My name is Marco Sanchez. I’m a werewolf. My wolf’s name is Clash. I’m twenty-four years old. I’ve been in a soundproof cell in the dungeon of the Blood River pack house for ten days. I’m charged with treason, but I’m innocent. If you get this message, tell my fiancé I love her. Don’t tell her my I’ve been wearin’ a silver collar since they threw me in here. Don’t tell her the skin has burned away from my wrists. Just tell her I love her.
My name’s Marco Sanchez. I’m a werewolf. My wolf’s name was Clash, but I think he’s gone now. I’m twenty-four years old. I think I been in a soundproof cell in the dungeon of the Blood River pack house for thirty days. I lost track of time. They charged me with treason, but I’m innocent. If you can hear me, tell my fiancé I love her. I think our pups were born. Don’t tell her I’m dying. Just tell her I love them.
My name’s Marco… Sanchez. Marco Sanchez. I’m a werewolf. I’m twenty somethin’ years old. I can’t fuckin’ remember. They got me in a soundproof cell. I don’t know how long it’s been. They think I’m a liar. I told ‘em everything I know, but I’m still here. Somethin’ changed in the air. Another prisoner. I sense ‘em. Tell my fiancé and pups I love ‘em.
I’m Marco. I was a werewolf, but I don’t got a wolf no more. I’m somethin’ different now. I’m in a cell and no one can fuckin’ hear me. They don’t feed me no more. The lights flicker and I don’t know if it’s real or my spirit leavin’ this world. I don’t know how much longer I got to be alive. Not long. Tell my girl and pups I never forgot them.
I had a name, but it’s gone. I don’t know if I’m close to sleep or death. I hear talking. If it is the ferryman, I should stand and wait for him. If it’s the Moon Goddess, maybe she heard my prayers. Maybe she came to show me mercy.
I drag myself off the floor and stand up and look out the little window. There’s a light out there. It ain’t the ferryman. It’s war. He looks like my old Alpha, but I know better. I’ll go out fightin’. I throw my shoulder against the door and kick it, but he don’t even look at me. Fucking coward.
I’m just gonna lay on my back with my hands on my face. They all forgot about me. I die alone. Maybe I already did.
The lights flicker again, and my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I wanna lower my hands and cover my chest, but they numb from the shackles. I wanna roll over, but I’m too weak. I used the last of my energy bangin’ on the fuckin’ door.
I don’t know if I ever cried before, but I can’t. I don’t know how.
I was a werewolf. A howl. That’s it. I can do that.
It’s soft and weak, but it’s all I got left. I let my eyes close. Time for me to go. Ain’t nothing left for me, anyway.
“Come on, big guy. Your heart is still beating. I know you’re in there.” A voice calls me from the darkness. “You’ve been pardoned. Time to get you the hospital wing.”
I try to open my eyes, but the light’s too bright. For the first time ever, my hands fall away from my face and the burn around my neck ain’t as bad.
“Bro, how are you so damn skinny and still so heavy?” Someone grunts and I’m lifted off the ground onto a pile of feathers.
“Musu?” It’s the only word I remember, but I don’t know what it means.
“Don’t worry. She’s waiting for you, big guy.” A hand touches my shoulder. “Hang in there, Marco.”
Marco? I know that word.
“Mon loup, wake up, my love.” A beautiful sound. Small sparks of electricity under my skin. “There’s two little ones ready to meet you.”
I take a deep breath. Sofrito and platanos maduros. I ain’t never smelled something so good before. Between the sounds, and the electricity, and the scents, I have to see what’s happening.
The most gorgeous woman I ever seen is holding my hand to the side of her face. Una belleza de ébano [An ebony beauty]. My wrist’s got a bandage on it, but it don’t hurt anymore. There’s bright light behind her. It makes her ebony skin… sin tacha [flawless]... and glow on the edges. She looks like she was crying. I can’t let that happen. I move my hand to wipe her tears away. I hope it don’t scare her.
“Por favor, no llores. [Please, don’t cry.]” I think it’s my voice. I ain’t never heard it before though.
She leans on my hand and smiles at me. My heart beats faster the longer I look at her.
“Doctor, he’s awake.”
An old man stands next to her. He’s dressed in blue. “Welcome back, sir. Can you tell me your name?”
“Me llamo…?” What is my name? Did I ever have one? “Mi nombre es Alpha?”
“No, that’s your bloodline, son. Probably the only reason you survived the last four and a half months.” The man pats my chest and chuckles. “What’s your given name?”
I think about it more. “Musu?”
“No, I’m Musu, mon loup, but we need you to tell us who you are.” The stunning woman is Musu. Her name is just as beautiful as she is. “It’s a test. A test you need to pass to be able to come home.”
“Quién es Kas? [Who is Kas?]”
The doctor and the woman named Musu look at each other.
“She’s our Luna.” Musu squeezes my hand. “What about you? Who are you? Do you remember English or only Spanish?”
Our Luna? That’s important. I just can’t remember why. “Mi corazón estaba roto.”
“Your heart was broken?” Musu looks at the doctor. “Maybe he means when the pack bond broke?”
“Or when she went through the portal?” The man shrugs at her and looks at a paper in his hand. “Alright, I think that’s enough for now. We’ll try again later. Why don’t we get you something to drink? We’ll start with water. If you can keep that down, we’ll get you some clear juice and work our way up.”
Drink?
“Tengo mucha sed. [I’m so thirsty.] Sí, Gracias.”
“The nurse will bring it right away.” He writes somethin’ down and leaves. Musu looks at me like she’s worried.
“Que pasa, Señora?” Someone so beautiful should have no worries.
“You’re only speaking in Spanish when we’re speaking to you in English. I guess it’s a concern for another time. Just hearing your voice again is like heaven.” She smiles again and my heart beats faster. She pushes a button on the side of the bed. It makes me sit up and I can see the whole room. She stands up and goes to the corner of the room and takes a blanket out of a carriage. “Would you like to meet your children?”
The scent of mango gets stronger when she gets closer with the blanket. She puts it in my hands and flips it open. There’s a baby inside. It has dark curly hair and a deep skin tone. It opens its dark brown eyes and looks at me and makes a little squeaky sound. My heart jumps.
I look up at Musu with my mouth open. She smiles and brushes her fingers on my cheek. “This is Inez. She’s your daughter.”
I look down at the baby in awe. Una niñita? My baby girl. I touch her hand and let her grip on my finger. “Mija es fuerte. [My girl is strong.]”
Musu comes over with another blanket. She moves Inez to make room and puts it on my arm, then pulls it open. There’s another baby. It smells like toasted coconut. Same dark hair with wispy curls at the ends. Its nose and eyes are a little wider set and its skin tone is lighter than Inez.
“This is Deago. He’s your son.” Musu sits on the side of the bed and smiles at me.
I have a son? How is this possible? I look at the little boy and the little girl. “Mellizos [twins]?”
“Yes, twins. They’re ours.” Musu leans over and brushes her hand over Deago’s head. “He has your attitude, and he hates wearing clothes, just like you.”
“Mijo es como yo? [My boy is like me]” I look at him again. He yawns in his sleep and growls. His yawn makes me yawn.
“Haha!” Musu’s laugh rings like an angel’s voice. “Comme le père, comme le fils [Like father, like son.]”
I pull them closer to me and give each of them a kiss on the forehead.
I’m a father? These are my children?
A whisper of a voice speaks from inside my mind and tugs at my attention. “Protect our pups.”
Kas’s POV Hi. My name is Kas. Well, actually its Iokaste, but please don't call me that. You’ll have to excuse my language. I try not to swear much, but a lot of really weird shit happened that got me to this point in my life… err… death… no… rebirth? I’m not sure exactly what you would call it, and I don’t really have time to explain right now. I’m kind of in a hurry. Someone could probably write a book about it. I bet people would read it, but no one would believe it’s a true story. It would have to live on the fiction shelf. Right now, my human spirit is sitting next to my wolf’s spirit, Elexis. I call her Lex. We’re sitting with my mother, the Moon Goddess. She’s the mother of all werewolves, but she’s also my actual mother. Yeah, that makes me a Goddess too. No one can see us, of course. We’re watching the Blood River pack medical staff take my dead body out of the dungeon on a stretcher. The human shell that contained my spirit looks so small and frail. It’s hard to believe
I thought I had forgiven him. I thought I was at peace with what happened, but seeing my former mate standing in the doorway triggers a fear I forgot existed. He killed me. He intentionally left me in the dungeon to die. My heart hammers in my chest as the fear solidifies and spreads, trying to overtake me. “No. No, please! Bronx, don’t hurt us!” My voice is scratchy and desperate. I try to scramble up to grab my children, but my arms are so heavy. The nurse holding my baby boy uses her other arm to pull me toward her to protect me from our Alpha. The sudden movement makes me dizzy. I shut my eyes and hear a scream. I sit up in bed and look around. Where am I? Wherever this is, it’s nighttime outside and I’m alone. I had a nightmare, but damn, it felt so real. Someone was trying to take my babies away from me. Who has them now? I need to find them. I wonder if Nurse Diane is here? Maybe she has the pups. She’s my friend. I can trust her. After a quick check, to make sure Lex is with
“You think I cheated on Bronx?” My mouth drops open and I pull my hand away from him. “Are you freaking kidding me? Of course Bronx is his father!” “Kas, please don’t be mad. All we know is that you left through that portal and came back four months later, pregnant.” Ashley steps forward to defend Milo. “I mean, we all know Bronx broke the mate bond, so you know, if you found someone else, it’s not like there’s anything wrong with that. We just need to know.” “Ashley, absolutely not. I didn’t cheat on Bronx. He was the one who broke the mate bond, not me. I never broke it from my end.” I can’t believe they would think I would do that unless… Oh my Goddess. My hands move over my mouth. It feels like someone sucked all the air out of the room. My mind goes from a dead stop to a hundred miles an hour in an instant. “D-did Bronx find someone new? Ashley? Is Bronx dating someone else already? Don't lie to me. Are they serious about each other? Will she be the new Luna? Are you telling me
“Kas, the doctors think it’s going to be a while before you’re able to move around without help.” Reggie drums his fingers on his hip and looks up at me. “How long is a while?” I frown at the idea of having to rely on other people to help me do basic things. “I want to take care of the twins myself.” “Uh, let’s not put a date on it. You’re in way worse shape than you were when we first found you at Silver Moon.” Reggie drums his fingers on his hip and looks up at me. “Once you can manage it, we’ll have you go to your office or something while Bronx comes here to see the kids. We’ll make sure a nurse is here when he is. Until then, we can arrange for a couple of guards to be here when he wants to visit. You don’t have to interact with him if you don’t want to.” “Um, okay. Thank you guys so much for not giving up on me.” I look at my friends gratefully. “I know I scared and upset so many people. That wasn’t my intention. I did what I had to do to protect my sisters.” “We’ll have t
Bronx’s POV I let the door of Kas’s suite slam behind me and go back to my office. First she killed my sister, then she somehow cheated death… again… now she’s fucking my Beta? I hear the door open behind me and Milo’s footsteps come running toward me. Saint bristles in my mind. “If you’re not going to listen to him, then get rid of him. I can’t stand to listen to you make a fool out of yourself anymore.” “Bronx, stop!” Milo chases me down. “It’s not what it looks like.” He’s got to be fucking kidding me. I turn around and glare at him, stopping him in his tracks. “Really Milo? Because it looked like you were holding Kas in your lap.” “I… okay… yeah. I was… but not it’s not like that, bro. I was just giving her a hug.” Milo follows me while I keep walking back to my office. “Bronx, she’s been through a lot. She apologized for what happened to Lenora and I was telling her I forgive her. We were just talking.” “Whatever, Milo. She’s not my mate anymore. You can have her.” I flick
I turn and walk back to my office without looking back at my Beta and shut the door. The physical separation between me and the rest of the world brings an instant sense of comfort. I take in a deep breath, grateful for the privacy, and look around. Shouldn’t I want to be with my pack? A few months ago, sure, but when I rejected Kas, Saint told me it was the end of our spirits’ journey. What’s the point of trying to put up a good front if it doesn’t fucking matter? Since then, I’ve been more and more content being alone. Maybe the connection between Kas and me was only because of the mate bond. It was supposed to be forever. What if it was never really love? I’ve spent months thinking about it and I’m still not sure. Sometimes I wonder if she meant all the things she told me when we were alone. I thought I meant the promises I made to her. I was a fool.The moment Kas died in my arms in that cell in the dungeon, I thought I felt guilty. I thought it was my fault that she died. I was
“He’s our miracle baby.” Shelly strokes Andy’s white blonde wispy hair to the side after I explain how Kas’s father died. “Dave’s mother told us she had never heard of a werebear being able to have a hybrid baby. We just assumed we were on our own and we were okay with it. Half the time, Dave’s out wandering the woods anyway, but he’s gotten better about staying close to home these days.” “Yeah, things used to be quiet around here. Shelly woke up one morning with crazy morning sickness. I thought something was really wrong with her.” Dave pulls her close and kisses her forehead. She smiles and scrunches her nose while she almost disappears into his arms. “We found a werebear shaman who confirmed she was pregnant. He was able to treat her throughout the pregnancy. Unfortunately, they don’t stay in one place very long. The day Andy was born, he said our cub was healthy, gave him a blessing, and wandered off. Haven’t seen him since. Last I heard, he was in Alberta. We’ve been lucky. And
Saint’s POVEven seeing Endymion in person didn’t convince Bronx that he’s wrong about our mate. Wait until that cute little kid grows up and finds out what Bronx did to his baby girl. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see the demigod grandson of the Titan Perses go one-on-one with the first Alpha. Place your bets now, folks. It’s gonna be a grisly one.I probably won’t get to see it, though. Knowing Bronx, tonight’s my last night of freedom before he blocks me. It’s a shitty way to end my spirit’s journey. Hopefully, the Moon Goddess has answers for me before she lets me rest.The dark sky reminds me of my mate, Elexis. Lex has silky black fur and beautiful violet eyes. We’ve been in love forever. I wish she was here. I guess I’ll never see her again.Whatever her reason for letting Lenora die, it had to be worth risking everything. Hopefully, Milo and Reggie have an answer that will convince Bronx to clear her name. She still won’t be our mate, but at least she’ll be able