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025 | Out of the Frying Pan...
Last Updated:
2023-11-11 23:55:54
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The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 026 | The Mate Bond Returns
Aurora’s POVEthan’s hands moved to cup my face, then traced the line of my jaw. I shivered into his touch. His mouth felt both familiar and new at once; he tasted of whiskey and ginger, the alcohol lingering on his lips and tongue.His body was warm against mine. I dug my nails into the hard muscles of his shoulders, moaning into his open mouth as he deepened the kiss. I wasn’t myself, not anymore: I was pulsing heat and bad decisions made manifest. I also didn’t care.I was falling into a dark and tumultuous unknown. The past was paved with horrors, and the future…If this was what hating Ethan felt like, it was worryingly close to how loving him had felt. The mate bond roared to life in my chest, revived by the way his fingers curled around the nape of my neck, pulling me closer. It had lain dormant for many years, broken after his rejection. Being around him had sparked it – but this was no spark. This was a burning flame, guiding me home.Terror sluiced through me, ice chilling m
Last Updated : 2023-11-12The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 027 | The Midnight Rogues
Ethan’s POV“Aria!” I jogged down the road after her. I had no idea what I’d done wrong, but the heat in my chest urged me to find her, to make it right. I couldn’t lose her. Not after what we’d just shared. Whatever attraction had existed between us before had magnified.Or it had for me, anyway. Aria had run off. What if I’d hurt her? What if I’d upset her? I couldn’t bear the thought of either. She had to be okay.If only we could go back in time. I wanted to be holding her again, kissing her again. Her face had felt so delicate between my large hands, her lips so soft against mine. She’d tasted of wine and desire, her body warm and pliant, her cheeks flushed and rosy. I’d never seen anyone so beautiful.Her nails had left tiny welts in my shoulders. Just thinking about it had my muscles clenching. Kissing Aria had been like nothing I’d experienced before – or, at least, not for a very long time.My chest ached, but in a good way. In a mate bond sort of way.Sterling whined. ‘She
Last Updated : 2023-11-13The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 028 | Women Should Be Seen and Not Heard
Aurora’s POV“Nobody can hear you,” Dominic said, his voice full of glee. “Make as much noise as you like, gorgeous. It won’t help – but I do enjoy hearing it.”The problem with being a doctor was that I was good at calculations, especially when it came to matters of life or death. I could see, clear as day, just how much my chances of survival decreased with every passing second, with every stab and slice of the stake.My wounds throbbed and pulsed and stung. Warm blood dripped down both arms, down my cheeks, following the line of my jaw and the curve down to my neck. I could smell it in the air: my own blood, dizzying my head.He lifted the stake again. Splinters dug into the soft skin of my inner arm, just above my elbow. The blunt tip of the stake pierced my arm, carving a long line down to my wrist.I gritted my teeth, unwilling to let so much as a whimper escape after what he’d said. I wouldn’t give this sadistic bastard the satisfaction. “Aw, don’t be like that. Look, I’ll tr
Last Updated : 2023-11-14The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 029 | Captured in the Woods
Ethan’s POVIn the distance, I heard Aria scream.‘Run!’ I snarled at Sterling – but he was already sprinting, his ears pinned flat back to his head, his teeth bared.My chest burst open. Whatever connected us – the mate bond, if it could be possible, if it could be that, if it were some sort of second chance bond – roared to life, but it couldn’t find her. It was like trying to walk through a door, only for it to slam shut in my face.‘I can feel the tether,’ puffed Sterling, ‘but I can’t feel her wolf. It’s like she doesn’t exist.’I could barely hear him. My emotions were a rush of blood, pounding in my ears, in my head. I was nothing but the erratic beat of Sterling’s paws against the forest floor, nothing but the crunch of twigs and the slush of leaves underfoot, nothing but my racing, raging heart and the too-fast huff of air in and out of his lungs.‘We’re so sure she’s hiding something,’ Sterling went on. I focused on his steady voice, on the lilt of unease lurking within it.
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Ethan’s POVI swallowed hard. The knife pricked my throat. Droplets of blood soaked into my fur.“That’s it,” the woman cooed. As she stepped into the light, finally letting me see her face, Dominic Butcher slammed the stake into Aria’s chest.Everything happened very fast then.I saw long blonde hair. Green eyes. Full lips. A dusting of freckles over her small, straight nose. A delicate beauty mark under her eye.Aurora. The woman holding me back was Aurora, but I could barely spare a glance for my not-so-dead ex-wife. Not when Aria was screaming, howling; the sounds she was making weren’t even human anymore. It was a nightmare, that scream, the noise of a life being stolen by the shadows.I let my throat get cut as I shoved Aurora aside. It couldn’t be Selene because it didn’t sound like Selene, and because Selene was in Berlin, but then again… it couldn’t be Aurora either. Aurora was dead. But the woman looked just like her as she flailed to regain her balance. Taking control of
Last Updated : 2023-11-17The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 031 | Sterling to the Rescue
Ethan’s POVThere was nothing I could do – but that didn’t mean there was nothing Sterling could.In a sudden burst he shifted out, taking control as I fell apart. He tore through the four men holding me like a knife through butter, twisting as he slammed into the first two, sliding his claws across their throats before turning to take down the others.They fell like toy soldiers. Their heads rolled off their necks as they hit the ground. One man’s hand twitched, then went still.But it was too little too late.The knife pierced Aria’s chest. I screamed into Sterling’s head. It hurt too much for me to wonder why it hurt so much.Sterling launched himself at Dominic. For his part, Butcher didn’t look remotely bothered by the beheadings of four of his cronies. He just side-stepped Sterling’s attack and, very calmly, said, “If you kill me, you won’t get her back.”‘He’s lying,’ I snarled. ‘Kill him.’‘We can’t take that chance.’Dominic grinned as we faltered. He knew he’d won. Wiping hi
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Ethan’s POV“Aria,” I rasped. My voice broke. In an instant I was at her side, my hands on her face, on her shoulders, brushing dried blood off her exposed neck. She looked so small, so fragile, and I just wanted to hold her, to help her, to make it all better. To make all of this go away.But I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do.I couldn’t bring her back. Aria would never be okay again.I splintered. My soul shattered into a million tiny pieces. Wilting beside her on the stone slab, I cradled her too cold, too still body. It didn’t feel real. She couldn’t be dead, couldn’t be gone…She was, though. I inched back, crying silently, moving to untie her wrists and ankles. Her body was heavy, the heaviness of limp, unyielding muscles. The heaviness of death. I choked on my own tears, my vision too blurry for me to see properly as I lifted her up reverently, clutching her to my chest for a moment before I laid her carefully on the grass.The weight of what had happened started to se
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Aurora’s POVI was vaguely aware of being carried beneath a beautiful canopy of autumn trees. Through barely-open eyes I watched, mesmerised, as the blur of orange and red swept overhead. Thin cracks of wintry blue and brown branches criss-crossed the leaves. For a moment, I wondered if this was the afterlife. It seemed too striking to be earth. My heart was full, so full I feared it might burst, and the pain I’d felt had faded away, leaving behind a sense of weightlessness and buoyancy in its wake.There was a voice in this world, too, a constant, low murmur. I couldn’t quite make out the words, but the sound of his voice was a comfort to me. “You’re going to be okay, Aria, I promise. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. He’s dead. Dominic Butcher is dead. I couldn’t let him live, not after he hurt you. I will never let anyone hurt you again.”I snuggled in closer to his chest – then cried out, as moving tore at my wounds. The pain flared back to life, a burning crescendo o
Last Updated : 2023-11-20
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Ethan’s POVRage bubbled in my chest.There was no sign of Selene or Serena anywhere in the house. Even though I knew they’d gone, I expected to find something - a toothbrush, one of Serena’s drawings, anything - but it was all gone. Our house was always clean, but now it was too clean. Too perfect. Too… empty. Their absence was everywhere I looked.Selene going didn’t bother me. If anything, it made my life easier. But taking my daughter? My hands curled into fists.It didn’t help that Aurora and Sammy were gone, too. Aurora’s exit had left a ragged, aching hole where my blackened heart was supposed to be.With my pack silent, save for the weak moans coming from the medical centre, I felt more alone than ever.I aided the few wolves still capable of working. I tried to understand the research Aurora had left for the last remaining member of staff in the hospital, but nothing about this illness made sense. Dragging my hands through my hair, I kicked my chair back from the desk and
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Aurora’s POV I rushed to my son. I couldn’t hear over the rush of blood in my ears, but I could feel the tearing of my throat as I screamed. “Sammy,” I choked, grabbing him just as he hit the floor. I scrambled to keep him upright, clutching his head to my chest and stroking his clammy forehead. “Is he okay?” Zoe croaked, trying to sit up to see. “I don’t know.” My hands flapped uselessly. “I don’t know what’s happened to him.” ‘Calm down,’ said Violet, her voice firm. ‘You aren’t helping him by panicking.’ ‘You’re right. I can deal with this,’ I said, more to myself than to her. I was exhausted, and my nerves had been frayed to their ends - but dwelling on that wouldn’t help Sammy. “His heartbeat is strong, but too fast.” I spoke aloud, both to steady myself and to keep Zoe informed. “He’s breathing, but each breath is shallow.” I took a deep breath. “He’s alive.” I ran my eyes over him, giving myself one last second to be a caring, terrified mother. He looked so small
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 081 | No Natural Cause
Aurora’s POV I knew it was Zoe - but if I hadn’t been made aware of her condition beforehand, I never would have recognised my dear friend. She sat hunched in the bed, frail shoulders curved in on themselves. She’d aged years since I’d last seen her; wrinkles carved into the skin of her face, like gorges left behind years after the rivers had evaporated. Zoe wore no makeup. Her eyes looked softer without her signature eyeliner, creased and small and sad. Her black bob hung limply about her shoulders, dishevelled and left to grow out longer than I’d ever seen it. Grey streaked through its lengths.“Zoe?” I breathed, my voice lodging in my throat. This couldn’t be her. It didn’t matter that her father was stood beside her bed, his expression drawn. It didn’t matter that she looked up at me when I said her name.This couldn’t be my friend.“Hi, Aria,” she croaked. “Hey, Sammy. You both look well.”I swallowed hard. “I wish I could say the same about you.”Alpha Brutus shot me a men
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 080 | Back to Eternal Bonds
Aurora’s POVSammy slept the whole way to the Eternal Bonds pack. My heart throbbed painfully every time I looked at him. I was terrified for my friend, but I still had no answers about what had happened to my son.At least I finally felt peace about Ethan. He knew who I was and he knew that Sammy was his son. My shoulders were lighter after baring those truths to him.I just wished he could have come with me.Violet perked up like she had something to say. I spoke before she could. ‘I know why he couldn’t,’ I sighed. ‘I just wish he was here. We’ve just…’‘I know,’ she said softly. Sammy woke up just before I pulled into the car park. I’d told him what was happening and where we were going before we’d left, but he still looked around with a confused furrow to his brow.“Are you okay?” I murmured, reaching over to smooth his hair back from his forehead.He was too warm. He wasn’t sweating, but I could feel heat pooling in front of his skin. I held a worried hand there a moment longer
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 079 | Telling Selene
Ethan’s POVI stood outside my house, balling my hands into fists. ‘How do you want to do this?’ asked Sterling.‘No idea,’ I replied. I’d never been scared to go inside my own house before. Dawn had broken over the horizon, painting the sky in eerie shades of grey and purple. It swelled like a bruise over the quiet expanse of my pack.My heart felt too full to go and face Selene. Telling her I was leaving her for Aurora - no, I had to make sure I said Aria - was going to be hideous. ‘Do you have to say Aria?’ said Sterling. ‘I’m pretty sure Selene knows who she is. She keeps nearly saying Aurora when she’s meant to say Aria.’I cracked my knuckles. I wasn’t a coward; I wouldn’t hesitate out here a second longer. ‘Let’s go and find out.’I thought of my Aurora as I went inside. I was doing this for her, and for our son. I wouldn’t make Sammy grow up in a broken home. No more broken than it already had been…A tiny prickle of anger ran down my spine. I let it warm me.I held the ima
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Ethan’s POVI couldn’t stop staring at Sammy. I’d been pummelled by revelations today - Aurora was alive, and here, and she was willing to forgive me - and, perhaps even more incredible than that…I had a son. We had a son.The woman I had pined for was here, her warm body pressed to mine, our son slumped against us, asleep, and I couldn’t believe it. My life had been turned upside down. That didn’t mean I wasn’t angry. Damn it, I was furious. She’d kept my boy from me. ‘You can’t blame her for that,’ sighed Sterling. ‘I know. Don’t make me remember,’ I replied, but it was too late. My mind was spinning down the one path I wanted to always avoid.I’d been swayed by idiocy and left my mate out in the cold. The fact she’d lost our other baby because of me…I wasn’t the same man I’d been then. I couldn’t believe I’d treated her like that.But I had.I’d pushed her to make those crazy choices. She’d gone to extremes to keep herself, and our child, safe from me. It made my throat fill
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 077 | I Am Both
Aurora’s POVThe words lingered in the air between us. I could’ve reached out and plucked them with my fingertips. They were a palpable thing - a curse I wished I could recall.Then Ethan let out a single, sharp breath.My chest squeezed as I watched the emotions racing across his handsome, chiselled face. His jaw tensed, then relaxed, then tensed again.I waited on tenterhooks for him to speak.“I knew it,” he said eventually, the words rough around the edges. “Not for sure, but… I felt a connection to him. And, damn it, Aurora, he looks just like me.” His brow creased; he refused to meet my eyes. “I wondered why I wanted to be close to him. Separate from wanting to be close to you, I mean. I-“ He cut himself off and dragged a shaking hand through his dark hair. I had so much to say, but I held my tongue. He needed to process this. He finally looked at me. “You kept my son from me.” It wasn’t an accusation. It was simply a fact. A cruel, horrible, awful fact.“I had no choice. I wo
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Aurora’s POV Ethan spent the night. Not in the way I’d anticipated or even hoped - and yet it was infinitely better. I longed to share a bed with him, skin on skin, a melding of bodies and minds as we kissed and talked and made love… But instead he was here, taking care of us. I had a front row seat to watch my son’s relationship with his father bloom. Before everything had happened, I’d dreamt about bringing up a child with Ethan. Then I’d feared him ever finding out the truth. Now, telling him the truth felt like the most natural thing in the world. How he hadn’t seen it for himself I didn’t know. They looked so alike, sat together on the sofa, heads bowed as they spoke. Ethan ruffled Sammy’s hair; my heart squeezed painfully. ‘It’s only a matter of time until he works it out,’ Violet said. ‘He knows who you are now, and he knows how old Sammy is. It wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together.’ I bit my lip. ‘I hadn’t thought of that. I’ve had so much else to think
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 075 | Who Took Him?
Aurora’s POV I glanced back at Ethan. He nodded, his jaw set. He stepped closer to me, a silent promise that he - quite literally - had my back, no matter what I opened the door to reveal. I opened it. Sammy lay crumpled on the floor. I dropped to my knees with a cry. “Sammy, sweetheart, look at me,” I pleaded with him. He mumbled something incoherent. I scooped him into my arms; Ethan held the door open for me so I could bring him inside. His eyelids flickered as I laid him down on the sofa. “Sammy?” I whispered, pushing a lock of dark hair off his forehead. He looked so pale, but I could see the steady rise and fall of his chest and hear the soft intake of his breaths. “Shit,” Ethan cursed, running both hands through his hair. He looked between me and the still-open door. “They only just knocked. Whoever took him has to still be close, Aur. I can go after them, or I can stay here with you and Sammy.” I cradled Sammy’s icy cheek. I wanted him to stay, to comfort
