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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY EIGHT
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE
When we reach the top of the tower, I can see that Sterling is there. He’s lying on the ground, looking as if he’s sleeping peacefully. He’s still wearing the moonstone collar that Coello locked around his neck.I start to run toward him, but something stops me - the sight of a woman with massive pale green wings, like a luna moth. She descends from the sky and settles lightly on her feet, standing between me and Sterling.“Who are you?” I ask, hesitant to approach an unknown celestial being but desperate to get to Sterling.“My name is Parvana,” she says. Her voice is gentle and lilting. In some ways, she reminds me of Layla. “I have been watching over the shifter boy.”“His name is Sterling,” Greyson says, stepping up to stand beside me. “And he’s my brother.”“So I see,” Parvana says, her voice calm and light. She looks Greyson up and down with a soft smile. “Is he okay?” I ask. “Can I see him?”Parvana steps aside, dipping one of her wings down in a gesture of
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY
“What!?” I spin around to face Parvana, shocked and devastated at what I’ve just heard. “What do you mean, he can’t come back?” Greyson demands. Parvana sighs deeply, making her wings flutter. “His spirit has become too entangled with the celestial realm,” she explains. “Time flows differently here. He has been here for a long time, and since he believed his mate to be lost, he no longer maintained his connection to your earthly realm.”“So he didn’t want to come back when he thought he wouldn’t have Ayala,” Greyson says. “But now he knows it was all a lie, and that she actually loves him. So he can come home now.”Parvana shakes her head. “It is not that simple. He fell deeply into his slumber, into the world he inhabits here. His body has become too celestial, his spirit too intricately woven into our reality.”“That can’t be true,” I beg. “He has to be able to come back to me.”Parvana only shakes her head again. “He sought solace for his grief, and in doing so,
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE
We get back to the pack house and everyone is gathered, wanting to hear about our journey and anxious to learn whether we’ve been able to find Sterling.But I don’t feel up to any of that. I leave Sarah, Nash, and Greyson to explain everything while I go upstairs to lay down and try to forget that I just left half of my soul in a completely different plane of reality.Inside the bedroom, though, there are reminders of Sterling everywhere. It smells like him, and his clothes are still strewn around. I can’t be here. It’s too painful. I grab a few things and leave for Layla’s, settling back into the tiny bedroom she had set up for me when I first returned.Maybe things can go back to the way they were, I tell myself. There was a time when I didn’t even know Sterling. I was happy then, wasn’t I? I can find that again.I flop down on the bed and fall into a long, deep, dreamless sleep.When I wake up, there’s a mug of tea and a plate of food on my nightstand. Layla must
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO
Shifting feels better than I ever imagined it would. Which seems almost impossible - I’ve been longing for this moment my entire life, and I’ve spent hours thinking about it.But now that I can actually control my shift, now that I can access my inner wolf with clarity and sureness, it’s like I’m tapping into a power I never knew that I had.I feel my body get stronger. My senses heighten. My ears pick up every shifting grain of sand under my feet - no, my paws. The ocean is no longer a dim background roar, because I can hear every individual wave, curling and crashing in its own specific rhythm. Beside me, Layla is having the same experience. We are twins, two halves of the same whole, and we are finding our way together. I look over and see that she is a dark gray, almost black, wolf - the reverse image of me, with my pale silver fur. Together, we are something completely new.Star Twins, now Star Wolves. We don’t know what that means, but we’re about to find out.
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE
Isaac looks up at us, his eyes pleading. “I know we’ve been enemies to you, but Coello forced us into it. Now he’s gone, and we’re wasting away without our powers. We need your help.”I notice that, while Isaac speaks, Martell just stares down at his own lap. He hasn’t spoken or made eye contact with anyone since they arrived. He doesn’t seem to agree with what Isaac is saying, or to be very invested in getting our help. Nash starts having a whole conversation with Isaac, but I sit down next to Martell. Nash and Sarah have plenty of history with Isaac and Regan, but I’ve met Martell before, when he was training with Sterling in Santa Cruz.He looks absolutely miserable. The only thing about him that’s still the same are the tattoos on his arms. His muscles have wasted away, his brown eyes are glazed and haunted, his sandy brown hair is limp and flat against his forehead. In a hushed voice, I try to draw him out. “Hi,” I say. “Martell, right?”He shakes his head. “T
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR
As the magical chains fall from them, Isaac, Regan, and Jasper all take deep gasping breaths, as if they’d been struggling for air for a long, long time. Their limbs all seem to relax as well, as if they’d been straining against the chains this entire time.The chains themselves disappear into a powdery white dust, which stays in chain shaped lines on the floor.“Nobody touch that stuff,” Layla warns. Arnold immediately pulls out a paper envelope and little brush from one of his jacket pockets and begins to clean up the dust, collecting it into the paper envelope with tidy little sweeps of his brush.“Thank you,” Isaac says, and the genuine sincerity in his voice is hard to miss. Regan bursts into tears, sobbing as she curls up against Isaac, clinging to him.“We’re so sorry,” Isaac tells us, rubbing Regan’s back as he looks out at the assembled San Diego pack with an apologetic and abashed expression. “We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into.”“I don’t believ
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE
“Look,” I tell Jasper. “I don’t know where you’re from. I know you’ve been a mercenary, doing dangerous enough things that you had to take a new name. But you’re here now, with my pack. And we’re led by a Luna who knows what it’s like to be hated and exiled, along with an Alpha who fought his way back against false allegations and banishment. We give second chances here. We trust in the content of someone’s soul, not their past actions.”Jasper just tilts his head slightly, like he’s trying to make sense of what I’m saying. Then, finally, he drops his robe and steps into the hot water.“Welcome to San Diego,” I tell him. I can see the relief and gratitude in his whole body as he relaxes into the hot, aromatic water. We soak for a while in silence. I can tell that after my little speech, Regan and Isaac are feeling a bit uncomfortable, and I’m perfectly happy to let them have their space and quiet. After a while, they both clamber out of the hot tub, wrapping themselves in
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX
Isaac and Regan dry off and get dressed too, and the four of us head back down to the pack house.On the way, Jasper tells them about his idea and asks them if they want to join him and become part of his new team in Santa Cruz.They’re skeptical that Greyson and the rest of the San Diego pack will ever go for the idea, but if the plan goes forward, they’re interested.Isaac and Regan seem subdued, more mature and self contained, than they did last time I saw them. It’s as if they’ve gotten something out of their system, having seen the reality of Alphas like Malcolm. They’re ready to be on our side, the side of patience and logic.I’m ready to welcome them, but I’m not the Luna or the Alpha. I haven’t even really been part of this pack for very long. So I don’t know how it’s going to go.When we arrive back at the pack house, Layla is just about to serve dinner. I take my usual spot, but the three guests hang back, clearly not feeling welcome.I pull Sarah aside and
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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
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE
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
