What do you think of Quirin and Warren's talk?
KennedyAs I wake, I realize several things at once. First, it’s like there’s a tight hold on my mind, like the entire pack is holding on to me. Second, Echo is silent. And third, for the first time that I can remember, Quirin’s mind is open to me.‘You’re awake,’ his voice floats into my mind.‘What’s going on?’ I ask, shifting and realizing that I feel stiff.‘What do you remember?’ he asks softly.I try to focus my mind, try to remember what happened. I was captured. I was injured. I ran ... “Echo!” I say out loud, terrified that I’ve lost my wolf.“Shhh. I’m right here,” Quirin says from beside me. “Raif, your family, and the pack all have a tight hold on Echo. No one is letting her go. We’re all giving her the strength she needs to heal. Your mom says she exhausted herself and that you were both very weak ...”He stops and I turn to look at him. He looks awful. His eyes are red-rimmed and haunted looking, his face has at least a day’s worth of growth on it, and his clothes are wri
AriannaWe all felt Luna’s consciousness when she woke up. What we didn’t feel was her wolf’s.“Do you think she’ll get her wolf back, Kier?” I had gone to seek him out, needing reassurance. I know he’s working hard, keeping the pack safe while Alpha Quirin is with Luna Kennedy in the hospital. So, I brought him some food. It was a good excuse to go see him.As busy as he is and as exhausted as he looks, he stops what he’s doing to come pull me into a hug.“I trust Luna Yara and she says Luna Kennedy's wolf will come back, so we’re all going to believe that,” he says, wrapping his arms around me. I feel him sigh as he breathes in my scent. I wrap my arms around him and hold him, letting him take strength from the mate bond.“What do you have planned for today?” he asks.“I thought I’d go see Christy. I don’t know if I can help her, but I have some understanding of what she went through,” I tell him.I’m surprised when he smiles at me, gently running his hand over my hair.“What is that
Quirin“She’s still asleep?” Luna Yara asks, coming into the room.“Yeah. I think she’s starting to wake up. Her mind is feeling a bit more active,” I say, looking down at my mate who is still sleeping in my lap. I didn’t want to move her and I knew that she’d sleep better in my arms, and well, I just needed to hold her.“I think she might be a bit too comfortable. She needs to wake up to eat,” Yara says, smiling as she comes over to check her daughter.I look up at the woman who changed the path of my life so many years ago. “Thank you for saving her life.”She smiles at me. “You never have to thank me for saving a life. It’s what I do, and it’s what Kennedy does. We’re both very good at it, but I think that when she’s finished with medical school, she’ll be better at it than I am.”I ignore the part about not needing to thank her. Luna Yara has always been very humble about the significance of what she does. She saves lives and by saving one medically, she saves so many others by kee
KennedyI don’t like feeling weak, I hate that Echo is silent, but I’m loving every minute of being inside Quirin’s mind. His mind is just like he is, rough and rugged on the outside, but soft and gentle underneath, or at least it is towards me. And I like that a lot too. Now that I’m in his head, I can feel the difference in how he feels about me and how he feels about others, even our pack members. He loves them, in his Quirin way, but his love for me is all-encompassing.‘I like having you in my mind. I didn’t think I would, but it’s like walking through a meadow on a sunny day. It feels like the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing and butterflies are fluttering around,’ he says in the mind link.I smile up at my mate. My mate who apparently makes Alpha quake in their shoes, but tells me my mind feels like something out of a Disney movie.‘If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it,’ he grumbles.‘Your secret is safe with me, my love,’ I say, watching his sexy Quirin smile spread across h
KierWhen Arianna said she had an announcement, my heart stopped. My mate isn’t one to stand in front of people and speak, much less the entire pack. So I knew it was important.When she turned to look at me, I could barely breathe. I was terrified that I’d miss something or misunderstand something that she was saying. Then, she said she accepted me. She said the words that I’ve been waiting to hear for over a year. She wants me. I can’t even believe she thought she had to ask if I still wanted her.I probably shouldn’t have kissed her like that in front of everyone, but thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice that the entire pack began cheering for us.When I finally dragged myself away from the kiss, I brushed the tears off of Arianna’s cheeks. “I have wanted you from the moment I first smelled your lavender and chamomile scent. From the moment that I first laid eyes on you, there has never been anyone else for me.”I kissed her again, more quickly this time as I could feel the pack pu
AriannaI knew Kier would take his time. I knew he’d told me that being intimate was supposed to feel good, but I’d never guessed that it would feel THAT good. I was shocked when the heat that was building in my core like a hot furnace, exploded in my body. I had grabbed on to Kier’s body, holding him as my own body felt like it was shattering into millions of pieces.Then he’d kissed me and slowly helped my body piece itself together again. After that, what was left?Apparently, there’s more. A lot more.I know he’s watching me to make sure I’m okay with everything he’s doing, but I also get the impression that he likes my body, likes watching how I’m reacting to his touch.“Did you like that?”“That was ...” What do I say? There are no words for what that was. No words that I know anyway.He smiles, as if he understands the feelings that I’m incapable of putting into words.“Can I make you come again?” Is he asking my permission or is asking me if my body will respond. The answer to
QuirinI spent some time celebrating Kier’s and Arianna’s mate bond with the pack, a celebration that continued even after they went upstairs. The pack is excited and happy. It’s such a different feeling, something I’m so unused to that I feel a bit lost without Kennedy here to help me navigate through it.“I need to head home tomorrow, Alpha Quirin. Now that I know my sister is safe, I need to return to my pack. But I’m only a phone call away if you ever need me or the pack. I’d also like you to know that you have an open invitation to my pack. Not only are you my sister’s mate, but now we’re allies. You’re welcome any time,” Connor says.“Thank you. When things settle, maybe I can bring Kennedy for a visit. A real one this time. I think she’d like that,” I say.“Are you going to come visit me too, Q? Maybe for more than a day?” Henry asks.“Yeah, yeah, we’ll come see you, too. I need to deal with Slater and Kennedy needs to heal. And I also need to figure out how to clean my pack lan
KennedyI wake up warm and comfortable, with Quirin’s sandalwood scent surrounding me. I feel a slight fluttering in my mind and I know that Echo is fighting to come back to me.‘Heal yourself, Echo. I’ll be here when you get back. I love you,’ I say in our mind. I know my wolf, she won’t stop fighting. But hopefully she can hear me and knowing that I can feel her trying will help her to feel better. I can still feel the pack holding on to her, helping her to find her way back.The next thing I feel is Quirin’s mind. I smile, loving that it’s still open to me. Right now, it’s quiet with his sleep, although, images of Slater, the pack lands, and me are flashing on repeat.‘Those are the things he’s most worried about,’ Raif says, purring in my mind but loud enough that I can feel the vibration against my body.‘Don’t wake Quirin, Raif. He needs his sleep,’ I scold him.‘What I need is for my mate to be healthy. How are you feeling, Little Pup? Sorry, I’m still half asleep. How are you f
Yorick‘Smell anything, Thad?’ I ask my wolf. I’m still in bed on this, my eighteenth birthday. I didn’t expect that my mate would be here, there’s nothing for me here in this pack, but I figured I’d better make sure.‘I would have smelled her last night if she was here,’ he says.That’s true. I guess she could be in Kennedy’s pack, but somehow, I doubt it. I’ve known for a while that my place wasn’t in either of my older siblings’ packs. I’m an Alpha wolf with an older brother who has taken over our pack. My father’s Beta and his mate have a son who has already taken over as my brother’s Beta and the same is true for our Gamma. There’s no place, no position for me in Connor’s pack.I could probably petition Quirin for is Gamma position. He’s been talking about needing to fill it and now that his life is full of pups, he needs the help, but it’s not what I want.‘We’ve made our decision,’ Thad says.We have, we just haven’t told anyone yet. I’m not sure how they will react and I’m not
QuirinTwo Years LaterI sigh with happiness, or actually, Raif sighs with happiness as we lay on the back patio with our four daughters. Just as Kennedy had hoped, there was one set of twins that looked like me and one that looked like her. We’d named them accordingly with the ones who looked like me being named Quinlee and Quilla and the twins who look like my beautiful mate named Kaylee and Kendra. What we didn’t know is how deceptive looks can be. The daughters who carry my looks are sweet and gentle like their mother. The ones who look like Kennedy have my little hellion personality.Currently, all four of them are surrounding Raif in one way or another. I’ve decided that Kendra, who was the one with the cord around her neck, was Kennedy’s little rib-kicker while she was in utero. She’s currently on Raif’s back, kicking him as hard as she can, telling him to giddy-up. Instead of getting up, he lifts his head and shakes, forcing her to hold on tight as she squeals in delight.“No,
KennedyRaif continues to purr as we walk to the hospital, and I lean my head on Quirin’s shoulder.“Are you scared?” I ask him quietly.“Terrified. As excited as I am to meet our daughters, I’ve only felt fear like this once before in my life and that’s when you were taken.”I chuckle, but the movement sends a jolt of pain through my stomach so I stop.Quirin presses a kiss to the side of my head as we walk into the hospital and straight to what he calls the ‘Kennedy Suite’. I will say, Mom is absolutely prepared for my babies to arrive. There are four bassinets, waiting to be filled, a larger than normal counter with multiple areas to bathe, measure, and weigh my little ones and all the equipment mom thinks we might need in case any of our pups or I go into distress during delivery.Quirin and I are very familiar with the procedure of me getting checked, so he hooks up the heart monitors over my stomach while mom prepares to check me. This might be my favorite part of the day, watchi
KennedyI watch as my mate sits on the edge of the bed, patiently smiling at me. He’s rubbing my belly that is huge with four pups. There’s so little space in my stomach that you can see their butts or heads or sometimes their feet when they kick out because there’s just not enough room in there.My little stomach-extenders obviously love their father more than they love me because they stop shifting around so he can touch them. Raif is purring loud enough to practically bring down the rafters in our bedroom and somehow my pups don’t seem to care that I’M the one who is just as uncomfortable as they are.Echo hasn’t gotten any stronger during my pregnancy and I’m not surprised. As soon as my Alpha pups started getting too jammed up in my stomach, they started kicking; kicking my bladder, kicking my kidneys, and kicking my ribs, sometimes hard enough to crack them. Obviously at least one of them has her father’s strength.‘What can we do to help you?’ Quirin asks in my mind so I can hea
QuirinAlpha Warren and I had walked the pack lands, testing the soil, finding the spots where there is the heaviest concentration of silver and the areas that are most important to clean up. He and I came up with a plan based on the most heavily trafficked areas in the pack, the places were pups were likely to be, and then the heaviest concentration of silver.He began working on it right away, and I’ve never been so happy to have Warren in my pack. With everything going on, I need to be focused on Kennedy and my pups, not worrying about Jasper’s silver contamination.However, Warren did tell me that he and Yara would like a house of their own. So we found a spot where the two of them wanted to build and added that the first part of clean up so we can break ground on their home. Until then, they are on our Gamma floor.I can’t say I’m getting used to the noise that constantly seems to come from that floor, but I will say that it feels like good practice for me.Today, however, Kennedy
Kennedy“Hi Henry,” I say, hearing Quirin growling low in his chest at Henry’s teasing.“Ah, shit. I’m not interrupting you two in bed, am I?” I hear him ask, although I'm pretty sure he snickered. He's obviously enjoying himself.“Do you really think I would have answered the fucking phone if I was in bed with my mate?”“You might have, if you were worried about me,” he says.“Did you call just to harass me?” Quirin asks.“Well, mostly yes, but I did call to check on Kennedy,” he says.“My mate is perfectly fine. Her mother is here to make sure that her pregnancy and delivery are going well and Echo made her reappearance again this morning,” he says, smiling down at me.“That’s awesome, Kennedy. I’m so glad to hear that. But really, I was calling to make sure you have a safe word.”“A safe word?” I ask and Quirin starts growling, louder this time.“Yeah, you know, in case Quirin keeps you locked to the bed because of his voracious need for you and you can’t get away even to use the ba
QuirinI meant what I said to Kennedy. I could live forever in her beautiful mind, surrounded by her love and light. Opening myself to her has made the tightness that has always constricted my heart snap. I feel free, light, and oh so happy. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, but one that I want to feel forever.Waking up with her warm, soft body tucked against mine, her sleepy consciousness in my head is the best way to wake up. That is, until Raif and I hear Echo’s weak voice. If I’d been standing up, I think Raif would have tossed me to the ground in his excitement to get to his mate. But as rough as he was with me, he’s nothing but gentle with her. In our shared mind space, he carefully walks to his mate and lays beside her, curling himself around her protectively. She licks his face briefly before laying her head back down. Raif begins purring at her and she sighs contentedly.“She’s back,” Kennedy whispers and I can hear the teary happiness in her voice.“Yes, she is. She’s a strong wol
KennedyAs Quirin carries me back to the packhouse, I open my mind to him and Raif, and also to Echo.‘Echo, if you can hear me, we love you. We know you’re taking care of our babies and being the excellent mother that you are. But Raif is here, Quirin is here. They will help protect our babies. You need to get strong, my wolf. I miss you,’ I tell her.Raif begins purring in both our mind and out loud. I can feel Echo fluttering in my mind, responding to the gentle call of her mate. This is what Mom told me to try. Echo will want to please her mate, to be with him again, so having Raif in my mind and helping Echo connect to him may help to strengthen her.‘I’m willing to take as much time as my mate needs to help her gain her strength again,’ Raif says. “I already knew she’d be the perfect mother to my pups, and she hasn’t disappointed me. But you need your strength, my love. I want to feel you in my mind too,' he says to her.I can almost feel Echo laying down in my mind, her own soft
QuirinI come awake feeling disoriented. Something is wrong, or ... not wrong, just off? Unexpected? What the fuck? I’m never this disoriented. And why is my bed so fucking hard? And where is my mate? I can smell her. She’s nearby.I force my eyes to open and immediately wince as the light above me shines in my eyes. Why is there a light above me? Where the fuck am I?“There he is.” I hear Luna Yara say and a moment later she’s beside me. I know this positioning. I’m in a hospital. Am I still recovering from the bear attack? No, that can’t be right. I didn’t just dream my life, did I?“Where’s Kennedy?” I ask, more harshly than is necessary.“Bathroom. She’ll be right back. How are you feeling?” she asks me.I feel fine, just disoriented.“Why am I in the hospital?” I ask, realizing that I don’t feel like I have any injuries, and I’m completely dressed except for my shoes.“What do you remember, Quirin?” she asks me in her gentle way.“Hey,” I hear my mate’s sweet voice. In a quick mot