Then Adina realised Johnny didn’t know how he should behave. He felt the need to fix the situation, but he didn’t know-how. Adina placed a hand on Colin’s knee to calm him.“Lower your eyes, Johnny; you need to bow your head and neck to show your submission. To look the alpha in the eyes is how you challenge their authority,” she spoke to Johnny in a stern voice.He shifted his eyes from Colin to Adina in surprise.“You do not look at her,” Colin snarled, and Johnny finally understood and lowered his eyes and exposed his neck. The tension was high, and Adina felt the need to do something. Her hand was massaging Colin’s knee to make him relax a bit. Something was off in this family, but she didn’t know exactly what.“We want Johnny to come alive at the pack house for a while since he just shifted. How old are you, Johnny?” Adina took charge of the conversation.“Fifteen”, he answered, looking at the rug. That was a bit on the later side of shifting for the first time, but not unheard
Adina’s POV“Amy, we need to discuss something serious,” Colin started. Adina looked at the she-wolf in front of her and could see she had her eyes down and her hands fidgeted in her lap.“You have shown disrespect to your future luna, and this will not be tolerated,” Colin continued. At those words, Amy instinctively looked at Adina with hatred, thinking Adina had told Colin.A deep, warning growl came from Colin, making Amy bow her head in submission.“You will not look at your luna like that; you will not look at her, period,” he growled.Adina realised she liked that he was so protective. Then she wondered if it was okay to feel like that. She had always seen herself as strong and independent. She ended up conflicted, but still, she reached out and placed a hand on Colin’s hand to calm him.Something had snapped in Amy. Adina could feel the emotions built in the she-wolf. Maybe they had been there for so long that now that Colin finally acknowledged them, she thought she had to do
Sean’s POVIt had been a long time since Sean had been a part of a pack like this one. Even though neither he nor Adina were officially part of the Blackmoon pack, they were treated like it. The number of wolves that had come up to tell him welcome was overwhelming.A surprising development was that as a named brother of the alpha, the new lunas bodyguard, a skilled warrior and unmated. Sean had become price game for the young unmated she-wolves of the pack.It had taken Sean a while to notice, but as he stood a little to the side, making sure Adina was safe, he noticed a large group of women, giggling. It unnerved him, but they didn’t seem to be a threat, so he ignored them. Then a couple of them walked over to him, asking him questions and Sean did his best to be polite, but get them to leave.Jason came walking over to him with a grin on his face. Sean shook his head, that grin couldn’t mean anything good.“Sean, looks like I have some competition for the eligible woman of the pack
“I have a bad feeling about this, and we have waited long enough. My wolf is going crazy from not having marked his mate. If we go into that situation without you wearing his mark, I don’t think I can hold him back,” Colin explained.Adina nodded. Her wolf wasn’t happy about the marking situation, either. Adina had held off so long because she didn’t want to let him mark her if she ended up leaving. But as she would stay, she had no objections.“Sounds fine by me,” she agreed.Colin looked at her like she had sprouted a second head.“What? I thought that was what you wanted. Do you want me to say no?” she asked, confused.“No, I just thought you would object,” he said.“That was because I thought I would leave,” she smiled.The biggest grin appeared on Colin’s face. Adina couldn’t help but laugh.“What?” he asked.“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “So that we understand each other. I’m going to stay here as your luna. But I will still be the alpha of the White Rose pack. That inc
“You must go into the panic room,” Colin told Adina.“Colin, I can help,” she protested. Colin looked at Sea,n and Sean nodded. He understood.“Adina, the panic room. Now,” Sean said.“Sean,” she said.“One rule,” he told her. She sighed and nodded.Sean went into full protection mode. He stayed glued to her side. Sean was right there even when she hugged and kissed Collin.“You too, Julia,” he heard Mateo say, and Julia let out a small sob.Sean and Colin looked at each other again and nodded once more before Sean led the two women towards the library. He would have liked to fight some rogues himself. Let off some steam. But he knew his place was by Adina’s side.As they arrived in the library, the door to the panic room was already open, and pack members were moving down at a steady pace. They stopped and offered Adina to go first.“No, you go. Sean and I will make sure we don’t get ambushed,” she told them.Sean would have felt better with her in the shelter, but the one door into
On the bed in the examination room, Mateo was stretched out on his back as Doc and Amy franticly tried to help him. If Adina hadn’t known that the person on the bed was Mateo, it would have been hard to guess.It looked like some explosive had gone off in his mouth, his jaw was dislocated, and he had what looked like burns all over his face but more concentrated around his mouth. His body looked like it had been shredded and grated. At a glance, Adina could see two fractures breaking his skin and at least three dislocated joints.She took in a deep breath and stepped closer. Her focus was on his face. She hissed when she realised why he looked the way he did. She turned to Colin.“Silver?” she asked. He nodded.“They had these harnesses strapped over their neck and chest. We didn’t know what they were until Mateo tried to rip the throat out of one of them and bit into a harness. It exploded and sprayed a silver mist on him. He mind linked the rest of the warriors to tell us before he
Adina’s POVThe day that followed the attack was stacked with tasks to be done. As Adina had been formally introduced as Colin’s mate and they had marked each other, the pack treated her like their luna. To Adina’s surprise, she didn’t have as much trouble fitting into the role as she thought.The rumours about Adina healing five members of the pack spread quickly. Both Adina and Sean had seen different reactions to her abilities from packs and had learned that it was better to be prepared for a bad reaction. To their surprise, the pack showed nothing but gratitude and amazement.“Maybe it was destined that we end up here,” Sean said to Adina, Colin, and Jason as they had gathered in Colin’s office to go through what was left to be done.“Of course, it was,” Colin said. “Adina is my mate; the goddess wouldn’t have given her a mate with a pack that couldn’t handle her abilities,” he continued confidently.“You’ll have to ask her sometime,” Sean said with a chuckle.“You can speak to th
Adina’s POV“My granny used to tell us pups about the Beloved One, how she and her people had made it possible for werewolves and other magical creatures to go into hiding from humans. Without that, we would all have been goners by now. It’s an honour to have you as luna,” he said, bowing his head.Adina felt moved by his gesture, smiled at him, and returned the bow.“This information is for pack ears only. There are still threats out there that want to harm our luna. We are strong enough to keep us safe. But it’s unnecessary to risk things,” Colin told everyone.There were agreeing murmurs throughout the dining hall. The pack agreed with its alpha, and even though Adina wasn’t part of the pack link, she could feel them closing rank around her. It moved her even more, and she found it difficult to hold back the tears. But she didn’t want to cry in front of the pack.Instead, she smiled and looked around to let each of them know how grateful she was.“I think we should have some party
Jouko stood up and tried to look like he wasn’t half starving. He bowed towards the gods and the jury. “My lord, my lady,” he addressed the gods. “The things that you have been told here today have been taken out of context and twisted to make them seem like something they are not,” he continued. “I am happy to hear that. Could you put things in the right context, please?” Absalom said. “With pleasure, my lord. In the last five generations the Beloved One have been showing signs of weakness that, quite frankly, is dangerous,” Jouko said. “How’s that?” Selene asked. “They have been more restricting when it comes to interactions with humans. We have fewer ways to express our true nature. The council has put laws and restrictions in place to protect the weak humans from us. It’s a threat to my race,” Jouko told her. “The Beloved One, would you like to respond?” Absalom asked. “I would, thank you,” Adina said, standing up. She didn’t walk toward the gods or the vampire. She stood b
Colin’s POV It had been a month since the battle. The pack was in one place again. Colin, Adina, Sean and Clara and Julia had all gone to the dryads to thank them for watching over their pack members. Despite losing some of their pack members in the battle, the pack had stayed strong and as word got out that the Beloved One lived in the pack, they had gotten a lot of attention. The pack had taken it in stride. They were proud of their luna. Colin was proud of his pack and of his two mates. Today was the day for the trial and they would once again go to the dryads’ land. The only way to let them take part in the trial was to hold it on or near their land. The local tribe had generously offered to host the event. Each race had selected five representatives, except for humans that were peacefully unaware of the whole thing. The enemy vampires and the rogues had been allowed to choose three individuals each to represent them at the trial. The trial would be open to leaders of the race
Adina’s POV“Hello, mother. I’m fine, a little more tired than usual. But I’m perfectly fine to eat lunch with the pack,” Sean said.“You know Adina, and this is my other mate, alpha Colin. Colin, this is my mother and Tia,” Sean introduced them.“Mrs Murphy, Tia,” Colin nodded.“Alpha Colin,” both women said with a bow.Adina didn’t like that Sean’s mother hadn’t offered Colin to call her by her first name. It was a clear sign she didn’t accept him as her son’s mate. Adina felt both her mates tense up.“Would you like something to eat? You have had a long journey,” Adina asked.Sean’s mother looked at her and it wasn’t a hostile look, but it was cold and accusing. Adina had no doubt that Sean’s mother saw her as the reason her son had almost been killed. It was enough hostility in her eyes for both Colin and Sean to stand up and move closer to Adina.“No thank you, we ate on the way,” Sean’s mother told her.Adina saw it wasn’t just her mates that was reacting to the presence of the
Sean’s POV“So she brought Tia with her,” Adina sighed. It wasn’t a question.Sean growled, and he felt Colin tense up and growl as well.“That can be an issue,” Adina admitted.“Both Colin and I are more protective than usual, as you can understand,” Adina added.“I understand,” Liam nodded.“That goes for the pack as well. We have just been through a major battle, and they almost lost Sean. If they find out someone is trying to take him away, that individual will not have a peaceful time in this pack,” Colin said.“I get that, and if you allow her to visit, I will make that clear to her. I have talked to her after your visit and she knows she was in the wrong,” Liam said.“We will let them in. Sean’s mother should be able to see him,” Adina said.“Baby cake, that isn’t necessary,” Sean objected.“I have no issue turning them away,” Colin agreed.“But I do. Are you going to argue with me?” Adina asked.“No, baby,” Colin sighed.“You are too stubborn and kind-hearted for your own good
Sean’s POVSean was slowly gaining consciousness. He felt tired; it wasn’t the kind of tired he usually got after a long day. This was tired like as if he wasn’t lying down, he would probably have ended up in a pile on the floor. He had a faint recollection of being injured; he had a clear memory of wanting to see Adina one last time.Was he alive? He pondered as he focused. He could feel someone having their hand on his arm and someone was holding his hand. Sean could feel the sparkles that ran over his skin. His brain got a little clearer, and he smelt the scent of his mates. He opened his eyes and looked to his left.Besides the bed he was lying in, Colin sat in an armchair with a sleeping Adina in his lap. Adina was holding Sean’s hand in hers, even in her sleep, and Colin had his hand on Sean’s arm.Sean met Colin’s eye and Colin smiled.‘Welcome back,’ Colin mind linked Sean and squeezed his arm.‘Thank you. Where have I been?’ Sean asked.‘Out of it. You are in big trouble, my
Colin’s POVColin watched Adina work. Her eyes were closed, and she had her hands on Sean’s body. There was a steady trickling of silver coming out of is wound and into the basin.Clara came walking into the room with Jason. Jason went pale when he saw Sean. Clara swallowed hard but continued to walk up to the gurney. Before Colin knew it, he had emitted a low growl as a warning. His wolf was just under the surface and saw both his mates being vulnerable and he reacted out of instinct.“Sorry,” he said to Clara. She had frozen in the spot as he growled, and Jason had moved between his friend and his mate. “Go ahead, just go slow and don’t do any sudden movements,” Colin tried to smile at them.They had decided that Clara should stay in the shelter during the attack in case something went wrong, and Doc had been injured during the attack. Clara hadn’t been happy about it, but it was the prudent thing to do as they now had two doctors in the pack.She now carefully looked over Sean’s i
Adina’s POVThe enemies in front of Adina parted to let a tall woman through. She was slender and had short midnight black hair and brown eyes that was filled with hatred and loathing.“Diedre, I presume,” Adina smirked.“Adina, cousin,” the woman smiled. But Adina could tell that she wasn’t pleased that Adina had known her name.“It’s time to stop this, Diedre. You will never have my title and you most definitely won’t have my powers,” Adina said.“Why would we stop when we are winning?” Diedre asked. Adina laughed, but it was a laugh void of all amusement.“You are more delusional than I thought, cousin. Let’s stop this unnecessary killing and part ways,” Adina said.“I’m not the one with a mate that is more dead than alive,” Dierdre smirked.Both Colin and Adina growled at her.“You may not be, but you are the one with a fast-depleting army. Do you think these are the only warriors that will fight in my name? Magical creatures from around the world is standing by to send us backup.
Sean’s POVSean knew he needed to get his men over to Colin as soon as possible. If what Adina said was true and the main vampire force was heading there, Colin and his men would be in trouble.He shifted back to his human form for a moment to give orders to the surrounding warriors. He was still amazed at how many warriors Adina had rounded up. Sean had a good idea about how she had done it. They would have a conversation about that when this was over.“I need half of you to stay here, half of you need to come with me. We have a large number of vampires moving towards team A’s position. We will offer them support,” Sean told them. Sean’s brother shifted back to his human form next to Sean.“We will follow you,” he told Sean, and Sean nodded. He had been surprised when he saw his brother come sprinting through the woods. But he was grateful that he and his warriors had joined them.Sean shifted back to his wolf and then he was off. He mind linked Jason and Mateo to make sure they knew
Adina’s POVAdina walked down into the shelter for the second time. She knew what she needed to do. She also knew her mates would have refused to let her do it. That is why she hadn’t told them about it. She felt a little guilty for that. But not so much that she wouldn’t do it.She stopped by the monitoring station and had a look. It was too early to get a sense for the battle of the numbers. But at least things looked to start off on a smaller scale. Adina was afraid that the enemies were just testing the waters.‘We are under attack, we need our allies on site now,’ Adina mind linked Cernack.‘Are you safe, my lady?’ he asked.‘I am, but my mates and my pack aren’t. I want the council, all of the council, to call in favours where we can. I want all the warriors that we wan get to be ready. If we have allies that are more than an hour's drive away that are willing to help, let me know,’ Adina said.‘Yes, my lady,’ Cernack said.Adina turned to her two friends and smiled.“I’m going