IZZY POV
The jelly was cold on my abdomen, and it tickled when the doctor moved the wand across my belly. We were at the hospital for our first ultrasound.
“Yes, definitely three,” the doctor said, pointing to three little blobs on the screen. If I squinted, I could make out features.
“How long until they’re born?” Ethan asked. His excitement was contagious, and we were all grinning like idiots.
“Four and a half months,” the doctor said, handing me a wad of Kleenex to wipe off my belly.
“March,” breathed Caleb. The doctor nodded, giving me a hand and helping me sit up.
“Triplets may be early. No shifting from here on out to be safe. Healthy foods, but also give in to a few cravings. Your body knows what it wants.”
I glared at the triplets. “You hear that? Cravings are okay. I don’t want
IZZY POVI hurried through the town, not looking at anyone. Troi was right beside me, making her angry cat glare at anyone who crossed paths with me. I kept going. I didn’t sense that my mates were behind me and I was glad. I just wanted to be alone.I was so stupid in thinking that things could change. I’ve ignored the signs for so long, but the fact is that the responsibility of the pack’s behavior rests on my mates’ shoulders. Their ignorance was something taught long ago, I’m sure, but they have the power to change it.Even my mom experienced the pack’s bigotry. There is such a stigma attached to rejected wolves that she couldn’t shake it. She had to literally join the human world to get away from it. It was so wrong, and I didn’t understand why no one realized it.I walked into the woods, kicking up the loose leaves. Troi pranced happily beside
IZZY POVThe evening was perfect. Destiny took hold of me and led me over to a crowd. She began pushing through it. “Excuse me, excuse me! Coming through with the Luna!”Laughing, I protested her methods until I realized that the center of this group was Molly. She turned to see me and let out a little laugh, running over and embracing me. “This is the first time in a long time I’ve felt free,” she said. “I am so happy! Everyone is so nice!”Drogo pushed through the crowd, and then stood in front of me, stoic. He awkwardly put out his hand to shake mine, but I laughingly shoved it away and gave him a hug. “Me an Molly are gonna be married,” he whispered to me in his funny lilt. “We’ve wanted to for centuries, but the old man forbade it.”I giggled. “Congratulations are in order I see. Let me know where
CALEB POVI closed my laptop with a snap. I was working on the budget for the following year’s training. I wanted to add an addition to the stadium to have a larger free weights room and I was trying to figure out how to make the numbers work.“Got it done?” Ethan asked. He was laying on the couch with his arm over his eyes doing absolutely nothing, as per usual.“No,” I grunted. “I’m hungry. I’m going to see what Molly and Joanna have come up with.” It had been two weeks since the welcome party and Christmas was two weeks away from today. The two women were busy teaching each other their holiday traditional treats. We all benefitted and I was pretty sure I was already ten pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of the month.I walked into the foyer to see Izzy standing with her back to me. She was busy directing some of our workers on where to h
IZZY POVI watched my mates come racing to the foyer to rescue me. Griz looked sheepish. “Sorry,” he mumbled.“No problem,” I said soothingly, watching my mates exchange glances. Something was going on here. I needed to talk to them, but not now. Right now I was so excited that Kat and Griz had accepted my invitation.“You guys ready to dance?” I asked, doing a little bump and grind with my hips and baby belly and giggling. Griz looked over my head at Caleb.“Welcome!” Caleb said, a strange note in his voice. I turned to look at him and then saw the look on Reese and Ethan’s face.“Let’s go to my office,” I said firmly. “I think we have some things to talk about.”Griz looked at my mates in concertation. Kat slapped him on the arm, hard. “Quit being like that,” she scolded.&nb
IZZY POVThe five of us looked at each other in confusion. A shriek from one of the offices propelled me into movement and I was first out the door, racing after Griz.It wasn’t hard to figure out where he was going. He was a big guy, even in human form, and he left a path of destruction. It started with my broken door. Outside my door I had a little table that held a snacks for anyone visiting my office. The table was across the hall, on its side and the cookies were scattered on the ground. I turned to see that one of my bookcases had been crashed in to, and was now sitting lopsided with the little nick knacks on the ground and the books skewed sideways in the shelves. A huge vase in the foyer that I had filled holiday ornaments was now on its side, broken, half of the ornaments smashed under his huge feet, making it look like confetti strewn about. The door to the dining room was broken, the half that was still a
IZZY POVThe rest of the day was mundane in comparison to the first half. Before lunch, we obtained two new pack members, a new member of our extended family and a mate match that no one saw coming. After lunch seemed kind of like a letdown.We quickly realized Destiny was no longer interested in helping with the Ball so Lucy recruited Sami to finish helping us. To be fair, things were happening quite quickly for Destiny. She was so sure that she would never be mated that she didn’t bother even thinking about it and now that it had happened, she was overwhelmed. I reminded her to show up for the ball and sent both her and Griz off to check out their new home and to figure out what their relationship was going to look like. I was very happy for them.That night, I stepped into the shower utterly exhausted. Ethan was sitting on the vanity stool, watching me while I showered.“The Packhouse is compl
IZZY POV“It’s about time,” I heard a deep, familiar voice say. I looked over to see Cornelius sitting in a huge chair, much like a throne.“Is this a vision?” I asked. I was pleased to see that my voice didn’t shake.Cornelius looked amused. “Of sorts,” he said, the corners of his mouth twisting up.I looked around me. I was in a dark room, lit only by the fireplace. The stone walls and stone floor were drafty, and I could feel the cold seeping up into me from my bare feet. I moved to the left where a fur had been thrown on the floor, seeking the insulation for my feet.“How’s Vanessa?” I asked, continuing to look around. A bed was set in the corner of the room and a pair of chairs, one of which Cornelius was relaxing in, was around the fireplace. Other than that, there were no more furnishings in the room. It was a cold, forbidd
IZZY POVReese rolled into me and gathered me into his arms. I stiffened, not sure what was real and what was part of the vision. He immediately sensed that something was wrong and woke.“What’s up Izzy girl?” he asked, opening his eyes. I looked over at him, my sweet mate. Kat had told me in confidence that Troi told her that she was stealing Reese’s socks as a way to show endearment. She loved Reese the most because she sensed that I did. I denied it, of course, but deep down I knew that this was true. I connected with Reese more than I did the other two triplets. I was glad he was the one that woke up for me now.“Something weird happened,” I whispered. He looked at me with concern, so I quickly outlined the vision I had.“Are you sure it wasn’t just a really vivid dream?” he asked. He stroked back my hair, and I was immediately soothed.
EPILOGUE TALIA POV “Coming!” I answered my mom, looking in the mirror and tucking my hair behind my ear. Today was my eighteenth birthday and I was officially going to introduce my wolf to the Pack. I had technically been able to shift since I was a baby, but we had managed to keep that a secret from almost everyone, though it had been a close call a few times. My brothers were coming back from Mongolia with their mate, Zaria, and their friend, Leo, to help celebrate my birthday. They were on some sort of a mission for the Council, but they got permission to come home for this event. They were twelve years older than me and I liked to tease them about being old. They didn’t think I was as funny as I knew I was. They were cool, though, and all my friends loved my brothers. Their mate was also pretty awesome. She was the daughter of our Beta and one heck of a warrior. She went to the same camp my grandmama was accepted to. Only the best warriors are allowed to go. I ran
IZZY POV I rubbed my swollen belly and sat down behind my desk with a sigh. Baby girl was seriously a week overdue, and I was over being pregnant. I wanted to meet my Talia and that moment couldn’t come soon enough. A lot had happened in the three months since the Summer Solstice Celebration. Elder Voltaire had officially asked permission to join our pack and he put in his retirement notice to the Vampire Council. Apparently, serving as head Council Member for three hundred years was enough for him. We gave the Blood Moon Pack to Griz and Destiny. We talked a long time about it and had first asked Leo if he was interested in taking over for his father. He had vehemently turned down our offer, insisting that he never wanted to see the Blood Moon Pack again. When we had gone to visit, I could see why. The pack needed a lot of work and there was a general sense of discourse. Griz and Destiny agreed to take on the Pack with Griz being named the first non-wolf Alpha of a Pack.
IZZY POV“So what do you do, Elias?” Reese asked. I could see his nostrils flaring a little to see if he was a wolf. I didn’t sense a wolf in him, but I wasn’t going to ask. It was kind of like asking someone’s religion or income. If they offer the information, we could talk about it. But only if they offer it.“I’m a bounty hunter,” he said. Kat was clinging to his arm.“A supernatural bounty hunter,” she corrected. “He works for the Council, believe it or not.”Elias smiled. “Kind of. They hire me on occasion. I work for myself,” he corrected her gently.“Sorry,” she said, smiling. He leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips. I grinned. I was so happy for my friend.“Tell us about one of your captures,” Destiny asked. She was next to Griz,
IZZY POV“How are you doing?” I asked Destiny. We were busy hanging decorations around the backyard, and it was the first time I had a moment alone with her in a week. I knew she was feeling really guilty about Kat leaving.She shrugged. “I’m okay. I just feel awful every time I look at Griz. I never intended for her to leave. I just wanted her to be more careful.”I dropped the streamer I was holding and put my arm around her. “I know. And so does everyone else, including Kat. She just needed a change. She spent so much time and effort making sure every part of Cornelius was destroyed that she doesn’t know what to do now. She’s just trying to find her place.”Destiny sighed. “Tell Griz that. He is worried about her.”“She’s moving around pretty quickly,” I offered. “I think sh
IZZY POVThey say a Luna’s work is never done. They’re right.I got back and had my bath and some alone time with my mates, but the pack business didn’t slow down. I was involved in the planning of the half-way house we were building as well as another youth center. I approved budgets and began working on the nursery upstairs, a room we hadn’t used in eight years. And then I began to plan the summer solstice celebration, a tradition that we had upheld since we first started it thirteen years ago.“Black and white this year?” Destiny asked. “I hate black and white,” Lucy said. “It makes everything look so formal and this should be fun.”“Okay. Black and gold?” Destiny was relentless. Lucy threw a wadded up napkin at her.“You only want black because you love it,” Lucy accused her.Destiny shrugged.&
IZZY POVThe gavel dropped and the room exploded. I turned and Kat flew into my arms, hugging me. She wasn’t normally demonstrative, and I was pleased. I needed someone to hug right now, and Kat was perfect.She was also a great bodyguard. She pulled me through the reporters at the door and only got tripped up by one of the fae reporters who used projection to try to block us. Kat pushed him over and got me out of there and into a taxi without further incident.“Keystone Airport,” she told the taxi driver, naming a private airport. I was guessing that my mates had communicated with her.“I can’t wait to get back to the pack,” I said, leaning against the back seat. “I’m exhausted. I just want a bath and an uninterrupted night of sleep.”“I’m not going back with you,” Kat said suddenly. I sat up.“Why?
IZZY POVThe twenty-four members of the Councils filed out, leaving me standing at my table, still in the handcuffs. Thanks to Johan, the handcuffs were the normal ones that they used in the human world which meant I could break them if I needed to, but I wasn’t going to. I wanted the shifter world to see what was going on.After the council members left, Kat walked over to me bringing a couple of chairs. She plopped them down and I gratefully sat. “Did you have a vision earlier?” she asked.I nodded, rubbing my forehead. “Was it obvious?”“To me,” she answered. “I know you. I was about ready to create a diversion.”I chuckled. “You’re a good friend,” I said. A look crossed her face for a second but then disappeared. I had said something that bothered her. Curious.Her phone chirped and she looked at it.&n
REESE POVThere was an outburst from the spectators in the viewing area. The main werewolf and main vampire council members were banging their gavel, telling people to be quiet. We all exchanged grins.“We are not the ones on trial here, Luna,” the main vampire council member said fiercely.“No. You’re not. I am. And I am telling you why I had to do what I did,” Izzy said. She turned to the werewolf council again.“Who among you believed that the prophecy from Nehum thirteen years ago was about me?” She kept eye contact until all twelve members had their hands raised. “And who among you thought that the prophecy was also about my sons?” The same twelve hands were raised.“And the same on the vampire side?” she asked, turning. Reluctantly, some of their heads nodded. The others resolutely ignored her, keeping thei
REESE POV“This session will now come to order.” We were watching the trial on television. The Council, in their infinite wisdom, had decided at the last minute to broadcast the trial on a special encrypted channel that Packs would have access to. We had turned it on first thing this morning when we woke up, looking at an empty room somewhere in Salt Lake. We were watching when the members from both Councils filed in, twenty-four in total. Johan was part of the werewolf council. Alessia had gasped when she saw him take his seat.They had brought Izzy in with handcuffs on. I had roared, losing control of my wolf, but Alessia had wrestled me down. “It’s for show,” she had soothed me. “They’re not silver. Just look. She’s fine. She can break them in a second.” Vin was not convinced but at least he gave me control back.“Isadora Killian, Luna of the Moonstone Pack, you were called before the Council today to answer to an entire list of charges. But you were not the only one