**Victor POV**Stupid piece of shit alpha of silver moon. That brat was half my age and acted as if he were some sort of gift to our entire species and therefore better than me. I hated how my wolf surrendered so easily to him. He’d always done that even when his equally pompous and annoying father was the one visiting here. I could see this kid would be a bigger pain in my ass than his holier than thou father. Who did he think he was to be reporting me over to the elders? Under what authority was he allowed to control my pack? I’d never gone to his packlands and treated him with such utter disrespect.“It’s not his fault we’re not of true alpha blood. Your father took over this pack by force, he was never meant to rule and neither are we. We should surrender the title to him and cut our losses” my wolf, Kai lectured in my head. No one except for us, my father, and a few elderly members of the pack who were there for the takeover were aware of that. My father was once the Gamma of th
**Jade POV**The next several hours were filled with laughter, music, and “I spy”, a game Cameron claimed was a road trip right of passage. I had to admit I didn’t quite get what made it interesting, but I did like Jasper’s comments as he observed his friend choosing one obscure thing after another and we’d usually pass them before anyone managed to guess correctly. We’d spent the afternoon in the car asking each other random questions every time one of us had one pop into our heads. At first it was just Elliott and I but then Cameron insisted that they all join in because in his words “we’ll all be working together to run a pack, so we’ll need some pretty good dirt on each other to get the job done”. We’d covered a good amount of basic information, I learned that Elliott’s parents are still alive and very nice people. He has a sister who’s about my age, and a brother a few years older in training school for ranked members for a few more weeks. He’s been an alpha for 5 years, and his
**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
**Emma POV**I had to get out of there. I didn’t know what else to do besides bolt. Taking a moment to silently thank Elliott for giving me my own space just down the hall, I crashed through the door and locked it. What had just happened? My heart was racing; I didn’t know how to make it slow or calm down. I’d looked into a pair of striking green eyes and now everything was somehow different.“He’s our mate, you dumb bitch!” Leona, my wolf who had even less qualms about telling it like it was than I did, purred in my mind.“I don’t think he’s out mate, he’s too hot,” I confessed out loud. It was just her and I, why have a silent conversation? Especially when I was getting the sense that I’d need to vent my frustration through yelling.“We’re hot!” Leona retorted, offended I didn’t agree.“Not as hot as him, or as Jade or Cleo!” I yelled back. “He met them first, he’s probably so disappointed he didn’t get one of them! He’s going to reject us.”“I think you’re wrong. You didn’t even gi
**Jade POV**Jasper nodded slowly; his eyes still illuminated in an eerie way. “We hid you and ran to help Mom and dad. We thought we’d be able to get back to you. We thought wrong. Jasper didn’t know what to do, he was so afraid. I was still dormant, but I managed to find the strength to take over and carry him through.” He was looking stoically only at me as if we were the only two people in the world. I could sense Cleo’s eyes on me, could hear her sobs, but somehow, I couldn’t break this eye contact.“We were on our way up to the alpha floor when we saw Laurel. We grabbed her and told her exactly where to find you. She tried to make us leave with her, but we ran away before she could catch us. We had to help mom and dad. We couldn’t just leave them to die.” He sounded robotic, devoid of emotion, but I knew Axel had come forward to protect Jasper from having to speak through this new memory. While Axel seemed calm and in control, I could only conclude that Jasper was everything but
**Jade POV**“What do you mean? She was the beta’s daughter?” I asked Logan as more of a question than a statement, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was telling the truth. It was like it had all hit me at once.Chasing each other through the hallways of the packhouse, making flower crowns with our mothers in the forests, playing princesses, sleepovers, hide and go seek when Elliott and his family would visit, her having a silly crush on my older cousin when he moved to the—I looked to Elliott whose eyes looked almost the size of golf balls. What was he thinking? Was he remembering things too?“I think he’s telling the truth.” Elliott linked me and I nodded slowly, trying to refocus.“Well, let’s move past that part for now.” Elliott offered diplomatically. “We’ll circle back at the end of the story.”“Okay,” Logan sniffed, looking positively bereaved as if he were the one who’d done all of this and not his father. “Well, I looked for Emma and her parents, but all I saw was—wa
**Cameron POV**I took Emma with me down the hall and we got onto the elevator. I snuck a glance at her to see how she was handling all of this, and she definitely looked shell-shocked. “I sent Sebastian to tell William and Vera what’s going on, so they can communicate our regrets to Juliet that we’ll all more than likely miss brunch and have to meet her at dinner.” I tried to ease her into the nitty-grity of the situation.To my surprise, Emma nodded and turned to me. “Okay, what’s happened and what do you need me to do?” she asked, all business. My heart swelled with pride at the seriousness with which she took the situation before she even knew what it was. A true leader.I’d told her about our search of Mystic Moon’s grounds and our run-in with some warriors and the stranger who appeared to be escaping. I’d confessed I’d only gotten the abridged secondhand version from Elliott about what was going on there because the most important thing for me to focus on was the prisoner. I tol
“I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought. I should probably start from the beginning of what I know, that’s why I’m here.” He smiled sheepishly at me, almost as if he were trying to read my face to see if I’d lumped him in with his father or if there was any level of trust. I decided to be open-minded and give him a chance to explain himself.Elliott gestured for Logan to come and sit in the sitting area Emma and I had just been in the day before talking about her strange dream. I wondered why he wouldn’t want this meeting to be more formal and at his desk, but I didn’t question him. Jasper pushed one of the larger chairs in front of the desk over to the area, and Logan gratefully took it. As he plopped into the chair, he closed his eyes almost as if he hadn’t sat anywhere remotely as comfortable in a long time. I began to look him over. The scars on his face were nothing compared to the rest of his body. Though he did appear to be wearing Elliott’s clothes as they were a bit too large,
**Elliott POV**So strange. One moment, Jade was reaching out for a handshake and then next, she was gasping, and her eyes clouded over as if in a private link. When they came back into focus, she looked blankly and wordlessly at our guest for at least 15 seconds.“You’re Logan.” She almost whispered. How could she know that? He’d only just told me his first name on our way up to my office so I would know how to introduce him.“Do you trust me?” He asked my mate, looking almost as if he could see into her very core.I saw Jade nod stoically in response. “But I don’t know why.” She admitted in a whisper.I saw him reach out as if to hug MY mate, and I couldn’t stop Aries from interfering. I liked to think of myself as more evolved than my wolf, but he had a point. Why was this stranger touching our mate knowing she bore our mark?A growl came from deep inside me, a carnal and possessive one. I could see the fear on Logan’s face, and I didn’t care. It wasn’t until I looked at Jade and s
Before I could spin out too much, the door swung open. My breath hitched and I sprinted toward my mate, jumping into his arms, and inhaling deeply into his hair. “Are you okay?!” I realized I was crying.“Yes, love. I’m just fine, and I think we may have made a major breakthrough about your old pack. Mystic Moon, I mean.” Elliott’s voice was the greatest sound I’d ever heard. I was barely processing what he was saying and just wept into his shoulder. I knew he was fine now, but I realized the thought that he’d been hurt—or maybe even worse—had frightened me more than anything ever had in my life.I finally realized what Elliott had just said to me when I heard someone clearing their throat. The sound was coming from behind Elliott, so this must’ve been the ‘them’ they were talking about.I slid slowly down from my mate’s grasp before looking behind him. There stood a man with dirty blonde hair falling in messy-looking curls down past his shoulders. His hair was even longer than Elliot
**Jade POV**Cleo pulled away suddenly and I could see a very confused and slightly alarmed look on her face. “That was Cameron. Evidently there’s some sort of emergency and we all need to go into Elliott’s office and wait for them.”“Is Elliott okay?!” I asked, wondering why he didn’t link me himself.“I’m not sure.” Cleo bit her lip. Her eyes clouded over, and I wondered if she was mindlinking back to ask.“I just linked Jasper. He said Cam asked him to come too, but if Elliott were hurt Jasper would be one of the first people to be linked,” she seemed to be trying to calm me, but my eyes got a bit wider wondering why the beta would be told before Elliott’s mate. Why was Jasper more important? And why was I so upset about it? “You’ll be the first to know as soon as you’re able to be linked!” Cleo patted my arm, trying to explain it to me and I felt a bit of relief.We made our way into the hallway, and I saw Cameron and Sebastian naked and rushing toward us. Being wolves, nudity was
**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