Russo POVI got a set of frantic texts from Lisa telling me that we had to meet right away and that something desperately important had come up. After everything that had gone on in the last two years, her desperation made it hard to breathe.In my mind, I knew that Martin and the Huntsman were both dead, but getting that fear to relax was proving difficult. Every time I heard something out of place at night and every time somebody said they had news, my mind immediately assumed they meant something bad.I watched my own kind slaughtered and then watched the Huntsman trying to route the witches and wizards. I’d seen the aftermath of what he’d done to the lycans and what he was trying to do with the werewolves.Needless to say, after all that unpleasantness, it was hard to imagine that things would just continue to be as good as they were. I was blissfully happy with Lisa. The two of us were planning a wedding over the summer. We were thinking August but early so that all of the flower
Russo’s POVLisa tipped her head, taking in my kiss. All sorts of soft and beautiful feelings welled up inside me, begging for an outlet. Our kiss quickly became more passionate as I tried to express myself.I had never loved anyone more than I did at that moment. The gift Lisa had given me, even without meaning to, was something that I couldn’t express in words. I wanted to show her how much she meant to me, how much this child meant.“Wait a sec.” I stopped, pulling away from her.“Yes?” Her gaze was so sexy it hit like cupid’s arrow, slamming through my heart.“I really, really want to sleep with you right now,” I said. “But . . . do you think it’s okay? We won’t hurt the baby, will we?”Lisa burst out in wild giggles. “No. I don’t think we’ll hurt the baby. Nature does a pretty good job of protecting everything inside me. In fact, I’ve heard that birth experts say if your baby is overdue and you’re looking for a natural way to induce labor, an orgasm will do the trick. So, if you
Justin POVI tapped my fingers on the polished wood of my desk, trying to sort my thoughts. Randy had gone back to his own office on a phone call with one of our new business partners, somebody in a pack halfway across the continent. But thanks to the internet, we would be doing business with them.For the last two months, Randy and I had been trying to piece back together my father’s kingdom. He spent so much time with the infighting that he’d neglected any other duties that a king should do. Then as everything fell apart thanks to him and the Huntsman and everything, what he’d left behind for me to rule was a total disaster.Randy and I had tried to piece back together what we could in the heat of conflict. And while everybody was happy enough to be part of the True Mates pack, it wasn’t running the way that I wanted it to. Our pack wasn’t the sort of legacy that I would want to leave to my future children, children whom Helen and I were still working hard to conceive.I’d had no id
Right in the middle of my shark-infested fantasy, someone tapped on the door.“Justin?” Helen called through the wood.I slapped my laptop shut, trying to hide my research. If I wanted this to be a surprise, then she couldn’t see what I’d been looking at. A twinge of guilt hit me. I was acting suspicious like she almost caught me with porn or something bad like that.Wait. I had no reason to feel guilty. I would surprise her with this vacation. I would book everything, and then when she looked like she was sad that she was having no luck in conceiving a baby, I would spring this on her and cheer her up. The ensuing romance would make conceiving easier because we wouldn’t think about having a baby. We would just think about the romantic times and let nature take its course.Naturally, all of this thinking about sex made my cock swell, filling my pants and pressing against the zipper. Maybe we could try getting pregnant here in the office. I’d never had sex with her in my office. That m
Justin’s POVHelen took one open-mouthed look at my magnificent erection and burst into giggles. “Oh! It’s that kind of game.” Then she blushed. “All right. I guess that will take my mind off of things.”I saw her panties drop to the floor from underneath her skirt. Fluffing the fabric out, she straddled my lap so that my cock sat folded in between the soft lips down below. She kissed me deeply.“I like this game. Now, boss, what should I do for you?”“Well,” I chuckled, nibbling her ear, “there’s nothing a boss like so much as being made to feel that he’s powerful. What can you do to me to make me feel like a man?”“How about this?” she whispered in my ear.With that, she started to rub her hips back and forth across my legs. My member jumped excitedly, ready whenever she was to just slip inside and begin the real thrusting.I lifted Helen’s blouse and pulled the cup of her bra to the side, taking her in my mouth. I suckled at her nipple, running my tongue around and across the firm
Justin’s POVJust because she’d made a valid point didn’t mean I was ready to let other options go. I’m not sure why the idea of watching sharks creeped me out so badly, but it did.In reality, Randy and Russo had both seen Helen and me fully engaged in such activities. And I’d argue that either of them was more dangerous than a shark. But I wasn’t worried that either of them would try to take a bite of my goods. And if they did, I might have to kill them. I couldn’t kill some poor dumb shark for acting on instinct.Helen cocked her head. “Justin? What are you thinking about?”“Oh, um, nothing, really.” I’d spaced out there for a moment.“I looked at places where we could see historical things or metropolitan cities,” I explained. “Don’t you think it would be nice to go someplace like Paris or New York or Singapore? Or we could go to Egypt and see the pyramids and the other artifacts. Or Rome and see the Colosseum. Or we could go somewhere more remote. They have a chalet up in the mo
Justin’s POV“I’ve already talked to Lisa about getting pregnant,” Helen said. “She doesn’t think there should be any adverse effects from the Huntsman. Even after finding the witches and wizards who are more powerful than her, none of them have ever heard of this specific situation, but none of them could think of any reason why the baby wouldn’t be okay. I think we need to trust Lisa’s opinion and the opinions of those that she respects.”“Still, I want this whole pregnancy monitored,” I said, “start to finish. Let’s not take any chances.”I ran my hand across Helen’s cheek, cupping her face lovingly. “I don’t want to take any chances with your health either. Pregnancy can be hard on the mother. I want to make sure that you’re getting what you need so that you stay healthy. I want you to fully enjoy having a child when the time comes. I don’t want you drained and exhausted, or worse.”She put her hand over the top of mine, snuggling her cheek against my palm. “Thank you for worrying
Randy’s POVI continued my pacing, running my hand across the back of my desk chair on the way by. Part of me wanted to shove it into the desk and watch everything fly apart, but I resisted the temptation to lose my temper.My thoughts had come back to the danger they’d put Helen in. What were they thinking? Justin and Helen had a full two months of unchaperoned sex while Justin was in a lethal lycan form. She still had unknown side effects from having absorbed a half-demon’s power.Those two could sugarcoat her sex with the Huntsman any way they wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that we had no idea what the long-range effects were going to be. I just hoped the doctor who was coming this evening was smart enough to double-check everything and put those two in line with reality.As Beta, I could really use to relax about everything with this pregnancy so that I could focus on all of the other work that had piled up.The intercom on my desk crackled. “Beta Randy?” our receptionist s
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