Jasmine’s POV Everything Gaia said came as a shock to me. I still found it really difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I was from the Royal bloodline. The story she told of the four sisters sounded like a tale and honestly, far fetched. But it did explain a lot. Since I was never educated and no one ever bothered to tell me anything about our origin, Gaia’s story was the closest I had ever gotten to a lesson of our history. Still, a question stood out for me, one I did not hesitate to voice out. “But if Alaric and Arwyn wiped out the Royal bloodline over a century ago, why do we still have to be afraid of them?” I asked. “They must be dead by now”, I pointed out in case someone missed it. “Precisely”, Lena said from where she was seated on her mate’s lap with his arms around her. “Is it their descendants we should be worried about?” She asked. Gaia shook her head sadly. “There is more to my story”, she said. “As I had said earlier, the Goddess of Darkness s
Regan’s POV One advantage of my mate finally having a wolf and being able to have a strong bond with her was that I could feel her emotions. As she walked away from the room, the most dominant emotion I could feel from her was fear. And that fear was not for herself. As everyone else watched her leave, I ran a hand over my face and took in a deep breath. “It must be so hard for her”, I heard Nana say and turned to her. “But she has to understand that the prophecy must be fulfilled”, she said. “She must accept it”, she told me. “Enough”, I said quietly but firmly, drawing the attention of the other occupants in the room. “Just this morning, she has found out that she is from the Royal bloodline and could possibly be in danger”, I told them. “And as if that was not enough, she just found out that she is with child. A child that an evil vampire King and mad witch will stop at nothing to try to destroy”, I reminded them. “So you will excuse her if she does not wish to accept th
Jasmine’s POV To my surprise, Regan had succeeded in her yelling my fears. Granted, the thought of an evil vampire King and a mad treacherous witch seeking to kill both me and my unborn pup was one that left me terrified. But there was a big difference. This time, I was not alone. I had my mate, my wolf, my friends turned family and my pack, all on my side. That brought me relief beyond words. After spending time with my mate for a while, Lena came up to check on me. “How do you feel?” She asked, climbing onto my bed to sit beside me and put her arms around me. I smiled at the obvious concern in her eyes. “Sincerely, I am terrified”, I told her. She looked at me closely for a short moment. “Forgive me dearest but you do not look the least bit terrified to me”, she said, making me laugh. “Truly”, she said, smiling. “You looked quite scared earlier when the news was broken to us, but now you look quite well”, she said. I recovered from my laughter but smiled
Regan’s POV I knew for a fact that Jasmine was uncomfortable with all the attention she was getting. News of her being of the Royal bloodline had spread throughout out the pack and our pack members started to treat her with something akin to worship. Unfortunately, my made was not fond of such attention. She especially did not like having to start a meal before everyone else. She often argued that since I was her mate, it was certain that I should be accorded the same respect. I always reminded her that unlike her, I did not have a drop of Royal blood. Okay hitch was not entirely true since Alphas were known to be descendants from the Royal bloodline. Though not direct descendants that had claim to the throne like my mate. After our evening meal, she had asked for a private meeting with Nana and Gaia where I had later learned she had apologized for how she had walked out on them the last time. According to Lena, who had been privileged to be present, they had gracious
Jasmine’s POV It took only one look at my mate’s face for me to know that something was troubling him. Although he smiled throughout the evening meal and tried to act like all was well, all I had to do was reach into our bond to confirm my suspicion that something was on his mind. So, in an attempt to exhibit the virtue of patience, I waited until after the meal, when we were in the safety and privacy of our room before I asked him about it. “Something clearly troubles you, love”, I said, borrowing the term of endearment that he used for me from time to time. “Will you not tell me what it is?” I asked. He smiled before moving over to sit on the bed. I moved with him, taking a seat beside him on the bed. “It is nothing you need to trouble yourself about”, he said, and tried to divert my attention by leaning down to kiss my neck. In as much as I welcomed his advances and craved his touch, I knew that whatever was on his mind would be something too important to ignore.
Unknown POV. She stood before a large window, over looking the blizzard outside the castle. It was nothing new for the weather to be like that. It was often cold down there. It was one thing she missed about home. The endless warmth of spring that allowed her wear the lightest clothes. Her beautiful sewn clothes had always been one of the latest fashion and accentuated her curves. Unlike the coat she wore at the moment. Ever since coming there, she had been forced to wear thick coats and clothes in order to ward off the cold. No one had forced her, the dreary weather had done that all by itself and she hated it. It was constantly snowing and she missed the warmth is spring back at home. Her red lips curled in a humorless smile. Home. When had she ever had one? If she ever did, it was surely gone now. Everyone back there now saw her as a traitor anyway, and they were not particularly wrong about that. But then again, everyone she remembered bqck then were pro
Jasmine’s POV The day I had been dreading finally came. I woke up once again to an empty bed. Since that was not anything new, I simply readied myself for the day before making my way out of the room. I joined Lena in the kitchen of our house and together, we prepared breakfast. Nana was absent, as she usually was due to Gaia’s presence, and Regan’s Gamma and his mate had moved out to live in a small cabin of their own not to far away from the pack house after having their pup. Since our house had several more rooms, Gaia and Alpha Gaius were asked to move in since they were going to be in our pack longer than they had initially planned. Lena was thrilled with this development, but however pleased I was for her, I could not shake the suspicion that Regan had prepared it all to have me protected at all times. It felt like he had placed people everywhere to protect me in his absence and as much as I loved and appreciated his protective nature, there was only so much e
Regan’s POV Since it was my first time being away from her, I found it somewhat difficult to adapt to the absence of my mate. Rage’s whining was not helping. He felt her absence more than I did since he felt my emotions more intensely. Even though he understood the reason we had to go, it did not stop him from sulking and whining at the absence of our mate. A part of me wanted nothing more than to turn around and return home, but it would be the wrong decision to make and I knew that. So we rode on, keeping a steady pace and rode towards the opposite path from where Blackmoon pack was. The fact that we took an entirely different route simply to avoid them spoke a lot of our hatred for them. We headed towards the next closest pack to us, a pack whose Alpha was an old friend of my father’s. I sent two of my warriors ahead to announce our arrival, and not too long after, they came back with news of the Alpha’s acceptance to have us in his pack. When we met up with a
Jasmine’s POV It was a surprise to everyone at breakfast the next morning to see Luke seated to Regan’s left, and the two thoroughly engaged in conversation. I am sure Luke’s mate was surprised as well because we shared a glance of astonishment before turning back to watch our mates interact. It was as though Luke had never left. The only difference was, when before it would be very obvious that they were both mind linking the other, it had now become that they would openly speak to each other. I secretly believed they did that so that Lena could see. If she saw and was affected by it, she hid it well, keeping a blank and almoubored expression on her face and only interacting with the ladies and her mate throughout the meal. It was the bored expression that let me know that she was indeed affected. Lena was never bored. If she was, she created something to entertain herself and others. On the other had, the two friends who had obviously resolved whatever issues the
Regan’s POV It had been three days since Luke came home and I could still feel the awkwardness between us. Lena had still not relented in her mission to pretend he did not exist and for the most part, I felt sorry for him. Lady Zara was getting along famously with the ladies, who went out of their way to include her in every activity they performed. They had even taken her to their favorite place at the stream and it was clear to see that Lady Zara was thoroughly enjoying her stay in our pack. For my part, I was mostly confused. I did not know whether to have Luke perform duties around the pack, just as I normally would. But it was not the same. I did not even know if o could still refer to him as my Beta. We had not had a single meaningful conversation since his return. On one hand, his mate was the last relative of the deceased Alpha of Redclaw pack, which meant that he could take up the leadership of the pack as its Alpha if he chose to remain there with her. O
Jasmine’s POV If I had expected Lena to have forgiven Luke once she sore him, I and everyone else who had had similar thoughts were proved wrong. I had been surprised to look around and find her absent, only to return to the house to see that she had never left in the first place. I had known that Lena’s feelings had been hurt by Luke’s refusal to respond to the several letters she had sent him while he had been away. However, I had assumed that all would be forgiven once he returned home. I had assumed wrong. She had avoided seeing him all day and had remained in the privacy of her room until it was time for Supper. Then, she had emerged in all her cold beauty and proceeded to sit as far away from Luke at the dinner table in the pack house. Despite her avoidance of Luke and her ignoring of his existence, her cold treatment was never given to Luke’s mate, who she had pulled into a hug and gushed over how beautiful she was the moment Nana had introduced her. She had g
Regan’s POV It had been more than ten days since my warriors and I returned from our successful journey. I had received several letters from the Alpha and Luna of Nighthowl pack. Alpha Regan kept me informed on his progress with the Council of Elders while his Luna wrote to ask about my well being as well as that of my mate and our unborn pup. She also wrote to inform me that she had written to her distant nephew, the Alpha of Moonrock pack, and encouraged me to write to him, assuring me of his acceptance to hear of my request. After receiving that particular letter, I wasted no time in writing to the Alpha of Moonrock pack, convincing Alpha Gaiu to do the same on our behalf. He readily agreed, if for nothing else but for his mate sake, I suspected. However, despite writing and receiving letters, I had yet to receive a letter from the one person I had not realized I had wished to hear from the most. Luke. I had written and destroyed several letters I had meant to send
Jasmine’s POV Regan’s return brought a new light to my days. Once they had been welcomed and fed, each warrior returned to their respective homes. With his arm around my waist, my mate led us back to our home after our evening meal with the rest of the pack to welcome our warriors back. Mira had done an absolutely marvelous job at cooking up the most sumptuous meal for our supper. Everyone had eaten their feel and the mood was very merry. However, throughout the meal, Isla remained quiet as usual, only lightly conversing with Lena or other wise quietly watching and smiling to some antics the warriors did. Most of them were somewhat drunk and were obnoxiously loud. One thing that was clear to anyone with eyes was how much and how often most of the warriors who had returned -most of which were unmated - tried to gain Isla’s attention. At first, they had simply stared at her or passed her admiring glances. But once they started to drink, they grew bolder with trying to g
Regan’s POV Not long after we had taken our morning meal, after we had put Alpha Zolan to rest under the full moon the night before, my warriors and I were ready to continually our journey home. Lady Zara came to bid us farewell, expressing her gratitude for our presence and assistance. And though she did not say it, I could see her gratitude for me allowing Luke remain with her. I waved away her thanks, taking her hand and bowing over it before bidding her farewell. Then I turned to Luke. Our goodbye was a very casual affair as we both knew each other well enough to know that we did not want to get affectionate or create a scene. So we limited our goodbye to a nod and a brief handshake and patting of shoulders. As I turned around and began to walk away to join our warriors who were already gathered and waiting with our horses and supplies for our return home, I caught sight of Emry break away from the group and run past me to Luke. I did not turn around to watch what
Jasmine’s POV When I received another letter from Regan soon after the one telling me about his journey home, I knew it was not good news. The ladies and I were seated in Lena’s room, taking a much needed break from our daily activities when I received the letter. As I tore it open and began to read, I could feel the curious silence that took over the space. Disappointment settled in my stomach when I heard that their journey home had been delayed once more. But when I heard the reason, the feeling of disappointment instantly changed to that of concern and worry. As I finished reading the letter, I lifted my head to face the three pair of eyes already on me, no that eager to hear the news. “Their journey has been further delayed”, I announced. Both Lena and Amy sighed in disappearing but Isla did not look the least upset or even affected about the news. I could not blame her, it was impossible to miss people you had never even met. She did rest a sympathetic hand o
Regan’s POV No matter how eager I was to go home, I did not have it in me to deny Luke’s request to see his mate one more time before we went home. After all, it was still on our path home and would cost us no major discomfort or set back. That had been the right choice to make, for as we approached the entrance into the pack, a white cloth was spread across the entrance. Seeing that could only mean one thing. That Alpha Zolan of the Redclaw pack had passed into the world beyond. Upon seeing this, Luke pushed his horse to go faster, disregarding the normal protocol and I did not have it in me to stop him. I understood how he felt. He had thought only of his mate. I followed closely behind him, and once their pack warriors saw that the intruders were us, they did not make any further move to stop us. I watched as Lady Zara come out of the pack house alongside other pack members. Upon seeing Luke hastily dismounting from his horse, she ran towards him and straigh
Jasmine’s POV Considering how worried I had been about her being accepted into my pack, Isla had fit in quite well. She and Lena had finally started to get along, seeing that they had some things in common. I would even go as far as saying that they had become close friends. Well, as close as one could be as a friend to someone who was used to being alone and valued her alone time over all else. Isla and Lena could not be more different if they were light and day. With Isla’s cool beauty and reserved demeanor, and Lena’s bright attitude and attractive features, they were very different. But somehow, thanks to efforts from mostly Lena who was determined to find something in common with my cousin, they had become good friends. Isla still disappeared to my garden or Nana’s garden whenever Lena became too much for her to cope with, but other than that, she seemed to have gotten used to Lena’s company and even seemed to have grown fond of her. Nana and Gaia had also gro