Kiera sat there silently and glared at the old man. “You realize if I was one of their mates, I would be mated for a long time. Listen, this is crazy. Nothing you’re saying is true. You can’t even make your beliefs fit together. Just unlock the handcuff and I’ll leave. You won’t need to worry about me talking to anyone or interfering with it. I’ll disappear completely.”Kiera didn’t have any reason to stay. She’d just had no pressing reason to leave. Kiera wasn’t expecting the old man’s reaction. “How dare you seal one of my sons’ fate to be a horrible nightmare. You are a monster.” He spit his words out in her face before he returned to pacing. “You’re so selfish. I believe you were better than that.” Kiera snorted and shook her head. “You clearly don’t know either of those alphas. I’m nothing but a pawn in their competition to one-up each other. Heck, Dean waved goodbye to me when I left, and James… James made sure I knew his pack wasn’t an option. I just
Kiera couldn’t believe this. Everything in her world turned upside-down without warning. Now she understood what Kiera was talking about when she returned from wherever they’d taken her. If this was even a little bit of what she experienced, the Moon Goddess had a lot of explaining to do. No one should have to deal with this. James couldn’t seem to leave her alone for a minute. She got it they were mated, but it was like he felt he needed to make up for lost time. It was just plan odd. This wasn’t anything like the wolf she was familiar with. How could he be so different? Why hide this side of him? Well, the entitled asshole part was still there, but this room. Video games? Who would have guessed? The sexual aggression too. Wow, that was a perk for Trisha. They still needed to clear the air with Dean and stop this foolishness about a war. Then focus on finding Kiera. Trisha hoped Oli hadn’t convinced Dean not to search for her.After last night, she wasn’t s
“Any news from the enforcers we sent out to Jordan’s Run?” Dean entered the study. Any minute now, his sister should call with James. That really burned his hide. But not being able to search for Kiera was also getting to him. “No, but they should check in soon. How did it go with the elder that wanted to speak to you? Did you get anything from him?” Oli looked up from his desk in the corner of the main floor of the study. “I got nothing but vague and useless information. As for what the elder wanted, that was annoying to no end. He basically stood there and told me Kiera was nothing and I was wasting my time chasing after ghosts. Ghosts! I left Mary yelling at him about being so stupid for a wise man or some such thing. I figure he deserved that.” Dean felt a little redeemed when Mary wigged out on Elder Evans. At least, he knew there was someone else other than himself worried for Kiera and where she was. “Which one was it this time?” Oli referred
Dean saw his sister’s face appear on his screen. She looked okay except for a bandage on her neck, and she was wearing someone else’s clothes. “What happened to your clothes?” He couldn’t stop the words from coming out a lot gruffer than he’d planned. A hand settled on her shoulder as James came into view. “I didn’t like them. What do you think happened? We got busy, and they got sacrificed.” Dean winced. He didn’t want to think about his little sister fucking anyone, let alone James. “Enough. Trisha, are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he? If he did, I’ll kill him.” “Dean, shut up. It wasn’t like that. Well, it was, but it wasn’t. Look, this is weird talking to you about this. All you need to know about this is it went beyond no return and now we have to live with it.” Trisha looked annoyed with the entire subject. “Still, you don’t have to…” “Shut up Dean. I’m here, I’m mated, and I think I want to see where it goes. Now the war, let’s go with th
Henry sat in the dim, claustrophobic, smelly RV across from Rath. He’d say his better half or partner-in-crime. But as far as he knew, there were no crimes yet. Or at least none known about. “Now what is the problem and what can I do for you?” Rath smiled reassuringly, as he always did. “She not scared or cooperating. I think she might also be suicidal. Everything will fall apart if I don’t have the prize to dangle before my boys.” “Suicidal you say? Lacks fear. Hm… I wonder if the old wolf has bitten off more than he can chew. What do you think I can do to help you this time?” “The Lycan must be given to his mate and now that they’ve come to their full potential and with the spell removed. I can get the deed for you, and we’ll be squared away. Just one more thing and we’ll have everything we both want. You, the land, and my legacy are complete before I die.” “Have told you for years you have no control over that part of your legac
Dean and Oli got ready to head out for the meeting at Jordan’s Run. “I think we should take a healer, just in case she needs one.” Dean mentioned to Oli. “Already thought of, and she’s waiting with the enforcers going with us. I figured a male healer would not be welcome for obvious reasons.” Oli slid a cross body pack onto the table before he finished pulling on a shirt. “What obvious reasons? Why should anyone care if the healer is male or female?” Dean truly looked stumped by the detail as he looked at Oli to clarify why he made emphasis on that detail. “Wow. You really are distracted. You’re acting like someone that’s seen their mate from afar and you’re on the cusp of doing that whole mating thing. You’re completely unaware of how you’ve been acting like since you came back from that meeting in town.” Oli stopped putting on his heavier belt to look at Dean in surprise. “That waste of time, you mean. That fool didn’t have a clue what he
Trisha didn’t wait on ceremony. Pissed off at being locked in the closet, she shifted into her fur and proceeded to claw at the door in anger. When the door didn’t budge under her claws, she shifted to her weight. She used her head as a battering ram several times after kicking at the door with her hind feet failed. Frustrated, she shifted back into her flesh and checked to see if she could pull the hinges. Sure enough. The hinges were on the inside of the door. She could take it apart if she had something to pry the pins out of the hinges with. That was a challenge to find, but finally she found someone left an old butter knife in a box along with a scoop and cup. She figured someone dedicated them to measuring out something in the pantry closet. She was now stuck with it. James would rue the day he did that and learn fast that no one does that to her. “Oh! You’re out! I was just coming to spring you.” A middle-aged she-wolf exclaimed. “We
The clouds that rolled in late in the afternoon threatened to open up as the group of shifters moved through the woods toward Jordan’s Run. All the wishing and praying that it would hold off until the meeting was over failed miserably. It came down cold and wet. “Delightful. Everyone, keep your eyes open for trouble. We don’t want to be surprised in this.” Dean yelled to those with him and James. They were almost there, and they hadn’t seen a soul yet. “Noses to the ground. Anything that’s out of place or odd mention it loud and clear. We don’t want surprises.” James added more to the orders and Dean had to admit they were good. James hadn’t added them to compete with him. “I don’t like this. It’s too quiet. Either no one is here or there aren’t many of them. I’m still not sure if they are rogues or wolves from another pack.” “I don’t know. Oli is still waiting for one of our elders to get back to him with an idea of who this mystery person might be
- One Year Later -Kiera stood watching a group of lone wolves returning to a pack. Many were raised for generations outside of pack life. But things change, situations change. These wolves are literally come in out of the cold, unprotected woods and their pack was opening their arms to them.It divided humans as always on what they thought about supernatural creatures. If nothing else, there were very few humans that didn’t care one way or the other.These wolves were coming in from other places in the world where the humans made it impossible for them to live. Now they were picking up everything they can and leaving everything they knew for a chance at a future.Their lycan members were now well established members, and the pack looked to them as the public faces of the pack. It wasn’t unusual to see one or more on the news as they work as a security team for various celebrities and figures of note. The pack now ran a small but lucrative security firm, because several of the lycans
Hours. They only had hours to get ready. With much of the pack working together to get things done and sooth disgruntled feelings, they pulled off a makeshift welcome for the thirty lost souls coming to stay with them. Dean struggled to get through thirty files on the different lycan. It was as if each one came with a warning label of their own. No two had the same difficulty. Some were complete loners who they’d have to work with to bring back into the pack and life within it. They bonded others, who had that’s why they had so many lycan arriving. They wanted bonded pairs together so that a community could grow from the families that would form. It meant that they’d not planned correctly, but that could be adjusted again. Dean agreed with Oli and Jerome that the Ruling Council screwed up sending the lycan to them. The order was off and there wasn’t enough time given to prepare for their arrival. Also, they’d agreed to a few new lycan members, not t
Their mating went on after the cleanup and Kiera’s world was addressed. Dean ended up marked as well at some point by Kiera and, finally exhausted, they fell asleep hours later. With the sun coming up and the mating over, Kiera felt a disturbing calm between them. Like this took away the jittery need to find a stable footing. Kiera could swear she could feel Dean’s mood as he slept. He’d exhausted her so much that she’d not been bothered by any of her usual nightmares. Kiera felt delicious and loose-limbed. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt like this. If she were a cat, she’d be purring at this point. “Morning. Luna Jonas.” Dean stated with a proud grin like he’d accomplished something last night. Kiera wouldn’t tell him, but he had accomplished something. The jerk got his way. He had the pack and her permanently. It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t ready for this, but she didn’t know what she was ready for. She wasn’t sure if she should be unhapp
In the bathroom, Dean had the shower running, and he was making sure they had everything they need within easy reach. He remembered to heat the towels and lay out the mat. Whoever built this bathroom put down super smooth tiles on the floor and it was like skating on ice when you stepped out if you weren’t careful. The mat had rubber grips to prevent that while drying your feet on it. Dean heard Kiera sigh as she settled under the spray of their large shower. A standard wolf could bath in this shower while in their fur. Now Dean wondered if he needed to remodel the bathroom to fit their new size. Kiera was smaller in her dire wolf form, and he didn’t think she’d fit in here. That was something for another day to think about. Right now, he had an eyeful of his mate and a promise to keep. There was no question for him if she was his mate. Just seeing her like this made everything right. Dean followed her into the shower and cornered her under
It took another week before Dean managed to shift into his alternative forms. He’d noticed a lot of changes in him. He needed to get larger clothing because his entire body went up to two clothing sizes while he lay in bed. That surprised him quite a bit. Finally, he could hold Kiera and kiss her without feeling like he’d been hit by a steamroller. Once they were home, Kiera wouldn’t speak of their mating and she wouldn’t set a date for the mating or acknowledgement ceremony. So he surprised Kiera with an evening to mate with her. He didn’t need an acknowledgement ceremony. His daily pain was almost nonexistent now and he want to give her what she deserved. Dean wanted Kiera to love their new form and position within the pack. So this evening they’d start with a private dinner in his apartment and then enjoy the evening with his soon-to-be mate. His mind kept wandering to what was to come. By dawn, they’d be mated, and thi
Two days later, Kiera and Trisha waited outside Dean’s room as Dr Graves examined him and looked at the latest test results. James returned to his pack to manage a few things. “So what are you doing for your mating ceremony? When will it be?” Kiera asked Trisha to try to find a different subject that didn’t revolve around Dean’s or her recent decisions. “Oh, I have him waiting until we can have both packs in the same place without there be fighting. I figure in a few years. I mean, technically, we’re mated. It’s just the ceremony of recognition of the mating that’s not been done. It seems so old-fashioned to me.” Trisha tried to brush it off. “Hon, if that were true, then you’ll be waiting forever to have the ceremony. Why don’t you just have it, and we’ll threaten to string up anyone and post signs of what they did? Like those photos of cats in their harnesses. “I shredded all the toilet paper while my owner was pooping.” Or “I pooped in m
“That bastard. Dean’s a jerk. He knew he’d do this and didn’t tell anyone that he’d do it. Kiera went there to discuss if it were possible. I know Kiera. She’d want to plan for all the worst things before trying anything. I bet he pushed her to let him do it.” “Enough Trisha. I’ll get us the earliest possible portal to there if you just let me think and listen to the portal booking system.” The mages ran the portal system and with it’s high risks of danger, they kept a stranglehold on almost all portal travel. When, where, and how long it would take are just a few of the questions James needed to answer. “Crap. I forgot to ask Kiera if she needed me to bring her anything. I don’t know if she has a change of clothes.” “Well, I’ll leave you to create a care package for Kiera and Dean. Let me get this booked.” “With four bags, James. We’re taking four bags with us. We can carry them if we have two duffle bags and two packs.” “Fine, I’
At some point, Kiera looked up at Dean. “Did you call your sister and tell her you were doing this right now?” “Nope, because you know very well what Trisha would say and I wasn’t going to listen to it, because this is between you and me.” “Goddess save me. Fine, I’ll do it. But when she’s pissed, I’m laying all the blame at your door. So you better be prepared when you see her next, because you’re going to hear about it.” Kiera couldn’t take it. She needed to talk to someone other than Dean. Trisha was the first person she thought of. Her mind did flit to April and Mary, but right now they were too busy trying to impress her to be reliable. For two who claimed they wanted to help her part-time, that changed when they understood she wasn’t dreaming that Dean wanted her as his mate and Luna. Kiera wasn’t leaning toward either of them because right now she didn’t feel she could trust them to receive the unvarnished truth. She hoped that would change.
“Are you both in agreement with this? If so, I can get you admitted Alpha Jonas, Kiera. We’d only need permission to draw your blood. If all goes well, you could be home in a day or two. Free to mate in a more relaxed and traditional manner on your own timeline.” Dr Graves looked calm and understanding. He didn’t press them further than that. “I’m game if you are Kiera.” Dean knew he was taking risks with his life. If it meant his life would finally be on track and he could see a happily ever after, he’d do it. He knew it was risky, but something in the back of his head was pushing him to do it and he wasn’t strong like Kiera, and he couldn’t resist listening to it. “Fine. I will let them take some blood. As long as I don’t need to be admitted for this. How long will it take to know whether it’s working or not?” “Once your blood is within his body it, we can test his body to see if there’s any rejection or damage to his organs. But since you