No surprise that Lorelai feels scorned. But Lily and Aolis are building a sweet romance.
After getting my phone and calling Aolis, I curled up in the bed in my room. It’s the room I’ve stayed in the on the couple of occasions I’ve stayed here. Aolis asked if I wanted to stay in his room and I think I’ll take him up on it. I miss his smell and maybe being in his room will help me sleep better. I wake early and find Ailduin and Anastasia having breakfast together. “Please, join us.” Anastasia says to me. Anastasia is an Alpha werewolf female like me. Unlike me, she is not a Guardian, but was obviously meant to be a Queen. Her love for her mate, and his for her, is undeniable. Even if you didn’t see it in the way they look at each other, it is obvious from the flowers that are in constant bloom all over Araphyra. “What do you have planned for today, Lily?” Ailduin asks me just as Buppig walks in. “Buppig, please join us.” Ailduin says before turning back to me. “Well, I want to start learning the history of Araphyra and the surrounding townships. I want to learn the layo
The day after Lorelai screamed at me, I didn’t see her. Rather than stay inside the castle, I went out into the town. The people didn’t outright shun me, but they weren’t receptive to me either. They were as polite as they had to be. My favorite part of the day was when I could speak to Lily at night. I would listen to her day, the stories of the happenings in her life and it was like nothing had changed between us. I was her confidant, her home. And now, she was mine. While I didn’t want to worry her, I needed to be honest that things here were not good. She has asked me every day if she needs to come, to protect me and I decline. While I would love nothing more than to have my mate here, I know that will only make things worse. Plus, Guardian or no, I won’t put my mate’s life in danger. After saying goodnight to Lily, I lay in bed, thinking of what our life will be like when I return to Araphyra. I’ve just about fallen asleep when I hear the doorknob on my door turn and the door c
I finally had a chance to ask Buppig what was up with him and Ailduin and why it felt like there was always a push and pull between them. “He wasn’t happy that I left the castle.” I think about that for a minute but I’m not sure how to respond without asking for more information. “May I ask why? I’m assuming you left because of your relationship with your family?” I ask, trying not to be too pushy with my questions. He sighs, sitting down beside me. “I’m the youngest of my family. When Weddeg came of age, our parents wanted to move back to Ireland. They had lived there many years ago and still consider it their homeland. The rest of us were born here, in Araphyra, and wanted to stay. Weddeg agreed to look after us.” He smiles, his eyes lost in some memory. “He’s brilliant with electronics. He was the first to get King Ailduin to start using them. My brothers, there’s another one you haven’t met yet, all followed in his footsteps. They are all very good at what they do. Hazdil obv
After Lorelai left Eventide, Aolis wasn’t able to speak to me daily like we had been. I had tried calling him the night I spoke to Anastasia, but he didn’t answer. I left him a message letting him know I loved him and that we needed to talk. Instead of letting myself become lost and lonely, I threw myself into my studies, making Buppig proud, and learning the ways of sword fighting. Samlael was an excellent fighter and an even better teacher. He was patient and kind with me, but he didn’t go easy on me. For the first month, my muscles were so sore that without Hera’s healing power, I don’t think I would have been able to lift the sword the next day. But I am a Guardian, and an Alpha female and thankfully, I heal and I learn quickly. Fighting with a sword is strengthening muscles that I didn’t even know I had, much less needed to be stronger. Hera had begged me for weeks to run through the forest, and one night, when I couldn’t sleep, I decided it was time. I have been walking throug
When Lorelai went missing, I met with Lord Elas. “What do you think has happened?” I ask him. “Prince Aolis. She is angry, hurt. I thought by now, she would have come to understand, but….” He shrugs. I have come to understand in my time here in Eventide that Lorelai holds the power. Her father was a great ruler at one time, but his time has passed. Lorelai is the one the people look to for guidance. And now, she is trying to turn them against me. “She may be angry and hurt, Lord Elas, but now she is turning my people against me. She needs to stop now, before what she does can not be undone. If she will not speak to me, she can speak to my father. I have told her this, but she refuses to listen.” “My wife has also spoken to her, but she will not listen. She has become angry with us as well. She feels we have betrayed her.” In the two months that I’ve been traveling around my lands, trying to get information on Lorelai’s whereabouts, there have been three assassination attempts on
It’s the morning that Aolis is due to arrive back home. I’m so excited that I can barely contain myself. I make it to training but Samlael can tell I’m distracted. He smiles at me. “The Prince is coming home, today, correct?” He asks me. I smile so brightly, my face feels like it will split in two. “Yes!” He chuckles. “Go on, then. You won’t be mindful enough to spar today and I’d hate to ruin your reputation as a Guardian by defeating you over and over.” “Thanks, Samlael.” I say, reaching up to kiss his cheek. He blushes slightly before nodding. I forget, the elves aren’t touchy people. Thankfully, Samlael seems more embarrassed than angry with my actions. I race back to the castle to have breakfast with Ailduin and Anastasia as I’ve been doing every day since I got back from Eventide nearly three months ago. I’ve just sat down and started to eat when Buppig comes stomping in. “Why din ya tell me Hera received the blessin’ of the Ceryneian Hind?” I can tell he’s upset because
When I get to Araphyra, all I wanted was to lay eyes on Lily and make sure she is okay. After my nightmare last night, I just need to see her, to know she is safe. Unfortunately, everyone swarms around me, wanting to greet me as I return home. It’s been a long time. I’m not usually gone this long. However, it seems that Lily and I have the same idea. I see her rush out of the castle and she flies into my arms. It’s so much like when she was younger, her excitement at seeing me, that I just wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair, breathing in her vanilla scent. When I pull back, I see that something is bothering her. But I push that aside as Hera’s golden eyes press forward to greet me. I run the back of my knuckles over her cheek. “Hello, my beautiful wolf.” “Hello, my mate.” Hera’s deeper voice says to me before I feel her purring at my touch. I can’t wait until I can hear her in my head. I’m more than a bit jealous that GoldMoon currently has more access to my mate
I feel the grip around my heart ease when Aolis tells me that he has no intention of rejecting me. He’s always been so patient and understanding with me, but this is something different. This impacts his people too. We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about anything and everything. After eating, we move to the couch. I don’t know how I never realized that Aolis gives me his complete, undivided attention every time I speak to him. When I think back, I realize that there is almost no one else in my life that has done this. Even my parents have always had something else going on that they needed to deal with and so, while I know they love me and do listen to me, hours after starting our conversation, Aolis isn’t looking tired, he doesn’t look bored. He is completely and totally invested in what I’m telling him. When the feeling of his love for me rolls through me, I need to be closer to him than I am. I get up and crawl into his lap. Since he was always older than me, this was my
Nineteen Years Later“Mom, why do we have to go to this Beta ceremony?” Genevieve, my daughter, one of the twins, asks.“It’s not a Beta ceremony, Gen. The vampires don’t have Betas, you know that,” I tell her.“They’re second in command, mother, that makes them Betas,” she argues.“And besides going to see your cousins take their place as the mates of Urien’s second in command, it will be a good opportunity for you to look for your mates.”Malin’s daughters, Kayleigh and Sasha, found their mate, Lorenzo, the son of Ennata and Demetrius. Demetrius had been Drake’s second in command until he decided to retire with Ennata and move to the city to help Xander and Maeve with the witches. Now Lorenzo is taking over as Drake’s second in command.“Mate or mates?” Marcella, the other twin asks.Unlike me and Malin, both of our twin daughters are identical twins. It caused a lot of worry for me and Malin while they were growing up, wondering what would happen if our daughters were mated to one p
Watching my mate on her birthday had been one of the best feelings in the world. I know every man in all three packs had hoped that she would be their mate. But she isn’t. She’s mine. All mine, forever. And tonight, I get to claim her in the last possible way, officially making her my Luna.Last night, we’d watched as Malin had taken her official place as Luna of the Canyon Ridge pack. It was special for Quinn, but I’ll admit to feeling jealousy when Cohen announced to everyone that Malin was carrying his pup. After finding out at Quinn’s birthday party that my sister, Emlyn, Quinn’s sister, Leana, and her sister-in-law Maeve were all pregnant, and now hearing that her twin is pregnant, I suddenly realize that I want a pup too.I’ve never given much thought to how many pups I want. I need an heir, and of course, I’d like to have a little girl that has Quinn’s sweet personality, but otherwise, I hadn’t thought much about it. Until now. Now I know that I want pups with Quinn. I don’t eve
I’m exhausted and pleasantly sore between my thighs, but I don’t care. I’m wearing my mate’s mark, wearing my new necklace, and it’s my birthday. Emerson skipped warrior training this morning to spend extra time with me. We’d finally fallen asleep and I’d slept soundly for a couple of hours laying on top of his body.I feel his fingers softly rubbing over my back.I grumble, knowing he’s trying to gently wake me up.“I don’t want to get up either, birthday girl, but we have a party to get to,” he says.I snuggle against him, not budging. He chuckles. “If you don’t get up, I’m going to take you again.”“Is that supposed to be a deterrent?” I ask him.“You must be sore, Quinn.”“Not that sore,” I say, looking up at him.His eyes darken. “Damn, you are one sexy woman, Quinn. And you look fucking incredible wearing my mark. You know what?” he asks, sitting up and lifting me as he gets off the bed and walks into the bathroom carrying me.“What?” I ask.“I want to take my mate while I look a
Emerson and I have been together every night for the past month. He’s tried every possible position, explored every inch of my body and found places that even I didn’t know I liked being touched. But tonight feels different. I can feel it in the air around us, feel it in him, and feel it in our wolves.“What does my sweet mate want for her birthday?” Emerson asks me.“You. Just you,” I say and he leans down, kissing me slowly and deeply, as I wrap my legs around his body.“Just me, not my mark?” he asks, his warm breath blowing against my ear and moving to my neck, making me shiver.“Having you means I get to wear your mark and I ge to put mine on you as well.”He growls as I lift my chin, exposing my throat to him. I feel his canines graze over my mate mark, the feeling of it so much more intense now that it’s my birthday.“Not yet,” he says, before flipping us over. “I thought my little Guardian might want to be in control on her birthday, to ride me any way she wants before sinking
The day has finally arrived, the day when I can leave my mark on my mate and it will finally, finally stay. I’ve been looking forward to this day for years, literally years, since the first moment that I recognized Quinn as my mate.Even though I know I can’t leave my mark until midnight tonight, I still wake my mate by sliding inside her. I look forward to my evenings with Quinn and waking up with Quinn. I make a point to see my mate throughout the day. Then nights and mornings are when it’s just us and I can be me and she seems to thrive on me being me. I was so terrified for so long that I would hurt her, that I’d scare her off, that it never really occurred to me to trust that the Moon Goddess would give me the exact mate that I needed to fulfill every dream and fantasy that I’ve ever had. But here she is, in my arms, screaming my name. Fuck, I love waking up to her body contracting around mine and my name coming from her mouth.Even though I’m behind her and we’re both laying on o
I love being in Emerson’s room. Well, it’s ours now. Going to bed at night is so much more enjoyable. And everything about Emerson has begun to fall into place. During the day, he still shows me affection, more than he used to, but it’s at night that he strips away his reserved side and gives me everything that he is. And what a man he is.Our first night, he was careful with me, in the sense that we didn’t have sex. But that didn’t mean that I didn’t have one of the most intense nights of my life, at least up until that point. I know my mate wants control, and I’m happy to give it, as long as he gives me what I want. Just to be sure, I ordered some sexy lingerie, wearing it every night, just so Emerson can rip it off me. It seems to be all he needs to let go. And oh wow, I’m not even sure I realized how many ways my mate could take me, but Emerson wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to know all the ways he could make me come by my birthday. It’s like he’s on a mission and every nigh
I let her sleep about an hour before I wake her. We need to get ready to have breakfast with her sister and Cohen before we head back to our pack. I pull her into the shower with me, laughing at her sleepy grumpiness.“None of that or I won’t wake you up like that again,” I say to her.“I need coffee,” she pouts as I push her under the shower. “And how come you’re not exhausted?”“I didn’t have as many orgasms as you did,” I say smiling, exceedingly pleased with myself. I counted ten. I made my mate come ten times. Now, I need to see how I can increase that number.“You know, you called me greedy, but you’re awfully greedy when it comes to giving me orgasms,” she says as I wash her hair.“Are you complaining?” I ask, smiling at her.“Nope. I like that greedy side of you,” she says and I laugh, truly laugh.“And, I love seeing this happy side of you,” she says softly and I look down at her.“You did this. You make me this happy,” I say, kissing her nose.That seems to make HER happy and
I wake for the first time with my mate in my arms. I’m not sure I’ve ever slept through the night. It’s not that I don’t sleep, but I tend to toss and turn. I can tell that I didn’t move all night, my body, mind, and soul all at peace having this fascinating and incredible woman beside me.I look down at her, her white, blond hair spread out across my chest, a stark contrast to my dark skin tone. I’m not sure I expected her to give herself to me so completely. I kept Clint’s words of advice in my head, and he wasn’t wrong. Quinn giving me control over her perfect body, letting me taste her and fill her had been beyond anything I’d ever experienced, well, at least until I’d had my first orgasm inside her. I thought I’d died and gone to the Moon Goddess’ realm. Yeah, I know I’m going to want to taste and fill this woman every damn day. I can already tell that I’ll never, ever be able to get enough of her. And now, I’m excited to find all the ways I can dominate this body and to see what
There is something extremely attractive about Emerson being so dominant. I can tell he’s on the verge of losing control and the only thing keeping him in check is dominating my body. And oh, holy mother Moon Goddess, is he dominating my body.I’ve touched myself, found my own release many times in my life, but this…this is way beyond anything that I’ve ever made myself feel. And he hasn’t even moved past my breasts. I didn’t know it was possible to come just from your mate sucking your nipples, but I’m here to tell you, it is possible. At least if you have Emerson licking and sucking on them like they are the most incredible thing he’s ever put in his mouth.His hands are everywhere, his mouth is everywhere, and while I want to be a participant in this, our first of what I hope is many matings, he’s overwhelming my senses. On top of that, he seems to want and need control and I’m willingly giving it to him.When he commands me to say his name when I orgasm again, I feel heat flooding m