Helen POV“You missed a spot,” Scott purred, kissing my bare, bruised back as I hunched over to scrub the tile floors. He stepped over me like I’m a bug he would prefer to squish. “If you behave tonight, maybe I’ll let you sleep in bed with me.”“Never,” I hissed, throwing the sopping wet sponge at his back.He stopped walking away and turned with a raised brow. “Oh, so you want to keep being punished?”“It’s better than being with you,” I barked. “You cannot keep me here forever, Scott. I will make it back to my mate.”“I am your mate!”“You will never be my mate again!”I stood, fighting the chains on my wrists and my legs, hating how Scott treats me like my Lycan mate is being treated by his father. He wants to humiliate me into submission. It will never work.“You want some perfect coated white wolf but you will never really be my mate! I will never be your Luna and I will never submit to you!” I lock my jaw, speaking with so much hate I don’t recognize my own voice. “I am glad yo
Helen POV“Oh, no. It’s too late.”He was already in Lycan form, his head stretched up toward the full moon that caused him so much pain. He had been through every full moon with a struggle but this one would be difficult.We haven’t seen each other since the wizards and the Fae had double-crossed us.Now he would walk up to see me beaten and near death. The rage that would come from him tonight would spark fear through the world if it were to be live streamed. Juden’s plan will work.I couldn’t let that happen.Forcing myself to my knees, I ached in a pain unmatched to any I’ve ever felt. I collapsed forward into the concrete once, then twice, struggling to balance upright after such a horrid beating.I stood up with a dwelling yelp. Justin’s Lycan began charging forward from the horizon.Taking a careful step forward, my ankle bone clearly snapped, I hopped forward with my stronger leg to keep upright. I don’t know where Juden is, waiting for his son to lay waste to this world, but
Helen POVWhen Randy said he knew where he was going, I trusted that, but this seemed a bit more extreme than I was anticipating. We round the corner of another dark tunnel, leading to a set of half-lit torches nailed into the rock wall.“What is this place?” I groaned, shivering.Thankfully, randy had given me his shirt to wear, but with my blood soaking into the fabric and the fact he has seen me very naked today already, I wondered if the kind notion was worth it.I held onto his shirt methodically, watching as he pressed into the rock wall and it shuddered, the door opening in recoil. It moved so easily but looked just like any other tunnel wall. I hid my amazement, walking into a bunker of sorts in this vast cave system.“This is our safe haven for now,” Randy said, moving into a kitchen set up on the far wall. “It’s no Vegas, and it’s not the wizard hideout in the pines, but it’s not bad.”I took a careful step back. Randy has always been nice to me, and his loyal to Justin is c
Helen POVThe Alpha and his beta talked through what feels like ages. I couldn’t sleep, only catching little mentions here and there as they caught up their timelines together.Randy foresaw the attacks, and Justin explained why we ran away when we did, and what led to our inevitable capture. My body cringed when he spoke of the wizards and the woman who had tried to seduce him, holding my necklace in temptation.They wanted to pounce on us then, to set us against each other, and while I false my appearance as peacefully asleep, Justin speaks over the sight of me so wounded in the misinterpretation of what I saw that day.“She was so hurt. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but I saw it, Randy.” Justin’s voice is muffled and distressed. “I stay at Lone Wolf Estate and she gets hurt. We leave the Estate, and she gets hurt more.”“It isn’t your fault as her mate, it’s your father’s doing, Justin. He was never going to pass the title down to you, not unless you became a weak Lycan. Somehow th
Justin POVI’m thankful Randy had a makeshift shower set up with a pipe and the cave springs set up, but I don’t think he’s very pleased with having to share this confined space with my rambunctious mate and myself.He brough enough clean clothes, though, so I slipped into some pants and helped my mate into a tee shirt meant for me, her frame healed all over and his eyes pressed hard together while she slept. I had exhausted her earlier, and for good reason.Randy offered me a bottle of something, alcohol probably but it was about the taste for me, and we sat at the table where he had a hard time looking me in the eyes.“Sorry about that,” I breathed, sipping the drink with amusement. “I really didn’t want to do that with you present but—” My voice fell with his look. He understood why it happened.“She’s healed now, and she knows better than to do anything stupid to be your martyr,” Randy said, tipping his eyes toward my slumbering Helen. “I recognize why you had to do it. I didn’t e
Helen POVJustin and Randy hardly ever left the safety of the cave unless it was for food. They took turns leaving back and forth. Justin refused to let me try, ushering me to rest and enlisting my help to cook; these two would be stuck eating raw pheasant every night if it weren’t for me.I worked in the small kitchen, preparing the dinner that sat before me. The two men had fallen asleep by now, exhausted from their hunt where they only returned with one kill. It wasn’t bad though; it would feed us for tonight.The kitchen was small and confided, my hands careful to put the fresh pork over the open flame when I turned too fast, tripping over my own feet. I managed to put down the pork meat over the fire without breaking the glass pan, but I still hit the floor.My head hit the countertop first, though. Darkness welcomed my return.When I came two, the cave was filling with a thick smoke. I knocked the pork off the burned as I stood, the meat dark and charred all over. The disappoint
Helen POVMy grandmother’s face is beautifully cascaded in a gold shine. She is an angel, literally and physically, but she looks like one right now, floating inches from my face.I reached out, wanting to take her hand, but it moved right through the illusion. My heart sank knowing I couldn’t reach her, not even in my dreams.Everything turned quickly, sending me to the floor of my parent’s kitchen scrubbing the floors and working on my blistered knees. I could see how small I looked then, how pathetically easy of a target I was to my relatives, but it still hurt, nonetheless.“You are cruel!” my nana’s voice carried through our home. “You don’t see it yet, but I do! I see how you treat my granddaughter! She will make you rue your behavior one day.”“The maid child? Please, Gertrude,” my mother’s voice heckled, “what a joke this is! She is a pathetic little runt. You should be happy that I’m even considering keeping her in this house!”I scrubbed the floor harder at that casual threa
Helen POVI followed my mate to the clearing of the field just outside my father’s pack. We were watching specifically for the Alpha King on visit, or that horrible Scott hanging out near my parents.It’s hard to accept that they loved him more than me, their own flesh and blood. It never mattered, though. When they saw us as fated mates, they saw Scott as their son, and Diana as his wife.Fuck what the moon goddess intended, I guess.Justin’s Lycan is calm, which is nice to see in a moment like this. We peer across the valley, watching Randy’s wolf stalk slowly in place, waiting for a sight of my father to come into view. The last few times we have been on look-out have been unsuccessful.My father had bunkered himself into the house. When he leaves, that will be when we strike.Justin’s Lycan leaned into my wolf’s neck, running his claws through my thick, matted fur. Being a Snow White now, I was scared of drawing too much attention, but more so afraid of the respect this coat would
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