Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“I know that, sweetheart.” I finished the last of the burrito and tossed the garbage in another nearby can. We’d reached the edge of town. The sidewalk led beyond the row of shops and restaurants toward the docks.
She looked at me. “There will be so many of them.”Leaving Lanie, Zane, and Mason to keep walking ahead of us, I stopped and tugged Stella’s sleeve to make her pause. “Are you seeing something bad? Something you should tell us?”
She hesitated. “There are so many branches, Daddy. And we don’t win at the end of every one of them. I’m doing my best to keep us on the paths that lead to our victory, but…everything we do could change the future. I mean, everything and anything.”
I wasn’t really sure I understood what that meant. I didn’t have visions. I’d never been touched by the Moon Goddess in that way. For me, reality was what I could touch. Punch. Kick. What I could fight with my fists, not with my mind.
“Look. There’s the yacht.” Stella pointed. I was happy to see the grin spread across her cheeks. “It’s called The Eclipse. That’s why I booked this one. It was the only one that had a moon name.”
“Great,” I said, but my enthusiasm didn’t match hers.
I watched her as she ran up ahead to push herself between Zane and Lanie, so she could link arms with her mother. They bent their heads together, laughing as Stella pointed out the yacht. I could hear her telling Lanie about the name, too.
I wasn’t as excited. It might have been the only boat that had a moon name, but that didn’t seem to me like the good omen my daughter obviously thought it was.
After all, an eclipse is when one celestial body blocks the light of another one and makes it go dark.
Gabriela–
My son and his mates, along with Stella, had left two days ago, and I could no longer hide their absence from Malachi. The Ancient vampire finally showed up at the door to our quarters, and he’d brought Braden with him.
“They’re not here,” I said.
Malachi scowled. “I know that. I came to make you tell me where they went. I can’t have my granddaughter floating around out there, unsafe and unprotected.”
“She’s hardly unprotected, Malachi. She’s with her mates and her daughter. I shouldn’t have to remind you what Stella is capable of.”
In seconds, faster than I could blink or take a breath, he’d crossed the room to grab me. His fangs descended as he bent me back, aiming for my throat. My wolf was on the surface in an instant, snarling.
“Malachi!” Braden snapped. “Back the fuck off of her.”
We were seconds away from going to battle.
“The children,” Braden reminded us. “Both of you. Stand down.”
I was caught in Malachi’s grip of Ancient vampire strength. His fangs, scant inches from my throat. It would take so little for him to tear out my jugular vein. I’d bleed out in moments.
“The children,” I told him as I forced my wolf to retreat.With a snarl that sounded almost wolflike, Malachi let me go and turned his back on me. He moved like a flash, back and forth, before coming to a halt. His eyes shone crimson.
“You are more of a fool than I ever thought you could be,” he said. “Do you know your son is certainly on his way to certain death?”
I lifted my chin. “My son is an adult, and an Alpha. He is doing what he feels is right to protect his family. I’m here to do the same for my grandpups.”
“Where did they go? Don’t make me rip it out of your mind, Gabriela. It will leave you worse off than you already are.”
“What does that mean?”
“Never mind,” Braden said, stepping between us. “Where did they go?”
“Fallen Crest,” I said.
Malachi staggered back. Actually staggered, like I’d hit him. I wish I had.
“The one place you can’t go,” I told him with a thin grin.
Not because it was forbidden. Somehow, I doubted Malachi would honor any injunction, even if he’d made it himself. Malachi could not go to Fallen Crest, because the residents of the dead city would be desperate to consume his vampire energy as one of the few ways they could experience what it felt like to be alive again. Even an Ancient wouldn’t be able to stand against them.
Without a word, Malachi spun away out of the room. Braden paused in the doorway. “Sorry about that. I’ll see if I can talk some sense into him.”Then he left, too. I followed, scanning the hallway. But then, something stopped me from looking at anything.
I couldn’t see.
Nothing, not even darkness. I blinked and blinked, but I couldn’t clear my vision. I could hear the twins babbling to themselves in their room, so I held back my cry of alarm.
“I won’t show you,” I muttered, not sure where the words were coming from. “I won’t. Show. I won’t show you.”
A sharp pain stabbed me between the eyes, hard enough to force a yelp out of me. I clamped my lips closed against another rising moan. I didn’t want the pups to hear me. They would worry. They were my responsibility. I had to protect them.
I fumbled with my pocket, feeling for my phone. This time, my soft cry was of relief as I found it and pulled it out. I couldn’t see the screen to dial the number, but I was able to swipe it. I heard a click as the facial recognition kicked in.
“Call Dr. Alonius,” I ordered it, praying the voice recognition would also work.
Hot tears sprang from my eyes at the sound of the phone ringing. Then, the brisk male tones in a voice I shouldn’t find so familiar yet somehow, did. Like I’d known him my entire life and any lives I’d lived before this one. Maybe all the ones I’d have when this one ended.
I heard my own voice describing the problems in shaky, broken tones. I was barely finished when he broke in to interrupt.
“I’ll be there right away.”And he was. Not ten minutes passed before the knock came at the door. I’d been standing frozen, scared to move in case I stumbled into something and hurt myself or alerted the twins to my problem.
“Come in!” I called, hoping it was him and not Malachi or someone else.
“Gabriela.” The doctor’s warm tones greeted me only moments before his hand rested on my shoulder. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I fumbled the words, keeping my voice low. Not really sure what to say.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I said.
I felt myself enfolded in a strong, warm embrace. Instant comfort flooded me. I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open or closed as I pressed my face against a strong, broad chest.
“I’ve got you,” he said. “I’m here. You’re safe with me.”
Mason–
Under any other circumstances, being on this luxury yacht would’ve been the vacation of a lifetime.
The skipper, Captain Jon, greeted us with glasses of champagne and explained apologetically that he’d be the only crew on board for this trip. He said the words with a hint of confusion in his voice, like he didn’t quite understand what he was saying.
He showed us belowdecks to the small but fancy cabins. None were big enough for all four of us, but we’d have to deal. This trip was only about luxury on the surface. We all had other things on our minds rather than who got to cuddle up with who.
The tour included a peek into the galley, a small dining room, and then abovedecks to take a look at the wheelhouse. Captain Jon briefly demonstrated the helm and all the equipment.
“How is she in storms?” Xander asked. He sounded a little nervous.
I couldn’t blame him. I was, too. Even the minor rocking of the boat at anchor was enough to get my heart racing. Out of all of us, only Stella and the captain didn’t seem at all worried.
Jon grinned. “She’ll weather storms just fine. Why? Are you expecting some?”
“I guess I should ask you that question,” Xander said.
The captain’s gaze turned a little foggy. “No. No storms.”
I looked off to the horizon and the dark clouds there. “You sure about that?”
“We have to go, no matter how bad the weather gets. I’m making him see only sunny skies. Don’t poke him, Abba,” Stella scolded through our family link.It turned out that Stella was doing more than making Captain Jon see only sunny skies. She was making him believe he could crew this yacht all by himself, a feat that was only possible because we were not the usual crew of rich tourists demanding gourmet meals and turn-down service.
“But…he really can sail the ship. Right?” Xander asked when we were all gathered on the back deck, watching the land recede into the distance.
Stella shaded her eyes for a moment before taking a seat in a padded deck chair attached to the deck with a chain. There was a bit of exasperation in her tone, but also fondness. “Yes, Daddy.”
“She doesn’t want there to be more people involved than have to be,” Lanie told him.
Xander frowned and stared out over the water. “How long will it take us to get there?”
I could tell he was hating how little control he had over any of this. I felt that, too. We were supposed to be the ones leading, and all we’d been doing since we left Brightsky was following. Blindly, at that.
The yacht hit a wave, and we all grabbed for the closest solid thing to hold onto. I gripped a small cafe table bolted to the deck. Zane fell backward into another deck chair. Lanie and Xander grabbed the railings.
Above us, the sky got darker.
The storms held off, though, until night. Captain Jon had powered us miles out to sea, then prepared an easy dinner for us and served it in the dining room. As he filled his plate, he dropped a steak knife. It landed point-down, stuck in the floor.
“Oops,” he said. “Clumsy. I’ll take my plate to the wheelhouse. Leave you folks to your meal.”Stella watched him go. She wasn’t eating anything. She rubbed at her head, her eyes squinting.
Finally, I called her out on it.
“I’m keeping him on course, that’s all,” she said. “Suppressing his concerns about the weather and our destination. He thinks we’re just taking a leisurely cruise along the Alaskan coastline. But in order to keep him thinking that, I have to concentrate.”
“And use energy,” Lanie said firmly. “Which means, young lady, that you need to eat something.
Come on. Fuel yourself.”
Stella rolled her eyes, and this small expression of annoyance with her mother lifted my spirits.
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?