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CHAPTER SIXTY TWO
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The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY THREE
NASHEver since I read the letter from Sarah, all I’ve wanted to do is curl up in a ball and sleep, maybe forever. Even the amulet and my moon rabbit pelt can’t give me enough strength to overcome this grief.I’ve been in my bedroom, trying to make it through this misery, while the rest of my pack makes preparations downstairs. Although I called off the search and rescue mission for Sarah, we know we have enemies out there, and since they have Sarah working with them now, they know all of our secrets. Layla has temporarily moved back in to the pack house, lending her wisdom and care to the injured among us. She’s also been working with us to come up with a defense against that horrible wolfsbane weapon. Using all sorts of herbs and potions from her work at the clinic and spa, Layla is designing new methods for us to avoid being touched by the wolfsbane.Herbal smells waft up from downstairs, where I know Juliana and Amanda are weaving gloves and armored vests that can help
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR
NASH“Nash! Nash, please! I didn’t betray you, Nash, it was all a lie!”I stand over Sarah as she begs me to let her go, but I don’t make a move. “You ran off with them,” I say through gritted teeth. “You abandoned me.”“No,” Sarah pleads, “I didn’t! They kidnapped me, Nash, I would never leave you.”“That’s not what Regan told me,” I say. “She’s lying, Nash, please!”“You left me,” I shout, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. “You left me, and she stayed. The last few days, it’s been her, helping out with the pack, looking after them while I’ve been in bed. Where were you?”“They trapped me,” Sarah says. “Nash, you have to believe me.”“I don’t have to do anything you say!” I wipe my eyes angrily with the back of my hand. “I read your letter - you never even loved me. Now that you’ve been captured, you’re just trying to trick me into letting you back.”Sarah is sobbing now, but I won’t be convinced by the performance. “They forced me to write it,” she
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE
I can’t believe what’s happening. I fought my way back to Nash, but as soon as the San Diego shifters saw me, they tied me up and tossed me into the line with the other prisoners. Nearby, Miranda is spitting mad, howling all sorts of threats at the guards, but Malcolm and Brandon are silent, either saving their strength or just not bothering to try and speak with us.And then there’s me, stuck outside in the sand. The whole time I was holed up in that crate, I just couldn’t wait to see Nash again - to run into his arms, to feel his embrace, to tell him how sorry I was about the awful letter I was forced to write. And to introduce him to our baby.But he didn’t believe me, calling me a traitor and insisting that I stay imprisoned with the rest of the Arizona shifters. As the sun goes down, I can see the lights on inside the pack house, glowing yellow against the darkening sky. Nash is somewhere inside there, thinking horrible things about me, and I can’t get to him.I can’t eve
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY SIX
I hold my breath as Nash approaches, flanked by Regan and Arnold. I’m rocking Stella in my arms, so it’s obvious that I’ve been untied, but I still don’t stand up or move or do anything to startle Nash.Juliana meets them halfway, speaking quickly and excitedly, waving them down toward the beach where I’m sitting with the other prisoners.Then, Nash is standing over me, looking down with a mixture of affection and hatred that seem to be at war on his face. “Juliana says there’s something wrong with the baby,” he says.I lift her up so Nash can take her into his arms, but instead he crouches down beside us. My heart flutters at his scent, powerful and mine. My love, my mate, my Alpha. Even if he thinks it’s over between us, that everything I wrote in my letter was true, my body knows otherwise.“What’s her name?” Nash whispers.“Stella,” I reply.He doesn’t say anything more, his brow furrowing as he looks down at the baby, almost as if he’s examining her. I realiz
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN
Nash takes me back to the pack house. In our bedroom, the crib we built for the new baby, back before the attack and everything, is still standing in the corner, untouched.The rest of the room is an absolute mess. Empty and half eaten plates of food are on nearly every surface, and there are piles of clothes everywhere.“I’m sorry about all this,” Nash says, kicking a mound of dirty laundry away with one foot. “When I got that letter from you, I was so depressed I barely wanted to get out of bed. The pack was basically without an Alpha for a while.”“It’s okay,” I say, taking Nash’s hand. “It hurt me so terribly to have to even write that letter in the first place. “I’m just glad to have you back,” he says. “We can clean it up tomorrow.”We give Stella a bath, then wrap her up in a cuddly fleece onesie that Juliana gave us when I got pregnant. It feels so strange, finally being new parents together after nine months of waiting, and then thinking that we might never get
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT
After a few minutes of vicious, overlapping argument between everyone, Arnold puts his fingers in his mouth and lets out a high pitched whistle that startles everyone into silence. Many of the Arizona shifters who had still been asleep on their makeshift beds sit up, rubbing their eyes and looking confused.I hope they feel half as frightened and helpless as I felt, waking up in a cage made of silver bars with Malcolm and Brandon standing over me, threatening Nash’s life.“What, specifically, are you asking for?” Arnold asks. I’m grateful to him for taking over these bizarre negotiations - he knows a lot more about werewolf law and lore than I do, and I doubt I would even be able to talk about the notion of losing my baby without dissolving into screaming sobs.“Our proposal is as follows,” Brandon says. “The child will return to Arizona with us, to be raised as a member of our pack.”“Only the child?” Arnold asks.“Its mother is welcome to accompany it in order to care
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SIXTY NINE
Juliana heads off to fix some tea, Samuel on her hip. I sit down in the living room with Nash, Arnold, and Layla.“So,” Layla asks. “What fresh miseries have those mangy desert dogs decided to inflict on our pack today?”“They want to take Stella,” I say, clutching my infant protectively to my chest. “Why?” Layla asks.“They know she’s a Crescent Child,” Nash explains. “We discovered it last night, on the beach, and they were nearby.”“Ah,” Layla says. “A Crescent Child. What a precious gift, indeed. It is no wonder that they would want her for themselves.”“It’s my fault,” Nash says, sounding distraught. “If I hadn’t let Regan get to my head, if I had just listened to Sarah when she tried to tell me - instead I made her stay out there with the rest of them, instead of bringing her and Stella safely inside, with me.”“It’s alright,” I say, patting Nash on the leg and cuddling up closer to him on the couch. “They would have found out sooner or later.”“Perhaps,”
The Alpha's Mate CHAPTER SEVENTY
We send Regan away with the Arizona shifters, after Arnold gets them to promise that they’ll never come back to our territory. They seem like they keep their word - Arnold said he did a ritual to seal it, so we can be sure they won’t come back - and things get quiet again around the San Diego pack house.Arnold moves in with Layla at her clinic and spa, and soon there are all sorts of new experimental treatments at the spa. Amanda especially likes one that uses seaweed and always comes back from the spa smelling like sea spray and showing off her glowing skin. Greyson takes all the other guards and soldiers from the pack there every week for massages, and they all swear that they’ve gotten faster and stronger because of it.Nash and I still prefer the hot tub, which Layla infuses with all sorts of magical herbs that leave me feeling relaxed yet energized. My regular soaking sessions at the spa make it possible for me to juggle parenting a small child with the duties of a Luna, es
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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
