Thank you so much for reading! Only the epilogues to go now.
Colton’s POV For the past couple of months, Mallory had been intermittently blocking the bond. She never shut us out for long so I didn’t think too much of it. I just assumed she was practicing in case she ever wanted some privacy, which of course she was entitled to. Now, however, I understood the truth and I didn’t like it one bit. “Please little Omega. Open the bond. Let us share the pain with you!” I begged for the hundredth time. “I’m fine.” Mallory gritted out. “No sense in us all suffering.” Her little whimpers and moans were killing me. She refused to scream or cry out but the pain was written all over her face. It was wearing on all of us, watching her suffer. Whoever decided women should bear all the pain of childbirth was a damn idiot! “You’re doing so well, darling.” Cary encouraged, wiping her brow with a cool cloth. And he was right. She was doing well. It was the three of us who were failing epically. Thankfully, I had a lot more experience with blocking
2 years later Clay’s POV “Daddy, up!” Carson reached for me, making grabby hands with his pudgy little fingers. I lifted him up, tossing him in the air twice before settling him on my hip. His tiny little giggles were addictive and of our three pups, he was the quickest to laugh. Not that the other two weren’t happy kids. They definitely were. Carson just seemed a little more demonstrative when it came to his emotions. “Cookie, pease!” He demanded, pulling on my shirt. At two years old, he still had a hard time with his Ls. Mom said my brothers and I were the same way at his age so we weren’t worried about it. It was just another reminder that he was still a baby and we wanted to enjoy that stage as long as possible. “And what did your mother say about that?” His cobalt blue eyes twinkled as he stared up at me and it was like looking at a tiny version of myself. “She busy.” He pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. “Oh yeah? Too busy to get you a cookie?” That didn’t see
16 Years Later Mallory’s POV “I don’t understand why we can’t come with you tonight.” Our sixteen year old daughter, Carys, whined. “Papa said it was up to you. If the dads are okay with it then why aren’t you?” I was going to kill Colton! Our sixteen year old twins, Carys and her brother Cameron, had been begging for weeks to watch their older siblings first shift. But after what I went through the night Raven came to me, I was terrified of what might happen. I knew the circumstances were totally different and there was no reason to think our triplets would experience the same difficulties I had, but I couldn’t help worrying. The last thing I wanted was for the twins to see something that traumatized them and made them dread their own shift for the next two years. “Apparently your dads have forgotten my first shift. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so quick to give their consent.” I grumbled. “The answer is still no. Nana Maeve is coming to spend the evening with you and she’d be
Charlie’s POV I was hiding again and I hated it. I hated being a scared little mouse all the time. I hated my life. Period. When my parents sent me here to Hazelwood pack to live with my brother, I thought it would be a new beginning for me, a chance to reinvent myself. But the only thing that changed was geography, because where Alpha Quade went terror and torment inevitably followed. I’d spent my life hiding in Blood Claw pack from men empowered by Alpha Quade to take what they wanted, with or without consent. Mostly without. When he named my brother his Beta in Hazelwood, my parents thought he’d be able to protect me here and he tried, he really did. But here I was, hiding again. “Let’s go. There's no one in here.” I heard one of the men searching the room say. My heart raced in fear but at hearing his words, hope rose that I might go undetected. I had no idea who these men were but they weren’t Quade’s men. I hadn't seen him or my brother for weeks. But in my experience,
Charlie’s POV My mate winced with the admission that he was still in love with his ex, knowing it would cause me pain. And it did, whether it made logical sense or not. It was just my luck to be mated to a broken-hearted man when I was already so broken myself. I simply nodded at his admission and kept my expression blank. At least he was honest with me. He could have been one of those men who took advantage of the bond, used me for his own pleasure before rejecting me. Somehow, the realization he was a better man than that made it hurt even more. But I blinked back my tears and swallowed the lump in my throat. “You don’t need to apologize to me. We just met. You don’t owe me anything.” I said truthfully, though it pained me to hear my wolf’s sad whimpers. She deserved to find happiness with her mate. I could never understand why the Goddess had abandoned me to the miserable life I’d lived. But then Cheyenne had come to me and I finally felt, if not healed, at least whole. S
Nathan’s POV “No one is rejecting anyone!” I growled at Charlie the moment the words left her lips. Fuck! This was all so confusing. Mallory was never going to be mine. A fool could see the strength of her bond with the triplets even if she hadn’t told me herself that she was choosing them. I was really trying to get over her. Why couldn’t the Goddess have given me just a little more time before she put my mate in my path? “Alpha Nathan-," Charlie sighed at me but I cut her off with a snarl. “Just Nathan, Charlie. You’re my mate! You don’t call me by my title.” I scolded. “But that’s just a technicality isn’t it? You don’t want me and I may not be perfect, but my wolf is. She doesn’t deserve to be strung along by a mate who doesn’t want her. So let’s just get the rejection over with.” She argued. “I never said I didn’t want you!” My response was nearly loud enough to constitute a bark and I immediately felt guilty for it. “You said you loved someone else. It’s the same
Charlie’s POV “You-, you want to kiss me?” Well he wouldn’t after that stupid question. He pulled me into his chest and snaked one arm around my waist. His body felt so warm against me that before I realized it, I was melting into him. He gently tipped my chin up to face him and though I wasn't quite sure how to interpret the look in his eyes, It certainly made me weak in the knees. “I very much want to kiss you, Charlotte.” The sultry way he said my full name sent tingles of pleasure straight to my core. The sparks from our mate bond were unreal. I’d heard of them before but never understood what people meant when they talked about how addictive they are. Now I knew. Because if he never stopped touching me with those sparks firing between us like miniature fireworks, I would happily stay glued to him forever. “Um, okay.” I whispered, my eyes drawn to his full lips like magnets, unable to look away. The feeling must have been mutual because I could feel my lips tingling u
Charlie’s POV I woke up in the early hours of the morning to a full bladder and a very hard cock poking me in the ass. I managed to slip out of bed to relieve myself and guzzle down the glass of cool water Nathan had so thoughtfully brought for me when he came to bed last night. When I crawled back beside Nathan, I left a little bit of space between us, not wanting to disturb his sleep by snuggling back into him. Though every fiber of my being craved to feel him against me. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when he reached out and tugged me over until my back was flush against his chest and his morning wood was nestled between my thighs. I would have been sure he was awake if it weren’t for the fact his breathing never changed. With the comfort of his warmth surrounding me, it was no time at all before I drifted back to sleep. When I woke again, it was to the sunlight streaming in my bedroom window. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes but when I blinked them open, i