SHANE KINCAIDEach one of us circling her, biting her, getting her taste in our system, trying to pull out and failing at it.Connor grunts.Neoโs hand lands on my back trying to pull me away.Trying to get me from her skin, trying to get my teeth off of her.I see the red marks, I see my brotherโs bites, I see her blood trickle against her creamy neck and the only thing roaring inside my head is to take her.Bite deep.Etch myself into her flesh.Take her to that bed and mesh our bodies into one again.I only respond to Neo when River loses consciousness and her body falls in limp in my arm.โShitโ, Connor hollers.He picks her body from me placing her on the bed, covering her with every inch of the tussled covers thrown on the floor around her naked body.โCanโt feel her pulse.โโShe can take itโ, Neo adds but his voice is nothing more than a feeble whisper.I took it too far, I can see it in Connorโs eyes, can see it as Neoโs fingers trace our marks.The marks that are red and glea
CONNOR KINCAIDโRiv? Princess! Not in the kitchenโ, I lunge my lungs out at Shane who runs another hand of worry in his hair.I canโt look at him for a dead beat without Killian wanting to breach the gap between us and knocking his teeth out.Neo is on another level of crazy that canโt be calmed down by words even as he descends down the stairs with Riverโs satin night dress.โNot in any of the rooms eitherโโShe couldnโt have gotten far. Sheโs weak, healing, sheโs gotta be somewhereโIโm the only one in our circle whoโs thinking straight.But beneath my exterior, Iโm losing my marbles.They donโt know it yet. I donโt think I have the guts to tell them either but her blood?Oh yeah Killianโs addicted to that shit.Which is why I havenโt gotten near her.Ten feet at least that is.I watched her on that bed, pale as snow, life hanging in the balance and my insides wanted one thing and one thing only.Her alive.Her neck to me.Her blood toโฆโIโll get the carโIโm already walking to the
RIVER BROWNVictory.Power was supposed to make you stronger, to make you feel like you could conquer the world but victory was a lot more than power.Victory was knowing you rose above the ranks, see you could feel power in your head like pride rushing in through your thoughts, deluding you into thinking the world needed you and not the other way around but victory?It wasnโt pride. It wasnโt the greed for having more.It was the rush that surged through your body when you won against the universe that was always against you.It was the feeling of winning when all you had done in life was cry, hate yourself and ask whether the Goddess noticed someone like you or whether you were supposed to exist.I hold in my bated breath.Iโm not even sure Iโm breathing right.Iโm not even sure this is me but whatโs better is the fact that I know this isnโt a dream.A dream wouldnโt involve me or in this case Gypsy leaping from the floor and hitting her head on the rumbling ceiling.A dream wouldnโ
RIVER BROWNโAre you okay? I can get you some waterโ, Brit offers, I squeeze her hand.โIโm fine thanksโโYou canโt blame me for worrying, Riv. You are talking, you are marked and you have your own office now, letโs not forget you are my LunaโโPlease, donโt do thatโ, I chuckle.Sitting in an office with a glass wall view of the entire city behind me is already too much. Great but too much.But thatโs what you get when you ask your mate for your own space of fulfilling your Luna duties.Shane Kincaid went above and beyond to get me this office, a gesture I returned with tons of kisses before I left his office a few hours ago.โDonโt do what? Address you like the big ass boss you are?โโIโm not a bossโโYou are dressed as oneโโThe guys wanted me to be formal, decent because apparently me working here means every man will try to flirt with me. I told them it was absurd though; everyone here attended my mating ceremonyโโThatโs not the absurd thing here River. Their marks are absurd. An
RIVER BROWNโStay behind me, in case they cause troubleโ, Britโs claws are out as she puts an arm out, an indication of telling me to stay back because things are about to get ugly.Oh, they look like trouble but Iโm not going to tell Brit that as the entire village and I gaze past the horizon, past to those cars that come speeding in front of us.The warmth of the morning sun feels cold against my skin, I slept in a good bed but that doesnโt mean I enjoyed it.I donโt think Iโll ever enjoy a bed without my mates again.The villagers behind Brit and I shudder, their fear as tangible as the dew on the grass and the sound of the men getting out of their fancy big cars.They rush out in suits but their leader?The one with a strand of grass or is it toothpick in his mouth looks about as unhinged as Darren from Los Angelo.He sees me, he eyes Brit down then he looks at the villagers, eyes landing on the chief.โThe wine, old manโHe says, straightening his cuff links, his hair the one tha
CONNOR KINCAIDIโm not the only one thinking it.We hate the sister.Not the part of her โcockblockingโ us but the fact that we know her history.Her betrayal to River. Her backstabbing phoenix because of Landon OโConnor of all the douches to walk the realm.Right now, River doesnโt consider it, doesnโt ask herself what the little sister with the bland eyes is doing in our mansion, how she found us in the first place but we look at the bigger picture in all this.The sooner we solve her problems the sooner we rid ourselves of the sister.โI donโtโdonโt understand. W-whereโs Aunt Tilda? Did she come too?โRiver asks.Malia curls in on around herself holding the blanket that Neo provided for her around her shoulders.Sheโs worse for wear, looks like sheโs been traveling for days and the look of horror on her face tells us this is not a social visit.This is not gonna end well for River and in equation not gonna end well for us either.โSheโsโฆhomeโ, Malia swallows.I can smell her lies f
RIVER BROWNHis claws are back on my body, tearing my flesh, making me feel every inch of him as he scours my spine with the intent to kill me.I beg him.I swear I beg Christopher Kincaid but he doesnโt stop.His words donโt stop creating hives on my skin nor do they stop cooling down the fear that chokes me and threatens to explode from my mouth with my blood.He doesnโt listen.Please, I say but he doesnโtโlisten.When he ties me to the tree, his hand around my neck, squeezing making sure I feel the fear before he takes away my voice, all I want to do is die.To drown with the rain and my tears because this man wonโt stop.โWeโve got you, babyโNeoโs voice strides in but I canโt see him.All I see is his father with my blood threatening to make me crawl back to hell with him.โBreathe, princess. Breathe for meโI breathe for him.I search for him but all I see is darkness and thatโs before I feel Connor.Feel his scent, feel his hands, feel his length stretching me apart and distra
RIVER BROWNNausea, headache, my body feeling like Iโve been sleeping under a bed of thorns for a century.The minute my eyelids shutter open, I let out a strangled breath ready to fight and attack.โRiver?โ Brit calls out.I struggle to stand on my feet but the men whoโve got their hands on me, the men whose fingers I want to rip off hold me steady.They have no clue who they just messed with, Gypsy hungers for blood, a little shifting and everyone here will be dead thatโs how little control I have on my body.And for once since I got my wolf, I donโt care if I spill blood, I donโt care if there are some innocent bystanders in here.Taking another gulp of breath, I close my eyes for a second opening them and taking in the sight in front of me like it is an apocalypse waiting to happen.โUh-uh sweetheart. Donโt even think of shifting. Wouldnโt want her sweet little pup dead, would you?โMy heart squeezes in my chest, my throat constricts with bitterness but more than bitterness, my ha
EPILOGUE: KINCAID BROTHERSโ POVNEO KINCAIDโKeep you boys away from my kidsโ, Kane grumbles, I chuckle looking at said kids.Callum is dressed in a tux, his unruly dark hair carefully gelled back, an action that took Shane more than ten minutes.More than looking like a little gentleman, his little hands are all over Jessica, tickling her.Jessica Grey, Ria and Kaneโs daughter, chuckles until a second later, the fit of giggles turn into tears of happiness.Callum removes a handkerchief from his tiny pockets, wiping the tears on her eyes and cheeks.The second he touches Jessicaโs lips with the handkerchief, Iโm already headed in his direction before Kane even thinks of punching my face to the ground.โCal, hey. Come here.โMy boy kisses Jessโ cheeks before he runs to me and I have no doubts he took over Connor.Heโs cheeky like that.I kneel when he stands in front of me and I push lint off his suit.โWhat did we say about lying low when it comes to Jess? You know her father wants yo
RIVER BROWNThe ripple of his deep voice carries in the air and vibrates against my skin.My nipple puck as my hips buck taking every lash of his tongue like the good girl, he just declared me to be.I drown in his scent, in his taste, taking his tongue, matching the crescendo thatโs us kissing like maniacs.Teeth gnashing against teeth, tongues fighting and him winning, his teeth biting my bottom lip before he sucks it like itโs supposed to give him energy.My pussy clenches when Neo goes ahead to play with my nipples.Not soft. Not gentle.But hard.His kiss is punishing.Him pinching my sensitive buds feels like heโll draw blood and I damn know very well heโll suck that blood and I will be hornier than ever before.By the time he goes to my neck, my heart beat accelerates like a motor engine. I growl for more knowing very well Iโm out of breath and the building pleasure rioting in my body will be enough to bring the roof of the room down.My mates pick up on that.A second later, t
SHANE KINCAIDโYou ready to rodeo this shit?โConnor yells.I grip the chains harder, my boots sinking into the sand. Then I take one good look at the old man from his high seat looking at us like he thinks a couple of wild boars will be able to get rid of us.Iโll kill these beasts. Iโll pass whatever trials he has for us.And when we are out of here, I will fuck my mate senseless and mark her again if need be just to show the old man his daughter is mine.His daughter will always be ours.โReadyโ, I retort over all the noise and the upheaval.Silva latches on to the neck of the boar up ahead in seconds.Thatโs one boar down.And the other is boar headed to us while we still canโt shift.โOne.โI can hear the amusement in his voice.My brother is having quite a little bit of fun in this.I would find the whole situation funny if it wasnโt for the fact that weโve been dangling in a dark room for days taking beatings from omegas we could have well killed.Iโm pissed at everything.Iโm
RIVER BROWNA few days of being here and Brit and I have searched for them to no avail.It doesnโt help talking to Osirisโmy father because he has relentlessly refused to let me see my mates no matter how I ask my mother to knock some sense into him.โI chose them. Iโm old enough to make my own decisions. I have made my own decisions for a long time long before you even showed up in the picture.โโOsiris- โ, my mother pleads.My fatherโs face softens but that mask of overprotectiveness is back as soon as he holds my eyes tenderly.โIโm here now and you do not have to do anything you donโt want to.โโYou think I donโt want my mates? I love them, they are my mates!โโDo you know if they are? Or did they tell you they are your mates and you went along with it.โBritney scoffs next to me.I fight the urge for an eyeroll because deep inside, his question boggles me.I admit at first, I didnโt feel anything towards them that classified them as my mates.Sure, they called me their mate first
CONNOR KINCAIDMotherfucker.The silver digs into my wrist, at this point it might as well be filtering into my bloodstream, weakening Killian and I.Shaneโs the one whoโs taking this harder than ever.Pissed as ever, exerting energy he doesnโt have trying to free himself, I know the silver stings him harder than all of us.โIโm calling it nowโ, Shane grunts, the chains rattle from the damp ceiling, โthis is the last time we let any of Riverโs family members close to us. There was the delinquent sister and now thereโs the psychotic father.โI cough.Blood taints my lips, almost choking me.Feeling the blood tainting my teeth, I smile and then I erupt into a full-blown pained chuckle.Curse our fucking luck.After all weโve been through, to get River, to get the kids and the only thing stopping us now is a pissed off father-in-law who thinks weโll corrupt his daughter.Our mate for Goddessโ sake.Weโve corrupted her so much, not even another man can breathe down her neck.We filled her
SPECIAL CHAPTER: ALPHA OSIRISWhen life has taken a lot from you, quite literally and figuratively, nothing surprises you anymore.Iโve seen everything the realm and the worlds have to offer and nothing in my entire lifetime has boggled my mind since.They call me a traitor, a traitor I have lived.My people were fickle and if I was a man who cared about the rumors and the backlashing, I would have slaughtered them. Had some peace, enforced the power I craved so much in my youth.Yet one thing changed in the equation and life was as meaningless as the walls I erected to keep the outside world out.My lotus flower died.My human mate left me to rot in this wretched world.Not a single day has gone by not wishing I could join her wherever she went.Humans believed they went to heaven when they died.Werewolves believed there was only two paths in the afterlife. To the Goddess or to hell.I hadnโt done a lot in my life that made the Goddess like me but I would have done anything to join
NEO KINCAIDโIridian? Lotus flower, is that you?โOsiris asks like heโs floundering in a vast pit of his own self-loathing and guilt.I canโt imagine what itโll feel like knowing he has twenty-six-year-old twin girls, one of whom he just threatened to kill for the punk standing pale next to him.My little boy grins, turning around to look at us.โMeemaw, he knows your nameโ, Niko says.Iridian slowly steps forward, lips quivering, her hands covering her mouth to stop the sobs.A few of the shit betas and omegas in the room with us murmur.Some of them might know her.Some of them think sheโs a fraud.But most of them smell it in the air.River and my kids smell like Iridian, only different.And Iridian smells like what she is. A human.Maybe thatโs why Osiris picks Niko from the floor and in his hardened scarred arms taking painful steps to meet us.A minute ago, I thought weโd take out Osiris and get to the displeased omega whoโs only gotten paler.Right now, we all watch as two love
CONNOR KINCAIDFor a myth guy and for a guy whoโs been a traitor to his species, Osiris didnโt earn the title for the most powerful alpha in the realm for nothing.We thought we were rogues.Osiris makes us look like a bunch of fools from Brackenridge.You can tell by the infrastructure in Gozam, the gravel-built houses surrounding the castle for protection.There are the omegas guarding the gate and as we move inside the city, thereโs the betas guarding the inside of the city, guarding the outside of the grotesque gothic mansion up ahead.Each tumble of the jeep we are currently occupying raises our guards up.Riverโs father might be some bigshot but bigshot or not, we donโt give a shit about his power or his city or his shit guards that stare at my kids like vermin.As soon as we get Levi, we are out of here. Back to normal. Back to making up to our kids for missing in action in all five years of their lives.River and the kids are up ahead in the jeep halting in front of the castle
RIVER BROWNI have been biting my nails since they disappeared into the woods.At some time in the night, Gypsy alerted me she heard screams. I wanted nothing more than to let my curiosity take over but the thought of leaving my kids stopped me.They left us with a couple of omegas to protect us.And then thereโs Gio whoโs protecting the premises with a bat in case of trouble. We all know that bat wonโt stop anyone but I let the old guy think heโs doing something.Mom hasnโt stopped looking out in the woods yet and I get her.Brit is out there too and by the look on her face when she left, sheโs determined to see this through to the end.Iโm determined to put this behind our backs and start a life without wars and hunting and constant danger.The Moon Goddess might have heard my prayer because the trees by the west ruffle and the moonโs light reveals the tripletsโ faces.Brit follows behind them but thatโs not the only one tagging along.Some guy is being yanked and forced to walk beh