*** Solaris POV ***I was surprised when I gained consciousness. Surprised and a little disappointed. My body hurt. Everything just had a level of pain that, while I had come to expect, was tirelessly excruciating. Without opening my eyes, I went through the checklist. Fingers, toes, wrist, ankles, arms, legs, hips, shoulders and so on until I finally confirmed that everything was working just not at its best capacity. The door to my right opened and I listened as someone walked into the room.“Where am I supposed to put this?” Sam’s hushed voice sounded a bit panic-y.“Just put it on the couch. Lay it across the back and put her bag on the seat. Don’t worry about it.” Charles sounded like he was better.I knew human shifts were painful. I’d gone through enough of helping others. Some when perfectly smooth and others ended up losing their mate. I’d seen the full spectrum of pain and anguish, which is why I was so adamant about chastising Sam. Bonds were sacred and needed to be treated
The next time I woke up, I felt a lot better than I didn’t before. The pain wasn’t better but my muscles felt like they could at least move if I begged them. Throwing the blankets off me, I slowly sat up and moved my legs to hang off the side of the bed. The floor was cold but it felt good against my bare feet. Standing up was a venture but I was finally able to put enough weight on my left leg to not wobble. Rolling my shoulders, they crackled but loosened. My body was going down hill fast.Walking over to the window, I pulled back curtains to see the chaos down below. My warriors were mulling about as Silas was standing in the middle of them, shouting at Keri. Nate was standing off to the side just like Charles and Sam described. Shaking my head, I opened I wasn’t asleep for as long as I had been before. At the very least, it looked like I hadn’t missed all the fun.Going into the bathroom, I took a shower to help relax my muscles and that helped immensely as well. Though, my entire
My legs were crossed as I sat in my chair that looked more like a throne with how we were set up. I had my hands intertwined in my lap and my back was straight. Keri said I had to choose what I needed to do but I worried about hurting them still. I loved Noah and Finn. They were my best friends, my partners, my Betas and my lovers. We had gone through so much together and hurting them was never my intention no matter how much it seemed like my actions did.Keri was on my right, Nate and Silas were standing to my left. Behind me, Colton and Dylan were standing to step in front of me. Some of my warriors who weren’t actively engaged in planning, or dealing with other orders, were standing to attention in the clearing. All armed and ready.I looked up at Keri. “Whatever you do, don’t hurt Finn.”“If he comes after you, Alpha, I’m going to put him in his place. I will avoid all vitals and his pup but a broken arm won’t hurt anything but him. Noah is free game.” She almost looked gleeful.
Nate’s arms moved and I had expected Silas to pick me up. But instead, the soothing electricity coursed through me as Nate pulled me close to his chest and stood. His body was shaking slightly but after a couple steps, it was far sturdier. “Where to Aelia?”I swallowed, trying to wet my dry mouth. “They should have set up the Alpha Prince tent for me.”“Aelia! Just come home!” Silas was standing but it was Keri, who moved from behind the tree she had been leaning against, that spoke.She put a hand on Silas’ shoulder. “She belongs there, Alpha. She belongs with her men. With her family.”Silas’ shoulders dropped and he moved out of the way. Nate started to walk, not saying anything. We wove our way through the trees and at one point I closed my eyes, leaning my head against mate.As much as my life has turned out like this, I couldn’t image if that hadn’t happened. If the Hunters had never come. When I was four, I knew Nate was my fated mate but I also saw the golden braid connecting
It started to pour sometime in the evening and only got worse as it dawned on the third day. I sat in my chair my fingers laced together, my chin resting on them. My eyes glazed over as I stared nothing, listening to the rain hit the top of my tent. Three days I hadn’t slept. I’d filled my time with everything but sleeping. Battle plans, final checks of troops, Silas’ territory terrain, the endless trails of goodbyes from my warriors. Nate had come at the behest of a few of my warriors. They were worried when I started mulling about the tents looking like the grim reaper was holding me up. He came in, didn’t say a thing as he picked me up and deposited me back into my chair inside my tent. Staying with me for a couple hours, we spoke about everything and nothing. We talked about the old house that we dreamed as kids. I shook my head as Nate tried to remember the color schemes of all the bedrooms. For a while, it was a break from the current and impending situation. Eventually though,
My sword swiftly beheaded a Hunter before plunging into heart of the one next to him. One of my swords had broken and been lost a long time ago. Looking around, it was still raining. It hadn’t even let up once. Bodies littered the ground. We had made headway, pushing the Hunters back and now we just piled them up one after another. My breath showed in the storm and it had dropped even colder from when we started a couple hours ago.Another Hunter attacked me but I nimbly turned, easily using my strength to remove his upper half from the lower half. His body fell in two as his blood sprayed all over me. My eyes still glowed, I still held onto the power as it was the only thing holding me up. The moment I let go was the moment I would leave this world. The magic in my arms, legs, and eye were even crackling under my power.I was able to see every Hunter and their aura within the area. The rain wouldn’t help my real eye but it didn’t hinder my magic one. Most of my boys had stayed in for
*** Silas POV ***Her breathing stopped. Aelia’s body fell slack in the lap of Finn, her head falling to one side. Finn screamed as Noah held onto him for dear life. Tears streamed down my face as I stared at what was my sister. Nate was curled up into a ball, wailing as he held her hand to his chest. My heart felt like it had been torn from my chest. A silver bullet straight into my heart. It hurt to breath, hurt to be alive. Eros howled within me, crying as only he knew how.She was within my grasp. I finally had her. There were so many more things I needed to tell her, wanted to tell her and that I wanted to ask her. Force her to spill all her secrets that she held from us. Ask her advice on moving forward and how I was supposed to handle the pack. Now, she was gone. My baby sister was gone.When my father said she died, I was angry. That anger drove me and helped me move forward. It’s what I lived on and thrived on. Seeing Aelia again, watching her smile, watching her be happy and
I didn’t even bother to pretend like I was working. Sam hadn’t given me any work anyways. The whole pack seemed at a standstill. Either they had come to know Aelia as the plucky fun bartender who they liked or, like my warriors, learned just how much of a badass she was. Was. Past tense. My sister was gone, again. Again she slipped through my fingers. Again she protected us. Again she gave everything up for us. But this time, there was no room for hope. She was gone for good this time. Again I couldn’t save her.The Alpha King had been called and was already marching out here to provide her with a proper funeral. Finn just about lost it when the Alpha King tried to take her body back to the castle. Finn was right though. She came here for a reason and stayed here for a reason. My lips thinned. She stayed here for us. We were the reason and now her soul would be given to the Moon Goddess from her favorite place. The place that I had originally found out that she was my sister.My messa
This is it. This is the end of Solaris' Reign and her story. I hope you all enjoyed and I'm so thankful for all of you who have stuck by over...really...these past twelve months. It's been crazy from illness, to being in the hospital, to having a baby, to still being really sick and him being sick. Then my daughter starting school. It has been a ride. Now having two kids, working through they very different personalities and being in a very different place from when we had her to where my husband and I are now. I'm lucky enough right now to do what I love. Writing is a passion for me. It's a love every since I was in middle school and I did go to college for creative writing as well. Does that make writing easier? Absolutely not. Does it make me faster? Absolutely not. But it does help me to craft better stories. One thing though is that I will NEVER abandon a book. I may take my time, I may rewrite or fix, but I will never abandon. I love writing and sometimes I wish I could just
I hopped the ledge as I saw Nate struggling to set her down. Coming up next to him, I got my hands under his arms to help with the weight. Noah came on the other side and all three of us lifted her onto the wood structure. Finn came up behind us and stepped up, taking the a small stone and pressing it to the white silk. It must have been infused with some type of magic because the white silk faded. It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to prepare. My body started to shake and I reached out, grabbing the closest thing for stability which happened to be Nate’s shoulder. They had dressed her in her uniform. It was a far cry from the bloodied and mud-caked version that I carried back to the tent. Her face looked peaceful, and even though you could see how thin she had gotten, there wasn’t the immense dark circles. She didn’t look sick. With the eyelids down, I wondered if they left her eye in. Her leg and arm were missing but I knew what originally was holding that together was her.
Tucking in my shirt, I took a couple of deep breaths. I hadn’t really slept last night. My mind and heart being pulled very which way. It was frustrating and exhausting. Today though, all I needed to do was to show up. Grabbing my watch off my dresser, I was securing the clasp on my wrist when the door to my bedroom opened.“Alpha, are you almost ready?”“Yeah, one second, Sam.”Turning, I started to walk towards him but he stared at me, looking me up and down. “Alpha…are you…not going to wear a tie?”I smirked. “Are you seriously criticizing how I’m dressed?” For the second time in two days, my jokes didn’t land.Sam frowned and furrowed his brow. “You look like you’re going into the office to work. You can’t…”Charles put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and pulled him back. “Why don’t you go get Nate? We will meet you down at pools.”Sam looked up at his mate and nodded, disappearing down the hall. Charles walked into the room and my eyes narrowed. We hadn’t spoken since he slammed the d
I didn’t even bother to pretend like I was working. Sam hadn’t given me any work anyways. The whole pack seemed at a standstill. Either they had come to know Aelia as the plucky fun bartender who they liked or, like my warriors, learned just how much of a badass she was. Was. Past tense. My sister was gone, again. Again she slipped through my fingers. Again she protected us. Again she gave everything up for us. But this time, there was no room for hope. She was gone for good this time. Again I couldn’t save her.The Alpha King had been called and was already marching out here to provide her with a proper funeral. Finn just about lost it when the Alpha King tried to take her body back to the castle. Finn was right though. She came here for a reason and stayed here for a reason. My lips thinned. She stayed here for us. We were the reason and now her soul would be given to the Moon Goddess from her favorite place. The place that I had originally found out that she was my sister.My messa
*** Silas POV ***Her breathing stopped. Aelia’s body fell slack in the lap of Finn, her head falling to one side. Finn screamed as Noah held onto him for dear life. Tears streamed down my face as I stared at what was my sister. Nate was curled up into a ball, wailing as he held her hand to his chest. My heart felt like it had been torn from my chest. A silver bullet straight into my heart. It hurt to breath, hurt to be alive. Eros howled within me, crying as only he knew how.She was within my grasp. I finally had her. There were so many more things I needed to tell her, wanted to tell her and that I wanted to ask her. Force her to spill all her secrets that she held from us. Ask her advice on moving forward and how I was supposed to handle the pack. Now, she was gone. My baby sister was gone.When my father said she died, I was angry. That anger drove me and helped me move forward. It’s what I lived on and thrived on. Seeing Aelia again, watching her smile, watching her be happy and
My sword swiftly beheaded a Hunter before plunging into heart of the one next to him. One of my swords had broken and been lost a long time ago. Looking around, it was still raining. It hadn’t even let up once. Bodies littered the ground. We had made headway, pushing the Hunters back and now we just piled them up one after another. My breath showed in the storm and it had dropped even colder from when we started a couple hours ago.Another Hunter attacked me but I nimbly turned, easily using my strength to remove his upper half from the lower half. His body fell in two as his blood sprayed all over me. My eyes still glowed, I still held onto the power as it was the only thing holding me up. The moment I let go was the moment I would leave this world. The magic in my arms, legs, and eye were even crackling under my power.I was able to see every Hunter and their aura within the area. The rain wouldn’t help my real eye but it didn’t hinder my magic one. Most of my boys had stayed in for
It started to pour sometime in the evening and only got worse as it dawned on the third day. I sat in my chair my fingers laced together, my chin resting on them. My eyes glazed over as I stared nothing, listening to the rain hit the top of my tent. Three days I hadn’t slept. I’d filled my time with everything but sleeping. Battle plans, final checks of troops, Silas’ territory terrain, the endless trails of goodbyes from my warriors. Nate had come at the behest of a few of my warriors. They were worried when I started mulling about the tents looking like the grim reaper was holding me up. He came in, didn’t say a thing as he picked me up and deposited me back into my chair inside my tent. Staying with me for a couple hours, we spoke about everything and nothing. We talked about the old house that we dreamed as kids. I shook my head as Nate tried to remember the color schemes of all the bedrooms. For a while, it was a break from the current and impending situation. Eventually though,
Nate’s arms moved and I had expected Silas to pick me up. But instead, the soothing electricity coursed through me as Nate pulled me close to his chest and stood. His body was shaking slightly but after a couple steps, it was far sturdier. “Where to Aelia?”I swallowed, trying to wet my dry mouth. “They should have set up the Alpha Prince tent for me.”“Aelia! Just come home!” Silas was standing but it was Keri, who moved from behind the tree she had been leaning against, that spoke.She put a hand on Silas’ shoulder. “She belongs there, Alpha. She belongs with her men. With her family.”Silas’ shoulders dropped and he moved out of the way. Nate started to walk, not saying anything. We wove our way through the trees and at one point I closed my eyes, leaning my head against mate.As much as my life has turned out like this, I couldn’t image if that hadn’t happened. If the Hunters had never come. When I was four, I knew Nate was my fated mate but I also saw the golden braid connecting
My legs were crossed as I sat in my chair that looked more like a throne with how we were set up. I had my hands intertwined in my lap and my back was straight. Keri said I had to choose what I needed to do but I worried about hurting them still. I loved Noah and Finn. They were my best friends, my partners, my Betas and my lovers. We had gone through so much together and hurting them was never my intention no matter how much it seemed like my actions did.Keri was on my right, Nate and Silas were standing to my left. Behind me, Colton and Dylan were standing to step in front of me. Some of my warriors who weren’t actively engaged in planning, or dealing with other orders, were standing to attention in the clearing. All armed and ready.I looked up at Keri. “Whatever you do, don’t hurt Finn.”“If he comes after you, Alpha, I’m going to put him in his place. I will avoid all vitals and his pup but a broken arm won’t hurt anything but him. Noah is free game.” She almost looked gleeful.