Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
I held him tight, letting my body feel the last of our pleasure before sagging against him. He kissed me softly, his forehead damp, “The other two are going to smell you all over me.”
I smirked, “Good. They can come find me next,” I grinned.
Atticus laughed and pulled out of me. He put me on the ground and we straightened our clothes. I pushed my hair from my damp face then let out a breath.
“I need to go practice or at least get my head around what I’m about to do,” Atticus said, pushing his own hair back.
“I have to go find Taylin. He wanted help with something earlier.”
Atticus nodded, kissed my cheek, then met my eyes, “I know it’s not fair to ask, but my mom still isn’t that comfortable around the pack, but she wanted to come tonight. She’s in a hut a while back from the main ones. Would you mind popping in to see her?”
I nodded, “Yeah, of course.”
I said goodbye to Atticus and then left in the direction he said his mom was.
It didn’t make me feel any better about him singing knowing that his mom was still an outcast. I wasn’t sure whether that was entirely the pack or if it made Serafina more comfortable.
I found her hut easily; she had put candles and beads all out the front. It looked so welcoming. I smiled and walked up to the door, knocking on it lightly.
“Come in, Kassie,” she said in a sing-song voice.
I went inside, and she was setting up tea for us. I smiled and sat by one of the cups at the floor table.
She came and sat down with me, crossing her legs. She took a big breath in, then let it out. “Doesn’t it feel so right when all the packs come together like this?” Her eyes fluttered closed.
“Yes,” I agreed.
That had her opening her eyes to stare at me. She frowned. “Then why are you so nervous?”
I fidgeted, taking a sip of tea. “Atticus is going to perform tonight.”
She paused and put her cup down. The room filled with a tense silence.
“I see.” Her voice was filled with emotion, her eyes too. “You know, it is hard to see him hide that part of himself. I am glad he has found the courage to expose that.” She eyed me, and I sipped my tea, averting my eyes.
“I am too. But I see the way you are outcast, and I’m worried for him,” I admitted.
She nodded. “Appropriately. But maybe this is the start of a different way of things. For Atticus and myself. For you too,” she smiled, sipping her tea and eyeing me over the rim of the cup.
I hoped she was right. More than anything, I wanted that to be true. My heart was racing to think of Atticus getting up there and it going badly.
“I should probably get to the ceremony before it starts. Are you joining?” I asked, emptying my cup.
She nodded. “I’ll watch from the doorstep.”
I hated that she had to do that, but I couldn’t interfere yet. Not when Atticus was about to get up there.
I said goodbye to Serafina, thanked her for the tea, then made my way over to the platform and the packs seated in front of it.
I met the alphas by the stage, the moon rising.
The packs were drinking ale, chattering among themselves.
I took the moment with my alphas.
“Are we ready?” I asked. Zachariah pulled me into him for a kiss.
“We’re ready,” Dorian answered.
I finished kissing Zach, then pulled back. “Let’s do this then,” I whispered.
Zach led me over to a seat near the platform. I sat with Atticus and Dorian. Taylin got up with Zachariah, and they addressed everyone.
“Welcome, everyone, to our honoring ceremony. We’re not normally so formal with it, but since all the packs are here tonight, we wanted to make it special.”
Taylin cleared his throat, beaming with pride at getting to be a part of the ceremony. “We’re going to use a blade to give our blood to the goblet. Once our blood is mixed, we’ll give it back to the realm.”
I thought that might make the packs weary, but they all seemed rather relaxed. Half of them leaned into their chairs, almost all of them drinking.
Even when the ritual blade started going around, the goblet too, they all let a droplet fall in.
When the cup got to me, I put my drop in too, then passed it to Dorian.
“We’re the alphas, Sweet Siren, that’s how it works. We are relaxed and okay with the other packs being here, so that means they are. They feed off us.”
I nodded, hoping that would help Atticus.
The goblet was passed around, the blood combined, then it went back to Zachariah, who tipped it onto a patch of soil underneath a fire pit in the middle of the platform. Taylin lit the pyre, then stepped back–the flames roared.
The wolves cheered and clapped, some howling.
Taylin read out a verse about how much the realm had given us, how we were grateful for it. I agreed, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Atticus getting up there.
After what felt like forever to my clammy hands and throbbing chest, Zachariah announced that Atticus had something to share.
Atticus kissed me on the cheek, then grabbed the neck of his four-string instrument and went to the platform.
With the flames behind him, he wore flowing blue pants, his necklace dangling down on his abs.
I sucked in a breath and looked over his pack. They looked on, and it was the first hint of wariness I had seen.
They sat up straighter. Some narrowed their eyes; some even glanced over their shoulders at Serafina’s hut.
I swallowed hard and followed their look. Even Serafina looked worried.
My palms were tingling, dampening. My heart raced and my head throbbed. I couldn’t leave him up there.
Fucking hell, he was by himself. He wasn’t meant to be by himself.
We had found his music and my voice together in that music room. I had to honor that. We were at an honoring ceremony, after all.
Atticus cleared his throat and looked down at his instrument. “We’re here to honor the realm and the magic we have been given in it. So that’s what I’m going to do,” Atticus said.
Before he could start, though, something in me flared, some urge to be there and do this with him.
I got out of my seat and went up to him on the platform.
My heartbeat was so loud in my ear I could barely hear. Atticus smiled at me, and I gave him a timid one back.
“We are going to do that. Together,” I announced.
I had no idea what the reaction to that was because I kept my eyes on Atticus. He grinned and started playing at the same time I opened my mouth to sing.
31. The Voice
I used my voice. I sang, my eyes trained on Atticus the whole time.
I knew there was power ringing out with every note, but I didn’t mind because I was in control. I felt where Dorian and Zachariah were. I felt where Taylin was. Each pack member, I felt them. I knew where in the crowd they sat.
Every moment I sang, I felt the connection between me and the alphas grow. Power hummed so powerfully beneath my skin, the sound of my voice carrying with it. Atticus played his instrument with me, so connected to the magic I portrayed with my voice. It kept us linked, weaving through every member of each pack.
I wasn’t even sure if I was singing words, or if it was just a hum. I couldn’t tell. I was too stuck in the moment. I thought that using my voice would mean I would hurt someone, be out of control, but it was different.
I felt every part of my voice, where it wanted to go, what it wanted from me. And it did not want pain or chaos. It wanted peace. And it gave me that.
Finally using it after so many years, letting it out without resistance, it was seamless. Like an extension of me. Atticus strummed his strings to whatever I put out to the realm, and I smiled at him. I was content.
Our souls were linked. Atticus, mine, Dorian, Zachariah–they were all so prevalent inside me in those moments. And it felt exactly right. So I risked a glance at the crowd, scanning the packs for their reaction.
They didn’t seem angry. They were nodding along, almost entranced. Their eyes were wide, the ale forgotten. It gave me hope that maybe we weren’t fucking everything up by revealing what we were. They even looked like they were humming.
It was such a rush to feel like I could finally be accepted for everything that I was. And Atticus–he could be himself, stop hiding the true parts of himself behind locked doors. It felt like a new beginning.
I eyed the crowd again. Dorian’s pack and especially Zachariah’s pack were lost to our song. The power radiated off us, flowing out in soundwaves that helped me feel everything they did. And they felt that power–they were absorbing it with us.
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?