Wow! The apple doesn't rot far from the tree, does it? They both deserve miserable ends. I wonder who knocked Alpha Hollis out. Any guesses?
Nikki POV Do you remember the time in your life when everything in the world was nearly perfect? You know, back before you found out that as beautiful as the word is, it is full of evil too? That was some time before 12 years of age for me. This isn’t one of those, if I could go back and do it over thoughts. It’s a ‘I would love to have that type of peace again in my life’ kind of thought. I wouldn’t trade anything for Frankie though. It’s hard to believe that six months ago he was a crush, and two nights from now he will be my chosen mate. I would have never believed you if you had told me back even in January that my life would be what it is today. That I would have new friends that I hold just as dear as Jonas and the twins. Though to me, Gideon is more the big brother I always wished I had. I want Gideon to find that special someone to cherish for the rest of his existence, he has always suffered through the loss of human lovers starting with Dakarai and ending with Phinneas. Ma
Nikki POV The next morning we were off and running again. After dressing for the day, we went to the pack house to have breakfast with the guest warriors. Maisey joined us and introduced us to several of the warriors from her pack. I excused myself so that I could check on Cookie, in my opinion Cookie was a warrior in her own right. She led the staff with a firm but deft hand. When I walked into the kitchen things were running much better than they were before our guests had arrived. “Good Morning Cookie. How are you this morning? Is there anything you need?” I asked as she kneaded the contents of a large bowl. “Everything is right on schedule this morning Nikki and we are expecting the delivery of additional supplies right after breakfast,” she said, placing a cloth over the bowl before taking another and repeating the process with another. “Let me know if you need anything, okay? The next set of warriors will be here by lunch, do you need any additional help?” I asked as I watched
Nikki POV Today is the day and the excitement in the air is palpable. The chatter around the breakfast table was lively and full of hopes and dreams. But before breakfast I had a heart to heart with the OG friend group. While everyone around us was excited for the ball, these three were facing the same questions that led me to the gathering on Blood Moon Hillside six months ago. Earlier This Morning “Hey, are you busy?” Charity called out from the doorway to my room. “No, not at all. I’m just finishing putting my hair up before I go down for breakfast. What’s up Char?” I said and looked in her direction to see that Silvie and Jonas were with her. “We were hoping we could talk to you about tonight for a minute,” Charity said as they all came in. “Sure. Is there something wrong? Let’s sit down so we can talk,” I said, gesturing to the bed where we all sat down like we have many times, ‘just us girls’ having a chat. “So we figured something out. We realized that you didn’t go to Bloo
Nikki Pov “Nikki quit scrunching up your face, I can’t apply your make-up like that,” Charity chided for the fifth time. “Sorry, I keep getting lost in my own head,” I replied, trying to relax. I kept thinking about what if something goes wrong tonight, what if Frankie’s fated mate was actually at the ball and he chooses her. I should be happy, hell I should be ecstatic knowing that tonight is the night that we will claim each other. But for all my positive thoughts and the commitment Frankie and I made to each other, I am scared. I am not scared of choosing Frankie, of that I am 10,000% sure. There is positively no man who could replace him in my life. I can’t wait to say the words “I, Pamela Nicole Gaffney accept…” but more than anything else in this world, I long to hear “I, Franklin Knight Conway accept…” Charity sighed, “Nikki, why are you crying?” I shook my head and said, “Sorry Char, my nerves are working on overdrive. Tonight is the night and well, I am just keyed up.” “He
Frankie POV The guys have been banished to Tatum’s house so that the girls can get ready at the mansion. As a guy, I don’t see what the big deal is, but I will go with the flow. The guys and I need to go into the city and pick up the cars but I think I will just save that surprise for tomorrow. I have something to give her tonight besides my mark, so the car can wait. For once Tatum is behaving, so I know something is wrong. “Tatum, why are you so quiet?” He gave me a surprised look, so he must have been deep in thought. “Just a little worried about tonight man.” We have stepped up security everywhere, especially surrounding the area for the ball. “Everything will be fine, the security is rock solid.” He looked irritated but then he replied, “I’m not worried about security, I am worried about finding my fated mate tonight. I don’t want them, I want Jonas and Charity.” Understanding dawns on me, “Have faith, I believe everything will work out.” Probably an asinine thing for me to say
Kendall POV My father has been missing for days. Not that I miss the insufferable bastard, but he’s the Alpha for goddess sake albeit a piss poor one. He must know that the human authorities know of his dirty dealings and he has run off rather than face the consequences. Too bad he didn’t take Keegan with him, but I digress, that nut ball has been flitting around here talking about Frankie’s puppy being dead and going to the ball. I have decided that while I may not be able to stop my sister from going to the ball, that I can follow and make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. I do have a tux for when I have to go to my father’s wretched company events, so I at least have something to wear. So I will go and if she starts trouble, I will gladly assist Frankie in dispatching the problem. Keegan left 10 minutes ago and there is an hour until the moon hits its apex, so if I leave now I will arrive shortly before the big event happens. Walking to my car I have the odd notion of wouldn’
Nikki POV The ball was successful all in all. There were many pairings as a result. Obviously, Frankie and I were fated, Maisey and Callum had also been fated mates. Eli was fated mates with Cadence and they will be flying back to Desert Moon while Alpha Isha and Luna Hope stay a bit longer to help with what was probably the oddest pairing of the night, Mia and Alpha Heir Kendall. Rip Claw Pack is a mess and Alpha Hollis is nowhere to be found. We didn’t know exactly if that meant the rogue attacks were completely done with Alpha Hollis missing. But more importantly, the transfer of leadership couldn’t happen until he was found or until his pack bond severed in death. Alpha Kieran and Alpha Isha said there would be one other way for Alpha Heir Kendall to come into his birthright, but it will involve getting the Council of Elders involved and a Fealty Ceremony which could actually be an incredibly positive thing for the pack as a whole. Now that the Alphas and Heirs had a rough plan
Alpha Hollis POV ‘This is Alpha Hollis Quisling of the Rip Claw Pack if anyone can hear me, I am being held captive. I don’t know where I am, I think I have been here for three days. If anyone can hear me, PLEASE HELP.’ I say this each time I surface. My body feels like it is on fire, I can’t feel my wolf but I try in vain to use the mind link to rescue myself. My wolf is not healing me, so I know there is wolfsbane or silver involved, maybe both. The smell of urine and rot is heavy in the air, I would imagine I am the source of the first and my surroundings are responsible for the latter. I try again knowing it is probably futile, but I try anyway; ‘This is Alpha Hollis Quisling of the Rip Claw Pack if anyone can hear me, I am being held captive. I don’t know where I am, I think I have been here for three days. If anyone can hear me, PLEASE HELP.’ I don’t really know for certain how long I have been here, but I think three days is accurate. At some point there was a pack link sev
Mia POV I am not one hundred percent sure what Kendall means by public awaits, but I know I wouldn’t be dressed like this for any small event. So I eagerly placed my hand in his and followed Kendall to the back of the packhouse. When we stepped out of the back door we weren’t outside though. There was a dome that had been erected and decorated like a grand ballroom. The linens were deep burgundy and the table decor was greenery heavily trimmed in gold. The scene was absolutely breathtaking and my heart was so full, my chest could have burst right open. This had been done for me? But why? When a familiar voice came over the P.A. system, my head whipped in the direction of a small stage. “So, when I used to tease my sister about sending her far away to some evil Alpha, I never really thought about the fact that she might actually end up on the other side of the country mated to an Alpha that absolutely adores her. Phoenix Storm, may I present to you the guest of honor Luna Mia Rose De
Mia POV As Gabby drove me home I thought about Nikki and Frankie’s romantic evening ahead. I won’t lie, I am just a little jealous. Frankie is still attentive to Nikki, and I wish I could say the same was true for Kendall and I. Maybe I should try getting all dressed up and taunt Kendall with naughty suggestions. But sex doesn’t really seem to be our problem though, he’s been a little cold and closed off, he even has the mind-link blocked most of the time. Maybe I should go home for a visit. It has been a few weeks since I have seen mommy and daddy and I really haven’t gotten to know Eli’s mate Cadence. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, so maybe if we spent a little time apart things will get better. There has to be something wrong with our bond, every couple I know can barely stand to be apart from one another. I was so deep into my own thoughts that I hadn't realized the Hummer had stopped. I was going to ask why we had stopped outside of the gates when I noticed a ba
Kendall POV Do you have any idea how hard it has been keeping a secret from Mia? It means I have had to keep my block up on the mate bond and keep mind-links to a minimum so that she doesn’t find out what I have been planning. The whole no Luna ceremony thing has really bothered me and I asked her again to consider it after I picked up the ring that I commissioned Simone to make. No go, she doesn’t need a celebration to know that the pack loves and accepts her. The thing is that pack members have asked when we will be celebrating their luna. They are so excited to finally have one and they want to shower her with affection. So while it is really a little late to have a luna ceremony because she is really their luna in every way possible, it’s never too late to just celebrate her. So the pack has been secretly planning a celebration for her. When she comes back from Cold Moon this afternoon she will hopefully be surprised. Once she cleared the gates this morning we started putting
Mia POV Everyone around here has been acting a little weird lately. No one seems to have time to talk and they are always in a hurry. Even Kendall seems distracted at times, I know we have a lot going on, but he has been so attentive from day one that it has me worried. Could our bond be broken or maybe just not as strong as everyone else’s seems to be? I really just don’t understand. I have decided that I am going to meet with Nikki and the rest of the girls at K&T this morning. I am in serious need of some girl time and a decent macchiato. I went to knock on Kendall’s office door and let him know I will be leaving for the day. “Come in,” he called out when I knocked. Gordon and Bertie were in the office with Kendall and it looks as though they are going over some sort of paperwork. I walked over and gave Kendall a kiss and said, “I am heading over to Cold Moon to have macchiatos with the girls, I will be back this afternoon. Kendall reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys
Kendall POV Things went so well meeting with the elders today and I couldn’t be happier. I realize that a name change isn’t much in reality, but I feel like it is one more step away from my father and all of his misdeeds and something that will have a positive effect on pack morale. I am curious as to what Frankie wants to speak with me about, perhaps it is just the formality of signing the alliance that we verbally agreed to back in Atlantic City. Now that we have decided on the name change, we can move forward with the fealty ceremony and that should be another step in the right direction in the healing process of the pack. If it were a financially viable option, I would have this pack house demolished and build a new one to destroy more of the bad memories. I have a little more than two hours before Frankie should arrive and I asked Anita and Letty to keep Mia distracted while I pay Simone a visit. Hopefully they have interpreted what I had in my head into another of their stun
Mia POV I am so proud of the progress that Kendall has made at sifting through the mess left behind by Hollis and the rogues. I can’t even call that vile man Kendall’s father and would never call him an Alpha. He was a disgrace to that title and his picture is next to the definition of evil in the dictionary. I don’t understand how any person can do half of the things he has done and still sleep at night. We discovered that Hollis had a lab set up in one of the warehouses, where he was testing the effects of some of the weapons he had been trafficking on different pack members who had angered him. Dr.Lynn from Cold Moon Pack came with an experimental cure that actually worked wonders in helping those who had been experimented on. She tried to explain that she used vampire blood to make some sort of protein fusion with the endoplasmic reticulum… I am definitely not science minded and it was all gibberish to me. It worked and that’s all that really matters, right? Apparently Holli
Kendall POV I honestly didn’t know what I expected to find sifting through the mess left behind by the rogues and my father’s Beta and Gamma. But the level of depravity was astounding. They took everything they could from my people and when I say everything, I do mean everything. They collected what they called ‘taxes’ but in all reality was just their greed. The more a pack member had the more they took and worse was the treatment of unmated females no matter their status. They had the packhouse running as a brothel and if a female wouldn’t submit to their whims… I just can’t even talk about it. Poor Cookie won’t tell me what she has been through and I won’t force it, but I know it had to have been bad. I accidentally knocked the broom onto the floor when I entered the kitchen and she went into complete hysterics. I had to call Dr. Lynn who came from the Cold Moon Pack hospital to sedate her. I spoke to the human authorities this morning and found that they would not allow me to
Mia POV After the battle was over, our injured and dead were transported off of the field. Kendall, my dad and I made our way to the Rip Claw packhouse. Kendall asked one of the omegas to get some fresh clothing and show my dad to the guest suite so he can shower and change. We stopped by Keegan’s room to find something for me to change into, then we made our way to Kendall’s room to shower and change. I wasn’t completely thrilled with wearing his psycho, dead sister’s clothes, but now is not the time to be picky. “How do you feel, Alpha?” I asked as we undressed quickly to get into the shower. “Relieved it’s over, if I am totally honest,” he sighed. “We freed our people and that is the important part,” I replied. “You said our people,” Kendall grinned. I looked down not knowing if I had misspoken and said, “Well, I hope they are our people anyway. You haven’t changed your mind have you?” He used a finger to lift my chin and his eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yes Luna, they are our
Kendall POV We spent the day in training yesterday and I have to say watching Mia was truly fascinating. She is remarkable both in hand to hand and in wolf form. Her movements were fierce yet graceful; she was no delicate little flower. I have said it before and I will likely say it many times more; She is my treasure, my perfect blessing from Selene. Today is the day and I wish I could say that I am ready for it but the truth is I have slept for crap these last two nights. Don’t get me wrong there is no love lost over killing my father. Quite the opposite actually. It has been two nights of the same thing on loop in my dreams, my father telling me I am worthless, I can’t do this, and he will always win. Today is the day I prove him wrong though once and for all. He may be dead, but he is still in my head and the sooner we free Rip Claw from the rogues and begin rebuilding, the better. There is so much riding on this that if I let my father’s words sway me, I would fail. Failure is