Man, do I love Eli!
Cayd and I drive up the longest driveway I’ve ever seen, but the time flies. As soon as we passed the gate, the glamour around the area disappeared and the beautiful fae lands presented themselves in front of us. “Oh, wow.” I say, leaning forward, trying to take it all in. Everything is in bright, vivid colors. The grounds are in full bloom. “It looks…” Cayd says, sounding as amazed as I feel. “Magical!” I finish for him. “Yeah, it’s like every fairy tale land come to life.” He says, reverently. “Wow, Lily’s going to be Queen here one day?” I ask. Talk about intimidating! “Lucky girl!” I laugh. “You never know, Cayd, maybe you’ll find your mate here and you can come live here too.” When we turn a corner in the road and see the magnificent glass castle in front of us, we are both struck speechless. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life. “How can something so incredible, look so delicate?” I ask in amazement. “I have no idea. I mean, the sprites are cool, but this….t
I scheduled the meeting with Gwen’s father and Alpha three days after confronting Gwen. I informed Emerson and he told me that Uncle Eli would be joining him as well. I asked Xander and Leana to sit in with us. When Alpha Carter and Beta Trevor arrive, everyone is already in my office. I have Jackson show them into the office and I offer them a drink. “I’m hoping that this is a notification that you are finally going to be making my daughter your official Luna, Alpha Richard.” Beta Trevor says to me. His Alpha is watching me. Protocol would be that I would have Gwen in the room if I were going to tell her father that I’m claiming her as my Luna. “What is this about, Alpha Richard?” Alpha Carter asks. He took in the room when he walked in. He recognized Uncle Eli as the recent Alpha and Emerson as the current Alpha of Safe Haven pack. I fold my hands, watching Beta Trevor. I asked Xander to watch the Alpha. “It has come to my attention, Beta Trevor, that your daughter engaged the s
There is something peaceful about Araphyra. It soothes my soul and my mind being here. My first night, I slept better than I have in months. Since my birthday, really. I used to sleep great next to Richie, well, when we’d finally get around to sleeping. I’m lying in bed, thinking about Richie. I rub my stomach, feeling my little guy move around. “I’m sorry your father isn’t here to watch you grow. I know he wants to be a part of your life, little guy. It’s just not the right time for him or me. But we had some really good times and one of those was when we made you. And I can’t wait to meet you.” I finally get up and get ready for the day. I need to take care of business here so I can get home. I need to start planning a life for me and my son. I should contact Cohen and see if he still needs an acting Luna. I think I’m pretty good at the job. When I get to the dining room where we met for lunch yesterday, I see my friend. “LILY!” I rush to her and hug her. “Oh my goddess, Emlyn!
I found the witch, but she was not what I expected. I thought she’d have the heavy goth look that some witches have. But this girl, and she is a girl, barely an adult if that, this girl looks....well.....normal. She looks like a girl I’d see at the university dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers with her hair up in a pony-tail. A strawberry blond ponytail that is currently bouncing across her back as she moves quickly through the throng of people. She’s tiny, like she doesn’t eat enough food. I notice that her t-shirt is well worn, and her jeans have holes in them, not the kind that are put there by a designer. And I’m not sure why I even care since she’s the one that caused these problems. Well, Gwen did really, but she’s the witch that made it happen. As I watch her, following her to wherever she is going, she turns her head and for a moment, her emerald-green eyes look right onto my gray ones. “Mate.” Einar, my wolf, says in my head. Well, fuck me! The fucking witch that des
I wake in what looks like a hospital room. It takes me a moment to remember why I’m here. As soon as I do, my hands go to my stomach. “Emlyn!” Cayd says. He was sitting beside my bed. “How’s Leander?” I ask, terrified I did something to my son. “My grandfather?” Cayd asks, frowning. “Do I need to get the doctor? Is something wrong with your head?” “No, Cayd. Leander is what I’ve decided to call my son.” His smile is huge. “You’re naming your son after my grandfather?” “Yes, is he okay?” I ask impatiently. “Yeah, yeah, he is. Morrigan protected him from whatever the fuck it was that you did.” “What do you mean?” “You were glowing, Em. Like from the inside out and when you blasted that power, light shot out from every finger, every toe, your eyes, your ears, your mouth pretty much everywhere.” “Whoa.” “Yeah, whoa. How do you feel?” “Tired. Did it work? “Yeah, it worked. Aolis and Ailduin were impressed. And because it was their power, the light fae weren’t impacted, only the
When I left my office, I knew where I needed to go. I needed to see the only person I knew who could help me. When I got there, I raised my hand to knock, but before I could, my mother opened the door. “Richard! Come in.” She says, stepping back and letting me in. I can hear the playlist that my father made for my mother before I was born playing in the background. She loves it and I’ve heard it thousands of times growing up. My father has added to it over the years, but my mother refuses to have another one. She loves this one. “How are you, son?” I grit my teeth, holding back tears. I finally feel like I’m getting some control over what’s been going on, but my biggest concern now is Emlyn and our son and I feel like that is still completely out of my control. “Ahhh, Rich.” She says, and she puts her hands on either side of my face. I don’t know what it is about my mother’s hands. They are cool, gentle and emit so much love all with one touch. I close my eyes, letting her mot
The Angel’s Trumpet didn’t work. Well, at least not like it was supposed to. Araphyra’s glass walls have a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors swirling around them. But with the Angel’s Trumpet and my “trip” as Aolis called it, the colors were much bolder, and it was like I was looking into a forest in the walls with birds flying around and deer leaping around in the fake forest. While I had one heck of a couple of hours, my Guardian bond was still in effect. Over the next week, we found a couple other references for ways to break the Guardian bond, but I was beginning to think that maybe those ways worked for forced bonds, but not fated bonds. The Moon Goddess was never meant to be overridden in her decisions. I spoke to Cohen, and he is thrilled to have me as his acting Luna. I told him that I was very close to delivering Leander, and I was going to see if Ailduin and Anastasia would be willing to have me stay and deliver my son here, coming to join his pack afterward. They had been t
When I returned home from speaking to my father, I went straight to Leana. “What did they say?” “They will only move it up a week, Rich.” I nod. “Okay, that will have to do. Hopefully, Xander’s witch will get an anti-spell by then.” I use the next few days getting Xander and Jackson prepared to cover for me while I’m gone. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I’m planning to be away for a while. Emlyn has been in Araphyra for months and she’s due to have our son any time. I don’t know when she’ll be ready to come home, but I am prepared to stay as long as needed. A couple of days after meeting with my father, I get an audio/video clip from Emlyn. My throat constricts as I listen to the sound of my son’s strong heartbeat, watching him moving and kicking in Emlyn’s womb. I’ve missed so much, too much. I pray that Emlyn will want to kill that Beta bitch. I swore to myself that I would not make any more significant decisions without my mate and this one is huge. But I want her dead