I leaned in. “How much do you all know about magic?”Rick leaned back in his chair and laughed. “Like charms, voodoo, and Hollywood CGI?”“Magic isn’t real, Amy.” Ternen smirked and shook his head. But Alannah was quiet. She leaned in and looked at me. “There are witches that live in the woods near my old pack. They are real, and if you cross them, they will come after your family.” She looked away. “But the witches worked with our pack, and they save us more time than I could count.”“Really? Then what happened to your pack?” I sat back. But I held up my hand before she answered.“Hi y’all. I’m Stephanie, your server. Can I get you started with something to drink?” She went around and got our drink orders, then she left us alone. I turned back to Alannah and nodded. “Our alpha’s son seduced the priestess’s daughter and then found his mate. It wouldn’t have been an issue, but the priestess’s daughter ended up pregnant.”“Oh, no.” The server dropped off our drinks and grabbed our ord
Ternen looked at me. “I don’t know what happens…”I sighed. “The wolves are sent to stronger packs, beefing the numbers of the alphas trying to take over. Same with their resources.”“Wait.” Alannah shook her head. “How does that happen? Doesn’t the king have to make that decision?”Rick’s knife dropped when the realization hit him. “No.”I turned to him with a nod. “Yes.”“What is it?” Ternen looked at Rick.“The king usually makes the decision. Or he used to. But since the old king died, the council took over allocating resources.” Rick turned to me with dawning horror. “The council?”“Yeah.” I lifted my shoulder. “Or we think the council.”“We?” Rick forgot about his food. He was invested.“My father, me and Rowan…the king.” I took a long sip of my soda. “Wait a damn minute.” Rick slammed his hand on the table. “You said your father was dead.”“And to Vince and Brandon, that’s exactly how he has to stay. Dead.” I put down my cup. “Vince and whoever else he is working with sent att
Everyone at the table froze. Rick leaned in. “What the hell are you talking about? You don’t have a pup.”“Oh I know.” I sighed. “My bloodline is blessed by the goddess. By two goddesses, I should say. I am descended from the first family. My wolf-”Don’t mention having the both of us. I trust them, but the less they know, the better. Nix shook her head. They are all under the vow. I shot back. But Megan settled next to Nix. I agree with Nix. Don’t overload them. Just stick with the magic for now. “My wolf is descended from the goddess. And my witch heritage is blessed by the three faced goddess. And with the blessing comes a gift.” I took a drink. “A gift?” Alannah finished her steak. “What kind of gift?”“My father’s line has a second chance.” I twirled my knife.“A second chance?” Rick pushed his empty plate away and I nodded.“I have lived my life before, you see. I was twenty-four when my mate strapped me to a gurney. He strapped me to a bed, and he had our doctor cut me open
Rick’s breathing turned heavy. “An elixir?”I nodded. “A tiny tonic that renews the hex, but also extends the life of the victim. The hex eats away at the victim. If the person doesn’t have the cure or the elixir, they die. If the elixir is taken too many times, the victim dies.”Rick grabbed my hand. “How many times is too many times?”I bit my lip. “I don’t know. It changes person to person.”Rick nearly collapsed. “How do I find out if it’s the withering or whatever this hex is?”“There would be a symbol on her. It fades the closer to the elixir time. After the elixir, the marking becomes darker. It’s can be small or big, any way to confuse other people.” I grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from my purse. “What are you doing?” Ternen leaned close. I looked up. “Rick doesn’t know who or what to believe. His child’s life hangs in the balance and so does his mate.” I turned to him. “I didn’t say any of this to confuse or worry you. I just want you to have all the facts. When you fir
Everyone froze. Rick recovered first. “How is that even possible?”“I won’t tell you beforehand, but I promise I will use to whisk all of you away at the same time, and no one will know where you disappeared to. I can promise once everything is out in the open, and war is on the horizon, you will have a house, jobs, and a place in a pack that celebrates people. No matter their rank.” I looked at Rick. “You’ll move us to you father’s pack?” I nodded. “I will.”“But Vince won’t release us.” Ternen shook his head. “Vince won’t ever let us go.”I grinned. “It won’t matter. By the time he notices you are all gone, it will be too late.” I could see Alannah perk up. “Are you being honest, Amy?” She turned to me with hope in her eyes. “If you’re not, I need you to tell me now.”I wrapped my arm around her. “Of course I’m being serious. Why are you so-” My hand rested against her side, and I felt it. A tiny flutter under the skin. I gasped as she turned to me. “You’re pregnant.”Alannah’s e
Alannah shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “No Ternen.”But I rubbed her side and slid the phone over to him. “He’s right Alannah. He would be the first person to notice if you disappeared. You are tied and your wolves would feel it. He needs to know so that he can come find me, or Rick.”She shook her head again as he grabbed the phone. Her hand shot out, and she begged. “Please don’t think less of me.”I growled softly. “Never say that again.”She turned to me with confusion in her eyes. “What?”“Never, ever act like something done to you lessens you.” I nodded to the phone. “What is there is vile. So vile that it made me want to vomit.” Another tear fell, and I wiped it off and a growl slipped from Tern. “If, and goddess forbid, it actually happened to you, but if it happened. It would not lessen you. You would be a victim and that disgusting act would have no bearing on your worth as a woman, as a mate, as a mother.”Rick nodded. “We would help you heal, protect you, a
When we got back to the office, Ternen turned with a smile, taking the gift bags from around Alannah’s desk. “I’ll be back at the end of the day.” He kissed her and then left us to finish our day. I settled into my office and started working on another firewall when Rick came in. “Hey are you ready for your next challenge?”I smiled. “What did you have in mind?”“I want to see how well you know our systems.” I leaned in, excitement on my face. “I’m going to hide again, but this time, it’s going to be deeper.”“Okay.” I turned my chair to face him. “What’s the catch?” He smiled. “This is a training exercise for you to recognize the flaws in your own designs.” I twirled my hands around each other. “What does that even mean?”He cackled. “It means you can’t trip the firewall. If you do, you have to start over.”“Are you insane?” I stood hunched over my computer. “How is that even possible?” I pretended to be upset, but inside I was dancing. He was teaching me how to get around the sys
I sighed and slammed my head back against my chair, then I groaned. “Fuck.” I put everything away into my purse, then stood. I walked out and smiled. “Hey. I had a question.”“Sure.” Ternen smiled at me but I could see the tension below the surface.“My mom wants me to invite you all to dinner.” I checked my phone. “Has Rick left yet?”Alannah shook her head. “No.” She smiled as she put her things in her purse. “And we would love to join you at dinner.”I nodded and then walked to Rick’s office door. I knocked and swung the door open. I froze when I saw Vince holding Rick by the throat. “Ugh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I spun in a circle, facing away from them. Vince grunted, and I heard Rick take a deep breath in. “Amy, what are you doing in here?”“I see that.” I coughed. “My mom called me and asked me to invite Rick and Alannah to dinner.”“Well, he’s busy.” I turned around and grimaced. “While I appreciate that, this is my mom.” I forced an awkward smile to my face.
I walked out of the office with an exhausted grin on my face.“Did you do it?” Alannah stood at her desk with a grin on her face. “I did. Got it just as the counter was counting down.” Alannah jumped as the door swung open and Vince walked in. “Amy!” He yelled as soon as he walked in. Alannah swung around me as naturally as she could. “Yes Alpha Vibce. What can I do for you?” Alannah stepped into Rick’s office, creating more space between them. Vince looked at her retreating, but I turned away from him and grabbed my purse from my hook, pulling his attention back to me. “You can’t call off the mating ceremony.” His face was smiling, but I saw the glint in his eye. He sounded like he was begging, but he meant it as an order. “Brandon loves you.”I nodded. “And I love him, but I love him enough to respect him and his reputation.”Vince furrowed his brow. “What do you mean by that?”I sighed as I stepped out of my office, pulling my door shut. “Alpha Vince, I know rumors don’t get ba
I covered my face with my hands. He doesn’t want me. My wolves laid down and I knew they were sad. We know how you feel about Rowan. How you feel about Thoth if you are ever going to admit it? We already told you we won’t interfere, but Erubus just snuck up on us. Megan huffed out a breath as she flopped over. Nix nodded. We thought we were just getting past the anger and the hurt that the two of them caused us. So that we could all learn to work together. And we did. Nix sighed as she laid her head down on her paws. Okay. I can understand that. I sat back. But what happened?He was…just himself. No interruption. No human getting in the way with his emotions. Rowan talks himself out of a lot. Nix shook her head. He takes a lot onto himself, more than needed. He thinks that his mate will make or break the realm. Nix sighed. I feel bad for the weight he forces on himself. He must be exhausted all the time. Megan nodded. He never pushed us, never made me feel excluded or uncomfortabl
I started in on the first firewall, which I breeched with no issue. But the second firewall blared the alarm. “Amy!” I sighed. “Got it.” I fixed my breech and tried again. And again. And again. I wanted to bang my head off the screen by mid day. I groaned in frustration when I heard Alannah call out again. “Amy.” “Seriously?” I slammed my keyboard in anger. I had made it halfway to the mainframe undetected, but I was stuck around the ninth firewall. I stood up and started to pace.Alannah came to the door. “Why don’t you take lunch? Take thirty minutes to regroup and then come back and attack. You will still have three hours to get rid of the virus once you settle.” She smiled and handed me the menu. “Maybe your hangry.”I huffed out a breath and then nodded. “You are probably right.” I sighed and dropped back into my chair. I looked over the menu and decided I needed meat. A lot of meat.Is everything okay? I called back to my wolves.Nix looked at me with wide eyes. I think we a
I watched his face go through a barrage of emotions and settled on anger. “Neither the pack nor Shannon can tell me who I can or can’t mate with.” He grabbed my face. “I want you, Amy.” He kissed me again and I had to hold myself back from puking. I couldn’t hold in the shudder, which made Brandon smile. He thought it was from need and not utter disgust. “You will be my mate. Promise me you will give me time to fix it.”I looked off to the side. “You have less than two weeks.” I turned back. “If Shannon hasn’t retracted everything…if she hasn’t stepped back, then she can take my place. I won’t be second place in my bond.” I slid out from in front of him and walked to the door. “Until then, I don’t want to be put in a situation where I would be considered the other woman.”Brandon watched me from behind y desk before he finally nodded and then walked back towards me at the door. “I respect that.” He leaned over and kissed me again. “I’ll handle it. Give me some time.”I just nodded and
I sat back, watching the grey curser flashing on the screen. I needed to answer him, but I was still a little lost on how to approach him. It’s still weird knowing that Thoth is a man. When my dad introduced us, it was just vague information. Thoth will help you. No gender. No name other than user name. I asked over and over, but he stayed quiet. We talked about computers at first. But then our conversations grew deeper. He asked about my day, complained about his own. It wasn’t until I joked with him about telling Brandon that he was a human female that he finally cracked and told me he was a man. Another alpha my father was friends with. One he had grown close to from overseas. I shook my head to clear it. Whatever feelings I did or didn’t have for Thoth would have to wait. I wouldn’t approach any relationship until everything had been handled.NixtheGoddess: Hey. I’m alive. Vince had captured me for a few days, but I got out. I’m at work. I have a full day, but I will do a full d
Humans fall in love… The words bounced around in my head. There was no fucking way. I turned to look at my wolves, who were sitting comfortably. There is no gods damn way.Nix snorted as she looked at Megan. She’s really trying to convince us…when we share her fucking soul and already know the truth. Megan shrugged. I wasn’t going to point it out to her. She ran to her computer every night for months, talking to the man. If she wanted to be stupid, that was her prerogative. They both looked at me and I staggered back. YOU KNEW!Both shrugged. Look. Nix stepped closer and ran her side down the barrier. After Brandon. I wasn’t going to agree to any mate. But then you met Rowan.And while we both liked him. Megan pressed against the barrier, sending love. There were too many things holding you both back. Including us. What are you guys even talking about?Nix sighed. She pulled back and looked at her paws. I knew you loved Rowan. We both did. And before we realized Erubus was Rowan,
I sighed before I pulled up our chat screen. The dark screen was full of messages that I had missed.Thoth: Hey. You missed our chat last night. We were going to work on getting into the mainframe. Is everything okay?Thoth: Amy? Hey. It’s been hours. I’m starting to worry.Thoth: Amy? I called your dad. He said he hasn’t been able to get in touch with you, and he’s even starting to worry. Is everything okay? We are starting to panic.Thoth: Okay, listen, I know you are probably busy. Especially with the kids. I know you said that the king was in the past, but maybe you should reach out to Rowan about the kids. Maybe he can help.Thoth: Hey it’s been another day. Are you okay? I fully expect you to message me back today. I called you but you didn’t answer.Thoth: I just realized it might be weird that I called you…I got your number from your dad. I figured since we are friends, you wouldn’t care. Thoth: Okay, don’t be weird about me calling you.Thoth: I’m panicking.I laughed at tha
I walked into the office early the next morning. I was exhausted still, but I had things to do. Alannah stood with a shout. “Amy! You’re back.” She ran over and hugged me. “I was so worried when I hadn’t heard anything from you.”“I just spent some time with my mom on an island off the coast. Cell service was bad.” I sniffed her. “You smell good.” I pulled back, patting her back. “I like the perfume, what is it?”She looked a little confused for a moment. “It’s vanilla.”I smiled. “It smells great, but I can tell it’s wearing off. You might want to add a little, so it lasts all day.” I winked at her as understand entered her eyes. “Good idea. I’ve been running around all morning, so I was really sweaty.” She turned around and went to her desk, pulling the bottle from her purse and spraying herself. She turned to me expectantly. “How’s that?” “Perfect.” I looked around. “Is Rick in?”She shook her head. “He left early yesterday after his meeting with the alpha. I think we weren’t fee
I opened myself up as I sat down and sent out a call. “Sorry it took so long.” I sighed as I sat down next to her. “You were busy.” Carl’s voice was sad, and as I looked over, both he and my grandmother looked worried. “But you are here now.”“I didn’t expect both of you.” I sighed.“Daddy.” Carly called as she jumped up, but I grabbed her. “He’s not really here, baby, remember? You can’t touch him.” She trembled and then she sat back down. They settled across from us with the grave between us. “I forgot.” She looked at him. “I miss you, daddy.”“And I miss you too, baby.” He leaned over, then need to touch his daughter too much. “I heard every time you prayed to me.” His eyes softened. “And I want you to know, baby. That if you want to call Amy mom, or if at any time Amy gets a mate and you want to call him dad, your mother and I won’t mind. We will always be your mommy and daddy.” The tears in his eyes were full of love.Carly looked at me and I smiled down at her. “You don’t hav