*Ella*Ryatt is on me in a second, crushing me to the far wall. I choke on a sob as his arms come around my waist, his face buried in my hair. I know he’s trying as hard as he can to stop this from happening, from giving into his feelings and our bond, and the thought kills me.I can admit I understand his reluctance. He lost his mother. She died trying to protect him, her love for him the catalyst for her ultimate sacrifice. He sees sending me home in the same light, even if he can’t say it out loud.I can feel it, though, in the power of his touch. I can feel it in the desperation, fury, and despair flowing off him as his mouth meets mine in the most passionate of kisses.“I missed you,” I sob, unable to hold the tears back. “I hated that you left me here.”“Ella—”I take his face between my hands and force him to look at me. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re done carrying this on your shoulders, alone. I was destined to be here fighting beside you, Ryatt. I’ve never believed your pre
*Maddy*I sigh as I look down at the tangled mess of wood and screws littering our bedroom floor. Isaac leans against the wall, his hair standing on end and his eyes narrowed on the instruction pamphlet for what should be the cribs for our twins.I rub my hands together, arching my brow at my mate, who looks more flustered than I’ve ever seen him before.“I want the head of whoever wrote this fucking thing,” he growls, turning it upside down. “I want them hanging from my gate!”“Just use your powers, for the love of the Goddess!”He turns vengeful eyes to me. “I’ve been to war, Maddy. I can put together a crib!”“Do it, then,” I say, planting my hands on my hips and giving him an expectant look. “Go ahead.”He glowers at me and slides down the wall into a seated position, looking like a surly teenager who just got scolded by his mother rather than the Alpha King.“I could help,” I suggest, but his glower deepens.“You’re supposed to be in bed, Maddy.”“I’ve been in bed since we got ho
*Ryatt*I tap my pen against my thigh as I lean back in my desk chair. The view beyond the windows in my office is blurred by a gray haze of drizzling rain. It’s late winter, dawning on spring, which means it’s the rainy season in Veiled Valley. Every morning the sun shines and gives a false sense of warmer weather before the clouds roll in off the mountains–heavy and dark–and rattle the entire valley with storms. Ella doesn’t seem to mind the rain. She likes the thunder and lightning, from what I’ve gathered. The weeks we’ve spent in Veiled Valley have been slow and relatively easy now that we’ve come to some kind of an agreement about the nature of our relationship. Still, war is looming. A few skirmishes on the border of the Roguelands and Rifthold have required my attention in the past month. But so far, King Kane hasn’t made any moves to invade my territory, and I’m not ready to wage a full assault on his kingdom, not yet. Granger comes into my office with a handful of rolled
*Ella*“What the hell is that?” Amanda says, her eyes on the sky above our heads as we make our way back to the castle. This is our normal routine during the day now. Westfall’s training sessions are incredibly light in the mornings now that it's been confirmed that I am, in fact, pregnant. I’m still not able to wrap my mind around it, honestly. Amanda and I spend our afternoons walking around Veiled Valley when the weather allows it. Today has been no different. Until now. Drizzling rain brushes over my cheeks as I turn my eyes to the sky. All around us on the bridge, people have stopped to stare up in awe of a swirling ripple of light illuminating the dark gray storm clouds. “Lightning?” I say to no one in particular. Thunder booms louder than I’ve ever heard it before. The ancient stone bridge rattles, startling the crowd. “We should go,” Amanda says hurriedly, clutching her stomach. “Something doesn’t feel right.”She’s right about that. A strange creeping sensation settles
*Ella*I sit up, rubbing sleep from my eyes. “Get up, get dressed–”“It’s four in the morning–”Ryatt pulls the sheets from my body and yanks me out of bed. His fingers dig into my arm as I’m hauled to my feet. “What the hell is the matter with you?”I can barely see a thing. Lightning crackles, briefly illuminating the room around us. I shake him off and cross my arms under my breasts, my stomach twisting as his face comes into view. Ryatt looks… he looks like something is seriously wrong. His eyes are dark and absolutely murderous, and for a moment I can almost taste the unburdened rage oozing from him as he turns from me, giving me his back. “Ryatt, what happened?”“What aren’t you telling me about your brother?”“My brother?” I edge toward him, my brow pinched as I grab the robe I keep draped over one of the arm chairs near the now dormant hearth and pull it on. Ryatt toys with his leather chest armor, refusing to face me. He smooths his fingers over the daggers lining his belt
*Ryatt*“You have a fucking deathwish!” Granger shouts from across the room. I’m still in my bedroom. Ella rushed Amanda out less than a minute ago, her eyes full of rage and absolute heartbreak. I heave a breath as I stare down my Beta. Despair and frustration clouds his eyes, his face shadowed but unexplainable grief. “I’m not sending my mate and child away,” he grinds out, and for the first time in my life, I see true, raw emotion flashing behind his eyes. His mate. Amanda is his mate. “What you’re feeling now is what I have lived with for weeks, Granger. You had to know this was coming.”“This was never the plan!”“The Alpha King of Crescent Falls sends his Beta breaking through the veil. That has changed everything,” I snarl. “Amanda’s pack is gone. Her parents are dead. King Kane knows someone pierced the veil, and now he’s waging an all out war, the war I was trying to avoid!” Now thousands of people are dead in less than a day, and all of their blood is on my hands. “I have
*Ryatt*Twin Rivers is nothing but ash and stone as I walk beside Westfall through a wall of heavy fog tinged with smoke. It ripples around my boots as each of my steps echo in the nothingness the last battle left behind. Over the mind-link, I hear the voices of my commanders rattling off the names of their dead. My father’s royal army has pushed into the Roguelands like I expected, and I had my own forces retreat to the Deadlands, the last holdout before the coven, and Veiled Valley. Through the fog, I see the flickering lights of Rifthold across the bridge, the very bridge one of my commanders begged to have destroyed. It wouldn’t have prevented this carnage. We are mere wolves against an enemy with power stolen from others and manipulated to mirror death at every turn. In the end, there will be nothing left of my territory. Those packs that do survive will have to rebuild. All I can do is give them a final parting gift by destroying Rifthold in its entirety, even though it will
*Ella*“GO!” I scream to Cassian, who looks absolutely enraged as warriors begin funneling toward us and Ravenna’s severed head falls from her shoulders and hits the ground. Granger bursts into action, shoving his sword into Amanda’s hands before he shifts. I hold my position on the stairs and raise my hands. “GRANGER! GET AMANDA OUT OF HERE, NOW!” What happens next is a blur. I can barely see through the sea of royal warriors and their wolves of mist and shadow. It’s a bloodbath, but Granger is leading the charge while Amanda swings his heavy sword in a circle and cuts down several advancing wolves. Petra’s eyes are on me and narrowed into murderous slits. She raises her hands, her mouth opening in a brutal sneer. Her teeth sharpen like daggers, and the air fills with a screech that sets my heart rate spiking. If I use my powers now, I could kill Granger and Amanda by accident. They’re in the way. Behind me, I can hear Cassian trying to slice his way up the stairs, which is so f
BrieI open my eyes as I’m falling through thin air. I don’t even have time to scream before my body drops into water. Deep, rough water that drags me under the second I suck in a salty breath. I flail against the waves, trying to find the surface, but the undercurrent drags me down again, pulling me by my dress and tossing me upside down. My head hits something hard, and I screech, but the sound is empty. I suck in water, choking, and realize quite suddenly that I’m drowning. I go as still as possible, using the last of my energy to start moving with the current instead of against it, which turns out to be the best idea I’ve ever had, especially under duress. I open my eyes underwater, staring down at the shallows. It’s sunny. Daytime. And below, seaweed waves between large, gray rocks. Pockets of sunshine dance through the water, illuminating seashells in shades I’ve never seen before. Another wave crashes over the top of me, sending me rolling into even shallower water, and fina
MaeveCole and Misty have a beautiful suburban home in Shadowcrest. It’s always the same–always smells like freshly baked cookies and the flowers she keeps in vases all over the house. Tonight, as my toes brush the ground, and my powers funnel back into my body, it smells like… popcorn. “You pig! You’re not going to eat all of that.” Josie’s voice, so similar to her mother’s, drifts down the hallway. I landed in the foyer, which is dark, soft moonlight drifting in through the windows and casting the stairs and framed photos of the family in silver shadows. “If you wanted more, you should have added it to the order,” Adrian argues then yelps after a smacking sound reverberates toward me in the gloom. “Give me one of your tacos–”“Or what?”“I’ll tell Mom.”“She’s in Eastonia, dumbass. Hey!” A scuffle ensures. I have two seconds to jump into the shadow of Misty’s study just off the foyer when Cole walks down the stairs, still wearing his hospital scrubs. The sound of a shower running
LoganRyatt and Evander walk out of sight across the bridge connecting the barracks to the main streets of the city. I look out of my old bedroom window at the sunny glare casting shadows over the valley. The shadows move as the clouds dart across the sky toward the castle, toward my wife, who I’d much rather be with right now than here. I… I don’t have anything to pack. Anything that meant anything to me–my laptop, my fucking glasses–were lost in the shipwreck. I have the clothes on my back, and even those were borrowed from who-knows-where, left on the dresser in Brie’s bedroom by the ghost that haunts her house. She’s all I have, and it’s not like I can pack her in my duffle bag and take her with me. I crank open the window to let in some fresh air to cut through the overwhelmingly male smell of the barracks. I turn to my empty duffle bag with a sigh, bracing my hands on either side of it on the bed, and hang my head, but a whoosh of air rushes out behind me, and I turn in time
BrieThe moment my bedroom door closes behind us, Logan’s mouth is on mine. The lock slides into place with a soft click, and an even softer groan leaves his mouth when I reach up to run my fingers through his damp curls. He smells like rain and leather. Like the promise of warmth and comfort through another stormy night. And now this man–this loud, obnoxious, opinionated man… he’s mine. He presses a kiss to the ring he bought today on a whim. It’s a simple band of gold–that’s it. “I'll give you a better one when I return,” he promises, kissing the palm of my hand before his lips find mine again. “A ring with a diamond the old gods can see from the heavens.”“I don’t care about that.” I giggle as his hands glide down my sides, pulling me close. Outside, thunder booms, the room lighting in ribbons of blue as lightning splits the clouds, but in here, it’s warm. It’s private. It’s just us. He removes my cloak. It falls to the ground in a heap at my feet. He’s careful with the dress,
MaeveBrie is… radiant. She glows in her simple white dress of lace and satin, her hair falling loose over her back and shoulders as Logan slowly, tenderly, lowers the hood of her dark blue cloak. The temple is quiet and dim, moonlight flooding the altar. Logan knits his fingers in Brie’s and brings her knuckles to his lips, pressing a kiss against them. They’re bathed in silver, the windows behind them dancing in starlight. It’s beautiful, really. It’s what I envisioned for her, one day, what I thought would be… years from now. I watch my sister–the person I love the most in all of the world–intertwine her soul with someone else, forcing myself to unravel the ribbons binding my heart to hers. She doesn’t belong to me anymore. Logan looks at her as they kneel before the priestess in her silver robes. They lean into each other like being inches away is too far apart. And the look on his face as he brushes his lips over her temple… he loves her. He’s devoted–body, and soul. My heart
Brie“Tonight?”“Yes, tonight.”“How?” I laugh, taking a step away from him. “We-we can’t.”“We can,” he says breathlessly, shaking his head. “The temple stays open all night. We’d just need to find a priestess.”“We’d need a witness,” I whisper as the cogs in my mind start turning. “I’d need a dress–”“I’d marry you like this,” he says, taking my hands. “But please, for the love of the Goddess, marry me before I go.”I blink up at Logan, my heart swelling and squeezing simultaneously. There’s still a whisper in my mind that warns me that he could change his mind, that he can’t really want me, but I… banish it, giving myself to him fully. “Are you sure?” I ask, scanning his eyes. “I’ve never been more sure of anything. I want you to be my wife, Brie.”“I’m already your mate.”“It’s not enough.” He brushes my hair out of my face and kisses me, but a rush of air alerts us to a visitor making their way up the stairs to the tower. I pull away as a soft knock sounds on the door. Neither
BrieLogan steps into my dad’s office. All eyes turn to him as he scans the men–Sydney, Grandpa Ryatt, my father, a few others that serve both my father and grandfather as generals, captains, and commanders. Logan’s eyes are like polished, imperfect emeralds as he eyes my grandpa wearily, like he’s not entirely sure he understands what Ryatt just said to everyone in the room. “Brie, you don’t need to be here for this,” Aviva whispers behind me, knitting her fingers in mine. But Logan growls, “She stays.”A silent, heavy, creeping hint of tension scatters around the room. The entire castle would explode if someone lit a match right now, I’m sure. My spine tingles as Logan turns to Ryatt and says, calmly despite the bite in his voice, “There’s nothing in Emberfyll.”“Quite the contrary,” my grandfather replies immediately, rounding my father’s desk, his shadow powers simmering and coiling around his fingers, “Debris has been washing up on the southern shore of Tarsian for decades now.
LoganBrie looks exhausted, but otherwise… happy, thank the Goddess, as she sits between her mother and Misty, listening to their conversation and picking at a sandwich. I lean my elbows on the table across the room where I’m sitting in silence, alone, still waiting for my mind to catch up with my body after Maeve jumped with us from the middle of the ocean to Veiled Valley. A shadow moves into view, crossing through the doorway before a shadow breaches the informal living area. Ryan looks around before turning the corner, beelining for me, waving away several rushed questions coming from the group of women on the couches nearby. He braces his hands on the table beside me, leaning down to whisper into my ear, “I need to speak to you in private before Ryatt returns. Can you come with me?”I glance at Brie, who’s watching us with her brows furrowed in worry. I suck my teeth before nodding, and Ryan moves back a step so I can stand. Brie and I have been using the mind-link as much as
BrieI pull the stool out from under my vanity, sinking down and facing Blake. I’m older than him by a few months. We’ve always been close, even when we were younger, and he tended to want to play rowdy boy games with Aris. He always sat quietly and played tea-party with me, though, without fail. He’s also the pariah of the family and knows it. His powers rival Ryatt’s, which is a terrifying thought. In fact, I often question who’s more powerful–him or Maeve? But that’s not a fair question at the moment, given that Maeve’s powers aren’t even fully developed yet. Blake, however… he exudes energy that makes my skin tingle as he sits in my desk chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “You found us, didn’t you?” He nods, a flash of guilt darkening his irises. “I admit I didn’t even look until Maeve cornered me. She felt you, she said. Sensed your arrival back in our waters.”I wonder how much Logan told the family. Probably everything, I’m sure. That man can talk, and I love that abou