*Maddox*“Alpha Jordan,” I say as the other Alpha comes into my office. “What can I help you with?”His eyes are narrowed as he says, “I want to speak to you about what happened with my darling daughter, Zabrina, last night.”I nod. “Yes, I’m glad you came by. I think it’s a good idea for us to talk about it as well.”“You do understand how close she was to being killed yesterday, don’t you?” he asks me as he sits down in a chair across from me, his forehead wrinkled with concern.I stare at him for a long moment, not sure how to respond to that. “She almost died?” I repeat. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”“That woman—the maid—whatever the hell her name is… she could’ve killed my Zabrina. What if she would’ve stabbed my daughter instead of killing herself? I find it horrific to think that your guards in the dungeon are of such poor quality that they can’t even prevent a prisoner from getting access to a knife!”When he is finished, I take a moment, trying to process what he
*Isla*I received a note from Maddox, written by his own hand, that he’d be by to get me for dinner at 7:00.Now, it’s 6:55, and I am watching the clock, wondering if it’s possible for the hands to actually move backward.It seems to be taking forever for him to arrive! I am pacing back and forth at the end of my bed, the long red dress I am wearing swishing back and forth. It’s not exactly a gown, but it’s fancier than most of the dresses I have in my wardrobe.I want to look nice for him, especially tonight.Is there a chance this will be the night he will claim me?My heart races as I think about it. I sure hope so.“You’re going to wear the carpet out,” Poppy says, her nose in a book. She’s hardly spoken to me today, and she hasn’t done a lick of work either. She’s upset that I didn’t tell her what happened between Maddox and me last night. I keep thinking she’ll get over it, but so far, what I’ve learned about Poppy is that it takes a lot for her to get past things.I don’t resp
*Maddox*The sun is up as I blink my eyes and check the time. I’ve woken just before my alarm is set to go off, so I quietly switch it so that it will not sound. There’s no reason to wake the beautiful woman sleeping next to me.Rolling back toward her, I take her in. Her eyes are closed tightly, and her long lashes flutter every once in a while. Perhaps she is dreaming. I hope that her dreams are sweet.I hope that I am in them.She’s curled up with one hand under her chin, reminding me of a cherub, of a precious angel, and as I listen to the sounds of her soft inhales, I remember how good it felt to finally be inside of her the night before.We’d made love for the first time, and she had made me feel sensations I hadn’t experienced in years. The countless faceless women I’d been with since my wife passed all faded away as I remembered what it was like to meld into another person, to give and take with them, not just to receive pleasure but to gift it to my partner as well.All I can
*Isla*Sitting in the chair in my room next to the window, I read the not again, ‘Had to go on a quick business trip. Be back soon. Stay safe, M.’I had found it on my pillow this morning—in Maddox’s room. I wish it said more. I wish I knew where he had gone and exactly when he’d be back.But I wasn’t in any position to ask those sorts of questions. I was just his breeder after all, and even though I felt a connection to the king, that didn’t mean that I was nearly as important to him as I wished I could be.“You’re not planning on sitting there all day moping, are you?” Poppy asks as she comes back into the room after delivering my breakfast tray back to the kitchen. “You have to live your life, girl!”I can’t help but grin at her and shake my head. She has such a unique way of putting things. “No, but, I miss him, that’s all.”She shook her head slightly at me. “How lucky are you to be in a position to know what to miss!” she exclaims.“Did you see Beta Seth?” I decide that changing
*Maddox*The drive to Willow pack is uneventful, once we’ve gotten away from the castle. I use the time in the back of the car to get some work down on my phone, the best I can anyway, on the bumpy roads. Godfried is a skilled driver, but we need to look into doing something to get these roads repaved. They are full of potholes.Eventually, I see the main village in Willow pack up ahead in the distance. The forest opens up as the road leads into town. Factories fill the sky with gray smoke along the far northern side of the town, giving the air a slightly dirty look that smells of burning chemicals and plastic products. I need to do something about that, too. I’m certain there are better ways to make the products created here, but Alpha Ernest is a cheap man, and I am certain he will not willingly spend his own money to bring anything into the current century without some prodding by me.Depending upon how this meeting goes, it might not matter. Ernest may not have a say in anything h
*Isla*The village is exactly how I’ve imagined it in my mind, though it is also nothing like my hometown. The main village for Willow pack is called Ernestown. It was changed a few years ago when Alpha Ernest became Alpha. Before that, it was just called Willow Village. I guess our Alpha wants everyone to know who the boss is in our pack lands….Our village is rundown and full of factories. The sky is always hazy, and it’s hard to see the blue through all of the gray that hangs over the city from the chemicals filling the sky from the various plants that make all kinds of cheap goods to ship to other parts of the kingdom. Most of the people who live in our town are either middle class or poor, like my family, and it’s rare to see a car because most of us can’t afford them, let alone other luxuries.But here in the heart of the kingdom, the village, called Wolfcrest, is lively and full of color. The buildings are all freshly painted in vibrant hues, and there are plants and flowers ev
*Maddox*The Alpha’s mansion is completely on the other side of town from where the Moon family resides. It takes about six minutes to get there by car. I notice there’s really not a lot of traffic here, and many of the driveways have no cars in them either.I am beginning to think that Willow pack is not as wealthy as some of the other packs in the kingdom, and if many of the citizens have been treated similarly to the Moons, then I suppose I know why.Ernest’s house is palatial. It’s a Victorian-style home with a huge wrap-around porch, gingerbread cutouts along the overhang, and lots of grand windows. It’s painted a pristine white, as if Alpha Ernest is pure somehow. That notion almost makes me laugh.I assume he is here and not off in an office somewhere. I believe I heard that he no longer went to the office anymore a few years back.The house isn’t gated, but there are plenty of guards standing around. When the car pulls up out front, I tell Helena and Lionel, “I intend to handl
*Isla*Back in my room, I sit on the bed and admire the cufflinks I’ve purchased for Maddox… with his own money… while Poppy is off fetching Mrs. Dixon.I need to figure out what to do with them. I don’t want to leave them lying around, but I’m not sure that locking them up will do any good either, not when there’s someone like Mrs. Dixon around.I remember something my mom did with my father’s birthday present a few years ago. She had pinched and scraped and waved every penny she could find for months in order to buy him a new baseball glove so that he could play catch with my brothers. Afraid that Dad would find the gift in our small house, she ended up finding a loose floorboard and hiding it in there.This is a castle, though. Would there be a place in the floor or wall that was loose enough for me to hide them?Poking around on the floor, I don’t notice anything like I did back at our house where the floor creaks with every step. For a moment, I think back to the house we used to
Brie“He can’t be that bad, Brie,” Maeve hisses as she clutches the crook of my arm, leading us down one of the winding staircases in our castle in Veiled Valley. Sconces flare to life on their own accord, lighting our way. “Mom said he’s been dying to meet you, anyway. He’s a warrior, you know. They’re always so handsome.”I purse my lips as she tightens her grip. “You’re entertained at my expense.”“You don’t get to complain. You’re doing this to yourself!” Maeve throws her head back in a beautiful laugh that echoes down the corridor. Everything my little sister does is beautiful because she’s stunning. Beautiful of the drop-dead gorgeous variety. She’s also only eighteen, and I doubt she fully grasps what this meeting with the Alpha of Rainway, a nearby pack in the mountains bordering Veiled Valley, and his warrior son means.Mom and
Kenna“Stay close, okay?” I shout as the girls hurry ahead of me through the woven, interlocking streets of Moonrise. It’s insane how much things have changed in the last decade. I tuck my phone in my purse; change number one. Yes, Eastonia has cell-phone service after decades of back and forth, but we’ve finally come out of the stone-age and into modernity, which includes change number two. Brie yanks Maeve out of the way when a car comes barreling down the street, bumping over the cobblestone road. I lift a hand, waving at the careless driver. This area of the city is supposed to be pedestrian only, but not everyone follows the rules. “Mom, we’re going to be late!” Brie scolds, gripping Maeve’s forearm. “Quit dragging your feet! You’re going to scuff your shoes!”“Then I’ll get new ones,” eleven-year-old Maeve grins, rolling her sea-green eyes. The castle rises above us as the girls bicker back and forth. Brie, fifteen and so beautiful it hurts to look at her sometimes, throws me
Sarah“It isn’t that serious,” I tell Blake and Liam as they blink at me, their faces dappled with mud and their knees stained with grass. “But I’ve had enough of the fighting. You’re too old for this, especially you, Blake.” I fix my oldest son with a look I’ve had fourteen years to perfect.Blake, now a teenager, purses his lips and frowns. “He’s been harassing me all day–”“You were supposed to be helping me clean the garage,” Liam, thirteen, bites out. I feel the tension beginning to boil between them and clear my throat. “Both of you, enough.”“Mom–”“You’re both already grounded,” I edge, crossing my arms under my chest and arching a brow. “Do I need to add another week to your sentences? Or are you ready to behave like good little wolves and finish the chores Cosette laid out for you?”Liam grumbles under his breath. Blake mimics my stance, crossing his arms. We’re eye level at this point, and Liam isn’t far behind in the height department. Still, Ella and Maddy taught me thei
Aviva“Line up,” I whisper against ten-year-old Lexa’s ear. “Breathe in… release.” An arrow splits the cool spring air in two. A soft squeak whispers toward us as a squirrel falls from its perch on a nearby cottonwood tree. I squeeze her waist in silent congratulations while she beams, her dark-blue eyes wide and round. “Good job.” I grin, giving her a pat on the back. “Go get it.”Lexa takes off in a blur of red curls and homespun textiles in soft creams and browns that match the melting snow. In the distance, over the shadowed mountains, plumes of gray smoke stretch toward the first inklings of the sunset. Lexa bounds back to me, squirrel in hand. I tie it to her belt and help her put her bow back in her halter while seven-year-old Nora puts the finishing touches on the snowman she’s been building for the last hour.“Nora, come on!” Lexa calls out, motioning for her little sister to hurry up, but Nora has never listened to anyone in her life. I smile as the girls start to bicker b
MistyTen Years LaterSunlight fans through the kitchen windows, highlighting the frost coating the glass. I blink, shielding my eyes as the sun drops below the tree line and the light in the room shifts, fading to a deep gold that paints the kitchen table and the mess my children left behind in their haste to get to school this morning.It’s a quiet late afternoon. It’s my favorite time of day, actually. The house is still and silent–the calm before the storm… which is running up the driveway right now, pushing and shoving toward the front door. The door swings open, the chilly late afternoon air carrying two small voices through the foyer and hallway. “Mom! MOM!” Addy’s voice echoes over the sound of heavy winter fabric dropping to the ground, probably in a wet heap. “MOM!”“I’m in the kitchen!” I call out, smiling to myself as I stick my coffee mug in the microwave. Two sets of footsteps thunder in my direction, and then I’m surrounded by blond hair and overlapping, excited voice
MistyCrescent FallsI toss my keys on the counter as I come thundering through the kitchen, sweat lining my brow. “Cole? COLE!”“I’m upstairs!” he calls out as I sprint around the corner into the hallway where the foyer opens up, spilling wintery sunlight through the bay windows overlooking the curving staircase. Snow falls in thick clumps, covering the ground. Two suitcases rest near the front door, but upstairs, I hear Cole talking to Addy and the sound of zippers closing.I trip on each step in my haste to get upstairs, carrying a bundle of papers in my arms. A few notes come loose, floating through the air behind me as I rush into our bedroom.Cole turns to me with another suitcase, arching his brows. “I didn’t think you’d be back until this afternoon–”“I finished it,” I rasp, breathless, thrusting the stack of printer paper into his full hands. All two-thousand pages, front and back, stare up at him, and he looks down in shock.“How?”“I just–I just got it done,” I pant, glanci
AvivaFallThe air is crisp and scented with smoke as I walk through the maze of brightly colored canvas tents. Lexa, dressed in furs to stay warm and beaded booties I worked tirelessly on the past few weeks, looks around, turning her head side to side like a little owl, taking in every new sight and sound.This is the largest Harvest Festival I’ve ever been to. So large, in fact, that the festival stretches for over three miles. Just two days ago, this sacred place was nothing more than a grassy field. Now, it explodes with life, color, and the promise of a comfortable winter where food and supplies will be far from scarce.We pass a tent selling apples covered in sticky, hardened sugar. I drop a few coins into an elderly woman’s hand in exchange for the treat, letting Lexa paw and mouth it while continuing our exploration.I’ve been Luna of Silverhide for just over a year, and Queen of the Deadlands for just as long, but I’m not used to being recognized by anyone outside of Silverhi
AvivaA calm has finally settled over Silverhide. The shift in the energy after we brought the kids home was palpable almost immediately.Now, it’s late afternoon. The sun is warm and bright, but the threat of rain hangs over the mountains where dark clouds simmer over the peaks. I walk toward the house where Sydney and Sarah are resting with their girls but stop when Maddy steps out of the house, her face bright and cheeks pink with excitement. She spots me and stops, smiling widely, and motions me over before reaching up to pull her long, dark red hair into a bun on the top of her head.“How are they?”“Oh, they’re just fine,” she smiles, smoothing the fabric of her yellow shirt over her midsection. “They’re just beautiful. I’m so happy for Sarah and Sydney.”I look up at the second story windows, which are open to let in some of the last warm, early autumn air. “Do you think they’ll be able to travel home soon?”“Sydney is a little worried, of course, but Sarah’s ready to get home.
MistyI sink to the edge of the bathtub and test the water, steam rising in ribbons that dance around my wrists. The lavender and honey scented soap wafts through the air, which is still and dark, mingling with the comforting, candle-lit darkness all around me. Kenna and her family left three hours ago. Aviva went back to her house. Sydney and Sarah are tucked up and recovering in a nearby cottage, being tended to by the midwife and Cole, so I’m alone. Addy is asleep in the bedroom only a few yards away, exhausted. I don’t blame him. The last time I felt like this–this worn to the bone–was right after the war when Cole and I closed ourselves in my old dorm room for an entire week just to rest, recoup, and come to terms with what we’d just been through–and somehow survived against all odds. I pull my shirt over my head and shimmy out of my pants before tying my hair up and sinking into the water, groaning softly at the heat. The warmth works through my muscles, untangling knots from