Christian’s POVMax forced his way to the surface and leapt straight through the window in the study. He has been running through the forest for a little while, Caleb is right behind us but keeping his distance, Hunter must have sent Gerald and his wolf, Titan. I’ve caught the occasional glimpse of his uniquely striped, grey and brown, coat weaving between the trees to my right. The thought of something happening to Liberty and Justice is too much, then add to that the revelation about our mother, I’m not surprised Max needed to get out of there and run.Everything Liberty said sounded like a work of fiction, until she mentioned the gown the woman was wearing. Blue, with sequins and beads at the bottom, it’s too similar to be a coincidence, and Esme’s one word answer confirmed the crazy thoughts rolling around in my mind. What liberty saw was my mother in the past, but also herself in the future. They are the only two people who would ever wear that dress. My father in the past, me in
Marcel’s POVTwenty five years is a drop in the ocean to my kind, not even two percent of my life so far. It has to be said, in over a millennia, I have never awaited a moment with such eager anticipation. The convergence of so many fates, their paths influenced and manipulated by forces beyond their comprehension.Everything has played out exactly how they said it would, the chronicles have remained undiscovered until today, entrusted into the guardianship of a most unlikely friend and comrade. All the players in the future war are in place, the only thing missing from the volatile mix is a catalyst.I postulate for a moment that it should be called The Present War now. It’s been coming for so long it started to feel like we would never catch up with the future, yet here we are, on the cusp of our making, or demise. The elders, for all their wisdom, never saw the outcome. All we have been able to do is stack the odds in our favour, recruit the most powerful clans and covens, set whee
Liberty’s POV I made polite conversation on our way back to the pack house, but I remember very little of it. The whole time my head was spinning with Marcel’s accidental revelation. A pup. I am pregnant, right now. Esme has known this whole time. I hadn’t seen the signs as they happened, but looking back, they are as clear as day. The way she touched my stomach and told me we would talk later, when she insisted that I take better care of myself and eat properly, telling me I need to rest and that stress is not good for me. I took it all with a pinch of salt and assumed she was just being my overprotective Aunt. This cant be right. Christian and Zander didn’t look or feel surprised by the news either. When Marcel’s words sunk in, I felt like I was falling down a rabbit hole into some crazy world where nothing made sense. They, on the other hand, seemed barely fazed. Even Christian, Christian… I don’t know exactly what has happened in the last day or so, or what is going on with my ma
Hunter’s POVMy beast watches the affectionate display of our Alpha through my eyes. I feel his yearning for his mate and my mind drifts back to Esme as it has many times today. She has kept herself to herself since getting here, only leaving her room when Zander bumped into her earlier. I know people change, and sixteen years is a long time, but she is nothing like the young woman I used to know. It’s like she isn’t really here or present in the moment. From our talk this morning, I know she has a lot on her mind. I had hoped to be able to shoulder some of her burden, but typical Esme, she refused to relinquish anything more than she felt the need to.The main hall is absolutely crammed with the entire pack, it’s like stepping back in time to when the late Alpha and Luna sat up here, with their boys at their sides. They have all come to see their Luna, and no doubt decide for themselves if the rumours about her are true. Some of the talk has been very entertaining, like the story of
Liberty’s POVThe soft, cradle of the sofa cushions does absolutely nothing to help me fight the tiredness creeping into my bones. I roll my head, stretching my neck and fighting a yawn that would surely swallow the word. Today has been the longest day ever, and coming from me that is saying something, trust me.“We can put this off until tomorrow love, you should rest.” Christian reasons with me, his body blocks the lamp light and casts a shadow over me and about half of the sofa. I love the way his voice still has a gruff undertone even though he softens it whenever he speaks to me. It’s such a contrast to the way he sounds when he addresses anyone else, apart from Lottie maybe.“I will be okay, and I’m not sure I would get much rest knowing how much has gone unsaid and that trust is spread a little thin right now.” I look over at Hunter and Marcel, silently making my point.“Very well, but if you get too tired, you let us know. There is nothing we say tonight that we cannot say tom
Uriel’s POV“WAKEY WAKEY FUCKERS” My bellowing voice carries down the long concrete corridor and I bang my fist on every door as I walk from one end to the other. I can’t sleep, so the pretty boys don’t get to sleep either. Early morning training will give them all something to complain about, I’m sure.“It’s 4am Beta.” A brave but stupid soul grumbles and sticks his head around his door.“You think the pack’s security is nine to five, get your lazy ass up. Everyone is to report to the training field in ten minutes.The lLast man there gets the privilege of being my demo buddy.” My words are drowned out by twenty new recruits hastily getting their shit together and grumbling like crotchety old men. It’s music to my ears. I walk away shaking my head, not even bothering to hide the shit eating grin on my face.Yeah, yeah, I know, maybe I could have given them fifteen minutes, but what’s the fun in that? So, they don’t get to comb their hair and ponce about drinking coffee, at least I’ll
Zander’s POVI swear to the Goddess, if those two don’t have a bloody good reason for waking me with their nonsense so early, I might just have their pelts for area rugs in our new suite.“Still awake then?” Christian asks over the link, so as not to disturb Liberty’s sleep.“How did you know?” I huff, lifting my forearm to lay across my closed eyes. The rain is beating, hard against the window and the wind is rattling the shutters. It’s peaceful, an almost hypnotic kind of white noise, despite the ferocity of its source. I think the storm Liberty has warned us about might be on its way.“I can feel you seething from over here.” The fucker replies with a hint of amusement. There is literally only Liberty separating us, I’m not surprised he can feel my displeasure with our half wit Betas. Though, to be honest, most of my foul mood is from thinking about what the day has in store for us.“Mmm, well, it doesn’t seem like you are in a much better mood.” I try to shut him down and get a fe
Liberty’s POV The tension in the study is suffocating and everyone is on edge. I can’t say I’m surprised after last night, it was a lot for certain people to get their heads around. Poor Hunter has been put in the middle by his history with Aunt Esme and his Beta ties to me. Uriel went off on some kind of ‘kick the troops in the pants’ campaign, in the early hours of this morning. I don’t really know enough about all of that to have an opinion. None of my visions have included much detail about the warriors, which frustrates me to no end. Justice and Ari have been working together over their link whilst I have spent time with Christian and Zander. Ari has been mentoring Justice on our gifts and how to use them effectively. She has told Justice more about what they actually are, and how to tap into them when needed, rather than a sudden vision putting me on my arse for hours. That’s the most inconvenient thing about it all. When I’m not prepared it’s so draining. I have forced a coup