I knew it! I knew Anastasia and Ailduin were mates! Now, we just need to see how this plays out. In an instant, Ailduin has moved forward and has Anastasia in his arms. “King Ailduin, may I introduce you to Alpha Anastasia. Anastasia, this is King Ailduin.” “King?” Alpha Christopher says, looking at his daughter in the arms of her mate before turning to me. “Ailduin is the fae king.” I reply. “How is this possible? I thought you only get one mate in a lifetime.” Ailduin says, his voice thick of awe. He hasn’t looked away from Anastasia. She tenses in his arms. “You’re already mated?” He shakes his head. “No, I was, years ago, but she was taken from me.” He looks around at all of us. "How?" “You’ve lived more than one lifetime by our standards.” Rik says. “And werewolves have second chance mates. It’s not common, but it does happen. Maybe the fae do as well.” “Perhaps you would like someplace more private to get to know each other.” I say, gesturing to them to follow me. “I’m s

I knew Eli was an Alpha, or at least descended from Alphas before he took over as one. He’s more of a leader than many Alphas I’ve known, my own father included. But it was nice to have confirmation and to be able to show him that he isn’t the fake Alpha to this pack that he sometimes feels he is, even now. He is the real deal. He always has been. The next day, Eli and I drive north two hours to meet up with Benny. I didn’t want him driving all the way to the pack if he ends up running and screaming after we tell him what we are. Eli found a small town with an even smaller diner where we could meet and have some privacy to talk. We arrived first and got a table in the corner. I smile at Eli thinking of the time we were on the run and we had breakfast in a diner. “Why are you looking at me like that, baby?” He asks me. “You’re sitting the exact same way you were that time we were being chased by the red wolves. You remember, we were eating breakfast and you saw the shifter you’d hea

Eli became more insistent that he know where I was at all times after that. When we are together, he is affectionate and loving. We have always been physical in our relationship, but it was different now. It was as if he were desperate to let me know how much he needs me and loves me. He’s terrified that he’s going to lose me. I understand why he’s feeling that way. I’m the key, the central point in the power source of the Guardians. Cara and Angel can pull from me, but without the strength of my mind link, they can’t go further than that. I can tap into the power of not only my sisters and their mates, but also every member of all three of our packs. I haven’t been vocal about that. I don’t want to scare anyone, but when I connect with them, it’s almost like candles getting lit in my mind. As each person in their pack connects to the link, the candles light and I can see them in my mind. It’s strange and it’s overwhelming. It also means that I can hear them. Between the three packs w

I’m glad when Eli says he’s heading to the battle and for me to join him after getting the evacuations set. I can’t shift being pregnant. I’ll have to run in human form to get to the battlefield. Eli would know something was wrong if he saw me. It takes me longer to get to the battle than it would if Maia was running. We’re much faster on four paws than two feet. As we get closer to the battle, I smell them. I’m counting them in my head when Eli reaches out to me. I open the mind link and let them know I’m nearly there, and how many hunters there are. When they decide to spread out, I know I won’t be fighting beside Eli. I have to be with my sisters. That’s the only way I can make sure we win today. Before I arrive, I hear Kai’s howl for the battle to begin and immediately all hell breaks loose. Almost instantly, I feel tethers from our pack breaking. ‘Maia, we have to hurry. We can’t lose our pack.’ Maia’s pain at the loss of our pack members is as strong as mine, especially sinc

Chaos. That’s all I can feel. Utter chaos. There are sounds and voices all around me. I can’t make out what they are saying, there are so many of them and they are talking over each other. I try to tell them I can’t understand them, but my voice is drowned out by theirs. I try to find Maia in my mind, but if she is there, I can’t hear her voice over the cacophony in my head. It’s overwhelming and it never stops. I bend down, covering my ears with my hands, trying to lessen the sounds, but it doesn’t help. Initially, I felt like I was going to go crazy. But eventually, the noise becomes almost background noise in my head, making it easier for me to think. I remember what happened, how I tapped into nearly 1000 wolves that were still alive and pulled their energy and strength into my aura before pushing it out to kill the hunters and save our packs. And that’s when I realize what the noise is. I connected to every pack member from three packs, and now I don’t know how to disconnect mys