~Tia~I swear I cried the entire way back to my apartment. The four-hour drive was filled with sniffling and wailing. I have no idea what went through the minds of anyone who noticed me while I was driving. I can’t say that I’m surprised at what happened. I could have guessed the outcome would have been something like that. My dad only wants the best for his amazing daughters, and here I am, just getting in the way of that. I’d imagine that I will get a rejection letter or something in the next day or two. Let’s face facts. There is nothing I can offer the Alphas that my sisters couldn’t provide tenfold. Times like this, with high stress and anxiety, I usually shift into Andricia and let nature bring me back to a more manageable state. There is no way I can do that today because if I shift into Andricia, she will just hightail it right back home to the pack. She has been whining for her mates since I got on the road, and it has taken everything in me to fight the urge to turn back.
~Tia~*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*At first, I thought it was a part of my dream, this annoying knocking. I turned over multiple times, hoping it would go away. It was the knock on my bedroom wall that got me moving. ‘WOULD YOU ANSWER THE DAMN DOOR?!’“So….sorry,” I swear, sometimes I hate living in an apartment, and I hate living around so many humans. Don’t get me wrong; I have no issue with humans at all. It’s just we are different creatures, and some of the things that irritate them are small and petty, in my opinion. I throw the covers back and try to put my feet into my teddy bear slippers. I’m groggy and still sleepy. There is too much on my mind to be able to sleep soundly. I make my way to the door, the knocking getting louder with each step. I have no idea who the hell would be at my door. Maybe it’s my dad, and he will sit here and force me to reject the twins. Maybe it’s the Alpha and Luna, and they will demand that I reject their sons. I r
~Lincoln~I step toward my mate, wanting to grab her and show her exactly how I feel about her. I want to prove to her what I can really do, what I can make happen. How could she tell us apart?I have no idea, L, but I guess that’s a good thing.“How could you tell it was me and not Landon?” Tia seems surprised by my question. I know it doesn’t pertain to our discussion, but I’m curious. “It’s simple, really. Your scents give you away.” Landon and I look at each other, confused. Tia chuckles. “Both of you have a strong peppermint scent. Lincoln, yours is mixed with grapefruit, while Landon’s is mixed with lemon.” Tia shrugs her shoulders as if the explanation is obvious, and maybe it is to her.“That’s a weird combination, but it doesn’t matter. We are here to get to know you, and we want you to get to know us. We have been waiting for you, and we won’t let you go. Linc is right; anyone who doesn’t approve can leave the pack.” Tia looks over to Landon and back at me. Her stomach gru
~Landon~I’m surprised, yet not surprised, by Tia’s thoughts. I should have seen that she would be worried about the pack’s reaction to her being Luna. Her concerns are valid, but Lincoln and I agree. If the pack can’t support the fact that Tia is our mate, then they can leave. Neither of us will tolerate our mate being treated poorly or with disrespect. Besides, if they do treat her poorly, it won’t be because she is a horrible person. It will be due to the gossip that would fly around the pack about her, gossip that would be false. We spend the rest of the meal trying to get to know each other. It’s something that we didn’t do growing up. Even though my brother and I have always had eyes on Tia, we never took the time to really see who she is. She is incredible, and I feel more blessed with each passing minute. We head back to Tia’s place after a filling meal. It was hard to keep my hands to myself while we were out. I tried to remain respectful since we are in a human town. They
~Landon~I can’t be surprised that Tia asks that question; I guess I just hoped it wouldn’t come. She has every right to wonder if we have slept with her sisters. It is honestly something we should have discussed before we went this far, but how much longer was I expected to keep away from my mate?I clear my throat, and Tia looks at me. “I’m sure you know how Adela is: very practical and prudent. We discussed things and decided that it would be better if we waited.” I sigh. “Truth be told, I was still hoping to meet my fated mate, so I had no trouble deciding to leave things at just kissing.” Tia nods in response, and I let out a breath I was silently holding in. I was scared that she would be upset or not believe me. This entire situation is not the norm, and it will take a lot of sensitivity to navigate it. Lincoln is still silent, and I wonder what’s going through his head. I’m not aware that anything had happened between him and Aida, but I’m not with him 24/7. “And you?” Tia do
The drive to the hotel was quiet; everyone seemed to be in their thoughts. The hotel was a bit outside of the human town, and I had only heard of it before. It is really tall and looks super expensive to stay in. Landon helps me out of the car, and I can’t help but gawk at what’s in front of me.Walking inside didn’t dampen my shock. Everything inside is so elegant and expensive looking. It’s hard to take everything in because there is so much to see. I don’t know how, but when I finally come to terms with what I’m seeing, we are already in the elevator. A glass elevator at that, so I can see everything as we ride up. “What do you think?” Landon’s question catches me off guard while I’m examining the floors below, watching everything get smaller the higher the elevator goes.“I think that I'm worried I will break something. If that were to happen, I wouldn’t be able to be the Luna…..I would spend all my time working here to pay off my debts.” Lincoln and Landon laugh at this, and I b
~Tia~The three of us get settled in the room, ordering some room service. This penthouse is pretty ridiculous, but then again, it isn’t like I’d have anything to compare it to. There are three bedrooms in the penthouse, but the master is crazy. It has a bigger-than-usual king-sized bed along with a huge screen television on the wall. The bathroom has a jacuzzi tub big enough to fit five people, and the shower isn’t too different. It is equipped with two rain showerheads on each end and smaller spouts around the walls.k“Imagining how it will be to shower with us?” Lincoln’s hot breath is against my neck, and I can feel my body responding. I step away from him, trying to calm myself and my libido. Of course, Landon walks up to us at the same time, making it almost impossible to get space. “Uh, we should talk.” Landon and Lincoln have their eyes on me with a look of interest and concern. I take a deep breath. I’m not sure how this will go over, but I made a decision, and I’m sticking
~Adela~“Did you call? Are they on their way? Good, you know what to do.” I hang up and start the car. The plan has been put into motion, and now I just have to do my part. Aida and I are on our way to our dear sister’s apartment. We have to go a back way to make sure we don’t run across the twins on their way back to the pack. “Do you think this is a good idea?” I swear this is the 100th time that Aida has asked me this question. I get it; we usually just stay away from Portia. We tend to just ignore her existence and continue with our lives. This is different; this is important. She needs to understand what will happen if she doesn’t back off and leave what is ours alone. “You’re right. Let’s go back home. We can leave Portia alone, and she will mate and be marked by Landon and Lincoln. She will be the Luna of our pack, and eventually, she will have their heirs. We can just find chosen mates somewhere and forget this ever happened.” I glance at Aida while driving and see that my w
~Landon~The sun hasn’t fully revealed itself today, but I couldn’t sleep. Tomorrow night is the night that everything will be solved, one way or another. I know I went along with this plan, but the plan is shit. It’s shit because my mate is risking her life. I want her to go somewhere safe and let us handle this, but she’d rather put herself in the crossfire, and I hate that.I hear grunting in the distance, and there are spurts of a strong blue light every so often. I know Nikki is training hard, and I’m in awe of her. I don’t agree with that plan either, but Nikki is so sure this is what she should do. She’s also risking her life by going up against Imogene, and that’s crazy. Sometimes, I get flashes of memories from when Imogene had her hold on us here. It terrifies me every time, and I never want to experience it again.I step out onto the deck and breathe in the fresh morning air. “You’re up early or up late.” I turn to my right to see my father sitting in the corner of the deck
~Tia~I watch Aida’s red eyes get redder, if you can believe that. It’s almost as if they start to glow. She stands up and walks over to me. She reaches out to grab me just to fall forward. I turn to watch her try to get her balance. I’d laugh if this weren’t a pressing matter. “How are you here right now?”“Does it matter? I need you to focus right now.”“Since you aren’t actually here, I don’t have to do shit.” I tsk and shake my head.“I don’t have time for your teenage rebellion. I came to deliver a message.”“A message?! Unless you plan to tell me that you’re going to leave your lifeless body at my doorstep, there’s no message you have for me.” I shake my head.“Goddess, you are so pathetic.” Aida throws her head back and laughs.“Goddess?! As in Moon Goddess?! She’s no goddess of mine. How the hell could I follow someone who would ruin me like she did?! All I wanted was Lincoln. I prayed to her every night to make him my fated mate. When I realized he wasn’t my fated, I still pr
~Aida~That bitch has been prancing around here for days since she regained her magic. She’s constantly ogling my mate, and I don’t like it. I trust Ivan and have no doubt that I’m the only woman for him, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to pluck her eyes out of her head.I really can’t wait to get this entire situation over with. Ivan and I can move on with our lives, and she can go away forever. I’d tell Ivan to get rid of the bitch now, but I already know he won’t agree.The more I think about her, the more frustrated I get. I hate that she even showed up here. “You look like you’re thinking hard. I hope you aren’t thinking about how inferior you are to me.” I swallow thickly but don’t respond. I’m in one of the many sitting rooms, sitting in a huge armchair. She appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed. “Cat got your tongue?” I sigh.“What do you want, Imogene?” She steps into the room and walks toward me. She sits on the coffee table in front
~Tia~“Mom’s recovering from everything, but we need to finalize our plan. We need to do as Mark suggested and go on the offense. I’m sick of them popping up whenever they feel like it and causing massive damage.”“I’m down with whatever the plan is. The witches here have us locked in so I can focus on the plan.” Mark is on the line, meeting over the phone. He doesn’t want to leave his pack, and we agree that it isn’t the best idea. Landon clears his throat.“Mark, we are going to have you stay right where you are. Your pack is covered with the witches and the royal warriors. We will engage them, but they may come your way in retaliation. You just be on guard and keep your pack safe.”“So, if we are going on the offensive, what’s the plan? We already agreed that bait isn’t the smartest,” Lynn elbows Devonte, causing him to grunt. I can’t be mad at him since he’s right, but I love how my bestie protects me. “Uh, I mean, bait isn’t the best way to go, so how are we going to get to them?
~Nikki~The silence is heavy, and it’s starting to feel awkward. I know this is a lot; hell, it’s a lot for me as well. I definitely didn’t wake up this morning expecting to be presented with an opportunity to wield magic and help save my family and pack. It’s a major undertaking, and I have to admit that I didn’t know much about magic in the first place.Lynn is the first to break the silence in the room. “I wonder if we should take an hour to think about things before coming back with a decision.”“I don’t know, beautiful. We really need to get a plan in place since we have no idea when they will be trying to attack.” Paul scoffs.“I don’t know what we’re thinking about. This isn’t going to happen.” I look at Paul, and for the first time, I’m disappointed in him. Don’t get me wrong, I understand where he’s coming from. He is my fated mate, and there’s a pull to take care of each other and keep each other safe. Right now, he’s acting like Stuart did in the past. He’s trying to dictat
~Nikki~I jolt upright, sweat dripping down my face. I look around, and I’m surrounded by darkness. I look to my right, and I see the lump in the bed. His breathing is heavy, and he is snoring lightly. I slowly lay back down, wondering what it was that woke me so forcefully. “That would be me.” I jolt forward again, looking around.At the end of the bed, a few feet away, I see her. My heart rate increases, and I can feel my breathing become erratic. What the hell is she doing here? I lean to the right with the thought of waking my mate until her voice stops me. “I wouldn’t do that. If you wake him, I may have to take more….preventative measures. You and I need to talk, and I don’t want interruptions.” I lean away from Paul, not wanting him hurt.I throw my blankets back and turn to the side of the bed. She cackles, and I can’t stand it. “What, exactly, do you plan to do? I’m not even really here. Me talking to you is a form of astral projection if you will. If Paul wakes, he can’t do
~Landon~Lincoln and I stand in the gym's doorway. Tia is on the ground, sweaty and delicious-looking. We both step toward her at the same time. Lynn kisses her on the cheek before standing up to leave. She pats our shoulders as she walks past us, leaving us alone with our mate.There’s an awkward silence in the room, but I don’t think any of us know how to begin this conversation. To be honest, I’m torn. I understand where Tia’s coming from, and I’d probably have the same mindset. I just don’t think it’s wise to risk herself like this when we can come up with another way.Tia takes her time getting to her feet, and she stretches once she does. I swear she could have me on my knees literally, and she wouldn’t have to do much. Not only is she gorgeous, but she’s everything I ever wanted in a mate. I’m so grateful she was called home for our ceremony; otherwise, we would have missed out. Lincoln was the first to speak.“Tia, I think we should talk about everything. I think tempers were
~Tia~I hit the punching bag again with a left uppercut, cross combo. I do it again and again before throwing some kicks in. My anger is off the charts, and this is the only thing I can think to do to calm down.How dare they act like I can’t help with this. We need to draw them out, so it makes sense to use something that they want badly…..someone…..me. I’m the Luna of this pack, and it’s my job to help them protect everyone. I’m fully capable of protecting myself and would have no trouble doing the job.I continue to hit and kick at the bag, letting my anger permeate through the room. They are the reason that my father is dead. One day, I’m going to have to explain to my child why his grandpa disappeared. They were so close, and Dad couldn’t wait until he was old enough to start to train. He told me all about how he was going to teach him everything he knew so he could be a powerful Alpha one day.My falling tears are making it hard for me to see what I’m doing. I’m starting to miss
~Landon~We are all in our office, ready to have yet another meeting. I don’t know that I’ve ever participated in so many meetings, but I guess there’s no reason to complain. I could have easily succumbed to the injuries from the battle, and I wouldn’t be a part of another meeting ever again.In defending our pack and trying to protect our mate and child, Lincoln and I got bitten by the vampires a few times. The bad part is that vampire bites are poisonous to werewolves. The good thing is that we have the necessary anti-venoms to help if we get bitten. Lincoln and I had to stay in the clinic for a while to get the venom out of our systems.We hated that we couldn’t be by our mate’s side as she dealt with the loss of her father. I may have hated the bastard before, but he’s grown on me lately. He became the father he always should have been to my mate and an amazing grandfather to our child. I hate that he lost his life the way he did and by his own child. I hate that Tia’s in so much