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80. Cherish
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The Beta's Prize 81. Ivan
I knew I would be injured after taking on a dozen or so guards. I had no idea I would end up in limbo. I am in a strangely dreamy state. One where you know it’s not real and yet it’s too vivid to wake up from. I also know it’s a dream because standing in front of me is Azalea. The Azalea I remembered anyway, the petite stunner with olive skin and brown eyes. That stunning, deep green mermaid style dress she wore the night we were mated. Goddess she sparkled that night. I could remember how I madly grabbed her to me, our first kiss, everything just fitting together so perfectly. She smiled at me, the way she had done that night too, so soft and gentle, a little dimple forming in one cheek. I turned around and realised I was in a ballroom with her. The White Forest Pack ballroom to be precise, with its wooden floors and white walls. I kept trying to communicate with Kohl but there was nothing. The silence was terrifying. For over ten years his constant calm guidance and now the l
The Beta's Prize 82. Ivan
“Ivan!” a gruff male voice exclaimed as I woozily battled my way back into consciousness. Leveraged into a sitting position I almost fell back off the bed through the noise that followed. “He’s awake! Tell everyone, EVERYONE RIGHT NOW!” and with my vision still blurry I knew from that ridiculous announcement Jackson was beside me, bellowing like a bull. “Drink this,” a woman's voice said urgently. A perfumed aroma overcame me as I gagged on the lukewarm liquid. “You need to rehydrate, keep going,” as I slurped messily, the warm liquid spilling onto my bare chest. Kohl? Where is Kohl and my heart skipped a beat in panic. /We are fine. Better than fine and you are almost fully healed./ The more liquid I drank the more my memories started working their way back. The battle with Kharkov, the blood and claws everywhere. Laying down and then the ballroom. Shit, Cherish offered me Halo’s strength, where is she, is she safe. Was any of that real or a fever dream? As I dropped the bo
The Beta's Prize 83. Cherish
It felt like falling for the longest time. Floating through a blackness. Halo was there with me, distantly keeping me calm and focused as she looked after Ivan and Kohl. I seemed to land back on the earth and fluttered my eyes. I didn’t have time to think as before I could even make a sound Ivan was on me. Like a puppy. His body scooped me to him, covering me in kisses, praise and reprimands for being so foolish. “Cherish, you shouldn’t have risked yourself like that,” he said whilst holding me close to him, fervently kissing my cheeks, waking me from whatever world I’d been travelling in the most delightful way. “I’m meant to look after you, you silly mouse, you silly thing.” “Ivan,” raising my hand to cup his cheek and smile. “We’re here. We danced, was that real?” “It was, your lilac dress,” he whispered, “your gorgeous hair curled up and we danced together.” “And Azalea?” “Gone, permanently, her mark has been erased from my body. I don’t know if the rejection didn't work or
The Beta's Prize 84. Ivan
I have never driven so recklessly in my life. Having Cherish’s arms wrapped around my waist, every time I was forced to slow down for traffic, narrow tracks or to wait for the rest of the Battalion to catch her up her hand slid down to the front of my pants. Massaging and stroking my cock into getting hard, torturing me relentlessly over the course of our drive. When she started trying to do it when I was at full speed I had to growl and threaten to discipline her, which of course just made her worse. Dressed like a delicate, ladylike little Luna, all wide eyed innocence yet in our mindlink she’s unreal, constantly surprising me.Cragstone is a pleasant town, cobbled roads with grass verges, a lot of wooden buildings seeing as they cleared all the trees away originally for the farming land. I still cannot believe the majority of the population want this. Taking down the Cage complex and then Kingsley’s latest endeavour, people have really seen us as a force for good. I have no reg
The Beta's Prize 85. Cherish
That sleep was the final recovery I needed. I felt fully alive, tingling with pent up energy after doing nothing but eating and resting for so many days. My pulse was quickening, my thoughts racing with ideas, all of them naughty and involving Ivan. When Ivans hands trailing softly over my naked skin, his surprise at realising I had woken up before him and stripped off was exquisite. Not knowing where his hand would gently brush next made those fireworks extra sensitive. It took everything I had not to make a noise. To just enjoy his roaming. Rolling over my legs parted and I could feel how wet I'd become just through his touches. As his clothes hit the floor with a soft flump I sat up and shuffled away, vanishing from his sight in the dark. "Hey, where are you going?" he called softly, as I heard him leaning back onto the bed, the squashy mattress absorbing his huge body. It was my turn to delicately touch him in the dark. First I trailed a finger up his shins making him grunt.
The Beta's Prize 86. Ivan
Marked. Claimed by Cherish and it’s about time. I should have done it that first morning in the woods after she had shifted. But then it would have been in the wrong spot. Its position, close to my heart, is exactly where it belongs. Even the scar is less rough than the previous one.We chat away into the early hours of the morning. She seems to think I can't make her pass out in pleasure which makes me chuckle inwardly. I know full well I can. I'm just choosing to hold back that last percentage so I don't ejaculate into an unconscious woman like a psychopath.She makes me laugh with silly jokes and puns, the way she can visualise what we need to achieve at Cragstone is inspiring. Now I can see clearly too and know exactly what I want.I don't want to fight anymore. I want to avoid war at all costs. I'm never coming that close to losing her again. I want to have children with her. Start a family of little, gorgeous mouse-foxes and bask in the glow of love. I've seen enough blood and
The Beta's Prize 87. Cherish
As much as I am floating on air right now about Ivan there is an awful lot to be done before the Full Moon and our Ceremony. Huge trunks have arrived with jewels, clothing, gold and stacks of paper and pens. Everyone needs recording, every person's declaration will eventually need logging so we can keep a record of families, mates and social change. Everytime I think of Ivan my mark tingles. It is like having a little piece of him with me at all times, warming my soul and making Halo whoop for joy. I wondered why I was lingering around the kitchen and then realised they were peeling apples, even my subconscious craves him at all times. However, everywhere I turn I see more tasks stacking up. How many people have ever started a pack from scratch before, it’s going to be impossible. Luckily nearly everyone is coming to us. The population of the south all want to be part of this first inaugural festival. The town square is never going to be big enough for the thousands that are going t
The Beta's Prize 88. Cherish
Finally after days of manic preparation and everyone involved being close to exhaustion the full moon was almost upon us. The town square, a collection of wooden buildings and cobbled streets with a traditional well in the middle was a throbbing sea of people. The crowds were enormous. Luckily we had Jackson, his huge voice guided the proceedings as Ivan and I had to sit there like statues. There was a full ritual to be followed for starting a Pack. Ivan had to offer his blood into a dish, a small nick made into his wrist which he tried not to wince at. The blood flowed quickly, splattering into the bowl with a sound that sent both of us spinning back into the world of the Cage and its violence. Somehow the whole place smelt of apples, it turns out that apple orchards surround the town of Cragstone. /Meant to be/ purred Halo, the apple-scented man we adored having his scent amplified wherever we went during harvest season. With the bowl the town elders were brought forward and aske
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The Beta's Prize Epilogue 6: White Forest Ball (Cillian)
Without thinking I shouted “Stop!” causing the cloaked person to sprint. “GUARDS!” I screeched, unable to mind-link members outside of my pack. Why was the entire fucking castle asleep! Sprinting after the cloaked figure I saw nobody else, no guards, not even a servant to help me catch the stranger. Arriving at the huge foyer of the castle, surrounded by flickering torches, hanging tapestries and miserable grey stone walls I had nothing to follow. They had vanished into thin air. All I knew from the build around the cloak was that they were a man, a man wearing long black trousers. Giving up the chase, I headed back to my room, flights of stairs, leading me to nothing but duplicating corridors of arched doorways, presumably student accommodation. The door to my parents’ suite remained open. “Papa?” I knocked softly to no answer. /Cillian, I am so sorry/ Vez said, realising before I did that my world had been knocked from its axis, shattered like porcelain. On the double bed, wrappe
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 5: White Forest Ball (Cillian)
I understood immediately why Papa never took us to many of these charades. Standing there in a pompous white shirt, on display like a prize pig at a fair I was happy to escape with Genevieve into the masses. I wasn’t so happy about Nikolai. We had only met briefly during a few childhood meetings but as a man he oozed anger and resentment. What for, I have no idea, but my sister and her wide eyes clearly thought it was the hottest thing she had ever seen. Silently, from my chosen distance, I watched his charisma overwhelm her, my own heckles rising. /She asked you to let her be an adult, to make her own choices/ Vez urged. Ever since first shifting and Vez came into my world it has been like having two fathers, both eager for me to prosper as Alpha. Our wolf fur was as red and fiery as my hair. I cringed, remembering how Jackson had laughingly called me the Infant Inferno, leaving me furious. Vez however, despite our fiery colour was sage, calming and fair. My papa tried to downpl
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 4: White Forest Ball (Genevieve)
Having to walk in behind my parents I felt like a child amongst women. Despite the stunning dress, the styled hair and jewels I’d been given, the ballroom had a strange feel about it. I felt watched ,studied, but not in the usual way, like at home in Cragstone when crowds gathered. One person’s gaze had me flustered. The smell of burning spice made my eyes widen in fear, urgently seeking out the owner. As though we were in danger of attack, then I saw Nikolai Romanov. He headed up towards our little royal enclosure furtively, as though he was breaking in. He was just as entitled to be there as the rest of us and yet his fearsomely dark eyes were stuck on me. He offered no greetings to anyone else, not even his parents. My heart flipped, what do you do when someone looks so blatantly at you? He wasn’t undressing me with his eyes or anything crude like the silly Kharkov boys. Instead, he was seriously, steadily looking at me as a person. Almost the same age as me, already nineteen and
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 3: White Forest Ball (Ivan)
I know exactly why she is nervous. It’s not ideal and we’ve put it off for so long that it’s brought the formal gold bordered letter from Alexander to force our attendance. They are so young, the twins are barely even adults. If they find their mates tonight there it is more complicated than they realise. For Kharkov’s girls, or Lyon’s boys, when they make their match it will be a simple case of falling in love and finding a place to live and be happy together. Our children, should it be from a rival pack, will see alliances drawn up, decisions taken out of their hands as their parents become a tangle of wants and wishes. Should my beautiful, delicate little Genevieve be drawn in with that dark-haired lout Nikolai, what then? He is the future Alpha of White Forest, as Freya is to live in Rising Star. I would lose my darling girl. I know it is just the mindset of a scared father. I am a proud, happy man, terrified of nothing the world can throw at me. Except for damaging my family'
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 2: White Forest Ball (Cherish)
I gasped at the sight of our intruder. Cillian, my beautiful boy, had somehow transformed into a powerful, charismatic man, his white shirt open at the top showing the sculpted chest he inherited from his father. His coppery red hair had an even fierier tone than Ivan’s, almost sheer red, whilst his eyes had eventually turned blue like my own, despite starting green. He had a strong, masculine jaw and his figure had developed over the past year. He had trained like a beast with Kharkov and Jackson, as if preparing for his mate by getting into perfect shape. “Are we ready to do this parade then?” he grumbled, fiddling with his cufflink, the rasping depth of his manly voice still making me wistful even after years of it breaking. “How has a white shirt made you look this grown up,” I said softly, adjusting the collar of his shirt whilst he towered over me and his father. The squidgy faced little boy who hid behind my skirts clutching stacks of buns he had stolen from Martha was no m
The Beta's Prize Epilogue 1: White Forest Ball (Cherish)
** TWENTY YEARS LATER ** “I cannot believe it has truly been so long since we were last at White Forest,” I murmured, standing in the same suite we had used so many years ago. Back when I shouted at Helena and suggested she had failed Ivan. The four-poster bed and stained glass windows were unchanged. As if we had simply stepped back in time. The sight of the balcony, where I had once stood in only a black cloak for Ivan to devour under the pale blue moonlight made me smile and Halo purr in remembrance. “You are as amazing now as you were then,” Ivan murmured, approaching me with a grin. In his late forties he was getting somehow even more handsome with age. His hair remained the stunning copper beacon I looked for first in every room whilst his frame remained strong, tall and muscular. Although my heart had two other beacons to contend with in Genevieve and Cillian, Ivan’s strength was the tree which my roots had grown around. They had turned eighteen last winter, Ivan insiste
The Beta's Prize 106. Cherish
Although Ivan’s silly trick with the balcony made me laugh, we were soon back in the same glum mood we had left the dinner party with last night. The stone walls around us swirled with confusion, the footsteps of unknown servants constantly pattering by made me feel watched, edgy. At home, in Cragstone we knew exactly who roamed our smaller world. “We should just ask Helena outright,” I snapped in frustration, “they’re discussing us and our babies so why shouldn’t we know.” Ultimately we had the matter taken out of our hands. A small, elderly male servant summoned us for breakfast with Alpha Brandon and Luna Hollie down in the dining hall. Kissing the babies and leaving them with Kharkov and Penelope we made our way for attempt Day Two of the so-called Conference. As expected the four of them were already there. Brandon raised his hand as soon as he saw us enter and saw Ivan assessing the situation. Alpha Alexander for once looked distressed. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes wer
The Beta's Prize 105. Ivan
My worst fears were confirmed. This wasn’t a proper conference, there was no respect for our attendance as the leaders of the Shadowlands pack, it was some ridiculous notion by Helena to try and fix her own ego. Kissing Cherish softly as she tended to the babies with Penelope I informed Kharkov I was heading for a stroll, he could stay with the women and enjoy some breakfast. His face lit up at the prospect, whether it was breakfast or the company of the women I could not tell which thrilled him more. I loved the fact he had such a bond with Cherish. Having someone in your corner like that, it’s how I used to see myself and Helena. Different but the same. /If everything had stayed the same, we would have been dead in a ditch long ago. Some things have to change/ Kohl murmured sagely. I agreed with him, but I still regretted my lost friendship. Heading out of the huge double doored stone archway I found myself looking down upon a splendid view of the surrounding forest. It was so
The Beta's Prize 104. Cherish
When the servant brought us into the dining hall it was just as grand as I expected. Huge golden candelabras and chandeliers lit up a picture perfect room. The usual tapestries and war scenes I had grown used to seeing at White Forest were not present here. Rising Star was a gallery of landscapes. The valleys, lakes and forests depicted everywhere gave the castle a softer feeling than I had expected this pile of stones to provide. Even the soft rugs were welcomely eyed by Halo, my feet still not fully healed made me want to jump to the nearest chair. I preferred this castle to White Forest, though as Halo warned me, that may just be because I had lingering reservations about Luna Helena and her knowledge of Fate. Ivan, bless him, knew my feet were not fully healed yet and made sure to have me seated comfortably before anything else. Alpha Brandon and Luna Hollie were kind and gracious hosts. They clearly adored Helena and Alexander, a cosy coupling that we were on the outside of.
