It takes me a moment to realize that she hasn’t answered me. I lean around her to look up at her. “Ayda? What’s your favorite food?”“I…ummm…I’ll eat whatever you give me.”I frown again. What the hell kind of answer is that?“Cathal likes pizza, do you like pizza?”She nods her head.“What kind? Ch
AydaWhen we step out of the bathroom, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do or wear. Masuzyo gave me my clothes to wear to bed and he’d tell me if I was allowed to sleep with him or not. However, Dimitri said he wants me in his bed every night.I stand in the room with a towel around my hair and one
“How long was she gone?” he asks softly.I look up and see him watching me.“Nearly a year if my calculations are correct. I’m not exactly sure, I wasn’t….I didn’t start keeping track until later.”He surprises me by reaching around me and holding me. “That must have been a terrible time for you.” H
DimitriI want to know more about my mate, but I can also tell that something is off. I haven’t quite figured out what it is yet, but she’s definitely skittish around me. Whether it’s her wolf not being here to feel the mate bond or something else, I’m not sure, so I ask questions that I think she’l
“But pain makes you stronger,” she says, as if this is common knowledge and I should know it.I close my eyes, pressing my lips tightly together as Zev once again begins thrashing around in my head. I know if I open my mouth, I’ll snarl in her face and that will only scare her more.When I get him u
She carefully pulls the blanket away from my chest, pressing her nose against me, making me smile.“Was your first mate a fated mate, Ayda?” I ask quietly in the dark room.She shakes her head against my body. “No.”“How old are you?”“I’m twenty-two,” she says, looking up at me again.“Why did you
AydaI’d been in the middle of my dream, my nightmare, when I’d heard his voice telling me to wake up. Somehow, it had blended with my dream, and I’d seen Masuzyo’s hateful eyes glaring at me, but his mouth was telling me to wake up.When I did, the memories of everything came crashing down and I on
AydaDimitri steps out of the closet with another shirt and a pair of drawstring shorts. “These will have to do for breakfast. I’ll have some of the pack members bring up clothes while we’re eating and then you can decide what you want to wear.”“These are fine, I’m sure.” I say.“These are way too
“I couldn’t agree more," I say.Dimitri reminds our pups to be respectful and to listen to Valentina and then we head back to our house.My mate takes my hand as we walk through the quiet streets of our pack. I begin to purr with happiness, all the happiness that I feel from my mate and from my life
AydaI watch as my son and his friend identify each other as mates in front of the pack, then watch my son claim his mate, the only woman he’s ever loved, with a passionate kiss.“How did you know?” I ask my mate. He called it years ago. At first, I thought he was teasing me but he just kept telling
“What I know is that my son will be the most handsome man in the room tonight…well, besides his father,” my mother says, turning to smile at him, making Zev purr in response.“Good thing I look just like dad,” I say rolling my eyes. I was not unhappy for my parents to move out of the packhouse. I’d
Eight Years LaterCathal“Do I really have to call you Alpha now?” my sister Dimitra asks me, walking into the family living room in our parents’ new house. When I took over as Alpha a few weeks ago, my father moved the rest of the family off of the Alpha floor. Our pack has grown ever since my moth
Ayda leans back against me as I begin to rub circles on her stomach. I frown, feeling her stomach cramping.“Ayda? Why does it feel like you’re in pain?”“They’re just cramps, Dimitri. I get them all the time,” she says, settling against me.“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling another one. I tune in more
DimitriFour months later.It took Masuzyo three days to die. It was impressive, mostly because I didn’t know a person could withstand so much pain. But he was a broad man, and the pack made sure that everyone who wanted their pound of flesh, got it. Literally. By the time he died, the smell of burn
“Do you want me to tell them to kill him? If you want him to die more quickly, I tell them to do it.”I think about it, think about every horrible thing he’s done to me, to Asena, to our son, to Cathal, to Dimitri, to Kelsey and Harper, and what he attempted to do to my daughter. “No, let the pack h
AydaI come awake slowly, feeling groggy, unsure what happened or where I am. My stomach hurts. Did Masuzyo take me roughly again? I’m not throbbing between my thighs so I don’t think that’s it. My face is throbbing, though. Did he hit me? Yes, he slapped me. Why did he slap me?I think hard, trying
“Ramon,” I hear my mother say softly, her gentle fingers moving through our fur. “NO!” she snarls, pushing Ramon behind her and pulling herself to her feet. As she does, Ramon pulls the shift, making me scream in pain as our broken leg and dislocated hip try to find the right spot to fit. I turn, vo