*Isla*The content of the letter continues to play through my mind for the next several days as I try to concentrate on other matters.More important matters.Like… whether or not Maddox is going to go ahead and announce the baby’s existence to the world. I have only asked him once, though, and when he practically growled at me that he hadn’t made a decision yet, I knew I just needed to wait and let him tell me.For the most part, the two of us have been getting together very well since the appointment with Mystica, so I don’t want to irritate him. He just doesn’t know how to speak to me sometimes.I often wonder how Rebecca would’ve responded if he’d growled at her, but I probably don’t want to know. From what I know about his wife, she didn’t take shit from anyone, whereas, even my own mother will tell me I am often a doormat.Wonder whose fault that is….Other more important matters include trying to decide on a name for this little one. I would like to know what to call him. Maddo
*Isla*The six girls standing between me and the exit to the library swivel around at the sound of Trinity’s voice, their mouths dropping open when they saw the woman standing there that they all revere as the front runner in this stupid contest.The blonde who had been such a bitch to me immediately changes her tune. “Oh, Trinity. Hi,” she says, stammering a little. “We were just… playing around with Iris here.”“Isla,” Trinity corrects her. “And I don’t think that’s true, Veronica. I think the six of you were going to try to hurt her. Do you honestly think that would be a good idea? Do you think that Alpha King Maddox will even let you stay in the castle now? You’ve threatened to hurt another contestant, you stupid bitches.”All of the girls stare at her wide-eyed, and it seems evident to me that Trinity knows all of their names and can identify them for Maddox.“I didn’t do anything!” a dark-haired girl standing near the bag blurts out. “All I did was stand here! Iris can attest to
*Maddox*I’m at my desk going over a few reports, trying to decide whether or not to continue to take Beta Seth’s advice when what I really want to do is plan a huge festival and announce to the entire kingdom that I’m having a child with the woman I love when a knock at the door interrupts my thoughts.“Yes?” This had better be important. The guards usually steer away anyone who is just a nuisance.Trinity pokes her head in, and like most times when I first see her, I forget, and confusion washes over me for a millisecond before I recognize the girl fully. “So sorry, Your Majesty, but I have something important to talk to you about.”“Of course.” I set the files aside. I know that Trinity wouldn’t barge in to talk to me if it wasn’t something that needed my attention right away. The look on her face tells me that whatever it is, she’s distressed.Sitting down across from me, she takes a deep breath. “I ran into Isla in the library. She wasn’t alone.”My immediate reaction is to becom
*Isla*Lying in bed next to Maddox, my fingers trailing over his bare arm, I try to catch my breath. We’d made love so ferociously, it reminded me of that first night, when he came into my room, and I thought he was going to claim me, but he didn’t. It was so animalistic and raw. If I wasn’t pregnant, who knows how much more wild it might’ve gotten.But I think somewhere within the thoughtless thrusting, it occurred to Maddox that he needed to be more careful with me, and he slowed down a bit. Now, we are lying here, glistening in the moonlight, looking into each other’s eyes, and I want to know what has motivated him to become so fierce tonight.Does he know about what happened in the library?I think I saw little flecks of red on his clothing when I was peeling it off of him earlier. I wasn’t sure, but it looked like it might’ve been blood.Is it possible Trinity told him already?Maddox lifts a hand and smooths my cheek. “You should’ve told me.” His voice is soft, just above a whis
*Isla*Hiding the book from Maddox isn’t easy, but I manage. He has been so preoccupied with this mess with the Alphas since he had the girls who attacked me beaten and thrown into the dungeon that he doesn’t have too much time for me. But when he does show up, I have no idea he’s coming. He’s just suddenly there. Which means I have to be very careful about when I read the book. I try to have Poppy’s ear to the ground whenever I have it out, but she is not always cooperative.“I think it’s dumb,” she keeps telling me. “Why do you keep reading about it now when you’ve already decided you’re not going there?”“I don’t know.” It’s not a lie. I really have no idea why I am looking at it. I know I can’t go to my island home until after my son is born. Logically, I know that. Still, the more I read about it the more fascinated I become.Then, there was the letter I’d gotten in the mail from my aunt, one she’d obviously sent a long time ago. She’d been waiting for me to get there to help wit
*Isla*Walking down the hallway toward Maddox’s office, I hear Trinity’s voice echo in my head. “You need to be more assertive,” she’d told me. “You have to make sure the king realizes if he can confide in Trinity, he can confide in you. Why is it she always knows what’s going on and you don’t? Because she asks! And when she asks, he feels compelled to tell her. She demands it.”My friend isn’t wrong. I definitely don’t know how to be assertive like Trinity.As I approach his office, I hear voices filtering out into the hallway. I recognize Maddox’s voice immediately. The response comes from Seth.I shouldn’t be standing here eavesdropping, but the door is open just a crack, and they are standing right by the door. I can’t NOT hear them. I could walk away or announce my presence.But they’re talking about Maatua. I can tell by the few phrases I’ve picked up. If Maddox isn’t going to tell me the truth, I’ve got to find out some other way what is going on.“I’m just saying, Alpha, if yo
*Isla*This is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.Yet, I seem to be doing it.Seth has agreed to help me. I’ve decided not to tell Trinity because she has been oscillating back and forth as to whether or not she thinks I should go to the island. At first, she sounded like she thought it was an awful idea. More recently, she’s sounded like she thinks perhaps I should do it after all.It doesn’t matter. As long as Seth can help me get out of the castle and delay Maddox from finding out about the situation until I am on that boat, I should be good.Now, I just need to let my cousin know.I don’t trust Antony. Not completely, anyway. After all, he’s lied to me a few times about the true reason why he thinks I should go to the islands. Either that, or he’s just extremely misinformed. Does he really think that his mother wants to kill me? Does he not know that there was another witch involved? Why has he never mentioned the treasure?As I am secretly packing, Poppy
*Maddox*“Sir, I think it would be best if you went to the pack lands of each of the Alphas whose daughters were involved in the incident with Isla and discussed your decision with them personally,” Seth is saying, not for the first time. “I believe it’s the only way that they are going to understand the reason behind your decision to punish them so severely.”“So let me get this straight.” I steeple my fingers together on the desk between me and him. “You don’t think it’s a good idea for me to announce that Isla is pregnant with my child, the heir to the throne, but you do think it’s a good idea for me to travel to six different packs to have discussions with those leaders in order to explain to them why their daughters were beaten and locked in the dungeon. All of that without telling them that they threatened to kill the woman carrying the heir to the throne?”I give him a scrutinizing look. Why would he want me to tell them the circumstances surrounding one issue but not the other
MistyTwo white wolves in a clearing.Their bodies made of mist and aether, standing side by side.Mates. A marvel of second chances and extraordinary fate.Two white wolves turn toward the sunrise knowing what they must leave behind; what he sacrificed for those he loved and her refusal to let him go into death alone.Two white wolves stand over their earthly bodies. He, battered and still.She, going into death with eyes open, cupping her mate's face between her graceful hands, her eyes locked on his at the moment of her dying breath.Their last words had been simple. I love you.They always had.They’d promised this instance in stolen moments, in private corners, when there was nothing but the stars to light their way.I will not stay here without you.I will not leave you behind.And so, it was.Two
AvivaThe first flakes of snow fall from the sky as I watch Ryan trying to herd everyone in position. Bundled against the cold in a wool coat Freya and I worked tirelessly on for the last three weeks, I step to the side, finding myself in the center of the crowd standing in the middle of the village of Silverhide. I watch my mate and his Beta, James, nudge families together and run back and forth toward a tripod where Ryan’s camera rests, facing us, to gauge whether all one-hundred and fifty people are in view of the lens.Ryan stands behind the camera with his hands up, his hair dusted with snow. “Okay. Nobody move!”A few excited giggles whisper through the front of the crowd where the numerous children are arranged. I glance around, watching as James joins Dahlia’s side, their baby on her hip. The baby girl finally has a name. Cosette, named after a friend of Dahlia, but they call her Cossie for short. Other babies
Two months later…RyanThe Harvest Festival has been held at the festival grounds between Endova, Teshka, and Navvan for centuries. When we arrived two days ago, leaving only a few people behind in Silverhide to make sure the animals are tended to in our absence, the wide, open space had been nothing but rolling plains.Now, it’s a city of canvas tents and twinkling lights, the air spiced with smoke and the smells of meals being cooked at each fire. Songs mingle as I walk through the festival with Aviva on my arm. I’m wearing a normal outfit. Well, not normal, actually. Mom forced me into a suit and tie with the Crescent Falls royal banner and all of my metals from my years as a warrior draped over my shoulders. Aviva is wearing that white, fur-lined dress again and a pair of new sheep-skin boots Freya and Mercy made for her, but instead of freshwater clam shells and pearls decorating her hair, her curls are w
RyanAn hour earlier…I can’t scrub the image of Aviva dead in my arms out of my head. It’s been several days since the battle, since the moment I put her in my uncle's arms and turned back to the ravaged scene, not knowing whether or not she survived the journey all the way to Maatua.Three days. It was three entire days before Sydney arrived in Silverhide with news about my mate. I’d just arrived back at my territory, exhausted and in tatters, when he clapped a hand on my shoulder and used his powers to spirit us to Moonrise, then to Veiled Valley, then to Maatua. He’s not as strong as Ryatt. Jumping took a toll on us both, and when we finally arrived at my grandparents’ beach house, I collapsed before I even made it up their driveway.Everything since the battle is a blur. Navvan is just… gone. The few survivors were mostly women and children who’d left the villag
AvivaI wake with a start to bright, warm sunshine and the smell of salty air. I grope white sheets, blinking several times to clear my vision as an unfamiliar bedroom fades to life around me. Warm white walls. Pale wood finishes and sleek furniture in soft browns and creams. White curtains drift in a salty breeze coming through several open windows, and a glass door opens to a deck with a view of… a view of the ocean.I’ve never seen the ocean before. From where I lie, I can hear the waves crashing on a white sand beach. Music I don’t recognize drifts toward me, carrying two voices with it, one male, and one female.“Your parents worry about you endlessly, Misty.”“They have nothing to worry about. It’s not like I’m ten anymore, Grandpa. I can make my own way in the world now. Plus, where was their worry when they shipped me here four years ago, huh?”“You
RyanI’ve been dreaming about tying Aviva to my bed, but I’m going to make it a reality for entirely different reasons. Now, I’ll be tying her to keep her there, forever. No more hunting. No more fighting. No more killing rogues barefoot in the woods.No more putting herself in situations like this. I will do her dirty work. I will gladly do it. I roll with Hardan in his… hellhound form? Whatever the fuck he is now. I wish, Goddess, I wish I could have faced him man to man instead of beast to beast. I would have loved to see the look on his face when I ripped out his heart for even thinking for a second he had some kind of claim to my mate, even before I found her. We roll down a decline. I sink my talons into his belly, ripping hard, but I already know hellhounds aren’t that easy to kill. We crash into an oak tree. Leaves shower over us as he tries to claw free of my grasp. He’s calling out, bellowing strange, high-pitched howls. The forest floor rumbles as I sink my claws into hi
AvivaI’m having the time of my life.I zigzag through the woods in my wolf form after three rogues who’ve decided they want nothing to do with me. In fact, the rogues have stopped hunting me over the past several hours and instead are trying to get as far away from me as possible. Their prey has become their biggest predator.I did my best to lead the horde away from Endova. That was my goal–the reason I made the snap decision to leave my mate behind and race into the jaws of death itself. Now, I have the horde moving away from the tribal packlands all together, herding them back into the open plains like a shepherd, and they’re my sheep–if a shepherd killed their sheep, that is.I’ve lost count of how many there are. My red fur is completely black with their blood. I catch my reflection in another small, burbling creek as I leap, seeing only my eyes shining like polished amber against a
Ryan“She’s not here, Ryan,” Mercy hisses as I run through the village. She’s hot on my heels, grabbing my fur to try to pull me to a stop but I’m not in my right mind.It’s been five hours since I last saw Aviva. Andrew and I have been scouring the forest and plains for any sign of her, but I lost her scent, and my desperate attempts to mind-link with her have come up empty and silent.I shift into my human form the second I cross into the pack house and immediately crash into one of the tables, tripping over the bench and landing on my side with a crunch. I’ve been in my wolf form since last night. Exhaustion sings through my bones as my vision spins. I hear Andrew similarly falling to the ground with a choked groan before hurried footsteps reach the pack house. Someone throws a blanket over me with a scoff, followed by Mercy’s sharp, soprano voice ripping through the air as she starts s
RyanIt’s barely dawn. Four hours ago, I was taking a deep breath as I tucked my mate into our bed, and now we’re here, lying low in the grasslands ten miles from Silver, with twenty of my best warriors scattered behind me. Stars still fill the sky, shining under a blanket of deep navy and vibrant violet. It's kind of hard to stay focused when the sunrise looks like this, the first echoes of gold casting Aviva, in wolf form, in a halo of light. She’s crouched in the swaying grass just a few feet below where the rest of us are lying, hiding in the scant brush and scorched trees. I watch her edge forward a few inches, her body covered in weapons and leather–one of her special dresses from Endova. A half dozen whispers ghost through my head, mingling with the thundering of my heartbeat in my ears as we watch, and watch, the dozen or so rogues passing by, moving in a lazy formation toward the forests we, and the tribal packs, call home. ‘What are they doing?’ Andrew lies on my left sid