Lucius pov
From the moment we stepped on this territory, I knew the underground market was worse than my spies reported. Every building we passed was another orphanage or hospital.
There was no way that a pack with such wealth and infrastructure as this one claimed to have had nothing but abandoned children and injured warriors.
“They lied,” Titus, my second in command, whispered.
I nodded my head, letting my eyes roam the surroundings. All suspicions aside, what had my senses alerted was that by now, I had counted thirteen orphanages, but no schools and there wasn’t even one playground for the pups they claimed lived here.
Not only did this place look suspicious, but it also had a stench of something I couldn’t put in words. I felt like I stood in the center of everything wicked, cruel and malicious.
Worst of all, the feeling sunk deeper and rooted itself when a very pregnant looking woman wobbled her way towards us. She had a wide smile across her lips, but her eyes were empty, almost void of emotion like she was playing out a role.
She didn’t look older than twenty. My eyes focused on her as I tried to take in anything that shouldn’t be there. Her dark hair was matted, but reached her hips. Her nails were longer than that of a woman expecting a child, dirt underneath, fingertips slightly covered in bits of blood.
Oh, yeah, there it was - either she was faking pregnancy for pity, or she was another breeder.
“Good evening, gentlemen. Or should I say night? I must admit that I was quite surprised to hear that an Alpha was requesting access to my territory so late. It’s almost midnight, gentlemen, we have many children under our care, commotion at such late hours isn’t something we strive to have.” Her eyes darted between us, but I didn’t utter a word.
Just like I knew he would, Titus stepped forward and spoke up. “Our apologies, we didn’t mean to intrude. Could we please meet the Alpha?”
She tilted her head, scrunched her nose and glared at me. After all, the woman wasn’t as foolish as I thought she might be. She did realize that Titus wasn’t the man in control.
But then, to my utter surprise, she dropped the attitude and turned to Titus with a wide smile across her lips. She offered him her hand as she spoke. “The Alpha left to help our allies, so you’re left with me, sorry. I’m the Luna of this pack, my name is Amelia. And you two are?”
The forever gentleman, Titus brought her hand to his lips and kissed it before he spoke. “My name is Titus, I am the Alpha of the Crescent Moon and this is my friend, he, the same as me is an Alpha. I am accompanying my foreign friend in search of new allies. He doesn’t speak English and barely understands any, so I'm acting a little like a spokesperson here.”
I wanted to laugh at his lies, but since they seemed to work on her, I bit my tongue to stay quiet.
One thing I noticed about her was that she wasn’t a Luna. The same as her claims about this mysterious Alpha being out of the territory were lies. I couldn’t sense an Alpha’s presence here.
So far, everything I had noticed kept getting increasingly worse. What worried me the most was that a pack that housed that many children looked like a shithole at best and so far, we had met only two adults. The man at the border and this… woman.
“Oh, is that so? Where is he from?” She raised an eyebrow at me, letting her eyes roam over me.
It wasn’t that I felt uncomfortable under her gaze, but she set herself up by doing it. She wasn’t a mated woman or Luna, at that.
“Russia,” Titus blurted out.
Now, because of his big mouth, both of us stood in front of this woman and struggled not to break out in laughter. Russia, he had to choose the worst fucking place on the entire planet.
“So exciting,” she suddenly cooed, grabbing a strand of her hair and twisting it around her finger. Was she seriously trying to flirt with me now? She was pregnant, or pretended to be, for fuck’s sake!
“We are very sorry to intrude, Luna Amelia. Tell me, would it be possible for us to get a room for a night somewhere in your territory? We would pay, of course,” Titus asked, finally prying her attention off of me.
“Oh, no need for that,” she waved him off and returned her attention to me. “You two are more than welcome to stay at the pack house. In fact, your Russian friend can take the Alpha suite, that’s the only place in the building with a bed big enough for a man as grand as him.”
Then, she had the nerve to wink at me. Even if I didn’t know the language as Titus claimed, I wouldn’t have to be a genius to figure out her intentions.
The woman spun on her heel and called, “come along, it’s time to get some rest, I’m sure you boys are very tired.”
Titus nudged my side, grinning like an idiot he loved to be. I shook my head and opened the mind-link between us. “You’re so fucked for this stunt. Russia, seriously? I couldn’t think of one word in Russian even with a gun pointed at my temples, you moron.”
“Better than nothing. Be grateful for my quick thinking. The moment you would open your mouth would be the very moment she figured out you weren’t an Alpha.”
“Fair point,” I could admit that I was wrong when needed. Truthfully, although the lies were pretty bad, they worked and distracted her, so we had enough time to get our men to snoop through the buildings. “Alert the men, they can come in. Join them as soon as possible. I hate the idea, but I will distract the penguin.”
“Luna, would you mind it if I went for a quick run? I can see the pack house from here so I know where to go and I don’t mind sleeping on the couch either. It’s my wolf, he’s been nagging me for a run for hours.” Titus suddenly called out to the woman.
She glanced over her shoulder and focused her eyes on me. “I don’t mind spending some time with your friend. I might teach him a couple of phrases in English,” she winked and returned her attention to the trail ahead.
Goosebumps covered my skin while Titus chuckled. He nudged the mind-link. “You can survive this, my friend, we have been through worse. I will update you as soon as we find something. Just a quick question - what happens if your suspicions are right? What’s our next step?”
“Erasing the territory and everything that could be left behind. No survivors. We will burn it all down.”
Eden povI was beyond nervous as I tried to stop my hands from shaking while cutting up the vegetables. I hadn’t had enough time to figure out how to come clean with my family, but this really felt like the right time to do that. Lucius and Titus were probably already playing their guessing game about whatever they had done wrong and I wouldn’t disturb them doing that. Honestly, both of them have been acting like two hormonal teenagers these days, so they deserved a little adult worthy stress. As some of the kitchen ladies joined me and started up the usual conversations, I felt more at ease. However, every time when I glanced at the clock and saw the dinner time nearing, a new wave of unease surged through me. “Are you planning to prepare some desserts for little Magnus, my Queen?” Mayra asked, flashing me her usual bright smile. I hummed, thinking if sugar was a good idea right before bedtime. But then again, this dinner had to resemble sort of a joyful moment, so maybe it wou
§Three months after the wedding.§Titus povEden was officially ours and no one could do shit about it. Our journey had been nothing less than a deadly fucking rollercoaster ride, but the outcome was so worth it. Looking back at how things went, personally I went from thinking I wouldn’t find a mate, to finding one and being rejected, and finally, to finding out that my best friend and the woman I had grown extremely protective of were my own ‘it’. But best of all, I didn’t get only them. With them both came a family I didn’t dare to dream of and an awesome son. I didn’t tell Lucius and Eden, but if I had to choose, I would always choose Magnus. The little dude was awesome. At least sometimes he was.And now, while Eden and Lucius were busy running around the castle and fucking on top of every surface they could find, my little man Magnus and I were nearly done with building the most badass lego set ever. Well, we would be done with it ages ago if the little shit wouldn’t accuse m
Eden povThe next moment, Titus shoved me on the bed. Both my amazing mates, now husbands, didn’t return the favor they did when they were undressing me. Instead, they took off their clothes torturously slowly. Piece by piece, they dropped everything next to their feet and grinned at me like lunatics.Rolling my eyes, I groaned and turned to my side to mumble, “since you two are taking ages to undress, I might as well take a nap while you’re at it.” I knew I was playing with fire, but what was life without some spark in it? It didn’t take much time for both of them to grab my ankles and pull me to the end of the bed. Lucius instantly dropped to his knees and spread my legs. The moment his tongue ran between my folds, Titus’ lips captured mine in a passionate kiss. All of my moans were muffled and silenced by his tongue, tasing me and exploring every bit of my mouth. When Lucius slid his tongue lower, I bit Titus’ lip to break the kiss. “What?” He asked, breathless. “What is Luc
Eden povWith Richard and Magnus by my sides, I felt at ease. The door opened and the music started. As soon as we stepped on the beautiful white carpet laid down the aisle, Lucius and Titus turned their heads to look in our direction. The moment their eyes set on me, blinding smiles spread across their lips. I had never thought about my wedding day, but I never imagined that my husband-to-be would cry seeing me. In reality, I had two men who were ready to die for me, and both had tears in their eyes. As I slowly walked down the aisle, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them. Both were wearing perfectly tailored suits, a rose in their pockets. And best of all, they were holding each other’s hand. When I finally reached them, Richard squeezed my hand, whispered, “I’m so proud of you,” and then held my wrist to offer my hand to Lucius. Magnus did the same, but he whispered that I looked beautiful and he would punch his dad’s asses if they hurt me. Richard and Magnus took their assi
Eden pov A week had passed since we returned home, like one, united family, better than ever. Lucius made it his life goal to ensure that my old pack had everything under control. As it turned out, the old Alpha was a liar, not a man of honor. He faked his disease to get rid of the responsibilities of leading a pack and while everyone worried about his health, the old Alpha lived a life of luxury. That, of course, was sponsored by the wealth left to me by my mother as well. Recently, the new Alpha and his Luna found out that the pack was nowhere near struggling financially even without my money. They had loads of cash hidden all over the place and multiple incoming money streams. We all agreed that it had to be the plan of the old Alpha and my step-mother. They had to have been planning to save up as much as they could, bleed the pack dry and take off. But as for us, our life was great. My mates were better than ever, Richard took it upon himself to bond with our son and b
Eden pov This was one of those moments when I really needed Kanox. I needed his advice or at least to hear his voice. While I had no idea what I was supposed to do, he would definitely have the answer. My eyes focused on the sick creature, wearing someone’s else’s skin as if that was no big deal. He looked human, but didn’t smell like one. Honestly, if he were to walk among other humans, I had little to no hope that anyone around him would understand that he was a sick, sinister creature, not one of their own. When he stepped so close I could smell a hint of sulfur on him, I realized he wasn’t just another supernatural. This was the first time I caught on the smell as well. “Will you first tell me the full story about my parents?” Clearly, he saw through me. I wanted to know, yes, but I also was using the question to stall, to win some time for my mates. “Of course, anything for you,” it said, grinning. I gulped, growing more nervous with every second that passed, but