AliceAfter extensive inspections, the council have no alternative but to agree. Luke and his pack are given the necessary approval to start digging into the data of what might be causing this awful thing that is happening to our kind.He is also given permission that I can stay. It is the first I hear about it, but apparently, the council also decided that should two wolves be destined mates, they are meant to be separated. The female is moved to another pack and that is that.In our case, Luke simply refused, and now that order from the council is also being put on hold. The couples will be allowed to spend time together, but nobody is allowed to mark anyone until we have definitive proof that this awful thing isn’t happening because of the mate bond.Over the coming weeks, a couple of the girls that arrived with me find mates. Only one is a destined match, but the others are all chosen. Since nobody can really tell whether a couple is hiding the fact that they might be destined mat
AliceThe council is not happy that they are being forced to do what Luke says. It is clear in the way they get together and discuss Luke’s demands. They agree, of course, and Luke and his parents take the council to the guest homes.I’m pacing in his office when he returns. I’m not sure what all of this means for us. I’m sure what I want it to mean. After my heat, I’ve been unable to get him out of my mind. Images I’m not entirely sure about. I haven’t seen Luke completely naked. Yet, my mind is telling me I have.“Alice, I want to know if you want to stay.” Luke closes the gap between us instantly and takes my hands in his. I gape at him. “I’m asking if you will be my mate. I love you. I don’t know how, but I do. I know this is right. I know that we will be incredible together.” His eyes search mine, but I still can’t say anything.I had a dream. Before I was forced to leave my home. Before it was ripped away from me. I had a dream of what I wanted for my life, and being a Luna wasn
AliceHow does he always seem to know just what to say?“And you will be fine with it if we don’t have children?” I study him carefully as he nods. He is being truthful. I can tell that much, but I can’t imagine an alpha being happy with not having an heir. I’m not sure about it, but a small voice tells me to just let go of everything I had been clinging to.I have to let go so that I can grab onto what could be a wonderful life. I take a deep breath and nod. I can try, can’t I? Fine, so the moment he marks me it will be forever, but it can’t be as bad as I think. My parents are happy. They were destined mates.“Is that a yes?” Luke looks shocked and I take a deep breath.“Well, if you are asking, then I guess so.” I shrug. He lets go looking dumbfounded and I burst out laughing. It is strange to see him completely shocked. It takes a moment for him to compose himself again, but when he does, he takes both my hands and smiles.“I want to say it, but I guess we should wait for the cere
AliceI wake up on the morning of our mating ceremony, and I’m still not sure if this is the right thing for me. My mom is the first one to knock on my door, but I know I can’t talk to her about how I’m feeling. This is all she ever wanted for me.She isn’t going to give me a straight-up, honest answer to my question. It is only when Isabella and I have some time alone that I scrape together some courage to ask her. Isabella has only ever been kind towards me. From the moment I arrived,“How did you know that you were doing the right thing?” I frown. Luke told me how his parents got together and what Isabella had gone through with her pack before she became the Luna of this pack.“It’s strange, isn’t it?” She laughs. “You know, but it’s just a feeling. It’s not something you can physically touch. Honestly, I wasn’t sure at all. I knew I felt the mate bond, and my circumstances were different.” She stops fidgeting with the flowers, and turns her attention to me.“What I can tell you, s
AliceLuke slips between my legs and panic suddenly rises, but I push it back down and focus on how it feels to be in his arms. When he enters me, it is a little uncomfortable but only for a split second until my body gets used to it. I’m flooded with hormones and soon, I’m begging him to move.I feel things I never imagined was possible. He isn’t shocked that I’m a virgin, which is a good thing. Before long, we are falling over the edge together, and it feels more incredible than I could ever describe. I never realized that being with someone could be so amazing.I never even imagined what it was like to be with someone. Since I had my life plan, and didn’t factor a mate into it, I never really thought about it. We fall down onto the bed together and Luke pulls me into his arms. The strangest feeling washes over me.“Are you okay?” He whispers beside my ear, sending shivers of delight up the back of my spine.“I’m more than okay. I never knew. I mean, I never imagined…” My voice trai
AliceSo, we had a bit of a rough start, but things were on track. Luke spends his mornings in the office taking care of the business side of running a pack while I learn how to be the mother of the entire pack. We have all of our meals together and in the afternoons, we are either naked in bed or naked in the forest.Letting go of my past and what I wanted and taking that leap of faith is the best thing I could have ever done. After we are mated for about a month, my parents finally get permission from their alpha to move and join our pack.The girls who hadn’t found mates yet are sent back to their homes and the entire experiment that the council started is eventually forgotten. There were sadly a couple of girls that didn’t have their fairy tales, and after the news spread like wildfire, the people lose their trust in the council completely.Some even start to think that they made up the story just to force young females to get mated. Life slowly returns to normal, or at least what
AliceWe are safe within the confines of our pack. I can’t shift while I’m pregnant, which makes me even more vulnerable and nervous. The council tries to demand to stay, but Luke protects me from them and sends them packing.As they leave, I feel terror grip my heart. With the proof in hand, the council has everything they need to stop any destined mate bonds from happening. They can actually stop any ceremonies from happening. My heart breaks for all the single girls.Knowing the council, they aren’t going to take the feelings into account of those poor girls. In fact, the council are definitely going to do the opposite. If a young couple feels anything, they will be kept apart. Knowing the council, they will be taking control completely.“Do you really think they are going to force couples into unions?” I frown at Luke and he sighs deeply. He doesn’t have to say it. I already know the answer.“I’m afraid so. I bet if I hadn’t marked you, they would go as far as forcing us apart.” I
OliverI shift into a full wolf. The moment everyone has feared from before I was even born is over, and you can feel the relief washing over our pack. My mom is crying so much that she can’t get a word out. As soon as the relief is over, joy floods and I howl to signal the pack run.It feels so good to be in my wolf form that I don’t ever want to shift back, but I know I have to. I have to prove to all of them that everything is okay. That I am okay. I’m not going to turn into a half-beast, half-man, feral monster.AliceThe relief is indescribable. It feels as though we have been waiting for this moment for the longest time. After the pack run, Luke pulls me to one side and I can see he isn’t as happy as the rest of us.“They lied.” He growls. “I don’t know how they did it, but they lied, and we have to prove it.” He growls and I nod. The realization of his words hit me right in the gut as I think about all the people who have been affected by whatever it is that the council did.If
BeverlyTWO YEARS LATER, I wake up in the early hours of the morning as a sharp pain shoots through my entire body. Beside me, Matthew jumps up looking startled and completely confused, but I’m in so much pain that I can’t even explain. When it finally lets go, I look at my completely frazzled mate and a giggle escapes between my lips.“The baby’s coming, Matthew.” I say as I get out of bed. The moment I stand upright, a puddle forms underneath me. Matthew looks like a rabbit caught in headlights and I roll my eyes. For such a confident alpha, he sure ain’t looking for it right now, and I take his hand and walk him out of the room.When we reach the stairs, another contraction hits and I have a feeling our pup is going to arrive sooner than anticipated. Matthew’s brain kicks into gear as he picks me up and rushes me to the hospital. An hour later, we are holding our son, and our little family feels perfect.Our story ended up being the best fairy tale of them all. At least, in my opin
BeverlyMatthew is my parents’ son, and they don’t care where he came from. They accepted him, and they have always expected the pack to accept him the same way. As a matter of fact, now that my father has gone and taken that step, I can’t believe that I ever thought one of my uncles would take over.I’m surprised that I never saw this coming. Matthew keeps telling my father that he won’t accept it unless I’m okay with it and, finally, my father looks at me with that “you had better answer me right now” look. I sigh. Do I really have a choice?“I don’t care. Everyone already thinks he should be alpha.” I shrug and get up. Just as I’m about to leave, I feel a strong hand on the back of my elbow and I turn around and glare at Matthew with my eyes filled with tears.I didn’t mean to cry. I didn’t think it would upset me as much. I can’t understand why it does. I’ve always known it wouldn’t be me! I pull my arm from his grip and leave without another word. I have my own problems and I wan
Beverly“Well, I’m sorry! I wasn’t the one who was walking with her head in the dirt.” He doesn’t move out of my way and looks at me that strange way again, and I roll my eyes. He always has these strange sayings that nobody understands!If I didn’t know for a fact that he had gone to school, I would have wondered if he wasn’t perhaps some wild rogue that my parents adopted!“What is your problem?” I frown. He has been acting stranger than normal recently and I haven’t been able to figure out what is up with him.“Sorry. It’s just been one of those days. What did your dad want?” He frowns, seemingly not listening to a word I’m saying, and clearly trying to change the subject.“I guess he wants the same thing that he asked you about that is bothering you so badly that you don’t look where you are going.” I push past him, knowing full well that he won’t leave that comment there. He follows me down the steps and into the street, and we walk in silence for a while.“So? What are you going
BeverlyMy biggest frustration as I make my way through the crowd, however, is that I can see the looks. You know? The ones that say they are so sorry that I’m still single! It puts so much pressure on me to find a mate. Yeah, my family all had fairy tale true loves. Great!I don’t. Not yet. And honestly, I’m in no hurry. I’ve never been able to understand the concept of it all. So, you barely turn eighteen and have barely become a grown up and the entire world expects you to fall in love, get mated and have a baby.All within the first month of turning eighteen! I smile at one of the older guests who tells me that I shouldn’t worry and that my turn will come. I could have told her the same thing, but I thought it would sound a bit rude. Sighing, I make my way to the back of the party to try and just get away from all the looks.The day has been perfect. The ceremony, the party. All the packs are behaving. Why does it all have to be ruined by the fact that I don’t have a mate?! The ni
BeverlyThe sun streams through my window and I yawn and stretch before jumping out of bed. Today is a big day for our pack. After three generations, we’ve finally built a monument in honour of the people who brought us peace.My family were the ones who fought for that peace and, according to our history, my great-great-grandmother or one of those was the one who defied the old council. She was mated to her destined mate after her entire life was turned upside down.She is my hero, and although I don’t want to fall in love under the same circumstances, I would really like it if I have a love like she had. I suggested the monument to my parents, and they jumped at the chance to do something.It has been built in neutral territory so that any wolf from any pack can go there and just look at our history. It is a secret location, of course, so the humans don’t find it, but it is open to all werewolves. Keeping it secret was a bit of a thing.We had to find somewhere the humans didn’t go
NicoletteI watch as Eli finds his beautiful and shy mate, Amy, and my heart just soars as I see their love grow. I keep thinking back to the couple that started it all, and I’m grateful every day that they stuck to their guns. They didn’t have an incredible start, but they stuck to it and saved our people.A couple of years later, I watch my baby Isabella turns eighteen. She finds her mate, Liam on the same night and I almost wish I could go back a couple of years and just experience some of the first days of being in love.Those first moments that you spend together. My true love wasn’t a fairy tale in the beginning either, but as soon as the problems were solved, life was just perfect. I have watched my children grow up in a world where they are safe from harm, and they know that they are loved every single day.Time ticked by too fast, and on a rainy day just as the leaves turned the most beautiful colours right at the beginning of fall, I had to say goodbye to the man I had loved
NicoletteTwo years after everything changed for me, I’m sitting in our son, Eli’s room. He is crawling around making baby noises and I can’t help but smile as my hand protectively covers my stomach. We have just found out that I’m expecting our second child, and I can’t be happier.My mind drifts to our history and how incredible not only my fairy tale but also the rest of this family’s fairy tale has been. My mother passed away a year ago, which has broken the last of my ties with Max’s pack. I did as she asked and buried her with my father.I will never visit their graves, but it doesn’t bother me. I have my memories of them and that is all that matters. Max’s pack has slowly started to deteriorate now that everyone knows what he is up to and, slowly but surely, most of the females left to find their destined mates.Without the money, Max is unable to take care of all of them the same way he used to. It is sad, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I have been spending my time away fro
NicoletteThere are so many unanswered questions, but only one of them is right at the top of my list. Is Max my father? I try and find out from my mother, but she refuses to tell me. I also know that Max will never tell me the truth and even if he does, I won’t believe him. Which leaves me with only one option.“I want a paternity test.” I look at Paul the first second we are alone and he frowns.“Are you sure?” He seems hesitant, but I know why. Once I have the actual physical confirmation, it will change everything.“I’m sure. It will not just give me certainty, but if he is, then we have more proof that Max hasn’t been honest with anybody.” I sigh. Paul informs his parents and, before long, I’m sitting in the hospital wing where they are gathering everything they need.Paul joins me moments after the doctor has finished to confirm that the pack that is holding Max will be gathering his samples in the next few minutes. It will take a couple of days to get the results, since nobody
NicoletteSurprisingly, it doesn’t take very long for the packs to send us their suggestions and a month later, we walk back into the beautiful hotel. Sadly, after my previous experience, it has lost some of its luster. Everyone is eager to get down to business.After Paul and I have greeted everyone, we all get together in the conference room and start working on our new constitution. It takes a couple of hours to get it all set up and, after a wonderful lunch, everyone returns. Paul had one of his pack members type up the new agreement and with great anticipation, everyone signs.Once that is settled, we all agree that we would like to rest before dinner. We need to decide on Max’s fate, and it seems everyone is a little hesitant to do that. The previous council caused so much damage to our people, and when I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that my existence is because of that.Out of all the alpha’s Max is the second oldest. There is one alpha who never met his mate and didn’