ALEKSANDR When Ace asked to be assigned patrols, my first instinct was to panic and fight back against the idea. Rieka had already been attacked, and we’d increased security around her children. Why on earth would I risk putting him out on patrol?! Then he argued his point, and quite well I might add. Rieka linked me to let me know that she would defer to my judgement on this, and I had to make myself stop and really think it over. Logically, if he was my biological son and had been through all these trainings, I would have already put him on a patrol shift by now. But would it be the same in these circumstances, with threats lingering? “I’m sorry, Ace, but I’m going to need some time to think it over.” He looked disappointed, and I knew it was a bit of a copout on my part, to stall for time, but he also didn’t argue. I mean, I didn’t say no, so he still had hope. Ace turned to leave, and although he was disappointed, he held his head high, like a true alpha. The door click
ALEKSANDR The entire pack had been notified of Jacinda’s betrayal and warned that now Emmett was not only a traitor to the pack, but also considered highly dangerous because he’s aligned himself with this evil female. There was a dark cloud settling over the pack and the tension continued to build. How had I failed my pack and my mate so terribly? My wolf was in a constant state of agitation and clawing to get out and hunt down our enemies. He didn’t care that Jacinda was more powerful than us and she could probably kill us handily if she really wanted to. We needed a plan. She might be powerful, but she can’t take on an entire pack of wolves at once. We just need to be prepared so that when she reappears, we can overpower her. ----- JACINDA “Tell me why I shouldn’t just drag you to the alpha and turn you in right now?” The wolf tried to play it cool, but I could sense his emotions. He was both nervous and excited at the same time. Emmett and I had been circling the terri
ALEKSANDR Meeting with the team was so much easier now that I could pull Rieka into any group mind link. Ivan was the first to arrive, but Jericho and Gina showed up shortly after. Although she wasn’t officially part of the leadership team, I also included my mother in this meeting. The value of all of her years of experience as the packs luna was immeasurable. ‘We need to prepare the pack to take on Jacinda if she shows up here again.’ I explain to the team as they all gaped at me. ‘She is powerful enough to hold me back, but I don’t think she can’t take on an entire pack by herself.’ ‘Do you really think she’ll try to return?’ Jericho challenged. ‘I hope not, but we need to be prepared just in case she does.’ ‘Honestly, we don’t know the strength of her power,’ Rieka chimed in, ‘We never really discussed that with her. We know she is strong, but everyone has their limits. Our best chance of beating her is by trying to overwhelm her with the size of the pack.’ I nodded an
RIEKA “Does Aleksandr know?” “About my gift fading? No, I’d assume not,” she shook her head. “There was no seer in my original pack, so I had no one to teach me. When I mated Nikolai, I’d hoped to find someone here in the Silver Eclipse Pack who could help train me, but there was no seer in this pack either.” “That must have been so difficult! I can’t imagine having no one to help me navigate these abilities!” Lis shrugged but smiled, “There was a lot we didn’t know about seers, and I’ve been slowly learning more about this gift over the years. I’ve had to seek out other seers to ask questions and try to learn from them and their experiences, but not every pack has one, so we’ve all learned from one another. We are extremely blessed to have two in succession here in Silver Eclipse.” “I had no idea that being a seer was so rare in the packs. Had the others been in communication with one another when you started reaching out to them?” “No, I actually tracked many of them dow
JACINDAIt didn’t take long to get the male talking after we said few unflattering things about the alpha. In fact, once he started talking, it was hard to get him to shut up. He was giving me a headache with all his yammering on, but the real challenge was getting any valuable information out of him.He said his name was Beau, and at least it fit him. He was indeed beautiful, but he seemed to talk in circles without ever actually saying anything useful. I couldn’t figure out if that was by design, or if he was just an idiot.It was in moments like this that I wished Emmett had marked me so that *hopefully* we’d be able to mind link, but I understood his reasons for wanting to wait.Now we sat here listening to this moron go on and on about how important he was, and how he was chosen for his role because he was the only one who could do it.For the first time in my life, I felt trapped. I couldn’t escape this hell because we needed to know what he knew. I could have easily invad
ALEKSANDR We called for the warriors to come for reevaluation first. We started with those who had the day off from patrols, and then would slowly start working through different groups. Although I wanted to be there for the evaluations, I also didn’t want to be separated from Rieka, so she came along as well. I held her close and did my best to protect her, and she didn’t seem to mind, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I didn’t feel like she was safe. It was a painful revelation that I didn’t trust my own pack to protect my mate and their luna. If I really wanted to break it down, I trusted at least fifty percent of them and I was feeling fairly confident about their loyalty. The other fifty percent I was suspicious of but had yet to see any evidence of betrayal to back up my suspicions. It was most likely just because they were the pack members I didn’t know as well. As we began to observe the evaluations conducted by Ivan, Jericho, and Gina, I started to get
JACINDA What was a child doing all the way out here, alone, in the middle of the night?! This little girl looked to be about ten years old. A bit young to have a wolf, but not impossible. Though usually when a wolf shifted this young, they had alpha blood, and we were certain that Alpha Aleksandr did not have any biological children. “Do any other alphas from nearby packs have a daughter this age?” I whispered to my mate. Emmett shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.” I cursed under my breath. This was not a part of our plan. I don’t want to see a child get hurt, and don’t really want to leave her to fend for herself, but we also can’t reveal ourselves to save her. Who is she and what is she doing out here? Is she lost? There is no reason that she would be lost. If she already has a wolf, her wolf should be able to help her find her way back home. We watched her for a few minutes longer. She weaved between the trees, slowly moving further away from the territory border
JACINDA Everything went black, and then there was an immediate flash of light and I found myself standing in a large, open field surrounded by flowers and a small stream off in the distance. The sun was shining, and birds were chirping in the trees at the edge of the clearing. It was peaceful. Quite possibly the most peaceful moment I’d ever experienced in my life. Part of me wanted to lie down in the grass and take a nap, but my brain kept reminding me that I was here for a purpose, and I needed to figure out what that was. Standing in the field, slowly spinning around, my eyes were searching for any sign that could indicate why I was here. After making four rotations and not seeing anything helpful, the desire to lie down had grown significantly stronger and I was tempted again to rest in the peacefulness of this place. I almost caved, but then I forced myself to stand strong. Walking would be helpful to keep me awake and alert, I decided, so I began walking towards the smal
ALEKSANDRAs eager as I was to see Rieka, my mother had already made it clear that she was stable, and Dustin, my best friend and my Beta, was awake!I turned down the hall towards the room where Drea and little Link had been staying with him.It was a joy to hear his voice as I approached the room.Although I am the alpha and this is my pack house, I didn’t want to walk in and interrupt the moment this family was reunited.I slowed in the hallway as I approached the door, and as I raised my hand to knock, Dustin’s voice broke through my mind.‘You don’t need to knock Alpha!’Laughing, I lowered my hand to grab the handle and open the door.I’m not usually an emotional male, but when I saw Dustin sitting up in bed with Drea beside him and Link in his arms, my vision blurred from the tears welling up in my eyes.“It’s good to see you up!” I smiled“It’s good to be up!” He answered with a twinkle in his eye.“What happened? How did you get out of that?”“Jacinda released me.” Dustin
EMMETT A game? I turned to look at the alpha and, on the surface, he looked bored, but there was something in his eye that felt like a warning. He’s planning something. If I want to figure out what it is, I need to play along. Who knows, maybe I do have some special abilities that this crazy little she-wolf can help me unlock. “Okay,” I smiled cockily, “How do we play?” “Oh, yay! This will be fun!” Devan jumped up and down excitedly. There was something very child-like about her. It seemed odd, but then again, she was working with an interesting pack, so who was I to judge her behavior. “We can’t play here. There isn’t enough space,” she grinned, “Follow me.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and disappeared between the curtains. Slowly, I stepped forward, attempting to appear confident but unbothered to rush. I still couldn’t get a good read on this alpha and I was unsure if he expected me to listen to Devan and do as she said or wait for his instructions. Whe
EMMETTStartled by the sound, I spun around to see a petite female with wild, curly red hair standing next to the curtain that framed the shadows beyond.She was wearing a bright, cherry-red pantsuit with a white blouse and black heels. Her clothes looked much too clean and professional to be in a place like this, however, her wild, unkempt hair and pale, almost translucent, skin fit perfectly with the vibe of this underground labyrinth.She was pretty enough, albeit very small for a wolf. The things that unnerved me though, were her eyes. Framed with dark makeup, they were such a light grey that they almost looked like they had been drained of life itself. There was a vacancy in her gaze that made me feel like she wasn’t fully here.I realized I was staring, and a slow, devious smirk made its way across her red lips.“It’s been a long time since I saw another red wolf,” her voice was higher than I expected, but not childlike.“This is Devan,” the alpha gestured towards the female
ALEKSANDR As I rushed towards the house that I’d been told was where the mother of the pup lived, my natural instinct was to scent the air. I knew that Jacinda didn’t have a detectable scent, but that didn’t stop my wolf from searching for her with every sense he possessed. Glancing through a window as I approached the house, I thought I saw two women standing inside. I rushed to the door and thought about shifting, but Jacinda had already had me in compromising situations too many times before, so I remined in my wolf form to avoid being naked in front of her. My weight slammed the door open with such a force that it hit the wall and I heard a loud crack. I would apologize later and make sure the door was properly repaired. Turning in the room, eyes searching, I saw a she-wolf standing there in shock with her mouth open, but there was no one else with her. I opened my mind through the pack link to the she-wolf before me. ‘Where is she?’ I demanded. ‘I know I saw her through
ALEKSANDRPanic, anger, and fear flowed through my body like I’d never felt it before. Why does the moon goddess taunt me. All the strength and power I possess as an alpha, and it’s all worthless. I hated that my mate was once again in danger, and there was literally NOTHING I could do to save her.Here I am, one of the most powerful alphas in the world, and I’m powerless to save and protect my own mate.Leaving my mother with Rieka, I had to move. I had to do something, to take action.Flinging the door to the pack house open, and smelling the forest outside, I immediately shift into my wolf and took off towards the homes of the pack members. I only had one idea left for who could help, and as much as I didn’t want to go there, I was desperate.The challenge was how to find her. Jacinda has a skill for staying hidden when she doesn’t want to be bothered, but she had to know what was going on.With only one idea of how to find her, I went to the only place I thought she would be
ALEKSANDR After several minutes of trying to rouse Rieka without success, I began to panic. My natural instinct was to shake her harder to wake her, but I knew that wouldn’t help. I would be extremely frustrated with myself if I ever hurt her, but even more so at a time like this when she was unconscious. ‘Mom, something is wrong with Rieka!’ I linked, ‘Please come to our room immediately!’ ‘I’ll be there in three minutes,’ she responded promptly. ----- I was pacing the room growling to myself when the door opened, and my mother flicked the lights on before rushing over to the bed. Lightly placing the back of her hand over Rieka’s forehead she asks, “How long has she been like this?” “I just came in and found her like this about 10 minutes ago. What is going on?” My mother remained silent as she examined my mate. Then she clasped both of Rieka’s hands together, closed her eyes, and bowed her head until her forehead touched Rieka’s. I watched in awe as my mother began to ra
I'm so sorry that I didn't post this sooner to keep you all updated, but my mental load is streched beyond capactity right now and I am forced to take a short break for both my mental and physical health. I will do my best to keep writing over the holidays and will continue publishing in January as we come to an end for this novel. You all have been so patient, understanding, and supportive of me over the last year as my family has faced some MAJOR changes and challenges, I promise you will not be disapointed with the ending to this story. I'm just sorry that it's being delayed. Check back by Wednesday January 3rd for more updates! Much Love,Anja
JACINDA I couldn’t believe how much Maeve was opening up to me and sharing with me. The more I learned about this alpha, the more I wanted to end him, but I didn’t dare interrupt her story. “I was doing everything I could to be cooperative, to make him and the guards trust me. My pregnancy was easy and even though I knew the alpha didn’t care about me, he was very interested in the pup I carried, and he visited me regularly. He had the pack doctor monitor my pregnancy very closely to see how strong the pup was.” “Before I gave birth, I started having recurring dreams of me and a baby girl. I would be holding her, and she would smile and giggle, but then the alpha would show up, and she would begin crying. The alpha always wanted to hold her, but she would just cry louder, so he would get frustrated and hand her back to me.” “A few weeks later, the alpha left the territory. I didn’t know where he was going but I knew he’d be gone for at least a week. He left the doctor with s
RIEKA The moment I stepped into the space between the curtains, I was enveloped in cold darkness. I couldn’t see a thing, and besides the cold I could only feel the ground beneath my feet. Slowly shuffling my feet forward, feeling for a drop or a wall, I pushed myself to keep going. After moving straight ahead a few feet, my toes felt something warm and I knew I must have found the other side. I reached my hands forward and my fingers felt the warmth as well. One bold step and I found myself in a small warm room that looked vaguely similar to my mate’s office. There was a desk where the alpha was sitting comfortably; his chair reclined, and his feet propped up on the desk. There were two chairs in front of the desk, but Emmett was standing beside them rather than sitting. This space was darker than the large room we’d just come from, so I stayed close to curtain hoping I would not be noticed by Emmett. “Tell me, red wolf, what is it that you’re hoping to gain by coming here?