“No, I won’t do it. You can’t make me. You can’t force yourself on me and inside of me. It will never take, and I will always fight you on it.”
He looked at her and smirked.
“Really? You would rather see your mother and brother die than to submit to me as my mate? Hmm, I’m a good wolf, Luna. I know I am older, but with age comes experience and abilities. I’m an amazing lover. You’ll find out tonight as we begin to seal this deal.”
“You have my mother and brother? They’re alive?” she asked, feeling more tears fall from her eyes. She felt emotional, and yet tied down by the power controlling her.
“They are alive and well, and close by. Their lives depend on your commitment to me as your mate and husband,” he said to her.
“I don’t believe you. They aren’t alive. You don’t have them.”
He stroked her hair and then licked his lips as he smoothed his palm along her torso to her panties. She tried moving and couldn’t. “Do not resist, or they will die because of it.” He stroked his finger over her panties and her pussy lips. More tears fell.
“I don’t believe you.” He stopped and stared down into her eyes.
“If you see them alive and well, you will submit to me fully in order to save their lives?” he asked.
She felt sick and angry, but what could she do in this state? She couldn’t even move.
“Luna! Luna, where are you? Can you hear me?” She heard Corporal’s voice and more tears fell.
She felt so relieved, but then came the fears that if Corporal, Toby, and Lodge arrived too soon to save her, then her mother and brother would be lost forever and would die because of her.
“I want to see them. To know they are real and alive and well. I want them here with me so I know it isn’t a trick.”
“I don’t think you want them present as we seal this marriage.” He slid his hand under the elastic of the thin panties she wore and touched her. “Just a little taste, Luna, in good faith that you will accept my marriage to save your mother and brother, and be my mate.”
His mouth pressed over hers. He kissed her, then trailed his lips from her lips, down over her belly to where his fingers were.
“We’re in Italy, Luna. We’re almost to the Goshey estate. Answer us, baby. Answer us,” Corporal commanded, and she panicked. If she didn’t give in slightly now, then she wouldn’t see and confirm that her mother and brother were alive. She had to tell her mates to hold off a little longer before they attacked. She clenched her eyes closed as Costaldo explored. She allowed it so her mother and brother lived. Tears fell, and she focused her mind on her men and on seeing them again.
“Hold off, mates. Costaldo is going to bring my mother and brother to me so I see they are alive and well. I’m making a deal to save their lives.”
“What kind of fucking deal, mate?” Toby asked.
“One that will be broken when I get the chance—or one of you get the chance—to break his neck.”
* * * *
“So we wait while she promises him what?” Toby asked Corporal as the troops gathered around them.
“I think it’s better we don’t try to figure it out, but instead be ready for her command to attack. She’s up to something—I just know it,” Corporal stated.
“Yeah, and that’s what I’m worried about. What is she promising Costaldo in order to save her mother and brother?” Toby asked.
Corporal looked at him and Lodge. “Be ready. We don’t have much of a choice. Let’s get everyone in position and prepare to end this once and for all.”
Just as he said that, some sort of scuffle occurred amongst Bider, Viper, Scor, and the men who were soldiers with Luna.
“What’s going on?” Lodge demanded, and they tried to keep their voices down so they wouldn’t alert the enemy to their positions outside of the estate.
Viper shoved Gathin onto the ground in the middle of the circle.
“Slit his fucking throat, the traitor,” Viper said, holding his claw to Gathin’s neck. Two of the other men held him down as Loot, Puna, Gaxey, and Ronan were about to get into it with all of them.
“He’s a traitor. He was sending messages to Costaldo. Look at his fucking phone. They know we’re here now,” Viper roared.
“Son of a bitch! Gathin, how could you? How could you fucking do this to Luna, to the family?” Ronan demanded.
“The time is drawing near. There’s a bigger picture here than all of you. He’s coming and when he does, none of these packs will be in existence. None of them, and especially not Keuric and Saint packs. They’ll die and if she is mate to them, then Luna dies, too,” Gathin stated as he tried pulling from their arms, his eyes changing.
“Who is coming? You know who is responsible for all the destruction of were packs?” Corporal demanded.
Gathin chuckled in his half-shift form, and it sounded evil and sadistic.
“Where is Avi? Who has Avi?” Viper yelled. Gathin shifted, but Ronan reacted and slashed his throat, then pulled Gathin’s lungs from his insides out. The dead wolf fell to the ground, and gunfire erupted.
“Move. We’ve got to get to Luna, or Costaldo could kill her, her mother and brother!” Toby yelled, and they started to run into the fight as soldiers of Goshey came at them in multiples.
“They know we’re here, Luna. Gathin was working for Costaldo. Ronan just killed him. We’re coming in!” Corporal told Luna through their mind link and then roared as he shifted and began to toss wolves left and right, slashed their throats, ripped out their hearts with his brothers side by side, killing their way to their mate to save her before it was too late.
Chapter Nine
“Mom!” Luna cried, still unable to move her arms or legs and embrace her mother and brother.
They looked tired, weak as they both hugged her tight and inhaled against her neck. Her mother lifted her head, her light-green eyes filled with fear. “Keuric pack?” she asked and caressed the markings.
Tears rolled down Luna’s cheeks. “My mates,” she whispered.
“Not anymore. She has agreed to be my mate, my wife, in order to save your life and your son’s. We’re going to be one happy family,” Costaldo said. Luna heard Corporal’s words in her head, and then simultaneously the sound of alarms blared.
Costaldo looked furious, issuing orders as men of his entered the room. “Get them into the tunnel now,” he commanded, and her mother and brother were pulled from her body and shoved to the side. Two soldiers grabbed them and ushered them out.
“No, please, let them stay with me,” Luna demanded as Costaldo pulled her up into his arms. She shoved at him with little strength and fell back to the bed. He struck her across the mouth. She cried out and her mother gasped.
“Do not resist me, mate. We will be one.” Lip bleeding, she slumped against his body. “Get Delia to eliminate this spell on her. I can’t have her this weak and unable to move.” He carried her out of the room to another room and some sort of secret doorway. She tried wiggling free and he nearly dropped her. She wiped the blood from her mouth, and as they passed the doorway, she wiped her blood on the wall, the frame, and inside. Her mates would find her and rescue her, her mother and brother, too.
As he carried her through the tunnel, roars could be heard through the walls and banging up above them. The ceilings got lower and lower, but then they came to another door. When the guards opened it, there stood the witch.
“Are you certain?” she asked him.
“Just her ability to move. Keep the poison in her, for if she doesn’t comply to my desires fully like she promised, then she will die.”
The witch pressed a bottle to Luna’s lips. “No, get away from me,” Luna yelled.
“No, please. Please don’t do this,” her mother yelled, too.
Liquid dripped down Luna’s throat, and she felt the odd sensation. Only moments later she was able to move her arms and legs, and Costaldo set her down and gripped her tightly against him. He held her hair and head
and stared at her face, his hold hurting her neck. “Do not resist, mate.” He pressed his mouth to hers. She felt for the knife on his hips, gripped the dagger just as roars filled the air and wolves attacked. She yanked out the knife, and as Costaldo pulled back, she slashed his throat, half shifted, and tore his lungs out. A moment later as her men arrived, killing the soldiers and guards and freeing her mother and brother, Luna felt everything spin around her. She was sick with pain, and then Toby was there, his arm around her waist.
“Luna! Luna, what’s wrong?” he demanded.
“Poison. The witch filled me with poison.”
* * * *
“There’s no sign of her anywhere. Avi isn’t here. She never was here. We shouldn’t have left Texas. That was our only clue as to where she was,” Scor said to Viper and Bider as they boarded the private jet along with Luna and her men. Their mate wasn’t doing well at all, and they needed to get her to Alexandra and her sister and mother quickly.
“We don’t know anything. She could be anywhere at all. We have to keep working on finding out who is the one responsible for all of this, and realize that perhaps it is them who has our mate,” Viper said.
“Well, if it is, then our mission continues. I will fight to the death to find my mate and to secure a life with her and us. This isn’t over, brothers. It’s only just begun,” Bider said to them, and they agreed and tried to focus on Luna, and hope that the princess survived after fighting so hard to save all of them and their families.
* * * *
“Avi is their mate? Are you certain?” Roovio asked Corpius.
“The men said they overheard Viper and his brothers. They too flew off to Italy to help fight against Costaldo and rescue Luna, a princess to Limorte pack,” Corpius told him.
“And were they successful?” Roovio asked, and stroked Gazelle’s hair as she knelt on the rug by his desk so obediently. Another man’s mate, but now his in order to secure the respect and following of the dead Alpha’s people.
“They were. Costaldo is dead.”
“Good.”
“What about this woman Luna, the princess and the money and power Costaldo said she would have in that position?”
“We do nothing. When the time comes, Keuric and Saint packs will be destroyed, and I will be sole ruler in the United States and eventually all over the world.”
“What is the next plan then?”
“To eliminate threats, starting with three Alphas searching for their mate they never had the chance to seal the deal with. When Viper, Bider, and Scor come looking for her, kill them. That will mean less Alphas when the war gets started.”
“Where would you like us to have Avi kept?”
“Right under their noses. They’ll be too distraught to think clearly, so when they seem desperate for answers and a clue to her existence, send out a little morsel of hope. Have the guards ready to take them out. It will mean three less Keuric Alphas to have to deal with.”
* * * *
“Grandmother,” Alexandra called to Margarete the moment Luna was carried into the house and laid down on the bed by Corporal. He caressed her hair back from her very pale cheeks, and looked at her seeing her weaken more and more. One look and Alexandra could see the weight she’d lost, hear how weak her breathing was. She feared they were too late.
Margarete placed a hand on her shoulder and scowled. “Delia, that nasty witch,” Margarete stated and then glanced toward the doorway. Alexandra waved in Alyssa. Her men were there, too.
Margarete looked at Alexandra and Alyssa. “It’s very strong evil. You sense it, right?” she whispered.
“I do. I feel it here,” Alexandra said and covered her chest where her heart was, with her hand.
“It’s another test for you. For both of you. Luna will be important to the fight, to the evil that’s coming closer and closer with every battle fought.”
“I understand. The gods are directing me.”
“Then do it together,” she said to them and stepped back.
Alexandra looked at Alyssa. “She needs us.”
“You have the power. I back you a hundred percent, Alex. Let’s save our friend.”
Alexandra moved closer to the bed. As she ran her palm a foot above Luna’s body, she felt the pain. It was a burning, stinging pain meant to push Alexandra away so she couldn’t heal Luna.
She took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Be careful, mate,” Cab said to her.
She closed her eyes and moved her palm in a circular rotation above Luna’s body. “When I say ‘now,’ I want you to place your hand on my right shoulder. Don’t let go, Alyssa. It’s going to hurt, but it will pass through us and out of here. Out of Luna so she can live,” Alex said.
“What? Are you sure, Alex?” Galvin asked, and he, Puello, Ross, and Stark stepped closer.
“It will be fine. I promise, it will be over soon.”
Alyssa stepped closer as Alex rotated her hand round and round, coming closer and closer to Luna’s body to make contact. She could feel the evil, the power of the witch’s spell as a form began to appear between her hand and Luna’s body. “By the gods, look at that. What the hell is that?” Lodge asked. Alex kept the rotation going and going as the swirl got bigger and the poison moved up out of Luna’s body toward Alex’s hand.
“Now, Alyssa,” she commanded, and Alyssa grabbed her sister’s shoulder as Alex pressed her palm downward. The evil shot up out of Luna’s body, straight through Alexandra’s hand, up her arm through her and Alyssa, and disappeared. Alyssa grabbed onto Alex as she began to fall to the bed. Preston was right there to grab her and lift her onto the bed as Puello pulled Alyssa into his arms and hugged her.
“Is she okay? Is it gone?” Toby asked as he, Corporal, and Lodge went to Luna and touched her.
“It’s over, and it’s gone. Rest with her as her body recovers. It will take time, but just hold her and love your mate. The gods have spoken.”
Epilogue
Luna smiled wide as she watched her little brother, Nathan, playing with the other kids. Her mom was right beside her, smiling and letting the sun beat down on her face. She was so happy they were alive and she got them back. Luna’s men, however, were still pretty angry about how Luna persuaded Costaldo to let her mom and brother free to see her. Toby said that when they got her onto the plane and held her close, they followed Costaldo’s scent. She had sworn that he did very little, but what he did do pissed off their wolves and had them being sure to clean her up and then cover her with their scent completely. She grinned from ear to ear, and then watched Corporal walk across the grass. Lodge and Toby were at the outside table with her and her mother.
“So, what did Viper have to say? Any word on Avi or my uncle?” she asked him.
“Nothing on Avi. I feel for them, having found their mate and then not getting a chance to even talk with her and get to know her. It’s like she was taken for a reason.”
“Well, it would make sense,” Toby said. “Whoever this is that has been committing these acts and trying to kill all were packs, maybe they knew that Avi was their mate? Then Viper and his brothers would become susceptible to a trap to kill them. After all, they are superior Alpha warriors.”
“I agree. You need to make sure they that don’t do anything stupid and run off on a wild goose chase. Cab and his contacts feel they are making progress,” she said.
“Yes, and it was Cab and a friend of his that found out your uncle has disappeared, and I’m afraid he has taken some of the treasure from your pack,” Corporal said to her.
“That slimeball,” Luna’s mother replied. “He was never a strong wolf. Never showed true loyalty. When he heard you were to be the princess when Capella died, your father and I should have followed our instincts and kept better watch of him. We trusted him as family.”
Luna patted her hand. “Well, this is our family now, and when Limorte pack combines with Keuric pack, we grow in strength and power. There is definitely more to come. I c
an feel it, and it makes sense now. Why Alexandra is mate to your cousins, and Alyssa to your other cousins. Even Avi to your cousins Bider, Viper, and Scor. Avi’s family, her pack were basically annihilated. The ones who lived took off on their own to either mix in with the humans or join packs they felt they could trust. Avi has helped both Keuric pack and Saint pack in many ways over the last several years. Her loyalty is great and her bloodline important.”
“How so? What pack did she belong to?” her mother asked.
“Her mother was from Shay pack and her father was from Merker.”
“What? How could that be?” Corporal asked.
“When the fighting took place a century or so ago, the families had decisions to make as both groups’ Alphas started fighting amongst one another. Some refused to back down and wound up in fights to the death, while others like Avi’s parents took their families and left, established their own lives, lived amongst the humans. Avi followed her heart and the messages from the gods. So it will be important when Viper and them find her and complete the mating process. Their joining will bring together packs Keuric, Shay, and Merker, ultimately empowering you and your cousins,” Luna said and then smiled at her mother.
“Why don’t you and your men go for that walk? Nathan and I are fine here,” her mother said to her.
Luna stood up. “Well, they will need to catch me first.” She took off running, shifted into her wolf, and headed toward the woods.
She heard the howl as well as some laughter, and then her mates were on her tail in no time at all. Luna absorbed the invigorating sensations running through her body as her wolf was free. Free to explore, free to enjoy everything in nature around her, and free to love her mates. As she sprinted and jumped over the stream and around the corner, Toby slammed into her side. She growled low as they rolled along the twigs and branches, then stopped under a tree. She was on top of him, staring down into his green eyes. She didn’t think twice as she lowered her cunt over his cock just as they shifted to human form. He smiled wide and then came Corporal, fisting his cock in his hand and bringing it to her lips as she moaned and thrust on top of Toby’s cock.
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