Eva stood at the edge of the meadow. An entire pack of wolves she barely knew waited for her to step forward be accepted by their alpha into the pack. Then have her mating with Damon announced, validated, and accepted by the alpha and the pack. No biggie, right? Just a formality. So why weren’t her feet moving? She could see Damon, and he could see her. Okay, she had this. Penny expected a mommy by the end of the day. Gods, what was she getting herself into? Fine, just one foot in front of the other. Eva made her way through the crowd as it parted for her. Asia and Thomas arrive late last night for this. She’d still now spoken to either of them, so Eva didn’t know what was going on. It only took a minute for her to get to the ceremonial mound. She walked up the gentle grade to Damon, and he took her hand in his to lead her into position. They traditionally lay the meadow out. If a human passed by, it would look like a family garden party was happening. Flowers, ta
April watched the vehicle pull up to the front of the packhouse and she recognized Gerald exiting the vehicle. Her belly did a somersault, and she wasn’t sure if the queasiness she felt was for the man she just saw, her nerves, or her pregnancy. April was hiding on the upper floor of the packhouse, and Asia just left to greet Gerald. She wanted to have a talk with him before April saw him. April knew she could get behind that. Now, if only Asia could keep him talking forever, then April would be ecstatic. What did she feel she’d lose to him? Freedom? Her identity? Her independence? The life she’d built for herself on her own merit. All other the above? She’d watched strong women go from being their own person to being Mrs. so and so. Losing their very name. Would she be able to do as she liked? Or they would expect her to drop everything and fulfil other peoples’ expectations? Would they hold her to traditions and values that she didn’t hold? These were all questions April feare
April knew she had to face him. But between his size and dominating personality, April didn’t stand a chance. She wasn’t a meek little mouse of a wolf. Or a broken one. She was feeling tiny, and that wasn’t something she was used to. Add in the man was drop dead gorgeous with his perfect hair and designer suits. Suits he didn’t think twice about shifting in. He just destroyed and replaced without a thought. Gerald must hate her. He probably believed she was pregnant just to corner him into a mating. That didn’t click since he’d messed with her head and used her animal to ensure she became pregnant. That or someone else messed with him too, and they were both in this mess together. April’s mind was everywhere and nowhere. Trying to find every scenario possible and finding nothing that made sense. Asia followed her to the office door, where April stopped before it was dead in her tracks. Thomas was leaving the office and April could see Gerald’s tall and very
Damon drove Eva to the school so that she could finalize everything before her classes started. She wouldn’t need to stay in residence, as their territory was relatively close. The administrative office was busy with people milling about everywhere. The noise was out of this world and within five minutes, Damon wanted to scream and growl at people to shut up. This was not a space for him, but he would tolerate it for Eva. He tolerated the self-guided tour she felt the need to do to find all her classrooms. Testing the food in the cafeteria and the coffee shop. Locating every bathroom to know the good ones from the bad. Eva was in her element, but this place wasn’t familiar to her, and she kept looking over her shoulder, fearful that her stalker would appear out of thin air. That’s why Damon was here. He knew they deliberately sent her transcripts to them. The fool was trying very hard to locate her. He’d be in for a surprise when he met her new husband.
Janine struggled, to let others take over the planning and execution of her mating ceremony. It didn’t seem right to foist it on to someone else. She felt like a burden. But that’s how it had to be. She was a focal point of the ceremony. She couldn’t be in the spotlight and behind the scenes at the same time. But what if something went wrong? Something always went wrong. Would they be able to handle it? Janine’s mind struggled with this concept silently for most of the day since she woke up. She should enjoy her day. Instead, she was in a heightened state of anxiety waffling between taking back control, throwing in the towel, and running away. But in reality, it was far too late for any of those. Emily was there with her beautiful pups. Gods, life went on when you weren’t looking. Janine made sure Emily wanted for nothing and the pups were pleasantly comfortable. She couldn’t believe James allowed Emily to come here since she’d only left her bed at the medical cen
Asia looked at her calendar. Emily had sent back a date for her mating ceremony and now it was her turn to question if she was taking on too much too soon. They’d just joined the packs together and working out how everything would go into the future. She had to admit they hit it or miss sometimes. “Why do you look like you expect your calendar to bite you or poop on you? I’m not sure which.” April stood in the door of Asia’s apartments. “Yeah, I got a date for the mating ceremony. But that’s not why you’re here.” Behind April were several bags. “Yeah, well, about that. I think I’m sort of stuck. He wants me to be downstairs, ready to leave in. Oh… five minutes. Uh… I came to ask if you could see your way through this to collect everything I’ve left behind and we’ll work out later how to ship it to Toronto.” “I’d ask if you’re sure, but hon, I love you and I can’t see any other way for this to have a chance at a fortunate outcome.” “I’m still n
“So, have the pups been treating you, right?” Eva’s image came from Emily’s laptop screen with her cheerful smile and a rather loud child in the background wrestling with her father in the background. Eva realized where Emily’s eyes were. She winced in embarrassment. “Sorry about that. It’s raining here so I can’t send them out. You’ll get used to it when yours get old. Gods, did I just say that? Anyway, I miss you and wish I could help with the planning. How is it going?” Emily realized she hadn’t answered a single question. “That’s a lot to answer. Ugh, here we go. You asked for it. How is it with twin pups? Sleepless. I’m not sure I remember the meaning of it. As for the plans for a mating ceremony. Slow, very slow. I just don’t have the energy to plan anything. I’m exhausted all the time. Sometimes I’m not sure I’ll get it all done in time. Those days I just want to cry.” Emily practically whispered this to the laptop. She was embarrassed and didn’t want James to kn
Gerald was in a rush for the plane with his mate in tow. Gods, he’s just taken her in the back of a rented limo like a teen boy on prom night. The worst thing was he could do it all again, and he planned to go on the plane. They were definitely in heat. He could feel it in his blood and the one taking her would ease it. She definitely wasn’t in any better shape. She’d not complained when he tucked her panties into his pocket. April was trying her best to keep up with Gerald as he moved through the airport. It didn’t take them long to get to the private plane and onto it. Her baggage was being stored on the plane by staff. Now they waited to take off. April found her head swimming with the speed of it all. She wasn’t sure why her mood was so calm. Once they were in the air alone, there Gerald released their seatbelts and insisted she sit on his lap. He busied himself with her body, touching and exploring her at his leisure. When she tried to move off his lap, s