Abbadon's POV:
I wake up with a pounding headache and a raging thirst, a sure sign that I gave in to the bloodlust last night. Nothing will help for this hangover, not even blood. I’ll just have to tough it out.
For some reason Maya is sleeping next to me, her left foot dangling off the bed. What bothers me more than anything is the pile of chains on the floor. I look up at the ceiling. The remnants of a chain still hang from the hook. Shit. Fuck. What did I do?
I lean over Maya and look over the edge of the bed at her foot. Dammit. At least I had the foresight to put a barrier between her and the metal, but I tied it way too tight and the chain is eating into her skin. How the hell can she even be asleep right now? That must hurt like hell.
I kneel next to her, breaking the chain off her ankle. What in the name of all that’s unholy did I do last night? “Maya?” I gently shake her awake. Her grey eyes fly open and I can see the fear sw
Edric's POV:It cannot be this easy. Killing him. He must be up to something. Must have some sort of plan to get out of this.It’s been a laughably easy infiltration. None of the vampires saw us coming, as Maya said they would, and with her help, we entered the compound within minutes, shielded by my mate’s powerful magic. “I thought you said Abbadon knows we’re coming?” I asked while she was in the shower.“I thought so,” she said. “But he has some kind of blood hangover. He can’t remember what he did last night.”I shuddered at the thought. “Vampires are disgusting.”She didn’t agree with me, but she didn’t disagree either, so I guess that was better than nothing. When Abbadon walked into the room looking for her, I almost lost my nerve. My wolf growled, just itching to rip the vampire’s throat out.We sat on the bed, Maya’s arm
Edric slips from the room. I’m hyper-aware of the pain I’m causing him, but I can’t stop it. I don’t want to hurt him, but I’m torn in two here, and I want to save them both, even though I know it’s impossible. And despite all the hurt and his desires to have me by his side, Edric’s still the better man, because he doesn’t want Abbadon to suffer needlessly, despite everything he’d done. Abbadon takes my hands in his, sending those beautiful mate sparks careening through me. It’s upsetting to see him cry – this powerful, nearly immortal, godlike creature. “I should never have done this to you.” I shift around uncomfortably. Remorse doesn’t sound right coming from him. “He’s a good man. A good wolf. He doesn’t deserve to die, even though I really, really want to kill him. If it can’t be me, I’m glad it’s him.” “He is a good man,” I agree. “But you are not awful. You are just--” “You saw what I did, Maya. You are making excuses for me. I am
Edric's POV: We’ve been back with Dark Moon for three days, and Maya barely moved in all that time. She just sits on the back porch looking out onto the lake that runs through Darius’s territory. On our first day back, Clarissa tried to give Deimos to her, but Maya didn’t want anything to do with him. Her milk has dried up, and I think it’s just one more bit of hurt she can’t deal with right now. “It should come back,” I tried to tell her. “When you hear him cry.” But she just turned her back on me and kept staring out at the lake. She’s damn-near catatonic, and it’s killing me. Another male’s death shouldn’t affect her this much…and I can’t even get angry at her, because she can’t help what she’s feeling. The only ones I can get angry at are the ones that did this to us and of those, one is already dead, the other is a Goddess, and the third will die today. I stand on the porch watching her, because it
It’s hard. I’m so empty inside. It’s the kind of hole nothing can fill, not even Deimos. What kills me is that Edric is trying his best to make it better, but he can’t. And I know he’s angry. I know he’s going through a difficult time too. He must hate me. I’d hate me if I were him. ~ Fake it, ~ my wolf says. ~Fake it ‘till you make it. ~ * I can’t even do that. * She is happy to be here with Dark Moon, happy to be with Edric. I’d rather be anywhere but here. I want to get away from the other wolves’ pitiful glances. Deimos gurgles on my lap and gives me a huge toothless grin. “It’s a good thing you don’t know what a mess your mom is,” I say, and tickle his chubby little neck. He just keeps cooing and makes a grab for my hair. “Maya?” Edric asks from the open backdoor. “Are you ready?” “Yes,” I cradle Deimos close to me, stand up, and look out over the lake. It’s the same one that flows into Mountain Fire’s territory. I’ll miss this place, I t
PART 2 I wake up in a cold sweat, my heart hammering in my chest, tears streaming down my face. I dream about him every night. I miss him. I knew Abbadon for less than three weeks, but it feels like we had a lifetime together, and a part of me died when he died. That part isn’t coming back to life, and even though I’m happy to be home with my mate and baby, there’s a constant, nagging emptiness in the pit of my being that’s not going away. I try my best to hide it from Edric, but he knows. He doesn’t blame me. Doesn’t resent me. Never even brings it up. But he knows, and it’s killing me, because I know he’s hurting too. I swing my legs off the bed. The nausea hits me out of nowhere, and I make it to the bathroom just in time. Falling on my knees in front of the toilet, I start vomiting. I’ve been throwing up nearly non-stop for three days now. At first, I put it down to the stress of returning to the swamp and the sickening, cloying humid hea
Edric's POV All the fear leaves me at once, and I have to grab the bed to stop myself from collapsing to the floor. “You’re sure?” I ask, still not trusting that I heard Winston, one of our doctors, correctly. “Pretty sure, yeah.” He grins at the look on my face. “She’s three weeks pregnant at least.” It adds up. She conceived the night we left Mountain Fire. The night I chased her in the woods. The night everything clicked back into place and I knew we’d be okay. Although, the last week or so, I started to doubt her. I started to think that the loss of Abbadon was too great and that I’d never get her back. I started to resent her for it, and many times all I could do was walk away because I was afraid of what I’d say to her if I didn’t. I have to keep reminding myself that she chose me, and that’s what matters. “She’s been so irritable lately,” I say, more to myself than the doctor. “I thought she…” I shake my head, cutting myself off before I give away too much. “A lot of she-wo
“Do you need a bottle?” Edric asks. God, he’s a good man. Back when I still lived a human life, I knew girls who dreamed of having a man like him – one that anticipates your needs and just does it for you, because he loves you that much. “No.” I smile up at him. “I’m good.” I stopped throwing up two days ago, and they finally agreed to let me come home this morning. Edric sits up behind us and looks over my shoulder at the nursing baby. “Goddess, he’s growing up fast.” “Didn’t you tell me that’s what babies do?” “Yes, but he’s growing faster than a normal baby.” “Oh.” I cast my mind back, thinking about Natalie and Thomas, trying to remember if they grew this fast as babies, but it’s too long ago and too far away now. “Do you feel up to taking a drive with me today? I want to show you the progress we’re making on the new compound.” What I really want to do is shift and go for a run. The last time I shifted was just over two weeks ago on our first full moon back here. “Is it too
I look around. I only see trees and thick undergrowth, but I can hear machinery, banging and shouting in the distance. The sounds and smells of construction drift towards us on the breeze. I throw my head back and sniff the air. Despite the slight tinge of diesel, sweat, and dust, it smells cleaner here, without the ever-present scent of decay clinging to the place. “I love it,” I say. He nods and shifts to human, a huge smile on his face. “Wait here. I’ll get clothes.” I sit down and look at my surroundings. It’s not like Mountain Fire. The trees and undergrowth are very different here. Tropical is the only word I have to describe it. And there’s a saltiness in the air. I wonder how far away we are from the ocean. Dressed in shorts, Edric comes stumbling back, almost falling over some kind of creeper. Grinning at his own clumsiness, he hands me a dress. I recognise it as the dress I wore on my first day at Mountain Fire. Tears fill my eyes, but I quickly blink them away. I’m sure
Abbadon's POV For ten years, I managed to stay away from Maya, and then I couldn’t stand it anymore. I left my home in Greece and went back. I watched her from afar, my heart screaming out to her, but knowing I couldn’t interfere. She needed her peace, and she found it. She was happy, living a life of domestic bliss with her mate and their mini-pack of eight pups. Deimos grew into an admirable young Alpha, and I felt her sadness on the day he left to take his place as Silver Springs’ leader. He was loved and respected. He visited his parents every chance he got until he stepped down as Alpha and was never seen again. Warwick took the throne on his twenty-fifth birthday. Edric was happy to retire. He was a good king and dragged his tribe into the twenty-first century whether they liked it or not, but he never wanted the job. He was at his happiest when his children and grandchildren surrounded him. Their third child, a boy named Joshua, returned to Mountain Fire when he was twenty.
With Warwick resting on my hip, and my other hand in Deimos’s I look around our apartment one last time. It was our home for more than a year, and I’ve grown oddly attached to it. “Where going, mama?” Deimos asks.I look down at my one-year-old who isn’t behaving like other one-year-olds and smile at him. “We’re going home.”“This home.”“No kid,” Edric says from the doorway. “This isn’t our home anymore. I build us a better home.”“Hellooo,” Cedric calls from the living room, his voice echoing in the empty apartment. “One last time for good luck.”I start laughing and let Edric take Deimos before we leave our bedroom for the last time.Cedric and Stephen waits for us in the living room surrounded by their three pups. They took to parenthood like ducks take to water, and soon after the pups arrived, Cedric resigned as Edric’s Gamma. “Are you sure?” Edric asked.“Yes,” Cedric replied, beaming at Edric. “It’s all I want now.”“You don’t just want paternity leave?” Edric joked. “Reconsid
Edric's POV Our date night turned into a bit of a flop. We had to take it in turns to stop each other. When Maya lost control, I’d remind her to stop, and when it was my turn to lose control, she’d remind me to stop, but somehow we made it work. Together, we found new and interesting ways to satisfy each other, rediscovering each other’s bodies. I yawn and flop backward on the bed. The moment we were home, Maya rushed off to find the boys, and I take the time to enjoy the silence. Goddess knows, I love my sons, but I do enjoy these quiet moments. It gives me a chance to think. The one good thing that came out of last night was that Maya finally opened up to me and shared her fears. Now that we’re talking openly and frankly again, I’m hoping that she’ll slow down and spend more time with me. I miss her. My phone starts vibrating and I pull it out of my pocket. With a frown I stare at the caller ID. “Adrian?” I answer. “Hello,” he says. It’s strange to hear his voice. We haven’t sp
Edric's POV Maya’s heat comes on as suddenly as it did the last time, only this time I’m here to experience it, and she’s not locked behind several layers of wood and steel. One moment, everything’s fine, the next I almost drive off the road as her scent fills the car and attacks my senses. I wipe my wet palms on my jeans and try to pay attention to the road so I don’t kill us. “What’s wrong?” she asks. “You don’t know?” I ask in return, hearing my voice rise several octaves. “You’re in heat.” “Is that what it is? I just thought I’m horny for…well, no good reason at all.” She laughs uncomfortably and shifts around in her seat. “Shouldn’t I get some kind of warning or something?” “Normally, yes…but we forget sometimes that you’re not normal.” We are almost to the hotel and the road is clear with no other cars in sight, but I’m not sure I’m going to make it. Blood rushes through me so fast that I can barely hear, let alone see. Just like last time her heat overwhelms me and I can’t
I crash through the misty woods, my wolf pushing our body harder than I thought was possible, oblivious to our surroundings as we keep trying to get away from whatever it is that’s chasing us. I never saw what it was. I just felt it. Danger. It’s right on top of us. ~ Go faster! ~ I scream at my wolf. She increases her pace, but we won’t be able to do this for much longer. We’ve been running for hours, and our legs are about to give out. At first, I’m relieved to see him. Abbadon lands in front of me, and I dash past him, placing myself between him and the thing chasing us. Finally, we can stop. I collapse to the ground, and my exhausted wolf lets go, forcing me to shift back to human. I curl up in a little ball on the cold, wet, forest floor and try to catch my breath, trusting that Abbadon will take care of the dangerous thing I’m trying to escape. I look up at Abbadon. My mate. No matter what he is or what he does, he’ll never harm me. “Is that what you think?” he asks in his
Edric's POV The weeks slip by without anyone taking much notice. New Year’s day comes and goes without much fanfare, but a week into the new year, Maya insists on speaking to Alpha Neil about Deimos, and after days of pestering me about it, I give in. The Alpha doesn’t tell us anything I haven’t already told her. “I don’t know what else I can say, Queen,” Neil says. “We grow up fast, and we shift young--” he shrugs --“but that’s just how it is with our kind. We are big, we’re strong, and we’re violent.” Maya shudders lightly and looks over at Deimos who is trying to pull himself upright against a couch. “He’s not even five months old yet,” she whispers. “Yes,” Neil replied. “And by the time he’s twelve, he’ll look like a fully grown man. But you have to remember, he’s still just a child.” The Alpha bites into his nails, his face pensive, then he sighs and goes on. “This is important. The first shift is the worst. It lasts for hours, and it is brutal. Make sure you lock him up.” “W
I haven’t seen Edric in such a good mood since the day he introduced me to the pack back at Mountain Fire. At first, the higher-ranking wolves wouldn’t join us, refusing to eat with the ‘lower filth’ as one of the warriors called the True Omega that walked past him. Just when I thought my grand plan would come apart at the seams, Stephen and Cedric jumped in and arranged everyone according to their rank, which placated some of the grumpier wolves. Less than an hour later, everyone is happily chatting and enjoying the day. Even Maxwell and Alexander’s widow, Esther, came out of their hiding place to join us, but they are sitting by themselves, away from the rest of the tribe. “He looks much better,” I say while staring at Edric’s uncle. Edric looks up and follows my gaze. “Yes, now that he’s not getting poisoned every day. He’s actually improving, but he’s still not speaking. Winston says the damage to his brain is catastrophic. He’ll heal some, but he’ll never be quite…right.” I’ve
Edric's POV I lie on my side, watching Maya sleep, trying to get rid of the unnecessary guilt that’s trying to eat me alive. She kept trying to reassure me that it’s okay, but I’ve been so conditioned by my time with Mountain Fire, that I can’t let go and believe it. I lost control. "Alphas don't lose control," I can practically hear my father's voice. It's as if he's standing right next to me. "It's a thin line between losing control and going feral." Sighing, I pull on a pair of loose boxers and go back to the balcony for a glass of wine. I won't be able to sleep while I feel like this anyway. “Evening,” Stephen says from their balcony. “Hey,” I answer and pour some wine into my glass before I walk over to the low wall separating the two balconies. “Where’s Cedric?” “Inside, feeding Warwick. How’s your date going?” “Well, it’s not…I think it’s over. Maya’s asleep.” Stephen laughs softly. “Yeah, I’m sure she’s tuckered out. You two were a bit…loud.” I blush, grateful for the d
It’s like I’m standing outside myself. Watching, hearing, feeling and seeing everything my wolf does. I have no control over myself and my body anymore. It was already too late when Edric brought me inside -- by then she had taken control because she sensed my hesitation. Edric tries to pull away from me, but she growls a low warning and grips his hair, roughly pulling him back to her, folding her lips around his mouth. The kiss steals the breath from my body and drives me insane with dark, needy lust. I want to stop fighting it, want to stop overthinking every little thing, I want to stop fighting my wolf and just let it happen. I want to find my mate again and be with him like we used to be when we found each other. Edric picks me up, and I wrap my legs around him. He carries me across the room, slamming me against the wall so hard that my head connects to it with a jarring thud. It doesn’t even slow my wolf down. Her claws surface and she rips his shirt to ribbons. I’m terrified