AliceThe surprise filled me completely. I couldn't believe how good I felt and how blissful it was to have Selene back with me. However, some fear crept into my system when I didn't understand what was going on."What do you mean by coven?" I asked the matriarch."In order for your power as a primary sorceress to be stable, we had to consecrate you to this land, which makes you a sorceress belonging to our coven," she explained, and my eyebrows rose."What does that mean? I have no notion whatsoever of what it is to be a sorceress; if I harass, I know the term exists; it's from history books, much less imagine the responsibility that could come with becoming a primary sorceress.""I'll put it bluntly, but not so rudely: enshrining yourself in a specific land means that land will receive your magic at the moment of your death."That sounded creepy.It's not bad; it's part of the cycle of magic, and it's a practice of the Goddess herself, Selene said, and that calmed me down."What oth
AliceI could not sleep well.An uneasy feeling consumed me in the night, so much so that I left the room so as not to disturb Enya. I had gotten to share a room with her, so I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.Enya had done too much for me, so the least I could do was let her rest. With that, I put on a robe over the pajamas I was wearing and went out to sit in one of the chairs in the back garden.There, I stared up at the sky and wondered what other adversity would have to happen.Don't be so pessimistic, Alice. Selene said gently."It's very easy to be pessimistic if too many things happen to you; right now, I have a power I can't control, you can't go out to take care of me because that might hurt the baby and Stefan might show up. There's too much going on and I feel like something could go wrong."That doesn't mean you're pessimistic, Alice. The best thing you can do is learn from the sorceresses so you can defend yourself and know what to fight with if that bastard Stefan
Alice"Of all the things I imagined could happen coming here, that one I never expected," Enya said, and I nodded.Gerard looked delighted as the woman spoke to him, fascinated by what he was saying, and that somehow made me smile a little because someone, in the midst of all the chaos, had found a reason to be genuinely happy."I had always thought that only between werewolves did they form mate bonds, but I can see how that's kind of absurd," I said in disbelief as soon as I saw the interaction of the Delta and the sorceress."The Goddess shows her cards in peculiar ways," Enya said cryptically, and I scowled at her. "All well and in order with your she-wolf?"Her question was meant to distract me, so I answered honestly."All very well, she's already where she needs to be; pitifully, she can't change because of the pregnancy, but I don't doubt she'll look for ways to accompany me in her own way; Selene is usually fun."Enya frowned."Is Selene named after the Goddess?" she asked."
AliceWinter had come mercilessly so I grabbed the only thick coat I had to get out of the aging cabin I lived in. I put on my gloves after layering my fleece hat and went out to face the driving snowfall that was lashing the town of Beltone in the South Pack.As I did so, my bones immediately felt numb from the cold, so I took a deep breath and concentrated on walking as fast as I could to our Alpha's house to do my day-to-day chores. I did so under the scrutiny of the other members of the pack, who viewed me as if I were an insect to be eliminated.To the supernatural world, especially the werewolves, I was an abomination.To me, being a werewolf-human half-breed had turned out to be a curse that I wished would end that very night on my birthday. I had hoped that when I came of age I could become a wolf; it was my only chance for some acceptance, and if that didn't happen, I would flee to a place where the purity of species wasn't as much of an issue. Which turned out to be a kind o
AliceYou fool! Why did you let him go, you should have faced those despicable women and looked for him! My she-wolf shouted at the back of my mind in despair.That made me stop halfway, and for the first time, I realized that not only did I not feel cold, but I had walked much faster than usual. His awakening had affected my body in a matter of seconds."This is crazy."I was amazed at what supernatural powers could do to a body, especially if it's a weak half-breed.Stop thinking nonsense; you need to look for our Mate, you silly girl! The she-wolf said it with annoyance, and I smiled at her mere existence.Of all the creatures that could touch me, I never thought I would be touched by a bold she-wolf without the sense of touch. It was very contradictory because I always believed that the more powerful a werewolf was, the harder his beast would be to handle, and this one seemed to be untamable, which didn't necessarily bode well.We can't look for him now; even if I wanted to, I don
AliceIt was the fifth night that I was meeting Stefan in the forest glade and I felt that for the first time, life was giving me some of the happiness that had been taken from me after my father's death in that horrible war against the vampires.I felt blissful, so I made a picnic for my mate to feed him as tradition dictated. When he arrived that night, he looked tense, but once he saw the surprise I had in store for him, he simply smiled and surrendered to the moment."You're a sweetheart, and you're mine," he said before carrying me and turning me sweetly.That's what our meetings boiled down to, meeting, making love, and then letting our beasts free to play with all the energy of life. It was fun, but I wanted to be able to talk to him about what was going to happen to us. I needed to tell him who I was."I need us to talk about something—" Stefan wouldn't let me finish and put a finger to my lips."I don't want us to talk about anything; right now, what I want is to spend a few
Stefan Meeting my Mate had been the best of distractions; however, I had a goal, and in it, Alice did not fit as my Luna, so finding out she was a half-breed served perfectly to publicly reject her.I hated half-breeds because they represented the impurity of our race. We had been through so much, and staying above ground was a priority, so maintaining purity was vital to not losing ourselves. But it was hard to hate her, especially after having tasted her in full. It was so much of an aftertaste of her that Dilon, my wolf, was applying the law of ice to me for keeping him away from his mate.I had promised Dilon that the rejection would not be for life and that after using Circe in my conquest plans, I could have his little wolf. At that time, I was more interested in setting a precedent for this in my pack so that people would understand how radical I was with my rules. So, I started changing certain rules.I had a goal, and I needed everyone to serve me perfectly."From now on, al
AliceIf I had ever been asked if I could be worse off than before, I would never have answered yes until that very moment when my life was reduced to ashes.If I had ever known the myth of the devil, Stefan was the embodiment of it; there was no way anyone would treat his Mate in such a dastardly manner.After being locked in a dungeon where the embracing cold was the most important companion after the darkness, I learned what the meaning of hell could be in life. For Stefan, I was nothing more than a piece of meat with which he could be satisfied. That's why every day when he came to touch me to unburden himself to his heart's content, he drained me completely.I had no hope and no desire to fight.After the first night, he abused me, and my she-wolf came out to defend me and brought some moonstone chains to override the connection I had with her. Selene had bitten him, and several guards and Ime were about to let go, but they injected us with a tranquilizer that knocked us out on t