Another cliffhanger I know! (cringe face) Lots of answers coming tomorrow. Don't forget to comment, like, vote, or leave a review if you're enjoying the story! We're nearing the end so lots of stuff will be happening in the coming chapters as the story reaches the climax.
HAVEN POV I floated through a sea of stars, almost weightless, as I descended to the ground below. The fabric of my dress swirled around me as I floated through the sky, my hand reaching out to touch the stars. I descended in solitude, but in my heart I could feel Wesley’s presence, telling me he was nearby, that I wasn’t truly alone. The grass beneath my feet as I landed was softer than any grass I’d ever felt, and greener than any I had ever seen. I spun in place, looking at the surrounding scenery. In front of where I landed was a dense forest, filled with every type of tree and plant imaginable. The colors were vibrant and true, and the air was clean and clear. Behind me was an exact copy of the temple we’d been in on the island, only bigger and covered with even more jasmine. Through the pillars and floating fabrics of the building, I could just make out a silvery pool on the other side of the temple, shimmering under the light of the stars. My feet carried me forward to the
WESLEY POV As my eyes opened back in the temple on Earth, I felt the shaking body of my mate next to me and smelled the salt of her tears as they fell from her eyes. She curled into me; her face burrowing into my chest and her arms clinging to my neck and shoulders. Her conflicted emotions flooded to me through the mate bond, and I wrapped myself around her more, pulling her naked body as close to mine as I could, protecting her from the rising sun and the cool early morning air. My hand reached for a fur blanket and pulled it over us to hide our nakedness, even though I could sense we were alone in the temple. My hand rubbed the back of her head in long, soothing strokes, down through the ends of her curls. I could feel every bittersweet emotion from her, embedding into me like shards of a broken mirror, reminding me that this was a pain I could not fix. This was a pain she would carry our whole lives together. The pain of knowing her mother loved her and watched her for her whole
WESLEY POV Before we went back inside the cells, I pulled Haven off to the side to speak with her. “I want to make sure you’re going to be okay with this. I know you handled us questioning Lennox just fine, but this is different. They were your parents. I know you weren’t close, and your relationship wasn’t great, but—” “They’re nothing to me,” she said brusquely. “They’re not my family. I know that now. I know who my family really is.” “And who is your real family?” “Jack and Shirley. Reid. Nolan. Sebby. Maya and Imogen and Maddie.” I raised my eyebrows at her expectantly. “And you, I guess,” she added with a shrug. Her lips twitched as she held in her laugh, and I pulled her body into mine by her hips, gripping them tightly as I lowered my face to hover just inches above her lips. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she whispered, “You’re more than my family. You’re my mate.” Her breath was warm and tickled my lips, and I smiled at the happiness that filled my heart at her w
HAVEN POV “I never said John was Lennox’s father,” Melissa said, her harsh laugh still ringing in my ears. It took a few seconds for my mind to catch up with my ears and for her words to make sense in my brain. I was still reeling from the revelation that she was actually Lennox’s mom. That the whole time I knew her and knew him, he was her son. I thought back over the years, over all our interactions and her interactions with him, and it all made sense. The way she treated him, the way they were always so close. And of course, how they always wanted us together, always emphasized how we’d make such a cute couple. But that didn’t answer the question of who his father was. “So then, who is his father?” King Malachi said, his voice deep and authoritative, the way it had been when he’d questioned Sarina earlier and asked Melissa about why Lennox’s father wanted us to be mates so badly. The power behind it made my bones vibrate, and every wolf in the room with us tensed every time he
WESLEY POV “Where are you? What happened?” I asked Reid through the mindlink as I rushed out of the cells with Haven’s hand gripped in mine, Nolan right behind us. Sebastian was right in front of us, using a speed I hadn’t seen him use since that day almost 12 years ago when he pushed me to race him. Our dad was just ahead of us too, his pace faster than I’d seen him run in years. With a squeeze of my hand, Haven let go of me and pushed me forward. “Go. Go make sure she’s safe. I will catch up.” I gave her a grateful look and then took off after my dad and my brother, still waiting for Reid’s response. But Reid didn’t even need to answer my mindlink, because he wasn’t far from the cells. He stood at the edge of the training field, his eyes fixated on a point in the center where Pierce stood with Maddie. Pierce had his arms around her with his claws extended and aimed at her throat. Reid’s entire body was tense, on edge, as he stared out at Pierce and Maddie. Sebastian stopped nex
WESLEY POV There were varying reactions to Pierce’s preposterous challenge, but most of them included some degree of a snarl or a growl. The loudest was mine, of course, but Nolan’s, Sebastian’s, and Reid’s were all a near match of hostility and volume. How dare he. How dare he challenge me for the woman who was rightfully mine. For the mate Selene had honored me with. She had chosen me for Haven, for her daughter, and I would not let anyone take her away from me. Not again. Not in this lifetime or the next. I moved Haven behind my body, my hands still on her hips, her hands resting on the small of my back and her head peeking over my shoulder. There was a flurry of noise and movement around us, but my cold focus was only on the bag of scum in front of me. “What the hell does that mean?” Haven asked me. “He wants me to fight him for you,” I explained to her, my voice low and tight. She tensed, her hands clutching at my shirt. “Can he do that? Try to claim me that way?” she whispe
WESLEY POV I readied myself, crouching into position just as Pierce had done. I focused on my breathing and the extra resolve Haven sent my way, and trusted that my body and my mind and my lycan knew what to do. “The challenge will begin with my word,” King Malachi stated loud and clear for everyone to hear. “And it will end upon the death of one or both of the participants.” I breathed in again, making sure to keep my eyes opened and focused on Pierce. He was my target. We knew he was working with a witch, knew he was using her somehow to strengthen himself. I just needed to keep him engaged, needed to stay in the fight until they found the witch and took her out. I let my lycan stay at the forefront of my mind, so I could be ready to shift at a moment’s notice. I cleared my mind, letting my sole focus be on this fight. And I prayed to Selene — to my mate’s mother — that Pierce would not let his witch do to me what she’d done to Maddie to render her defenseless. “Begin,” King Mal
HAVEN POV I sat stiff and rigid in the chair next to Wesley’s hospital bed, his hand held in mine and my thumb stroking his skin in slow, smooth strokes. The bond would help him heal, but it was also helping me not have another massive freak out while I sat with him in the pack’s hospital. Dr. Russo had patched him up in almost no time, but he had to re-break Wesley’s foot because the bones had already started to heal in the wrong position. He’d tried to refuse any sedation, but with the damage to his ribs and lungs, they had to give him general anesthesia in order to repair all of it. Now he was in the bed, still asleep, but healing. Hopefully, he would wake up soon. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. His scent was still mixed with the antiseptic and medicinal smells of the hospital, the ones that always sent me into a spiral of depressive thoughts. But his scent was still there, still stronger than those other smells, keeping me in the present and not letting me return to