#Chapter 114: Emergency Room

I’m hastily ushered from the packed Emergency Room lobby to a smaller waiting area - stationing me in a kind of alcove within a long hallway.

Although the hall is a separate wing in the ER and isolated from all the patient rooms and nursing stations, none of the bustling activity is fully dampened, leaving me exposed to its sights and sounds.

I hug my head in anguish and listen as beeps echo, phones ring, sneakers squeak across tiles, voices fill the air with overhead paging, and carts trundle down the hallways. An unpleasant stench of bleach, blood and sickness assaul

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 115: ICU

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 116: Recovering

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 117: The Rabbit

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 118: Sake, to Erase

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 119: Hidden Emotions

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 120: The Gap Under the Door

  Kadeem breaks into a surprised laugh. “Are you, now,” he asks.And he is a wet dream staring at me beneath a fringe of long, sooty ashes. His chiseled arms are crossed over his toned chest, midnight hair falling softly against his brow.I answer by pulling my shirt off and throwing it at him. He catches it with a wry smile that shows off his dimples and shakes his head in quiet amusement.I’m on top of him before he knows what’s happening next, pushing him down onto the bed as I straddle him. His arms wrap around me tightly and his lips press against the nape of my neck, sending tingles down my spine.I feel his erection and I’m unable to suppress the urge to grind against it.“Mom?”Damn it. Kadeem and I freeze.Erbao’s voice is coming from the other side of the door.“Where’s Kadeem?”I inhale sharply. “He’ll be back in a second,” I call. “Just go outside and wait for him.”“Okay.” Erbao sighs. I hear his feet as he trudges off.None of my desire’s been dampened. If anything, I’m m

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• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Epilogue, Part 2: Sonnet 116

  Shitty, shit, shit!Kadeem quietly gauges my reaction.“Kadeem,” I begin, not wanting to hurt him, but panicky all the same, “Could we just - pretend you didn’t give me this?” It comes out in the vein of an anxious Western villain. Walk away slowly, and no one gets hurt.“Suit yourself.” He goes back to working on his computer. “But you might like what you see in there,” he adds.I run my fingers over the soft, velvety surface of the box. My voice comes out high-pitched as I try to change the subject. “Are you getting nervous about your surgery?”“No.”“Really?”“It doesn’t ruffle my feathers,” Kadeem mumbles, half-distracted. He pauses. “Erbao’s surgery on the other hand…”My stomach knots at the thought of it. “Me too. But for both of you.”“It’ll all be worth it,” he says, looking up to smile.Seeing Erbao healthy will be worth it. Thank the Goddess Kadeem was a match for his kidney transplant.“Something did ruffle your feathers once,” I say, “Maybe something medical.”“Impossible

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Epilogue, Part 1: The Final Rose

  Outside of Kadeem's health club, his security guard, Nora, is aggressively confronting someone. As expected.She shoots me her usual scowl when I pass by, but I don't acknowledge it, and simply yank the door open to go inside. I told Kadeem to fire her, but he doesn’t listen.I’m not giving up, though.I head over to the check-in area where my main rival, Rory, is lazily answering a phone call. A pile of white gym towels on the counter behind him is waiting to be folded.My left arm is braced across my chest in a sling and cast, but I make sure to lean my good arm casually on the counter like I own the place. Because, let’s face it, I pretty much do."I'm here to see Kadeem," I announce, adding a sarcastic, "Is that alright with you?"Rory gives me an icy glare before turning his attention back to his call. I drum my fingers on the counter and flash him an innocent smile before walking away."Yes, sir," he mumbles into the phone, before whispering a snide, "If he wants you around.""H

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 150: The Fray

  Orange and yellow leaves dot the sidewalk outside of the pack headquarters where I huddle with the kids as we prepare for our next move. Despite the chill in the air, beads of sweat are dripping down the back of my neck.Thanks to Jack’s magic and a shit ton of luck, we left Sasha, Gabe, and the rest of our captors unconscious and tied up in Kadeem’s cabin. Jack stayed behind to help Riley before setting out to slay his mother. Talk about an Electra complex.I take a moment to catch my breath when the sounds of a growing commotion come from the Council building. Without warning, Erbao bolts off, charging up the concrete steps, his eyes blazing with determination.“HEY!” I belt out. Bob could have dozens of henchmen stationed inside. Worse, he could have already seized control of Red Moon.Erbao ignores me and his siblings rush after him. My heart is a race car, but my legs are still Jello from wolfsbane. All I can do is stumble after them as they burst through the doors of the crowded

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 149: Hero

  The pack headquarters was in an ordinary brick building, tucked away right in the heart of the city. The activity was minimal, except for nights when the council met - usually on the full moon. Even then, it was never bustling. It was a seat of immense power, but it looked an awful lot like a local Elk’s Club.Today was different.Pack members, raw with emotion, gathered like storm clouds at the downtown HQ. As dawn broke, Council Elders fought to maintain control of the room, elbow-to-elbow with Weres demanding answers.The vampire attack had come without warning, had been brutal and swift. The enemy was fueled with a devastating strength, leaving many injuries and fatalities.Amidst all of the chaos, one question loomed over them all: Where was their Alpha?It was into this pressure cooker that Kadeem allowed himself to be dragged in by Bob.The room erupted at the sight of him. Even the stoic Council gasped in shock. Bob was barreling in Kadeem with a ruthless force - leather boots

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 148: Reckless

  ArdalJust like that, our goodbye is cut. I slump against the couch, head in my hands."I'm sorry," Jack says.I lift my head to shoot him a fiery glare.The first rays of sun are lighting the windows. Around us, the quintuplets are Energizer bunnies- getting cranky, maybe, but still going. I'm scraping by on their fumes and my emotional torment.Guilt is splashed across Jack's face.What am I actually seeing?I scrutinize him, hard. The emotion looks utterly real. For a second I am so disgusted, it renders me speechless."You’re pathological," I spit out.He flinches at my words. I picture myself wolfing out and tearing him to bits.Well, it’s a split between that, and throwing myself into his arms to melt into him. Inexplicably, my confusing feelings for him will not die. It only makes me hate him- and myself- more. My hands ball into fists and I battle the urge to scream.Sasha pockets her phone. Next to Jack, Lottie and Milo fight over the box of cookies."Sit tight for now," Sash

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 147: In the Wee Small Hours

  The stage is set.I've got to hand it to Bob, he's built a well-oiled network of evil and orchestrated his plan perfectly.Kadeem will be taken in front of the Council elders. He'll be blamed for everything from Susan's death to the vampire attack. Bob will get to play the hero and declare himself the rightful Alpha. Kadeem will be killed.It's everything Bob hoped for.His henchmen arrive in the darkness to haul off me, Jack, and Riley. Jack is coming to, Riley's still holding on, and I'm less noodle-like, but I fake incapacity, forcing one of them to lift me from the ground and half-carry me, supporting my weight.My last glimpse of Kadeem is as weighty as you would imagine. There's no fear in his eyes, though. I'm starting to feel hints of my inner wolf again and the emotional link between us. What I pick up from him is exactly what he's projecting outwards: calm.It sets me off. Where's the anger?! The steely determination?! The whirling thoughts as he plans a way out of things?!

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 146: “Ten Duel Commandments”

  Kadeem's eyes flash like lightning.The wind picks up, stirring the night air and whipping up a swirl of leaves. On the ground nearby, Susan's tresses blow gently across her face, still staring lifelessly into the darkness ahead."Guess you've got it all figured out," Kadeem says quietly, almost eerily calm. His gaze shifts to Riley, who's lying unconscious on a bed of leaves. "But you forgot her.""Collateral damage," Bob shrugs. "I was planning on having her killed anyway. No way I can trust her."A low growl rumbles from Kadeem's throat. "No deal, then."Bob laughs. "If you think you have any kind of leverage over me, you're sadly mistaken. I've got more than enough to ensure your compliance, including your sweetie over there." He gestures lazily in my direction as he approaches Riley, still hovering somewhere between life and death."I'll give her a warrior's end," he says, staring down at her. "The Council will believe she died trying to stop you, trying to protect the pack."Nex

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 145: No Way Out

  Kadeem glares at Bob. “Cooperate?" he spats. "You should know me better than that."Kadeem is on the ground, his weight supported by a tree. Exhaustion is etched into his sweat-covered face and the blood from his shoulder has seeped into the fabric of his shirt, staining it bright red.Nearby, Jack's sole focus is on the medical emergency in front of him. He's been working quickly to keep Kadeem's beta alive, turning her onto her side, holding pressure against her stab wound and checking her pulse.Increasingly drowsy, the sound of Bob chuckling in response to Kadeem is faint in my ears. Susan yanks me by my wrists and begins to drag me along the damp ground, limping as she goes. Before my eyes grow too heavy, I glimpse the deep bites around her right shin and calf."If you hurt her-"I'm too weak to take advantage of her injury and I don't resist. I simply wonder what the point is. Why expend her energy to put more distance between me and the others?In this current state of affairs,

• The Reawakened Mates and their Quintuplets   #Chapter 144: Knives Out

  Riley spoke in a low, urgent whisper. "One wrong move and you're dead, got it?"Rayburn's voice rose as he responded fiercely, "Perhaps at some point you'll realize I haven't done anything wrong and I'm not going-"Kadeem whipped around to interrupt him with an icy growl. They were on the brink of reaching Ardal, and Riley had made a dangerous gamble by freeing Rayburn.Kadeem could only hope it wouldn't backfire on them.He knew Riley well enough to guess her thought process. Intimidation was part of the game, and Kadeem showing up with his distracted beta tagging after him while she juggled a captive was no good. Riley wanted it made clear that Kadeem had back-up, and she needed to give herself the chance to fight by his side when it boiled down to it.But Kadeem also knew the reality of their situation. Now, there was nothing to prevent Rayburn from using the spell that had knocked them unconscious in the woods, killing them, or worse: going after Ardal or the kids. What were the o