*Isla*Sleeping had been nearly impossible. I’d tossed and turned for much of the night, not sure how to proceed with my alleged cousin, Antony Moon a.k.a. Commander Pepelos. I kept thinking about his mother, how awful it must’ve been for my Aunt Mary knowing that her own husband had killed her to strengthen her powers, how she’d tried to stay loyal to him until he started a war, making my family leave the island, and so many people died.Then… apparently, my aunt had something to do with the awful earthquake that rocked the island and made it uninhabitable for many people.And then there is the curse….Antony seems to think that I can somehow break that curse, and that I’m the only one who can do it, but I have no idea why he thinks that or how I would even begin to do it.I’m sure he will use my uncertainty about my baby to try and manipulate that situation. He will do whatever he can to get me to the island, and then, who knows what might happen?Mystica is right when she says I sh
*Maddox*Breakfast is awkward. Sitting across the table from Alpha Charlton and Alpha Jason, I can’t help but think about everything Trinity told me the night before. I want to kill both of them, but I must abstain from doing so. After all, at the moment, they are pretending to want to be on my side. Both of them are talking like they want me to win the war, as if they are prepared to help.But if what Trinity told me is the truth, that means it will come at a price. I am eating my eggs, waiting for one of them to bring up the topic of a queen consort again. Since all of the other Alphas are having breakfast elsewhere, and this is just Alpha Charlton, his extended family, Seth, and I, no one has mentioned it yet.That doesn’t stop Jason from bringing up another touchy subject. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you last night,” he begins, broaching the subject carefully. “Trinity has certainly begun to look a lot like her older cousin these past years.”I am not sure how I’m mea
*Maddox*It is clear Alpha Geofrey was not expecting this sort of force to line up against him and his allies when he decided to take on the role of rebellious aggressor. No, with the backing of Alpha Charlton, Alpha Jason, Alpha Mick, Alpha Evan, and all of the others, it’s quite clear that Alpha Geofrey is outnumbered.He is not a stupid man. He will make a show of fighting us now, but then he will fade away to lick his wounds and come at me again. I know this. I have been in enough battles over the year to understand how the mind of a man greedy for power, someone so lustful to rule that he’ll do anything works.He may say that he is fighting me in the name of his son’s mate, but in reality, this is all a push for the throne. I’ve seen many people attempt to rise up and usurp my power over the years. I saw the same thing during my father’s reign. That’s where I learned how ruthless men like Alpha Geofrey can be.The only way to avoid this going on for several years is by squashing
*Isla*A few days go by, and my cousin wants to speak to me, but I refuse. I think it can only mean trouble. He probably feels like he can talk me into going with him to the islands if he can tell me enough information about Maatua and why they need me there that maybe I’ll change my mind and decide to go.But now that he’s told me if I don’t kill my own aunt, she’ll kill me, I can’t really see any reason for going.I do my best to stay busy. It’s difficult with Maddox gone. News of fighting from the front lines comes in to me, and I ask for updates whenever I can find someone who might know what’s going on, but for the most part, no one tells me much of anything. Only that there’s been some fighting, we didn’t have many casualties, and the Alpha King is repositioning his men in case of another attack.As far as Maddox is concerned, he does call me for a few minutes every day. He is always much more chipper than I would expect, and he refuses to answer any particularly important quest
*Isla*“No.”It’s the only word I can get out as I stare into my cousin’s eyes. He is unblinking, unwavering, as he stares right back at me, the last word he uttered hanging in the air between us.I won’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Nothing that he has just told me makes any sense at all, and if by some crazy, un-understandable reason it is true, Maddox would’ve already told me about it.After all, I spoke to him just last night, and he said nothing about any queen consort, any contest, any new women coming to the castle to compete for his hand—in marriage.No, I won’t believe it. I can’t even let the idea of it being the truth register in my mind, because if it were true, if there was even the smallest possibility that Antony isn’t just making all of this up to make me want to leave, that would mean that Maddox isn’t the man I’ve always thought he was, and my entire life is a lie.Antony clears his throat and finally drops his eyes to the ground in front of him. “You didn’t know,
*Maddox*We are making progress on the war front. Every day, we are able to push our enemies back a little more without actually having to fight. I know that Alpha Eugene is doing his best to try and get others to come into the fray on his side, but so far, none of his negotiating is doing him any good.I know why that is, too, but I don’t want to admit it to anyone. Seth is the only one who dares to bring it up to me, and when he does, I bite his head off every time and tell him we have more important matters to attend to.“Sir,” he says as I sit in my tent staring at a map of the territory we have just claimed from one of Alpha Geofrey’s allies, “I believe you were going to call Miss Isla this evening about this time, weren’t you?”I look up at him in a bit of a daze. I’ve obviously lost track of time. “Oh, yes,” I mumble. “Thank you.” I have a portable phone, though they are very rare in our lands. We don’t have a lot of towers to help with signal transmission, so if everyone had a
*Isla*“Did you hang up on him?” Poppy asks me. She is pacing the floor about ten steps away from where I am sitting in the chair next to my bed, still staring at the phone. “You did, didn’t you? Bastard! Serves him right.”I do not bother to remind her that Alpha King Maddox is our sovereign and we should not be calling him names. Given the circumstances, she can call him whatever she’d like to.The Moon Goddess knows I’ve called him enough names myself in my head over the last couple of hours that I can’t be pointing out what she’s doing as if I am totally innocent. I just haven’t said anything out loud.I didn’t want to believe it was true.After I spoke to Antony, I came back to my room and walked in to find Poppy standing in front of my bed with her arms folded. I couldn’t tell if she was about to cry or if she wanted to scream, but I knew at that moment that whatever it was that had her so worked up it had to do with Maddox.And since I’d just heard the worst news imaginable abo
*Maddox*It was a four-hour drive from where I’d been stationed near the front line of the war back to the castle, and I’d have to be back early tomorrow because there’d been activity along the ridge we were currently considering attacking. Alpha Geofrey appears to be amassing his forces on the other side, getting ready to come after us.I need to be there if he attacks because, even though some of the other commanders are very good at their jobs, none of them have the sort of battle experience that I have. None of them are as capable of making sure the war goes the way it needs to as I am.For that matter, none of them are as good at anything as I am, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. I have to go home.I’ve thoroughly fucked up—again—and if I don’t get back to Isla as soon as possible, well, she might not be there when I do get back.And this time, it won’t just be her running off through the woods in the middle of the night. She’ll have our baby with her.I’ve contacted Comman
BrieI like to think I’m a faithful believer in the Moon Goddess. I never skip church. I celebrate Her holidays, say Her prayers, and dedicated at least ten years of my schooling to Her lore and scripture. I squint at the sky through my window in the tower, frowning at the moon. She’s up there laughing at me, isn’t She? Is She entertained by my predicament? The mate bond She ordained to ruin my plans? I sink onto the bench under the window and rest my arms on the windowsill, watching the clear, brilliant night sky slowly rotate over Veiled Valley. The buildings and bridges glisten in the moonlight, but across the lush, green valley, lights twinkle against a sea of emerald. The Fortress, as my siblings and I have called it since we got a grasp on vocal vocabulary, is nothing more than a big, square, gray block built out of the far mountainside. I’m sure it was a foreboding, albeit lovely, sight to look at way back in the day, millennia ago, when it was built, but now I’m glaring at
LoganI stare down at the words covering a single piece of pure-white paper. It’s my evening ritual these days, especially when I’m closeted away in this room, in these barracks, instead of in a tent or curled up in a ball in my wolf form somewhere in the rural Roguelands or desert of Tarsian. I glance at the two other letters beside the paper, both neatly folded, Lexa and Nora’s names written clearly, cleanly, just like Aviva expects. She taught me how to read and write in the language of Eastonia and Crescent Falls. She was strict about it, forcing me to spend hours working on my penmanship, drilling the translations into my skull until I began to think and even dream in the language of my new home. Even at nearly thirty, I still feel an obligation to check my work, to ensure the letters I send back to Silverhide are flawless, because Aviva still cares. She’s always cared about me. I’ve failed her in so many ways. I fold up the letter I intend to send out through the post to Si
BrieI can’t get out of this gown fast enough. I lean against the door of my bedroom to close it, praying the butter-white walls give me some sense of peace, but my heart is absolutely racing. I rip at my bodice, cursing under my breath as the satin fabric snags and squeals instead of just–of just coming off. I can’t breathe. I can’t force a breath past the painful squeezing sensation echoing through my lungs. I gasp, tugging at the fabric until the bodice finally gives way. I grip my knees, gulping down air. The room spins for several more seconds before slowing, but I feel…Totally, completely overcome. “This isn’t happening,” I rasp, rising up and leaning my weight against the door. “This isn’t happening.” I close my eyes against the view of the mountains peeking through the white curtains currently dancing in the warm breeze. Only when I find it easier to breathe do I move from the door, stepping out of my dress until I’m in nothing but the tight shapewear I stuffed myself in
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