Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“I’m going to kill him,” Kai vowed in my head, drawing closer.
“He shouldn’t have been able to harm you through the connection,” Brax snarled, and I shook out their questions so I could get a clear head and explain, hoping I was right and they wouldn’t blame me.
“I uh, I kind of did something.”
“What?” Derik asked, his brow creasing.
“I really pissed him off.”
“That’s my luna,” Kai snickered, his presence almost with me.
“What’d you do, Spitfire?” Brax asked gently.
I took a deep breath and let the words out in a rush.
“He offered me an out where we all survive. All I had to do was marry him, and he’d let everyone live. He’d rule them and become King of us all, but I would be at his side. He promised you guys and Enzi and Zale would stay safe but locked up where I could still have access to you, but I refused and clawed at him. He had his vampires rush in and pin me down, bite me, but my magic was with me, my shadows too, and took them all out, leaving me with him. I promised to kill him, and he did the same. He said they’re coming to kill us all.”
My head was silent as Derik frowned, harder and harder. Brax was even quiet as he took in the information. Finally, the silence was too much.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have antagonized him and made the situation worse, but he said that was the only offer he was going to make, and I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t be with him like that or betray the mating bond like that, and I know we are strong enough to beat him; we have to be–“
“We’re not mad, beautiful. It’s just… You shouldn’t have been able to take them all down like that. You shouldn’t have been able to be harmed in there, and you shouldn’t have been able to fight Silas in there. It’s a lot to take in. The rules of our world seem to be changing, and I don’t know how we are meant to change with them when we don’t know what they are anymore,” Derik admitted, his frown harder.
I climbed into his lap and kissed the V away, brushing my thumb along it.
“I know, but we can do this. We can beat him. His face said it all; he’s scared. Of me, of the border magic. I think that’s why he hasn’t killed Adrenna yet. He isn’t sure what it can do and knows it makes us strong.”
“Fucking vampires, they’ll die at my teeth if they come for us,” Kai said, bursting into the room, shirtless, brushing his hair back. I smiled up at him and nodded.
“They will. We won’t let them hurt us or the pack. And if we get Adrenna on our side, we’ll have even more of a chance.”
Derik nodded as Brax spoke in our minds.
“Zale and Enzi need you, Spitfire; I think they sensed that you were gone. As for the vampire thing, we’ve got shadows, border magic, a beast, and a pack with three alphas. They have numbers. We take that away, and we’ll win this,” Brax said.
I saw the flash of a plan in his mind and grinned as we stood up. I needed to see the twins. Kai and Derik followed me as I contemplated Brax’s idea.
“You think if we send out hunting parties to take out the vamps bit by bit, it will slowly diminish their only advantage?” I said, and Brax agreed in the link. It could work if we could find vamps alone. And assuming they weren’t about to attack us because I pissed Silas off.
“I’m going to get the council together and discuss security, as well as get plans in place for when the vampires attack,” he said. “They’ll be interested to know the new information we have.”
“What new information?” I asked, as Derik tried to veer off down a different hall.
“That we have a way to hurt them in their minds. That Silas wants to bridge the gap with someone as powerful as you. That he is scared of you,” Derik said with a smile, and I smirked in response.
“He should be. I have mama wolf instincts now and three killer alphas at my beck and call.”
Derik’s smile widened, and he kissed me softly. “That you do, beautiful,” he confirmed. Then he brushed his thumb over my lip and left me with Kai.
“No more mind connecting for now, okay, Little Luna?” Kai said as we headed toward the nursery.
“Probably a good idea. I still want to talk to Tabby though.”
“She’ll make the trip. It’s taxing on her, but under the circumstances, I think she’ll be agreeable,” Kai said. I thought that too, so I left it at that and moved into his arm.
He wrapped it around me as we walked, his warmth covering me in comfort.
I felt so safe there, like nothing could get to me. No matter what tried, they wouldn’t
–couldn’t–break us. I hoped like hell that was true because that pit feeling I’d had for so long was still there.
I thought it would have dissipated after finding Zale and getting that whole feeling I had been missing, but it hadn’t. The wholeness was there, but it was heavy, not light and airy as I expected to feel.
“Maybe it’s because you worry too much,” Kai teased, kissing the top of my head.
“I don’t think so. I think it has to do with the witches, humans, and vampires that are constantly trying to kill us.”
Kai had nothing to say to that. He curled me tighter against him, walking us into the nursery.
Brax met me with a soft kiss before handing Zale over. He was fidgeting, upset, but as soon as I had him in my arms, his eyes stopped leaking and he stared. Such a wide, bright stare before he grabbed my finger.
I smiled down at him as he sent through his feelings in bits of shadow. He had been scared; he couldn’t feel me. I reassured him I was fine, sending that comforting warmth to both him and Enzi, who was fussing for Kai.
They calmed down, and I spent the next hour with them, holding them, cuddling them until my eyes grew heavy with sleep.
The twins were fed and bathed, sleeping in their crib with Brax curled up between my legs on the settee. Kai was by the window, looking out of it, watching. He was so tense, on guard, the vampires giving him the worst case of insomnia I had ever seen.
There was a light tap on the door, and Mom came in.
“How are you doing, Sweetie?” she asked in a whisper, as Brax snored loudly, shuffling in his sleep with a low whine coming out as he gripped my legs. I brushed my fingers through his hair, comforting him even in sleep, before looking up at Mom.
“I’m okay. How are you and the humans?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Good. They’ve adapted surprisingly well considering what we’ve all grown up hearing. They’re blending in and assimilating to this life, even making friends with the wolves. It’s…peaceful,” she said with a smile. I grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze.
“I am glad,” I said truthfully. I had been worried about the buddy system and the wolves, but since I had their shifting working, they were mostly able to control what went on inside them.
The only concern now was the heat and how that was going to affect everything.
But the humans had a safety bunker now that they had been building. It was strong enough to keep werewolves and vamps out, with an escape route if needed.
Hopefully, we didn’t need it, but just in case. Even on a full moon, it might be helpful. If we survived the winter, of course.
“Where’s Galen? He’s usually following you everywhere,” I teased.
She blushed. “He’s checking on Ryleigh. She may be in labor, so he is monitoring her and the baby overnight.”
“Oh, that’s exciting.”
“Yeah, it is,” she said with a smile, then looked over at Kai, to Brax, then to the door.
“Something wrong?” I asked, and she shrugged, patting her dress down, playing with the hem.
“I just–I just wonder how long we’re going to pretend that things are okay? I mean, there is a beast in the barn. The witch is out there. The Elders have just told us about the vampires confirming their intent to attack. It makes my head spin, and I find it hard to sleep at the moment with it all,” she admitted with a sigh, and my heart clenched for her.
She was normally my rock, the one I turned to for advice and help, but this time?
She needed me, and I had to be the one to comfort her. I slowly pulled myself from Brax and went to Mom, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her in.
“I love you, Mom, and we’re going to be okay. I promise,” I said, knowing I had to keep it now. I had every intention of doing it before, but now, I had a word to stick to. I couldn’t let her down.
“I trust that. I don’t mean to despair. I’m just tired,” she said, and I held her tighter.
“I know. But it’ll be over soon, and we’ll be able to sleep. Both of us.”
She nodded against me and held me back. I’m not sure how long we sat like that, but before I knew it, Galen was waking us up. He lifted Mom, who was still sleeping, into his arms. I went to protest, but he stepped back.
“I’ll get her to bed without waking her. She needs the sleep.”
I hesitated, then nodded. “And Ryleigh?”
“I think we may have a baby by the weekend. I can’t be certain, but I believe it will be Sunday, three days from now, and that child will be born,” he prophesied. He was good at specifics, so I trusted that, smiling as he walked out of the room.
Once he was gone, I stretched, looking for the alphas that had been in the room when I had fallen asleep. They weren’t there.
I went over to the bassinets, my heart racing at the emptiness.
***
“Where the fuck are they?” I demanded in the link.
“Calm down, Spitfire. Kai and I have them in the dining hall. They woke up, and we didn’t want them to wake you,” Brax said in my mind, and I let out a breath. Then I ran to the dining hall.
There weren’t many people or wolves there, and the ones that were had meals in front of them. They were eating and talking to each other as Brax, Kai, and Derik sat at their table with the twins.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?