XANDER I emptied my wine glass down my throat as I thought of a suitable response that wouldn’t include me pointing out how much I was against being betrothed to a random girl and immediately having my head ripped off my neck by my father. But before I could figure out one, April’s mother spoke on my behalf. “Sweetheart, as much as I was being cordial during their visit, I think you should consider allowing him wait for his mate instead of being hurled into an arranged marriage,” she suggested and for the first time since I knew her, I agreed with her. Just like me, she was only being nice to the Mandels because they were my father’s guest and he’d expect nothing less, but I appreciated that she voiced out her true opinions on the matter because I wouldn’t have been able to do the same. My initial plan was to bore the hell out of them, make their daughter’s life a living hell, and never show up at the altar on the decided wedding day. “Waiting for a mate?” my father’s tone was s
APRILMother’s preferred French brand of white wine finally caught my eye. However, I didn’t even get to lift it from its spot on the shelf before I startled out of my mind from the sound of the door shutting and being bolted. When I turned around and saw Xander with a smirk that made it obvious he was up to no good, I rolled my eyes in annoyance. He always picked the worst times to initiate sex. There’s never been a time when he cornered me that he didn’t want sex. I could see it written all over him as those dangerously stunning blue eyes worked over my body lustfully. I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that he was undressing me in that twisted head of his. “What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed at him, determined to make sure he didn’t get his way this time around. “Showing you what happens to errant stepsisters,” he answered in a punishing and cut edge tone but his gaze was elsewhere, drooling for what was beneath my shirt. His eyes snapped from my breasts to my ey
APRIL“You’re not going anywhere, sis,” he pinned me down and started to move inside me again, fucking me even harder than before. At this point, I had to believe that the walls in this house were perfectly sound proofed because nothing else could explain why we were louder than animals in heat and they still hadn’t suspected a thing. That didn’t mean it was a risk I enjoyed taking. Some part of me was till scared out of her mind even though I was delirious with pleasure. “We need to stop,” I pleaded with him again. He chuckled, grabbing my neck and snapping it to look straight ahead. “Because of her?”I felt my breath catch in my throat and my eyes bulged out in horror when I saw my mother standing right in front of us, smacking her lips in the mirror that was resting against the window and checking her lipstick out. “She’s eight there,” I whispered my plea while fighting yet another moan. Xander clearly didn’t give a fuck about getting caught because he refused to relent. His
APRILBlinded by anger, I hadn’t thought before slapping him right across the face. His initial reaction was shock, his lips parted slightly and his eyes bulged out as he realized what I’d done, but I was too pissed at how foolishly he’d just behaved to feel any sort of regret for slapping him.Seconds later, the shock faded into thin air and his eyes turned into angry slits. The next thing I knew, he was grabbing my neck and choking me against the wall while my feet were slightly above the floor. He wasn’t wrapping his eyes tightly enough around my neck to hurt me, he was just making a clear distinction about who was the more powerful being between us in case I’d forgotten. “Despite that foolish decision you just made, I’m willing to be a gentleman for a night,” he smiled at me devilishly, still looking at my body like he was starving even though he’d devoured me whole mere minutes ago. “I won’t take out that lousy slap on you tonight,” he whispered lowly, still smiling and manag
ACEIt’s official, I can’t sleep with another girl besides April. I’ve known it for a while now, but I’ve been in denial about it, and now it’s come back to bite me in the ass. Every single time I’ve gotten an erection in the past week or so, the only person on my mind has been April. However, I’m not the type of guy that seeks out ladies, they flock to me without me having to blink an eye. With April, I fuck her when her smart mouth needs a reset, not because my body’s been craving her, so I refuse to seek her out just because my entire system is confused about what she means to me. But right now, I’m staring to think that I can’t hold on to that resolve for much longer, it’s been getting harder and harder by the day. The only thing that hasn’t been getting hard of recent is my stupid dick. I’ve tried to get it up for a couple of girls over the weekend, but it didn’t work, and so I decided to call Brooke even though I’d rather chew stones than invite her over. I assumed that my
ACEPost cum clarity hit me so hard that I nearly dropped to my knees in sheer agony. The evidence of what I’d just done was spilled all over the bathroom floor, shower walls, my thighs and my palm. I felt an odd wave of anger grip me as I looked down at it, infuriated that thinking of April had made me do something I’d sworn to never do again.Before now, the only other girl whose body and memories I’d masturbated to was the girl I foolishly gave my heart to. And what happened afterwards? She broke it into a million unfixable pieces, ruining me for every other woman I experienced after her. I couldn’t let that be the case with April. I couldn’t let myself fall for another headstrong know-it-all that would end up wringing my heart until it was void of any emotion. Another heartbreak would fucking kill me. And the gods forbid that the almighty Ace dies at the mercy of a woman. I grabbed the detachable shower hose and began to wash away the evidence of my foolishness. I’d lost mysel
BROOKEI could swear that he’d been possessed by someone else’s soul. The person who’d just made me cum before even thrusting into me couldn’t be Ace. He had never kissed me before now, and he’d managed to do it in such a passionate and delicate way that I was completely swept off my feet. He was the kind to just shove his dick down my throat or slam mercilessly into me without warning. It was completely unlike him to be this delicate and intentional about what he was doing to me. It was even more flooring that he’d kissed me and eaten out my pussy like my body was worthy of endless worship. This person that was now kissing me softly while thrusting in and out of me wasn’t the egoistic, heartless, and selfish monster I’d been engaged to all these years. I couldn’t believe how he was touching my body with reverent caution and holding my gaze through every slow and sweet stroke. It was unusual, and my entire body was shaking from the amazing feeling shooting through me. He’d made m
APRIL The air around me was different whenever he was near. Instead of being simply cool, the air always felt like it was drowned in affection and adoration because his hands never left my body. His scent was addictive and filling, warming every inch of my body and wrapping itself around me in a way that made me feel nothing but absolute bliss. The way his hands always wandered to my thighs, arms, neck, back, face…. Literally anywhere he could manage to trail his fingers while we spoke, I loved every second of it. At some point, it seemed like he didn’t even notice how much he always needed to be touching me, but I absolutely adored it. It felt amazing to be craved as constantly as he craved me. “Here it comes, finally,” Nick nudged me in the side and pointed in the sky, but I didn’t look at it immediately, I was too drawn in by how beautifully his gorgeous face glowed under the moonlight as he smiled. For a while, I just enjoyed watching him stare at the clouds above us and it
PROLOGUEAPRIL“Sandy, stop making your brother cry. You promised that you wouldn't do that today, remember?” I groaned as my oldest child terrorized her little brother. She shrugged, laughing, the mischievous glint in her eyes matching that of one of her dads whose character she’d inherited; Ace. “It’s so easy to make him cry, I promise I wasn't even trying. I’m just being myself,” she flipped her dark lush hair over her shoulders, the glossy and stunning sight also resembling that of her fathers. She was such a daddy’s girl that she took every last bit of her being from them; her drop dead gorgeous looks and her fearless, stubborn personality. According to her dads, she got her stubbornness from me and not them, but I refused to believe that. “Sweetheart, putting a worm in your brother’s shoe doesn't count as being yourself,” Nick stifled laughter as he walked into the living room, dressed handsomely in suit that was identical to our son Samuel’s. “I’m a prankster and an anima
APRIL“Well, it’s a good thing I know exactly where that asshole is,” Nick’s mom said, the anger in her voice superseding his.At least Xenia’s trip across the world had proven to be the answer to our problems. But now, we had yet another broken hearted mate to add to the mix, and just like me, the pain sprung from parental issues. However, there was no time to dwell on that. The moon goddess had given us an opportunity to reclaim the peace in our city, so we had to focus our all on that. After the city was secure, we'd find a way to tend to our broken hearts and find the emotional healing we all deserve.But for now, all that mattered was find Nick’s monster of a father and putting and end to his evil attacks. “Are you sure this is the place, mom?” Nick asked as we pulled into the empty driveway of an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere. “I'm certain. I'll never forget it because I traced his assets all over the city in a bid to uncover proof of his evil agenda, but he cau
APRILWe all followed behind him, running until we stopped outside what seemed to be a prison cell. There was a woman dressed in tattered clothes and covered in dust cowering in a corner and hugging her knees to her chest, and something about her was oddly familiar. My mates also seemed shocked by her presence, but not in the same way that I was. The look in their eyes told me that they knew something about this mystery woman that I didn't know. Before I could even ask about it, Nick grabbed the iron bars and broke them off with a deep growl before running into the cell and wrapping his arms around the woman. That? That was the most confusing thing I’d ever witnessed. And I needed answers right now.I started to stomp towards the cell when Nick said a word that made me freeze in place, understanding washing over me in a thousand waves. “Mom! It’s you!”I blinked repeatedly, awfully confused. “Mom?” Ace and Xander looked away from the emotional reunion unfolding before us and nodd
APRILGlinda was confirmed to have been dead for good, but our hellish experiences still didn't cease after her death. Personally, I was still grieving my mother and the wonderful life I would've enjoyed with my parents if she hadn't swooped in and turned things upside down. My mother’s burial was an emotional moment for me and I broke down completely while delivering the eulogy. The guys even had to come upstage and keep from falling apart some more. The days that followed weren't any greener, especially with the dark void around the city worsening and swallowing us into a vortex while I was still grieving.Of course we were terribly confused as to why the spiritual attacks had carried on even after Glinda’s death, but no one had a reasonable answer to that. It was fucking frustrating having to watch people in pain almost every damn day. It sucked the humanity out of one’s soul and replaced it with nothing but bitterness. The only thing that was clear to me about the pattern of
APRIL“You rotten lads, you couldn’t just mind your damn business? This is your fathers’ karma, why did you have to dig your stupid snotty noses in it?” she hissed angrily, overly displeased that she’d been found out by us.“We should be asking the questions,” I responded, upset that she hadn’t even made an effort to explain herself, “we came here thinking this whole fiasco was orchestrated by Glinda, only to see that it’s you, mom?!” The disappointment in my voice was thick, but she obviously didn’t give a shit about my feelings because she broke into hysterical laughter. “Mom? I’m not your fucking mom you idiotic little whore,” she rolled her eyes, and then she snapped her fingers, causing her face and physical appearance to warp instantly. Suddnely, she was a silver-haired woman with countless ancient tattoos of the moon and a shiv stuck in her heart that told us more than we needed to know. Later on, the Alphas had given us a more detailed tale of the day they finally took dow
APRIL It’s been almost a month of back to back horrors breaking out in the city.We’d successfully chased the rogues out of the city and the sorceres were stationed alongside the armies by the borders, making sure that no more enemies were able to breach our defenses and get in.Heaps of bodies had been buried over the weeks and the entire town was reeking of grief. Loved ones were being mourned in different corners of the city were candles were lit beside framed photos and bouquets of flowers. Each photo of the dead that I saw brought me close to tears, but for children’s photos, my heart literally ached and felt like it was going to explode. Living in a place that was shrouded with pain and darkness was suffocating. Even though the sun came out each day, it felt like there was a dark void enveloping the city because everyone was in a sunken mood. We had to find Glinda and put an end to her attacks before the city was ruined beyond saving. Our search for her so far has proven fu
APRILThe ticking clock in the ICU waiting room was the only audible sound.Xander had been taken in for an emergency operation a while ago and we were still waiting to hear back from the doctors.When we arrived at the hospital, he was barely breathing, and it seemed like they might’ve stopped his heart for the surgery because I couldn’t feel even a shred of his presence through the bond. On our way to the hospital, we’d dropped Natalie at one of the safety bunkers where security and magic borders were keeping people safe. If she was here, she’d have been a great distraction for me. And god, I’d do anything to be distracted from this godawful unending pain. My chest fucking hurt. Every nerve in my body was on literal fire. My head was pounding as though a line up of high school bands were in a competition. All I could think of was the pitiful state we’d found Xander in a while ago. The way he looked helpless and near death’s door. The way his blood was like a second skin masking
APRILThe city was a mess. A bloody one.“Natalie, stop using your fucking phone or you’re going to get us killed,” I whispered to my best friend whose face was a mess of dry tears. She glared at me. “If I’m going to die, I need Hector to know that he was the best sex I ever had and I always wished we became more.” I frowned at her, both disturbed and confused that she’d picked that as the most important thing to put in order in a life and death situation. What a freaking clown.“Nat, I’ve told you a thousand times, you’re not going to die,” I bit out, “Nick asked us to stay hidden here and he’ll come get us, and I know he will.”I reminded her of the instruction we’d gotten almost an hour ago when chaos broke out in the city.Apparently, some rogues breached the city’s gates and began to brutally attack every living thing in sight. They've been killing anything in their way and no one is exempt from their wrath.Not women. Not innocents. Not children. Not animals. It was a battle
XANDER Today, just like every other day for the last two weeks, we’d split up to search for Brooke. April was able to fully recover from the effects of the poison she was heartlessly fed by Brooke after a full day or more. Once we were certain that she was in a perfectly healthy state, we decided to go on a hunt for Brooke to make her pay for hurting our precious mate.No one seemed to know where she was. No one had seen her since she ran off that day. Even the city cameras had no footage of her since that day. It was almost like she’d vanished into thin air after that day, but we refused to give up on our search.We even had the authorities officially interrogate everyone she knew, especially those she worked with at her modeling agency, but no one had any reasonable information to share with us that would narrow her search.Even her personal assistant only heard that she was missing from us, he’d assumed she was taking a mental health break when she didn’t come to the office for