~Kiki~The feeling of despair and hopelessness was soul crushing.Alpha Kayden had broken my heart countless times, every single time I saw him with Sienna, when he threw me into the dreary dungeons, and when he ignored the mate bond to choose Willow over me. But I had no control over those situations and could only hope for better days. Today was harder. It was me leaving him behind and choosing the ocean over him.The look on his face as I swam away from him would haunt me forever. I fancied believing so bad he actually wanted me the way he wanted his chosen mate.The only reason he slept with me was the mate bond. The bond was too powerful and it forced him to protect me from his pack and Victoria. He wouldn't have spared me another look if I wasn't his fated mate. He wouldn't have jumped into the ocean without thinking for a second if not for this pointless bond. None of these arguments eased the pain I felt when his face flashed through my mind. I had to do it. To let go of wh
~Kiki~ "Siren abode?" "Our home in the ocean. You've seriously been living under a rock, haven't you? No wonder we never saw you before." Her laughter echoed across the water, bouncing off the curious stares of the two sisters. "Do you remember the first time we met?" I shook my head as if a thick fog was obscuring my past. "Well, the siren abode is closer to where we first crossed paths," Haley continued, her voice turning gentle. Every full moon, sirens from all corners of the world gather there. It takes us just a couple of hours to swim from Storm Moon Pack, but for those farther out, the journey starts the night before. You see, not everyone can leave the ocean. We're the lucky few." "Um, so your mate is..." I trailed off, unsure if I was overstepping. A blush bloomed across Haley's cheeks, and her fingers unconsciously traced the pendant around her neck. "He's the Alpha King's nephew. I never knew sirens could feel such emotions until I met him. He's—" Eleanor cut in, he
~Nyla~ The Grand Hall pulsed with anticipation. My heart fluttered with happiness as I took slow steps, accompanied by my best friend, Maya, and my lovely sister-in-law, Rachel. "My Luna Queen, you look beautiful." My good old friend Olivia greeted me at the door. The feeling of being loved by everybody filled me to the brim with contentment. The most awaited moment of the year had arrived. And there he was! Alpha King Kian stood on the dais, sporting an extra dazzling smile today. He was dressed in a well-fitted charcoal gray tuxedo and a striped purple bowtie, which he was forced to wear at my insistence. I wanted something on him to match my flowy purple dress. His deep green eyes caressed me with such adoration as I climbed up the dais and stood next to him. I resisted the urge to claim his lips and act out of character in front of so many people and packs. Everyone had been waiting for us while I lost track of time and spent too long in my dead husband's bedroom. Wyatt's me
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER~Ari/Kendall~Lightning bolts, thunderclaps, and colossal waves.Rain was pelting down relentlessly. I was caught in a raging storm, with my body swaying back and forth at the whim of the waves. I tried to scream, begging to be rescued, but ended up swallowing a good amount of water."Mamma..." I cried out, coughing and trying to stay afloat.Salty water stung my eyes and nose, filling up my lungs as I struggled to stay conscious. Darkness engulfed me now and then, and I could feel my body drifting off out of control, caught in massive tidal waves. Everything was pitch black, but I woke up again to find myself in the same situation. Angry waves were colliding with raging winds, throwing my body at high speeds into random directions. The only difference was that it was now night instead of day.Something didn't make sense. A shiny blue tail kept presenting itself to me. I thought it was some large fish following me, or mor
~Kiki~Walking to the farther end of the horseshoe driveway, I got into a new black RAM 2500. It was a loaner car the dealership gave my dad when he dropped off his old pickup truck for servicing yesterday. I used his pickup truck solely for doing my job and walked to school or beaches and other places.My parents drove fancy cars while Megan inherited my mom's old Chrysler. She was going to get a nice loaded BMW on her eighteenth birthday next year. I was hoping they wouldn't trade in the Chrysler and give it to me instead.I took a sip of my delicious hot chocolate and set it in the cup holder before keying the car.Wait, what? Why would my dad bring a loaner with a manual transmission? He knew I sucked at driving a stick shift.Checking my watch, I hopped out of the car and darted towards my friend Benjamin's house, which was next door.All the elite warrior families were treated on par with the other high-ranking members. We didn't need
~Kiki~I froze at the look of his fuming face and shut the engine off. Pushing the door open, I was about to step out when I saw that I had knocked off one of the bike mirrors when swinging the door open.Why doesn't the ground next to the curb just open up and suck me in? He looked like he was going to swallow me whole when the earth refused to help me escape."What the fuck, Kiki? Are you drunk driving or what?" His usually deep and calm voice was seething with anger and agitation, and so was his face, which was typically void of any expression when he saw me.I bit hard on my lower lip to stop my chin from trembling and shifted on my feet anxiously. He moved his hands off his hips and yanked his damaged bike from under the car.To be honest, it didn't really look that damaged except for the missing mirror. And perhaps a few scrapes here and there. Oh well, everywhere. Damn!After several beats of silence as he inspected the damage,
~Kiki~A pool of anxiety coiled inside me when I heard those words. Where was I going to go?I only knew how my actual parents looked. I had no idea who they were or where they lived. Were they even alive and would they want me back after finding out I had no wolf?"Are my actual parents werewolves?"Crying didn't bode well with Alpha Dimitri in the past, so I wasted no time on tearing up and begging him to keep me. He sounded like he had made up his mind to kick me out already. Alpha Kayden will have to say the words, and I will be banished once the bond with the pack breaks.Alpha Kayden... my toes curled at the mere mention of his name in my thoughts."Didn't you hear me? Alpha Wyatt's your dad. He was one of the strongest alphas to have existed. He would have made a great Alpha King if not for your scheming mother, who got him killed and handed everything over to an asshole alpha from the Storm Moon Pack."Storm Moon Pack, huh. No
~Kiki~I sucked in a sharp breath, and I swear my heart was ready to burst. Can there be anything more embarrassing? I threw his shirt on the floor behind me and stood there like a statue.Once I found my voice, I came up with a bullshit explanation."The omega who... who d-does the laundry wanted to check if anything needed to be taken out for la-laundry so that I could take them to the laundry for the omega who does the laundry."Jeez!"Okay, the omega will do the laundry. But why was my shirt pressed to your nose?"He towered over me, wrapped in a towel, with beads of water clinging to his hard abs and taut chest muscles. More water dripped from his hair, but that was not where my attention was. I licked my lips at the sight of the hard-on tenting up under his towel."I-I didn't d-do that," I choked out. I was talking about the shirt, but my eyes were fixed on what was under the towel.His eyes had tu