by H Q Kingsley
Back down, Rami! You’re outnumbered. Don’t die for this, I warned.
Rami scoffed through his snout. Astro Shade doesn’t back down.
You know us, Rami. Neither does Shadow Moon. But we didn’t come here for you. Where is Adrian?
Remi’s wolf appeared to grin. You actually just missed him. He decided to take a nice vacation over to a small island. What was the name again? Oh, yes, Maehelio.”
My heart dropped in my chest. No, no, no.
Oh, yes, Elspeth. My alpha is going to destroy you. Take everything from you like you’ve done to so many others.
I turned to retreat. I had to get to Iosefa, but Rami stopped me with three words.
Dimitri will die.
I turned back around.
I will kill him if you leave now, Rami promised.
It doesn’t have to be like this, Rami. I’m not who I was. I’m not the man who tormented you for leaving us.
Oh, Alpha Elsepth, yes you are. A wolf cannot change his nature.
I have! I argued.
Then prove it. Fight me for your beta’s life. To the death.
I grunted and looked behind me at the rest of my clan as they too were getting ready to fight the rest of Rami’s wolves.
Rami wasn’t going to let me leave without a fight, that much was clear.
Fine, Rami. You want a fight. You’ve got it.
19
Iosefa Henare
“We’re here,” the boatman called out to me. He hopped onto the dock and tied the boat down before helping me to the shore, and I just stood there for a moment taking in the scene before me.
The scent of the waters lapping on the shore of Maehelio filled my nose, and the realization of being home hit me so hard that my eyes began to burn, though I refused to let the tears fall. My heart tightened in my chest. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Maehelio until that moment. Though it had been such a short time, it felt like I had been gone for years.
“Thanks for—” I started to say to the boatman, but when I turned in his direction, he had already walked off the docks and into the small marketplace.
His scent lingered behind him, and it turned my stomach. Something felt… wrong about it. It was familiar in an unsettling way.
I shook my head. Elspeth had been right. The pregnancy hormones must be making me crazy. Goddess, I missed him.
An unexpected feeling of loss overwhelmed me and I felt the tears again begin to well in my eyes as I stood there. It was exhausting and miserable fighting not to show it, and I was just thankful to finally be home where I could find some comfort in the familiar sights and sounds, but most of all, in my family.
“Iosefa?”
I squinted to see someone waving to me from the edge of the dock, but couldn’t quite make them out because of the sun’s glare in my eyes. It wasn’t until the person barreled into me with open arms that I knew who she was, and I found myself quickly wrapped in a suffocating embrace
“Annie!” I cried, clutching her back just as tightly. “It’s so good to see you.” I lowered my head to kiss her cheek.
She kissed mine back and stepped away to give me a critical once-over. “Oh my Goddess! It’s really you!” Her eyes were wet with tears of her own as she gripped my forearm. “We have been so worried about you since you were taken.” She leaned in closer and asked in a hushed tone, “Did you escape from his clutches?”
I couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped when she asked that. Annie was one of the elder women in our clan and was loved by everyone. I considered her my adopted grandmother. When we dove for pearls, she would be there to collect what we surfaced with, then clean and sort them.
“It’s so good to see you, too, Annie. I’ve missed everyone so much. But it really wasn’t like that. I had to leave to be with my True Mate. And I’m just back to spend some time with my family. I have some news—”
She cast me a disbelieving look which stopped me mid-sentence, but before I could continue, she grabbed my hand and pointed to the figure waiting at the far end of the dock. “There’s Alpha Rayden. Word must have spread quickly that you’re home.”
Annie took my arm and started to lead me over to him, and I grabbed the new bag Elspeth had bought me for my clothes when we started to walk. Once we reached the Alpha, I bowed my head out of respect.
Alpha Rayden gently placed a hand on my shoulder before he spoke. “It’s good to see you, Iosepha. You’re looking healthy. Your father and I have been concerned since we haven’t heard from you.”
He took my arm as he started back to the village.
“How is your life in Capri? Your father has written many times, you know, but he has not heard back from you?”
I frowned. “I never received any letters.”
Before I could think further about them, a warmth suddenly filled me when I realized that my family had thought about me. Some small part of me had been worried that maybe I was out of sight and out of mind.
“And life is good, Alpha Rayden.”
“Good?” Alpha Rayden asked in shock. “I can’t imagine being locked up with that monster would be anything close to ‘good.’”
I shook my head “There is more to Elspeth than anyone knows. He’s kind and loving—”
Alpha Rayden snorted. “You wouldn’t just be saying that to ease my conscience, would you?”
My brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
He stopped walking and turned to look at me, holding my eyes as he spoke. “Iosefa, I, as your Alpha, should have never allowed you to leave. You are part of the Oceania Clan and I allowed an outsider to steal you away in exchange for the safety of our island.”
I shook my head. “No, Alpha Rayden. It was not your fault. I freely chose to go with Elspeth and nothing you could have done would have stopped me.” I swallowed down the tightness in my throat. “Plus, if I hadn’t gone…” I took a deep, steadying breath. “I wouldn’t be pregnant.”
Alpha Rayden’s eyes widened. “I thought I smelled something different about you, but pregnant? With Alpha Callum’s pup?”
I instinctively touched my stomach. “Yes, I am, Alpha Rayden. He loves me. It’s the reason he sent me here now. He’s in trouble, and it’s driving me crazy thinking of him out there without me, but I have to stay safe. I have to keep my child safe, right?”
It had been so long since I’d seen Alpha Rayden, I’d forgotten how much I valued his approval. A part of me was terrified that he would shun me for falling in love with Elspeth, but then his face brightened and he smiled.
“So, he marked you then?”
My cheeks warmed and I nodded. “Yes.”
“And you love him?” He fixed me with a penetrating stare
I lowered my head as I dug my foot into the sand, awkwardly twirling it. “Yes.”
“And you’re happy?”
Looking back up at him, I nodded. “Very much.”
He gently touched my cheek. “Then all is well, and the Clan will be happy for you also. Shadow Moon is lucky to have such a wonderful addition as yourself. And you will be the greatest Clan Omega they’ve ever known.”
I smiled, feeling light. A weight had been resting on my shoulders that I hadn’t known was there, and Alpha Rayden had lifted it.
“Come now. Your father will be so thrilled to see you,” he said as he led me down the path toward my home. “He even has company today. An old friend from the past.” He let out a hearty laugh. “I didn’t even know Hamuera had friends left alive outside of the council.”
My blood went cold. “My father doesn’t have any friends,” I said flatly as dread filled my stomach once more. Suddenly, I realized the familiarity of my boatman’s scent. It had the burnt edge that Rami’s scent had. Astro Shade. They were there. On my island!
“No!” I broke out into a run, picking up my feet as fast I could and ignoring the shouted greetings as I passed.
I heard Alpha Rayden shouting after me, but I didn’t understand the wor
ds and wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. Not until I reached my family’s house.
My mind was reeling and my blood pulsing in my ears.
My stomach cramped by the time I made it up the hill, and thankfully, the hut seemed quiet and undisturbed. Nothing stood out as hostile or dangerous. But I knew better. I knew what I had smelled. Someone from Astro Shade was there.
I grabbed the door handle and slowly entered the house. It was quiet—way too quiet from my family. The Hanrea house was always bustling with noise; my cousins or niece and nephews shouts and ruckus play, the laughter from my father and papa. A crowd was always gathered around the table in the kitchen.
“Father? Mako? Hawea?” I called out.
I slowly made my way into the kitchen and stopped when I saw my family. They were gagged and bound to steel chairs pressed against the wall.
I gasped and tried to approach, but a large dark brown wolf came from around the kitchen island and blocked my path.
He growled and snarled at me and a second, larger wolf appeared behind him.
“Father...Mako... Hawea...” My voice broke as my gaze locked on my family. I couldn’t see any injuries—no bruises or scars—but they looked terrified as they tried to struggle free of their bindings.
“Everything is going to be okay,” I assured them.
“Oh, I wouldn’t start making promises you can’t keep, Iosefa. Or do you go by Sefa? Do correct me. It’s quite annoying when someone doesn’t get your name right, and I plan for us to be great friends.”
I turned to look into the living room and gasped as a man swiveled around in my father’s arm chair, his bright green eyes flashing at me as he grinned.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He cocked his head to the side, his smile turning predatory as his eyes bored into me. “I think you know who I am, Iosefa.”
“A-Alpha A-Adrian,” I stuttered.
My heart pounded in my chest. Every whispered conversation I’d heard about him around the mansion was bone-chilling. This was a man who had committed atrocities to rival the Shadow Moon Clan’s, and he was capable of great evil.
“Why don’t you have a seat,” Alpha Adrian said as he gestured to the chair across from him.
My eyes looked to his two wolves who kept circling around my family as if they were daring me to disobey.
I nodded and crossed the room, lowering into the offered seat. “W-What do you want?” I stammered, trying to keep my voice leveled and even, but I was sure that even if I could, he would be able to smell my fear.
Alpha Adrian sniffed the air. “My, my, that Elspeth works fast. Pregnant already, eh?”
I swallowed, glancing over quickly to see the surprised looks on my family’s faces. This wasn’t exactly how I’d planned for them to find out.
I straightened, finding some of my courage in my growing irritation. “If you can smell that, then you can also smell that I have been claimed already. There’s nothing more you can do to me.”
Alpha Adrian smirked and the look in his vibrant green eyes made my skin crawl. “On the contrary, Sefa.”
I cringed hearing him call me that, and my wolf was making gagging noises from where he sat in the back of my mind.
“You see, I can re-claim you. It’ll be immensely painful like your soul is being ripped out, but Elspeth will feel it too. And that’s all I’m really after. I want to make him feel pain, and I don’t think there’s a more intense pain for him than yours.”
I swallowed, feeling terror grip me, and my wolf cowered.
“You’ll be mine, Sefa. That is, until I allow you to kill yourself. That will be the final blow to dear Alpha Elspeth.”
My father began to make muffled shouting sounds as he tried to get out of his chair, pulling my attention over to him.
“Shut up!” Alpha Adrian whirled on him. “Or I’ll have one of my wolves bite your fucking arm off. Then you’ll really have something to shout about.”
I got my family’s attention and shook my head. “Aua e te popole, o le a sau le fesoasoani,” I said through our tongue so Alpha Adrian and his wolves wouldn’t understand. Help was on the way, they had to know that, and it was the only way I knew to tell them. Elspeth would come for me. I had complete and utter faith in him.
“What did you just say to him?” Alpha Adrian asked, climbing to his feet to tower over me.
I shrugged. “Nothing. I just told them to relax and not to fight,” I lied.
He narrowed his eyes at me for a split second until he finally grinned. “Good. I’m glad you told them he was coming.”
I sucked in a breath. How the hell did he know that?
He laughed maniacally. “Do you think I would come here to just claim you in the shadows?” He wagged his finger in my face. “Oh no, Sefa. Elspeth’s arrival is part of my plan. I want him to see it when I claim you. I want to watch his face when he feels the bond ripped apart and knows you belong to another. I will take you in front of this entire village, and as Elspeth weakens with your despair, I’ll keep him prisoner so that he can suffer as you suffer.”
My heart dropped in my chest, but greater than that was the anger that flooded me. “You’re a sick bastard,” I spat.
Alpha Adrian shrugged. “Well, you can blame that on your mate. He made me into this. He ripped through my village, slaughtering everyone indiscriminately and taking whatever he wanted afterward. He left me parentless and filled with the need for righteous vengeance. That is who your mate is.” His eyes dropped to my belly. “That is who your child will be.”
“You shut the fuck up!” I shouted, shooting to my feet. Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid anymore and I felt like I could challenge Alpha Adrian. My wolf was vibrating with the need to be unleashed and sink his teeth into the man who had invaded my family’s home and threatened to violate me in front of them.
But his wolves growled as they circled my family, and I remembered what was at stake.
“Now, now, Sefa. I see Alpha Callum has not set a good example for you. Don’t let that new Shadow Moon temper get the best of you. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for my wolves ripping your family to shreds now, would you?”
I reluctantly settled back into my seat.
“I’ll make a deal, Sefa.” Alpha Adrian smiled at me. “When Elspeth gets here, undoubtedly in a rage to protect you, you meet him at the shore and reject him. Publicly. Then come back to me, and we’ll raise that little demon-spawn pup into something mildly respectable. What do you say?”
I snarled viciously at him. “Over my dead body.”
Alpha Adrian’s smile widened. “Well, then. As you wish. We’ll just wait for dear Elspeth to get here and then you both can start your slow march to death.”
20
Elspeth Callum
Rami and I continued to circle each other, pawing at the dirt and snarling. We’d been battling for what seemed like hours, and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that I had to finish this in order to get back to Iosefa.
I hadn’t expected Rami to have become so strong. He wasn’t the same Rami I’d grown up with. The wolf standing before me was filled with hate and a sadistic streak I had not seen before.
I bared my fangs and lunged for him. He tried to dodge, but since he was tiring, his defensive maneuvers were slower, and I pierced and latched on to his shoulder, ripping out a chunk of flesh and fur.
Blood had started to trickle down and matt his coat, but he still limped to reposition himself, wanting to keep up this fight to the death.
Things can be different Rami. I again tried to reason with him. It doesn’t have to end like this.
Rami barked out a sound that I took for laughter, and his eyes held something in them that led me to believe that his hatred for me ran at least as deep as Adrian’s.
You cannot change the past, Elspeth! You will pay for all the things you’ve done. You’re a feral wolf that needs to be put down, and I will follow Alpha Adrian till the end if that means taking you down.
And what does that make Adrian! I shouted back, gritting my fangs together. He’s willing to kill innocents, also. And for what? To punish me? You’re both so blinded by vengeance and hate that you refuse to see you’re exactly what you claim to be fighting against.
Remi hesitated for a moment before he shook his head. The ends justify the means.
Does it? You’d kill Iosefa, a good wolf, and the pup he’s carrying? And who else will be collateral damage in this war you’re waging?
Rami hesitated once more before he shook it off whatever thought he’d had and charged for me, pivoting his legs so as not to put much weight on his injuries.
I managed to dodge and catch him around the throat with my fangs.
He let out a sharp whine when we connected and the rest of his wolves halted their fighting, turning to watch whether Rami submitted in defeat.
I could kill you right now, Rami.
Do it then! Kill me! Kill me or I’ll never stop coming for you. That’s a promise. Neither you nor your mate will be able to sleep soundly as long as I am still alive.
I clamped down on his neck, my fangs just piercing the skin, and then I stilled. Just a little bit more pressure and he’d be dead. But then what? Then I’d still be exactly who they accused me of being. Moreover, it was not the person Iosefa deserved as his True Mate.
I loosened my jaw, letting him weakly scramble away from me. I won’t condemn you for the chaos that I caused. I just want to free my people. I don’t want your life or the lives of your clan, Rami.
Remi kept backing away, summoning his wolves to follow him.
Take them, he finally said. If there are any who are still alive.
With that, he disappeared into the woods with his wolves, and I was left with a bone-chilling ache.
I wandered around for a few moments after this, seeing if I could sniff out where any of my council might be. Faintly in the air, I picked up a familiar scent
Dimitri!
Following my betas scent led me to a stone building hidden along the edge of the Astro Shade territory. Without hesitation, I slammed through the doors, shifting back to my human form before my feet hit the floor.