Helen POVRusso is patting his wound dry on his arm, a mark from being handled so roughly by Alpha Justin when he arrived. He shouldn’t have come here, he knew that, but he is a meek guest in our rather disheveled kitchen, lapping water of his bleeding arm.“What happened in here, anyways?” The Fae asked, spying the broken table and chairs, not to mention a little bit of blood on the tile. “Looks like there was one hell of a fight.”“There was,” Justin groaned, readjusting me on his lap. There was only one chair left after the battle that occurred in here and we’d decided to share it while Russo tended to his arm. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks since you betrayed us.”Russo froze, looking out the kitchen window in hesitant silence.“Justin, please,” I whispered, not wanting to bring this entire argument back up to the surface again. “Try to be somewhat merciful.”“Pardon me,” Justin purred, looking through Russo. “My mate is a little more forgiving than I am. Especially lately, si
Helen POVI stepped back, cocking my head at the little mortal on the couch, before staring off into the foyer for Ezequiel. Her half-brother seemed just as confused as I did.“Did—did you know about this?”Ezequiel shook his head in dismissal. “I had no idea, Luna. I’ve never met her father. If she is a wizard then that means her father had to be one, and we never talked about him much.”“So weird,” I furrowed, watching Martha gasp and sweat profusely. “So, what’s the sickness? Wizards don’t go into heat, Gwen. What’s wrong with her?”“There’s some kind of curse at play,” the healer hummed. “I know from the Beta that King Juden has taken the wizards to his pack lands and I think he used a calling spell to make them stay there. Whatever it is, it’s calling for her to leave this place and join her clan.”“No,” I snapped. “She can’t go to Alpha King Juden, he will do nothing but harm her. She has to stay here. Is there anything you can do to help her?”“She’s not of our kind,” Gwen said
Helen POVRandy didn’t attempt to stop me. He sprinted along side me in his wolfen form, my coat the brightest, purest shade it’s ever looked. I felt so free in this form.I just had to make sure I would stay free, or Justin’s Lycan would behead me for defying him.We ran alongside the warriors, staying on the rim of the mountains so we wouldn’t be seen or have our scent picked up by our pack. Randy hung behind me, the two of skidding to a stop when we could lay eyes on Martha.She was walking in a dazed fog into Alpha King Juden’s pack grounds. I watched our pack stop, hiding as the warriors of Lone Wolf surrounded Martha. They didn’t intervene, just let her walk toward the Alpha King’s estate.Randy’s paw swiped at my back leg but I ignored him, prowling forward and using the bush as cover. I snuck into the pack grounds, seeing Martha take the stairs down to the barracks below the house.I could see the purple, luminescence colors splayed out over the walls, bursting through the win
Helen POVI backed up further against the far wall, watching the Alpha King every carefully. “What—What are you talking about?”He snickered a waved a hand in the air, as though in dismissal of my concern. “Relax, Luna, I’ve got it all figured out. I can’t possibly kill me son! What kind of Alpha King would I be? But his own mate, defying the bond and killing her Lycan mate—that is very news worthy.”“I would never!”He shrugged. “You have no choice.”I could see movement behind him, a force that wasn’t a wolfen that I could recognize. His scent was strange but also familiar in some ways. I watched him approach the bars, one hand stretched through and into the cell.His fingertips burned bright yellow as they casted out in my direction.My throat felt like it was being pinched, my lungs burning straight fire as I was forced to stand, pressed against the wall like I had been chocked. There was no one in the cell near me, though.What was he doing to me and how was he doing it?!The man
Justin POVI paced the living room, her scent still stuck on everything around it. It ached my body to think of her at my father’s estate. What will Juden do to her now?The last time he got ahold of her, he sent my Lycan in a rage while she laid dying in the street. I was able to heal her, but I don’t know how much more she can take.Eventually, she will fall to her many, terrible wounds.That means I have to work fast to get her back.Randy charged through the front door and held a small camera in his hand, panting as he caught his breath from the run. I haven’t seen Helen in almost three days and I’ve tried to get Randy close enough to report on if she’s okay or not.Something tells me he finally has caught a glimpse of my poor mate.He displayed the video on the wall, the two of us in silence since I scolded him for allowing this to happen. My mate should have stayed back, but now I have a hundred wizards roaming around my pack grounds and a happy Fae, but no mate.She’s the only
Helen POVThe night was worse than the daytime.At least the damn wizard had backed off by now, leaving some kind of leverage over my body to make me stay in place, humiliated in the town square while bloody and beaten. I kneeled, needing sleep, my eyes swollen and my throat tight from being seized by power so often.I just need Justin to stay back. He can’t come after me. I don’t know how Juden will do it, but his plan for me to kill Justin scared me more than anything else ever could.If Justin is safe, then I’m fine dying out here.I leaned back, the cold breeze slipping past my freezing, battered body. I could hear the steps but I stopped caring who it was anymore. It didn’t matter. Everyone here hated me anyways.“Still hanging on, I see,” my father grumbled, throwing a blanket over whatever is left of my figure. He sat down, legs crossed leisurely before him, uninterested or concerned for my wellbeing.At least the blanket brought me some semblance of warmth.I tipped my head ba
Justin POVRandy wasn’t ready for us to descend, but it’s not up to my Beta.It’s up to me.I hung back at the edge of the pack lands, my mate fallen in a heap of exasperation and blood. She looked so close to death I could smell it in the wind as it blew by.“We need to wait,” Randy groaned. “The full moon isn’t safe for you, not yet.”“Do you see my mate, the pack Luna, over there bleeding to death, or is it just me?”Randy lets his head fall. “I know, I know. If don’t get her the first time, I am worried they will kill her. We need to be precise, Alpha. I’m just trying to help you achieve that.”“We get her tonight,” I readmit. “Tell the warriors to surround the pack. We strike in an hour when everyone is in position.”Randy nodded and left my side. I didn’t want to be alone with Russo but it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice. Russo is kneeling beside me, his eyes anxiously pacing my mate, so battered and in pain.I just want to take all of those pains away, forever.“She’s s
Helen POVJustin’s face fell as he realized what had been done. His father, the Alpha King, bent over and grabbed the back of my scalp, forcing me to watch as my mate writhed and ached in pain.The blade was poisoned, I could feel it in my palm when he handed me the knife, and there was nothing I could do to stop the command laid over me.The wizard on Juden’s side of this battle is overwhelming, in the shadows, working as the puppet master to my whole mind and body.I just wish he didn’t make me remember stabbing Justin.I could die after watching that happen. He looked at me with the most unbelievable expression of shock, of ultimate betrayal, and I couldn’t even explain what happened.I just wanted him to know I loved him and if he never comes back for me, I understand.As long as he lives.“Helen,” Justin growled.My mate was struggling in standing but finally he did, just wobbly in doing so. He cocked his brow, seeing me at the behest of his father who just spent day and night be
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