LyraI feel so incredibly overwhelmed that I have a real tough time keeping up with the history lesson, but the part I did catch was that a Lycan’s curse is only activated once they kill someone. I never killed anybody.“I know that it’s a lot to take in.” Silas smiles and I note the kindness in his eyes. He rubs the sides of my arms, and it calms me down a little.“Ya think?” I roll my eyes. “I’m one of you, but I’m not. My parents probably left me in the orphanage to protect me, and I have to kill someone to get my powers that may or may not protect our baby.” I run through it all and then my eyes grow wide.“What about the baby? Will I have to leave him or her at an orphanage?” My voice wavers as tears form a huge knot in the back of my throat.“No! I don’t know what your parents’ circumstances were. Yet. Look, Lycans don’t need packs the same way that werewolves do. They probably didn’t have a pack to protect them. You have one. Our pup has one, no matter what he is.” I know that
LyraThe one thing that keeps on bugging me is the fact that I have to kill someone to get my power. Apparently, it can also be by accident, but still. That isn’t something I would ever be able to do. I sigh and turn to my other side and stare out of the window at the sky as it slowly changes from day to night.The omega appears to inform me that dinner is ready and as I make my way downstairs, I can feel everyone looking at me. I wonder for a moment if there is something on my face. Silas pulls me into an embrace as soon as I join them in the communal dining room and he smiles.“I know that you’ve all been wondering about Luna Lyra. She has asked for asylum and I’ve granted it. You should all know that she is carrying my pup. It’s not what we planned, but it happened.” Silas beamed, and I’m surprised by the reaction as people shout out congratulations.“Unfortunately, she is still legally married to Alpha Eli. I need all of you to protect her the same way you would protect me. You kn
LyraAfter getting a couple of outfits that would also work when my stomach starts to grow, we return home. Each time I refused to get something, Elise insisted, so I got far more than I planned on. After helping the omega to pack my things away, I go in search of Silas and find him in his office.“Hey beautiful, did you have a good time?” He smiles brightly and gets up. In one swift move, he closes the gap between us and pulls me closer, leaving a soft kiss on my forehead. I think for a moment what a lovely gesture it is, and my cheeks turn bright red.“Yes, thank you. Elise and I had a difference in opinion of what is necessary and what extravagant is, but I had fun.” I laugh when he grins at me.“As long as you didn’t come home empty-handed. I also want you to start thinking about the nursery and what you want to change. It definitely needs a new coat of paint, and I was looking at cribs online.” He grabs my hand and as soon as he is seated behind his desk, he pulls me onto his lap
Lyra“The baby?” He instinctively places his hand on my abdomen and I place my hand over his.“We are both fine.” My voice is thick with emotion, but it feels so natural to share such an intimate moment. He seems to calm down a little but insists that I go to the doctor for a checkup. When we arrive at the hospital, we have to wait a moment.It seems a couple of pack members were injured and require attention. I try to convince Silas to come back later, but he refuses and within five minutes, I’m lying on the bed listening to our baby’s heartbeat. The doctor confirms that the baby is healthy.Sadly, we can’t find out the gender yet because it keeps turning its back to the camera. After my checkup, Silas walks me back to my room, so I can rest. He stays, and it feels strangely comfortable to have him around while I fall asleep.When I open my eyes in the morning, Silas is fast asleep in the chair and I smile when the omega walks in and looks a little shocked. I indicate that she should
LyraWe are about halfway through dinner when the alarm sounds again. Silas and I look at each other for a moment before I rush upstairs while he rushes outside. I’m pacing back and forth when the omega comes running in and closes the door.The poor girl looks so frightened that something inside of me snaps. I feel a stabbing pain shoot through my entire body and her eyes grow wide. The pain shifts from one part of my body to the next, and I’m convinced that I’m about to lose the baby.I try to tell the omega to get help, and it looks as though she understands when she finally runs screaming from the room. I take a step forward and when I see my reflection in the mirror, I feel as if I’m going to faint!I look like the werewolves, but different. I’m a bigger wolf! Is that really me?! My mind is racing, trying to figure out how, since I haven’t killed anyone, when Silas comes running into my room. His eyes are wide as he takes a deep breath and takes a step back.“Lyra, you have to cal
LyraI wake up feeling much better and instantly note an arm around me. As I carefully turn around, I’m not surprised to find Silas fast asleep. I take a moment to just study his face and I feel the passion I felt on that very first night.I don’t know if this is the mate bond or what I’m feeling, but I’m definitely feeling something. And whatever it is, it is strong. He stirs, but I don’t move and when he opens his eyes, he smiles at me and I feel as if I’m melting into a damn puddle.“Good morning, beautiful. How are you feeling? How did you sleep?” He sits up and frowns at me.“Good morning. I’m good. I feel good. I slept good. How about you?” I grin, wondering if good was going to be my word for the day. I really do feel good.“Well, much better now that you are awake. Do you feel up to telling me what happened?” He frowns as the omega knocks and enters the room without waiting for an answer. She looks shocked to see Silas in bed with me and disappears just as fast as she walked i
LyraMy mind keeps drifting to how close we’ve become while I stand there blinking at Silas. He kisses my cheek and wishes me a good night before walking down the passage to his room. I walk in to find my omega ready and waiting and before long, I’m curled up in bed.It’s all still so overwhelming. I was still processing what Eli did when I slept with Silas. Everything since then has happened so fast, it almost feels unreal. I drift off to sleep with the image of Silas in my mind and my dreams are full of things we do together.I wake up with a start in the middle of the night shouting his name after a horrible nightmare and within seconds he is beside me. Silas whispers calming words as I try to catch my breath. I realize that I didn’t shift, which is a good thing. I might just have destroyed the beautiful bedding if I did.“Did you have a bad dream?” Silas frowns as he wipes the tears from my cheeks and I nod. He pulls me into his arms just as the omega comes running with some tea a
Lyra“It’s going to be okay.” Silas moves fast and pulls me out of my chair and into his arms. He breathes in my scent and I feel the warmth of his chest radiate against my skin. He whispers sweet words that calm me while his hand strokes my hair.I believe him. I believe that even though Eli is threatening not just me, but Silas’s pack, it is going to be okay. Silas just has that confidence about him. Silas lets me go just enough to look into my eyes, and he strokes my chin softly.“You are stronger than you realize, beautiful. You also have me and the entire pack behind you. You are no longer alone.” His words mean more than I can say and when his lips touch mine, I respond. His kiss is soft and loving and when we break apart, it feels as if I’ve lost something.“Come on. I think you need to try to shift again.” He smiles, but I just look at him with wide eyes.“I can’t remember how I did it.” I sigh, but he takes my hand and leads me outside. We walk all the way to the edge of the
SamI follow the direction of her gaze as she pushes past me. I’m not surprised to find that thin-lipped manager glaring at us, and it’s the final straw. Marching over to where he is standing, I make sure that he can feel my power flow through the air.“Mr. Nash, I intend on asking Jemma out on a date as soon as we’ve booked out tomorrow. I will also make sure that we never have our conferences here again, if you so much as think about firing her.” A soft growl vibrates through me and I note the fear in his eyes.He nods and leaves without a word. I turn to find Jemma, but she is gone. I wanted to take the chance of asking her for a dance, but each time I do see her, she is busy. The last thing I want is for anyone here to be neglected.I’m relieved when the night ends. All I can think about is signing for the bill and then finding Jemma.JemmaI saw them talking right before I walked into the kitchen. My heart is racing. My palms are sweaty and I just need a moment. I rush into the s
SamI don’t like that she looks so nervous. I don’t have time to think about it as the other alphas walk into the conference room. I carefully watch them to make sure none of them react to her scent and I almost breathe a sigh when I see it seems to be just me.“Hey, alpha, are you okay?” Mark hands me my folder and we take our seats.“Nope.” I frown as the meeting gets underway. I have a hard time focusing. I’m concerned about Jemma and the fact that she looked so nervous. It’s clear the hotel management makes sure that their staff don’t get involved with guests, and I guess it makes sense.I just don’t like to see her like that. I have to find a way to speak to her without any of them around. Yes, that’s what I will do. I will speak to her when I’m not a guest. It’s going to be really tough to stay away while we are here, but I have another twenty-four hours, and then I won’t be a guest anymore.JemmaI’m relieved when he doesn’t try to speak to me again. Usually, if I just tell the
Jemma“I hate conferences. Why can’t people just come to the hotel for a holiday?” Mandy complains. She always complains. When there are only holiday guests, she complains because she can’t earn enough to be the one just enjoying the hotel.“Just keep your eyes open. I’m sure one of these guys at the conference will catch your eye.” I wink, hoping it will distract her.“If only! Mr. Nash told me this morning I’m working in the restaurant for the next three days. Apparently, he wasn’t happy with the way I arranged the conference room the last time these guys were here.” Mandy sighs.“Besides, all of them have been here before. There are no new faces.” A sly smile crosses her lips. “Or bodies to look at. Have you seen how their wives dress?!” She rolls her eyes and leaves the kitchen. I grab my tray and pack the water bottles before making my way to the conference room.After giving the room a quick once over, I leave feeling confident that Mr. Nash will be happy. It is the first year t
SamOur pack’s history is filled with love stories and war. It is filled with betrayal and reconciliation. So much has happened that I sometimes feel as if my own love story won’t be enough. It won’t be as impressive. Thankfully, I don’t have much time to think about it.Becoming alpha isn’t easy. Taking over isn’t easy. Finding a mate is the toughest part of it all. Every mother keeps looking at me as if expecting me to pick her daughter and every daughter is looking at me as if I’m a piece of meat she has to devour.All I can see are black widow spiders who want to catch me, mate with me and then kill me! What was supposed to be an exciting time very quickly turned into me trying to hide from literally everyone. Whenever one of those mothers tries to speak to me, I have something urgent to take care of.Finally, the time comes for the alpha conference, and I can escape for a couple of days. After years of war, there seems to be far too many rogues and rogue attacks and a lot of the
Noah“If you are watching this, I’m no longer with you.” Tears fill her eyes and it breaks my heart. “I told you so!” She laughs while pointing her index finger at the camera. “I’m sorry for leaving you so soon, my love. If I could have it any other way, I would never have chosen this.” She sighs deeply before wiping away her tears.A huge smile forms on her face and I wonder when she recorded this. She is heavily pregnant in the video and all I can think is that she did it in the days before she gave birth to Sam. She is sitting in the nursery from the looks of the background.Sam sits down on the edge of my table and I realize it’s the first time he has seen her like this. Sam has only ever seen pictures of Summer.“My beautiful baby boy, please know that you were made in love. That I wanted you more than anything I’ve ever wanted. Please be kind to each other. Support each other. Take care of each other.” She looks up and over the camera and nods at someone.“I have to go now.” Her
SummerI love being in love. I’m still shocked that Noah is my destiny, but I’m grateful. Although he makes it clear that I’m his, whenever a young male gets too close, he is always kind and loving towards me. It’s the perfect balance of a protector and lover rolled into one very handsome package.Noah and I decide early on that we want to spend some time alone together before we start a family. It’s not the most popular decision, and we keep it to ourselves, so there won’t be backlash from anyone in the pack.Life as a Luna is interesting, and I find myself sounding like my mother far too often, but I love my new life. I find that I’m more of a nurturer than I thought I would be, and I love taking care of things for our people.Two years after our mating ceremony, we announce that I’m pregnant, and I can’t help but laugh when I hear the mumbles that people were beginning to think I was a dud or something. They clearly believed that I couldn’t have children, and our announcement is a
SummerIn the morning, I can’t get our first kiss out of my mind. There were many more after it, but nothing compares to that first one. We say goodbye to my parents after making arrangements for them to come to our house.Over the next couple of days, my days are filled with everything we had to arrange. I found the perfect dress, and to me that was just the best thing ever. The day of our mating ceremony arrived, and I was just bubbling.I thought my life was going to start when I graduated, but here I was thinking again, that this is the moment my life will finally start. After an entire day of preparation, I finally got dressed and my dad walked me down the aisle.As I saw Noah waiting for me at the end, I almost sobbed with happiness and I had to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall. I still can’t believe that my destined mate is scrawny Noah. It’s become our little joke, and I just love that he isn’t fazed by it.He isn’t scrawny Noah anymore. He sure as hell isn’t
SummerWhen I’m woken by the smell of coffee, I’m stunned. I have never slept that well before. I feel a little confused at first about where I am, but it doesn’t take more than a second to remember. I wonder if Noah slept beside me the entire time.“Thanks.” I smile as he hands me the mug and I take a long sip, enjoying the aroma. “What time is it?” I frown, suddenly worried that I might have wasted too much time and won’t get to my homework before dinner.“We only slept for an hour. You still have a lot of time.” Noah pulls my books out of my bag and places them on the table, making me laugh. I get up and am relieved that I didn’t sleep for hours. While I dig into my homework, he is lying on my bed studying the ceiling.“Aren’t you bored? Don’t you have work to do or something?” I turn to study him and he grins.“Nope and nope. Dad is in charge.” He sits up and smiles at me, sending a shiver of delight up the back of my spine. Honestly, I love being in love. I know it’s fast and all
SummerWhen I calm down, I feel even sillier than I did earlier in the clearing. It’s as if some switch inside of me had suddenly flipped, and I could see things differently than I did before. I sit beside Noah once I’m calm, and I take a deep breath while they all look at me.“I want to accept Noah as my mate. I just want to finish school first, if that’s okay. It would be a waste if I have come all this way and don’t finish.” I nod feeling a lot more confident about my decision.“While we were talking in the clearing, Summer seemed to have this need to discuss things with you first. Now I understand why.” Noah smiles and takes my hand. I blush when he kisses the inside of my palm and when I look at my parents, they also seem happy with my decision.I never really thought of how my parents would react when I finally found my mate. Honestly, I was too busy thinking about myself. We all sit around and talk for a little while and when my phone rings, I’m a little surprised to see that i