STELLA All I can feel is pain radiating throughout my body. I don’t know if they came back for more or if they just left me. Even though I'm vaguely sure that I heard Axel’s no, I think it was Wulfric's voice. However, I know that was impossible, as he is not with me. I tried hard to focus on what the rough voice had said, but it seemed to be muffled and then drowned out by this intense sharp pain as one of them bit me again. The pain of the bite was nothing as it was then followed by more of that intense burning. It spread through me even quicker than before, making me feel like I was on fire. It seemed never-ending, so when it finally threatened to take me, I gave in to the darkness that was beckoning and promising peace from the constant pain and burning. I seem to be awake but I’m not. Maybe I'm dreaming. I look around me but there is nothing but black and darkness, and then there is a small white light. I look at it and wonder if that is the way to heaven. I take a small step t
STELLA I started to wonder if they were telling the truth, that before they attacked me, I was pregnant to Axel. Was it still alive or was it killed by the drugs they gave me or during the change? It is then that I feel a small movement, a type of flutter in my lower stomach that scares me a little and makes me step back and lean against the wall of the shower, turning to Selene again. “Is that? Were they telling me the truth?” “Yes, and yes. It is surprising and extremely rare for a human to conceive from a werewolf and even more so for that pup to survive the mother being changed, but she has. She is healthy and will be here in about three weeks.” “A girl! We are having a girl? Does he know?” “Yes, we are having a female and No, he thinks she died during the change, the venom from Mason and his friends did a lot of damage to your body which is why it took us over a week to wake up but it seemed to have left her alone.” “Selene, Mason said something about her being a half-breed?
STELLA We spent the next two weeks like this. Once a day we would head to the wildflower field together and spend time with just the two of us, with no interruptions. Axel and Wulfric would always start in wolf form and I would sit on the rock with Wulfric's head in my lap, my fingers in his fur and our pup kicking like there is no tomorrow. Wulfric would then disappear and when he came back, he would sit behind me on the rock, hold me close and use the mate touch to help me trust him again. Our pup must have known that the wolf side knew, but the human side didn’t yet, as she will not kick once Wulfric shifts back into Axel. My time with Wulfric and Axel was helping me to trust him again, and I had no problem with Sophie or Hannah, but I freeze whenever Benjamin or any other male walks into a room, from the fear that goes through me. I always feel guilty when Benjamin tries to get close to me, but all he gets is waves and waves of fear. I hope that once I can let Axel near me wit
STELLA Due to what happened with Mason and the fact that it took us over a week to recover from the change and then it took me another two weeks on top of that to learn to trust Axel near me again. I still have trouble when in a room with two or more males. I freeze up from the fear that swamps me. All the Alphas under Axel’s rule have been really understanding as according to the laws, once the King’s mate has been presented to the kingdom, she needs to go through the crowning ceremony within two weeks or the King must step down. Axel has put it off for as long as he can but he now insists that I need to do the crowning ceremony within the next few days, especially with our daughter due very soon, she still has a habit of hiding, not from Axel or Hannah or Sophie but from everyone else. Every Luna I have spoken to has told me that even though it is a law that the King step down because he didn’t make me go through the crowning as soon as I had recovered, they say the Alphas and lo
STELLA During this time, I hide as much of the pain as I can as it goes through me at intervals of different lengths, but I think both Hannah and Sophie are starting to notice. Once my make-up is done, we have three hours before the ceremony starts. As we get into the car, I am not sure how I will go with having to sit down for the 2 hour drive to the Royal castle. About halfway through the trip, I can't stop the slight whimper that escapes as another sharp pain goes through my back. Both Sophie and Hannah look at me with concern, but it is Sophie who says. "So, how long have you been in labour, Stella?" "Who said I was in labour?" "It actually wasn't that hard to tell..." Came the curt reply from Hannah "The pains started yesterday..." "Well, then we need to turn around and head back to the pack hospital..." I move quickly and grab Hannah's arm before she can knock on the window to get the driver's attention. "Hannah please, Axel has already broken too many of the old
STELLA I tried my best to fight the increased shearing and intense pain that was now coming in even closer waves as Hannah was right, the power transfer sent my labour into overdrive. After a couple of these intense waves of pain ran through me, I couldn't stop the scream that left my lips this time as my knees gave out underneath me. Axel moves quickly, picking me up as I collapse and then moving us back into the castle, into a room that he must have had Owen set up just in case this happened. I breathe through the next wave of pain and then look up at Axel as I say, “Did you know this would happen?” He smiles down at me and places a kiss on my head as he slowly places my feet on the floor and says, “I had a feeling it might. I knew our little princess was due soon, and I had a feeling that even if you weren’t in labour already, the power transfer would have started it.” I smile up at him as he places his hand on my cheek, however; it doesn’t stay on my lips long as another c
AXEL / WULFRIC I didn't expect it to take so long as we spent the next couple of hours making our way around the courtyard, I introduce Stella and our daughter to some of the Alphas, Lunas, Betas and Gammas personally. About half way round I feel Benjamin as he tugs on the Beta bond. "Alpha, we have trouble!" "What is it Ben?" "First, we have had reports from patrols that rogues are circling our borders again." "Okay, increase the patrols once more and inform me of any that actually breach our borders..." I go to cut the link until he continues, "Um, Alpha..." "Was there something else?" "Yes, there was an intruder in the pack house." "Were they caught?" "No, Alpha." "Why?" "They couldn't find any scents out of place." "Who reported the intruder and why?" "It was the maid Cassey, she was sent to your floor by Tabitha to clean and change the bedding ready for your return." "So, what made her think that there had been an intruder?" "Stella's things, all Stell
WULFRIC I can't take it. As she kisses and sucks on my mark, I want her, however I want Selene more, so I growl low, making her take control. She stops kissing my mark, lifting her head. "Wulfric... I told Stella I would never force her to step back..." She goes to step out of my hold but I tighten my arms around her, turning us so she is now the one pinned up against the wall and growl. "It wasn't you that forced it, it was me... I want to be connected to you!" I didn't give her a chance to say anything more as I kissed her with only just barely controlled dominance. I have felt her a few times, but I haven't had a chance to have her like this, to connect us like this, and when she shifts, I will do it again. I lift her leg with one hand and I wrap my other hand around her throat as I thrust my hips forward hard, holding still as I break my kiss and growl low at the pleasure that floods me. As I return my lips to hers, I hear her low growl of pleasure, which is the opposit
AURORA True to his word, King Micheal visited on the quiet a couple of times over the remainder of my pregnancy to indulge in the taste of my blood. The night the twins were born, Micheal surprised me. I had been suffering slight discomfort every few hours over the day, however; I didn’t want to alarm anyone until it was necessary. My parents had retired for the night, and I was resting in the library. I had just finished reading a book and was walking slowly around the shelves, looking for another, when a massive wave of pain enveloped me. When the pain passed, I wasn’t surprised when Logan opened our mate link and asked if I was okay. Knowing that he was in a very important meeting with a couple of the kingdom’s allies, I assured him that I was fine, thinking that I had enough time to allow him to finish his meeting before getting him to meet me at the Royal Infirmary. However, the next wave proved me wrong as it was just as intense as the last and I had to concentrate on keeping
AURORA I pull out from his body, straighten and turn so I am now facing him. I am glad no one walked in as it wouldn't have looked good, me in the arms of another male. I look directly into Michael's red eyes and whisper, "You are setting me free? With only those 2 conditions? How do you know that I will keep to them?" "Yes, I am setting you free. I only need these two conditions, and I know you won't go back on them once you agree. One, because I am connected to you and I will know where you are no matter where you go, and two, it is not in you to renege once a deal is made. You have too much of your father's honour in you..." I lower my eyes from his for a moment, but sigh and return my eyes to his, as I whisper, "Okay, I agree with your terms!" His eyes shine bright red and I get lost in them as he closes the gap, leaning down and kissing me. I hesitantly kiss him back as I taste the coppery tang of blood. I then feel a slight sting on my lip. He kisses me for a moment lo
AURORA Unfortunately, the connection I now have with him will always be there even after he releases me as he created a blood bond between us but after what happened on the battlefield and with what Aaliyah had told me, I had worked out that it was more for my protection once he had purchased me from Toby as he didn't trust Toby to keep his word. I don't believe that he will use the blood bond once he releases me to Logan. I am startled out of my head when there is a knock on the door. I turn to see my father standing there. "DADDY!" I smile and run across the room, wrapping my arms around him as he says, "Now that is my little Princess..." I pull back a little as I say, "But I'm not so little anymore..." He laughs and pulls me back into a tight hug, but it only lasts for a second as he receives a kick in the stomach, not once, but twice. You see, once we returned, we found out that I'm not having one pup; I'm actually having two, one male and one female, so my bump wasn't a sma
AURORA Once I have pulled it over his head, he growls as he wraps his arms back around me and pulls me tight into him. He then returns to his kiss. As he slowly deepens and makes it more dominant, he slowly makes me step backward until the backs of my legs hit the side of the bed. This doesn't seem to interfere with what he has in mind as he makes me lay back and then with one arm wrapped around and across my back, he uses the other to support our weight as he crawls on the bed taking me further onto it at the same time. When we are in the middle of the bed, he stops moving and pulls his arm out from underneath me, allowing him to support his weight and then slowly trails his kisses down my neck, over my shoulder and his mark and then down further. He trails his kisses over one breast and then the other before moving down over my abdomen where he stops, making me let out a slight giggle as he whispers, "Hey there, little one... I love you already and I haven't even met you yet..."
AURORA I turn my attention back to Mary and Melanie as I say, "Come on you two, I have told you that is not necessary as you both are my friends..." They laugh, "Sorry Aurora, it's habit... Especially when Alpha Logan is nearby!" "So, what were you two talking about?" "Just that we both are not feeling the best..." I was afraid of this, if I am carrying Logan's pup from just once with him and the females that were taken from this pack are all carrying pups as well, with the amount of time Toby spent with both of them there was no other reason behind why they would feel unwell. I sit down, "Have you heard or been told what happened to some of the females from this pack?" "Yes, we have spoken to a few of the females from this pack and they told us about the rogues as we told them what Toby did to us... What's going on Aurora? You look worried?" "I was just told that nearly every female that was taken by the rogues that night has just found out that they are all carrying a pup...
AURORA Once all the injured are healed enough to travel, we start the long trip back home. The first stop we make is at Alpha Pablo's pack. Ariel and I feel really bad, as it was the females from this pack that were taken by Toby and the rest of his rogues because of my heat. Logan goes to find one of the females he helped as I wandered around the pack. I watch as the females are still all on edge and seem even more so now that even more males have entered their pack's little village. I place my hand on my lower abdomen. I still haven't had the chance to tell Logan about our little bundle. I keep looking for the right time, but something else always seems to come up and I don't get to tell him. I see Alpha Pablo making his rounds of the females now that he is back in the pack and I decide that I never actually got to apologise for the trouble, loss and trauma I caused him and his pack. I approach him slowly and say hesitantly, "Alpha Pablo?" He turns and faces me. He smiles and sa
AURORA When I pull back from our kiss, I smile as I step back, but Logan won't allow me to move too far as he tightens his arm around me and pulls me back into his side. I look around and see my father approaching. I look up at Logan, who smiles, nods his head and finally lets me go. As soon as his arm drops from my waist, I run to my father and nearly make him fall over as I wrap my arms around him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight as he whispers, "I'm sorry! I had no choice..." I pull back a little to look up at him as I say. "Dad, what are you talking about?" "The deal with Alpha Oliver... The way I sent you with him... I am sorry!" "Dad, I told you I was willing to be part of the alliance, I even told you to do it... And if you had told me what was happening, you wouldn't have had to drug me as I would have gone with him willingly... Family and the kingdom always come first..." "I know you did and I am sorry that I didn't tell you... That I didn't warn you of
LOGAN I make my way around the battlefield, checking everybody who is lying on the ground. Once I am sure that there are no more injured out within the dead, I move among the injured and decipher who is rogue and who is pack. Once the rogues are treated, I ask the first one, "Are you a rogue by choice, or were you forced?" "I was taken from my pack as a teenager. I am not proud of what I have done, but had to do it to survive..." "You would have to go through some training and I would need proof from you to know you won't turn on me or other members of my pack... So you want to rejoin a pack? Are you willing to do that to rejoin a pack?" "I have wanted to rejoin a pack since they took me, but no pack would give me the chance..." "Very well, you now have that chance..." "Thank you, Alpha!" I go through the others and most of them are the same taken from their packs during raids done by the Rogue king, so they are not true rogues, as a true rogue is one that has given in to the w
AURORA I watch as Aaliyah finishes setting up whatever it is that she needs to. Once she has set up, I then listen as she starts her chant, By the power of the moon, Let the power dim within this Collar and Chain,Drain the protecting Magic,So the hold they have may be broken. North, South, East, West, Aid me now in this Quest, A curse made with Blood, Must be Cleansed, By the Sun and the Moon. Earth, Air, Fire and Water,I call for your Aid, Unbind this Chain and Collar, To No Longer keep its Prisoner, Bound that was Stolen. With the Power of the Moon, I reverse this Enchantment, I release you, I set you Free! North, South, East, West, With Earth, Air, Fire and Water, Brought together By, The power of the Sun and the Moon, I reverse this Enchantment, Return it to Whence it came, As I will it, So mote it be! I wince as the collar starts to get heated and starts to burn, but it doesn't last long, as it then starts to cool. Aaliyah then makes her way over to