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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THREE
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
I fall into my sister’s spell, losing myself in the aromas of the incense and Layla’s magic. I find myself drifting through memories.First, it’s the easy ones to access. The ones I’ve made since coming back to earth. I see Sarah, and her daughter Stella, the Crescent Child whose birth heralded the ending of my contract with the Moon Rabbit.I remember being in the car with them, its engine rumbling beneath us, suddenly back in my true, earthly body, aware of my bare feet, the ends of my long hair.I remember seeing Layla for the first time, the way she shrieked with joy and pulled me into a sisterly embrace.¶“Go deeper,” Layla murmurs. She stands over me, waving her hands through the incense smoke, directing its shapes and curls with her magic. “Remember your time before this. Before here.”I close my eyes. I have to go back. I have to remember what it was like, living in the celestial realm.“He took me…” I mumble, trying to find the words to tell Layla and Sarah w
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE
Layla lets the incense burn out, and the spell winds down. I open my eyes and go to sit up, but there’s a bone deep weariness in me that I wasn’t prepared for. I exhale and lay back down.“You’ve got to be exhausted,” Sarah says gently. “After all that.”“Why don’t you two go have a soak,” Layla suggests. “I want to make some notes about what we’ve just seen.”“Sure thing.” Sarah reaches for my hand, letting me lean heavily on her as she lifts me off the massage table. We stumble toward one of the spa’s hot tubs, and Sarah helps me take off my dress and lower my worn out body into the hot water.It feels so good. I can’t help but lean my head back and smile.Sarah clambers in after me, splashing a bit as she settles in to the water. Layla tosses her a sachet of fragrant herbs, floral and light, completely different from the scent of the incense. Sarah lets the sachet float in the water, and soon all I can smell is lavender and jasmine. The experience of the incense and t
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIX
As badly as I want to stay at the San Diego pack house, Greyson insists that it’s not safe. Nash and Sarah agree, springing into action to help me pack.“The problem is,” Sarah tells me as she shoves all my new clothes into a suitcase, “that Regan used to belong to this pack, and she’s known Nash since they were children. And now they’re members of my old pack, so they have plenty of information about me. If anyone is able to identify our weaknesses and successfully execute an attack on this pack, it would be those two.”“Not to mention,” Nash says, “they’re working with the Moon Rabbit, so who knows what kind of extra powers or magic they might have.”“Especially after that message from the fortune teller,” Sarah agrees, “our best bet is to keep them from ever getting close to you in the first place.”I feel miserable about it, but I do trust everyone here, and they know what they’re talking about. If they say it’s not safe for me to stay at the San Diego pack house, then
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN
The barbecue, at least, is delicious. The restaurant is inside an old train car, made up to look like it’s still an old fashioned train, and it makes me feel a bit more at home.I remember how Sarah would tease me for being so old fashioned, having last lived on earth hundreds of years ago. She would love to see me in this antique train car.I miss her. Even though I only knew her for a few weeks, she’s the first real friend I’ve ever made, not counting Layla, who is my Star Twin.We get back in the car and Greyson takes us onto the highway. He tells me that we’re getting closer to Santa Cruz and his brother’s place.Now that he’s eaten lunch, and as we get nearer to the place he’s more familiar with, Greyson starts getting more talkative. “My brother’s place is pretty cool,” Greyson tells me. “I think you’ll really like it.”“I hope so,” I say.“He calls it the secret cabin,” Greyson continues, “but it’s not exactly what you might call a cabin. It’s actually buil
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT
“You’ll be safe here, I promise,” Greyson says. We pull up to a massive security gate, imposing wrought iron twisted into the shapes of wolves. Greyson rolls down the window and punches in a code on a little key pad that looks a lot like the new phone Sarah just got me at the mall.At least I have that, I tell myself. I can still talk to Layla and Sarah, and see pictures of Stella, even when I’m all the way out here.The gate creaks open, and Greyson continues driving. We’re on a narrow paved road, but I can’t see any buildings or anything. All we do is drive through a massive forest made up of trees taller than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. ¶“These are the redwoods,” Greyson explains. “Some of the largest trees on earth.”“They’re amazing,” I breathe. I’m still missing the sunny beaches of San Diego, but if I have to be somewhere else, this is pretty gorgeous. “But where’s the cabin?”“Remember how I told you that it’s secret, and highly secured?” Greyson asks.
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINE
“That new gear is awesome,” Greyson says, bounding back into the room. He looks happier and more energized than I’ve ever seen him. “Come by any time and use it,” Sterling tells him. “Why not stay for a few days, really get some good reps in with me? It’ll be like old times.”“I’ve got to get back, actually,” Greyson says with an apologetic shrug. “My pack needs me.”“Always the responsible Beta,” Sterling teases. “But really, man, you just lost your mate, and if you want to take some time off, spend it with family, I’m here for you.”“I appreciate that,” Greyson tells his brother. “I think I need the distraction of my Beta work right now, though. Plus, there are still risks to my pack that I can’t abandon them in the middle of.”“Right, right.” Sterling glances over at me. “Risks to your pack. Well, I’ll look after Ayala for you, so you don’t have to worry about her, at least.”“Thanks again for that. None of the beings that are looking for her know anything about t
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TEN
Sterling shows me around the kitchen, teaching me how various things work. Now I can make myself a cup of hot tea, or warm up leftovers from the chilled box that Sterling calls a fridge. But for dinner, Sterling insists on making everything from scratch. I help him, picking leaves off of fresh herbs and tossing them into the metal bowl he’s working with. It’s nice, being able to work with my hands, making something useful. I remember when Layla and I used to collect magic herbs for our spells, and how she used to save all the less powerful ones to make delicious food with. Sterling pours out some flour, cracking eggs directly on top of the mound, and kneads it into a yellow dough. He rolls it out in a big flat square, the slices it up into smaller pieces. Inside the bowl, along with my freshly picked herbs, he’s added ground beef and a creamy white cheese. This mixture goes on top of the dough pieces before the whole package is wrapped up like a little pouch.Sterling shows
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN
It’s lonely in my bed, especially after spending the evening snuggled up close against Sterling. I look in the bedroom closet and find a few more blankets, which I pile up on top of myself in the bed.The bed here in Sterling’s tree house is much bigger than the one I was sleeping in at Layla’s house. And when I was with the Moon Rabbit, I never slept in a bed. Celestial bodies don’t sleep, and I was a prisoner in a suspended state.This bed feels so big. So wide. Like an ocean, almost. And I’m floating on it.It’s just me here, with a guy I only just barely met, far away from my Star Twin, and all my new friends. Even though Sterling is technically part of the San Diego pack, he doesn’t feel like family the way Layla or Sarah or Nash does. Loneliness fills my chest, making it painful to breathe. I roll around under the blankets, trying to get warm, trying to find a comfortable way to sleep despite the anxious pressure in my chest. Did I feel this forlorn when I was wi
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The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED
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
