Nomia pov When we leave Zared's office we go to Janus’ cabin, to tidy it up and take some memorabilia. It’s considerably less luxurious than our quarters but also more homely. It has three bedrooms, a living room with dining area, a kitchen and a garden with shed and vegetable patch. “We could live here,” I murmur more to myself than to Ruby and Garnet. They hear me anyway and immediately agree that it would be better here than in our quarters. Janus said he was collecting clothing and backpacks for us to escape but I don’t find any, making my heart drop. Was he never planning on leaving with us? “He just hid them well to prevent people from accidentally finding them,” Aminta assures me. “We’ll find it when we move in,” I say but my heart is not really in it. To distract myself from the troubles ahead I decide to pay Ahriman a visit. Ruby and Garnet stay in our new house. This time I’m let in, I walk down the stairs and find Ahriman in the same cell as before. He’s healed
Zared pov The viciousness with which Aurum, Dysnomia, castrated Ahriman, then seasoned his testicles and fed them to him is horrifying. I never thought a woman could be so harsh, so effective at torture.Gunther and I watched, unable to move or to intervene. We actually felt empathy for him, he is an alpha, he deserves some respect. Instinctively I move my hands to protect my own jewels. The unworded threat Dysnomia outed by having me bring salt, pepper and condiments and by doing so making me an accomplice and a witness. I am more than aware that she will not hesitate to do the same to me when she feels I deserve it. Einarr will no doubt help her accomplish whatever she wants. He is not my greatest fan.Gunther and I agree that our best course of action is to give her space, earn some credits and then slowly bring her back into the fold. Once she realises that she is not fit to rule, that she doesn’t have the desire to rule when she can be a mother as well, then she will readily su
Nomia povI stand next to Ahriman who admits defeat, knowing that his life will be over. Zared will slice his throat and will give the pack two days to pay their respects before he will become their alpha. I feel Breanna and Bridget wrap their arms around my waist. Knowing that when Ahriman dies the remnants of the bond will break. “Aminta? How bad will it be?”“Honestly I’m not sure, I expect it to hurt but that we can stay on our feet with the support we have.”Anxiously I wait for the moment that Zared drags the sword across Ahriman’s throat. Zared drops Ahriman to the ground and I know that within a few seconds his heart will stop beating. The pain is sharp, cutting my breath, in the same way when you’re thrown into ice cold water. Next a searing pain rips through my chest. I am determined to show as little of the pain as I can, I don’t want people to think that I cared for him. Everyone here knows I rejected him at his wedding. The pain slowly fades, I catch my breath and smile
Zared povI watch Dysnomia march out of the office. The last few days her behavour has been all over the place. From completely shattered and heartbroken when Janus died, to insanely angry when she came to the dungeon and kicked out most of Ahriman’s teeth. Immensely cruel she while castrating him and making him eat his own testicles. Gunther and I still shudder when we think about it, the sound of him trying to chew on his own testicle with hardly any teeth but unable to swallow the thing as a whole. Then she openly stood up to me in both Golden Claw and here, making her own decisions when it came to moving to Janus’ old cottage, dismissing Brian and just now by challenging me and Gunther. Her mood swings leave me reeling. “She’s pregnant,” Gunther offers as an explanation“Yes but it seems more than that.”“It’s probably her wolf as well. I can sense she's an old spirit, maybe even older than me. My guess is they are fighting over how to do things. Even though they’ve been togeth
Nomia povTo my surprise Jasmin, Gamma Blagdan and another woman joined us the next morning. All three packed for travel. I look at Breanna and Bridget but they shrug their shoulders, I look at Zared and raise a brow, in response he gives me a lopsided grin and the bond flutters alive, making me find him attractive.“He is a fine specimen though,” Aminta puts in her two cents.“He could be handsome but all attraction is lost due that scowl that makes him look as if he is permanently in pain or at least in pain.”“Jasmin will be coming back with us so she can keep you company. Gamma Blagdan will be your new guard and chaperon. He has requested that his mate can accompany him.”I nod in understanding, “Alpha Zared, would you allow me, Bridget and Breanna to shift and run alongside our travelling party?”“I will join you, Blagdan can take my horse. The four ladies can travel in the carriage. Gunther wants to spend some time with your wolf. We don’t even know her name yet. We haven’t shi
Zared povI felt a flutter of butterflies when Dysnomia gave me the name of her wolf, ‘Pseudea,’ I silently repeated it to taste it on my tongue. It feels natural, ‘Gunther and Pseudea’, it matches. Alpha King Zared and his Luna Queen Dysnomia. I can see it all playing out in front of me. She will submit to me after the fight, she will learn to respect me. Without Pseudea’s power she will once again be the sweet and timid girl that I named Aurum. Maybe I will revert back to calling her that so we aren’t constantly reminded of this bump in the road where she insisted on being called the name her mother gave her.When Gunther walks out the packhouse after shifting I am once again struck in awe by the sight of Pseudea, her Auburn fur glossy and thick, the yellow eyes that show her dragon blood. When we approach her Gunther tries to get her to at least bow her head and acknowledge him as an Alpha. She evades his move and stands taller and prouder. Then she starts out without me, I take of
Nomia povTonight is the full moon. I woke up feeling anxious. Aminta is pacing in my head. Restless. Anxious. Eager. I feel mostly dread. What if I fail everyone by losing? What will happen to Breanna and Bridget if I lose? On more than one occasion Zared has made it clear that they are protected by me. What if I can no longer protect them the way I can now?“Triton's Trident Dysnomia! Stop that thought train! We won’t fail.”I stop pacing the room. “Why not? How can you be so sure of that?”“The Moon Goddess is on our side. She wants us to win. She sent me to you to ensure that. Everything that ever happened to you happened for a reason. Breanna and Bridget’s wolves know it, they put their trust in you. Everything has led up to this moment.”My knees tremble, “I’m not born for greatness. I’m just a slave…” my words trail. “Neptunes nipples, Dysnomia! You are a dragon princess! Your mother was fated to the dragon prince! She was taken from him. You are the product of love and destiny
Zared POV“Aminta?!” Gunther screeches in horror, sounding like a cat who just had a bucket of water dumped on him. “Why is this so bad?”“Aminta is one of the oldest wolf spirits; she's a protector that always brings her mission to a successful end. Pseudea doesn’t always bring her mission to a successful end. She’s distracted or over courageous or promises more than she can do. She is only here on earth when the Moon Goddess really needs something done. Or when Aminta is bored and wants to shake things up.”“Have you defeated her before?“I can’t remember. We only get to keep some memories of past lives. Maybe we were mates before. Maybe we were mortal enemies. I don’t know.” “Didn’t you recognise her then?”“Zee, if I have no or only vague memories how do you think I would remember how Aminta looks? How would I know what her scent is like? Also these change over lives. She may be auburn it this life, black in the past and white in the next life.” The full moon is at its apex, M
Zared pov In my wildest dreams I hadn’t imagined how much and how hard work it would be to be Alpha King and father. Dysnomia demanded I also played a very active part in raising Derora and Arathorn. I was clueless how to be a ‘good father’. I only saw my father at dinner and then I was supposed to be quiet. Only when I turned 15 and my wolf was less than a year away did he start spending time with me. Grooming me to be his perfect successor. His lessons in fighting were brutal. He didn’t hold in his punches because if I found myself in a situation the opponent wouldn’t hold back either. I learned to duck and evade first. Once I had Gunther I gained strength. When I learned I could trust on Gunther's speed and experience I started throwing punches at him. So when Dysnomia handed me a very stinky Derora with an overflowing poop diaper with the words “I already had two of these today, this one is yours,” I was beyond clueless. “Goddess please help me with strength and wisdom. It’s
Dysnomia “Neptunes nipples,” I mutter to myself. I really want to finish this blanket before Derora gives birth. But the light is too dim for my poor eyesight. “Getting older is a curse. I can’t crochet for hours, my back hurts and my fingers are more crooked than the twigs of a serpentine hazel.” “Talking to yourself again?” Zared rhetorically asks as he enters the room, “I think it’s cute that you do that nowadays. Talking, or more accurately muttering, to myself is one of the most irritating things of being older. I often do it without realising. It frequently leads to over sharing of information. Even though Zared is older than me he is in a far better shape. I continue muttering under my breath ignoring Zared. He walks over and switches on a special reading lamp lamp with a magnifying glass attached we got in the human realm a few months earlier. Before we came to this era of relative peace people didn’t get this old. When I shift, which is rare nowadays, Aminta no longer
Dysnomia pov The sun peeps in through a crack in the curtains. I turn my back to the window and pull the blanket over my head. Of course I knew that having sex on a very regular basis with Zared could get me pregnant again but I’d foolishly hoped that it would take years not months. A soft knock on the door that I can but don’t want to ignore announces Austra with Derora. I sit up and plaster a smile on my face. I know the smile will be genuine in a few seconds when she hands me my little girl. Austra walks in holding my squirming little cherub. Her brown eyes have tiny golden specks showing that she too has some dragon magic. “Mwa!” Derora happily shouts out. I’m still not sure if she is trying to say ‘Mine’ or ‘Mama’. The one perk of being pregnant is that I can stay in bed and cuddle with her whilst the rest of the world is already going through the motions. I get ready with Derora playing and babbling on the bed. Once downstairs I go to my office. Zared is out hunting rebel
Dysnomia povToday Zared and I will be crowned Alpha King and Alpha Queen of ‘Regnum Lunae Lupi’. Over the past weeks we have planned this day and the future of our kingdom together. The planning has given us a common goal to work on and has significantly improved our relationship. There are still trust issues on both sides. Encouraged by Gunther and Aminta we spend time with just the three of us. Breanna, Bridget and Zared haven’t spoken since that fateful full moon. They don’t want to apologise to Zared and Zared doesn’t want to listen to their grievances. It is quite inconvenient to have the beta’s and the Alpha not communicating. That is the root cause of guilt issues on my side. I’m stuck between my mate and my best friends. They understand me and feel bad that they hurt Zared in such a way that it puts me in a difficult position with both Aminta and with Zared. But they don’t feel bad for Zared about it or the act itself. Zared on the other hand won’t admit that he deserved
Zared povI didn’t expect to sleep peacefully, I expected to lay awake, tossing and turning. My sack hurt too much, my head was a turmoil. Gunther tried his best to take away the pain but the incision was made with a silver knife. Thank the Goddess Breanna stitched it fairly neatly with a hot needle. It hurt just like the alcohol hurt. But Gunther said it will make the difference between losing my remaining testicle and maybe my life to an infection or being to live on. It will scar, silver almost always does. Even if the scars are invisible you feel them when the temperature changes or when the skin stretches. In my case I will be painfully reminded of this ordeal every time I get an erection as it will put tension on my sack. Which is at least once a day when I wake up with morning wood. The anger was indescribable. The betrayal Janus and Dysnomia committed still burns. I felt love and pride looking at the pup in Dysnimia’s arms. Gunther presented me visions of us being a happy fa
Dysnomia povMy arm hurts. After giving birth Aminta didn’t have enough in her to heal it. It was bone deep. I shudder at the idea that it wasn't my arm but Derora that received the full blow. Breanna and Bridget informed me they had dragged a barely resisting Zared to the dungeon. He is in the same cell that Ahriman occupied. When Breanna and Bridget mind link me again with the question if they can torture him I hesitate. He is my mate after all. Part of me can’t blame him for what he did. He has been trying so hard the last months to get in my good books to earn my forgiveness. There were even times when I thought I could leave the past behind me and find happiness with Zared. It would never be the all consuming love that I felt, no feel, for Janus but it could have been a good life for both of us. /No don’t torture him just yet. Let me think. I’m a mess right now,/ I answer them. Should I kill Zared for the attempted murder of the heir of our yet to be named Kingdom? “You thoug
Zared povI knew most of the Alpha’s would use the time between signing the treaty and Dysnomia and I coming to their packs to merge them to strengthen their defences. Luckily for us they had no allies to fall back on. The vampires and Fae kept to themselves luckily for us. Fighting them isn’t impossible but it comes at a price. The price being the lives of warriors. “It was good to kill those four Alpha’s though. I was like the good old times when we were young and wild,” Gunther tries to sound like he’s reminiscing about old times. Instead he sounds a little too sarky. “We’re still young and wild as we’re out here in the pouring rain rounding up rogues to see if they want to become law abiding citizens of our new, yet to be named Kingdom.” “True and most don’t so we get to kill them,” Gunther doesn’t even try to hide his enthusiasm over the number of rogues we killed in the past days. Those who did want to join were mostly young, having escaped slavery and a few mates that couldn’
Dysnomia povZared and I are nearing the borders of Alpha Williams’ Silver Blood pack to induct the pack member in what is now still Golden Claw. We have brought a considerable number of warriors with us as Aminta, Zared and Gunther are convinced Alpha William will have barricaded himself in and fight instead of honouring the treaty.I had hoped to manage a peaceful assimilation and even offered them to become our advisors and let them keep their sex slaves to manage that. The moment we are at the borders we are denied access by the guards. Zared and I have agreed that there will be no second chances for any of the alpha’s should they try to back. I know Zared was hoping that at least one would back out so he could show them that he is still the strongest Alpha. The hunt to find Alpha William is on. /Team Gold! Join me into the heart of the territory. We are hunting down William, when you find him you will incapacitate him and notify me. We are going for a public execution of a tr
Zared pov It was an eye opener to hear that Dysnomia wants me to experience the same things she did. But what she isn’t taking into account is that I have the mate bond pushing me towards her. Maybe, more importantly, I’m not her. I can endure to achieve a goal. My goal is and always has been to be the most powerful alpha. I needed her to be able to kill Ahriman and I didn’t even know it at the time. I assumed I would need her power. But I needed her to get Ahriman into Golden Claw where I could capture and then kill him. Another difference is that I, unlike women, don’t think too much about things. I enjoy the sensation of her massaging my prostate. Yes, it’s slightly awkward especially with Celeste watching and coaching Dysnomia but I park those thoughts. “That doesn’t make it easier to earn her forgiveness,” Gunther dryly remarks. “We need her to achieve our goals.” “With Ahriman gone, we no longer need her. The few remaining Alpha’s we can handle by ourselves..”“Getting rid