ALEKSANDR Rieka’s presence has calmed me and helped me to cope with the loss of my father, but I have to keep reminding myself that she needs to be taken care of as well, and right now what she needs more than anything is to be reunited with her children.I knew Drea was going to speak with Amber about her taking the kids for a few days so she could go home to her family and get some rest, but I was unsure if it would work out. We don’t really know Amber and it was hard to say if she would allow Drea to take the kids. At least the older kids know Drea and can tell Amber that they trust us and want to come here. When Drea mind-linked me that she was on her way back and she had the kids with her I couldn’t wait to tell Rieka. She didn’t know how the kids would respond, so she didn’t tell them that their mom was here, but as soon as I told Rieka that they were on their way she couldn’t contain her excitement. It brought me joy to finally see a smile on her face, and although I was s

RIEKA “Kids, there’s something we need to tell you.” We all sat in a circle in the game room. Aleksandr, Vasilisa, and I were on the sofa. Calvin was on my lap, Alex was in a gaming rocker on the floor, and Aria and Eden were cuddled up together in a giant beanbag chair. I picked at the cuticles of my nails, a nervous habit of mine, before I glanced up to meet my kids eyes. They looked nervous and I knew that it was my fault. They could feel my nerves and it was affecting them. Pull it together, I cursed at myself. “You kids know that Aleksandr saved me, but what you don’t know is that he had an entire army that helped him—” “Is he in the military?!?” Eden interrupted. “No, not exactly, but he is a leader. Some of his men died in the battle to save me… and one of those men was his father.” Tears immediately sprung from Aria and Eden’s eyes, and Alex looked completely shocked at this information. I hate seeing them cry and wish I could just stop here, but I already starte

RIEKA He loves me. I heard him say that he actually loves me. I knew that he was attracted to me and wanted to be with me, but in the back of my mind, I think I was still blaming the mate bond, even if I had accepted it. But this was different. The mate bond doesn’t force you to love. There was absolutely nothing holding me back now. I fell into his arms kissing him like he was the oxygen I needed to breath. He responded with an equal amount of passion and need, but I noticed his hands gently moved from my waist up to my neck and then softly cupped my cheeks as he returned my affections. I realized he was probably being careful not to mess up my hair that Drea had worked so hard on. I felt the warmth in my chest growing and the butterflies under my skin everywhere he touched me. I knew that I felt the same, but for some reason I was still scared to say it out loud. Instead, I put all of my love into this kiss, praying that he could feel it and understand my emotions throug

ALEKSANDR Rieka recoiled away from me as the fire in her eyes grew by the second. If it were possible, I would have expected to see steam pouring from her ears, but I still had no idea what I’d said that flipped her mood so quickly. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Apparently, that added fuel to the fire, and she quickly rose to her feet and put some distance between us. My wolf began to whimper at the distance and the fact that our mate was so furious with us. I began to reach for her but could see that she wanted space and my efforts just kept making everything worse. “Please just tell me why you’re upset.” I pleaded. She threw her hands up in the air and spun around as she tried to calm herself enough to form words, but my wolf was loving the view as she spun around. I had to shove him back down so we didn’t make things worse. Now was not the time to get turned on, even if seeing her angry was extremely sexy. Maybe some other time when her anger is not directed at me. “What g

ALEKSANDR Watching Rieka all morning, it was obvious that she was warring with her emotions. Everyone could see it and we all gave her space, but I couldn’t focus much. My eyes kept seeking her out, but each time I looked at her my heart cracked open a little more. For the first time in my life all I wanted to do was neglect all my responsibilities as Alpha and whisk her away to try and fix everything. Why does everything have to be so complicated for us? Will we ever catch a break and just have time to be happy together? The morning drug on for what felt like an eternity, but finally the house cleared out and we had a moment to breath and take a real break for lunch. Lucy knew that we would be too busy talking to eat most of the hors d’oeuvres she had prepared, so for lunch she made some amazing comfort foods including gourmet burgers, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, waffle fries, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. The kids joined us for lunch and Rieka seemed to brighten