Helen POVI collapsed in the shower my legs tired and weary. I coughed, finally free of my mates bruises kisses. He wasn’t kidding when he said we weren’t done, and I can’t determine what lead a little bit of sex meant to heal me, into hours of endless passion.I leaned on the wall to keep upright but exhaustion was taking over.Justin lathered himself up with more soap, doing the same to me after we both drowned ourselves in come and sweat.“You are amazing, Helen,” he breathed, kneeling beside me under the hot, raining shower water. “So, very amazing. Do you feel better, baby?”I nodded, exasperated and out of breath. “Yes, Alpha. I—I can’t catch—catch my breath.”He pet my hair back, damp and warm with the clean shower water and hints of soap still in my scalp. Justin kneaded it into my long hair, washing it thoroughly, as though I hadn’t done it well enough earlier.“You can go to bed, mate. You’ll need your rest. Tomorrow is the last day of celebration. It’s also the full moon.”
Helen POV“Of course, Russo. I won’t do that to my mate, to the other wolves, wizards—and you, of course.”“Thank you, little Luna,” he hummed, yanking me into his chest and throwing his arms around me. “You’re a good mate, and a great woman, little wolf.”Light creaking of the floorboards drew my attention from our embrace and I pulled away from Russo, finding myself crying as well. Justin and Randy stood in the doorway, my mate marking a look of hatred against his eyes and pursed lips.“Justin,” I grunted, peeling from Russo’s side and rushing to my mate.I snuck my arms around his sides and to my surprise, he accepted them, his arm resting on my shoulder and his hand tangling in my hair. Justin tipped his nose down, inhaling a long draw of an inhale.“You smell like blood, mate,” Justin snarled, his attention flickering up to Russo for an accusatory second. I gripped him tighter and he found the towel with my blood on it second. “Why were you bleeding, Helen?”I pulled away, my hea
Helen POVI buzzed in excitement. I wanted to carry my mate’s pups and hearing last night that it would become reality—it thrilled me to no end. I hardly slept at all in the hot, excited anticipation.I slipped into a comfy, flattering dress that fell to my thighs. I knew I had all day to prepare for tonight and seducing a Lycan, but I also knew that no matter what, I would have to win that creature’s trust.Randy was right.If the Lycan still hates me, I won’t get anywhere in mating with him.I left the room at last and stalked down the long, familiar hallways of this massive estate. My fingers ran through my necklace, toying with the rings my grandmother gave me. I never got the chance to tell Justin about what my father said about the rings, but I wanted to.It was up there with a lot of other things I wanted and needed to tell my mate. I followed his scent outside the house but stopped short, seeing a pair of burly warriors outside the front doors.One of them moved into my way, s
Justin POVI left Helen as she slept, and she was on my mind the rest of the morning. I should have kissed her. I should have told her I loved her and her commitment to being my mate, even when my Lycan still lacked trust with her.I didn’t do any such thing and guilt was heavy on my mind after that.Randy finished typing out a letter to return with the rogue I absolutely demolished in a beating this morning. I wanted to kill him, but then who would send my message to William and the huntsman?This would be a simple affair, and I would try to convince my Lycan to impregnate my mate before William can plan a backlash of action against our pack. Helen seemed so willing, and excited, and it truly made me fall in love with her all over again.Why wouldn’t my Lycan just forgive her first so we could move past her one betrayal?I could feel him denying that as a possibility and I sunk into my seat, Randy watching and noticing me going through this inner turmoil.“You okay, Alpha?”I shrugge
Helen POVI’ve never felt such pain in my life.I wasn’t chained to the wall or tied up to the bedpost in this little dungeon cell, but my throat was wrapped in a collar type of strap with a chain linked to the floor nearby. I could only sit up a little bit, the chain not long enough for me to even stand!The day has been a blur but I preferred it to be quiet than to be deadly. William’s scent hung on the dark, concrete walls and the nearby bars of this cell.I shut my eyes, seeing if I could track his scent and figure out where he was, but I couldn’t determine any of that at all.Pulling on the collar around my neck, I coughed, the tightness around my neck becoming more and more apparent. I coughed and fell forward, the strap releasing a little bit of tension and allowing me to gasp in inhale.“Stupid rogue!” I screamed, my voice bouncing off my cell. “Stupid, dead rogue! You will die when my Lycan mate finds you!”I heard a light laugh chuckling through the empty cells nearby and a
Helen POVI couldn’t help but fall asleep, feeling like I had been in this cell for three days now. The full moon has come and gone, and I never got the chance to mate with Justin. I knew he wanted to have pups soon, and the idea is so thrilling to me, but maybe it’s for the best.He could kill me if he’s not careful and I can’t ignore that possibility.I dreamt of his Lycan and the darkness that clouded his eyes at our worst moments together. Our relationship isn’t fully mended after I stabbed him, but it had to be good enough for him to come after me… right?I can only imagine he thinks I have run away and he has no interest in finding me, but it’s so far from the truth. I want to fix our mating bond so we’re back to where we used to be.We still had our enemies and we had our battles, but we were in love through it all.I woke up at last, groggy and weak. I looked at the ground all around me, seeing piles of pixie dust where that murderer must have destroyed every last one of them
Justin’s POV“Do you smell that?” I asked, stopping the line of wolves on either side of me, each of us still combing through the woods to look for my mate. “It smells like her blood.”A few warriors growled and ran froward, following the scent. It had been hard to find Helen after her scent was seemingly all over the woods, wiped on trees and scattered in the fields to throw us off.William must have spread her scent everywhere to throw us off her trail, but this new scent was stronger, carrying through the wind from miles away. My Lycan roared inside of me, needing our mate back.The full moon without her was too difficult and I fought him all night, losing half a day when I could have been looking for her! I’m making it up now, charging toward her scent of blood while Randy kept beside me, trying to keep me calm and hopeful.“It will be okay,” Randy said, speaking low. “She’s strong, like you said. She will be okay.”I shake my head, too disappointed to even begin to consider her s
Helen POVI sit up quick in bed, screaming for help and calling for my mate in this cold, dirty dungeon. Justin tackles me in his arms, holding me tight to his chest while he used his arm under me to reach over and turn on the lamp.The bedroom came into sight and I inhaled sharp, seeing that my reality was different from my horrible nightmare. At least, maybe it was a nightmare and maybe it was a memory.“Justin,” I panted, confused while I rubbed my eyes to double check where I was. “Oh moon goddess, we’re home! How did I—where did we—when did this—”“Please,” he grunted, pulling me against his chest. “It’s the middle of the night, Luna. Go back to sleep.”I fell back into his hold and made sure I was flush against his chest, loving the fact that he was holding me like my mate should hold me again. It felt normal and loving and trusting between us like it hasn’t in so long.I didn’t want to ruin it, but I knew we had to face William and make him pay for hurting those pixies. When Ju
Luke’s POV I knew my sister had run off to hide again after I heard her arguing with Dad. I wanted to find her and make sure she wasn’t sulking. Aurora liked to do that when things didn’t go exactly her way.But it seemed I wasn’t the only one who had that idea because halfway to her so-called “secret” place in the garden, I caught sight of her current boyfriend, Jay, sneaking out there, too. Jealousy prickled at my stomach.Aurora was my twin. I was the closest one to her. If she needed cheering up, it should be me doing it, not some random guy. What could he ever offer her that her twin couldn’t?Besides, Jay wasn’t worthy of her. He was a single-color coated wolf, the son of some gamma in my father’s ranks. If she was going to date and seriously consider finding a mate, I didn’t think Jay was anywhere near worthy of her.Jay was a consolation prize, at best. Some poor lady wolf could end up with him, but not my sister. Still, if she was just killing time by fooling around with him
Aurora’s POVAs the oldest of my mother’s twelve children, everyone expects me to be responsible. And as the first lycan born to my father, everyone looks to me to continue the lycan race.That’s a lot of pressure to put on an eighteen-year-old. Don’t get me wrong, as the future luna and heir to my father’s throne. I get where the pressure is coming from. Not that I particularly enjoy it.At the moment, I was hiding in the garden. I had many happy memories of this space, and on many days when I needed to think for myself or to get away from my many siblings, particularly my twin brother, I snuck out here and hid. Luke was way too over-protective of me, and it got annoying.When I was small, I used to make forts in the hedges surrounding the rose garden. I’d carved my hiding spot out into a hidden alcove that nestled inside the hedge behind a veil of ivy. Sunlight could dapple through the vines and illuminate the inside.And as long as I kept it free of cobwebs, it was a nice space to
Helen’s POVEach of the twins had gotten to choose party clothes for the event, and they were quite excited about it, probably because I let Luke have a tie that had a dinosaur print all over it. And because his little suit wasn’t anywhere near as fancy as Aurora’s poofy dress, or I guess it was just as fancy but less to his taste, I let him pick out a little undershirt and underwear with dinosaurs on them, too. That way, he felt he had a satisfactory number of dino garments on and was much easier to coax into his little gray suit.Aurora had chosen a dress perfect for a budding princess, all tulle and lace and sparkles in a vivid teal that complimented her dark hair, each accentuating the color of the other. I had just finished pulling on her tights and buckling her sparkly little shoes when Celine joined us.“Why don’t you come and help me greet the guests, Luke?” she suggested. “While your Mama finishes doing Aurora ‘s hair.”“Okay.”He took his nanny’s hand and left, and I fussed
Helen’s POVI bustled around the kitchen with our nanny Celine helping me. On her back, my two-year-old son, Wilson, kicked his legs happily, asking nonsense questions about what we were doing.Inside me, our new baby, another daughter, kicked and squirmed, looking for more room inside my womb. Celine and I were busy frosting cupcakes for the twins’ birthday. They were turning five today, and it was a big birthday party because we were doing their official reveal.Today, they would reveal their wolves and begin to learn about them and grow together. Justin and I had spent the last five years working furiously to repair all of the damage his family had done to the reputation of the multi-colored coated werewolves in anticipation of this very day.The last thing I wanted to do was have my children reveal the color of their wolves only to find out that they were multi-colored, or at least that’s the way it would have been if we hadn’t put in the effort. By now, everyone in the True Mates
Justin’s POVIf anyone said “honeymoon” to me, I would assume plenty of sex on the first night. But that was not at all what our first night in Tahiti was like.We arrived at the airport late and got shuttled straight to a hotel. We were exhausted and then had to get up early again to catch our inter-island flight to Bora Bora.Neither one of us was in the mood to do anything that night. So, thank goodness we had gotten a chance to fool around on the airplane. And I have to admit, fooling around on the airplane was so fucking hot.Ever since I found out that she was carrying one of the Huntsman’s twins, well, actually, that’s a lie. Ever since I found out that she was the Huntsman sex slave, and then when I found out that she was carrying his child, my feelings of desire for Helen wavered up and down.Sometimes I felt like everything was normal between the two of us, and I wanted her just the same as I always had, or at least the same as I had since I’d gotten my lycan and she’d gotte
Helen’s POVMy stomach buzzed in anticipation. Even the rumbling of the jet engines through the seat in my rear end didn’t dispel the feeling. Next to me, Justin adjusted his seat belt, putting his books and such within arms reach for the flight to Bora Bora.I’d finally gone with that as the location for our honeymoon. The twins were safe with Randy and Emily, and our nanny. Outside, snow swirled around the plane, but in about fifteen hours, we would be out in warm sunlight. Well, we were arriving at night, but we’d be out in warm weather anyway in Tahiti. And from there, first thing the next morning, we were catching a small flight over to Bora BoBora.“Are you excited?” I asked, poking Justin in the shoulder.“For the hundredth time, I am. And I can tell you are, too, annoyingly excited. You’re going to drive me crazy.”I poked at him again. “I don’t wanna drive you crazy, but I have an idea.”“What?”I tugged on his shirt, so he had to lean close so I could whisper in his ear. “I
Russo’s POVWhen we arrived at the hospital, the nurses thought it would be amusing to put us in the exact same room that Helen had been in while she was waiting for her C-section. Being a witch, Lisa shooed the nurses away as much as she could because she brought her own herbs to help with the delivery.In fact, after she’d taken some at the start of the contractions, she didn’t seem to be in much pain at all. Her body was going about its business without really disrupting her. It confirmed my suspicion when one of the nurses walked out, grumbling about how it must be nice to be a witch.“How come you didn’t offer the same herbs to Helen?” I asked, sitting at the bedside by Lisa’s head.She glanced over at me. “Because the mixture that I took includes wolfsbane, which is hard enough on adult werewolves, poisonous in large portions, and deadly to a newborn or an almost newborn. I would have essentially poisoned her and the baby.”“Not babies?”She shrugged. “I don’t know what would h
Helen’s POVWhen I got to the door, sure enough, Randy stood outside. I opened the door, and I held her finger to my lips.“The babies are napping?” he whispered.I nodded. “Like angels.”“Sweet,” he said, stepping inside. “Now, what did you need to see me for that was so urgent?”“I need your help with something,” I explained. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Justin hasn’t been as affectionate with me as he was before all of this went down. He’s done a pretty good job of coping with the fact that one of the twins isn’t his, worse, that he’s a part demon. But it’s kind of left a quiet wedge between us, and I wanna get over that.”Randy nodded. “I did notice. He hasn’t said anything to me. Though, I know he’s trying.”“I realize he’s trying,” I agreed, “but that doesn’t mean that he needs to try all on his own. So . . . I have an idea.”A wide grin spread across my face just thinking about it. “Before we found out that one of the twins belonged to the Huntsman, Justin was planning
Helens POVI thought, when I fell in love with Justin, that I knew what true love really felt like. That was until I met my babies. The love in my heart for my twins surpassed anything I’d ever felt before.I wanted to protect them, and at the same time, I wanted to take them out and show them to everyone I met. I wanted to have them seen, for the world to know that I had created perfection.And they were perfect. From their tiny little lips to their little button noses, they were utterly adorable. They each had ten teeny fingers and ten petite toes. Their downy heads of hair were so soft that I could help but smooth my hands across them, reassuring them that their mother loved them.Everything about them was indescribably perfect.We knew from the moment that they were born that my daughter was the lycan and my son was the child of the Huntsman. If Justin was disappointed in not having a son of his own, he didn’t say anything. And I wasn’t worried about having a male lycan pup just y