Chapter 1

ELLE

My muscles coiled and extended as I continued pushing my speed.

Was it really too much to ask for that I would be able to outrun my troubles? I did not think so, but then again, what did I know?

Kade and I collapsed onto the ground only thirty minutes later. We were both panting messes. I was surprised that we had been able to keep that pace up for over an hour.

“Are you ready to talk about it yet?” Kade asked, pulling me into his arms.

I looked into his handsome face, remembering the very first time that I had seen it. Goddess, it felt like such a long time ago, but it was not in all actuality. There had been quite a bit of life that occurred since then that just made it feel like a lifetime ago.

My eyes traveled over each feature. Gray eyes that could either be filled with many emotions or a cold as the tundra. His straight nose, soft lips, and angular jaw. It all made up his perfect self.

“This has to stay between us,” I told him.

He nodded right away. I never kept anything from him unless I was specifically told by Selene that I had to. Thankfully, that had only happened once. He understood the heavy burden that being privy to secrets could cause.

Kade’s fingers took my hair tie out, nails gently scratching across my scalp. I groaned with how good it felt. My mate always knew how to relax me.

“Dangerous threats are going to be worming their way into all of our lives. Ziyah’s going to be forced to face the Dark Fae sooner than expected, but I’m not certain how much sooner or the circumstances surrounding it. That leads to Brynn’s Vessel prophecy coming to fruition. I don’t know who or what evil it is that she’ll have to defeat, but I do know that it has some connection to Imeela. On top of that, Selene said that we need to begin working on our Council plan.”

I sighed and buried my face in his neck, inhaling his sexy scent, and allowing it to rush through me.

One wrong move and we could lose everything that we had worked so hard to build. Each of us had families now. Ziyah was pregnant, we had our twins, Brynn had Mira and was pregnant with Kalen, and even our closest people had their own families now.

‘Cheer up, my favorite human. Those are reasons why we’ll be successful. We fight for our families, love, and freedom. The others fight for power. The purity of our motivations empowers our will,’ Faye told me.

I could never have asked for a better wolf. She could be a pain in my ass and cryptic as hell, but she had always been my cheerleader, lending me confidence when I would get overwhelmed by reality and pulled under by fear.

“Now, I see why you needed to exhaust yourself,” he murmured, kissing my temple. “Well, it’s a good thing that we have such powerful allies. I know that won’t eliminate every risk, but I believe this is why the gods chose each of us and brought us all together. We’ll get through everything just like we always have, by having each other’s backs.”

I nodded and smiled at him. He was right. We would do it together.

There was a lot on the agenda for today. It was my very first time attending an Alpha meeting. Ziyah was excused because of the Dark Fae issue. There were shifters who had connections to them, and we did not want to run the risk of alerting them of who she was connected to.

We took a quick shower, sadly without shower sex because our impromptu run went longer than we had anticipated and got dressed.

I chose a navy dress that came to my knees and paired it with a silver blazer. The dress fit like a glove, and Kade definitely approved if the very slow perusal of it, mixed with the lust pelting the bond, was any indication.

My hair was put into a low bun. The makeup I chose was minimal but highlighted the features that my mate loved the most – my eyes and plump lips that he loved wrapped around his cock. He licked his lips as if he knew exactly what I was thinking about.

“You look fucking gorgeous, darling,” he told me with a growl.

“Thank you. I chose this look just for you today. It’ll give you something to focus on in case the Alphas try your patience. You look incredibly sexy yourself.”

And he really did. He was wearing a pair of black dress slacks and dark gray button-down shirt that really made the color of his eyes pop. His hair was tussled just the way I liked it. He was also wearing the custom watch that I gave him for his birthday.

A knock on the door came right before he could attack my lips. The frustrated growl that left him had me giggling. He glared at me and went to answer the door. I would just make up for it later. I grabbed my bag and followed behind him.

Ziyah would be watching the twins while we were gone today. According to her, she needed a distraction that would keep her active. I remembered what it was like carrying twins, but she was carrying an extra pup in her womb, and Fae pregnancies were typically rougher than a shifter’s pregnancy. Yet, she still felt she needed to be more active. She was definitely an adorable woman.

“We’ll make sure your mate is on his best behavior,” I teased my brother.

A single brow of his rose up in challenge. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his signature cocky smirk made its way onto his face.

Ziyah just snorted, knowing that her mate loved fucking with people, and there was no taming him. It was one of the many things that she loved about him. They complemented each other just like any good mates should.

“I’ve already incentivized him to keep his meddling to a minimum,” she said, winking at him.

I definitely did not want to know what she promised because there were many things that I never wanted to know about my brother. We were close but definitely not that close.

We said goodbye to the twins before we headed out. Apollo and Chris also accompanied us since it was common that Betas would also join the meeting. Caiathus came as my guard, seeing as how some Lunas did have personalized guards.

The meeting was at the Clear Stone pack, which was only an hour away from us, so it was not a bad drive.

The meeting’s locations changed each time, and the design of the schedule was at the discretion of the hosting Alpha. Sadly, that meant I would have to just be patient and wait. I hated being unprepared. It was a fatal flaw of mine. Not exactly fatal, but it was the same concept.

My phone started ringing with a video call from Ziyah. I answered it and saw our boys.

“Hey guys, the boys wanted me to call you before your meeting,” Ziyah said.

They were handsome little men who would be heartbreakers when they got older. Their wide smiles showed their matching dimples.

They were identical twins, but they had differences in their mannerisms. Gabriel was more patient, whereas Grant was more of a daredevil. Grant was more empathetic than his brother, which was interesting given that he was the risktaker. However, something that they both shared was an amazing heart that loved to see people happy.

“Momma! Dadda!” they said together. “Luck! Love you!”

They looked so proud of themselves, just as they should be. ‘Momma’ and ‘Dadda’ were not new, but ‘luck’ and ‘love you’ definitely were. They always telepathically sent us their love, so this was the first time they said it.

My smile could not get any bigger than it was right now. Being their mother was the biggest honor I had ever been given in my entire life. It was a blessing that I thanked Selene for each and every day.

“Thank you, sweethearts. This means so much to us! We love you too,” I told them.

“Yes. We do,” Kade agreed. “Make sure that you’re good boys for your Aunty Ziyah.”

Their ‘Alpha determination’ look fell across both of their features, so I knew that they would definitely do that. They were always really well-mannered. There were days when they pushed boundaries, but it was a lot less than we had been expecting. We knew that our future pups would not have the Fae-like qualities, but we would never want them to be something that they were not.

We told them goodbye and hung up. I was glad that we got to see them before we went in today. It filled up my happiness meter, which I certainly needed today. This meeting would not going to go as planned because certain dangerous activities of an Alpha would be brought to light.

Ziyah was great for them, and they definitely loved her. They had been Team Ziyah since the first time they met her. Both of them were great students who worked very hard to practice what she taught them. Even Caiathus had been surprised with how easily they were mastering the techniques that she was teaching them.

“How are she and the triplets doing?” I asked my brother.

I saw the momentary frown on his face with that question but was not certain what caused the frown. He had not mentioned anything happening.

“I underestimated what she meant when she said Fae pregnancies were hard on the mother. She tries to play it off as not being a big deal, but the morning sickness even wakes her up in the middle of the night. Not to mention that her body is constantly uncomfortable, but she said that her mother had some special tea that would help. Something about it also seems to be triggering her visions,” he explained with a sigh.

I had always thought my morning sickness had been bad, but at least it never woke me up in the middle of the night. It made me wonder if there was anything that I could do to help her. I could always reach out to her mother and ask.

It was easy to see how much it pained Dante for her to be miserable like that. Kade hated what I had to go through, and mine was just typical pregnancy shit. Well, except for the shortened pregnancies.

“I would venture a guess that it is the Fae magic inside of the triplets that is acting as an amplifier,” Caiathus explained after a moment of thought. “A trick that I learned from my mother when she was pregnant was that massaging peppermint oil onto the abdomen before bed will help the sickness. This will be the very first time that there have ever been triplets in our entire family. The only other multiples are my father and uncle. You should be proud of that,” he said, clapping his shoulder.

The smug look of satisfaction on his face could have been seen a mile away. My brother was a highly competitive person, even beyond the competitiveness of an Alpha.

He grabbed his phone, sent a message out (I would guess to his mate about this), and put it away with a smirk.

“What can I say? I’m just thorough,” he said.

“And had to one-up,” Kade retorted. “We had twins, so you had to go and get three. Goddess, there’s going to be five Alphas between our two packs. Nobody will fuck with them.”

Holy shit. He was right. There would be five Alphas. Two Shadow Wielders with some Fae magic in our pack. Then three hybrids to the Trelinin line in their pack.

One thing that I knew for certain was that this next generation for all three packs would be filled to the brim with power. Kalen was already showing Vessel power in the form of a neat shield that protected Brynn once already.

Jackson and Imeela’s children were bound to be powerful too. That was what Faye had said at least. Something about a divine blessing, so I had no idea what that would entail.

We pulled up to Clear Stone’s border. The male patrol was very buff, so I would put money on him being a beast in the ring.

“Alpha Kade, Luna Elle, Beta Apollo, and Luna’s guard for the Nightshade pack. We also have Alpha Dante and Beta Chris for the Shadow Falls pack,” Kade informed him.

He checked his roster and checked us off. Security had to be even tighter for Alpha meetings because there was leadership from multiple packs congregating together. These types of events were attractive to the crazies.

“Welcome to the Clear Stone pack. Follow this road all the way down to the packhouse, and there’re attendants there to help you find where you need to be,” he greeted us before waving us through.

There was anticipation winding its way through me. I felt like something was going to happen today. It did not feel like anything would be wrong, but something good would happen. I always welcomed the good and told the bad to fuck off.

Here went nothing…