by Leia Stone
I fear that my time on this earth is going to be short if I don’t make changes soon. They know I have knowledge of their facilities and plans. I wanted you to be warned. Your life will not be peaceful if you marry Kai tomorrow. Be ready for war, not just with the vampires but with humans too. But I understand why you want to marry him. You deserve it. I have enclosed three vials of a serum that protects werewolves from silver. It gives them permanent immunity. Give it to Kai, Emma, and whoever else you want to protect most. (It won’t hurt the baby). I have done some bad things in my life. This will help me set them right. Helping you…
Don’t try to contact me.
Happy wedding day tomorrow.
Goodbye,
Alexa
Shit! I grabbed my temples. It was not what a girl wanted to hear before her wedding day. For a split second, I considered not marrying him, but something within me had changed. Having the vision quest and opening myself to Kai had reconnected our bond. I wanted everything with him. I wasn’t the type of girl to be told what to do. If RAIDOS thought they could keep us from marrying, then they were about to be surprised. We had over 300 werewolves attending this wedding. I would marry Kai. If that started a war with the humans as well, then so be it.
I folded the note and placed it in my pocket. The vials clanked together softly. I casually walked back out to meet the girls. I knew that Kai could talk to anyone in the pack with his Alpha bond. I wondered if, as his second, I could pull on that bond to talk to Emma and Diya. Normally, I could only talk to them in wolf form. I stilled my breathing and calmed my mind. I felt for Kai’s energy. It was there, inside of me, burning bright and strong. Alpha. I funneled that energy into Diya and Emma and saw mist rise up off of my skin. ‘RAIDOS is going to try to make sure the wedding doesn’t happen. We need to be quick, not arouse suspicion. They’re watching.’
Emma’s nostrils flared. Diya glared out the window. They were mad. They had received the message. Then I felt Kai’s shock as he felt me tug at and borrow his Alpha power.
After our nails were done, we got in my car and I sped down the winding road to our house. Kai had texted me twice asking about my erratic energy and the pull on his Alpha bond. I told him ‘wedding stress,’ but used our code word for RAIDOS, adding ‘I’m hungry.’ It pissed me off that they were watching us and tapping our phones. I wasn’t a criminal!
I pulled into the driveway and my tires skidded a little. The yard looked breathtaking. I tried not to peek too long because Emma wanted to surprise me. Since I was closer to Kai, I could fully communicate with the mate bond.
‘Alexa slipped me this note and these vials.’ I handed him the stuff as he met me at the car. Emma and Diya waved to me and walked towards their house.
Sylvia slipped out the front door behind him.
“Oh hi, Sylvia. Are you here for me?”
She looked at Kai and they shared a look.
“No dear, I was meeting with Kai again. I will see you tomorrow.” She smiled. “He invited the whole coven.”
I grinned at Kai. That was big of him to invite the witches. None of the wolves would appreciate it, but he did it for me.
Kai led me inside. He read the note fully and turned the vials in his hand inspecting them.
‘I trust Alexa. She’s pack. She has done nothing but go out of her way to protect us,’ I told him.
He nodded. ‘I agree. She is pack. I’m on the council now. I will bring it up and see if we can officially bring her into the pack as a human. Even if we can’t, I will offer her protection.’
I smiled. We were always on the same page.
‘You need to take a vial, then Emma, and Diya,’ I told him.
He shook his head.
‘No. Protect the women. Diya, Emma, and Izzy. Anna is strong and can fend for herself.’
‘Kai, you’re the Alpha, you should be the most protected.’
‘An Alpha is not selfish, nor afraid. The women get it. End of discussion.’
I glared at him. Kai wasn’t exactly the kind of guy you could force feed a vial of liquid to. I would have to agree with him.
“Go into your room and put on the dress I got you, then meet me in the garage in fifteen minutes. I have a surprise for you,” Kai told me before heading out the front door.
What? Okay … I liked surprises. I grinned. I opened my door and there was a long white silk dress. It was a wedding dress … The wedding wasn’t until tomorrow. What the? I slipped it on and put some make-up on. I met Kai in the garage. He smiled, opening the door to his car.
“You look beautiful. Your mother is going to be happy to see you.”
My mouth dropped open. “What!”
He grinned. “I told her we were eloping at the justice of the peace. She asked if you were pregnant.”
I laughed and gave him a kiss. “So, my mom will get to see me get married?”
He shrugged. “Just a courthouse wedding, but it’s better than nothing.”
“I love you.” I kissed him again, deeper this time. He lightly bit my bottom lip and trailed his finger down my bare back.
“I love you too.”
I shook off the chills he gave me and got in the car remembering the other night when we first made love. I gave him a side glance, I was a lucky girl.
Mother
We drove to my mother’s house in companionable silence. As we neared her trailer park I became self-conscious. Kai had never been to her house. It was a small, cute, blue trailer with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The only thing of beauty it held was the lush garden my mother tended daily. It was everything to us. Our refuge after escaping my father’s abuse but now it looked sad, old. I felt nervous.
Kai followed my directions and pulled up to my mother’s trailer.
He was looking at the neighbor’s mattress on the lawn. Not everyone kept their home as nice as my mom did.
“It’s not much,” I told him nervously. “It’s all she has.”
He squeezed my hand. “Many people in India would die to call this little blue cottage a home.”
I smiled. “Cottage, Hah! I will buy her a real cottage one day, with a huge garden,” I stated. I was grateful for his kind words. My mother came out of the house wearing her nice blue dress. She was grinning ear to ear. I stepped out and spun around, letting her take in my dress. She squealed and embraced me. “Oh honey. I’m so happy for you. It’s sudden, but it feels right.”
I smiled. “I love him, mom. Forever.”
She nodded. “I know, sweetheart. You’re like one of the roses in my garden. You have finally bloomed.” She smoothed my hair.
After our justice of the peace wedding, Kai took my mother and me out to dinner.
My mom wrapped her hands around her hot tea. “So, when do I get some grandbabies?”
“Mom!” I scolded her and blushed.
Kai put his arm around me. “Soon, I hope.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “In a few years, mom, like five or ten.”
“In ten years, your ovaries will be dead,” My mother stated and we all laughed.
Kai smiled.
The door to the back of the café opened and two large men walked in. My inner wolf spiked with fear. Danger. Women’s intuition was a funny thing. I inhaled. These guys were human, they were dressed like civilians but something told me they were not friendly.
Kai picked up on my energy and followed my gaze. The men were staring at me and told the hostess to be seated at the table behind us. No way in hell was I sitting with my back to these guys. Goosebumps popped out on my arms. One of the men looked at my dress and then at my mother.
“Is this your daughter?” He questioned her, smiling.
“Yes, they just got married,” my mother said proudly.
“Mom, don’t talk to them,” I told her firmly and stood.
“Aurora, be nice.” My mother scolded me. Kai stood as well and stared at the men.
Kai put it together before I did.
“I hope those d
rones aren’t too expensive,” Kai told them in hushed tones.
The man smiled. “No worries. Your tax dollars pay for them.”
RAIDOS.
‘Get your mother to the car,’ Kai told me with a look that said things were about to get interesting.
I threw money on the table and pulled my mom into a standing position.
“Mom, I feel sick, let’s go.”
“Oh, honey, our food. Okay.” She looked awkwardly at the men and back at Kai. I wasn’t leaving Kai with them. Hell no.
I walked my mom out to the car quickly. “Mom, truthfully those guys are some old alcoholics from Kai’s program. I’m afraid he might be in trouble. I’m going to go get him.”
God, I was becoming a good liar. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. I had devised a good cover story to my mom to explain our interesting lifestyle on the mountain. Alcoholic healing retreat sounded good at the time.
“Oh. Well, what if you get hurt?” My mom asked as I locked her inside the car.
“I’ll be fine. Black belt in martial arts, remember?” I shouted through the glass window.
I opened the café door just in time to see Kai pick one of the men up by the shirt and pin him against the wall. People were screaming.
“You leave my mate alone!” he roared.
‘Kai! There are humans!’ I scolded him.
‘I don’t care!’ he roared inside my head.
The second man approached Kai and I knew that if I didn’t stop them, Kai was going to shift and all hell would break loose.
“Okay! I cheated. I’m sorry. It was a long time ago. Get over it, baby. Let’s go,” I shouted at Kai loudly as I tugged on his arm. It was the only thing I could think of. He glared back at me with yellow eyes and I quickly dropped his sunglasses off his forehead to cover them.
“Slut,” some old woman mumbled to me as I tugged on Kai’s arm. The other diners were whispering and scowling at me. Great.
‘Kai, if you expose us to the humans. We’re dead. Let’s go.’
A strange look came over Kai’s face. He let go of the guy’s shirt and he fell to the ground gasping for air. Kai grabbed my hand and walked with me outside.
‘All right, I have two plans. Plan A, we stay in Oregon and fight. Plan B, we move to another country and leave the entire pack behind and start again.’
His words shocked me. I nearly tripped over my own feet.
‘I’m not leaving Emma, Diya, Safe Haven, or my mom!’
Kai grinned. ‘Good. I liked Plan A better, anyway.’
I feared how bloody Plan A would be if it meant war between the vampires and RAIDOS. Werewolves didn’t exactly have high numbers. Last time I checked, our species was dying out.
After dropping my mom back off at home, Kai called Trent and asked if he and another pack member could keep an eye on her house.
“You think RAIDOS would hurt my mom?” I asked in shock. We were almost home. This entire day had been unsettling and wasn’t exactly how I imagined the day before my wedding going.
“I wouldn’t put anything past them at this point.”
Oh God. Shit just got real. I leaned my head back on the seat and sighed.
Max
When we pulled up to the house I saw that the Seattle pack had arrived. Max and Tara were talking together and laughing. Kai sighed.
“They gravitate toward each other,” he stated.
“Kai, in my vision quest I learned something. Reincarnation is real. Tara is Max’s mate. Like, literally. Like the same mate as he had before. When are we going to tell him?”
Kai seemed to consider my words. He ran his fingers through his thick hair. “Aurora, if I died in your arms and then another guy came along and tried to kiss you and say he was me, how would you feel?”
Well, when he put it that way. … “Weird. Mad. But in the end, happy?” I wasn’t so sure.
“We will deal with it when we have to. Come on, it’s our time to just worry about us.” He leaned across the steering wheel and kissed my neck. I gave a soft growl and he slipped his hand up my dress. I caught it and smiled.
“Not until tomorrow night, lover boy.” I opened the door and got out. The look he gave me could start a fire. I had to admit, I liked getting him riled up. I greeted Shamus and the others lingering around our front yard. All of a sudden I felt movement at my back. Kai swept me up in his arms and began walking me up the stairs into the house. His eyes were smoldering.
‘I don’t like being told no.’ He stared into my eyes.
I grinned and leaned in to kiss him as Shamus and the others started cheering.
“Get a room!” one yelled as Kai slammed the front door and raced down the hall throwing me on the bed.
I gave him a sultry look and began to unzip the back of my dress. Kai stood in the doorway.
“Are we interrupting?” A voice came from the hallway behind Kai. Kai’s mom! My eyes widened and Kai laughed.
“Mama, you’re here,” he said with a twinge of annoyance and embarrassment.
“Practicing for tomorrow night?” his father commented. I quickly zipped and smoothed my dress and met them in the hallway.
“No, of course not. We were going to nap.” I was bright red.
Kai’s mom laughed. “Yeah, Raj and I napped a lot too before our wedding.” She winked and we all shared a laugh.
Raj looked at me. “Why the sudden wedding date change?”
I sighed as we made our way out into the living room. Kai glared at his father. “Papa, my mate will not be interrogated.”
“I’m not interrogating my daughter-in-law. I’m asking her a simple question,” Raj countered.
I smiled at his use of the term daughter-in-law. He had already accepted me as family.
“Life is short, why wait? Kai and I deserve to be mated, no matter the cost.” I stared into his eyes a little longer than was polite. I needed him to see that I could hold my own. The decision was final.
The corner of his lips curled the smallest bit. “Well, I’ve brought one hundred of my finest wolves. This wedding will be well protected.”
Kai’s mother placed an arm around my shoulders and walked me into the kitchen. “And then I will have some grandchildren soon!”
I smiled weakly but didn’t respond. As we neared the living room, deep growling could be heard outside.
I pushed his mother gently aside and ran out the front door with Kai hot on my heels.
‘Oh, Shit!’ I told Kai as I saw it.
Some of the Seattle wolves had shifted. So had ours. Max and Tara were both in wolf form, staring at each other. Their markings were exact opposite. He was glaring at her with a growl in his throat.
Shamus was running across the lawn in human form.
“No! What happened?” Shamus asked one of his wolves.
The guy looked surprised. “Max asked Tara and a few of us if we wanted to go for a run. Then we shifted and he saw they were mates. Why is he growling at her?”
“It’s a long story,” I interrupted. I quickly stripped off my clothes and shifted. I ran in front of Tara going head to head with Max as I felt Kai come up behind me.
‘I know this is hard to take, but Tara IS your mate. I had a vision at the wedding in India. I wanted to tell you, but Kai didn’t think it was best after what you had been through.’
Max circled me slowly like a predator.
‘Don’t mess with me, Aurora. You’re a witch. This is a trick!’ He pulled back his lips and bared his teeth. Kai lunged at him and knocked him over.
‘How dare you threaten my mate! You’re my best friend. You helped me pick out her engagement ring. Get your head on straight,’ Kai yelled at him and I think the entire pack heard it.
Max lunged at Kai and knocked him over, pinning him down. Kai could easily push him off and get up, but he didn’t. They stared at each other as Tara whined.
‘Melissa McAlister is my mate. She smelled like vanilla and mint. She had an adorable fear of birds an
d she was my other half, the mother to my child. Melissa is my mate. If you say different, I will kill you right here. You knew her, Kai. You loved her too.’