Three months later,Gently waking Ryker up, I cover his handsome face in kisses. 'I don't want to wake up,' He murmurs. I throw a pillow at his face. 'Hey!' He sits up and throws a pillow back at me. I lean backward, dodging the pillow. I poke out my tongue: 'Ha! You missed!' I tease.'Oh, did I?' He says, jumping out of bed and running toward me, flinging me over his shoulder and whirling us around in a circle. 'Ryker! Stop!' I giggle. 'You'll make me sick,' I say. Ryker stops.'Well, you're no fun!' He feigns a pout. 'No fun? We are always having fun,' I state. 'True.' He says, lifting me over his shoulder.Ryker runs into the dining room downstairs with a grin on his face. I scream his name the whole way down. 'Ryker!' I yell, trying not to laugh at his playfulness. Finally, he sits in a chair and pulls me onto his lap. 'There, I put you down,' he says, winking at me. I roll my eyes. 'Did you roll your eyes at me, Luna?' he laughs.Everyone at the table eats in silence, smi
I feel like and look like a beached whale struggling to get out of bed. 'Ryker!' I call out. A moment later, I hear Ryker running up the stairs. 'What's wrong? Is the baby coming?' He asks. I laugh.'No, we're fine. I just can't sit up. My belly is so huge.' Ryker smiles and walks over to the bed to help me sit up before kneeling beside me and placing his hands on both sides of my belly.'I can't wait to meet you, little one. It won't be much longer now,' Ryker says, kissing my stomach. Ryker pulls me to my feet, helps me dress, and we walk downstairs for breakfast. I think twice about sitting on Ryker's lap when I'm as big as I am. Instead, I pull out another chair, breaking our morning routine.'Wait,' he says, standing and sitting down in the chair I have just pulled out. Then, he gestures for me to sit in his. 'You're so sweet,' I say, smiling at him. 'Only the best seat in the house for you, my love,' he says, giving me a wink and a smile.'Astrid, you must let Hayley and I t
'Ryker! My Dad! He kidnapped me!''Are you at your father's house?''No, we aren't at his house. I'm in a big, old shed or run-down, abandoned factory. I've never been here before.''Leon is bringing me a map. We'll mark all the abandoned buildings and sheds and check each one.''You need to hurry. Dad said he would kill our baby.' I hear a ferocious growl through the link.'I'm going to kill him if he lays a finger on you or our baby.'Dad grabs my hair. 'Are you even listening to me? Or are you too busy zoning out?' He yells. 'Ryker is going to find me, and he is going to kill you for this!' I yell. 'Your precious Ryker, hey, so, he's your baby Daddy?' he says.'Yes. Ryker is my mate!' I reply. 'Your mate? And what kind of term is that?' He asks. 'The Moon Goddess chose us to be together. We are soul mates,' I say. He smirks and stands, picking the chair up and throwing it. I watch it smash into pieces. 'Please don't. I'm begging you,' I say as Dad approaches me.He picks up t
Amelia and I sit on the porch drinking tea, heavily pregnant with our second babies, while Magnus plays with little Nina. Amelia and Leon's daughter aptly named Nina because she was such a small, tiny baby, and Nina means 'little girl'. I think it's pretty cute. We laugh as little Nina holds in a mouthful of water and squirts it into Magnus' face. Then she pokes her tongue out at Magnus and runs away. Magnus chases after her. 'Little Nina and Magnus are the complete opposite of each other. I say it would be interesting to see if the Moon Goddess chooses them as mates?' I giggle. 'I don't know. Every playdate we have, Nina wears poor Magnus out. She is always playing tricks on him. She is so silly and cheeky, and he is so serious and sensible,' Amelia says, laughing. 'I think I need to go to the bathroom,' I say. 'Me too,' Amelia says. We both call out for our mates. 'Ryker!' I yell. 'Leon!' Amelia yells. They both appear. 'Is the baby coming? Are you okay?' Ryker asks, concerned
‘Come on, Magnus, please play hide and seek with me,’ Nina begs me with her large, brown, doe-like eyes.I walk towards her with abrupt haste. She steps back until she feels the bluestone wall against her back. I tower over her with ease. My mother, Astrid, the Luna of Shadow Crest, always reminds me that when I was born, I was double the size of a regular wolf baby and almost a foot taller and much broader than any other ten-year-old. She says I may even become the mightiest Alpha of all one day.Glaring down into Nina’s eyes, I huff, ‘I’m still mad at you for tricking me into putting salt on my cereal this morning instead of sugar.’Nina’s face lights up with a smile. ‘The look on your face when you ate it, though, was so worth it,’ she giggles.Why do you always enjoy making me the laughingstock of the family? Do you hate me that much?’‘It’s not like that, Magnus. You’re my best friend, always and forever. We are just having fun,’‘Fun! You’re not the one who gets into trouble for
The next day I walk straight past Nina and ask May if she wants to climb some trees with Zak and me. I can see Nina's eyebrows crease in confusion out the corner of my eyes as May and I have rarely ever spoken to each other, nor have we ever played together.‘Sure,’ she smiles.‘Okay, let’s go.’ I smile and wave for her to follow.Nina stands there watching us, then runs after us. ‘Hey, I want to climb trees too, you know!’I stop and face her. ‘No, only my friends can join,’ ‘What are you talking about, Magnus? I’m your best friend?’‘You were never my friend,’ I growl and regroup with others.Nina’s face turns sombre, with a hint of confusion.‘That’s harsh, don’t you think, Magnus? You and Nina have been the best of friends since you were both babies,’ Flint says.‘No, they forced us to be friends, our mother’s planning constant playdates every day, and if she were my best friend, she wouldn’t be getting me into trouble every day. Nina no longer exists to me,’ I snarl.Flint and J
After a couple of months had passed, Nina stopped greeting me each day, knowing I would not respond. Now in high school, she had become a loner. Keeping to herself in class and went to the library at recess and lunch. May would elbow me and glare if she caught me staring at Nina, but she would always get jealous and cranky at any girl I glanced at. ‘Stop elbowing me, May,’ I growl.‘Stop staring at Nina then. You haven’t spoken to her in seven years, yet you are always staring at her. Besides, you should just be focusing your attention on me. Everyone knows we will be mates,’ she beams.‘Not if I can help it.’‘Your such an ass Magnus,’ she growls‘Yes, I’m told daily by many girls I have a nice ass,’ I smirk.‘Who is telling you that? I demand to know their names right now,’ she says, glaring at every female in the classroom.‘May, you need to get over it.’‘No, you need to get over Nina!’I glare at May, making her cower back in her seat.‘I can’t get over someone I was never into
‘Magnus, nice of you to join the class. Just because you are the future Alpha does not mean you get special privileges. Now take your seat before you get yourself detention,’I growl under my breath, ‘Yes, Mr Thomson,’ and plonk my books onto the table and sit next to Nina.Nina stiffens in surprise as I sit beside her. She looks at me and is trying to contain a smile. I try to tune her presence out and tune into Mr Thompson. He talks about different types of soil that are low in nutrients and high in nutrients. Nina’s pen flicks back and forth as she listens to Mr Thomson. Her hands are small and dainty, and her nails have been freshly manicured and painted with a very light, subtle pink. Her long brown hair drape down her arms. I watch as she tucks her hair behind her ear, revealing a gold earring and exposing her nape. My eyes focus on the nape of her neck. I feel my heart racing. I break out into a sweat and feel my heartbeat pounding erratically through my chest.‘Magnus… Magnus!