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CHAPTER EIGHTY SEVEN
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The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER EIGHTY EIGHT
The morning dawns cool and misty, the sea spreading its salty wetness into the air. We eat breakfast, but the group is subdued, still mourning the loss of our pack members from the day before, and worn down by the knowledge that the Tijuana and San Diego packs still have dead loved ones to lay to rest back home.As for me, I’d love to stay in Baja a few more days so we can gather our strength for the journey home, but that just doesn’t seem possible. Stella continues to be fussy and uncomfortable, her sickness getting worse with every passing hour.“We have to get the dead back to their ancestral caves,” Layla tells me. “Their spirits are restless, and it’s making Stella ill.”I see the sadness in Juliana’s eyes, and I know it’s not just the Arizona shifters who need our help returning to their final resting place. We also need to get home so we can put our dead to rest and mourn them properly.“I don’t want to go,” I mumble. I hate the idea of ever returning to the territo
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER EIGHTY NINE
We drive straight toward Flagstaff and the territory of Malcolm’s pack. Without Brandon as the Alpha, it’s possible that the Rogers Lake pack has fully joined the Flagstaff werewolves, or they may be under the leadership of a new Alpha. We’re headed for a situation where the dynamics of power have shifted, and we’re unprepared for what we might encounter.Nash is silent for a while as he drives, the only sound in the car the whooshing of the air conditioner and the occasional gurgle from baby Stella in her car seat. He navigates us along the Mexican coastline, past beautiful ocean vistas, until we hit the low hills and mountains of the border towns. The Tijuana pack give us solemn nods as we pass through their unofficial checkpoint, but we don’t have time to stop and chat, and they’re busy with their own dead and wounded. There are highway signs for San Diego, and it breaks my heart to have to pass them by, heading east instead of north, crossing the state border into Arizona. I
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETY
“Stop!” Isaac shouts, brandishing a copper colored dagger at us. I’ve never seen a weapon like that before, but based on what I know about the Flagstaff pack and their ever growing collection of stolen magical items, I suspect it has dark powers I’d rather not experience.Nash and I stand perfectly still, making no moves that would spook or threaten them.“It’s good to see you, Regan,” Nash says, keeping his voice low and even.“You’re a liar,” Regan spits, her arms crossed. “You sent me away to be mated off to Brandon. I bet you were hoping you’d never have to see me again.”“I’m glad you’re doing alright,” Nash says. “So this is your old Alpha,” Isaac sneers. He approaches us, looking me and Nash up and down. “I remember you two.”“Yes,” I reply, trying to match Nash’s non-confrontational tone. “We spoke at the pack house. You were looking for Regan.”“You told me she had gone to Arizona,” Isaac says, “but you failed to mention the fact that you’d sent her off a
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETY ONE
I take Stella out of the car, strapping her to my chest so I can keep her close. Nash puts the clay jars of ashes into a backpack and puts it on, then takes my hand. “Where is this ancestral cave, anyway?” Nash asks me. “This way.” I’ll never forget the place we laid Caleb, my first mate, to rest. I lead Nash down a path through the pine forest, our footsteps muffled by the thick layer of pine needles blanketing the trail. Stella waves her little arms and babbles softly, clearly picking up on the fact that we’re about to complete our mission, or maybe connecting with the energy of the ancestral cave.My heart feels heavy as we walk. The last time I took this path, we were saying goodbye to Caleb, and I was on the razor’s edge of being banished or killed. It’s daylight now, so the trail looks different, but there’s something deeply and heartbreakingly familiar about it all.“Up there,” I say, pointing to a clearing in the trees. Nash follows me, and we arrive at the ancest
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETY TWO
I start to tip out the ashes, intending to scatter them at the back of the ancestral cave, when a sound breaks the silence.I recognize the voice, although the song is new. It’s Stella, howling a mournful and bittersweet melody. Beside me, Nash swallows nervously and I glance back over my shoulder. Malcolm and Miranda are still just standing near the cave entrance, looking more and more uncomfortable. I doubt they want to come face to face with the spirits of the pack members who they left behind to be trapped without a proper funeral ritual. Stella keeps singing, and soon the ashes that I’ve scattered begin to float in the air, glowing with a soft silver light. They form into the shape of a wolf, one I recognize from my time with the Flagstaff pack, but whose name I don’t know. It gives us a long, searching look, then nods its head once and runs off into the darkness, disappearing.One by one, Nash and I pour the ashes out of their clay vessels. With each one, Stella’s s
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETY THREE
We’re standing in the ancestral cave of my former pack, having just come to return the remains of their abandoned dead, and now we’re faced with an oddly familiar girl who just appeared in the cave and was, until a few minutes ago, glowing. She also seems to know Stella, which is completely impossible given that Stella is only six months old and has never been to Arizona before. “I’m sorry,” Nash says, “but could you please tell us what’s going on? What do you have to do with our baby?”I’m not prepared for what the girl says next - it answers one question but raises a thousand more. “My name,” she says, “is Alaya.”The name is similar enough that it hits me like a freight train - I know exactly why she seems so familiar. She looks exactly like Layla, the older woman from the San Diego pack, only much younger. “Who are you?” I ask, my curiosity overtaking me. “I’m a Star Twin,” Alaya says. “I don’t know what that is,” Nash tells her. “Let’s get out of
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETY FOUR
“Wait a minute,” Nash says, unable to contain himself. “Does that mean Layla is actually my great great great - however many times - grandmother?”Ayala shrugs. “How am I supposed to know?”“She must be,” I say. “The ancestor who passed down a moon rabbit pelt through your family, through your pack.”Then I turn back to Ayala. “What happened then?”“I stepped forward and gave myself up, knowing that my Star Twin would have lifetimes to establish a pack, grow strong, and one day bring forth a Crescent Child to retrieve me. I hoped, with the naivety of youth, that she might use that time to discover how we might shift, and so I would return to a world where I could finally take my place among the wolf shifters.”“So Layla founded our whole pack,” Nash murmurs, as if he can hardly believe it. “Now here you are, with little Stella, calling me back from the celestial world. Things certainly have changed,” Ayala says, looking around at the interior of the car. “What do
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER NINETY FIVE
“Sister!”I can hear the pure joy in Layla’s voice as she greets her long lost Star Twin. Ayala runs into her arms and they embrace. Seeing them together like this, it is so clear that they are two halves of a whole. “It’s been so, so long,” Layla says, holding Ayala’s face in her hands so that she can look at her. Layla’s face is wrinkled, and her hair is gray, while Ayala looks like she’s my age. Still, it’s obvious that they are twins. The sparkle in their eyes is the same, the way their laughs sound like wind chimes, and the way they brush stray strands of their long hair behind their ears. “Welcome home,” Layla says, taking Ayala by the hand and guiding her to the sofa. They sit together and immediately start chattering away. Clearly, they have a lot to catch up on. Nash and I can hardly follow most of their conversation - they talk so quickly, and almost in their own language. Not to mention the fact that we don’t know what they’re talking about, since the people and p
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Damian is a healthy baby, well loved, and by the time he’s a few months old, it’s obvious that Jasper and I don’t need to stick around in Serpent’s Creek. The mansion is nearly full to bursting with wolf and bear shifters excited to be part of this new family and to dote on the precious baby whose existence symbolizes a fresh start for everyone.Jasper mentions going home to Santa Cruz a few times before I’m happy about it, though. I tell him that Orsina could still use my help, or that there’s still some magic I want to learn from Clara. He sees right through my excuses, though. “Are you nervous and going back to live somewhere with those guys in the basement?” Jasper asks me one evening, sliding his hands around my waist to nibble at my earlobes as he asks. “Maybe,” I say. “Now that he’s not a rabbit anymore, and he’s seen me and spoken to me, and he’s already gotten out once -”“He didn’t get out,” Jasper reminds me. “We let him think he escaped.”“I know, but he th
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My eyes fall shut easily, after such a long day. But I don’t sleep very deeply. Instead, I get caught up in a long, complex dream.In the dream, I’m back in the celestial realm, standing in the same dungeon cage that Coello used to keep me in. Sterling is there, too, walking up to me with those piercing gray eyes and that familiar smile. “Hello,” he says. He leans in to kiss me, and I think that the bars will prevent him from being able to, but he just passes right through. I feel his hands on my face, his lips on mine, and he kisses me for a long time.When I open my eyes after the kiss, I’m no longer in the cage. Now, Sterling and I are standing on top of the massive tower where we found him, high up above the rest of the celestial realm. But when I look out, I don’t see the rolling, starlit darkness of the celestial realm. I see the golden yellow plains of Montana, the valley that stretches out around Serpent’s Creek.“Where are we?” I ask, feeling strangely dizzy.
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT
Clara and Zach arrive soon enough, and we all go careening up the mountain. With Clara behind the wheel, we get back to the house in record time. Orsina is sweating now, her breaths coming heavy and hard, and Zach has to help her out of the truck and into her room.“Can you shift?” Clara asks her, gently lowering the laboring mother down into her bed. “It’s so much easier if you shift.”“I think so,” Orsina says. She squeezes her eyes shut, holding her breath. It takes a few tries, but soon she’s a bear, curled up on top of the quilts in her bedroom.“Perfect, perfect,” Clara coos. “There you go, mama bear.”“Could that cause a problem for the baby?” Zach asks, hovering in the doorway. Clara asked him to bring towels, and he’s already brought twice as many as we’ll need, but he has yet another armful. I don’t even know where he’s getting them from, at this point. Even a mansion like this can only hold so many towels.“What do you mean?” Clara asks, her voice calm and unf
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SEVEN
When we call home to let Regan and Isaac know what’s going on, they’re thrilled to hear that Barrett is okay and that Zach and Orsina have a safe place to land. They tell us that Howling Wolf is doing amazingly well - after so many volunteers and friends came to help us with the battle, we’ve gotten tons more clients in the shifter world, and we’ve been able to hire a handful of new employees.Since they seem to have things well in hand, Jasper and I decide to stay in Montana. We set up in one of the westward facing bedrooms, next door to Zach and Orsina. Clara and Bennett take an upstairs bedroom, smaller but cozier and with more privacy. With Weston defeated and his supporters scattered after our Santa Cruz victory, the rest of the bear clan needs a leader and a place to stay. Through a peaceful process, Clara and Barrett become the Alpha and Luna for the bear clan. Bear clans don’t typically refer to their Alpha’s mates as a “Luna,” but Clara is a wolf, and the title just see
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX
“Barrett!” Orsina rushes to his side, laying a hand over his forehead. He lifts his head weakly at her voice, then his eyes spark with recognition.“Orsina…” he croaks, his eyes fluttering shut again. “Help…”Everything then happens in a flurry of activity. Clara sends everyone but Orsina out of the room, giving each of us specific directions. Jasper is sent to get a bowl of hot water and towels, I’m supposed to find a medicine kit under the sink in the kitchen, and Zach is told to go secure the perimeter of the house, especially the rear door.I return with the medicine chest in my arms. It smells familiar, full of the healing herbs and magical potions Layla often uses. It’s also got modern medical stuff like clean white bandages and stitching kits.Clara instantly sets about getting Barrett to sit up. She holds a glass of water to his lips, encouraging him to drink and take a handful of pills and capsules she’s picked out of the medicine chest. She works on Barrett fo
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE
We barely have time to process everything Clara has told us before she’s packing us a picnic dinner and ushering us out the door. We pile into her battered, ancient Jeep, which is almost definitely running more on shifter magic than gasoline at this point, and she heads out toward the mountains. “So, uh,” Orsina asks, after a bit of silence, “does that mean this is, like…you?” She rolls up her sleeve to show the tattoo mark of the wolf that appeared on her arm after the spirits from the carving gave their blessing.“It is perhaps an image of me,” Clara says in her cryptic way as she careens up the switchbacking roads. “Or, perhaps it is another manifestation of my spirit. There have been many over the years.”“What about your beloved?” Orsina asks. “The bear shifter you fell in love with. Where is he?”“That is a lovely question,” Clara says softly. “At times, we have found each other. At other times, our spirits have been far from one another. Since the curse took a deep
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR
It takes Malcolm and Coello a little while to accept the reality of their new situation - that Malcolm is irreversibly bound to Coello, and that Coello is bound to us by virtue of some very powerful magic Layla cooked up for us. They snarl and fight, argue and wheedle, and even try to bust out of their chains by brute force. But nothing works. We’ve won. Malcolm and Weston are both banished to cells in the basement, very far apart to prevent them trying to scheme together. Maybe someday we’ll have another use for them, but for now, it’s a breath of fresh air to know that my biggest enemy, and the biggest enemy of my pack, are both completely neutralized. I had hoped that we would be able to relax and settle down for a bit now that this problem has been solved. In fact, we had a lovely day after the battle, with all our friends and volunteers and former trainees lounging on the beach and splashing around in the cool water.But something is bothering Orsina. She paces, agitate
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY THREE
The Moon Rabbit doesn’t waste any time once Malcolm agrees to the binding spell. With quick, almost spider like hands, Coello spreads the stalks and herbs out on the rocky beach, fluttering them into complex shapes. I stand on my tiptoes, peering out from behind my hiding place. Coello’s form of magic is rough and brutish, nothing like the delicate work Layla does. But it does the job. Malcolm steps over the edges of the intricate shape Coello has created on the ground, and even I can feel the burst of intense magic that snaps through the air as the spell takes effect. “I look forward to having you in my service,” Coello says with a low bow. “For now, however, I must depart. Do enjoy your newfound power.”Malcolm smiles, flexing his hands like he can somehow feel himself getting stronger. Then the two separate, Coello sneaking back into the tree house before anyone catches him outside.I’m surprised, but not entirely so. Some of us thought Coello would try to get as far a
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO
The various wolf shifters staying with us to help out have been instructed not to speak with the Moon Rabbit, but to keep a close eye on him. Coello soon gives up trying to draw them into conversation and instead just wanders around the busy tree house, doing what he clearly thinks is subtle reconnaissance in preparation for his escape attempt. What he doesn’t know is that his ability to slip out of here isn’t going to be the result of his own careful cleverness. It will be perfectly engineered by me and my team, right down to the very moment. It’s early afternoon when we get the signal. We’ve had scouts placed in inconspicuous locations all around the forest and the town of Santa Cruz watching for any sigh of Malcolm or Weston. Sure enough, they roll into town with a huge entourage of bear shifters and werewolves. Our scouts say that they’ve set up a campsite near the beach about a mile south from our location, and that Malcolm is heading our way on his own, apparently to chec
