Seventy-three:Mason Crescent The fight had been brutal. Not everyone had survived. The hunters were dead. Oliver was dead. Barrett, who had been a traitor the whole time, was dead. We were in one of the witches homes. Valentina had ended up getting burned alive. She was dead. Turned to ash. Edwina was almost drained of her power. My wife, my precious Mia, was hanging from a thread. She lay on one of the beds in the guest room of one of the high priestesses of the coven. I didn’t even know the woman’s name. All I could focus was that Mia was near death. It seemed that the rumors of mates dying when the other died were just that. Rumors. But when she was weak, I could feel it. I was struggling to even bring myself to her side. “Brother,” said Cole, “are you alright?” I reached out and I grasped my wife’s hand as though simply by touching her that I would be able to gain some of her strength. Or maybe ma
Seventy-four:Mia Crescent Somehow, I had survived the fight. Mason took me back to New York. Valentina was dead. My uncle was dead. My brother was dead. And Edwina had nearly died in the process, but she had managed to survive somehow. There was also something strange that had passed between her and Cole that I couldn’t explain. One day, back in New York when Harper and I had been reunited, I had been having lunch with her in the big kitchen as Mason was off working on something pack related for me. I heard fighting coming down the stairs. “We’re not talking about this,” Edwina hissed. “We have to,” this came from Cole. The two of them came into the kitchen. They didn’t even notice me and Harper sitting inn the kitchen together as they talked. “It was stupid!” Edwina shouted. “I made a mistake. That’s it. We’re not going to do anything. It’s wrong.” “Look, you’re from the same world as me,” said Cole
One Mia Conner Pregnant. I stare down at the pregnancy test before me, shocked. I wasn't someone that slept around. I'd had a fling once, on vacation, and now my entire life had changed because of one small mistake. I didn't remember the guy's name. I'd been drunk. We both had. All that I remembered about him was that he had a crescent moon for a tattoo. I couldn't believe that I'd wound up like this. "Mia, are you okay?" someone asked. I wrapped the pregnancy test in toilet paper and then I slipped it into my purse. I pushed the door open, and was surprised to see my best friend Brooklyn standing there. Brooklyn was a tall, skinny brunette girl who worked for Crescent Industries, a tech company that made apps for hospitals. She was a programmer and could usually be found behind a computer. She'd been hired by them right out of college. Of course, it had helped that her brother, Mason Crescent, owned the company. But Brooklyn was working on creating her own app so she could go
Two Mason Crescent "I don't think it's a good idea." My younger sister Brooklyn was a tiny, blond thing but you wouldn't know it by looking at her right then. At that moment, her blue eyes were blazing at me with fury. "Why not?" Brooklyn demanded. "You know Mia. She's my best friend. She's extremely capable and she---" "I've offered her the job before," I said, "she wouldn't take it. She said she'd rather get run over by a bus then work for me. What could have possibly changed since the last time that I asked?" Brooklyn grinned. "She's pregnant." I stilled at her words. "Pregnant?" Brooklyn nodded. "She thinks it happened at Meredith's bachelorette party. You know, in Vegas? And the two of you disappeared and well…" I knew what the and well was. Because I hadn't told Brooklyn why I had been so hard on her little friend ever since I met her. Once I told her the truth, that would completely change their dynamic. But if Mia was pregnant, the child was definitely mine. Because w
Three Mia Conner Three years later The culinary fellowship had been a gift. I didn't even remember applying for it, but after I got pregnant with my daughter, things had been so busy that sometimes I didn't even remember my own name. It was in California, and I took my daughter and moved to a small suburb there called Delta. I worked at their small, community college and taught pastry making. I'd started out as an assistant, but after graduating with my masters, I'd gotten the teaching position. Today was my last day in the program though. Even with a three-year-old, I'd still managed to save up enough money for my bakery. Within the last few months, I'd bought a place, and I had enough money to finally start working on it. Things would be tight for a while, but once I had the shop, I would finally be my own boss. "We're going to miss you!" my co-worker, Stacy, said. She was one of the other faculty members on the staff. She taught hospitality management. She hugged me tightly, a
Four Mason Crescent "What are you doing?" I demanded. I stormed into my sister's office the minute he had seen the e-mail about the new hire. Rachel Conner was Mia Conners aunt. And, according to the company wide e-mail my sister had just sent, she was also going to be the new secretary working for me. Brooklyn smiled. "I'm helping out family." I glared at her. Inside, my wolf was pacing, and it howled with anger. Whenever it did that, my eyes blazed yellow and Brooklyn must have seen it. Her eyes blazed yellow too as if in response. "Don't take that attitude with me. Mason, Mia is your mate, and you've stayed away from her long enough. Harper's your daughter. You deserve to be happy and I don't want to see you die because you're too stubborn to be with her. Rejecting her is making you weak. You need to embrace happiness." I clenched my jaw. "She'll get killed." "You don't know that," said Mia, "the world isn't the same place that it was years ago. Everyone knows that our family
Five Mia Conner For the first time in my life, I didn't have anyone to answer to. I woke up early, had breakfast with my daughter, and I took her to pre-school. I then had to pick some things up for the bakery and by the time that I was done with everything, it was already lunch time. I went to a restaurant nearby and I got a sandwich and some lemonade to drink. I was sitting on one of the outdoor tables when a shadow fell over me. "Mia Conner?" a voice said. I looked up, and was surprised to see Sullivan Carina in front of me. Sullivan was one of the werewolves that had announced themselves to the world in recent years. We'd gone to college together. He was around my age, twenty-something. He was tall, with blond hair, and blue eyes. "Oh my god! Hi." I got up and gave him a hug. "What were you doing there?" "My family is opening a new branch of their company here. I was sent to help oversee the California branch." I smiled. "That's amazing, I'm so happy for you." "Than
Six Mason Crescent "---and you know, Mia's daughter is just the cutest. Harper? She's three, but she's already super smart for her age." Rachel Conner had been rambling since she started her first day. The woman was nice enough. Mason remembered that about her. But he hadn't remembered how chatty she was. The last thing he wanted to deal with was her talking all day, especially about Mia. Since he had decided not to be with Mia, he had been losing his strength that came with being a werewolf. He also couldn't shift anymore. But his werewolf was still there, just tired and unable to be the fearsome thing that he once was when he still had the title of Alpha. "Rachel, that's all very interesting, but I do actually have a meeting that I have to get to." "Oh," said Rachel, "that's fine. Actually---" her cell phone rang, and Mason winced. "Oh, hi, Mia. Yeah, the job is going great. I'm actually here with Mason right now. Do you want to sa