I'll have more out later today :)
Liam:After Lucy left, the festival broke apart, and people went about their night a bit more. I could tell that Leon noticed everyone constantly swarming around Lucy as well.We spend the next hour mingling and praising the pack. So many had contributed to the festival in noticeable ways.Dad always taught us that praise created loyalty that fear could never match. "I know Seth is our best friend, but I still don't trust him with Lucy," I say as we leave the last tent at the border of the festival.Even after what happened with Lucy and Seth, Leon seemed hardly concerned.Leon ignores most of what I say. As I look up at him, I turn in the direction he is smiling.Tricia and Saul are coming out of the tree lines looking rather smitten."You'd feel if they did anything, brother. Trust Lucy. I'm not wasting any more time overthinking what I want. I want her, that's all. You'd be wise to change your mindset before you push her away again." Leon tells me in a round about how he isn't thr
Lucy:Was I imagining that? Was I starting to feel things that I wanted to just because I had some feelings or connection with Seth?I couldn't stop thinking about his touch.I could tell that Seth's intentions were not just to help me warm up before tomorrow, but rather, he was worried about me.I hadn't been inside the gym much. It was spacious. At least three hundred warriors could train here comfortably."Stretch," Seth says with a smile. "You're not going to scold me for being petty? I do have another reason, you know? Whether some of my reasoning has bad intentions, I also want to help Gatheo," I explained.I sit down and start stretching my legs, waiting for him to speak up, but he just looks at me thoughtfully instead.Never prying too much, just letting me speak as I do naturally."You know I could never scold you for that, Lucy. I was there that night and the following day. I just needed to know, and I needed you to admit it out loud. Now come on," he says, extending his ha
Lucy:As I suspected, they wanted me to light the bonfire with my magic.The magic Sybil spoke of was now starting to take some effect, and it felt like it already had for both of my mates for most of this day."I don't think this is a good idea," Seth finally voiced his opinion.Liam led us to the City Hall, where Leon was with Leander, Sybil, Trish, Saul, and a man whom I'm guessing is Theo.The moment my eyes met Theo's, he tilted his head and smiled widely."You must be Lucy," he bows after grabbing my hand and kissing the top of it.'What the hell?' I ask Nia.I can feel her lurch forward, but she doesn't say a word.I pulled my hand back and smiled politely, even though I felt very weird about his actions."You must be Theo! It's so nice to meet you. I have so many questions for you!" I say, remembering he was a real wizard.The child in me was fangirling."It's better the pack knows now than to have them find out later. Lucy is just as much a Fae as she is a werewolf. The pack m
"Let's go for a swim!" Liam says, ripping off his clothes like he's burning up, yet it's not warm at all.I look around to see everyone doing just about the same thing.'This is my kind of festival,' Nia giggles.'Could you hear Seth? Am I going crazy?' I ask her, taking off my sweater now."Wait up!" I hear Trish from behind us.Liam and Leon pause, standing in their briefs leisurely like it's the middle of the summer."What about my vision?" Trish says, catching her breath as Saul strides up behind her."The Mood Goddess protects us. We give offerings and truth in exchange for this night of celebrations and the blessings within the pack," Leon shrugs casually like it's part of his personality, but I know that's not true.No one is themselves, and yet I don't feel any different at all."Don't you think we should be strategizing nonetheless? What if Zeak takes the opportunity to strike first thing in the morning when he thinks we will be weak from everyone staying out late at the festi
Lucy:Under the spell that was the lands of the Silver Throne Fae, my mates and I were consumed with unbridled lust and desire.Maybe this was our truth, the raw need for each other. Yet, something was always standing in the way. I was probably the most guilty person in this department, but tonight, I wasn't going to be.I could feel Leon's canines pierce the outer layer of my skin. A small drop of blood runs down my neck.Liam has me on the brink of ecstasy when we hear a twig snap.Liam and Leon immediately push me behind them. I was unprepared, dipping into the water without their support to hold me up.Coming back up for air, I grab Liam's shoulder as I gasp for breath after taking water into my lungs."What are you doing here?" Leon hisses.I can't see over their big frames."Let me up!" I whine in Liam's ear.I grab his shoulders and lift myself. He catches my legs, looping them in his arms like a piggyback ride.My face drops as I see Savina standing next to the spring with her
Leon:"Why is he here?" Liam grumbles as we get closer to the training grounds.It's clear he wants to hate Lucy being around Seth, but it's starting to feel like he's trying too hard to hate it.I roll my eyes, but I can't help but tune into their conversation. Liam had to have been doing the same thing. We shared a curious glance before calling out what we heard.'I have to admit, I feel bad for Seth,' Liam links me as we watch him helping Lucy with her defensive moves.They really did train fluidly together. They moved with one another like a dance. It's the first time I've seen Seth look that happy.'So stop being an ass. Our mate cares for him, and he's our best friend,' I link back.'What if she never gets over him?' Liam questions through our link.I look over at him with a smile. He knows my answers to this already. What he is really asking is if I still care because she already has two mates.'I already told you how I felt, Liam; nothing has changed because she's mated to yo
Lucy:I knew something wasn't right the moment I finally pinned her down, and she started laughing.'Shift,' Nia encouraged me, but I couldn't; my insides felt frozen.The longer I was frozen, the more I felt Nia shrinking further into me.Savina always had ill intentions toward me. This much I could feel in her presence. I had assumed this had to do with being Leon's mate, but there's something I'm missing.Nia can't reach me nor can I reach her now.'Mate, get up!' I hear Liam scream through the link, breaking me from the trance I had with Savina.'What's wrong?' Leon links immediately after.I feel like my soul was nearly ripped from me, and my lungs were run over by a truck."How did you do that?" I say, barely a whisper, as I continue to catch my breath.I get to my feet shakily, stumbling backward as she laughs at me again.'Nia,' I whisper, searching for any sign of her.I can't feel her anymore. It's like she was never there to begin with."I told you to forfeit. This didn't h
Lucy:The last thing I remember was feeling weak and my eyelids being too heavy to hold up before I collapsed.All that I can hear now is the faint sound of beeping."She needs rest, Alpha. We don't know enough about Fae to treat her properly," I hear a familiar voice.Jonie, I tell myself. I try to call out for her, but my voice is too weak."Why isn't her wolf healing her?" I hear Leander ask.I want to tell him she is gone, but my body isn't cooperating with me.'Nia?' I call out again, desperately hoping she will give me a sign that she is still there.Nothing. The beeping grows faster as the realization that I may have genuinely lost Nia starts hitting me full force."What's happening!?" That's Liam's panicked voice.I can't open my eyes; they're too heavy. Everything feels too heavy."Alpha, you need to get your boys out of here." That's not Jonie but a man.Dr. Solfere, perhaps?"I'm not leaving her!" I hear Leon; his hand grips my arm.I can feel his grip. No sparks. Does he fe
Lucy:I grind against him. My core is covered by the baggy briefs I'm wearing, but his stiff member is all too present at this moment."It's okay," I tell him.I don't have to read his mind to know he's nervous about where I'm taking this.He pulls his lips from mine, peppering kisses along my cheek and neck.My hands are gripping his hips, pulling him securely against me, letting him know it's okay to press against me in this way.I knew he'd need me to confirm this. To confirm what I wanted."I haven't done this for a long time," he admits to me.His lips brushed against mine softly before deepening the kiss. His tongue slid into my mouth and against my tongue.His smell and taste are different than before. I can't deny this. "I've never done this willingly," I say quietly, moving his hands down my torso to my waist.I don't have to say this to him; he knows already, but it feels good to say it out loud. I'm safe with him.His fingers gripping the seams of the briefs, I'm unsure wh
Lucy:Bellona gave me something special indeed.Courage. Strength. An armor, but not like the physical one that she wore.Something within me was different. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I felt stronger now.Emotionally.I knew what I had to do now. It was as clear as the perfect summer day. No clouds, no morning dew or fog settling within me.I could still feel the emptiness within me. The parts of me that were missing. The magic that was taken from me.It doesn't matter as much when I'm with Seth. He looks at me like I'm the moon itself. His eyes linger too long on the exposed skin not covered by the towel I'm gripping around me but I like it.I'm obsessed with his attention, and for the first time, I'm not feeling shy about it."They say the Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways. You asked me why she didn't want you, your first mate, that is. You were always meant to be mine. Could you have loved me and wanted me the way you do now had you not felt the pain of losing her?
Seth:I wasn't prepared for any of this.I knew something was different when I felt the sparks on her skin. It wasn't strong, though, not like a normal mate bond.Maybe Lucy was right; maybe it's because she didn't have her magic, but I couldn't help but feel like there was something more to this whole thing.'She's always been ours, Seth,' Dax decides.The Beta quarters are on the opposite side of the pack house, but I don't mind carrying her. I can feel her breath warm against the nook of my neck and shoulder.'She's Leon and Liam's, though. How can she be ours?' I ask Dax.'She's our second chance, Seth. Can't you smell her? Her scent has started to change,' Dax responds, calling out the obvious things I've been trying to ignore out of respect for my Alphas.I peek down at her, resting in my arms. Her eyes are closed; she looks so peaceful this way.My hands wrap around her waist, my forearm under her ass, keeping the back of her hospital gown shut closed tightly in case we run into
Lucy:I could feel Seth's hesitation, surprisingly. He didn't seem to mind my touch, nor did he have any issues shoving his tongue down my mouth earlier.Yet, he felt bad now. I wasn't sure if it was because I wasn't rushing off to my mates but rather pulling him to my room."Maybe we should stop by Liam's and just let them know first. They're likely going to hear us going into your room anyways," Seth suggests, now that we're getting close to the Alpha quarters.It dawned on me that I had never been to the Beta quarters. Of course, I never had a reason to."You're right!" I say, turning to him now after stopping in my tracks, "Take me to your room instead. You have something I could change into, right?" I ask.His eyes get wide. I'm holding the hospital gown to the side, clasping the openings closed so my ass isn't hanging out. I didn't want to change into the clothes I had worn at the challenge, which was all I had available at the hospital.I'm sure what I would be changing into o
Lucy:After the darkness fades away, I see a light. It's faint and far away. I want to turn around and run back to my mom, but I know that I can't.Could I just stay here? In the nothingness? Without Nia, I feel nothingness to my core. Was it really that easy to let the darkness in? How was I strong enough before?Nia. It was always Nia. She was the stronger half of me, I decided.I stand there in my nothingness for a time. Contemplating what the three Goddesses had spoken to me.The light shines brighter like the sun itself was pulling me into its rays. Calling for me to come forward and serve my purpose and burning through my soul with the truth of what I needed to do.I take a deep breath and step forward when the darkness wraps its tentacles around me, pulling me back.Looking at my ankles, I try to break free but it owns me now. Its grip tightens despite my attempts at prying it off of me. It needs me to continue to feed what it wants. My doubt and my hatred for myself after N
Trish: The environment in the cabin became rigid when talking about Lucy being connected with Nia again. My main focus was simply to get her to wake up. We could worry about the rest later.I pull out my phone, Saul grabs it from my hand before I can do anything."You have a phone?" he asks, surprised."Yes, mate, we can get you one, too. In fact, I think Leon got extras," I say, grabbing it back from his hand.I text Seth, just hoping he has his phone on him. None of us were used to having phones yet, so we often left our phones around instead of keeping them on us.Me: I have an idea to wake Lucy up. Please meet us at the hospital.I feel a flood of relief as I see the bubbles pop up, letting me know he is responding. Seth: I'm at Liam's quarters right now. Should I have him and Leon join us?I would have just called him, but I needed this conversation to be private in the event that he was with Leon and/or Liam, so I was glad that I chose to text him.Seth: Both of them have agre
Seth: At some point, I fell asleep. Lucy's heart rate had finally calmed down, and I felt at ease myself from this peace of mind.No one had gotten much rest since everything happened at the challenge. I felt terrible for Leon and Liam, being forced at the pack house while Lucy healed.'How is she doing?' Leander linked.He is likely asking not just for himself but on behalf of his son's as well.'She seems to be doing better, I guess. What is better? She isn't awake if that's what you mean,' I say, clarifying Lucy's state at the moment.I checked the clock and realized I had been asleep for hours.A part of me loved that I was the one who was able to keep her in a calmer state of mind, aside from Trish; I just wished that it had been in different circumstances.'Has Jodie or anyone had any updates? I told her to link me if there were any updates, but if you could ask her about Savina's blood tests and get back to me, I would appreciate it,' Leander links back.'Of course,' I say back
Lucy:I could feel myself starting to fade within the existence that I was in."Yes, Lucy. I know all of my creations, but your mother was very special to me," she says with a smile that hides the pain she feels behind the statement."What do you mean? I ... feel like I barely knew who she was." I want to know her now more than I ever have before.Hecate frowns before putting her hand above my heart."She is here. You'll understand more when you get the rest of your magic, my dear," she responds."You keep saying the rest of my magic. What is that supposed to mean? Is that why..." I trail off, thinking about how so many pieces of me were empty when I looked at myself through the dragon's eyes."Yes, that's exactly why you see yourself that way," she smiles at my recognition.I wondered if it was similar to how I could hear Seth or my mates."Yes, just like you can with your mates," she says, making me roll my eyes."Now you're just showing off," I laugh.Nia is trotting around, likely
Tricia:Saul pulls me into his grip as everyone stares at me. He doesn't like everyone's eyes on me.I thought I'd hate the possessiveness of a werewolf, but I find it oddly comforting."Why don't we all get settled in and relax?" Jason suggests, resting his hand on my Mom's shoulder.Should I find this odd? I thought to myself."Right," my Mom says, gently removing his hand."I'll grab some drinks. It seems as though we all may need one," Jason adds, quickly moving from the entryway to the kitchen.I sit on the couch, or rather, on Saul's lap. My Mom sits in one of the chairs, and Theo sits in the other chair."Why would you think she could read minds?" Theo asks before my Mom can even open her mouth."I wasn't sure if she really could. She asked if Aunt Enya could read minds, but all three of her mates admitted that she could hear their thoughts, so I think she can," I explain, biting my lip.'Three?' Saul's voice comes through my mind.You can barely hear the growl coming from his t