ALEKSANDRAce huffed out a breath of frustration but turned towards the kitchen to help me. The space between the rooms was fairly open, but it was an L shape, so when we were standing in the kitchen, the cabinets blocked our view of the others.If I kept my voice low, they were unlikely to hear our conversation over the sound of the movie. Now I just had to figure out how to start this conversation.“Can you grab some glasses?” I ask as I begin pulling cans of soda from the refrigerator.Ace doesn’t say anything but makes his way over to the cabinet with the glasses, opens it, and starts pulling out 6 glasses. He’s always been a good kid, and even with me marrying his mom, he’s never had a bitter attitude about all of this, but since coming to Europe, he’s seemed more frustrated.Ace begins carrying the glasses over to where I’m standing and dispenses a few ice cubes in each one. When the last glass is filled and the noise of the ice machine stops, I try to start the conversatio
ALEKSANDR The hallway was dark, so I didn’t see clearly before I lunged at the figure in the doorway without thought. My only instinct was to protect my family, but there was a swift movement, and I flew past the figure into the hallway. As soon as my paws hit the floor I spun around, and my body froze. My eyes focused and I saw Jacinda standing just outside the door smirking. “Feeling a little tense, Alpha?” The teasing tone in her voice just fed my aggression, but she’d immobilized me again, so I was powerless to do anything. I immediately shifted back to my human form, but I was still unable to move from my crouched position on the floor. “What the hell is going on?” I growl as I glance back at the door where Mason and Oliver stood watching us cautiously. “We’ve captured the alpha of the pack and he is being securely held, but he is insisting on speaking with your mate.” “Why would I let my mate anywhere near that filth?” “He wants a chance to explain himself and he claim
ALEKSANDRIt was instinct. As soon as Rieka mentioned Silas, my wolf growled and began clawing to get out. I shoved him back down, but it was too late. We were surrounded by warriors in wolf form, watching me like I was the threat here.Rieka tried to sooth them, but they were focused on me.Without submitting, I did my best to relax my body and present myself in a non-threatening way, but they continued to circle us and slowly inch closer. It was getting harder and harder to control my wolf with all these others closing in on me and my mate.Since we were surrounded, there was nowhere I could properly protect Rieka and my wolf snarled in my head, wanting the other wolves to back away from his mate.Suddenly, the wolves all froze. Although they’d stopped moving their eyes were all fixed on me, and I could see their lips curling with suppressed growls.“What’s happening?” Rieka whispered.‘I’m not sure,’ I replied through the mind link.Jacinda stepped between two of the wolves, a
RIEKA I knew Aleksandr wouldn’t like it, but I needed to know if this male really had any information, so I nodded my head that I would speak with him alone. “I don’t like this,” Aleksandr growled in my ear. Turning to face him, I place my hand on his chest. I can feel his strong heartbeat pounding. “I know, but I will stay far away from the bars. He won’t be able to touch me.” “Can we speak outside for a minute?” Jacinda asked as she approached me. Although I was confused by her request, I agreed, and we all stepped out of the room together. We all stood there looking at one another for a minute before Jacinda broke the silence. “I know you don’t trust him, but if it would make you feel better, I can stay in the room with her without the prisoner knowing.” “Not that I trust you either,” my mate glared at her, “but who even is this male? What pack does he rule? And what happened to the rest of his pack? Were they all captured, or did some escape?” Alpha Cornelis raised h
RIEKA “Not exactly human? What the hell does that mean?” I scoffed. “We’ve already explored this, and it’s been confirmed several times. I. Am. Human. Nothing more, nothing less.” Alpha Kareem smiled. “So, you’re not ready to listen then…” He was right. I literally just said I was ready to listen, but the moment he spoke, I argued with him. I took a deep breath to calm myself, “Okay, let’s pretend I believe you. How can I trust anything you say? Didn’t you come here to abduct me?” A hearty laugh bubbled out of his throat, and I suddenly felt very sheepish. Why do I always have to be the person who doesn’t know what’s going on? It seems like all these alpha males are always laughing at me. Why are they all surprised that a human doesn’t know the details of their culture? I may be mated to an Alpha, but we’ve only known each other for a few months. How quickly do they expect me to learn everything and become an expert on a world I was just recently introduced to. As A
ALEKSANDR Rieka had only been in the room with the Alpha for a few minutes, but my wolf and I were already desperate to have her in front of us again and know that she was safe. I tried mind-linking her to make sure everything was alright, but I hit a wall. Is she blocking me? “You won’t be able to link her in that room, Alpha.” I quickly turned to face Alpha Cornelis. “Why the hell not? And why didn’t you tell me that before I let her go in there with that male?” “We need answers,” he responded casually, “Alpha Kareem would only agree to speak with your mate, and you wouldn’t have let her go in alone if you knew you couldn’t reach her through the link.” “So, you willingly allowed MY mate to go into a space with a dangerous alpha, with no way to communicate if something goes terribly wrong?” “The room is designed to block all mind-links so the prisoner cannot communicate with any who might attempt to free him. He is locked behind bars. Your mate is perfectly safe, and Jacin
ALEKSANDRHow had Alpha Kareem just vanished? The only door to the room was the one we’d all just walked through and there was no sign of a break in. The room was well lit, and all of the walls, floor, and ceiling were intact, and the bars on the cell looked perfect.Slowly approaching them and stretching out to feel the cold steel, I half expected my hand to go right through them, as if they were an optical illusion. It’s the only explanation my brain could come up with to explain his disappearance.Unfortunately, my skin was met with solid bars every bit as strong as you’d expect in a holding cell. I wrapped my fingers around the bars and squeezed, expecting them to mold into the shape of my hand, but they didn’t.Whirling on Alpha Cornelis I growl, “How did he get out of here?!”The look on Alpha Cornelis’ face made it clear that he was just as shocked as the rest of us, but he immediately jumped into action, barking out orders and sending his warriors scrambling to search the
RIEKAAt first, Aleksander was shocked when told him everything that Kareem had shared with me, but as it all sank in and he was able to process the information, I saw his excitement grow.“This means that I don’t have to worry about outliving you! You’ll have a long life just like the rest of us!”His elation was palpable, and it was contagious. I found myself giggling with joy at the idea of a long future together.“We have to figure out how or even if we should tell the kids,” I reminded him. “I’m sure that Ace and Aria could handle it, and Eden would be thrilled, I’m sure, but this really needs to be kept a secret, and I’m not sure Calvin can handle it. It’s one thing if he accidentally says something about wolves around humans, because they will just assume he’s a kid with an active imagination, but if he accidentally says something about this in front of the wrong wolf, we could have more problems than we do now.”The light is Aleksandr’s eyes dimmed a little, but he was sti