Helena hadn’t come back for two nights after that. I took the kids to school and worked at the pack house for most of the time. My heart started to hurt and I knew I would maybe have one day left in me without needing to see her. Olivia hadn’t come into town all the days as well. I kept feeling for the bond, just in case. In case I could steal her away for a moment but she didn’t come. My father had come by, saying he was doing another delivery out to her and was wondering if I wanted to go but I was so backed up I could feel Scott boring into my back. Daring me to say yes.
I had seen Nasir a couple times in the morning. He would stop for pets and then continue about his business. No one had complained about a wolf being nearby. He had been keeping a low enough profile, so I didn’t mind him running around early. Taking a deep, calculated breath, I glared at Scott.
“I’m gonna need a break soon.”
He scoffed. “You don’t need a break Alpha. You’re fit as fiddle.”
The woman stepped up to me and looked over me. Her nails dragged over my chest as she walked around me. “I have heard of you, Alpha Desmond. You have protected my people, given them sanctuary, safe passage, and even avenged them.” She tsked. “But even with all that, I’m not sure I can feel that you are worthy of my daughter.” I smiled. “That is something we can agree on.” Tatiana looked at me with a smirk. “So you understand how special my little mongrel is?” “Yes, My Queen. I also don’t think there is enough time left for me to even come close to feeling like I was worthy of her. There were times I felt the moon goddess had abandoned me but I know that when I first caught her scent, I wasn’t ready to take on the monumental task of living up to her.” I looked at Olivia and smiled. She was bright red, shuffling her feet. “Well, Alpha, it seems I have gained a son-in-law and a werewolf at that.” T
The wind made me shiver and I opened up my eyes. Sitting up, I looked around. I was in the clearing by Olivia’s house. Blinking, I tried to think of what had happened. Alpha James’s sorry attempt at the Fey Queen. Seeing Olivia fight, willing to protect me and my pack. The kiss of her mother. Her fear and then lust. Pure unadulterated lust. I swallowed and looked next to me. Olivia was curled up on her side, as naked as I was. My eyes roamed her body but narrowed when I saw a shimmering against her skin. Leaning forward, I saw her entire body from the neck down was covered in a silvery threaded pattern. Her mate bond had bloomed. Bloomed and took over her entire body. My heart hammered in my chest. What had I done? Once smelling her heat, her arousal, I had lost it. We hadn’t figured out what we were going to do yet. I pinched the bridge of my nose. My urge was to run. To shift and just run away. Looking down at my sleeping mate’s body, I sighed. I couldn’t do that. My actio
I was sitting at the dining room table with my elbows resting on the table, my chin resting on my interlocked fingers. Staring at nothing in particular. Taping my phone, it showed 10:45pm. Liam and Nat accepted my hot pot apology with gusto. They were already in bed and asleep. I got to actually talk to them over the hot pot and realized that they had grown up. Liam was apparently using his time to outsmart his teachers all the while breezing through the classes. Nat said her love of cheerleading was starting to get old. She didn’t know if she was going to try out next year. Partway through the night, I thought the only thing that would complete this would have been Olivia sitting with us. A real family. The door shutting quietly pulled me out of my thoughts. I tapped the screen of my phone 10:55pm. Eli was damn lucky. She started to head up the stairs quietly. “Helena. Come here now.” Her steps froze on the stairs and she turned back down, coming into the di
I sat in a chair staring at the cells of the two werewolves. The third was already dead in the cell next to them. He had been of no use to me. Too new to his job and had no information about Alpha James’ next moves or even where in the territory he was staying. My scouts confirmed that he wasn’t in the main city anymore. He had taken up residence elsewhere. “Dinner should be down soon. Aren’t you excited?” I growled out, smirking. Aamon had taken over and we were on day four of me torturing these assholes. I managed to get bits and pieces of information I could use but at least one of them knew where the Alpha was holed up and I was going to get my hands on him. Scott came down with a plate of food and handed it to me. I smiled and nodded, taking the silverware from him. “Alpha, Liam is here. He seems…upset over something.” I nodded. “Tell him I’ll be up once I finish my food.” Scott nodded and
I was leaning against my desk at my home office. Helena was leaning against the bookshelf on one side of the room. Her arms were crossed over her body and everything about her exuded anger. We had called the kids in to speak with them. Natalie sat in one of the lounge chairs in my office whereas Liam just leaned in the doorframe of the office, his arms crossed as well. I had told Helena we would tell the kids. I had to threaten her to be here though, which was why she was angry. Glenn told me she was being the most difficult person he has ever dealt with, her father not being much better. He was having a hard time keeping it professional. It didn’t matter though, we were going through this and I wasn’t changing my mind. She would eventually need to come to terms with that. “What’s this family meeting about Dad?” Nat looked from me to her mom. Liam rolled his eyes. “Your mother and I…” I heard Helena scoff and I glared at her. “…are going to get a divo
***Olivia’s POV*** The glass potion vial exploded against the wall. I screamed at the wall, knocking over the current batch of liquid still boiling on the stove. It splashed and covered my hands. Hissing, I watched as both my hands immediately turned bright red. Going over to the sink, I plunged them into the ice-cold water. It hurt and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Fucking god damn it.” They were definitely going to blister. My eyes closed and I fell back on the dining chair, staring at my hands, at the silver marks covering my arms. I didn’t want them to show on me. I didn’t want them. Not when I was going to visit my family, visit their resting place. My actions felt like betrayal. I knew it was the mate bond. I knew it was a pull that my soul wasn’t able to fight. It was more than that though and that’s what killed me. Desmond was someone I was falling for and I hated myself for it. Hated that I was even thinking about having a family.
“Vi?” I stirred, opening my eyes as Vic leaned over me. His face was worried and I tried to sit up but winced. “No no, don’t get up. Not yet.” He put his hand on my chest, keeping me down. “What…where am I?” I couldn’t remember much. I remembered burning my hands. Liam coming over and then him leaving when Marcus realized he took the truck. That was it though, I couldn’t remember anything else. Vic brushed some of my hair behind my ear. “I brought you home. You almost died this time Vi.” Pulling my hands out of the covers, I looked at my hands. They were bandaged past my elbows, both arms. My fingers curled into fists. “I don’t remember.” He nodded, putting his hands on mine. “I think its better that way at this point. You’ve been out for about two days.” My lips turned into a frown. “I didn’t get to visit their graves.” “We can still go, if you would like. It’s not too late, the ley line up here is closer anywa
Pulling on my platform shoes and a dress, I decided to go into town. One because I was running low on a few items and two, I thought maybe I would catch a glance of Desmond. It had been a few days. Between the time I was with Vic, to being at the house for another two days having Vic flitter around me to make sure I was okay, I needed to get out. Vic went home yesterday but I still couldn’t bring myself to venture into the twilight zone of a town. My heart hurt though. It hurt not seeing him and I knew I needed to talk to him. I would suck up my fear and I would actually talk to him. Nasir walked with me all the way to the edge of town. He also had been extra hovering lately but I knew I scared him. I apologized but there wasn’t much more I could do to make him feel better. Having bandages still on my arms didn’t really help the matter either. Meandering through the store, I picked up only a couple things that I needed. Soap, shampoo, conditioner, pasta, cans of soup