**Elliott POV**My mom touched Jade’s face and as I watched their hushed conversation, I felt my dad clap me on the shoulder. “Well, it’s easy to tell but I thought I’d say it anyway— we love your mate!” We both chuckled and my heart swelled seeing my parents embrace Jade so quickly. Although technically, they’d had the whole beginning of her life to warm up to her.As I was smiling and taking it all in, I realized my mom and I had been making eye contact through almost the entire long, tight hug she was giving to Jade. Everyone around us seemed frozen in time and all I wanted to do was have some alone time with Jade to process the last few days and start getting to know each other better. I felt this sudden urge to scoop her up, take her to my room, and lock ourselves away from anything but each other. I was realizing how close I came to never even knowing my true mate because we’d thought she’d been dead all these years, and the protective instincts that had been laying dormant in m
**Jade POV** Elliott dropped my hand as we finally reached his door. I was already overwhelmed by the sheer size of this place. Every inch of it was beautifully decorated, like I’d jumped into a fairy tale and was now inside the book with Prince Charming forever— at least I could only hope it’d be forever. He turned the small metal knob and the door swung open with a soft and charming creak. He gestured for me to walk ahead of him and I offered him a nervous smile as I walked through.I couldn’t believe what was in front of me. The ceilings were dark wood and tall coming together in a point at the top. In the center of the back wall was the biggest bed I’ve ever seen in my life piled high with fluffy pillows and dark green linens. A fireplace split the room in half with a large tv screen mounted to the top facing the bed. “Holy shit,” I said, spinning around to look at Elliott. This had to be a prank. There was no way this was real. “This is your room?” I asked almost as a rhetoric
**Elliott POV**If I thought I was having a hard time keeping my wolf under control during the kiss, smelling my mate’s scent amplified by the bath products Cleo had expertly selected was going to absolutely drive me over the edge. It didn’t help that with advanced hearing, I caught a few small moans, probably from the feeling of a warm shower I’d been basically taking for granted my whole life. The problem was they sounded so pleasurable that it was all I could do to leave clothes at the bathroom door and not demand to shower along with my mate to get a look at her naked form.I breathed in the fresh air, willing my self control to bulk up and help me out here when my mate’s scent hit my nostrils stronger than ever. I heard her padding across the room before I saw her saunter outside. I realize this sounds dramatic because we’d just met, but she’d never looked more beautiful. Her hair looked even brighter red, her curls looked immaculate, and her eyes looked bright and full of energy
“My wolf warned me not to at River Bed.” I said, my brows furrowing and newly wondering what she meant and if that rule extended here.“We can shift here. It’s safe.” Astrid assured me.“THEN WE NEED TO GO NOW LET’S DO THIS!” William surprised everyone by jumping up and shouting in excitement. Everyone laughed and agreed, taking our plates to the sink for the staff to wash and heading out the back door of the house connected to the kitchen.I could feel my nerves intensifying the closer we got to the woods. I’ve always heard shifting for the first several times could be difficult and painful, so I wasn’t too excited for that but I was curious to see what Astrid looked like and what it felt like to run as a wolf. Elliott guided me to a larger tree we could hide behind and began to strip immediately.“I’ll shift first so Aries can support Astrid through her shift. I’ve heard from wolves who shifted the first time with their mate that it helped with the pain some. Cleo said leaning again
**Elliott POV**This was NOT happening right now. I’ve never even heard of a female going into heat after literally a day and a half of not mating. That usually wouldn’t happen for a few weeks! I thought we had time to take things slow!“What do I do?” Jade cried from my bed, still naked and now lightly sweating.“I can give you a cold bath or—“ I started before thinking the better of it.Jade shivered seemingly involuntarily. “Or what?” She whimpered.“I’m not sure you’re ready for anything else and I don’t want to push you.” I confessed, turning around but still avoiding looking at her. A cold bath was basically just a Hail Mary at this point. Everything I knew about she wolf cycles was against my will learning inflicted upon me by my mother, but I already knew with a heat this severe, a cold bath would MAYBE give her relief for a few minutes before the pain would come back worse than before“There’s only one thing we can do to help her for now,” Aries said triumphantly.“No, she’s
**Emma POV**Running with my wolf was amazing, even if it was slightly cut short! I’d always heard the other omegas talking about how freeing it would feel, but I guess you never fully get it until you experience it. I’d shifted back and gotten dressed with Cleo and Vera while William and Jasper took Cameron to the lake to try and get him to come to his senses. I’d dealt with females in heat before when the ranked members would lock themselves in a room for days with their mates and refuse to come out even to eat, so we’d have to drop food off at their door multiple times a day. I was so happy for Jade that she found her mate, but I was a little worried she’d be MIA for a few days and I’d be all on my own in a brand new pack. At least Cleo had showed me how to use my TV, and turned on a nice movie for me. I didn’t know what it was called, but it had a man and a woman kissing on it. I sighed, hopefully I’d find my mate sooner rather than later. I hit the “pause” button Cleo had showe
**Elliott POV**The sunrise began to peak through the blinds before I realized I’d fallen asleep with my naked mate in my arms. I looked down at her peaceful face, not being able to bring myself to wake her. I slipped out of bed as subtly as I could manage and slipped on some basketball shorts and a T-shirt.I made my way down to the kitchen, hoping to find enough stuff to assemble a halfway decent breakfast for Jade since the combo of her first heat and last night most likely would create quite an appetite for her today. Goosebumps climbed up my arms as I thought of the look on her face as she put her mouth around my cock last night. I shook my head, trying not to let my mind wander too much. I’m surprised I made it through that without literally begging to be inside her delicious p***y.As I entered the room, I saw Cameron sitting at the table with only a coffee in front of him, bags under his eyes, and a sorrowful look on his face. I knew he’d take this hard.“You can say it, I’m t
“I would love to.” Without warning, he gently slung me over his shoulder and I couldn’t help but giggle. He set me down on the bathroom counter and quickly disposed of his clothes, lowering himself into the bath tub. “Come on in!” He grinned at me and I remembered I didn’t have any clothes on since last night, my cheeks going pink immediately.“I’ve already seen every magnificent inch of you, baby you don’t have to be shy.” Elliott winked and I realized he had a point. I padded over to the tub and he helped me in before lowering me just in front of him. I instinctually leaned back against his chest and an involuntary contented sigh left my lips. The feeling of his skin against mine was so relaxing and soothing, and I felt surrounded by his scent. I breathed in the smell of pine and felt completely at ease. In this particular moment, all was right in the world.“This is really nice,” I said turning my face so his cheek was against my temple. “You make me feel so safe.”“I’m glad you fe
**Cleo POV**We’d had an eventful few hours. Vera had thrown a few scenarios at the girls, who had taken it all in stride. Jade seemed to have a natural hosting ability just like rumor has it her own mother did, but it was beginning to seem kind of obvious to me that Emma was of some sort of high-ranking descent. Maybe not an alpha, but she could easily be a gamma or maybe even a beta. She seemed to not only catch on to the more tedious aspects of her role quickly, but she also seemed to enjoy learning what was expected of her.Both girls were taking notes so quickly and diligently that I could swear I could almost see steam coming from their pens, Jade writing little notes next to her notes on occasion and Emma looking like she wished she had some sort of recording device. I made a mental note to ask Vera if we should record lessons or even make flashcards to quiz them later on.I knew the expectations of a ranked female could be daunting. When I’d realized that becoming Jasper’s mat
**Logan POV**8:45 am. Like clockwork. I heard the howl emanating from my father before listening to his retreating footsteps as he ran toward his love. In about 15 minutes, breakfast would be all but thrown at me by one of his more sadistic warriors (he always chose the meaner ones to look after me when he was gone, his way of trying to discourage any “funny business” on my part), and after that, the coast would be clear to begin my exit.I stuffed my face with the near-inedible breakfast food I was given. My father was hesitant to give me anything of more than mediocre nutritious value. He wasn’t as oblivious as I gave him credit for, he knew our bloodline, and he knew I wasn’t the type to just submit without some serious beating down. Combine that with the fact he already knew I was a better fighter than I let on and the only conclusion he could draw was that any hope he had in keeping me prisoner for long enough to execute his plan was to keep me hungry and thus in a slightly weak
**Jade POV**I finished my shower in record time before quickly raking all the products I’d been given through my hair and giving it a quick blowdry before throwing it up in a bun still slightly damp. I remembered how my hair kept getting in the way while I was trying to take notes yesterday and I wasn’t willing to deal with it again. I wanted it out of my face so I could focus on the tasks at hand. I flitted into the closet and selected a pair of navy blue slacks with small white checkers and a thick, white sweater. It was soft and cozy, yet still fashionable enough to show Vera I could dress the part of a luna. I grabbed a pair of flat dark brown loafers and threw them on before heading toward the door. Elliott was already gone, probably to check on warrior training or spend some time with his brother.Just before opening the door, I saw a small note on top of a beautiful black leather bound journal. “This is for you, princess. Take awesome notes and enjoy yourself! I’ll see you for
**Elliott POV**The light was barely filtering in through the windows of my room when I heard a firm rapping on the door. I reluctantly got up, covering my naked mate with the heavy comforter so as not to accidentally let someone else see her glorious form and shrugged on my pants from the night before that lay discarded on the floor next to the bed. I heard Jade pout in her sleep once the warmth of my body was gone, but she didn’t wake up.When I opened the door, I saw before me a very unenthused looking Emma. “Cleo banged on my door about 5 minutes ago. She said Jade and I have a half an hour to be dressed and in her office for our next lesson, and she asked me to make sure Jade got up and at em while she works on breakfast and coffee for us.” She was rubbing her eyes and yawned twice while she was attempting to get the sentence out, but I nodded and stifled a chuckle at her disheveled appearance. Someone had definitely chosen the wrong night to have so many drinks. I wondered to my
**Jade POV**I’d woken up to Elliott gently shaking me awake from my dream. Or was it a memory? I could feel cold beads of sweat forming all up and down my body, I felt chilled as if I really had been trudging through snow for hours.There was something about the dream that resonated with me, that told me it was real. “It feels real to me too,” Astrid said almost as a question in my head.None of this made any sense. Vera and William would’ve told me if I’d had any siblings. I’d asked Elliott point blank, and he’d told me he didn’t remember me having any siblings. I’d begun to wonder if there was a possibility that Emma and I had known each other at Mystic Moon once Sebastian suggested it, but I’d fallen asleep before I could really think through it. The thought of knowing Emma before going to River Bed was odd and difficult enough to work through. Now I somehow knew my mate’s best friend? And not just knew him, I was to believe I was related to Jasper? And if my dream was real on any
**Sebastian POV**“About time!” I yelled to my brother who was finally making his way into the rec room. Cam and I had been playing a round of call of duty waiting for the other two to get their mates into bed and goddess only knew how long that could’ve taken.I was disappointed that Jade’s friend wasn’t my mate. Cameron had told me my brother’s mate had an unmated female friend and to his dismay, she wasn’t fated to him, and I’d been hoping to finally run across my mate. I knew it wasn’t like I’d been searching nearly as long as Cam or my brother had, but I was getting impatient to meet the woman I’d be fated to spend my life with.“Yeah, yeah, the single guys are annoyed with the mated ones! I was you guys literally a week ago, keep your pants on!” Elliott quipped, flopping into one of the seats nearest me. A wide smile took over his face as he looked at me. “Seriously. I know the circumstances suck but I’m so glad you’re home dude. We missed you!”I smiled back at him and clapped h
**Jade POV**It was snowing outside. Enchanted, I looked out my bedroom window, clutching my favorite dolly close to me. It was dinner time, and I knew I should be headed downstairs, or Mom and Dad would come up to find me and be disappointed I wasn’t washed up and ready to eat, but I just couldn’t help myself. I loved watching fresh snowfall on the ground, I loved trying to see if it would stick or not so I could build snowmen with Daddy. We would build snowman armies on days when the snow was deep enough to have an ample supply. We’d pretend to battle them, and he’d show me real fighting moves he’d used to take down bad guys before, all while we could see mom watching us in the kitchen window while she made us cookies and hot chocolate.It was perfect outside. It looked like a real winter wonderland. At that moment, everything in my world was alright.Screams filtered down the hallway and through my slightly opened door. That didn’t make any sense, why would everyone be making so mu
**Elliott POV**Everyone had already had their first, second, and third rounds of drinks. For most of us, there were hardly any effects beginning to show. Wolves did have an extremely high tolerance. But for the girls, it was at least their 5th round and they were starting to show it. Cleo hardly ever drank, and I knew Jade and Emma were extremely new to drinking so—wolf-level tolerance or not—they were beginning to cut loose in a big way.“Do we have karaoke?!” Cleo hiccupped as Jasper gathered her up in his arms and carried her out of the room, ready to take her upstairs and put her to bed.“I’m so disappointed Elliott’s brother isn’t my mate.” Emma said in a completely normal volume that she probably thought was a whisper.“It’s okay, I think your mate is gonna be SUPER HOT!” Jade managed to slur out.“Okay, it’s time for bed,” I said as I scooped her up into my arms and gave Cameron a look toward Emma. He strode over to her and threw her over his shoulder like a potato sack. I hea
**Amelia POV**“MOM! I need your help finding my black cocktail dress for court in a few weeks!” I yelled across the hall. My mom has been so spacey the last few days, which is so unlike her. I strutted across the hall and into her room to find her talking—as usual— on the phone to someone in a hushed voice.“Okay, I have to go now.” She said before pressing the “end” button and putting her phone away, turning to me with a weird smile as if to say nothing was wrong. She should’ve known that tipped me off. Unless she’d just hurt someone, my mother hardly ever smiled.“Mom, I need your help finding my black cocktail dress for court,” I repeated impatiently. Whatever she was keeping from me, I didn’t care. I had bigger fish to fry.I knew Silver Moon would be transporting my dad to trial and relieving the elder security team stationed outside the pack house. I knew Elliott would most likely be overseeing the transport, and probably attending the trial. I knew now he’d found his mate, but