Awww, another Holstin baby!
Maeve’s shop is close enough to the office that I can keep a low-level connection between us during the day. She may not be able to feel it, but it helps Einar and I stay calm knowing we can always feel her, even if we can’t always hear her. That will change once she’s moved in to the new shop downstairs. Then, I’ll be able to hear her thoughts and feel her emotions easily. I was working with my father when I felt the first bit of unease. I had waited and when it didn’t go away, I had tugged on the bond. When I felt her relax, I was about ready to return to work and then, her anxiety went through the roof. I was terrified that something had happened to her and I raced to find her. Once I realized that my mate thinks she’s pregnant with our pup, and after confirming that she isn’t feeling anxious because she’s not ready for a pup, my anxiety went through the roof. My mate is human, she’s showing signs of a werewolf pregnancy, a pregnancy that lasts 5 months, not 9 months. Human bodies
I was released from the hospital the next day but Dr. Teresa wants to see me every week and if anything happens or I feel off, I’m to come back right away. We stay the weekend in the pack, and I get to see my sprite friends again. Apparently, the news that ‘Sir Alpha Xander and Lady Maeve’ are having a baby has spread. It’s also the weekend that Emlyn has decided to have Cayd’s going away party. I know Tate is sad to see his friend go, but it will be good for Cayd. Like Xander, he needs to get the education that will help him to take over as CFO of the family’s company. As I walk through my ‘witchy garden’ at the back of the packhouse, several sprites come rushing up to me, including Daphne. “Lady Maeve! Lady Maeve!” “Is it true?” “Are you pregnant?” “With Sir Alpha Xander’s baby?” “Hello ladies,” I say. “Yes, we saw the doctor yesterday and it’s true. Xander and I are going to have a baby,” I tell them. “Ohhhh!” “Is it a boy?” “Or is it a girl?” “Is it a witch?” “Or a wolf
Over the next month, we get into a routine. Lynn and Avery watch the shop on the weekends, and Friday evening after work, Maeve and I head to the pack lands, have Maeve checked by Dr. Teresa and then spend the weekend with the pack and our family. So far, Maeve’s pregnancy has been easy. She gets stomach cramps sometimes, since her stomach is stretching faster than it would with a human pregnancy, but Lynn has been helping her with some witchy salve that she rubs on her stomach every morning and every night to help her skin stretch more easily. I don’t like the stuff. For at least an hour after she puts it on, it overpowers her strawberry scent, even now that it’s stronger with our daughter. But, it makes her more comfortable, so I suffer with the scent. As Dr. Teresa predicted, as soon as the machines were turned off and Einar tuned in, we could hear our pup’s heartbeat. Now, four weeks later, I’m able to hear my little girl’s heartbeat all the time. It’s not enough that I can hear
The next afternoon, Meadow and I are in the shop with Jesse, who is now a permanent fixture in my life. I hear the bell on the door ring and Reagan walks in holding up a credit card. “Look what I got from Xander! Time to shop for our trip, Meadow!” she sings as she walks in the door. A moment later, Penny walks in behind her, frowning. I hear Jesse snarl and faster than I can see, he’s got Penny pinned against the wall. “JESSE!” I yell and I see Meadow’s hands light up with magic. Reagan turns to see what is happening, and she puts her hand up to us, telling us to wait. “Mate,” Penny says, looking at Jesse the way Xander looks at me, her eyes full of love. “Mine!” Jesse snarls, before his mouth latches onto Penny’s. Reagan quickly looks around, making sure the shop is empty of humans. For once, it is. “Oi! Jesse, take her to your place!” Reagan says, and I feel the pressure of her Guardian aura coming out. Jesse steps back, shaking his head as if coming out of a dream. “Oh, I
All of the wolves were distracted by the scent of magic. Balls of magic were coming down on us like rain. But once Avery and Amir put the magical umbrella up, and we began racing inside. One we got past the scent of magic, we could smell their sickly sweet scent. It burns into our noses. ‘Vampires!’ Einar says to me a moment before snarling. The rest of the group begins shifting immediately. If the witches are attacking, the vampires will too and with so many humans, we can’t wait and risk their lives. I want to race into the castle with everyone else, but my mate and my pup are here, so Einar moves in front of her, guiding her into the castle. ‘Do NOT leave our side,” Einar and I say as one to Maeve. As we run, I feel her grab onto Einar’s tail. ‘I need to look for Laris Bevan, but I don’t know what he looks like,” she says, just as a ball of purple light comes hurtling at us. Maeve slams her magic into the light and I hear a witch scream somewhere close by. ‘Why are they with
Avery walks into the room as I’m digesting what Laris Bevan said. He’s my uncle and he hates my family. “What’s with all the dust?” Avery asks. “Vampire dust,” Leana says, looking around to make sure they are all dead. “And the witches?” she asks, looking at the dead bodies of witches scattered on the floor. “Maeve,” Leana answers her. Xander comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. ‘Are you okay, my little witch?’ he asks in the mind link. “For now. No guarantees later,” I tell him. ‘Einar and I are here for you, whenever, whatever and however you need us. Let’s deal with your piece of shit uncle and get home. Do you want me to interview him?’ ‘Would you do that?’ I ask him, so thankful for his understanding. I’m feeling overwhelmed, not only with the number of deaths that I just caused but also with learning that he’s my uncle and most likely at least partially responsible for the death of my parents. Xander kisses the side of my head and moves to crouch down in fro
Before we leave the castle, we search the house, making sure that there is no one else there and that Levana isn’t hiding somewhere, unbeknownst to Laris. Once we find it empty, I have my team set up cameras and security, so we can watch and see if she returns. As soon as we’re back to the pack lands, I take Maeve in to see Dr. Teresa. She used a lot of energy and a lot of magic in that fight, not to mention getting stressed out about Laris Bevan calling the werewolves filty and blights on society. Secretly, I loved that my mate is acting so possessive. As a wolf, possessiveness is how we show that someone is ours, that we want them, claim them. So she basically told the entire room of supernaturals that I was hers. And while I was worried about her getting herself all worked up, it made me feel special. ‘You are special,’ Maeve says in my mind. My heads whips to hers where she’s lying on the hospital bed waiting to see Dr. Teresa. “You can hear my thoughts?” I ask her out loud.
Oh, how my life has changed in the year since I met Xander. I went from fearing for my life, struggling to keep my family together and still run a business to having a thriving business, an incredible mate, a family that is safe, and I now belong to a werewolf pack. It’s not official yet, Xander wanted to wait until our daughter was born. But Meadow and Tate both agreed and became official members of the Shadow Falls pack. Both of the were excited to have a low level ability to mind link, at least with the ranked members, and Rich's family. Today, I’m sitting on the back porch with Emlyn as she rocks her newborn. Rich and Xander put additional rocking chairs out here so super-pregnant women like me and young mothers like Emlyn could be comfortable and still be outside enjoying the fresh air. “How can I be so large, and uncomfortable but watching my mate sparring still gets me all worked up?” I ask her as we watch Xander and Rich spar each other. Xander is battling hard against his Ri
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