CARTER’S POVSo, Luciano had sent someone to make sure we were doing okay. Luciano might be just what I needed. He was never shy with money. Last time he was here he bought an omega for a million dollars. Show off, that one. Not that I was complaining. “Andrew, what brings you here?” I gestured for him to take his seat. “The other Alphas needed to be sure you were doing okay. You didn’t show up for the convention and no one could reach you by phone.” “The convention, that happened already? They will have to forgive my absence, I’ve had my hands full here.” Fuck why did I say that. I couldn’t let anyone know people were sick and now dying. He was looking at me like he expected me to say more. I could stare him down but this could a way to deter him from any thoughts he could be having. “You see, Andrew, my park has found itself in some financial difficulties. We are barely scraping by. The convention completely…” I waved my hand to signal a thought flying away and he relaxed.“Yo
CARTER’S POV“I’m leaving.” I didn’t understand why Dylan felt he needed to make this announcement to me in person.He wasn’t the first to leave since this whole thing started, but I was happy to see him go. Good riddance to him. I knew a bunch of the pack expected him to challenge me one day, if he was leaving then at least I wouldn’t get to cripple him in a fight. “Bye, Dylan. Goodluck surviving without a pack, and don’t come back.” “It’s not just me, three others are coming with me. And we are meeting up with those who left already.” Dylan announced. Normally this revelation would have had me wanting a fight but we just buried one more person this morning and I honestly did not have it in me to care. “Well, goodbye to the lot of you. I hope hunters find you. Get out of my sight.” By, Luna. I needed a solution to this sickness if not the rest of the park might start leaving too. George and Ciara so far were more than useless. At least Ciara had other uses, George was just dull.
CARTER’S POV“Where exactly did George say this witch lives?” Ciara asked me for what felt like the hundredth time.I had asked her to come with me. A decision I regretted ten minutes into our journey. The address was in a gated community. This witch Nadia was doing well for herself if she could live here. We had asked around but no one seemed to know who Nadia was. “Maybe she goes by a different name.” Ciara was still mouthing off but she had a point. Maybe no one knew who Nadia was because she didn’t go buy Nadia. Fuck! Her name and this address was all we had. How else were we supposed to find her? We walked to the end of the block when I noticed something in the plant bed of one of the houses. “Come on. It’s this house.” I told Ciara as I headed for the door. “How do you know?” she asked, trying to keep up. I pointed to the monkshood and other things growing in her front garden. No regular human would have that array of supernatural plants growing in their front yard. I kno
CARTER’S POV“What are we going to do Carter? It’s been days. You can’t keep sitting around doing nothing.” I looked at Ciara pacing and complaining. We were doomed. What else was there to do but sit around and do nothing? “Pour yourself a drink, Ciara. There’s nothing else to do.” “You can’t say that. I’m not sitting down drunk waiting to fall sick. Can’t we buy her back or something?” Ciara asked.I scoffed, if buying her back was our only problem we may not have too much of a problem.“Luciano is not very fond of Omegas. If he bought her then … we’d be lucky if we found her alive.” I explained.“We don’t kill each other. It was outlawed.” She was right, with few exceptions we couldn’t kill each other. But that never stoped Luciano before. Max walked in just then. “Alpha Carter, there’s an invite from the Iron Claw park…”I sat up in my seat immediately. This was perfect. Max was still droning on about what the invite was for and someone named Dave but I didn’t care about the
CARTER’S POVBreakfast had been good. I may hate the man but he was a good host. I had excused myself to do some physical activities but it was an excuse to think away from the house and everybody else. “Have you come up with something yet?” Ciara asked, she seemed to be deaf to the fact that I wanted to be left alone. “Why don’t you try and be useful somewhere else. Go talk to your sister and see if she’ll help us with her blood.” I shooed her away but she wouldn’t move.“You and I both know she is not leaving here for us. She is basically the queen here. She sleeps in his bed. That doesn’t sound like tth omega hating Alpha you told me about.” “He hates Omegas alright. Do you remember years ago when our park had to take in some strays, a lot of them actually.” I asked her. It was high time she knew who he really was. I could see it in her eyes the minute we got here. One look at this massive estate and she wanted him not me. She would trade up in a heartbeat. This should bring h
ARIANNA’S POV“What the fuck does that mean?” How could I possibly be the only hope they had. Carter must be sniffing glue in his spare time. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. “It means Arianna, that you went and found a way to be special. And now your blood is supposed to help cure the park.” He was being snarky. That was all he had and he knew it. He was too prideful to beg, even now. In fact he seemed angry that he had been beaten.“And what’s so special about Arianna?” Luciano asked. I thought I could read him but, boy was I wrong. If I didn’t have memories of running with him under the full moon, I would have believed he genuinely had no idea that I was different. “I have no idea how she hid it from us this entire time. She’s apparently favored by the moon.” Carter was explaining to Luciano and I stood there trying not to give anything away.“She’s an omega Carter, what are you going on about?” I wanted to put a stop to this but the look on Dave’s face
ARIANNA’S POVI woke up with conflicting feelings. We had decided last night that I would go help the mystic moon which meant going with Carter and most likely seeing my parents again. Luciano’s arms were wrapped around me, which made me smile. He kept me up all night showing me just how much he would miss me. His arms tightened around me as he breathed in deeply. He was up, In more ways than one. “Good morning.” I said grinding up against him. “Good morning Arianna, sleep well?”“Not really, someone kept me up all night.” I teased. He bit my ear lightly and trailed kisses down to my neck. “You shouldn’t let people keep you up. You need your rest.” He said manuevaring and trapping me beneath him. I giggled thinking I knew where this was going. “You woke up in a good mood.” I wasn’t sure how he would be this morning. He may have agreed to me leaving but I knew deep fown he wished there was another way. I had started to get lost in his entire being when he pounced on me. Tickling
ARIANNA’S POVWe had been on the road for hours, I had lost count. It had started to feel like a whole day. I was impatient the entire ride. The quicker we got to the mystic moon the quicker I could do whatever they needed me to do and I would be on my way.We finally pulled up to the neighborhood where most of our wolves lived. This was not a compound. It was just a few blocks in the town that the park occupied. Few members lived a bit farther off. The more the park gre the harder it was to find accomodation close by. Or maybe Carter just didn’t care enough to make it happen. We drove passed a few houses and headed down a close. My blood suddenly ran cold. It was late and dark but I knew exactly where we were and where we were going. “Ready to see mom and dad?” Ciara asked with a smirk. My mind flashed back to them sitting unfazed while I was being auctioned. I did not want to face them. I knew I would run into them but I never thought Carter would deliver me to them personally.“
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.