This is the first time that Nathan and I have been alone since the morning that our parents found us naked and snuggled together in the cave. It isn’t the first time that we’ve seen each other. We’ve had to justify ourselves to a lot of people over this past week. Everyone is pissed, particularly at Nathan. They think that he took advantage of me, because apparently all of wolfdom knew how I felt about Nathan. Well, everyone except him. He thought I had gotten over those feelings a long time ago. They say that I’m a victim of all of this. But they aren’t just worried about me. They’re worried about Nyx, too. How could he have completely have forgotten about her? How could he have sex with me just after their matebond was severed? Did he even love her in the first place? They thought that he was better than all of this. As one of the two people that were in that cave, nothing could be further from the truth. Nathan was absolutely gutted by the loss of his matebond to

I wake up to the feeling of a man’s arm around my waist, my head cushioned on his chest. His hand strokes my hair, helping me to slowly wake up. For a few seconds, I can pretend. Pretend that the male touching me, that ravaged me last night, that will likely take me this morning, that makes my body respond and my heart feel like it’s going to leap out of my chest is him. Nathan. And then, Lucifer speaks. “Good morning, mate,” Lucifer purrs to me, his hand coming down to tilt my chin up. The feeling of his touch sends small sparks racing up my skin wherever he touches me, a pale imitation of what I felt when I touched Nathan. But that bond is gone. And as much as Lucifer has tortured and imprisoned me, I’m bonded to him. He’s my mate by prophecy and magick. It’s been just over a week since the bond between Nathan and I was forcibly broken. That was the oddest combination of sensations. The feeling of complete despair and my soul cleaving in two as the bond was br

Slade and I hold on tightly to each other’s hands. It has been really hard for the two of us lately. Not that it hasn’t been harder for Ryder having to deal with his wolf arriving way too early or our other children. But that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s hard for the two of us as well. We’ve barely slept. Barely ate. One of us has to be with Ryder at all times, though both of us tend to stay with him. We never know if talk it out or brute strength is going to be needed to calm him and his wolf. And it’s not just staying up with Ryder’s wolf that we have to worry about. We have to send him away. We have to send him up north to learn how to control his wolf and we aren’t going to be able to go with him. We need to stay here to prepare for the war. Another fucking thing to add what’s keeping the two of us awake at night. Right now, Ryder is with Brandon and Zak who are in town for the War Councils that we’ve been participating in. They might not be alpha and

I had seen Alex and JoJo when I arrived back in the room. Before going to her meeting with the gods, Selene had brought me back to my mates. Of course, Hermes was already there, so I didn’t get to see him. But that was to my advantage. I needed to see him on his own. When he walked in, the sight of him nearly took my breath away. He’s so fucking beautiful. The blonde hair, the tanned and toned muscles, and those electric blue eyes are like they are sculpted from a wet dream. One that I’ve been having ever since I first saw him. And, of course, the first thing that I say to him is completely profound. “Hey.” “Jacob,” he whispers. The sound of my name coming off of his lips is hot enough that it makes my toes curl. Again with the profound statements, I say, “I’m home.” Home. It’s funny that I would call Valhalla home. I’ve never been here before. But that isn’t the home that I’m talking about. I’m talking about the home that is being in my mates’ arms. Being wit

You would have thought that Freya and my relationship would be really awkward after not just having sex, but also having to justify our decision to everyone in our lives. I had been afraid that it would be awkward, but it wasn’t. We talked about it like mature adults. We agreed that if anything else happened, then it happened, but we weren’t looking to change our relationship. There seemed to be very few negatives in this arrangement, especially since we both decided to go about things like we always hand. I’m not saying that we acted like it didn’t happen. There were definite looks between the two of us that were more than something that you would see with people that were just friends. And I did once ask Freya if she had been ok with losing her virginity to me, even though we weren’t in a relationship. Her response floored me. “I didn’t lose my virginity, Nate. It’s not like I’m out here looking for it. I gave it to you.” That is the biggest positive thing that