(Hilda)The argument reached a fever pitch and I felt like I was caught in a storm. Cerelia was mad at Soren for cheating, Soren was mad at Cerelia for hiding the talisman, Arlo was mad at me for cheating with Soren so he was mad at Soren too and I didn’t know what to think.The two packs watched as we all shouted at each other. Their anxiety mirrored my own as the yelling grew louder and more out of control. Anger shaded by guilt, with a heavy dose of emotional distress mixed in. None of us could think clearly while we were this upset.“Please, just stop,” I begged, tears threatening to spill over. “We’re all too upset to think straight right now. We need to calm down and then attempt to discuss things maturely.”Cerelia snorted and rolled her eyes. “It’s a bit late to try and be the voice of reason now Hilda. Did you think you could have both of them? That you’re special enough to keep 2 Alphas dangling from your fingers, panting after you?”I could understand her fury at me. Had ou
Cerelia The pain is intense and crippling. How could Soren do this to me? I’ve known in the back of my mind that he never completely got over Hilda, but I believed him when he told me he loves me. That I’m his rock and the one he chose to be his Luna.I remain hidden in the trees to listen to what else is said. Hilda’s remorse seems genuine, but it changes nothing. It happened, they slept together, there’s no going back and changing that. I have to find a way to move past the pain and figure out what my next move should be.Something strange happened while I was wielding the talisman that destroyed Lilith. I felt a seam of magical power lighting up inside of me. As if it’s been hiding there in plain sight all along, just waiting for the right time to come to life.After hearing Soren beg Hilda to stay with him, it was clear that there’s no reason for me to return to our pack house. A small part of me held out hope that somehow Lilith had cast a spell, forcing Hilda and Soren into eac
Hilda Whatever Arlo may have said in the woods in front of Soren about me belonging to him, he wasn’t showing much of it back at his cabin. He sleeps on a pallet next to the bed and every time I attempt to touch him he flinches away from me.I’m starting to think I may have made a mistake in choosing to come back here. I know my place isn’t with Soren either. I wonder whether he and Cerelia have managed to work things out. I hope so. The pain on her face when she walked in on us will forever be burned into my retinas. Shame is still my constant companion. Hopefully Soren came to his senses and apologized.The accusations he hurled at her in the forest, alleging that she was being manipulative and trying to be the hero, must have hurt her so badly. It rankled me and I’m not the one he implicated. We were in the wrong and he lashed out at her instead of taking responsibility. He was always the steady, level-headed one in our relationship. A bit controlling, but never aggressive. I don’
Hilda He owes me a lot of answers and we really should be talking, but the seductive magnetism of his proximity is overwhelming me. His palm cups my cheek, tilting my head back so he can kiss me. I’m expecting fire and searing passion, instead he offers me tenderness.His mouth claims mine gently, one arm wrapping around my waist, the other sliding into my hair. His tongue slips between my lips, lightly twirling around mine, sliding and moving in a sensuous dance, his teeth grazing my bottom lip. My body immediately tightens in response, nipples hardening, core contracting.“Arlo,” I whimper, wrapping my arms around his neck and hanging on for dear life. My knees are buckling, my head swimming in desire. He pulls my shirt over my head and shimmies my pants down my hips, before sweeping me into his arms and carrying me over to the bed.“You’re so beautiful,” he tells me gruffly, staring down at me. I watch wide-eyed as he shrugs off his own shirt, exposing his delectably wide shoulder
Arlo When she’s in my arms like this, her body coated in sweat, my scent comingled with hers, those gorgeous eyes growing heavy with contentment, the world seems like a perfect place. I want us to stay in this bubble forever.I can forgive what happened with Soren. Once. Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but I don’t blame Hilda for what happened in that cabin. Soren is the one who’s had a year, and a new mate whom he crowned his Luna, to move on from the bond he once shared with Hilda.She woke up a few short weeks ago and was immediately plunged into chaos. I intend to fix that. Our life together will be beautiful. Soren took advantage of her vulnerability. First by kidnapping her and then seducing her. Every ounce of blame for their infidelity will be laid at his doorstep. I don’t care whether that’s fair or not. I care about me and mine and Hilda is my everything.“Arlo, we have to talk,” she says, her voice whisper soft. I can hear the reluctance in her tone. She doesn’t want to shat
Hilda“That wasn’t your fault,” Arlo immediately counters. It seems making excuses for each other’s shortcomings may become a bit of a theme. “I’m so ashamed of my actions Arlo, but that doesn’t mean I get to pretend they weren’t mine.”“I won’t ever again, but this one time it means exactly that. If Soren hadn’t kidnapped you and planted doubts in your mind. If I’d been honest with you and not left cracks for him to widen. If, if, if. For all I know my mother cast a spell in order to drive a wedge between us. We’re starting with a clean slate. No secrets, no lies, no subterfuge.”I don’t deserve to be let off the hook this easily and maybe I’m weak for gratefully accepting his absolution without any further argument, but I want to forget that it ever happened.“Thank you. I’ll never betray you again, I swear. My loyalties aren’t divided anymore, Arlo.” His lips descend on mine for a fiery kiss. “How can I possibly want you so badly again already?” he groans. “I’m yours for the taking
SorenDamon is waiting when I arrive at the pack house, prowling up and down with barely controlled fury. “Where’s Cerelia?” he demands, eyes hardening when he sees the confusion on my face. “Isn’t she back?”“No Soren, she isn’t back. She’s your Luna, surely you know where to find her? Or don’t you care what happens to her anymore now that you have Hilda back in your bed? Don’t bother denying it, I can smell her all over you.”“If you want to issue a challenge, Damon, do it. I don’t have the energy for a pissing contest right now. I need to find Cerelia. You may do well to remember that I’m your Alpha and you don’t demand things from me.” I can see that he’s wavering on a knife’s edge, more than a little tempted to go for me right then and there.“I suggest you shower at least 3 times before tracking down Cerelia, unless your aim is to dissolve the mating bond and strip her of being Luna?” Damon drawls. I understand his anger, but that doesn’t mean I intend to tolerate it.“We still
HildaI feel like I’m strung out on joy, effervescing, bubbling over with it. After everything that’s happened, I’m happier than I’d known it’s possible to be. Arlo and I talk constantly. About Lilith, the girls, the way he’s run the pack, the tension amongst his warriors. He holds nothing back from me.My love for Soren was very real and the pain of losing him cut me to the core, but I can’t deny that it wasn’t comparable to the bliss I feel now. Body, mind, soul, heart, it’s all brimming over with completion. I feel whole in a way I’d never experienced before.Seeing the way Arlo is changing, opening up not only to me, but to his pack, is a revelation. I can see his warriors are still wary, not sure whether they can trust this more relaxed Alpha King, but I have no doubt that he’ll win them over in short order. He’s too incredible not to.There are moments of darkness and doubt, which will undoubtedly continue for a long time to come. Forgiving himself isn’t going to be as simple as
TaraThe voice starts as a whisper. A distant hum threading through the edges of my thoughts. At first, I think it’s just exhaustion. Too many restless nights, too much tension hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break. But then I start losing time.I wake up in places I don’t remember going.The first time, I brush it off. Maybe I was just distracted, walking on autopilot. The second time, I feel a twinge of unease, but I push it down. But by the third, when I come to, standing in the middle of the hallway with no memory of how I got there, my fingers curl so tight they ache and I know something is wrong.And the voice. Gods, the insidiously whispering voice. It’s stronger now. Familiar and foreign all at once. Come, it calls, gentle as a lover’s breath against my ear. I’ve waited so long.I tell myself I’m imagining it, that it’s stress, that I’m unravelling after everything that’s happened and the constant worry about Hilda and her pregnancy. But then, one night, my body mov
HildaThe knife strapped to my thigh feels like a lifeline. It’s a comforting weight, pressing against my skin as I move through the halls of the pack house. I haven’t stopped there though. I now have one at my back and each of my inner arms.It’s ridiculous. I know it is. I’m surrounded by warriors, by my mate, by the safety of our home, but I can’t shake the feeling that something, or someone, is watching me.And I don’t think it’s Damon. Undoubtedly he’s out there too, but this feels seriously malevolent. Making the hair stand up on the back of my neck all day level of evil. Damon is a piece of shit, but I can’t believe his gaze would do this to me.Arlo notices, of course. He always does. “Is there a reason you’re suddenly carrying weapons everywhere?” he asks one evening as he leans against the bedroom doorframe, arms crossed over his broad chest. His tone is light, teasing, but his sharp gaze watches me closely.“Have you seen Damon?” he asks in concern. I sigh, tugging my sweat
ArloPacking up the few belongings we took with us to the mountain cabin takes less than a minute.“I don’t want to leave,” I tell Hilda, eyeing the wonderfully inviting bed again. She laughs, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Our people need us to come back. The only real difference is that we’ll be wearing clothes back home, nothing else was all that different here.”She’s not completely wrong. We do fuck a lot at home too, but not whenever the mood strikes. Which is every minute of every day.I shouldn’t complain. Leading our people is a privilege, even more so now that I have my incredible Luna by my side and our firstborn on the way.The moment we cross the border into our territory, I can feel it. The air is thick with expectation, the weight of responsibility settling back onto my shoulders like an old, familiar cloak.Hilda runs alongside me in her wolf form, her sleek coat brushing against mine as we cross the final stretch home. We haven’t spoken much since leaving the moun
HildaThe water is blissfully warm, wrapping around me like silk as I sink deeper into the natural pool. Steam curls into the cool evening air, tendrils of mist rising around the jagged rocks that frame the hot spring.Arlo watches me from the other side of the spring, the muscles in his arms flexing as he grips the smooth stone edge. The molten hunger in his gaze makes my breath catch.He hasn’t looked away from me since we slipped into the water, as if he’s savoring the sight of me, burning it into his memory. The space between us feels charged and alive, like a tether pulling me toward him.You’re staring again,” I murmur, a slow smile curving my lips. He doesn’t deny it. Instead, he pushes off the rock and moves through the water with incredible grace, closing the distance between us in record time.My pulse quickens as he reaches me, his hands finding my waist beneath the water, the heat of his touch searing even through the steam. “How could I not?” he asks. His voice is low, ro
TaraI don’t belong here.The thought slips through my mind before I can catch it. Before I can shove it down and pretend it’s not there. I shake it off, pushing through the trees as I follow the edge of the training grounds.The sounds of wolves sparring, of warriors barking orders, of the pack moving like a well-oiled machine, none of it feels like it includes me.I’m an outsider who showed up and brought only bad news and suspicion with her. I’m glad I was able to help Cerelia but I know she never really trusted me and it hurt. I could understand her position after everything with Maelor, but it still hurt.Hilda refused to send me away, despite all the bad omens and terrible news I gave her. She’s been my one shining beacon of light in this pack and with her gone I feel like an outsider again. The one everyone stares at and whispers about.I know she’s coming back, but something in my gut won’t let me believe that things will return to the way they were. Every time I think about h
ArloI wake early, watching through the window as the mountains stretch endlessly beyond us, bathed in golden light as the sun begins its slow ascent. I breathe it all in gratefully. The quiet, the peace and the warmth of Hilda beside me.She’s still deeply asleep, curled on her side with one hand resting on my chest, her breath steady and soft. I’m not surprised after the frantic way we made love all day yesterday. My own muscles feel gloriously overworked.I let my fingers trace idle patterns over her back, marvelling at the way she fits against me. In spite of the difference in size between us, her curves slot perfectly into every bend and dip of my body.I never thought I’d have this. True love first of all, and once I found that it seemed impossible that we’d get to have moments like these, where the world isn’t demanding something from us.No battles to fight, no pack to lead for a few days, no threats lurking just beyond the borders. Just Hilda and me, lost in a sliver of time
Cerelia The wind is chilly as we cross into our territory. Winter is nearly upon us. It should be a relief to be home, back with our pack where we belong, but unease lingers in my chest.I tell myself Hilda is safe. She and Arlo are far away in the mountains, wrapped in the peace they deserve and undoubtedly entangled in each other, but I can’t shake the feeling that Damon isn’t finished.He’s a thorn that just won’t stop stabbing right into my heart. If he hurts Hilda, or her baby, I don’t know how I would live with the guilt.Soren’s fingers brush against mine as we walk through the gates, and I steal a glance at him. My worries fading for a moment as I appreciate my handsome mate.He looks every bit the Alpha. Broad-shouldered, composed, his presence commanding respect from every warrior who bows their head as we pass. But when his gaze meets mine, there’s something softer there, something just for me.Pack members rush over to offer to help with our packs, but we gratefully wave
HildaThe cabin is everything Arlo promised and more. Secluded, breathtakingly beautiful, and best of all, completely isolated. It sits perched on the edge of a pristine lake, nestled between towering pines and framed by the jagged peaks of the mountains. The air up here is crisp and cold. So much so that I can smell snow in the distance. I know it won’t be long before the windows are fogged up from our activities. I honestly don’t understand the overwhelming desire I’m feeling, but I’m not complaining. I’ve been incredibly drawn to Arlo sexually from the moment we met, but this is a craving that just refuses to go away no matter how often we make love. Fortunately for me, the cabin is quiet, peaceful, and for the first time in what feels like forever, there’s nothing clamoring for our attention. Just us. Able to do whatever we want for a blissful week. Arlo barely waits for the front door to close behind us before he’s shedding his clothes. His shirt hits the floor first, followe
CereliaI could have sworn I sensed Damon close by last night. Lurking in the darkness and watching as Soren and I made love. The thought makes me shiver uneasily. It’s obvious that Soren didn’t pick up on anything, he would have spoken up. Maybe I’m being paranoid. I just feel like we may have made a mistake by not killing Damon. Me. I made the mistake. I could have easily ended his life during the duel, but I held back. Both because he’s my brother and I hate the thought of killing anyone.The problem is that his obsession with me means he probably won’t come after me directly. He’ll try and isolate me by taking out everyone I care about. He doesn’t have the numbers to take on our pack, and certainly not King Arlo’s, but Damon is vengeful. He’ll look for a different way. Honor means nothing to him, he only cares about winning.I need to speak to Hilda before she and Arlo leave on their honeymoon. He’s taking her to a place deep in the mountains, next to a lake, he wouldn’t say an