HildaArlo’s only been gone for a day and I’m already driving myself nuts. It seems inconceivable that a few short weeks ago I still had doubts about our relationship. It’s as though the thought of losing him flipped a switch inside of me, lighting up all the dark, hidden places and showing me the truth.I still shudder in shame when I think about my night of illicit passion with Soren. It was such an awful thing to do, something I would never have believed either of us capable of, but if it hadn’t happened, would I still be vacillating between trusting in my new bond and hankering for what I lost?I hope Soren can find the same peace and happiness that I have. That Cerelia is back with him and she can convince him to let go of his ridiculous determination to depose Arlo. I wish there was something I could do to steer him on to a different course of action. I don’t want him to die. I want him to live his own life and to let Arlo and me live ours.Goosebumps pop out on my arm when I re
CereliaI’m just getting started on dinner when someone starts hammering on the door of Maelor’s cottage. We take turns cooking, which I appreciate, even if the food he prepares is barely edible. It’s nice to feel that he sees me as an equal and not his temporary maid.Nobody else has come here since my arrival and he’s a recluse as far as I know. Maybe it’s a lost traveler. Whoever it is certainly seems to be in a panic, judging by the severity of the knocking. Maelor’s gone out to forage for herbs. Many of the ingredients needed for potions only bloom at night, or need to be picked at specific times of the day.“We have a problem-“ the woman snarls, snapping her mouth shut when she takes me in. “Who the hell are you?” she asks angrily. She’s older than I am, appearing to be in her mid-30’s. She’s flawlessly beautiful, with porcelain skin, glossy ebony hair, emerald eyes, ruby lips and an hourglass figure. She should take my breath away with her perfection but it seems too unnatural
SorenArlo’s message infuriates me on every level. I’ve made no headway in my search for Cerelia and I’m terrified of what could be happening to her. My hope was to avoid facing him in battle until I had her back by my side.I also have no intention of facing him one on one. The outcome is too uncertain. This is exactly why I would be a better leader than him, I don’t believe brute force should determine who leads the Alphas. I can’t frame it that way for the others though, werewolves respect physical strength far too much.“So this can all be over really fast and then you can enlist the help of all the packs to find our Luna,” Lewis says excitedly. He’s young and naïve. “I’m not dueling King Arlo,” I tell him flatly, “I have to find Cerelia first.”Lewis looks confused, “But it will be over quickly. If you don’t go through with it, what will our allies think?” Damon smiles at me coldly, running a whetstone across the edge of his dagger, “Yes Soren, what will the other wolves think? T
HildaArlo’s home much sooner than I expected and he’s very upset about the way things played out. I can’t deny that I’m relieved to know that he and Soren are both still alive. “He’s continuing to spread the rumor that I’m involved with dark sorcery and using Cerelia’s disappearance as an excuse to avoid facing me,” Arlo rails, while I drink him in with my eyes.“Hilda, you have to stop looking at me like I’m a snack. It’s very difficult to vent while you undress me with your eyes.” We’re in his office and it’s the middle of the day, but I don’t think I’ll make it until tonight. “You are a snack,” I tell him firmly as I lock his office door and pull the curtains closed, “And I’m intending to undress you with my hands in just a moment.”His pupils flare with need and he has me pinned against the wall in the blink of an eye, one hand trapping my wrists above my head. “Is that so?” he growls quietly, deftly undoing the buttons on my shirt with his free hand, his lips trailing hot, wet k
Cerelia We’re working on my stamina when there’s a loud knock at the door. I have a lot of magic, but my control is still lacking and I tire quickly when I try and use it. “Maelor!” My heart nearly jumps out of my chest when I hear Soren’s voice.I didn’t sense him approaching, how’s that possible? Has our bond been broken? I look for it inside myself and it takes a minute to find it. Battered, bruised and dull, but still there. The sound of his voice makes my insides ache. Part of me still longs to be in his arms more than anything. If only he didn’t long for someone else.Maelor looks at me worriedly, speaking a few words under his breath. I can’t see the barrier he’s put up, but I sense it. “He can’t hear us. You have to make a decision and fast. Do you want to stay here, or go back to your pack with your unfaithful mate? I can hide you from his sight if you decide to stay.”This should be easy, but it’s not. In spite of what Soren’s done, I still love him. The sense of betrayal a
ArloMy mate is beyond compare. Her scent is intoxicating to me. Deep, sweet and rich, underpinned by honeyed heat. Lush, enchanting and endlessly alluring. One whiff makes me want to throw my head back and howl. Informing the world that she’s mine.Her pupils are blown wide and her thighs are trembling from the effort to hold back her orgasm. Her sweet nectar coats my fingers and I can’t hold back the growl rumbling in my chest. “Mine. I have to taste you.” I rip her pretty underwear with my teeth and immediately bury my head in her sweet, succulent mound. My tongue lapping hungrily at her musky ambrosia, the need to claim her growing out of control.“So fucking good,” I hum, sucking on her clit so more of her juices rush out to meet my tongue. Her walls clench around my fingers and she’s shaking like a leaf. “Arlo. Please. Please, let me orgasm.” Her words help me focus again, reminding me that this is all about her. My desires can wait. I want her to cum on my cock, harder than she
HildaYou’d swear we’d been separated for 2 weeks and not 2 days. Arlo and I can’t get enough of each other and it’s nearly sunrise again by the time we finally manage to stay in a naked, sweaty tangle without lust driving us to lunge at each other again.“I love you, have I told you that recently?” Arlo asks, pushing the tangled hair off my brow and attempting to tuck it behind my ear. “I lost focus for a while there, but I believe so,” I say hoarsely. “Oh babe, you need water,” he says in concern, unwrapping his arms, which were holding me close to his chest, and getting up to head to the kitchen naked.The view is superb. His ass is a work of art, his legs long and muscular, his broad back topping tapered hips. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than Arlo nude. “You’re going to get me all riled up again if you keep looking at me like that,” he warns when he returns with 2 glasses of water.I’m too tired for any more right now. My body aches gloriously and I can barely keep my
Soren Something isn’t right. I certainly never spoke to Maelor about still having feelings for Hilda, how does he know about that? I’m also just about sure that I can feel Cerelia’s presence here. Perhaps the kindly mage who helped me, isn’t quite so done with the dark arts as he’d like me to believe.“Maelor, I’m in a hurry. I need your help to find where your former associates meet. You’ve stuck your neck out this far, please stretch a little more. I will protect your life with my own if it comes down to it, but I have to find Cerelia.”Maelor shakes his head sadly, looking genuinely sympathetic. “I’m sorry Soren, but I don’t know. They use magic to conceal their presence and the spell will be woven to specifically keep me from finding them.”“You also still practice magic, cast a different spell to undo theirs!” I demand more forcefully than I intended to. He looks at me like I’m mad. “They pool their strength, I can’t fight that. There’s nothing I can do to help you. I’ve told yo
ArloShe wants to breed with me. In spite of Tara and her doom prophesying, Hilda still wants me to fertilize her eggs with my sperm and see if her belly will swell with our child. I can already picture it. How ripe and lovely she would look. How unbearably protective I’ll be of her. I want it so much. To raise a family with her. To have as many offspring as I can manage to put inside her.But not if it means flipping a coin and the other side is her life. “I can’t lose you,” I tell her huskily, my throat swollen with emotion. “You won’t,” she says with more certainty than she has any right to feel. “I’m yours, Arlo. Death can’t have me, I belong to one man only.”She’s so bloody infuriatingly stubborn. “Yet you refuse to listen to that man,” I argue back. “Belong as in give myself freely to, not as in a slave,” she tells me patiently. “You know I have the strength to do this. I need you to believe in me.”“That’s not fair, Hilda. This has nothing to do with me doubting how tough you
HildaCerelia reads the entry aloud so Arlo and Soren are also brought up to speed.“5th Night of the Harvest Moon.The veil grows thin with the turning of the seasons, and again, I feel the weight of my duty. The Veilbreaker rests as it has for generations, untouched beneath the watchful gaze of the whispering stones. There, where the moonlight spills unbroken upon the earth, it lies within the roots of the lone ash, its heart wrapped in silver-threaded cloth. Only the blood of our line may stir it from slumber, and only in dire need shall it waken.I have walked the glade many times, counting the standing sentinels, tracing the ancient runes chiseled by hands long gone. The wind carries their whispers still, and in their counsel, I am reminded: the Veilbreaker does not serve lightly. It unravels the falsehoods spun by magic, sundering illusions and piercing deception. Yet, such power demands balance. That which is revealed cannot be unseen, and the bearer must be strong enough to wi
Hilda I’d love to stay right here and roll around on the floor with my king, but we have to get this done. It feels less weird being in Soren’s cabin with my true mate than I could ever have imagined, but it’s still a bit strange.“See, just like a puppy, no self-control,” I keep baiting Arlo, loving the way he bristles in mock annoyance. “Now get up, we have to…Ohhhh,” I moan shakily when he starts lightly rocking his incredible hard-on against me. One hand is already slithering under my shirt and reaching for my nipple, tweaking it through my bra.“You’re right,” he admits huskily, “When it comes to you I don’t have any self-control.” He’s pushing my shirt up, groaning hungrily when my breasts are exposed. “Do you want me to stop?” he asks, tonguing my flesh through the flimsy fabric of my bra, those polished amber eyes glowing up at me, before closing his teeth around my nipple and suckling on the tip.A jolt of desire lights up my entire body. “Never,” I whisper tremulously, bury
Arlo“I’m just dying to know what those plans were, Damon,” I say silkily. Feeling great satisfaction when he flinches away in fear. I can smell his agitation and it makes me want to attack so badly. He’s weaker than I am and he’s a threat to my mate, I should eliminate him right here and now. It would be over in a second.Unfortunately I promised Hilda I wouldn’t. She got impatient with how long Soren and Cerelia were taking and convinced me that time was of the essence and I had to control my inner beast for the sake of everyone’s lives. I’m not sure at this moment if it’s worth it.Hilda wraps both her hands around one of mine. “Save your energy for a real challenge, baby. He’s nothing but a distraction.” Damon wants to snarl at her, but his survival instinct seems to override his bad judgment and he settles for pretending not to have heard Hilda.I have to stop thinking about him putting his hands on her or I’m going to lose it. “Soren, is it okay if Arlo and I go to your cottage
DamonI don’t know what the hell is going on here, but I definitely don’t like it. They’ve infected my sister with magic and turned her into one of those harpies who think they should act like one of the boys. I won’t turn my back on her. We’ll find a way to get her back to normal.“What happened to you?” I ask in a low voice, trying to pull her away from Soren. “Did he have you enchanted in some way? Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to fix…whatever this is,” I say, gesturing at the glowing orb.“Damon, please, there’s no time,” Cerelia begs, her big blue eyes staring up at me. I’ve never been able to resist that pleading look.After my mother died, my dad kind of disappeared from our lives too. There was always food in the house, but someone had to prepare it. I was 10 and Cerelia 3 when I made her a sandwich and a cup of milk for the first time and she looked at me like I hung the moon.Nothing else in the world has ever come close to the way I felt that day. Like a hero. Someone to be
CereliaThe closer we get to our pack house, the more out of control my nerves get. Damon is unpredictable at the best of times and I don’t know what his reaction will be to seeing Hilda and King Arlo.He accepted Soren as my mate only because he knew the mating bond had snapped into place and he didn’t want to hurt me by denying me close proximity to my mate. Our pack members believed he was also tired of the constant losses caused by the war with Soren’s pack, but Damon likes war.I love my brother. He looked out for me all our lives and protected me like I’m some fragile treasure. My father wasn’t around much after my mother died, as though being at home with his children was some kind of terrible burden. Damon stepped into the void left by my parents, loving and caring for me all through my childhood.I adored him growing up and it was only at around 16 or so that I became aware that our relationship wasn’t completely normal. He didn’t like other boys looking at me and the way he
Hilda“I get where you’re coming from, but waiting here will waste time. I don’t know where the glade is, but my family belonged to the same pack for many generations. In all likelihood it’ll be on those lands.” I tell Arlo softly.“Hilda, you were pierced with several arrows and just about dead when I found you. Not to mention that you were skin and bones. Clearly too weak to be running or fighting. That asshole used you for sport.”“I know, but he drove me straight to you, so there’s a silver lining,” I say with a smile, trying to dispel his brooding expression. “I would have found you even if you were on the opposite side of the world,” he growls. “I definitely didn’t need him to try and kill you so I could find you.”“Baby, I love that you’re protective and furious about what he did. If our roles were reversed, I’d feel exactly the same way, but this is more important than that. I’m still alive and happier than anybody has any right to be. We’ll ask Soren to make sure he stays hid
HildaI go to find Cerelia first. I’m pretty sure there’s no lingering resentment or jealousy about my and Soren’s past, but just in case it upsets her to know I still have stuff in Soren’s attic, I’d like to give her advance warning to deal with it.“Hilda, that’s incredible! We have to go and look through your stuff immediately,” she says excitedly, nearly vibrating with elation. “Combined with what I’ve just learned, I think we’ll have an edge Maelor will never see coming!”I’m cautiously optimistic that the artifact will help, but there are no guarantees we’ll even find it. I also don’t want to deflate Cerelia’s optimism with my doubts.“So you have more control now?” I ask with a smile. Perhaps her power alone will be enough to beat back Maelor now that her latent powers are being unleashed. Cerelia smacks her forehead, “I haven’t told you!” she practically crows with delight.“Told me what?” I’m becoming a little concerned that there may be too much magic flowing through her vei
Hilda I’ve been uncomfortable in Tara’s presence since the day we met and she blew a hole in my near-perfect life, but I’m glad Cerelia came to me to accompany her to the small cottage we’d allocated to Tara.“I just need a second pair of eyes to help me make sure she’s not lying,” Cerelia explains. Clutching the piece of obsidian in her hand like it’s tethering her to the world.“Very wise and I’m happy to lend you my deception detection capabilities,” I tell her grandiloquently. She’s apologized twice for bothering me and since nothing else seems to convince her, I’ll tease her instead. Cerelia grins at me, “Okay, fine, I get it,” she retorts.Tara looks surprised to see us and I have to suppress the urge to ask whether she didn’t see us coming. Despite my best efforts, I can’t quite keep myself from resenting her. I do my damnedest to hide it though.After a few quick pleasantries to make sure she’s settling in well, I turn the conversation over to Cerelia.Tara’s eyes grow wide w