Rick’s POV
I can’t believe he actually returned with her. I thought for sure the men would return and not him. But there he stands, holding my Freya. She has grown so much since I last saw her. She must be about 11 years old now and she is the spitting image of her mother. I do want to get a report of what happened while he was there. But first I want to see my granddaughter. It has been so long since I have laid my eyes on her.
Walking up slowly to her. I carried a soft doll and two pictures. I didn’t have much from back then and the doll I bought in a shop a few weeks ago. But it is like the one in the picture. I doubt she will notice.
She cowers away from me. I know I have to take it easy. I am a stranger to her. Which is not my fault. I really hope they killed her fathers and grandparents. That would make this day even better. “Hi Freya.” I said to her while I bent down to her level. “I am your grandpa Rick. Your mommy’s dad.”
“I don’t have a mommy.” She replies. As least they have never tried to replace Carly. “I know, sweetheart, but you did. She was my baby girl. Here, do you want to see a picture of her?” She looks at me nervously at me before nodding her head. I held out a picture for her to take. She does reluctantly. She stares at it and smiles. “Thats my mommy.”
“Yes, that is me next to her. Do I look the same?” She looks at the picture and looks at me. “You have gray hair now and more wrinkles.” She says, laughing.
“Yes, I do, but that is because I have been searching for you all of this time. The worry that has turned my hair gray.” This is a blatant lie. I haven’t been searching for her. I knew where she was. But I was biding my time, waiting for the right moment to kidnap her.
When Edward eventually found me, he offered me a chance to get revenge. How could I say no? After what they did to her, to my baby girl.
I know he had bigger plans, which I am not privy to. But being given the opportunity to get my revenge on them all, finally. That was good enough for me. They will get everything they deserve. I will make sure of it.
I know Carly may not have been perfect. If anything, she was a spoiled brat. But she was my spoiled brat. That is not how I will raise Freya. She is my second chance. I will raise her right. She is going to be a killer.
I handed her the second picture I was holding. It was from when she was a baby. She was playing with her mother, who was holding a doll, similar to the one I now hold in my hand.
She looks at the picture and the doll. She just grabs it and hugs it. This is going great. “Thank you.” She says. “Can I go home now?” She asks. “Grandma was so upset and that mean man threatened her. I want to check she is okay.”
How naïve was I to think that a picture and a doll would make her want to stay with me? She doesn’t know it yet, but her home is with me. She is never going back there. “I just have some work to do and I will try to make the time to take you home. I want you to tell me everything about yourself and I can tell you loads about your mommy.” I looked at Roger. “Why don’t you go for a rest? I have had a room made up for you.” She nods, she looks tired. She hands me back my pictures, but not the doll.
We are currently using a school building with lots of rooms as our base of operation and we are currently using houses to live in while we are here at the River Valley Pack. That elemental burned the pack house down when she killed Edward. She would have killed me too if I’d of been here.
As I don’t plan on staying here, I am not putting any effort into repairing the pack house. Celeb can have it, he can do it. He is desperate to be an Alpha. Let him start from the ground up. I am going back to the Blood Moon Pack. That is my home.
Roger followed me down to my office. It will do for now. He tells me what happened. I smile when I hear he killed the former Alpha and his mate. They stood by that day and helped break the mate bond Carly had with her mates. I know what she did was bad, but they didn’t fight for her at all. None of them.
I just have to figure out how to get close enough to kill Freya’s fathers now. I will take great pleasure in doing that. Or after I have raised Freya, I could have her do it. Like an initiation. This plan sounds better and better.
Roger pulled me from my thoughts when he asked me what ‘The Cause’ is. He says the men he travelled with said it before jumping out of the car. “I do not know. The Wolf Council sent these warriors. I knew they may not return, so why sacrifice my own men?”
He glares at me. “You were willing to sacrifice me too, weren’t you?”
I smiled at him. “Yes. Yes, I was.” He now knows where he stands and he should remember that. He has no value to me now that Freya is with me. If he gives me any trouble, I won’t hesitate to kill him. He will also be the next man or wolf I send on a suicide mission.
He doesn’t look impressed, but I don’t care. He is nothing to me.
Christina’s POV After my brief yet strange conversation with Nix, I made my way downstairs. Alpha Vance, Luna Stella, Colt were sitting at the table along with Melissa and Dylan. They are all so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Alpha Vance had his head in his hands and Luna Stella stroking his head in a caring manner. Melissa was silent, which was unusual for her. She was just staring at Dylan. Colt just had a look of confusion on his face and occasionally shook his head. “What’s happened?” I asked. Fearing the worst, by the way, they are all acting. All eyes turned and looked at me. “Well, er. Nix called, as you know,” Alpha Vance says. He doesn’t seem to know what to say, which is unusual. Something has definitely happened. “It is unlikely that Nix will be coming back here and he won’t be taking over as Alpha here at Mountain Creek pack.” “You are kidding me? Why not? Who does he think he is? Swanning off to the palace, thinking he is someone special. I tell you what,
Summer’s POV What a day! I can’t believe I saw her while I was awake this time. She looked exactly the same as when I last saw her in my vision 10 years ago. She showed no signs of aging at all. Should I have expected her to age? She is a goddess, after all. I have so many questions to ask her. Starting with, what is she doing here? But she disappeared as quickly as she appeared. I actually thought I imagined seeing her. That is why I ran to the attic. That is where a picture of her hangs. I glanced around the room. Nothing seemed to have changed. I doubted myself. I wouldn’t have even noticed the change if it wasn’t for Nix. He appeared to be drawn to her picture. He said she looked like a girl he knows, exactly like a girl he knows. Which was strange, as I know girls who look similar, but not exactly the same. Eden confirmed the caption had changed. That was when I finally believed that she had actually appeared? It was a sign. I didn’t understa
Nix’s POV “Mate.” Is all that Diesel keeps saying in my mind. He is getting frustrated that she is right there. She keeps touching me and he can’t have her. “You’re not the only one that is annoyed.” I barked at him. I am sure she knows what she is doing to us when she holds my hand, touches my waist, or even strokes my arm. Everywhere she touches me tingles. I want her so badly. She is supposed to be mine and stupid tradition is keeping me from taking her and claiming her. I nearly lost it a couple of times. After I called Vance was the worst. She reached up to grab a book, her top rose up so high I could see her bra. Diesel went crazy. I have to take a deep breath and compose myself. If her dad hadn’t been there, I think I would have. I would have marked her right there and I know she would have let me. “Eden!” her dad snaps at her. “Do you not think this is difficult enough for him? Behave or else I will lock you in your bedroom.” She glares at him. “But he is mine!” sh
Eden’s POV He just told his dad that he would be mine and now he is threatening to reject me. Seriously? “Daddy tell him.” He can’t leave. He is the person I'm meant to be with. The goddess had matched us. He then gives me a rant about how I am ungrateful, disrespectful, and spoiled. He just called me spoiled. Charisma, cowering in my mind. I can’t believe it. I am a goddam princess and there he stands in his burned t-shirt talking to me, like I am nothing. What makes it worse is my dad sitting there snickering, like he agrees with him. As dad runs after him, I stand there thinking about how I have changed over the years. How, when I was younger, I had to be cared for by aunt Evie, who was our nanny. So that mom could work. How we had no family. I thought about how the only thing I ever wanted was my mom’s time. Anything else did not bother me. She worked so hard to give us anything. But when we got our dads, everything changed. I think about how often I am told the word ‘no’.
Lottie’s POV I was aware I had to give my statement to the individual the Wolf Council were sending. I'm doing this because I promised General Rayne that I would. I'm doing this for him because he showed his support for me on that day when he practically saved my life. But I blew my top when I saw who the Wolf Council sent. I couldn’t believe our paths had crossed. Both me and Ember wanted him to suffer as he made our sister suffer. If Nix hadn’t restrained me, I would have seriously injured him. I don’t even know Nix that well, but I know from what Caren has told me, he is a good man. I’m not sure how he kept me under control. The memories of Caren being upset just flooded my brain. I knew I wasn’t calm. But I also knew I wasn’t livid. I was somewhere in between. But that means I wasn’t in control. Then, when Nix walked through that door, Ember screamed, “Mate.” I forgot everything, the pain, the anger. Maddox was there, alive and breathing. He was there. “Mate,” I said as
Eden’s POV I feel like a car has run me over. My whole-body aches after sleeping on the floor. “What can I do to make him stay?” I ask my wolf, Charisma. She knows me best. Nix’s wolf is her mate and he will reject her too. “He told you why he was going to reject you. You either don’t listen, or you listen but only hear what you want to hear?” I think about what Nix said. He called me ungrateful, disrespectful, and spoiled. How do I fix any of that in a few hours? I get to my feet. It must be early. The sun is just rising. “Breakfast. I could make breakfast for the family.” I suggested to her. “Great idea, except you can’t cook.” Charisma informs me. “How hard can it be?” I told her. “I can get the chef to help me.” She snickers. I do not know why. I could be an amazing cook. I just haven’t been given the opportunity to try. I walk to the kitchen and the entire staff stops and stares at me. Most of them move away from me. I guess they can’t stand my aura. I am used to t
Nix’s POV Reed was sacred for his life, so when they offered us rooms, Reed asked if we could share. I will let him know Lottie no longer wants to kill him. If I didn’t know him so well, I think I would have as well. Caren is amazing. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought Reed was her mate. Strangely, now, when I think of Caren now, I don’t feel that sense of wanting her. I guess it’s because I know I have a mate and who she is. “Diesel, we have a mate?” I told him. “No, we don’t. You haven’t marked her.” He says stubbornly. “It’s complicated.” I tell him. “I don’t care. I want my mate.” He yells this time, giving me a slight headache just behind my eyes. I was so happy when I found her and that kiss. That kiss was just out of this world. I know a lot of that was the mate bond, but as a man, I knew I couldn’t be Eden’s mate. She is just awful. The way she speaks to her parents, how she acts. The way she treated me like an object. My life would be miserable and I woul
Reed’s POV With Nix out of our bedroom, I finally had time to use the bathroom. I was getting desperate when I had to bang on the door. He had been in there for hours. I really want to encourage him to give Eden a chance. I admit I made a mistake. I made a huge mistake. I never expected to have a second chance mate. Not when she found out I was her mate and went with David, regardless. I didn’t need or want either of them in my life. They deserved each other. I told no one about her, not even Ethan. He didn’t need to know. I had a chance of a better life when I went to work for the council. Or one at least where I wasn’t the upcoming Alpha’s loser brother, who he frequently knocked about. I made my way to the dining hall and found Nix. He is sitting there chewing slowly. He has a smile on his face in between bites. “What’s happened?” I asked him. “Nothing, just taking a friend’s advice.” No idea what he is talking. I know I am taking Lottie’s statement this morning, so ea