*ARIANNA’S POV*I felt ashamed now. “I’m sorry Estell” I get up and wrap her in a hug and she doesn’t hug me back at first but gives in eventually. “It’s fine Arianna. Now, you need to get dressed. Breakfast will run out by the time you get to the kitchen.” I notice for the first time that she did not bring up my breakfast. “I can’t eat here?” I ask “Don’t be silly, of course you can. But, I don’t have to wait on you anymore. You are free to get your own food. I mean you do eat at night don’t you? I don’t bring you dinner at night do I?” Oh she had no idea I snuck into the kitchen after the kitchen staff had closed for the day. “I usually wait for the kitchen staff to leave then I eat whatever is left in the fridge.” she looks surprised “I guess people have been treating you like scum. Alpha Luciano sure hasn’t helped either. You live here they have to feed you, free or not. Get dressed I’ll go with you today. We can figure the rest out after
*LUCIANO’S POV*I was tired of watching Dave’s smug face. He thought I set her free because he kept appealing to my humanity. Maybe it was part of the reason, a very small part. Except Dave had found a way to make me think he was my late wife then no, he had very little to do with it. I had a meeting to run. I needed to concentrate. I have to admit she looked very happy this morning. I guess not being owned by an Alpha would bring out thie joy in anybody. This meeting was starting to drag on. The Apalachian wolves are not going to stop picking up hickers and mounteneerers. The Alpha insisted a few missing tourists in a year was good for the lore. He was right but ten in a year was more than a few. He probably lost his grip on the youngstars for a while. Considering the killings had abruptly stoped something this year I would say he had his house in order now. But no Alpha would be caught dead admitting to losing his grip, especially when it resulted
*LUCIANO’S POV*Archery was fun. It became even more fun when people started putting money on it. A few Alphas lost to some Zetas and Betas and the other Alphas laughed about it up till the dinner table. Collin was red in the face from laughing so hard. Pairing wine with dinner probably fueled the laughs. Over all it was a good day. I had no pressing issue to tend to for the rest of the day so I decide to take a stroll in the garden. My walks in the garden had been helping with the anger in my heart. An anger I had held on to since my mate died. She loved this garden and I felt closer to her here. Her presence here made me set the Omega free. Definetly not whatever Dave has been spouting about humanity these past months. The night was very still, the moon was a glowing crescent in the sky. I made a mental note to talk to the gardners about how the garden was fairing. It looked decently kept, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was missing som
*LUCIANO’S POV*I take a quick look around the kitchen. There are herbs and bottles of different shapes and sizes laying around. I pick up a herb that has a purple hue on it, just to keep my hands busy. It smells like lavender so it probably is. The kitchen looks like she had been working for quite some time. “How are you up so early? Did you get any sleep?” I ask her. She smirks at me as if to say pot calling kettle black and I smile back. I drop the piece of lavender back on the table. “How long have you been having trouble sleeping?” she asks. “I honestly can’t remember a time when I slept through the night, Becky. It’s become normal and I can’t say when it started.” She sets her motar aside and proceeds to put the kettle on the stove. She gets two mugs out of the cupboard and places them on the kitchen table. I don’t know how the mugs fit considering the table is covered with bottles and herbs. If I didn’t know for sure she
*ARIANNA’S POV*I wake up to a lot of noise in the house. It had been like that the past few days. With so many wolves around a quiet house would have been an anomaly. I’m in the shower when I hear Estell call from the room. She said she didn’t have to wait and tend to me anymore so why was she here so early? I rush my shower, wrap a towel around my body and step into the room. “Good morning, Estell.” I say as I step into the room. She is sitting on the edge of my bed waiting for me. It’s strange, she didn’t come in with an obviously silly dress and shoes for me to wear, she didn’t bring up my breakfast, nothing. “You look well, are you ready for today?” she asks. “I don’t know” I shrug “I guess we’ll see. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll run away and live alone in the forest” I chuckle as I say this to mask the fear of it really happening. “You’ll do fine” with that she gets off my bed and walks to me. “I know you and Alpha Lucia
*ARIANNA’S POV*I walk around the compound for over twenty minutes looking for Andrew. I had no idea why they called this a compound. It was a fucking estate. In the mystic moon, we all lived close to each other but not in the same compound. This was a giant estate with multiple houses housing different families and wolves. It was nice, they felt more like a community than the mystic moon. They may have felt like a community but I felt like one of the visiting wolves. Nobody liked me and I didn’t know anybody. After almost thirty minutes of aimlessly wandering, I make my way to the lounge. Maybe he is a day drinker, who knew? I shrugged. I all but ran to the lounge. I do not want to be here longer than I have to be. I shudder even thinking about being marked just a few days ago. I get there and find Dave talking to Andrew. What the hell was happening? “You knew he was here?” I ask, confused and upset. “No, I saw him walk in here on my w
*ARIANNA’S POV*“What the fuck happened here?” I hear Luciano’s voice from the kitchen and he sounds pissed. He must have been the one on the phone with Dave. I grab the trash bag I came for and rush into the living room.“Don’t shout boy” I hear Becy say and it takes me by shock. I mean I knew she was his Aunt but I had never heard anybody put Luciano in his place. He collects himself immediately and walks to her. “Are you okay Aunt Becky?” He asks her softly. All the anger from two seconds ago suddenly gone. For the first time since he bought me he wasn’t some Alpha barking orders and tormenting my life. He actually looked concerned.“All this fuss over me, I wasn’t even here” She says this as she gets up from her chair and we all head into the kitchen. “Were you able to catch any scents?” Lucianno asks“No, nothing. Whoever came in here knew what they were doing” Dave says.“Maybe, I mean they were smart, but not that smart.” Becky said and
*LUCIANO’S POV*I walk out of Becky’s with a nagging feeling. Whoever did this can’t be stupid enough to keep heavy scented potions on them. They would need to stash it somewhere and wash off the scent from their bodies. Even with a good scrub it'll take at least a day before they could blend in with the rest of the compound undetected. “What am I missing?” I start walking towards my house with this in mind. I needed to think. I was about a minute away from my front door when it hit me. I immediately turned around and took off towards the back fence in a sprint. How did I miss it? “Fuck!”I reach the back fence and leap over it without stopping. Now outside the compound, I stop and look around. I put my nose up in the air and try to catch a scent. I can smell them a lot out here so I try to focus. I pick up a faint smell of monkshood and I follow it quietly. I’m walking for a few minutes before I realize that the smell is leading towards
ARIANNA’S POVAlex walked in and the sea of people standing around parted for her. She looked gracious and I couldn’t wait to tell her that her dress captured the light of the moon like she wanted. The crowd of people parted and converged around her. It was like a maze that opened up in front and shut behind you as you walked. They were leading her to the center. To her minotaur. But this time, it was no scary monster, it was the love of her life. She finally got to the center of the crowd and stood opposite Dave. Luciano stood with them to perform the ceremony. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His robe, fortunately for me, left a lot of his chest bare. There was a lot left to the imagination but just enough was open that I couldn’t help but stare. I stepped up when I was called. It was time for best friend duties. I handed over the stone. It was white but a little see through. It was supposed to represent the moon. Luciano took it and placed it in Dave’s hand, he then covered it
LUCIANO’S POV“And what’s wrong with that?” She asked me. Fuck! That question tugged at the beast in me that just wanted to take her, with zero regard. I took a deep slow breath to calm myself. We both needed this, but she needed it more. Her body needed to remember that there was a lot more than the pain she had endured. “Shhh” I whispered back to her.I traced kisses all over her body, slowly, and holding on to her hips. Those hips. I would let them move, in time. I made my way down her body till I got between her legs. I buried my face in there and took a deep breath. The smell of her arousal drove me nuts and I could feel my erection grow in my pants. My tongue immediately went to work. Licking and sucking at her mound. I could feel her shaking beneath me and it made me happy. I slipped one finger into her opening and heard her let out a loud moan, I slipped in the second finger and let go of her hips. She was thrusting against my fingers now, my thumb once again found her c
ARIANNA’S POV “Alex, you did it! It’s beautiful.” I told her as we stood in the clearing. “You should see it at night, with the lights lit.” She said. “Two days away now. How are you freeling?” The smile that covered her face was infectious. I didn’t realize I was smiling too. “It feels like a lucid dream. A good one.” She explained.“Well, it’s not a dream.” I told her. “There you two are. Your parents have arrived.” Dave announced as he walked into the clearing. I watched Alex subconsciously gravitate into his arms. There was no thought behind it. Her body just moved. I loved that they had found each other. In the midst of all the crazy, something beautiful came out of it. “Where are they?” Alex asked Dave.“Luciano is keeping them busy in the big house. They came with the mystic moon’s new Alpha, Dylan.” Dave explained. “That still feels weird to hear. Alpha Dylan and the mystic moon. Thank the goddess for that.” I shuddered. Alex squeezed my hand for a brief second befor
ARIANNA’S POVLuciano took my hand in his and we walked off into the field. I had no idea where we were but I wondered who owned this place. No way, It was just a wild field. Someone definitely took care of it. There were wild flowers around, two trees apart from each other. But the grass was not wild. From the beginning to the end of the field the grass was cut to the same length. It had this feel of a wild place but at the same time, I could see the intentionality behind it. I watched Luciano spread a blanket on the grass and place the basket to the side. He stretched out his hand for me. I took it and he led me to sit on the blanket. I had never seen this blanket before, so I wondered where he got it. “So, what did the Chef pack us?” I asked. “Chef didn’t pack it.” He answered a little annoyed. “I was just teasing.” I told him. “I know. And I told Estell what to pack. So it was partly me.” He said, sulking. I giggled at his face. He reminded me of a toddler who wasn’t gett
LUCIANO’S POV“Good for Dylan.” I muttered. “Good for the mystic moon. Good for us.” Dave replied. I nodded at him. “Would you mind inviting him to the ceremony? Some of the pack is going to be here anyway.” I asked.“Of course. I was only trying to keep Carter out. Dylan is good. I think he and Alex used to be friends before he left the pack.” “Sounds good. Anything from the other Alphas?” “Just the usual. Nothing about us or Arianna though…” he looked like he had something else to say but could not decide. “What is it?” “Collin was trying to stir some of the others but they shut him down.” Dave explained.“Can someone do the rest of us a favour and challenge him already? By the moon! It’s always something with him.” I said, frustrated.“He’ll be out soon. Without an external factor to distract his pack, they will start to realise what a terrible Alpha he is.” “That may be true, but I doubt it’ll be that easy. He lets them get away with a lot of truancy. This year alone, more
ARIANNA’S POV“Did you know that Ciara was changing the natural state of your forest?” I asked Luciano.We were sitting by the kitchen Island, eating a bowl of microwaved lasagna. I was eating anyway, Luciano was just keeping me company. He had a confused look on his face that told me he had no idea that Alex was planting flowers in his forest. I giggled before explaining to him. “She says its too green and needs other colors to pop.” I explained. “Of course it needs other colors.” We both laughed at the way he said that. It was so playful and almost like saying why didn’t he think of it. “How was your fitting. Can I see your dress?” He asked. “Sure. It’s up in my room.” I said. I could see the very minute flicker in his eyes. If I had blinked I would have missed it. And if I had not noticed it a few times before I would have sworn I imagined it. “What’s wrong?” I finally asked him. “What do you mean?” “Just now. When I said you could see my dress. There was this … I can’t exp
CIARA’S POVHow would I explain to Dylan that I wasn’t welcome at the Ice claw pack? The last thing I wanted was him associating me with Carter’s tyranny. It was bad enough that everyone knew we were together. We were together. The thought took me by surprise. I knew we were done but I had not said it out loud. He was sick and dying. The last thing I wanted was to become his nurse and in extension, the punching bag for all his pain. I would make up an excuse to not go. He had his beta. From what he said, it would be no more than two days. Just a formality. There was actually no need for me to be there. The environment around the pack had been light and welcoming. Everyone who left with Dylan during the plague was back. Families were happy and no one even spoke of Carter. It was almost like he didn’t exist. But he did.I walked by his house for what seemed like the hundredth time in as many days. I knocked but there was no answer. He had locked his door days ago. His door was never
CIARA’S POVI knew Carter was weak but I at least expected a fight. Watching him writhing on the floor with drool running out of his mouth was just embarrassing.He could not even get through his change let alone fight. Everyone who gathered to watch didn’t seem to understand what was happening. “Is that part of it? “What the fuck is happening?”“Can he stand?” I heard these questions randomly from the crowd. This was beyond bad for Carter. If he couldn’t even turn, how did he plan to survive? It actually explained why he was absent during the full moon. Dylan walked up to Carter’s shivering body and placed one leg on top of him, signaling that the fight was done. If we could call it a fight. Dylan standing with Carter beneath his feet was the signal everyone needed to stop feeling sorry for Carter. The screams of joy were deafening. It was like years of pent up frustration could finally be let out. I ran inside Carter’s house to grab blankets. When I got back outside, old man M
CARTER’S POVI looked at my reflection in the full length mirror. I looked like I was hexed. Considering I had no idea what Luciano stabbed me with, I guess I could be hexed. Hexes were the worst, it was also George’s best guess. If he was right then there was no way out of this for me. I would walk a slow pain filled journey to my death. Curse Nadia. What did I ever do to her for her to do this to me? Not only did she tell other witches not to help me, if this was really a hex then it would not matter who wanted to help. Only the witch who places the hex can remove it. I had been in so much pain lately, I actually tried calling her. All my calls went straight to voicemail.In hindsight, leaving threats on her voicemail may not have been the best approach. I did leave an apology, but she still has not called back. I would find a way, I was not going to go down like this. “Max!” I called out. He ran in seconds later. “Any idea where Ciara has been since yesterday?” I asked him.