King Ashton"Go back to Jadeisles, Ashton. Now! The royal council demands it."The phone felt like a block of ice against my ear, numbing me with each word my father spoke. His voice was sharp, cutting through the peaceful buzz of the coffee shop."Why now?""Because they question your absence," he replied sharply. "They believe you're shirking responsibilities for pleasure and wanderlust.""It's not like that. I need Aliyah to come with me."There was a pause before a low chuckle resonated from the other end. "Your fake mate? Why bother making it official?""Because it's not fake. Our bond is real, Dad. It's time everyone accepted that.""Remember what the Connors have done," he hissed. "Theon's hands were stained with your mother's blood.""I haven't forgotten," I spat back, trying to control my voice as I didn't want to cause a scene in the coffee shop. "But Aliyah is not a pawn in our vengeance.""Use her to—""Enough, Dad." I hung up the phone, rejecting his distorted proposal. H
Alpha BraydenI was humming a song while I made breakfast for myself and Aliyah. Last night was the most amazing night of my twenty-six years of existence, and I never imagined that the most important day of my life would be when I finally mated with her and claimed her as my own. Though I had observed the other mark on the opposite side of her shoulder, I had buried my teeth deep into the back of her smooth shoulder. And when she marked me back, I sensed that we were truly one soul. Now all I had to do was plan our wedding and initiation procedures so she could become my official wife, along with being a Luna.As I flipped the pancake in the air, I couldn't help but recall that day when I realized that Aliyah was my mate. That was after Ashton took the unconscious Aliyah to the faraway territory of Jadeisles. Because I felt so bad about making Aliyah do what I wanted to do with her, I asked Ashton to take care of Aliyah for a while. I couldn't forgive myself for having become a monst
Alpha BraydenI nodded, realizing the possibility. "Because we're mates.""Yes," she said with a smile."Wow," I whispered, taking her hands in mine. The thought of Aliyah being able to counter my vulnerability as a Lycan was a comforting confirmation of the bond we shared as mates. But I couldn't help but wonder if she could do the same thing with Ashton. Part of me was wishing that my bond with her was more powerful than his.As we continued to explore the market, I could see Aliyah's eyes light up at every stall we passed. Her smile was infectious, and I found myself grinning from ear to ear as we walked hand in hand. Despite our happiness, I couldn't help but notice a flicker of doubt in her eyes. She seemed content with me, yet I knew she was contemplating how to balance being with her other mate while still honoring her commitment to me."Brayden," Aliyah said softly, interrupting my thoughts. "Thank you for everything. This day has been wonderful.""Anything for you, love," I r
AliyahI watched as Brayden pulled out his luggage from the guest room and threw his clothes into it disorderly. Just when I thought he was going to zip up his suitcase, he suddenly paused and started rummaging through my dresser, pulling out my clothes and tossing them into his luggage as well. I was taken aback by his actions and couldn't help but ask, "Brayden, what are you doing?""We need to get out of here as soon as possible. It's not safe for you to stay in this town any longer.""But why?"He froze, gazing at me as though he were contemplating how much to reveal. Carrying the huge baggage, he finally said, "Those bastard bears are after you. If you stay here longer, they'll find you, and God knows what they'll do.""T-the bears?" I struggled to comprehend his words. But goosebumps formed on my skin just at the mention of the bears. Of course, he wasn't referring to regular bears, but those bear shifters similar to what Ashton and I had encountered back in the wild. And then I
Aliyah "B-bears?" I could feel my breath being cold as I stammered out the word. My hands began to shake, but Brayden held them and lifted them to his lips, pressing a reassuring kiss on the back of my hand. "Whatever happens, don't get out of the car.""W-what do you mean?"Brayden suddenly paused, his eyes directly meeting mine, but his attention seemed no longer focused on me. And then I gasped when, suddenly, Ashton's voice penetrated my mind. But he was clearly not speaking with me, but with Brayden.'We'll continue to drive as long as we can, but we need to be cautious. There's a possibility that they are just threatening us, but as long as we don't provoke them to act violently, we should be safe inside the car.''What if they show up and ambush us?' Brayden asked, and my eyes widened in awe, realizing that they just enabled me to enter their mind-linking.Brayden once tried to mind-link me before, but it was a failure. But now, it was like we were having a three-way conversat
Alpha BraydenEarlier…That moment I saw the log rotating and approaching our direction, I knew our lives were in huge trouble, especially for Aliyah, whose human body was fragile. But before it hit the windshield, Ashton was already covering my woman with his own body, shielding her from the impact.My wolf growled. I should be the one protecting her! "Why are you here?" I questioned Ashton."Protecting my mate. What else would I be doing?" he replied, his eyes never leaving Aliyah's. "She's wounded. She needs to be healed."I looked down at her arms, and my heart sank. I could see the blood seeping through her shirt, staining it crimson. "No, no. This can't be!" I angled toward her, placing my hands on her bruised arms. I knew mates could heal each other, especially those marked ones. So I focused all my energy on trying to heal her wounds. But I frowned, as if nothing had happened. "How the fuck was she not healing?" I muttered in frustration. "She's losing blood too quickly!"I wa
Aliyah I woke up in a beautiful room, and the only person with me was Seer Tasha, sitting at the edge of the bed. Although I still felt a little groggy from sleep, I sat up and asked her. "Where are we?" "At the Connors, dear. And you've been sleeping for half a day," she replied with a warm smile. I felt a rush of confusion and curiosity as I tried to piece together how I ended up sleeping. The last time I remembered, the werebears were attacking us, and Ashton was badly hurt. I turned to Tasha, asking, "Where is Ashton? Is he okay?" "Of course, King Ashton is fine. I suppose he's in the other room, also taking his rest." She stood up and picked up a tray of food, placing it on the bedside table. "You should eat something before you go check on him." "Thanks," I muttered. The tray was full of appetizing snacks, but I only touched the milk. And then I set it aside. "I'm not actually hungry. My mind is so preoccupied with my situation." Tasha touched my hand. "Oh, sweety, if you a
In the next blink of my eyes, I was transported back to the room with Tasha, or, should I say, my grandmother."Are you alright, dear?" she asked when I collapsed to the floor.I looked up at her. My mind was reeling from questions I wanted to ask her, but one of them came out first. "Why didn't you tell me that you were my grandmother?"She exhaled. It seemed like she was already anticipating my question. "Let's get you to the chair first." When we settled on the sofa, she took my hands and said, "I arrived at this pack after the explosion happened. Your parents were gone, killed by those rogues who overtook the pack. I was devastated. I didn't know if you were alive, so I ran away and settled on a territory where bears were dominating for my protection. But Brenda found me, though she didn't know I was connected to you by blood.""But why didn't you tell me at once?" I questioned her, but I still couldn't believe what I was hearing. She sighed, "Because learning your true identity c