-Elijah- I get out of my SUV and walk into Arkyn’s building where he’s waiting for me. There have been some big developments regarding the recent spate of hunter attacks. Some of the packs under him have been obliterated, while my father nearly missed being assassinated. To say we need that school for our kids is putting it lightly. Carpe Fatum might just save our bloodlines. “Good to see you again, brother,” Arkyn greets me with a handshake and a hug before we sit down. He breathes out a long sigh, then pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Your mother has been a lot of help throughout all of this, but it seems the hunters have developed new toys after nearly going extinct,” he says, then slides something across the table towards me. It looks like a playing dart; definitely made out of silver and smells like baobab pulp. When I pick it up, it immediately sears the tips of my fingers nearly to the bone. “What the fuck!” “What the fuck indeed,” he says, picking up
Nox and Reyvenne Priest - 100 Years Epilogue (100 Years old in Vampire Years but they're basically eighteen years old in human years) “Ugh, can you stop popping that gum for fuck’s sake, Rey,” I grumble as my sister’s pop echoes in my ear again and grinding my gears to dust. She looks at me with a grin, then wriggles her eyebrows. “This is my first piece of gum since we left for CFA; just allow me to chew and be happy,” she says and sits back with her arms crossed. It never fails to amaze me at how much she looks like our mother; dark hair, bright blue eyes, an affinity for dark lips and always dressing in dark colours. I’ve had to fuck up a few boys who tried their luck with her, assuming she’s easy to break just because she’s softly spoken. There’s one particular Gorgon I’ve gotten suspended over twice, simply because he wouldn’t fucking leave her alone. My blood still boils at the thought of him and again I wish that I pulled out one of his fucking snakes. We’ll see who’s bloodi
-Kira-Growing up with Kai and Caterina Volkov as parents made me excited to one day meet my mate. They’re inseparable; my father worships the ground my mother walks on and to this day he would burn down cities if she asked it of him.Being around their all-encompassing love and affection showed me what the Mate Bond should look and feel like. A standard on which I would base my own Bond. I couldn’t wait to be loved so fiercely; to have my mate look at me the way my father looks at my mother. I wanted the intoxicating feeling of being with my mate and knowing he feels the same.But when the time came, to say that it disappointed me is an understatement.I met my mate when I turned 18; spotted him from across the hall at the Convergence Ball and immediately felt the Mate Bond Sighting click. The pull was there, the utter need to submit to him blindly along with everything else. However, the second he looked away, that feeling went along with his gaze. This confused me at first because
-Arkyn-I step out of the bridal shop, and the smile immediately drops from my face. Walking along further, I turn into an alleyway and breathe out a sigh before punching the wall so hard that the concrete cracks.Why the fuck did Kira have to drag me into this? I only have a few hours left in New York before I have to return home, and she brings me here without telling me about it first?I would have been fine keeping my distance after the wedding, but now she’s rubbing the fact that she has a mate in my face. Surely she must see the way I look at her? Surely she must feel the longing in my scent whenever we’re together? Not only that, but she knows how much I fucking loathe Adryan Helseth.I know I shouldn’t be thinking about her this way. She’s my best friend and already fated to be with someone else. But I can’t help it; I want Kira Volkova. However, if today has proven anything, it’s that my little Blue isn’t as fucking innocent as she pretends to be.My cell phone rings again an
-Kira-My heart is sitting in my throat. I don’t recognize the woman staring at me in the mirror; the grown-up woman who will no longer depend on her Pappa for protection. The adult who will become Luna to another Alpha in a few hours' time.My love for dancing will be a forgotten memory, my stuffed toy collection will be donated and my bedroom will be cleaned out. Kira Volkova, the Alpha Heir, will fall away, and Kira Helseth will take her place.I didn’t want a big wedding. I wanted the Volkov Mating Ceremony, but Adryan refused me. He said that I am to take his customs and forget about my own; it's the only reason I’m standing here being dolled up.The women who have tended to me and turned me into this stunning bride I don’t recognize, all leave the room and I see my mother walking up behind me. Caterina Volkova - the woman all the girls in our pack aspire to be. She was always my rock; the one person I could depend on through everything, and now she’s looking at me with tears ru
-Kira-The silence between us is deafening. We’re simply staring at each other, with neither of us knowing what to say - what just happened should not have happened. Arkyn should not have been the one to steal my first kiss. And yet… everything felt so right when he did.“Kira? Are you in there, Printsessa?” my father’s voice sounds from the door again, and this seems to snap both of us out of whatever spell we were under. Arkyn blinks and walks to the door, opening it and smiling at my father. “Oh, Arkyn! I didn’t know you were here, son. Do you need a moment longer with Kira?” my father asks, oblivious to the fact that we just did the unthinkable.“No, I think we’ve said all that needed to be said for now,” he says, then turns to me and briefly makes eye contact. “I’ll see you inside, Blue. There’s… something we need to discuss, but it can wait.”“See… you,” I trail off when he walks out without waiting for my answer. He closes the door behind him, and I have no time to mull over w
-Kira- I pride myself in not allowing the smile to waver on my lips when he mentions Arkyn’s name. He wants me to be with Arkyn? When did he decide this?“Pappa, Arkyn is my best friend!”He raises his eyebrow and smirks. “Hm, that’s not what I see when you two are together but let me keep quiet before I get into trouble with your mother.”Just then the door opens and my father’s smirk grows when my mother walks in with a look of disapproval on her face. “Kai, we’ve spoken about this-”“I know, little wolf, and I will keep my thoughts to myself from now on,” he says. Something tells me they’ve spoken about this topic many times before and I don’t know how I feel about that. Did my father know how I felt about Arkyn? Could he see the way Arkyn felt about me even though I was oblivious to it up until a few minutes ago?I can’t ask him more about this, because my mother walks over to me then and tuts when she sees my ruined make-up.“Oh, Kai, I told you not to make her cry!” she exclai
-Arkyn-I can still feel Kira’s lips on mine even as I kiss Jade’s. I can still feel her hands on my back, pulling at my clothing even as another man claims her as his. And my heart still fucking beats to the sound of hers.She should have been mine. That smile full of love should be directed at me, not fucking Helseth. She should belong to me. She should be saying those vows to me! Nothing about this feels right at all, nothing at all!Her kiss proved it. If she didn’t feel the same way about me, she would have pushed me away. But she kissed me back with the same vigor; she returned my desperation with her own.And yet her expression does not change when I introduce Jade as my fiancee; her smile doesn’t even waver slightly knowing that this woman is to be my Luna Bride.“It’s lovely to meet you, Jade,” she says in that sing-song voice I adore. “You’re absolutely stunning!”Jade blushes and looks down. “Thank you, but you’re the stunning one! Congratulations, it was a beautiful weddin