Anila’s POVWinnie looked at me thoughtfully for a long moment. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her hands on her lap as she studied me. I felt my cheeks warm from her scrutiny.“Your mother was the bravest and the kindest,” she finally answered after a short pause. “She was one of the best wizards at the school. For all 4 years, she held that number one top student slot.”“She did the challenges when she was a first year?” I asked, raising my brows at this information.“She was a stubborn woman and fought to take the challenges,” she said, chuckling and shaking her head at the memory. “She wowed everybody.”I smiled at the thought of my mother putting the board in their place and getting them to agree to allow her to partake in the challenges.“And then she got a boyfriend,” Winnie continued, her smile faltering only a little. “Your mother was so in love with him.”I raised my brows at her words; she had a boyfriend while she was living here? I hadn’t heard about that. I knew
Anila’s POVIt’s been a little over a week since Xaden brought me to see his aunt and my mind was still whirling from the information I had received. I learned a little more about my mother and the fact that disappeared after the war and met my father in the human world. I learned about the Dragon King and the Alpha King. I also learned a little more about the Moon Queen.I already knew that the Moon Queen fought the darkness that threatened the world and to destroy the darkness, she had to sacrifice herself. She was a true queen and someone who should be worshipped. Her selfless act saved the nation. It was said that her mates followed her to death, not wanting to live without their beloved.Thinking about my own mates, I wondered if we would ever get to a point where none of them could live without me. My stomach tightened at the thought of it, and I had to stifle a humorless laugh. There was no way my mates would ever love me that much, maybe Xaden. But not the others.I grabbed my
Xaden’s POV“Mine,” my wolf growled in my head as he fought for control. I struggled against him; he’d never been this feral before. I’ve made love to Anila plenty of times, but this was the first that my wolf fought for dominance. He was done waiting for our mate; he wanted to mark her as his, especially now that she was 19 and close to her first shift.He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Seeing the struggle within my eyes, Anila knew just what to say to calm me. But my wolf was still feral and demanding that we mark her as ours. I didn’t want to take that step with her just yet; especially because I promised her, we would wait a while.She ran her fingers down my cheek, making warmth attack my flesh like I was in some kind of heater. Seeing her in that blue dress at the party was torture; especially when I could smell her desires for me. She wanted me just as badly as I wanted her for most of the night and I wanted to bury myself in her and I didn’t care who watched us.But I
Anila’s POVI looked in the mirror and gasped when I saw the bite mark on my neck; the bite mark that Xaden had left on me. I couldn’t believe he marked me; Xaden had claimed me as his. I should have been horrified by the idea of being claimed, but I wasn’t.It was like I had all these new emotions rushing through me that weren’t mine. I felt more connected to Xaden than I ever did and when I touched the mark with my fingertips, I felt its warmth expanding across my body.It was a bubbly feeling in my chest, but it only lasted a few moments. Once the thought of my other mates popped into my head, my entire heart fell deep into my stomach.How was I going to explain this? Maybe I don’t have to explain this; it’s not like it’s any of their business. Xaden is my boyfriend. I’m expected to mate and bond with him because he was the one that I chose. It’s not like Harley wants anything to do with me, Zach only wants to get me into bed, and Damien only thinks of me as a friend.I should be
Harley’s POVI didn’t need to see her to know that she was nearby. I always knew when Anila was close, and I tried my best to stay clear of her. I crossed a line in a class last week; I touched her, and I shouldn’t have done that. I knew it was wrong of me, but my bear was agitated that our mate was close to us and yet so out of reach. He has been hounding me to claim our mate ever since we met her weeks ago.I didn’t want to admit that it was a battle I was losing, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to contain him. I hadn’t shifted in weeks because I wasn’t sure what he would do once I handed him control. I fought so hard to take control of my spirit animal so he wouldn’t control me, but it was all out the window because of one woman.One beautiful woman.Stop it, Harley, I scolded myself, hating that I was thinking about my best friend’s girlfriend that way.If he was still my best friend.We had hardly spoken these last few weeks because of how weird things have been between us
Anila’s POVHarley was trying desperately to look anywhere but me; he was fighting with his bear, and that much was clear.I stepped closer to him, reaching my hand out for him to touch, but he didn’t take it. He stared at it like it was a weapon aiming directly at him. I hated that he didn’t trust me; I hated that he was hurting this much, and it was because of me.I took a deep breath, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.“It’s okay,” I told him, finally finding my voice.His gaze lifted and his eyes met mine, and I could see the questions in them, and I wanted to answer all of them, but I didn’t have the answers. I didn’t know what I was doing either, and I didn’t want to hurt anybody in the process.“It’s okay, Harley,” Xaden said from behind me. “Go with her and let her calm you.”Harley swallowed the lump in his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he did so and then he nodded his head once, reaching his hand out and allowing his fingertips to brush across mine.It was as if
Xaden’s POVI sat in the student lounge, trying to focus on my studies. But the only thing I could think about was Anila, Harley, and that strange dream that I had. Something dark was coming and I could feel it; ever since that dream, I had a feeling something was brewing in this world and the Moon Queen was needed.If I had any doubts before, they were squashed the minute the Moon Queen came to me during the night and told me that Anila was going to need all her mates. It wasn’t something I wanted to believe; I had just marked her for crying out loud. I needed Anila more than I needed air to breathe; I loved her so much that it physically hurt.Why couldn’t things just be simple? Why couldn’t I have a mate all to myself; a future Luna to the Bloodmoon pack? The mother of my future children? I didn’t want to share her with others, but at the same time, Anila’s happiness was all I truly craved.When I thought of Anila and Harly together, I wasn’t jealous. I was more concerned than anyt
Anila’s POVSomething shifted in the air. When I met up with Xaden for dinner after my classes, he seemed… okay. He didn’t ask me about my time with Harley, but he did ask me if Harley was okay. He’s been worried about Harley, and I could see it in his eyes.I shouldn’t have been surprised because that was his best friend, but it was weird considering I am mated and bonded to Xaden. I would have thought he’d feel jealous after I spent alone time with another man.But he didn’t seem jealous at all.I felt a lightness in my chest as we ate and talked. He looked happy and content as we sat beside one another at the table in the dining hall. I don’t think I had laughed so hard in my life and others around me, including my friends, started to take notice.Xaden wrapped an arm around me and kissed me for the world to see and I was beaming beside him. It seemed that everyone had forgotten about earlier when I showed up at the dining hall fully marked and bound. Now everything was starting to