People began arriving at the ceremonial meadow. Helena watched to see how they reacted to the sudden changes in the pack. First, the attack, dealing with her father’s death, not just a new alpha but two, and now a mating ceremony between three people.
The two men stayed close to her but mingled in such a way that she didn’t need to deal with any unsavoury questions or demands. It unnerved her to some extent that people wanted to know things about their relationship, others wanted to know if they abused her, and yet others wanted to know if they could get in on the action. It was an invasion of her privacy, to say the least. The only question she saw as valid so far was one person asked about how communicating with the two alphas manage it.
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The council of elders laid out the cloaks and the flower crown. Then the ritual of the blessing began, and the elders recited the blessing as everyone looked on. When the time came, the elders anointed the three before availing them of their symbolic stations. Chris and Brian received the heavy mantles of office and she an intricate set of flowers. Usually, the crowd would break into cheers and mob the happy couple. But that wasn’t the case. The pack recognised their achievement, but Helena got the feeling that the pack may know what was to come. They, however, were self-conscious of how their next actions would reflect on them. She soon discovered a sinking feeling in her stomach. Would they individually give their oaths of continued loyalty to them? Or would they fail to support the pack as it stepped forward under new leade
Helena and the twins finally left the pack at the doors to the packhouse, which meant they could all relax. “I never realized how painful it is to smile for so long.” “I’d offer to get everyone a drink, but I think we’ve drunk enough for one night. Shall we retire upstairs to relax in a more entertaining way?” Chris suggested with a mischievous grin. His head dipped to Helena’s shoulder to place a teasing kiss at the base of her throat. “I’m game if she is. Right now, I can’t wait to call finally her bed our marriage bed. Break it in and all that.” Brian was already peeling himself out of his finery. “I want to feel the air on my skin while we make love to you and finally make you ou
“Don’t worry, we have plans to get them to trust us. Just relax. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Chris assured Helena from his place at her knees. “Just relax. We’ll talk about it in the morning. Let’s enjoy this evening for what it is and not sour it with work.” Brian stroked her shoulders and arms. He laid a kiss behind her ear as she lay against his chest. Helena groaned in frustration. “You’re both frustrated. You know that, don’t you?” Chris looked at Brian and the two men looked at each other, but said nothing. That’s when Chris’ mouth replaced the washcloth and Brian kissed her deeply. Their distraction technique worked. They lay there, touching and kissing ea
Helena stormed out of the office, leaving the two men watching her. There’d been no time for them to say anything to her, or to defend really themselves. “Okay, this is bad. I don’t know about you, but we need to fix that.” Brian said to Chris as her words fully registered in his mind. “Not even mated a day, and we screwed up. This doesn’t bode well for our future. How are we going to fix this? She’s really upset.” Chris watched the door swing closed behind her. “Yeah, I guess we would be too. I thought keeping her out of this was protecting her. How were we supposed to know she would want to be part of this? We must apolo
“Give me a minute. I’m almost ready. You know you can go on without me. I will be there. She’s my best friend.” Jillian dragged on a pair of shoes after she glared and the hulking mass of man standing at the door of her apartment. “Please, please, don’t ruin this ceremony by making it about our problems. We’ll figure out how to fix this on our own. I don’t want this ruined by my trauma. It’ll be hard enough with all the weird changes in the ceremony and interactions. No one will know what to do or how to respond. So, keep the bite hidden until after the ceremony, please.” “Are you ready?” Jillian nodded. “Time to go.” Davis held the door for her to leave. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking because his face was blank with emotion. How was sh
“What do we get?” Chris leaned over Brian’s shoulder to look at the texts on his phone. “What’s going on? I thought the alarms didn’t work. They didn’t work the night you came and my father…” Helena was not in the right head space to confront that truth too. “I got someone on it. They found the wiring frayed, but not cut. It wore out. I gather they got it working. Here it is. We have intruders spotted close to here. They’re requesting us out there for direction. So, are you or I am going?” “Let me go. If we need a hunter, I’ll call you. Helena, I’m sorry we messed up and I promise you I
“Alright, now you’re going to have to start from the beginning. How did this all start, and you end up like this?” Helena sat down by her friend and grabbed a tissue from a box on the end table. Then gave it to her just in case Jillian turned on the misery waterworks. “Okay, I was in the medical centre when they brought him in. I was helping patients get ready to be discharged. You know how it is when there are several people leaving at once. It can be confusing. He was a mess. You saw the bandages on him. He was bloody and such. The doctor asked me to clean him up after they stitched him back together. They needed to drug him to keep him calm, and I thought they gave him a little too much because he fixated on me oddly. When I finished, I went to leave, and he latched on. He wouldn’t let go, just growl
Chris tore out of the apartment, leaving Brian to secure Helena safely before he did what he could to help the pack stay safe. Tonight, the pack would see the use of two alphas. Clarence and his people didn’t know what they were coming up against. He felt the high of knowing he was in the superior position, and secrets abounded behind that. If the book left on Brian’s desk spoke true, Clarence believed they would fight each other for the position of alpha. So, his people would walk into a surprise they weren’t expecting. Outside, Chris discovered the pack’s enforcers attempting to guard the main enclave from the potential attack, of which they didn’t know where it would come from. He, however, started directing the enforcers
Life settled down for them after that, and a routine formed. Their pack understood their unique relationship. It helped when Alfred could come up with some documentation he’d found while doing his own study on their unique bond. It and Bethany fascinated the man became a friend to Helena and Jillian. Nathan and Asia eventually settled on a date to be formally accepted by their pack and to acknowledge their mating. It was something their pack needed to. Life for them soon became full of creating and building. Several of the lone wolves filtered in and requested a place within Nathan’s pack. Davis helped greatly with that because he could identify these lone wolves and vet their stories. By winter, there were enough homes to keep the Blue Mountain Pack safe from the elements. Money appeared out of the rambling and incomplete financial status. Helena didn’t look too closely, but she suspected several packs contributed funds and investments so that they could start agai
Asia now understood how much she didn’t know about wolf shifters and their society. The mating ceremony wasn’t elaborate, but there were meanings behind everything. Luck and good fortune were part of the reason everything was being done. Prosperity and abundance. She was told so many stories and traditions that her head spun from all of them. It was so different from what she’d learned in her time underground with them. The other women were afraid to speak of these things while Clarence was alive. Afterward, there were other things to think about. Now they were looking forward to the Alpha Acceptance Ceremony and their Mating Recognition Ceremony. It was so busy that most nights everyone went to bed exhausted to start again the next day. They could get the new packhouse built and several outbuildings so that they could winter with a roof over all their heads. They planned a school for the new year for all the packs in the area to send their pups, too. So the
The pack came alive with the discovery of the celebration. These were things they lived for. Births, matings, and all the little cornerstones of member lives. They were a close knit family and community. This was something they could sink their proverbial teeth into. Presents weren’t necessary, but someone would always find something to bring.They planned a nighttime ceremony as tradition dictated and that gave most of the day to prepare the simple things for the ceremony.Dusk was falling and Helena cornered Jillian in her apartment to get ready. Davis took an hour and greeted those attending. Jillian fluttered about in a distracted and nervous state. Helena couldn’t figure out what would calm her down. But she started out with some logic.“First off. Here’s the dress. Let’s get you dressed. Honestly, you’d think Davis wasn’t yours already. At least, your instincts were smart enough to catch him. Everything is already recorded and technically, this is just to get your sister to leav
The work lunch was going well, but as the meeting came to an end, Chris noticed Jillian again adjusting the collar of her top. With a frown, he watched her for a little longer. “Is that a bite on your neck, Jillian?” Her response was to put her hand over the mark and blush. “It is! Well, I guess congratulations are in order for both of you. When are you planning to have your mating recognition ceremony?” “We’ll see. We’ve not set a date yet. There’s no hurry after all this stuff happening.” Jillian tried to take the pressure off of the subject, because she hoped they would drop it. “We’re going to have one as soon as it’s possible. No time to waste pretending things might change.” Davis interrupted Jillian’s uncomfortably nervous rambling to state the opposite of his mate’s words. “Davis! What are you talking about? We can’t do that. It’s too soon after all the deaths.” Jillian looked askance at Davis, unable to believe he’d said none of this to her
Nathan all but dragged himself back to the camp. He’d not fought all that much. It’d just been a long night. Too long if you asked him. But he represented the Blue Mountain Pack until the end. The witches would not all him to sit in and watch the trial. But he knew that witch and golem were now no longer a threat to the Blue Mountain. Now what would he do since the pack chose him to be their leader? Did he dare think of himself as the perfect candidate? He’d done a right fine job of being a roadblock to the current leadership there. Would he bring that blindness to this pack? Or could he be confident that he’d learned his lesson? If only he could see into the future and everything it held. Asia would see him as the stuff Alpha’s were made of. But he knew she’d read far too many romance novels involving werewolves, and they were far from correct in most things about wolf shifters. The camp was moving today, which meant he wouldn’t get much sleep, nor would the few peo
Jillian watched Davis make sure that her sister and mother, with her mother’s latest side piece, were settled in their cabin. Gods, the guy wasn’t much older than her sister. He’d be better suited to her sister. What did these men see in her mother? She had two adult daughters. She didn’t care if her mother found someone. Actually, Jillian would love her mother to find someone she had something in common with. This guy wouldn’t be able to keep up with her in a conversation and she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him in pretty much any physical activity. Jillian could see this becoming another crash and burn. She bet he’d not met his fated mate and when he did, he’d have a devil of a time removing her clinging mother from him. Or Jillian would have to deal with the high drama. At least, right now, Davis showed no interest in her sister’s advances. He’d spoken to her once already, and her sister acted like he must be mistaken. Now Jillian wasn’t sure if she m
“If we are going to return to some form of normal, we need to finish preparing the Alpha apartments for us. You know. Get all our ducks in a row.” Chris mentioned as they ate breakfast in their apartment. This was the first day of the rest of their lives together in his estimation, and he was becoming impatient at how must mess it left and the sheer number of strings that weren’t tied down. This wasn’t something he wanted to have happened again. “As long as those ducks don’t turn into raccoons or squirrels, I’ll be happy. I thought we setup for them to be renovated by now?” Helena pushed her plate away from her. How this would play out, she didn’t know, but she had to get it going or she’d get bogged down in her grief. “We did, but half of the work crew was called up to hunt. Which put the schedule back and I’ve not been given a revised schedule.” Brian added, and he clearly felt horrible about that. They didn’t need so many people to hunt down the golem or
Alfred walked from the room they used for their courts and formal audiences. It wasn’t used much these days, but it was never pleasant. The council agreed to punish Veronica with imprisonment and being stripped of her abilities. Not a simple thing to do. She’d never live a normal life if she finished her imprisonment. Veronica would have to stay hidden from the mortal world because of the knowledge she could spread. Basically, she’d just trade one prison for another and the identity she knew once would always be a faint memory. In the old day, they’d have just killed her, and Alfred believed that was a far more merciful thing to do. None of this gives her hope and then lets someone else deal with the fallout. Though he could wash his hands of her. She’d go with the elders of the council back to their homeland, which was secreted away. That’s where the sentence would occur. Their coven didn’t have the resources or place to keep her during her punishment. This was the end of th
Veronica didn’t know how long she’d been there. The light turned off and on several times. She could have been there for hours or days. She didn’t know. Finally, someone gave her food. Once she ate, it didn’t take long for a small group of people to come along and haul her out of the prison, she found herself in. She was prepared to celebrate her freedom until she found herself locked in a chair in another dark room. Veronica could hear the movement of people in robes on the edges of the large empty room. She wasn’t sure what to expect from these people. Veronica schooled herself not to give into the fear. She couldn’t quite achieve that, so she sat there attempting not to admit to anything incriminating or to give up on her very life. Finally, the lights came up enough within the room, that left little to the imagination of what they used this room for. It was a courtroom, and she was on trial. They dared to force their views and rules on her. That, alone burst her