Esme’s POVWhen they say the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, they weren’t kidding.I knew there would be a rough road ahead before we could settle into some semblance of a normal life, but I was not prepared for the dirt we dug up under the abandoned school house. My visions have been blinkered recently. Before they were broad and I could see how everyone’s paths were intertwined. Now I only see myself, Hunter and Pine Ridge.Before Hunter made his decision, I had visions of many possible futures, this was not one of them. Hunter is constantly stressed and easily agitated. I’m not saying I blame him, he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. The day he took his place as Alpha, he ended six lives, Kendrick and the five men who challenged him.In the almost couple of weeks since then, there have been half a dozen more challenges and half a dozen more deaths. The people aren’t adjusting to our ways as easily as I had foolishly hoped. Change is hard, I know that, we b
Christian’s POV Yesterday evening I made the grave mistake of mentioning out loud how well everything is going here and at Pine Ridge. Hunter and Esme have found a way to engage their entire pack. They now have a ruling council, overseen by the two of them. It couldn’t have worked out better really, the council members were elected by the people, and they seem to be placated, for now at least. Democracy among wolf packs is rare, but then so is a pack with two very distinct and opposing communities, if that is what works for them, I fully support and respect Hunter’s decision.The women and children we took in have settled in nicely. Most of the women have found mates among our warriors and after Liberty’s little speech, they are embracing the safety and security of the mate bond and our pack. There has been far more going on behind the scenes, counselling, medical treatments, conditioning and training. Liberty and Lottie have worked tirelessly to integrate the refugees into our pack
Zander’s POVWatching Liberty use her own body as a shield snapped me out of it sharpish. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You know when someone says ‘it was like everything happened in slow motion’? well, I never understood that until right now.Max bubbles to the surface and boils over as the realisation of what Liberty is telling us hits Christian. Caleb’s reaction is stunned silence, which is for the best in this very moment. As usual, I set my own feelings aside to manage my brother and his wolf.His temper has vastly improved, but this is two dozen steps to far for him.I watch for a moment, frozen to the spot as I process what is happening. There is a flash of Obsidian fur and Liberty stands her ground intercepting Max's, would be, assault on Marcel. Seeing my mate and pups in the line of fire releases the hold the ground has on my feet and I jump into the fray.Caleb rushes forward, as I leap over the coffee table to restrain my brother. He and I both know that Caleb may be m
Lottie’s POVI was sat with Imelda and Esme when Christian’s message rang out over the link. We had been excitedly discussing Rosaline’s impending arrival and what that means for the magic circle they want me to join and complete. I’ve been on the fence since they asked me, even under their guidance, I don’t feel like I have enough of a grasp on my magic to do the circle justice.Literally thirty seconds after Christian’s link, Liberty comes puffing through the double doors and running over to our table in the main hall.The three of us were already on our feet and about to go and look for her and find out what on earth is going on. When she reached us, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. The pups are growing quickly and taking up more room inside her tiny frame every day. Pregnancy does not look comfortable, or as blissful as so many people make out. Then again, twins is bound to be harder on your body than a single pup, I hope. I wonder if little dragon halflings would be
Imelda’s POVThese women think they can hide their condition from me. Me, really? I have seen and helped more pregnant women than they have had hot dinners. Esme knows I’m on to her, the look of understanding when I told her and Liberty to talk, said it all. Her secret is out, she might aswel find comfort in those around her who can sympathise with her complicated situation.Lottie only suspects that I know about her. Truth be told, I probably knew before she did. It doesn’t sit well with me, taking her into this fight knowing she is carrying such rare and precious cargo, and had there been any other choice I would have taken it but desperate times call for desperate measures.She shouldn’t shift, but her magic will remain unaffected for now. All I need her to do is get close enough to one of the Katasan to draw blood with the Athamè. She has proven herself to be a formidable fighter, and as long as she gets in and out quickly, she will be fine. I can use the blood to locate whomever
Gabe’s POV “Gabe, no.” distorted cries fill the air and I watch as the dark grey clouds move across the sky. The moon is rising, and the air is frigid but the sand beneath me is warm and comforting. I had debated whether or not to ask Lottie if she is carrying my child before I left for my perimeter run. I should have, but I lost my nerve, what if I’m wrong? I should have taken every opportunity to show her what she means to me, what our child would mean to me. Instead, I put it off. I thought I would have more time, that she would come to me and tell me when she is ready. It is Zeke who put the idea in my head, he made an off the cuff comment, and now I can think of nothing else, apart from why she wouldn’t tell me. I’m told that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. Well, I’m waiting, but the flashes aren’t coming. ‘I have died many times, each time has been different.’ Zeke calmly and softly distracts me from the pain in my chest. The dagger lodged between my ribs
Liberty’s POV “Do you think you can get something off this?” Imelda asks as she hands me a dagger. The blade is sticky and coated in drying blood and I’m taken aback by her request and the object she hastily thrusts in my direction. “Where did you get this?” I hesitantly take hold of the handle and turn it to get a good look, its not one of ours, nor is it the dragon glass blade she had Lottie retrieve from her room earlier. I have never seen such an intricately carved handle on a weapon. All of the weapons here are purely just that, tools to keep the pace and defend the pack, but this dagger looks like an ornament. The ripples in the Damascus steel are the only feature I immediately recognise, and that is only because the Old Guard are very proud of their own Damascus blades. “It was in Gabriel when Lottie and I found him on the beach.” She sounds so monotone but I can feel her pain merging with my own. None of us expected today to be the day the fight came to us and our losses hav
Zander’s POVFollowing my brother and his captors had been a snap decision. I’m not even sure what I had hoped to achieve, there is only so far I can follow them in their boats then I’ll be stood on the side of a mountain with nothing to show for my little adventure. I think I just needed to feel like I was doing something, anything other than watch them sail away with a part of me. I was several miles out of our territory before I even realised what I was doing and that I had shut out all of the noise and chatter of the mind link.I know I should at least let Liberty know where I am, but at the risk of sounding like nothing but a hypocrite, I decided to keep my mouth and my mind shut until I have something of significance to tell her. I know she is okay, I can feel our connection strumming away in the background the way I always do, like static in my soul.I followed the insurgent forces at a distance, never letting their sails out of my sight, as they retreated down the coast. Their
Chapter TwoConstance’s POV With the raiding party away, a rare calmness has come over the castle. I often find myself eagerly awaiting their departure so I can let down my guard and just be. This place is the only home I have ever known. I grew up within these walls and every room, every portrait and piece of furniture is attached to a memory of my life before, though it feels less and less like my sanctuary as Halen continues to fill it with his experiments.He says we are all one clan, the vampires he creates are family and that his creations will assure our safety and our place in the world. I know he believes every word he speaks but I can not get a moments peace with them around. I am constantly on edge, waiting for one of them to go feral and kill the human pets Halen keeps around for us to feed upon. He is adamant it will not happen again, but I have quickly learned that his belief in something doesn’t make it so.The dining hall is my second favourite room and as I walk ar
Please enjoy a sneak peek of Marcel’s story, which is now available. VB xxMarcel of The Lone Mountains.A Vampyre’s story by Veronica BlackChapter OneMarcel’s POV “Open your eyes and watch, boy.” My father snarls through gritted teeth, spittle flies from his taught lips into my face. He roughly grabs the loosely tied pony tail at the back of my head and wrenches my head back, which forces me to look up and watch the carnage unfolding in front of my eyes. My jaw tightens in frustration but I bite my tongue. I hate that he calls me ‘boy’. I haven’t been a boy for over a century, but he still looks down on me as if I am dirt beneath his boot and nothing more than a juvenile inconvenience. “This... is what we are. This... is what they made us. You can not fight nature son.” He shakes my head, pulling my hair out at its roots, as he aggressively makes his point.He is not wrong about not being able to fight nature, however, we are anything but natural. He continues his speech, the s
Grace’s POV I looked out of the window just as a dozen men in leather armour jogged past. It looks like they are surrounding something but I can’t see it the middle of the protective huddle.“Something is happening.” Lena sticks her head around the door of our shared room. Of course she would be one of the first to know if something is going on, her intuition is razor sharp and she is rarely wrong.“I can see that, but it’s none of our business. We should not go meddling unless we are invited. You know that.” I tell her in warning. Alma made it abundantly clear that we are to stay out of pack business unless she tells us otherwise. I’m more than happy to heed her advice and stay well out of it. The fewer people I meet, the less likely they are to find out anything they need not know.“It is our business. I have a really strong feeling we are meant to be part of this. Whatever they have brought back is tied to us. Come on. We will just watch, from a distance if that makes you feel bett
Marcel’s POV Imelda’s room has remained untouched. Not one of us has been able to face going in there. It just hasn’t felt right, like it’s too soon to close this chapter. Part of me wants to believe she is still in there, plotting and scheming ways to make Averson suffer. She may have been more understanding of what happened and why, but causing his discomfort had become a bit of a sport to her and it kept him on his toes.On my way back from breakfast with Claudel I walked to my room, the same as I have done every day for weeks. Claudel has been talking of leaving for a little while and it seems he has decided to bid us farewell in a few days. He has had his amusement and knows our clan will be anxiously awaiting his return. He and Vitandi have been getting along surprisingly well and it wouldn’t come as a shock to discover that Vitandi will join Claudel and spend some time at our home in the Lone Mountains. There is a palpable tension between the dragon and the Alphas and a parti
Lottie’s POVThere has been a sense of fragile peace and calm around here for a few days. I doubt it will last very long, it never does. It’s sad to think that at a time when we should all be enjoying every day, we are waiting for the other shoe to drop.My father is in the dog house with my brothers, they are both livid that he went off script and rained fyre down on the Katasan. He did what he set out to do, but it could have ended differently. Luckily when Christian, Zander and Marcel returned they had Alma, Grace and Lena with them. Without Grace’s healing magic Uriel would almost certainly still be in the hospital, but everyone is acting as if all is well that ends well.Speaking of Uriel, he has been happily holed up in his room with May, who we all now know to be Amaya, the mate he thought he had lost. I’m happy for him, if anyone deserves to find happiness he is right at the top of the list. Putting up with my brothers, he was due some good fortune, and Amaya has been through
Uriel’s POVA few of us noticed Liberty and Wendy disappearing into the woods whilst we gathered around the tables laid out for Thomas, Zachary and Imelda’s wake. Gerald was quick to his feet, signalling with a discreet nod of his head for three of the Old Guard to follow at a distance.Concern for the Luna has been spreading through the pack. She seems to have lost touch with reality ever since the night she had the pups. When I returned with Vitandi and Averson I expected to be read the riot act, punished, shamed, relieved of my command or at the very least given the dressing down I deserved from my Alphas. Fortunately for me they were otherwise occupied. By the time they had been reassured by Doc Wood that their mate and pups were remarkably in perfect health, their anger at my disobedience had dissipated.The excited tremor of success, when I debriefed the group about our mission, was short lived. Marcel had been nowhere to be seen so we began without him. It was strange holding a
Liberty’s POVI stand and watch as flames engulf the three carefully built pyres, and I feel completely numb. I can’t tell any of them how I feel or what happened when I saw Aadhya again the night I had the twins. Emotions in the pack are high, the loss of two of our warriors and Imelda has rocked the pack to it’s core.I couldn’t tell them I wasn’t coping or that I had died, no matter how briefly it might have been for them, it felt like a life time for me. Aadhya came to take me home with her and that feeling has not left me. She talked about all of the good I would be able to do on the other side, she told me my pups would be loved and cared for by the entire pack and they would never walk alone, but all I could think was that I’m not done.That is when I realised it was over. My life, everything we had been fighting for, the future I had grown to want and cherished the idea of. The pack would have to carry the burden without me. Lottie, Imelda, Esme, Hunter, Christian, Zander and
Marcel’s POVI like to think that in my long life and varied experiences, I have seen pretty much everything there is to see in this world. Since coming to Pine Lake, my belief in my own wisdom has been put into question on many occasions, as has my mastery of my emotions.Alma, Lena and Grace are another anomaly I can’t explain. Their power and knowledge rivals that of Imelda, which should not be possible, not unless they are all connected in some way, by blood or by magic. I can’t explain it and they won’t, not yet anyway. There is no denying the energy of the three of them individually, but when they come together you can feel it in the air like static electricity.By the time we reached the bunker I was certain that Alma is indeed a high priestess, and far older than her appearance portrays, and that she has taken the other two under her wing to teach them the ancient magic that has been all but forgotten. I was excited to introduce Alma and Imelda, the two of them are so similar,
Uriel’s POVPlanting the explosives is turning out to be the easiest part of this suicide mission. Getting out of this labyrinth in the next few minutes is proving harder than you might think. The whole base is like damned a maze. Every corridor is just like the previous one. There is no signage and the map is all but useless now. We have been turned around a few times, choosing to avoid oncoming soldiers rather than waste precious time fighting.“How long?” Averson calls ahead to me.I glance at my watch and know it is going to take a miracle or an act of the fates to get us out of here.“A minute and change.” I call back as I skid around the next corner, not putting on the breaks hard enough and slamming sideways on into the wall.“Move your arse.” Averson catches up, grabs me by the back of the neck and forces me forward with him. Hitting the wall at high speed stunned me for a moment but I’m alright now.The next, seemingly endless, corner we turn brings a welcome sight. There, la