I’m so pissed off at Rich. I can’t believe he won’t just reject Emlyn. What is he trying to do? Keep his mate and a mistress on the side?And now, Emlyn drops the bomb that she’s pregnant. I thought for sure she was going to kill Gwen when she called her child a bastard.I know Emlyn wouldn't want me to, but Emerson and I are close friends. If the roles were reversed, I'd want him to tell me.So, I call him and tell him that his sister is pregnant with my brother's child."This is a fucking mess, Xander.""I know, Em. It's why I'm calling you. I don't know how much longer Emlyn can stay here.""She'll always have a place in my pack." He says, as I knew he would.Now, all of us can smell Rich and Emlyn’s baby. Well, everyone except Rich. He seems to be the only one that is oblivious to it, his own child.I know something underhanded is going on, I just have no idea what it is and it’s making me crazy. I’m a problem solver, it’s what I do. I have to be good at it if I want to be an effe
The minute my father returned to the pack, I went to see him. Something needs to be done. Ever since Emlyn left, pack members have started leaving the pack, too. No one has confidence in my brother’s leadership any longer. I walk into my parents’ house, the one my father built specifically for my mother. I’ve seen mate bonds my entire life, seen the way mates love and adore each other, but I’ve never seen anything like the love that my parents have for each other. They came together during a time when they had both lost hope, and together they built the incredible life that they have now. “Hey mom, where’s dad, I need to speak to him.” “Bonjour, Xander. Paris was amazing, thanks for asking.” Quinn says to me. “Oh, I’m so glad you asked Xander. My personal favorite was Ireland. Those accents. Mwah.” My sister Malin kisses her fingers and then spreads them wide, in a modified version of a chef’s kiss, continuing Quinn’s chide about me ignoring them. My twin sisters, although they ar
Over the next few weeks, I wait for it to happen, wait for the Guardians to come for me. Every time the bell above the door to the shop rings letting me know someone is here, my heart stops and my stomach clenches in fear. Yet, nothing happens. Nothing. I don’t even see Beta Trevor anymore. Now that Gwen is at another pack, things must have settled down. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll leave me alone now. I begin to relax. Hopefully, things are finally going right. Today, the bell chimes and I walk out to see someone I hadn’t expected to see. She was a girl in my old coven. Her parents were high up in the chain of command of the coven. “Azure, hi. How are you?” “Hey, Maeve. I’m okay. Well, not really. Listen, I’ve left the coven.” “What? Why? What happened?” I ask her, taking her hand and pulling her to the back of the store. I pour some tea, the tea I’ve been making to help calm my nerves and I give her some. She looks like she needs it as much as I do. She takes a sip of tea, then l
It took me a week to find the witch. I had returned to the pack when Rich invited Gwen’s father, Beta Trevor and their Alpha, Alpha Carter in for interrogation. They didn’t know it was going to be an interrogation, but they found out the minute they walked in. Beta Trevor and his Alpha both indicated that they had nothing to do with Gwen’s scheming and Leana confirmed that they were telling the truth. When he asked if he could see his daughter, I escorted Beta Trevor to our cells. It was interesting to see the interaction. It was almost as if Gwen expected that her father could get her out of the mess she had made. He told her she’d gone too far this time and there was nothing he could do. It makes me wonder what other messes she’s gotten into that he’s had to get her out of. It’s only a few days after their meeting that I find her, the witch. She’s nothing like what I expect to find when I finally lay eyes on her. She doesn’t look like a witch at all. She looks like a college stude
I watch Alpha Richard Holstin walk out the door of his office. “Xander, a word?” The beautiful woman, Leana, says to Alexander. I’m guessing that Xander is his nickname, or maybe some sort of family name. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” He says to me. I nod, where else am I going to go? I’m in the middle of a packhouse in the middle of pack lands owned by werewolf shifters that have enhanced senses. I wouldn’t make it out of this house, much less off their lands before I’d be torn to shreds. Alexander comes back into the room. “What do you need?” He asks me. “I have everything I need back in my shop. It would be a lot easier if we could go there.” He looks at me a long moment. I sigh. “Where do you think I’ll go? What am I going to do?” “Scream for help, maybe? Tell them you’ve been kidnapped?” “So you go to jail and I, what? Wait for your brother to come kill me for causing you more problems?” I roll my eyes. In an instant, he's in my face. “I can’t afford any legal entangl
I turn to Maeve. “Wait here, let me make sure whoever did this is gone.” I tell her before quietly walking into her store. I lift my nose in the air, smelling the burning scent that I’ve only smelled a couple of times in my life. The scent of witches. Before I’ve taken two steps, the door behind me opens and Maeve walks in. I growl at her. I don’t know that it’s safe yet. “They aren’t here. I have a spell on the place letting me know if someone is inside.” I tell him. “Do you know who did this?” She looks at me and scoffs. “Let’s just say your family aren't the only ones that wants me dead.” “We aren’t going to kill you.” I say, gritting my teeth. I can’t stand how cavalier she sounds talking about her death, as if dying at 18 is normal. “Well, maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will do your brother’s dirty work for him.” She says, looking around then walking into a back room. Einar is snarling that there is someone trying to kill our mate. It’s a good thing I’ll be keeping her
Why does this guy have to smell so good? It’s distracting and I need to focus. He smells like the coffee shop my father used to take me to in the mornings before school. Rich, dark, freshly ground coffee with a hint of cream and sugar. Right now, he’s standing behind me, so close I can feel the heat of his body radiating off of him. Geez, he’s warm. Must be a wolfy thing. “How do you know those goons worked for her?” He asks me. I never considered myself short. I’m not exactly tall either, but I’m an average 5’6” tall woman. This guy is nearly a foot taller than I am. And his shoulders are wider than mine, by enough that it’s noticeable and don’t even get me started on how muscular he is. Snap out of it, Maeve! His family wants to kill you. Yeah, but, I swear he was flirting with me earlier. And I saw his eyes flicker before too. I’m not sure, but I think that means his wolf was coming forward. I have no idea if that’s good or bad. “I recognize them.” I say, moving away from him.
I know this burner phone is the connection to her family. While I was on the phone to my pack making arrangements to have someone come clean and fix Maeve’s shop, I snuck upstairs. Three bedrooms. While the scent of the goons was up there, I could smell the family scent much more strongly. One female, one male and I’d bet my future position as CEO that they are both juveniles. I had intended to take her upstairs and force her to tell me where they are, but when she indicated that we were being monitored, I changed my plan. She doesn’t seem concerned about them coming back and ‘M’ said they were safe. So, for now, I’ll leave it at that. When we were walking to the car, I smelled them before I saw them. I turned, putting myself between them and my mate. I don’t care that we’re in the middle of a busy part of town, humans passing us all around. If they try to take her, I will kill them. “Sorry, guys, this girl is taken, go find your own.” I say, my claws coming out. I hear Maeve suck i
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