AliceAfter burning the letter, I could do nothing but cry.This is devastating, I thought, with a lot of pain and remorse.The worst part was that I had to clean everything up before Bella showed up because she had agreed to stay that night with me since she could stand to be alone without Angel. The truth is that I understood her, and that's why she had given in, but I couldn't lose my temper with her, or it could be worse.I was afraid to face the truth and to let Stefan know that I was okay.I didn't want to lose my freedom.I didn't want to fall into his clutches.In all those days in the Northern Pack, I had learned to deal with the sense of helplessness, with the feeling of guilt, and with the damned feeling of inferiority. I was learning to understand that those were not problems in this territory and that, if I put my mind to it, I could make a good life with friends, with people who respected me and really appreciated me for who I was. The very idea of Stefan taking that aw
AliceI couldn't believe it.This is impossible, I thought painfully.I had understood that my father was the only private who had not been promoted during the war because he had made too many mistakes. And I was sure it was him because his name was unique in the pack; no one else had the surname Brown precisely because that was the founding family of the pack in the old days, but it was the Gray's who took power when they could because my old lineage was in cahoots with dangerous sorceresses.That was what I was always told.So I couldn't believe I had distinctions and was considered a war hero.My head was going to explode; there was too much information in one second."This man, what was he like?" I asked between hesitations to the Alpha."He was a great person; he knew a lot about plants, healing, and food. He was always one step ahead in everything, so he knew how to read the tactical moves of the vampires very well, to the extent that they had to make several ambushes until they
JacksonSleeping next to Alice was peaceful.So much so that Alfie, for the first time in weeks since we had met her, was completely calm and had not insisted for that night that we should sleep outside her room to take care of her sleep.It felt good in a way it hadn't before, and that spoke to how much I loved being bonded with her.It felt great—so good that I couldn't imagine what happened in the middle of the night.It was strong enough to make me realize certain important things that I wouldn't have noticed or even turned my head to see before.Alice had had a dream.But this dream was not simple; it was very vivid and on a level of unconsciousness where it was impossible to wake up, and I was thankful in the morning that she didn't remember any of what could easily be night terrors.However, what I felt as I listened to her cry and beg for mercy and how she demanded not to be touched broke my soul. Somehow, I had confirmed that she must have some kind of relationship with Alexan
AliceCooking for me was as easy as breathing.There was no other definition that fit better, so I was in a good state when I went on to organize everything Enya had asked me to make into a list that seemed to be endless. That's when I realized that the woman was careful with details, so I was much more careful and could better realize the proportions.Her phrases were funny, plus there was something interesting about them.Put some cinnamon in the dough; believe it or not, it gives life to the buns, and Bella loves them.Don't put too much pepper in the meat marinade mixture, or Angel will have allergies like when she ended up with her butt on fire from poison ivy.Don't even think about overcooking the carbonara. Jackson doesn't like it too much; he prefers it creamed just right. He's very polite, and he'll eat it however you give it to him, but he'll go eat any nonsense in the middle because he's not going to be satisfied.All those notes were gold, so dinner that day was a complet
StefanI didn't know how it was that things had gotten a little off my mind.I only knew that for now I had achieved the goal of having the former Beta and his pathetic sons locked up while they did the investigation. That would give me time to find a way to frame them without any doubt that they were bad guys, and I could appeal for them to be sent back.The problem was that the whole thing had gotten out of my men's hands."How did that happen?" I asked my men. "The plan wasn't to kill anyone powerful; it was to give them a scare with the deaths of the soldiers. How did Luna end up dead?"That was the main question about my plan."I don't know," Ariel said with a frown. "I followed all of Dalia's directions. The infiltrator sent the gift on behalf of Question; this artifact was supposed to help control Alpha Enzo, but everything that happened from that point on is out of our hands. The men did what was necessary in the ambush, but they did not wait for Luna to have that defensive an
JacksonAlice had taken a very marked distance from me.It was much more noticeable after Angel left after establishing himself as a member of the Species Council's formal commission to investigate what had happened in the Southern Pack.There was much more space between the two of them and the work days had become a compendium of monosyllables on her part. Yes and no seemed to be the only words in her vocabulary and every time I tried to talk or establish the subject with Alice, something would come up that would make her pull away.By the third day, I couldn't take them anymore."Do you know what's wrong with Alice?" I asked my sister, and she denied it with concern."I don't know, and she won't tell me; she has days like this. To be exact, shortly after Rita arrived," she said, and I frowned. "But I don't think it's because of Rita or the fact that he already went to two sessions with her; it's something else. I'll try to figure it out, but no promises because he's been a little un
AliceI was not feeling well at all.I had days with a general malaise that was affecting me more than I would like to admit. It was as if my body was demanding that I rest, lie in bed, and never get up. I felt drained in a way I never imagined could happen.Every day was a new challenge, not only to stay on my feet but also to ignore the Alpha, who kept asking if everything was okay and didn't seem to understand my intention to mark space.After hearing what Diane said, I didn't feel comfortable, and then she told me about Jackson's exploits in the war. How he got human and wizard allies to join the crusade the werewolves were waging against the vampires."One of the things he did was tangle with most of the coalition women," she said once we were alone at the dining room table, and I couldn't chew a mouthful after listening to her. "He had no qualms about flirting with anyone to achieve his goals. That's why a war hero was the one who 'got him on track' to the sane side of life.""W
JacksonI was sick of seeing Alice like this.By the time she woke up and stopped crying, she was fast asleep, and I had to call Rita to come in for professional care. She had told me that some trigger could bring on such an episode; I just never imagined that the trigger would end up being me.Alice needed help that I couldn't provide at that moment, so I stepped away so she could process everything and so Rita could do her job without pressure.When I returned to the house, Bella looked at me with a lot of sympathy, but the truth was that I was broken inside. There was no better explanation to sum up the situation."Time to time, she will heal and she will feel; she has a spirit that longs to be free; she just needs a little guidance and help about it," my sister said very convincingly, but I was in disbelief.By the point I was at, my hopes were extinguished, and two days later, during which time Rita stayed with Alice at the cabin and I immersed myself in work, I had to take a cal
JacksonHaving five children was something of a blessing and a never-ending source of stress.The only one who was calm was Alia, the little 13-year-old, who was reading a book she found interesting. Meanwhile, Eris was arguing with Alexander, Marco, and Daniel. The three of them were teasing her after she had damaged a suitcase of dolls that she intended to use to go to college.“You're all assholes!” shouted Eris, fed up and storming out of the room.“Will you say anything to my brothers?” I asked Alia, who was a female version of me and I denied it.“No, I think someone else will,” I said and she smiled, knowing the answer.“Go apologize to your sister!” shooed Alice in annoyance as she looked at the triplets. “This prank was very heavy and your sister always has to pay for the broken dishes of your witticisms. This time they tried not only her patience, but mine.”“Mom—”“No words will do for me not to scold them,” Alice said angrily. “Your sister is going off to college soon and
AliceThe goddess' orders were clear, so we sorcerers prepared everything to travel to the South Pack immediately. The funny thing about it all was that the Goddess spoke in our minds to show us in detail the sacrificial ritual we were to perform.I didn't know how the goddess was able to project everything to us as she spoke to the rest of the room, but I knew that no matter what happened, we were going to keep her promises. The problem was that we didn't know exactly where the grotto was and Angel was the one who told the truth about it.“My informant is apprehended,” he said and we were all stunned when he communicated this as we were getting ready for the trip. “The informant on what was going on with the Omegas sacrifice is Ariel.”“Impossible,” Teo said. “He's Stefan's most loyal man.”“He wasn't, not until Stefan decided to make less of people and he understood that it was horrifying the kind of sacrifice they made,” Angel said.“I've seen with my own eyes how bad blood that gu
JacksonI knew what would happen at the meeting long before Alice arrived and I knew that would be the reaction I would get: absolute surprise. It was the same expression I had when the Alphas from the other packs, along with the leader of the warlocks and Marcel, told me hours before."That's not what I came here for," Alice said firmly, and I smiled.It was a classic response from her that, at that point, I could predict.And, to my dismay, Eris began to cry, highlighting a very important point of this whole mess, so I quickly went to her and when she felt me, she was quiet. Since I was singing nursery rhymes to her as my own energy, the little girl reacted very well to me. Somehow, I managed to calm the call and I was recognized as her father. The wonderful thing about that was that, apart from Alice, I was the only person with whom she really stayed calm.She feels at peace with you; you give her security, Alfie said happily.Knowing that filled me with happiness.After the war, A
AliceShe was blinded by grief.I had fulfilled the will of the Goddess to imprison Stefan after killing Dalia, but I was completely empty inside. I had a frustrating sense of pain as I felt that my mate was gone.After Stefan was taken away, I didn't care about anything but Jackson, so I stayed with him and tried to wake him up in every way I could, but he wouldn't wake up. I didn't feel his life energy and I was desperate. It was my grandfather, who had just arrived, who put a robe on me and tried to get me away from Jackson.“You have to let go and let him go,” my grandfather said in a low, condescending tone of voice. “You have to accept fate.”“If he's not there, I have no destiny,” I said forcefully. “I do whatever Goddess wants, whatever you want, but please don't take him away. I know he's somewhere; I know it.”I hugged Jackson tightly and then I heard someone running towards us.I saw Bella and when she saw me, she was surprised; it was a matter of a second before her face w
StefanThat bastard Jackson tried to kill me with his last volley of power, but I was able to get away in time. If I had held on to the handle of the dagger, he would have killed me on the spot. So I dropped him to the ground and cursed at the number of men he had killed with his energy. I had no idea he would be so powerful, but I was going to see to it that he didn't have the slightest chance of living another day.He seemed to be dead, but I didn't trust anything.“If your beast is that powerful, the only thing left for me to do is secure my future,” I said, pulling the dagger out of his chest.More blood began to flow from there and then I settled in to cut off his head and separate it from his body. I was ready to begin when I felt a ball of power hit me and send me flying through the air with force. That surprised me and separated me from the dagger that flew a few meters away from where I was.I was stunned as I stood up and turned to see who had dared to attack me.I realized
AliceThe matriarch and I went to get my daughter.There was nothing more important in the world than to take care of her no matter what; however, when we went through the emergency exit, we found a string of corpses of Northern Pack guards and sorceresses.That made me gasp in pain.“You have to be strong,” the matriarch said. “Don't look at them; just focus on what you need to focus on.”I nodded with tears in my eyes and we walked to the passageways Bella and Jackson had shown me earlier. They were one small tunnel that led into the forest; however, I noticed that they were sealed off and that didn't give me a good feeling.“Something bad is going on; the plan was for Bella to come out this way with the baby girl if something went wrong with the birth,” I said and the matriarch checked the wall.“It's sealed from the other side, so we'll have to break it with force.”With the renewed energy my daughter had given me, I knocked and broke through the wall to go toward the path. I noti
Jackson“What do you want us to do now, Alpha?” asked Delta, and I kept my eyes on Stefan.“I want you to seal everything, find the openings, and deal with whatever it is,” I said, firm. “He's going to get in by hook or by crook, so be ready for when the magic wards come down.”Gerard looked at me seriously and nodded.Val had explained to us what would happen during the delivery.She had approached discreetly as she watched Stefan hand out his men.It wasn't hard for me to understand that he already had an idea of where to go and what he would do. I was sure the witch was trying to sabotage the pack's magical guard. So I organized groups while we waited for help.I had the sense to send the SOS signal to the allies to let them know I was under attack, but I didn't count on them arriving in time, much less did I count on the East and West Pack allies appearing out of nowhere in the forest.I felt the atmosphere change and smelled the rotten, heavy magic.It had been something complete
Alice“We'll take Alice to Calve,” Enya said at once. “Keep that vermin of a man from even getting close or he'll find out what's going on.”Immense terror coursed through my body and I could only hope that help would not arrive too late. I saw Jackson tense up, but he didn't hesitate to kiss me and pull away to face Stefan. Then a great pain shot through me and Enya had two guards take me to the room Jackson had prepared for me and was still enabled so I could be okay.They fetched the midwife as well as the doctor, but I couldn't handle the great pain that was eating away at me. The tightness in my belly as well as the wrenching pain I felt in my hips was unbearable.Bella came into the room and looked at me firmly.“You are the strongest person I know on the planet,” my sister-in-law said. “So we're going to have that baby and we're going to get her to safety no matter what we have to do to make it happen.”That made me smile and then a new pain shot through me again and Glenda rus
StefanThe hours that passed after the discovery were like an adrenaline rush.Dalia used magic to enter my thoughts and then decided to cast a blood spell to find out if that girl was really mine and what kind of power she had. She doubted what had just happened.“We have to be sure,” Dalia said.“It's the safest thing to do,” Ariel said seriously. “A puppy call is the strongest thing about a werewolf. It's basically primal magic transporting you to your child to be claimed by your bloodline.”“If that's true, you have to check to see if indeed Stefan has a bloodline and what kind of power that girl might have,” Dalia said. “If she is a powerful she-wolf, she will serve the plans.”Ariel's expression of horror was unique and he looked at me as if Dalia was insane.“Are you going to let them use your baby in magic experiments?” my Beta asked and I nodded.“That child is my property; she's my blood and I do with her what I want,” I said and at that moment, Circe walked in with her face