The second I set my eyes on the blood-soaked baby on Mia’s chest, I found myself kneeling at her bedside. This is my heart split into two people, my entire life in front of me and I knew at that moment that I would kill anyone who tried to hurt them.A burst of pride shot through my chest, chasing away all the bad, all the shame and doubts that I would be a good parent. In its place stood steely determination and a fierce, overprotective love I have never felt before.Did my father not feel this when I was born or was it only reserved for my brother? Did my mother feel the same love and pride shining in Mia’s eyes? How could they not feel this way about their own children? How cold do you have to be to not love the little person you helped make?“Would you do the honor, Alpha?” Lilah asks me as she holds up the umbilical cord. I don’t even have to think twice, forgoing the scissors and using my teeth as Knox feels immense pride for using him to bite through the cord.I wipe the blood
There’s warmth everywhere and I’m floating on a cloud of bliss. Sunlight touches my skin and it feels like it’s penetrating every inch of my skin, filling me up with nothing but contentment.I haven’t felt this happy since Niko told me he loves me, and the memory alone brings a smile to my face. Closing my eyes, I allow myself to drift some more, knowing that this happiness won’t leave me wherever I end up.Then I feel a shift in the air, and a crack of lightning splits the sky. That warmth is now replaced by a chill, and my blue skies are now tainted with black clouds. “Mira, wake up!” I hear a voice calling me, It sounds like a whisper, then it swells. “Mira, wake up! There’s danger! An enemy is close!”My eyes shoot open and I sit up in bed too quickly; a dizzy spell threatens to pull me under again and I blink the hazy feeling away. I take a few breaths, placing a hand on my heart to steady myself. What had woken me up? Oh, it was a voice, wasn’t it? Wait…was it Star’s voice? Da
“Mia, wait,” Niko pulls me back and a look of concern slips into his eyes. “Please don’t do anything rash, okay? These women-”“Are nothing but cowards,” I say and pull my arm out of his grip. “The only thing they know how to do well is corrupt children; they’re cowards.”His lips are a thin line and I know he’s a ball of anxiety right now, so I get on my tiptoes and give him a chaste kiss. “I pull my strength from you, my love, you can do the same to me. Let me help you through this.”If we’re right and his abusers are in there along with Lilah, then this will be the first time he’ll be facing them since they left him for dead. How will he react to seeing them, and is this wise?Nodding, he takes a deep breath and takes my hand in his before calling the Gammas and Maxim over the mind link. /“We’re heading towards them now; surround them and stay back until my go-ahead,”/ he says and they respond with ‘Yes, Alpha.’ Then he takes my hand, kisses the back of it and we walk to where I c
“Kneel, dog.”Two words spoken in my mother’s voice and the dormant memories come hurtling toward me at full speed. I can clearly feel the lick of the whip on my back, the cigarettes put out on my skin, the way her dagger separated my flesh…And the guilt coursing through me when one of her clients brought my body to climax./“Get to your feet, Nikolaos! You cannot let her win!”/ Knox urges me, but his voice becomes fainter and fainter until I can see his mouth moving with no sound coming out.Shameful thoughts keep me prisoner even as I hear Mia call to me, begging me to get to my feet. But how do I tell her these thoughts are like silver chains holding me down and forcing my submission? How do I explain that I can clearly remember - no I FEEL everything I went through at her hands?I thought I was over the fear; I thought Mia’s love had pulled me out of the depths, but I was so, so wrong. My soul is still ruined and my mind is still trapped in the past. Right now, I am not the Alpha
I look over at Niko with a frown on my face. We’ve stopped in front of the gilded gates where the Elders supposedly live and from what he’s told me, they don’t know he’s here. I suspect he’s about to retaliate for what happened, but I cannot be sure. “Are you going to tell me why we’re here?” I ask, a sliver of unease slipping down my back. “You haven’t mentioned a thing and to be honest, this is all freaking me out.” It’s nearly 8 PM; the Gammas are on foot, Maxim is overseeing things back home and Ares is asleep on the backseat in his little chair. Why would he have the Pente out here with us if it wasn’t an infiltration? What does Niko have planned? Niko reaches over and touches my chin. “Do you trust me?” I scoff. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I trust you!” I say, then he leans over to place a kiss on my lips. “Then trust me now. No matter what you see or hear in there, trust me and my words,” he says cryptically and gets out of the car. Walking over to where Are
I don’t know how long I’ve been laughing for, but I can no longer feel my cheeks. My sides ache from trying to breathe while laughing, one side of my face is smeared with frosting and the glitter bombs they shoot at me have my hair all tangled up. Doubled over, full of cake, and laughing at Niko looking confused at the sight in front of him. It’s the afternoon of the autumnal Equinox, and I along with the Pente brides have decided to get to know each other better. They’ve moved onto the pack lands and are staying in the mansion with us until they’re married to their partners. Maxim still hasn’t returned after going out to look for his missing bride, but Niko doesn’t seem worried about it. Me, on the other hand, I am not sure if I’m worried about the bride or Maxim himself. I get up and walk towards him, throwing my arms around his neck. “Hello, my love,” I greet him in a cheery voice. “I didn’t expect you back until later this evening.” “The meetings wrapped up sooner than expect
-Anika/Anya-The blinding lights of the stage hit me even harder than my captor did an hour ago. All eyes are on me as I stand in nothing but a low-cut chiffon dress, barefoot, and with a face full of makeup to cover my cuts and bruises.“Don’t do anything to her face, assholes!” one of my captors had said, but the damage had been done. All because I had been too out of it to notice what had been done to me… What they would still do to me.I landed in Las Vegas yesterday, ready to celebrate my 21st birthday with a few close friends. Everything was perfect until we reached our final hotel bar crawl. We ordered glasses of champagne, and when I got up to head to the bathroom, a hand clamped around my mouth, and darkness took me before I could scream for help from Liev, my personal guard.Guards, you ask? Well, my name is Anya Popov, and before my abduction, I was the only daughter of a Russian Alpha Pakhan - a mafia princess for a better term. The only difference is I’m human - a flaw to
I may be the daughter of an Alpha but I am no one’s sold bride.The second my Papa told me he’ll be giving me to the Alpha in the East, I knew my life would no longer be mine. I started planning my escape; saving money and knowing the only open window will be when I get taken to be paraded in front of the Alpha. I didn’t have a choice in this; I would never have a choice of my own again. I’ll belong to one of his men and there was nothing I could do about it because it’s ‘for the good of the pack.’Does my Papa take me for a fool? I can’t let this happen, I would rather die, and live as a homeless wench than be someone’s little toy. He should have known better since I have my Mama’s rebelliousness. The Herrera fire lives on in me even if he tried to train me to be gentle.Now here I am, hiding in a dingy motel with the hope that the Alpha doesn’t send anyone after me.Not that I think he will; I’m sure he has plenty of other brides he can choose from. I’ll give it about a week or two