential Trigger Warning** Liam’s POV “Fuck! Did you see that flash?!”, everyone in the truck looks through the windshield toward the mountains in the distance. There was an incredibly bright flash as if a bomb exploded. Suddenly I feel a jolt of pain. It doesn’t go unnoticed. Zak steps on the accelerator, reaching 100 mph. Emma’s POV The silver is burning my skin. They throw the silver chains over a bar above us, hoisting me by my wrists until my toes are barely touching the ground. Thankfully they don’t tighten the silver around my neck, yet. Ezekiel approaches me, looking like he just won a trophy. “Well, well, well. Had no idea you were some sort of wizard… shit”. I say nothing nor do I acknowledge his presence. He must take it as a disrespect when he decides to plant a right hook into my face. The chains tighten around my wrist as I spin from the momentum and I hear Ruth moan through her gag, obviously worried for me. I make eye contact with
**Potential trigger warning** Liam’s POV I am feeling all sorts of emotions through the bond and overwhelming amounts of pain. “Fred, how much fucking further?”I grit through my teeth. I am beyond having lost my patience. “Half mile on the left, turn off in the dirt turn off”. We slam on the brakes as we reach the spot and race to the back to unload the bikes. Fred had told us the ride to the top was about 10 miles. Just as I climb on my bike, I feel a searing pain through the bond. I let out a visceral growl. I can see all of the exposed necks around me as I make for the trail. Ian’s POV I have never seen Ezekiel this enraged. After he finishes beating her poor body with the pipe, he comes back with two cinder blocks. What the fuck is he doing? I can’t take this anymore. “Ezekiel, man she’s had enough” I say as I walk up to him. He pushes me aside. “I fucking say when it’s enough. Boys, hoist her up. She wants to kick me, we’ll make sure she can’t move her legs
**Potential trigger warning** Liam’s POV Fred signals we’re very close and we can see some lights ahead. We cut the engines, not wanting to alert them. I link for some men to stay on the rigs to come with supplies once we’ve taken over and the rest of us to shift. As soon as we shift, Kalen whimpers. He knows Emma is hurt badly. Fred leads us up a trail. There’s a concrete building up ahead with cars around it. We quietly skirt around the treeline. I’m disgusted by the cages full of women. Looking back at my warriors, they all look enraged. We go just another 500 feet and I stop dead in my tracks. I SEE RED. Zak’s POV We’re sneaking up on the camp, seeing dozens of women caged around this place when Alpha stops dead. He releases a blood curdling growl. I look up to where his gaze is fixed and let out a whimper. Luna is strung up by her wrists, her head is completely limp. Her shirt missing and the word “whore” branded across her bare abdomen. Emma’
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