That mysterious mate of mine. Slinking around like a fox, those dark eyes always threaten something fun or interesting. The love he has for Aisling almost sets me off crying every time. I can’t deny I have been a rollercoaster for the past few months. Or a complete fucking nightmare. Maybe a bit of both. Taking tea with Doctor Thatcher the day before our journey to White Forest he confirmed I have physically recovered from childbirth. Aisling is flourishing. I have nothing to worry about. “Then why am I so worried? Why is my head filled with constant doubt about everything going wrong?” He sipped his tea thoughtfully, before placing the cup down and steepling his hands. In a steady, doctor-mode voice, he replied, “because you have been through an awful lot Luna. Phillipe made you question your worth. Years believing you weren’t quite good enough, that you always had to try harder. Now?” “Now…I know Zeke loves me exactly as I am. I know he doesn’t want me to change.” “Well as lov
It can’t be the packhouse that created this change in her. From the second I walked into her room, filthy from the day's labour, she sized me up like prey and left me practically drooling. She knows exactly what that midnight blue gown does to her figure. A thigh-high split, too? Cruelty in spades. I was more than willing to give her space. I can cuddle, be affectionate, and listen until the end of time. I’ve massaged more oil into her delicate soft skin and bump than I would have thought possible. Sometimes, such rubdowns ended in tears as memories overwhelmed her. Other times, I was able to send her up to heaven in a state of bliss. It’s been a rollercoaster. I’ve dug my way out of my own pit of grief, Freya had been living on hold for so long. She’d been on the run, trapped back at White Forest, held at Rising Star against her will. Shitbag Phillipe had dared to put his hands on her and thankfully paid the fucking price. I regret never getting to land a blow on him myself. But it
My mud-drenched cloak dragged down my shoulders. Catching on branches and weighing a ton, I stumble forward in the dark.“Come on!” hissed my guide. “Get moving before you get me killed ”“I'm trying! I wasn't followed you know!” "I couldn't give a shit what you think."My shorter height prevents me clearing the mud and branches as easily as the miserable brute in front. Struggling for footing in the dark forest, rain pours down unchecked, his face set like granite. Alpha Cillian had commanded him to take me away from here. This mission is not his choice.“Why the hell are you even doing this anyway?” His voice is a miserable grumble as he lifts a low, heavy branch for me to pass under. “It’s none of your fucking business,” I snapped back, fully aware I had signed my own death sentence tonight."You're damn right it's not, but here I am. Babysitting.""I'm sorry, have I not just risked everything to bring you the biggest weapon in this fight?"Thirty minutes of hostile silence follo
Over the past few weeks I’ve learned an awful lot. None of it good. My mind continues to whirl with a sickening combination of regret mixed with bitterness. Beta Zeka is still tearing through the countryside whilst I cling onto the back trying to remember the last time I ate a meal.My back-from-the-dead brother Nikolai and Alpha Cillian have combined forces to attack Phillipe and Ruth. The only blessing has been that she is trapped in the north. Who knows what Phillipe has been up to every time he left me to go visit her there. Since I came home with his one-eyed henchman Beta Patrick with the declaration of war ringing loud he has been stuck at the Rising Star castle with me. Forced to be with the mate he doesn’t want.“Why won’t you just reject me?” I screamed at him one evening. The ridiculousness of sitting across a dining table with my so-called mate burned me. Knowing war was ongoing left me bubbling with resentment and unable to hold back my tongue.“Because I can provide for
I cannot believe Cillian took me out of the Battalion for this. Pointless days on the road with this spoiled little princess and I’m still confused. It burns to know my Alpha thinks I’m fucked up.But then, who wouldn’t be? It’s made me a better, sharper fighter. Nobody was complaining while I was ripping out throats and ending skirmishes. Nobody has killed more of Phillipe’s men than me. Now I’m sitting around babysitting someone who could be his damn spy. Just because she has those large, wide eyes, it doesn’t mean she is trustworthy. This whole time I thought Cill had my back. My Alpha, my kin. He took the pack to the brink of collapse whilst trying to get his wolf back and I supported him all the way. Even after Franz. /No. Something else. Quick./ Rush hissed as my fists clench, itching for something to hit. Anything to replace the sickening lurch in my guts.We don’t think about Franz that way. Not in the dark when my vision can distort so easily. Glossy puddles quickly becom
Two days of living in a barn. It might be a much nicer barn than most but this is ridiculous. Bella fetches me the most delicious home-cooked meals but keeps a shy distance. Lucien says absolutely nothing to me. It is like being guarded by a grizzly bear.Beta Zeke remains, doing his best to annoy me. He is always nagging at Finn to put more effort into guarding me, which then leads to him being a pissed-off grump. Not that I want to talk to him either. I don’t do anything. I just lie on the bed and regret every decision that lead me here.Finn busies himself with wood carving, reading, whatever on the floor below. I look up through the skylight and remember the life I’ve abandoned. I can see the sunset just colouring the sky, the most spectacular burning orange as I lie back in the huge pillows.Goddess the huge glamorous dances my family used to hold. I look down at my nails, all scrubbed, short and plain and remember the jewels and bracelets I used to wear. I would be covered in t
Sitting up, leaving space for him to sit next to me on the vast white mattress I laughed softly. Tucking my hair behind my ear, “A truce sounds good.” “Good, because otherwise I’d just be guarding you drunk,” he joked and leapt onto the bed. He was so massive the whole mattress surged upwards and I shrieked, gripping onto the sides as his huge frame came tantalisingly close to mine. Propped up against the headboard he quickly poured us both filthily large measures of whiskey. “Cheers,” he said as we clinked glasses. I knocked back a wedge of the glass. The fierce burn made me want to cough but I fought against it. Livi was guarded, cautious but at the same time…maybe I need to just switch off the worrying for a bit. Finn’s huge body made this enormous bed seem way too small. “So, I heard him talking to you while I waited down there. He was out of order.” “He’s lost someone. He tells me to not get lost in the past when he’s a wound-up ball of anger himself.” “When Alpha Cillian c
I thought being back amongst my comrades would help shake off this funk. I’m back in the Battalion, alongside Alpha Cillian. Beta Briss and myself are his two most senior men.Just downhill are twenty others waiting instructions, another twenty half a mile away. Alpha Cillian has other Beta’s but they are not known to the other nations. Mainly because they are women. Naomi and Leona Kharkov are running the home defence. Alpha Cillian is full of pride for them. Well we all are, that whole family are like my sisters. All copper-haired, dark-eyes beauties, they lost their legendary father the same night I lost Franz. That fucking Ceremony. Fast asleep when-/Back to business. Shut it down/ Rush urged as my heart twinged in pain.When Cillian gets letters from Alpha Nikolai complaining he is having to divert men from fighting in order to organise home resistance he grins and shakes his head. The decades old measure of secretly training our women in martial arts and vicious shifter defenc