Josefina’s here. She’s here, back in Arcadia. And Ma used her luna command to tell me that I had to stay away from her. I wasn’t allowed to come anywhere near Josefina until I got a mindlink from one of her parents or one of mine. Do you know how hard it is to smell her scent? To know that she’s finally in the same city as I am, within a five minute walk after being out of my reach for months? And to have Alexander stuck in the Goddess’s Realm with some crazy ancient goddess of death? I’m quickly unraveling over here and nothing that I do is calming me down. “You’ve got to get your shit together, bro. You’re going to wear a trail in the sidewalk at this rate,” Caleb tells me. Caleb Thorne, my best friend, aside from the twins, is the son of Michael, an oracle of the pack, and Citra Osborn, the High Priestess of the Mother coven here in Texas. Both of them helped bring Nathan away from his crazy bio-dad at the beginning of the Civil War. Caleb is their oldest child.
There’s only so long that I can take scenting Jacob and Alexander and not being around them. They’re scent is like a drug, one that none of the human drugs have been able to give me. A measure of peace and happiness that settles my soul. One that I need badly. So, I ask Devin and Arya to call him. To bring him to me. And Goddess, does his scent calm me even more as he gets closer. I wish that he didn’t do this to me. I wish that it was different. When his eyes meet mine, it is like all of my feelings come to the surface. Everything that I feel for him and because of him. Pain. Humiliation. Longing. Desire. Because despite everything, I still want him. I still need him. I still love him. I never stopped. It takes Devin’s whistle to break us out of our staring contest. And then Jacob sits beside his parents and watches me as the meeting continues. It’s so hard to focus on what’s being said with him right there, just a few strides away from me. I just want to cu
It is the asscrack of dawn and we are up and on a plane across the globe to Ios. Bella, Gregory, Jamal, Nyx, and me. All tucked up in the large cabin of one of our private planes. I met Nyx at her house this morning with coffee in a thermos and the danishes that I noticed she liked from the coffee shop we went to before. I had called the shop yesterday, after the meeting, so that they would be made and ready to go when I dropped by before getting Nyx. Of course, I got enough for Bella, and her mates, but this was for Nyx. This was all for Nyx. Anything that I can do to get that smile on her face. The one that is so delightedly surprised that someone would do something for her. Not to get anything back from her. Just to see her happy. That smile is what keeps me going. It’s so rare. So rare that I can count the times that I’ve seen it on one hand. But I treasure every single one. “Did you get this for me?” she asked, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “For you? Naw.
It’s about mid-morning when I get a mindlink from Tomas. I’m in the middle of some paperwork from my area. We’re trying to get permits to break ground on a new elementary school. Le’s just say that the dry language of government red tape is not my happy place. Because even though this is pack land that we’re developing, we still have to play nice with the human government. Hearing his voice is welcome respite. Hey! Are you two available to talk this afternoon? I have something important to tell you, he links to me and Kaia. I’m free after 1:00 if you two want to do lunch, I respond. Same, Kaia responds, her answer terse and a little breathy. She’s starting to ramp up her training for the competition circuit again and has been at the gym since 6:00 this morning. She’s gotta be exhausted, but I can feel the little jolt of happiness that goes through her at the thought of seeing Tomas. Pizza? she adds through the mindlink. I’ll get from Bobby’s, I link, mouth already wate
I didn’t mean to explode on Kaia like that. She and I seem to rub each other the wrong way a lot of the time. But there’s always an underlying chemistry beneath it. We’d actually been making some headway with our relationship, especially after I devoured her pussy when she sat on my face the other night. And then when she walked in tonight, she basically ran into my arms and we had the hottest make-out session that I’ve had. Well, maybe tied with the one that I had with Zoe in the park. But then she got pissed. And in my head, I was telling myself not to react. I was telling myself that this is probably just Kaia reacting to her heightened emotions. And then she said that sexist shit and I lost my cool. Obviously it was due to my heightened emotions as well, but I should have said it. Especially that last thing I said, because that didn’t only just hurt Kaia, but it hurt Zoe, too. I was literally on my knees in front of her apologizing when all of a sudden, she rips m
I am so angry. Livid even. How dare he talk to me like that! Does he even understand what I can do? The kind of warrior that I am? I was invited to be one of the Elite and declined to keep my Luna position. But that didn’t mean that I was some kind of liability in battle! And like I always do, I find it easier to deal with my emotions and how arguments played out better in my wolf form. So, I head for the forest. The place where I do my best thinking. I quickly transform into my wolf and start to run the territory. And then I allow the argument to replay in my head. This time, though, I hear it a little differently. Instead of the angry and almost smug “NO!” that I thought Tomas had screamed at me when I suggested that we go with him, I remember the look on his face. The protectiveness and fear. Is it possible that I misunderstood his intention? It makes what he had said next sound more like a plea than anything else. “No! I won’t let you come with me. I can’t ris
By the time the sun is starting to go down, I get a mindlink from Gregory. The potion is ready. Alright. We’ll get everyone together and prepare to leave in the hour, I link back. Turning to my mate, I tell him, “They’re ready with the potion. Told Gregory to expect us in an hour.” He nods and I can tell by the absent look on his face that he’s mindlinking everyone. Huitzilopochtli looks at us, his hands held out at his side in a helpless gesture. “I wish there was something else that I could do for you, but I cannot enter Selene’s realm at all. Not unless she is there to extend the invitation. I truly think that the only reason that this spell will work for you is because you belong to that realm. That’s where you go when you die. And your mate’s soul will go there as well.” “Do you have any advice that will help us?” I ask. “She’s cocky. It’s with good reason, but it has also made her over confident. She likes to play with her meals. And it can make her…inattentive t
The plan is simple. Distract Ītzpāpālōtl with magic from the witches and attacks from the wolves. No one but those that already live in the Goddess Realm get close to her. They are already did and, while they can be hurt, they can’t die again. Arya and I are the only ones that go after her to stab her with the diamond swords, since we’re demi-gods. But everyone has a diamond sword just in case. Simple plan. Let’s just hope that the execution works just as well. Right before we leave, Hermes stops us. To tell the truth, I had forgotten that he was there. There was just a lot going on and I think I could be excused for forgetting that there was a Greek god in the room with us. “Wait. Let me bestow a gift on you all before you leave!” Hermes calls from the chair that he looks like he’s still having trouble sitting upright in. I look at him, confused. “Why are you still in such bad shape? Shouldn’t you be healing faster than that?” Hermes rolls his eyes at me. “If I coul