Since I didn't get to post yesterday, you get two today.
ReaganMarkus presses his lips tightly together but keeps his mouth shut, so I turn back to the group.“They’re exceptionally fast,” Elias says.I turn and look at Asmodeus, nodding. In an instant, he’s behind Elias with his hand around his throat.“Exceptionally fast, doesn’t even begin to describe how fast they are. They move faster than you can see. Stay there,” I tell Asmodeus when he starts to release Elias.“However we, as werewolves, are stronger than they are. Once you can see them, you have to take them down quickly. Gamma Elias, what would you do if you were caught in this position in a battle?” I ask him.“First instinct would be to whip him over my shoulder and get him off my neck.”“Do it,” I tell him.He does, but the minute Asmodeus hits the ground, he’s back up with his hand around Elias’ throat again.“Remember that speed is not in your favor. When you fight a vampire, you don’t just want to get them off of you. You need to give yourself more than a moment to get the
KieranMy heart feels light, lighter than I remember it feeling in eons. Reagan intends to accept me. It’s just a matter of time.‘Thank the goddess for that,’ Samson murmurs in my head.‘Yeah, don’t do anything stupid and screw it up,’ I tell him.‘Hey, she liked my purring.’‘You didn’t even know you were doing it,’ I say, rolling my eyes at him.‘I was having fantastic dreams about me and Alayla running together, playing together, and ...’‘Stop! I don’t want to hear about anything that you and Alayla do in your dreams,’ I tell him.I spend the day going through more things that have been going on while I was going feral. I’m looking back on every decision that Markus made to double-check that his decisions were correct. Some make sense, others not so much.Before I know it, it’s time for afternoon warrior training. I’ve just stepped out of my office when I run into Meadow and Reagan.“Hello beautiful,” I say to my mate, leaning down to press a kiss to her soft, warm lips.She smil
**This book is the 8th in the Guardian's Next Generation series and 12th in the overall Guardian series. It can be read as a standalone novel, but scenes and historical incidents will be referenced without going into full detail of what happened. It is recommended that you begin the series at the beginning with The Broken Warrior's Daughter.**Reagan“Are you excited about your birthday?” my best friend Meadow asks me.We’re sitting in my bedroom at my parents’ house. We alternate between my house and hers in the city where she lives with her sister, Maeve, and my brother, Xander. It’s a toss up as to which house is more uncomfortable to stay at; mine because you’d think my parents were rabbits instead of werewolves, and Meadow’s because Xander and Maeve just had twins, increasing the size of their family to seven. They’ve only been together three years, but that hasn’t stopped Maeve from pushing out pups as fast as Xander can give them to her. And that doesn’t even include Maeve’s an
Kieran“Tell me again why you’re doing this, Alpha?” My pack member’s voice is grating on my nerves.‘Get her fucking hands off of us,’ my wolf, Samson, says.I look down and see that she’s rubbing my crotch and pressing her body against mine. I don’t even think I’m responding to her touch.“Camila, get your hands off of me,” I growl.“I just want to make you feel good, Alpha,” she purrs. Samson pushes forward, slamming her against the wall, holding her by her throat.“When an Alpha tells you to take your fucking hands off of him, you do it,” he snarls in her face.“Alpha, is everything okay?” Markus, my Beta asks, walking up.Samson turns, snarling at him. “Get her the fuck out of my sight before we have one less pack member.” Then he turns back to Camila. “Don’t fucking touch me again.”“Yes, Alpha,” she says, the scent of her fear practically choking me.‘Let her go, Samson,’ I tell my wolf.Markus pulls her out of my bedroom and then comes back in looking at the bags on the bed. “
ReaganI wake up late on my birthday only to see Meadow in my face staring at me.“What are you doing, creeper?”“Happy Birthday!” she yells and then does some magic that glitter bombs my entire room.“Aren’t you supposed to do something that I like on my birthday?” I grumble. I am so NOT a glitter girl and no matter how much magic she uses to get rid of it, I still find glitter all over the damn place. The last time she did this, I found glitter on my ass cheeks. No, scratch that, one of the warriors who saw me shift saw glitter on my ass shining in the sunlight and I’ve never lived it down.I’m pretty sure I’ve punched every male warrior in our pack for calling me Glitter Buns and every damn one of them said it was worth it. Bastards.“Look, grumpy, just because your mate wasn’t here last night, doesn’t mean he won’t arrive today,” Meadow says much too cheerfully.Every one of the Alphas and royals that had been here last night had wanted me to continue the party until it was midnig
ReaganA day of sparring is my favorite way to spend my birthday. I’m not the party girl that my twin sisters are and I’m not the prim and proper Council member that my sister, Leana, is. At heart, I’m a fighter, just like my father. And since everyone here knew that I wasn’t their mate, they let loose and really fought me.I took every one of them down.Now, I’m in my bedroom, getting ready for my party. The pack sprites are here doing my hair in the beautifully intricate way that they have. My mother, my sisters, my brothers’ mates, Meadow, Lily, Riley, Aunt Grace and Aunt Cara are all here. The house is full of women and babies since each of my sisters and brothers have young children. I’ve grown up with a lot of family members in a loud, bustling packhouse, so the noise doesn’t bother me at all. If anything, it makes me feel more normal than I have in the last two days dealing with all of the male suitors who are here hoping to be my mate.“There are still some people arriving, Re
KieranI’m furious at my wolf, but more furious at myself. I should have been stronger, should have been able to keep him contained.“Please don’t kill him,” Elias says again.“Elias, if you don’t fucking move out from in front of me, I’m demoting you.”“It would be worth it if you lived, Alpha,” he says.I drag myself to my feet. I shouldn’t be able to stand after the power that ripped me off my mate. But her power, all that fucking power that flowed into me for the few moments that Samson’s canines were in her neck, has strengthened me. And while I’m still at risk of going feral if we don’t complete our bond, Samson is much more manageable right now.“Your Gamma is very protective of you,” the older man, obviously my mate’s father, says.“My name is Alpha Kieran. I come from a pack out west. We literally just arrived and when my wolf smelled his mate, he took over. If I were in my right mind, I never would have marked her without her consent. But unfortunately, what my Gamma said is
ReaganAfter washing off the blood and looking at the horrible looking mate mark that looks like a vampire tried to rip my throat out, I put on comfortable clothes that Quinn got for me.“I want to talk to the man who was standing in front of ...” It doesn’t feel right to say it, but it’s true. “My mate. Do you know who he is?”I watch my mother’s eyes go unfocused. “Your father says he’s Alpha Kieran’s Gamma.”Alpha Kieran. I didn’t even know the name of the man who marked me.“I’m assuming he’s from out west? Is that why he arrived so late?”“Your brother asked the patrols when they arrived. They said they’d just arrived, indicating that they had been driving for two days,” my mother says.“What can we do, Reagan?” Malin asks me.“Whatever you need, we’re here for you,” Quinn adds.“I’m not really sure what I need. Maybe a drink. But first, I want to talk to the Gamma.”I look at myself in the mirror, pulling the shirt up so my hideous mate mark doesn’t show. Then I pull my hair over
KieranMy heart feels light, lighter than I remember it feeling in eons. Reagan intends to accept me. It’s just a matter of time.‘Thank the goddess for that,’ Samson murmurs in my head.‘Yeah, don’t do anything stupid and screw it up,’ I tell him.‘Hey, she liked my purring.’‘You didn’t even know you were doing it,’ I say, rolling my eyes at him.‘I was having fantastic dreams about me and Alayla running together, playing together, and ...’‘Stop! I don’t want to hear about anything that you and Alayla do in your dreams,’ I tell him.I spend the day going through more things that have been going on while I was going feral. I’m looking back on every decision that Markus made to double-check that his decisions were correct. Some make sense, others not so much.Before I know it, it’s time for afternoon warrior training. I’ve just stepped out of my office when I run into Meadow and Reagan.“Hello beautiful,” I say to my mate, leaning down to press a kiss to her soft, warm lips.She smil
ReaganMarkus presses his lips tightly together but keeps his mouth shut, so I turn back to the group.“They’re exceptionally fast,” Elias says.I turn and look at Asmodeus, nodding. In an instant, he’s behind Elias with his hand around his throat.“Exceptionally fast, doesn’t even begin to describe how fast they are. They move faster than you can see. Stay there,” I tell Asmodeus when he starts to release Elias.“However we, as werewolves, are stronger than they are. Once you can see them, you have to take them down quickly. Gamma Elias, what would you do if you were caught in this position in a battle?” I ask him.“First instinct would be to whip him over my shoulder and get him off my neck.”“Do it,” I tell him.He does, but the minute Asmodeus hits the ground, he’s back up with his hand around Elias’ throat again.“Remember that speed is not in your favor. When you fight a vampire, you don’t just want to get them off of you. You need to give yourself more than a moment to get the
ReaganI thought it would be uncomfortable sleeping with someone for the first time in my life, but it turns out that I sleep even better with Kieran wrapped around me. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Samson purrs in his sleep. The sound reverberates through my body making Alayla feel calmer than I ever remember her feeling.‘He’s our mate. He loves us,’ she says. I can feel her own love for him and her acceptance of his forced mark on our neck. She’s forgiven him now that we understand why he did what he did.‘Now we just have to get you on board, my human,’ she says, listening in to my thoughts.I carefully turn my head to look at Kieran’s face. His mouth is pressed against my shoulder as if he was kissing me while I was asleep. His face is relaxed in sleep, the beard and mustache that he keeps trimmed short tickle my skin.‘There’s so much he doesn’t know,’ I tell her.‘So, teach him. The sooner you accept him, the better it will be for the pack,’ she says. I can feel her desire to
AsmodeusI follow my beautiful mate to her bedroom. I hope she doesn’t kick me out. If she falls asleep, I'll be able to stay and watch her sleep. It may sound boring but when you’ve lived over one hundred years and you don’t sleep, finding something interesting to do at night that doesn’t involve feeding on humans is a luxury. And something tells me that my mate’s face will be just as animated in her sleep as it is when she’s awake.Her hair is just auburn enough that I bet it shines with golden strands in the sunlight. I feel a deep sadness that I’ll probably never see that color in her hair. Vampires like me don’t walk in the daylight.“Sit wherever you want,” she says, crossing her ankles and bending her legs as she moves to sit on the floor. Faster than she can see, I move underneath her, smiling when she yips as she sits in my lap.“Asy! What are you doing?”“Sitting where I want. And where I want to sit is where you’re sitting.”“That’s puts you awfully close to my neck. I haven
KieranI hate it that everyone outside of my pack seems to know more about my mate than I do. Now that I’m feeling a bit stronger and a bit more focused, it’s not only time for me to get this pack back under control, it’s time for me to figure out what I don’t know about Guardians, the fae, vampires, hell, pretty much every faction that isn’t a werewolf.“What do you want to know?” Reagan asks me.“Everything I guess. What did Prince Arrogance mean about you not being able to leave me?” I ask her.While the thought of her never leaving me made something deep inside me settle, there’s something off about the way he said it.Reagan sighs. “I’ve never had to explain what I am before. Everyone in our part of the country already knows.”She sits on the couch, pulling her legs up underneath her. Because I want to be close to her and because it seems like she’s feeling a bit vulnerable, I sit on the floor at her feet, using the couch as an arm rest and leaning my head against my hand as I loo
ReaganWell, the prince has good instincts, I’ll give him that.“You don’t even know me,” Markus growls at him.“What part of ‘he’s my guest’ was unclear to you, Markus?” Samson snarls, pushing forward.If it were just about anyone else, I’d try to calm Samson, but Markus is overstepping and while I don’t know what was said in the mind link, I do know that Samson was growling about it while Kieran was talking. If I had to guess, I’d say that Markus was questioning Kieran’s decisions.“You’re going to let him call me deceitful? In my own packhouse?” Markus asks, outraged.I can feel the anger rolling off of Kieran. He doesn’t answer, he just tilts his head to the side as Markus glares at him.“I don’t want him anywhere near you, Beloved,” Asmodeus says to Meadow.“Beloved?” Markus says, sneering at Meadow as if she’s some sort of disgusting creature.“You’ll want to wipe that look off your face before Alayla does it for you, Beta Markus. I promise she won’t be gentle,” I say.“Oh please
Kieran“You really invited a vampire and his ... what the fuck are those two guys?”“Guards?” Reagan asks as if it’s a question, looking me as if I’m missing the point.“You invited three vampires to stay on our pack lands?” I ask.“You agreed.”“I agreed because you asked me to, but do you really think this is a good idea?” I ask watching as the vampire prince smirks at Meadow.“I’m sorry. Aren’t you the Alpha of this pack? I thought the Alpha made the decisions in his pack. If it’s not you, should I go ask Beta Markus?” she asks.I turn my focus to her, Samson growling at her comment. She swats his nose again.“I told you, Samson. Don’t you dare growl at me. If you want me to treat you like the Alpha of this pack, then start acting like it. Someone is trying to undermine you and take over your pack. You seem willing to roll over and allow that to happen. I know you’re not one hundred percent yet, but you’re better than you were. So, get your shit together, start taking control of thi
MeadowMy stomach clenches as Reagan releases her grip on the vampire’s throat. Did he just call me mate? No fucking way!“I am not your mate,” I say,“Oh, but you are, my sweet little witch,” he says, his eyes looking over my invisible barrier as his hands trace the edges as if looking for a weakness. It's the only thing that is now keeping him from sinking those fangs of his into me.“Come near me with those fangs and Reagan won’t be your biggest concern,” I say, magic lighting up on my fingertips.“Is this your idea of foreplay? It’s working for me. And when I sink my fangs into your body, you will experience pleasure like nothing you’ve ever experienced before,” he says. His voice feels like a purr that rolls over my body, making every nerve-ending stand up and take notice. And not just notice but crave for more.“Yeah, I’m not big on sharp, pointy things getting jammed into my body,” I say.His grey-blue eyes focus on me and his head tilts to the side. His smile promises delicious
ReaganI didn’t expect to be able to go back to sleep, but Kieran wrapped himself around me and I was out quickly. I still woke up at my normal time, ready for sparring. I’m disappointed that I don’t have any new names today. So instead, I think I’ll offer myself to anyone interested in trying their hand against a Guardian.Elias catches me on the stairs. “Can I spar with you today, Luna? I’m excited to see how well I fare against you.”“You’re not afraid that I’ll send you to the pack hospital?” I ask him.He shrugs. “It happens. I wouldn't want you to hold back on me." He would, he just doesn't know it yet."I checked on Corinna this morning. She said there was a problem last night, but you and Meadow handled it.”“You checked on her? How?” I ask, frowning. Did Meadow’s spell not work.“Because I’m a genius, Rea. When are you going to realize that,” Meadow says grumpily, walking up behind us with Tessa.“Good morning, Tessa.”“Good morning, Luna.”“What genius work have you done now,