AT THE VILLA, the vampires had received word that the council was coming. Nicolas’s opponent hadn’t bargained on Nicolas going to the council. He had always just talked the people down from the ledge, but then again, the people had never gone as far as having him imprisoned.At first, Nicolas’s opponent was furious that he had escaped, but as soon as he realized the hybrids helped, he was happy about the escape. It showed the people how untrustworthy dear Nicolas was and that he was always in cahoots with the hybrids. They would always come for Nicolas, which meant they liked interfering in the affairs of vampires.The nest stood waiting near the entrance of the villa and he could feel the tension grow with each passing second as the council drove closer. Their security climbed out of the cars to open the doors for them and he found it laughable that the strongest people in their entire world needed security to protect them, but he bit back the laughter forming in the back of his thro

THE WEDDING WASN’T the kind of affair it could have been if the entire nest had survived the war. The only guests they had at the small ceremony were the alpha family and they held a reception at the pack house with all the wolves who came to their rescue around them.The wolves used any kind of excuse for a proper party, even if it was the wedding of two vampires. Besides, Beverly was half-wolf, wasn’t she? At least, that was the general consensus. After the wedding, Nicolas planned to start searching earnestly for new people to turn. He had to be careful in this regard because the council wouldn’t allow him to turn huge groups and he couldn’t very well turn people who would be easily missed.If he turned people who were from the city, like people who had family there, they would soon have to move. There was a lot to consider, and although he was in a bit of a hurry, he didn’t want to rush.COLLIN LEANED AGAINST THE DOOR FRAME and watched Anna as she played with their son. He had bee

THE COUNCIL’S INQUISITION had everybody on edge. Collin didn’t want them to figure out that Anna was connected to the rest of them in some way. He found it strange that the council hadn’t asked anything about the hybrid’s powers, but maybe that was a small blessing in disguise that they hadn’t.It gave them time to figure out some kind of unlinking spell. Unfortunately, they suspected that Vlad would have spies watching the pack territory now, which meant if they brought in a witch to try and figure out the spell, Vlad would know something was going on. They were in a really tight spot thanks to Vlad’s greed, or what they suspected to be his greed.They had no real evidence that he was behind everything, so they couldn’t very well lay a charge to the council. It was going to become a wait-and-see game and the one who could patiently wait the longest was going to win. In the meantime, Collin felt as if he should cling to his mate every second of every day and he couldn’t help himself.

“Not again!” Anna sighed, fighting to sit up as everybody rushed to the side of the bed.“How are you feeling?” Collin stroked a stray piece of hair out of her face and Anna rolled her eyes. This was happening way too much and she was truly beginning to loathe being her!“Totally embarrassed that it happened again!” Anna growled, surprising all of them a little. “Besides the fact that I fainted again, what happened?” Her head was pounding and she felt as if she’d been run over by a freight train. Every muscle in her body was tight and aching.“Well, you drank the potion and passed out. The doctors didn’t find anything wrong, so, we all had to wait. I have to agree with you that I’m beginning to loathe this happening to you, Anna, but it’s not your fault. It’s never been your fault.” Collin pulled her into his arms and he wished she could just see herself through his eyes. He thought she was the strongest woman he had ever known. Stronger even than his mother and everything she went th

ANNA BREATHED IN DEEPLY on the doctor’s command and he smiled. She had healed completely from whatever the potion did to her. She felt weird though, but the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong and she almost breathed a sigh of relief when he told her she definitely wasn’t pregnant.The only thing that could explain her sudden weirdness was the potion and the fact that she was no longer linked to the hybrids. Was it loss? Could it be that, because she was no longer linked, she felt some sense of loss? Collin indulged her this far, but it was time they got back to their lives, and although she still felt as if something was wrong, she had no other choice but to agree.With the situation with the council looming over their heads even though it didn’t look as though anything was happening, they had to be more alert than they normally were. Her entire family believed that this Vlad guy was coming for them. The border patrols were strengthened and although Nicolas insisted he didn’t want an