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Chapter 22 : She's His Lover
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Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 23 : Moonlit Confessions
*Gemma*Well, if I didn't feel like shit before… I learned my lesson: don't assume.I blinked out of my brief wallowing when Jerah laughed. "You look like you just got kicked between the legs. Kael said you blew him off because you saw him hug Di. Are you Easterners easily prone to jealousy?"I felt my face heat in embarrassment, but I couldn't back down on my strive to be confident. "Not that I'm aware of. I just—"Jerah leaned forward and braced his forearms on his thighs. He was the biggest male I'd ever seen, built tall and wide at the shoulders, muscled, but it was still a different kind of big than Connor was. He wasn't pure muscle, and he seemed more inclined to hug than to bully. I could see him being a loving father that I could trust. Up close, his skin was textured from all the years in the desert sun, and while his pulled-back hair was white, his stubble of a beard was brown. The distrust in his dark eyes—they reminded me of the ocean at midnight, a romantic d
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 24 : Break the Rules
*Gemma*I learned Moonwake enjoyed three main meals daily with every wolf present, no exceptions. Raisa and I were fetched by the pup who called me pretty yesterday. I let him hold my hand to guide us down to the dining hall, where all the tables had been merged together. Arche sat on my left side, and Raisa was on my right. It didn't take me long to catch Kael's gaze at the head, Jerah and Jaci on either side of him with Tara bouncing in her father's lap. We exchanged smiles that we quickly hid when several caught the interaction and focused on our meal.After Kael dismissed everyone, and his packmates all scattered to their own devices, he started to walk toward me with a question in his eyes. I made it only a few steps before Diana jumped in front of me, beaming dazzlingly. "Ready to go?" she asked excitedly. "I…"Raisa laughed delicately beside me, having not missed the disruption. I had told her briefly what happened last night on the balcony. She had been sur
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 25 : We're Not Mates
*Gemma*I spit the "candy" onto the ground and blurted, "Beetle?! You consider bugs candy?!"Diana threw her head back and howled with laughter, then tossed one into her mouth and sucked on it loudly. "Yes. Yes we do. What else would we consider candy?"I came up short of an answer, so I just wiped my mouth with the edge of the veil and shook my head. "No offense.""None given, none taken. Now, how do you feel about breaking the rules?" she asked with an edge of insistency. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Why do I feel like you dragged me out here for a certain reason that wasn't just for 'fun'?"Diana glanced away guiltily, eating another candy beetle. "No reason at all, inconspicuous young foreigner."I didn't know whether to be mad, intrigued, even more suspicious, or a little bit enticed. It was quickly apparent that Diana didn't have innocent city-exploring on her mind. But what would she need me specifically for? "We just met," I began, trying to sort out what to
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 26 : The Underground
*Gemma*A tunnel with its own secret entrance guarded by a big, scary male who required a password. I was so in over my head."When you said 'adventure,' Diana," I hissed as she tugged me through, "I didn't think it would involve… this.""An underground market?" she asked innocently. "Would you have come if I told you that's where we were going?""Definitely not.""Well, don't worry, you're with me, which gives you very good immunity."As I tore my glare away from the tiny, confident she-wolf with her chin lifted proudly and her stride daring anyone to question her purpose, my breath was punched right out of my lungs.Nedra. It was like a miniature Niburgh. An entire unground city.The ground that made up the first street was rocky dirt, some places damp or harboring puddles from the water dripping from the stalagmites, some so low I could reach up and touch them. Lamps were somehow bolted to most of them, throwing flickering light and shadows, making the place ee
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 27 : Nothing I Want More
*Gemma*I woke up feeling like I was back aboard the ship that had taken me to this damn continent, swaying and rocking, but this time I was lying down on something soft and cushiony, staring up at a dark adobe ceiling with thick, swirling lines carved into it. I assumed it formed some sort of image, but my eyes did not even like glancing at it. I groaned and closed them, rubbing my temples where a headache pounded, making my head heavy and stuffed. It showed no sign of fading, so I tried to focus on the rest of me, which wasn't much better. I felt like I was back in Epsilon training getting battered from unblocked punches like a stuffed dummy and limping back home with my skin blooming with bruises.All I wanted to do was either throw up or pass back out, but a soft snore made my spine stiffen. Even though it hurt, I opened my eyes and glanced to my left. Sunlight was streaming in from an open window and made a pattern of light on the floor mostly covered by a woven rug. On
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 28 : Bath for Two?
*Gemma*"Kael," I rasped, my throat tightening, tears threatening, "you promise you're not joking about this?"He swallowed hard again, and his voice was still husky, but he was no longer trying to entice me. "This isn't something I'd talk about lightly, Gemma. Gemma. Goddess, I love saying your name."I rasped a delirious laugh. "I like saying yours, Kael."Without waiting for permission, both of his palms slid to my backside and yanked me close—and up. My limbs moved instinctively: arms locking around the back of his neck as my legs hooked around his torso. My breath shuddered out of my chest, and I tilted my head to the side so Kael could brush his first kiss to the underside of my jaw.It was like a spark to tinder. He started a hungry, frantic path down my neck, growling when the shirt collar only allowed a small patch of skin. So he moved back upward, loving the curve of my jaw, nibbling my earlobe. That drew another moan from between my lips, and I clung to him hard
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 29 : You Can't Trust Him
*Gemma*I wasn't sure exactly what kind of trouble Rian was in based on Diana's withholding of information, but it seemed like it could wait long enough for an emotional reunion.Jerah stepped aside, clearly stunned, for Rian to come inside. He looked around in fond appraisal. "Never thought I would miss this place," he huffed with a grin that easily marked him as Kael's brother. Their resemblance was as undeniable as Jerah and Jaci's—dark gray eyes, choppy white hair, and handsome facial proportions. "Looks the same as it did months ago." He glanced between the three shifters, gaze skipping over me. "Well? Don't I get a hello?"Diana's sob was strangled as it burst from her throat. She threw herself at him so hard and fast that Rian stumbled back, holding his arms around her in a fierce embrace when her limbs locked around his shoulders and waist. Faces buried in shoulders, chest trembling with sobs, steps stumbling toward a couch whose edge Rian's calf ran into, falling back
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 30 : Finding Home
*Gemma*It was hard to pretend like everything was okay when it clearly was not.Rian was pretending like he hadn't just been, apparently, driven back from Syrus Morven's stronghold and dropped off at the outskirts of Niburgh.Diana was pretending to be okay with that, her arms locked around his waist and refusing to let go as we left to put Nedra behind and below our feet once again.Jerah had Diana's supply bag resting in the crook of his arm, leading us back to the entrance, pretending like he didn't want to leave the apartment until Rian confessed every detail of his capture.Kael was pretending to be wholly grateful for his brother's return, but he wasn't hiding the simmering tension under his skin very well. I was the one to slip my hand into his. He started, looking at our interlaced fingers, and then brought my knuckles to his lips, brushing a kiss to them. My heart was ready to burst out of my chest. Something changed between us very fast and very strong. He wa
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Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 56 : My Mate, My Love
*Kael*If anyone had asked me before the war what I would be doing when I turned twenty-eight years old, I would not have said marrying my mate who came all the way from the Eastern continent. I wouldn't have said that she didn't come all the way so much as was kidnapped, nor that she would single-handedly end a twelve-year war.I wouldn't have been able to comprehend the pride and love and wonder—and occasional irritation at her stubbornness—that swelled in my chest and made it hard to breathe every time I even thought of her.She found me as a bloodied and broken lost heir who couldn't fathom ever returning to his homeland. Now, thanks to her, I was a king of a renewed city wearing all white under the night sky in the Moon Goddess's temple.And she was across from me wearing a blue dress the color of the sea—what I assumed the ocean looked like, having never seen the same one she knew—looking like she could rival the beauty of the Goddess herself.I loved that dress.
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 55 : Two Halves of the Same Soul
*Gemma*I rose to my knees. He lifted his pelvis, his tip brushing my damp entrance. I helped him inside, and together we thrust until he was fully inside me. Tears sprang to my eyes, but it wasn't the pleasurable pain, but the importance of our act of love. Kael sat up, arms scooping under my ass, and I locked my legs around his waist. His face, warm and damp and bristly, buried in the crook of my neck and shoulder. Another shiver went through me at the light scrape of his teeth and tongue over my sensitive skin. My core burned and ached. The ribbon connecting our hearts was the shortest it had ever been, our closeness a beautiful reprieve, making me realize how strained it was over the past few days despite our proximity. But mates were two halves of the same soul, and with our bodies connected, we were joined in more ways than one.It made me want to tell him how much I loved him.And yet, when his teeth started to put pressure on the flesh of my shoulder, I pulled ou
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 54 : Get Inside Me, Mate
*Gemma*I hoped with all my soul that we would all get the chance to eat and rest, giving our skin a break from the sweltering sun. Apparently, that was too much to ask for. The leaders spoke some more, straightening out individual plans as well as a unit. I zoned out for most of it, which I really shouldn't have, selfishly figuring my friends would catch me up when the time came for the information to become of use. I was too busy imagining what the reunion with my family would be like. I couldn't even decide what I was feeling right now, much less how I would truly feel in the moment. Was I angry about their shitty plans and arrangements? Was I still completely and furiously baffled by their decision to let my sixteen-year-old cousin take on the Beast of the West almost completely by herself? Would I lash out at Lynn for duping me so easily and thoroughly? Was I deliriously relieved that I would see them again at all—especially my parents—after thinking I lost them? Or
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 53 : Full Circle
*Kael*I had to remind myself that I barely knew my mate.I had no idea how Gemma would handle grief. And if that's what she wasn't feeling right now, then I didn't know how she handled the aftermath of a death. I just had to reassure her that she didn't actually kill Connor. He did that himself.We were all rocked by his last act. It kept replaying in my mind, but the more it did, the less real it seemed.It was the same response I had to my brother's and father's deaths. The more I relived it, the more distant I became from it—from the pain, the guilt, the helplessness and hopelessness… Eventually, it just sat in the recesses of my mind waiting for me to bring it out and be crushed by it all over again.Twelve years was a long time. I had come to terms with losing my family, even if Elara's two years ago was still a little fresh.I could come to terms with the death of my greatest enemy much quicker and with far less remorse.And I would make sure my pack would see t
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 52 : Who Will Do the Deed?
*Gemma* I couldn't do it. I couldn't stomach this monster. He was sickening and cruel, and the last thing he ever deserved was kindness or forgiveness.Waiting twelve years—and willing to wait longer—for the perfect, precise revenge was just… unbearable to think about. My mind couldn't wrap itself around why Connor's mind would think any of that was okay or justifiable.All the while he was laughing, basking in his own enjoyment, getting a kick out of our shock and disgust. I clutched Raisa's knife; Kael held Connor over the well wall; Cari stood trembling with anger. "Just do it!" she barked furiously at Kael. "Throw him down that damn well! If you don't, I will!"Kael was hesitating. I didn't know why. He hated Connor more than anything, and abhorrently, Connor was right: we would never get this chance again. We had thought it was impossible, and now it was happening, so why weren't we utilizing this chance?No, I did know why.The Alpha of Moonwake did not want to
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 51 : The Tyrant's Fall from Grace
*Kael*I never imagined I would feel pity for the tyrant who killed my family and destroyed my city.I viewed the Beast of the West on a bloody, cracked pedestal surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of innocents, laughing as he basked in his own strength. He was always perfect: tanned muscle, neat hair, intelligent but cruel eyes—just a calculating monster who never misstepped in his conquering.But now, the pedestal had cracked in half, and Connor Herrick was falling from grace. I had been terrified of having my throat slit after he somehow managed to ambush me in that small dwelling. I was so shamefully stunned that I did what he'd asked: call Gemma. Lure her straight to him. If I was terrified for my own life, it was nothing compared to what I felt for Gemma. I'd lost and found her already. I couldn't lose her again.I'd done what he asked me to do not for him but for my own selfish reasons. I'd wanted to see her one more time before he killed me.Now, I felt no fear
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 50 : Stopping the Enemy's Heart
*Gemma*Bly's report on Connor's state was an understatement. He wasn't just a wreck. He was deranged and unhinged.It was evident the second I saw him with Kael pinned to the floor on his stomach, Connor's booted foot digging between his shoulder blades, a similar scene to the throne room situation, holding a fistful of my mate's hair in one hand while the other held the blade to his throat. Harsh rays of sunlight through another window glinted off the metal.Connor wheezed a laugh. "Do you recognize this knife, Gemma?"Like the rest of us, he was a mess of sand and blood. Unlike us, his eyes were bright and bloodshot with madness. His breath was rattling in his lungs, and he was hunched over as if he couldn't fully straighten his spine. "I remember," I said slowly, knowing that a single word could make him go off. And with my mate's life suddenly on the line, I had to choose them very carefully. I met Kael's eyes. They were wide with fear—but not for him. For me.
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 49 : The Breeder Returns
*Gemma*I never imagined my uncles could be so conniving.But that didn't matter. If we could make them happy by eliminating a threat to them and the rest of Oceantide, even the entire East—hell, the rest of the West—then fine. Kael and everyone else who was about to fight alongside us; none of us were doing it to satisfy anyone. We were going to war with the intent to free the country from slavery. We were going to save villages and cities, protect daughters and sisters, and prove there could be futures for all without the threat of fear."You just might start a revolution, Gemma Brooks."Maybe so. Maybe I really was the reason an army was standing behind me as I stood beside one of the most important Alphas of this lifetime. Would any of this happen if I hadn't plunged that knife into Connor Herrick's spine?Maybe, maybe not.All that mattered was that it was happening, and there was no going back. Conviction was everything. This was not the time or place for hesita
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 48 : To Victory!
*Kael*"I don't see anyone," Gemma said, leaning forward and squinting past the sun's glare and swirling sand. She was right. The cars weren't running and there was no sign of life. Izar stopped and parked, waving out the window in what had to be a signal to the rest of the caravan. We sat in uncertain silence. "It was not part of the plan," Izar said bitterly, and I now noticed the family resemblance: my mother liked things orderly and according to plan or expectation. "But sometimes you have to just wing it. Alpha Kael, do you have a suggestion for our next move?"Everyone turned to me, and I forgot that Alphas needed to make those kinds of calls. I was the one shifters would be waiting orders from, asking tough questions, hoping—and expecting—encouraging speeches to lift morale and give reason to follow me into battle.I'd barely gotten the chance to practice. Now, I was thrown straight into the thick of it.I looked at my mate, her eyes burning with determinatio
