JACOB
I leave my floor in the packhouse and go down to the main floor, where my office here at the pack is. Going into my office, I see Dad and one of the Elders waiting for me, and they look like they are tired of waiting.
“That was about time!” Dad greets me.
“I am sorry, training took longer than expected, and I had to shower, and I have yet to eat,” I tell them.
“It is okay, Alpha. You are here now.” Elder Stan says.
“What can I do for you?” I ask.
“You can make Gianna your mate and Luna,” Dad says.
“Former Alpha Alan, please remember it is our Alpha you talk to,” Stan says, and Dad looks annoyed.
“He might be Alpha, but he is still my son, and he knows he needs to put the pack first,” Dad says.
“Of course, he knows because you taught him well, but taking a chosen mate is not easy. Alpha or not.” Stan says.
“Thank you, Elder Stan. I know you all want me to choose Gianna, but I can feel in my heart that my mate will be here soon.” I try to explain.
“I feel it, and I see her. When I close my eyes, I dream of her. And I am convinced the moon goddess gave me these dreams.”
“Dreams, imagination. That is your reason for putting the pack in danger.”
“The pack is not in danger, and we are stronger than ever. At the last attack, we had two deaths. And none of them were one of the young ones. Training the teens prepares them, and that has made us stronger. And most importantly, I am stronger and better than I have ever been.” I say. And Elder Stan nods his head.
“That is true. We have never been stronger or more organized. During an attack.” Stan agrees. And Dad looks more annoyed.
“I would have thought, being Gianna’s grandfather would make you speak her case,” Dad says to Elder Stan.
“Well, I am not particularly happy she fool around with the Alpha without being mated. But she lost her mate, and no one was waiting for her. And I know the Alpha has told her what will happen if his mate comes.” Elder Stan says, looking at Dad.
“But we need a Luna,” Dad says.
“Yes, we do, and sadly, we are in a situation where the royals have noticed that we don’t have one. So they want us to get one or let our mated Beta, Alpha.” Elder Stan says, and I look at them shocked.
“Excuse me, what?” I say. And Elder Stan now his head shortly.
“Yes, the king has been notified that we don’t have a Luna, and therefore, urges us to have you choose one or give the pack to the highest ranked packmember, in this case that is Beta Ryan, who is mated to his lovely mate, Sophie.” Elder Stan says, and I stare at him. But I see no lie in his eyes.
I sit back. I know our king is strict, and they do everything to make sure the packs are safe. But I hoped the king would see that our pack was getting stronger even without a Luna yet. But I guess it doesn’t matter in the end.
“So my choices are to choose Gianna as my mate and lose the chance of finding my fated mate. Or I can hand the pack over to Ryan.” I say.
“It does not need to be Gianna. In fact, the king decided he wanted to help you a little, and he is sending his youngest daughter here to meet you. Her mate was killed in a rouge attack. And she is coming today.” Stan says.
“I am sorry, what? He is sending his daughter, who has most likely been marked and mated. I hope I will put her through the pain of marking her and remove that last part of her mate. You know how much that will hurt her.” I say I am getting angry.
“Well, that is one way to see it,” Stan says.
“No! I will not do that. With Gianna, it was different, and she was rejected and accepted that rejection. She was never marked or mated.” I will not put a girl I don’t even know through that excruciating pain, removing the last part of her mate from her.” I say, hammering my hand into the table.
“That is something that should only happen if she would be so lucky to get a second chance, mate, someone that could truly keep her from going insane, from that pain.” I finish. I am furious right now.
“Then choose Gianna,” Dad says as if nothing has happened and I wasn’t just asked to possibly ruin a girl or possibly kill her. I look at him. I know I don’t have a choice. I can’t lose the pack. I mean, I know Ryan would be great. But I can not just give up and lose it all, and I am backed up into a corner.
“Fine, in three months, I will make Gianna my mate and Luna,” I say coldly.
“Perfect, she will be excited to hear this,” Dad says happily, and I scuff.
They get up to leave, and there is a knock on my door. And Elder Stan opens and lets in Ryan, who looks amused.
“Yes?” I ask.
“A visitor arrived, and the guards notified me. They told me she is here to meet you, but, erm. I think there might have become a little complication.” Ryan tells us.
“Ah! That must be Princess Lila. Why was there a complication?” Stan ask.
“Well, there is if she is meant to meet the Alpha.” He says.
“And why is that?” Dad asks.
“Well, it seems that Gamma Silas is her Mate.” He says, trying to hide a smile, and I burst into laughter. Everyone knows what Playboy Silas is. Stan and Dad look mortified, so I stand up.
“Where are they now?” I ask.
“In the hall, Alpha, both of them seem shocked. And there is some, uhm, crying.” He says, still trying not to laugh.
“Crying?” I ask
“Yes, Alpha, from the pack's unmated she-wolves, that Silas.” He says, and I stop him by laughing.
“Okay, you need not to say anything more. I’m coming,” I say.
I follow him out of the office with Dad and Elder standing behind me, and we walk to the front hall. When we got there, I saw Silas standing up against the wall, looking at the ground. Princess Lila is sitting on a chair, looking shocked and short of breath, and I feel bad for finding this amusing.
“Princess, welcome to our pack. I apologize. There was no proper arrangement for your arrival, but I was only just told you would arrive,” I say and bow my head. She is, after all, a Princess.
“Alpha Jacob, it is a pleasure to meet you. We have heard many good things about you. And no apology is needed.” She says nervously and bows her head briefly as a sign of respect.
“I am being told that there has been a shocking surprise by your arrival, so I want to ask if you are feeling okay?” I ask her because she looks like she is going to faint.
“I will be. It is just very unexpected, sorry.” She says and looks down. And I look over to Silas, who is still looking at the ground.
“I am sure you both have a lot to talk about. But I think you both can use a moment to take all this in. I will have an Omega show you to our finest guestroom. And you can settle in and rest a little after your trip.” I tell her, and she looks relieved.
“Thank you, Alpha.” She says.
I tell an Omega to show the Princess to one of the guestrooms in the excluded wing of my floor, where we would usually let the royals stay if they visit, so they have privacy. And the Omega shows her and her bodyguards the way up there.
I turn and look at Silas, who finally looks up, full of confusion and surprisingly shame.
“What happened?” I ask.
“She, I. I didn’t know, I.” He says, but none of it makes sense, and I look over to Ryan.
“Silas, our friend here, was busy when I showed the princess inside. And she found him with a hand up under Caroline's skirt.” Ryan said. And I walk over to Silas, smacking his head.
“Have I not told you to stop that shit in full public?” I say, raising my voice.
“Yes, Alpha, but she was surprised. Caroline, I mean.” Silas says, and I smack him again.
“You better figure out what you are going to do about this,” I order him.
“Yes, Alpha. But I saw she was marked. How can she be my mate.” He ask, confused.
“You are her second chance. Her first mate died. Which means it is even more important you fix this.” I Say, and he nods his head.
“Go, take a run, clear your head. She needs time, too.” I say, and he bows his head.
“Yes, Alpha, Thank you.” He says and hurries out of the house.
FREYAIt had been many days, and there was not a lot of food left, the men were getting frustrated, and many had already spent time in the boats, together with the shield maidens. Also, Leif had gotten frustrated, and to my horror, Dad had told him to do what he needed, which meant using me for his pleasure.I felt disgusting, not because it happened in full sight for all to watch, as we Vikings don’t care about that. No, it was because I didn’t want it. I didn’t want him. And yet I was about to belong to him, so Dad saw no problem with Leif using me.This was not how I had imagined my first time with a man, yes this was my first time because no man would touch me, because of the curse.I am sitting at the front looking out over the sea, I know everyone hopes to see land very soon. I am feeling sore because Leif was not exactly gentle with me. When the rumors had said he was a brutal man, they had all been confirmed. He didn’t finish inside when he did it but made me take him into my
JACOB Ryan, Silas, and I walked into the forest and shifted into our wolves. Both Ryan and Silas are gray wolves, and I am black, but unlike most wolves, my eyes don’t look the same in my wolf form, and my eyes are red. Some say it will change when I find my fated mate, so I guess now it will never change.‘You are quiet, Alpha, everything alright?” Ryan asks.‘Yeah, the king putting pressure on me to get a mate and Luna. That’s why his daughter was sent here. Her first mate died, and they wanted me to consider her. But now she is Silas mate I thank the goddess I don’t have to, but I still need a luna. So I will make Gianna my mate and Luna in three months.’ I sigh in the mindlink and feel their sadness on my behalf.‘Sorry, man.’ Silas starts, but I stop him.‘No, don’t be. I wasn’t going to use the Princess, it's too risky when I was not her fated second chance. I could kill her. But you, she won’t feel the same pain or grief as if it had been me. So I am happy for you and her.’ I
FREYA A Shockwave of electricity or something flickering flew through my body when my hand touched the black wolf, and I pulled my hand away.“I am so sorry,” I whisper, looking at the wolf, but it doesn’t seem to have felt anything, because he just sits there looking at me.I slowly move my hand close until I touch him again, and the soft electricity returns. But it doesn’t hurt, and it doesn’t look like the wolf feels it, so I don’t move my hand again. Instead, I softly scratch his head and ears, and surprisingly he starts purring as if he were a cat, making me laugh a little.“Who knew a big, dangerous wolf could be so gentle,” I whisper.He whips his head to the side and looks at me, then lies on the ground, and I sit down. Letting my hands run through his black fur. And he just lay there with closed eyes.“I hope my Dad and the others make some fast agreements with whoever lives around here. Then he, Leif, and many others will leave again.” I say.“I thought being left here woul
JACOB I am standing under my shower waking up after only a few hours of sleep. I couldn’t fall asleep last night, and for most of the night, I was thinking about my mate and saw her beautiful face in my mind. Gianna came, and she tried to get in, but I had locked my door and pretended to be sleeping, and eventually, she gave up and left.I had already called and requested a phone meeting with the king and was told he would have time at 10.15 AM. That was in 30 minutes, so I had a good time still and took the time to wake up properly. When I turned off the water, I could hear someone at the door again, and I knew it was Gianna.I dry myself and get dressed in jeans and a shirt, and now I hear another voice, Ryan.“Why else would the door be locked.” I hear Gianna complain.“I swear, he does not have a girl in there. He properly just needed some peace. There are strangers on our land, in case you forgot.” Ryan says.“Yeah, right, I bet it is that princess!” She says, sounding like she
JACOB I am waiting for my Dad, Gianna, and Elder Stan, and I Don’t have to wait long for Gianna, who I’m sure was waiting just outside.“Jacob, I knew you would tell me to come in,” she says, trying to sit on me, but I stop her.“Dad and elder Stan are joining us, so sit on the couch,” I tell her, and she huffs but do as I tell her. Just the thought of her touching me makes my skin crawl. And thankfully it does not take long before Dad and Stan are here, and sitting in the chairs.“Why did you call us here,” Dad asked me.“Is it about the strangers?” Stan ask.“Sort of, but it is not what you think,” I say.“Then explain.” Dad command.“Well, first of all. I know you lied and manipulated me, I talked with the king, and he is mildly said pissed off that you would use his daughter who is grieving. And that you told me that he the king, would remove me if I did not choose a mate. And you knew very well I would never risk the princess's life, so you used her to make me choose Gianna, did
JACOBRyan, Silas, and I are walking through the forest towards the forest with five warriors behind us. And I am in my own thoughts, thinking about my mate, of course. I feel like a teenage boy who has gotten brave enough to invite the girl he likes out for the first time.“We here,” Ryan says and after we step just outside the forest we stop.There is a lot of activity in the camp when they see us and many of them come out of their tents to look. After a while, I saw a big man coming out of a tent with two other men, including her, my mate. He points to some of the men, and they move to stand outside the camp, and then he, the two men, and my mate start walking up here.She looks beautiful in pants made of some sort of skin and her top, too. Her hair is partly braided, partly hanging free. She walks confidently next to the man I think is the leader, and it's sexy as hell, and I have a hard time taking my eyes off her. Before I look at the leader, my eyes catch hers, and for a second
FREYAThe three men had just left, and we were walking back to the camp so that Dad could tell everyone the news. The farmers that had gone with us were talking about the lands and were excited to begin. Me? I was walking in silence, thinking about the man Jacob. I had never seen someone like him, and he was so handsome in dark black skin pants and a shirt that sat so close I could see all his muscles. He was tall and strong. When he spoke, you knew right away that he was their leader.I had the urge to touch him so badly, as if I felt something pulling me to him, and when I looked into his eyes, I wanted to drown in them. His eyes had the most beautiful ash-grey blueish color, and his smell, gosh, I wanted to faint. Why was I so attracted to this man? Attracted doesn’t even somehow cover it. It feels more like my entire being needs him.I asked my head, and I could not think like this. I have no right to, and I probably have a woman and kids at home. No, I had to push these thoughts
FREYANo one noticed I had been gone last night, and I could slip back in unnoticed. I don’t know, but I don’t feel the whipping so much anymore. I sneaked into the dark of Dad’s tent and fell asleep on the skins on the floor. But unlike most nights, I was dreaming, and they felt so real.The black wolf was in my dreams, but its eyes were not red anymore; they were ash-grey, blueish, just like the man Jacob’s eyes. And then he appeared where the wolf had been, and he held me close, but not in a demanding way, no, like if he loved me. I dreamed about how he made love to me, soft, intense, passionate love, and then just held me close while we watched the sun go down.I woke up with the strangest feeling in my body and a calm in my heart I had never felt. I looked around in the morning light and saw that Dad was still sleeping, and I relaxed.I stood up took my bow and arrows, and went hunting. It did not take long before I could go back and start preparing the wild pig I had killed.The