Helen POV“What happened here?!”I only looked up slightly to see Randy charging toward the pond. He was alone, watching Justin carefully as he knelt behind my back.“Moon goddess,” he said, running his fingertips lightly down my spine. “You’re covered in bruises, Helen.”I spit out the remainder of Justin’s come still clogging my throat and blushed deeply, looking at my pale form to see what he was talking about. He was right. Some of them even looked like bite marks. I felt sick at the sight of them, but more so at how Justin saw them.“No, it’s fine—” I pleaded, looking at my poor mate in his cycle of losing self-control. “Please, don’t—”Justin roared in shifting into his Lycan.I flinched at the sight of my mate running off. Randy pulled my hair back, assessing my naked, battered body.“Did he really do all of this, Helen?”“It doesn’t hurt,” I said in defense. It was true, too. It didn’t hurt. The only pain I felt was seeing Justin so furiously fighting himself. “It was too much
Justin POVShe finally fell asleep. Her body was jerking around when I entered the dwelling of the cave, her heat so palpable it sent waves over my Lycan. He wasn’t happy with my abrasive need to create distance between us.Neither was her wolf.It took so much out of her that at last she passed out. Randy wanted to be sure of her submission against her heat, so he tied her wrists in rope and looped it through the headboard of the bed.Seeing her like that only fueled the need and desire that bubbled through my chest. I wanted her like that, to please her mercilessly while she was tied up and panting and begging.Randy connected a fist into my cheek, knocking me unbalanced and pissing me off.“What the fuck?!”My Beta snarled. “You’re doing it again, dammit. Relax, Justin. You’re going to put each other back in heat.”I shook my head and settled my nerves; for now. “I don’t know what happened out there it was just—we just took a break to swim—I wanted to calm her down after that terri
Helen POVMy wrists bleed for days. Anytime I need to get up, I’m untied from the bedpost but the ropes stay wrapped around my wrists. Randy spends most of the time with me if I have to get up to eat, to shower, but he is ruthless in putting me back in bed.I’ve fought him before, but I’m not strong enough to break away from him completely.Justin has been far too focused on setting the new pack up in the mortal cities nearby, all while collecting rogues and other pack outcasts to join our new pack. Justin was trying to stay busy and trying to stay away from me.I only made my heat worse.“RANDY!”I screamed as I woke, the stabbing agony in my abdomen like a million knives sliding in and out of my flesh over and over again. I woke up in tears that didn’t stop until I saw Randy undoing my wrists overhead.He picked me up in a single, rough swoosh and put me on the shower floor. The water hit me like a train would pelt my back if I were standing in its way. I screamed as the fever fough
Helen POVIt was the first morning I didn’t wake up in agonizing pain.Justin was brushing my hair back, untying my wrists, all while I had shifted in and out of my dreadful sleep. His lips lightly pressed into my temple.“How can you be sure it’s over?” Randy asked.Justin hummed a noise, running his palm down my cheek. “I can smell it. Her arousal has dissipated and she’s not whimpering in her sleep anymore. She’s better now.”“I don’t want anything like that to ever happened again,” Randy admitted in heavy exhale. “I couldn’t watch you two have so much tension. It was painful to witness.”I grumbled slightly, aware of my mistakes when in heat.“She couldn’t resist, and I couldn’t either,” Justin huffed. “I made a mistake and pushed her away too hard but my Lycan—I’ve never felt like that before. He was furious.”“It was hard to talk you down, Alpha.”“I know, Randy. I appreciate you doing it, though. I don’t know how my Lycan would mate her in that state, in that form, but he was r
Helen POVWhen I managed to wake up, the stirring voices around me had stalled. I watched the unfamiliar faces in the small, wood home stay perfectly still, looking down at me. my hands ran across my body, noticing the patches of natural bandages they placed there.I peeled a sticky, ointment sticky Lilypad off my hip, exposing the dainty scar underneath.“Where am I at?” I panted, panicked. “What pack is this? Lone Wolf?”The younger wolf nearest to me shook his head, the female I saved in the woods behind his shoulder. “You’re with Small Oak,” he sighed. “We’re a small, riverfront pack. I’m Ezequiel and my half-sister, Martha, she brough you here.”“Oh,” I groaned, sitting up to see them watching me closely. “I’ve never heard of this pack.”Ezequiel grinned softly. “We’re not really a big pack, and we live pretty simple lives out here. Our Alpha died a few months back so we’ve been waiting for the moon goddess to send us someone to lead our pack. Then you showed up.”My brows furrow
Helen POVJustin, Randy and I are the last to move into the village.Randy picked a small little cottage that hangs over the river, while the rest of our new pack saved the largest cottage for my mate and me. It was the last Alpha and Luna’s home, and it’s a beautiful space. Three stories tall with countless rooms and a barrack in the basement.It was fit for an Alpha, that’s for sure.Justin folded his clothes away in our new bedroom, meanwhile I had decided to lay down for a nap, or at least to watch him unpack, to catch a breath. We had been hiding for awhile and it wasn’t easy, but this finally felt like it was all worth it.I stretched on the bed and yawned, Justin giggling at my sleepiness.“You can’t go to sleep yet, Helen. We have the first pack dinner tonight,” Justin reminded me. “I’ll be announcing out pack name to everyone who moved in.”I pondered what he had chosen but liked the idea of being surprised with everyone else. “I know, Justin. I’m just tired. It’s been such a
Helen POVScott was wildly outnumbered, but that didn’t stop him. He shifted through the clearing and sprinted toward the pack. Some of them met Scott in wolfen form while others hung back, Marth moving to my side as she watched on in horror.I stayed behind my mate’s back. Justin wouldn’t let Scott near me again. I wanted to fight him but after the curse he stabbed into my spine, I was too afraid of going through anything like that again.The wolves of True Mates had stopped him before he made it into town square, biting and nipping at his extended throat. Justin ordered for them to take Scott to the barracks under our new home.While they did that, Justin cleared his throat and tried to salvage the night.“We will not be intimidated by false Alphas,” Justin roared.Martha left to take her seat and I took mine, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder to my Lycan mate. I leaned into his side and tried to focus on the festivity of this evening but Scott nagged through my mind.Without a mating ma
Justin POV“Reject her first. Then I’ll save Helen.”I stood firm against that. “No. I can’t reject my mate. No matter what, she is mine, Scott. I would never let her live a life, no matter an antidote, with you as her Alpha.”She purred against my leg, nodding her head in steady agreement. She wasn’t made to be a pawn in this war, but here she was, swallowing poison and spitting out Scott’s offer to be her mate all the same.She was strong, but it wasn’t going to last under these circumstances. Her sickness will only worsen.“Come here, Helen,” I groaned, lifting her off the floor and into my arms. She hung there, lazy and sweaty and tired. So understandably tired. “Tell me something, Scott. How did you and my father poison my mate?”He smiled proudly. “The fish. We knew you’d take opportunity of the river water. She would eat from it eventually, as would the traitors that left Fiery Cross. Their death is retaliation but hers, it can be prevented. You just have to reject her, Devil.”
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