Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
Wolf pups grew faster than their human counterparts, doubling in size during their first six months and then a couple of times after that before they’d be full grown. Our pups didn’t stay small for long.
“I hear babies do that,” she said with a laugh. “Wait a sec, I’m going to grab a coffee and m uffin. Don’t you go anywhere.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
I’d kept my finger holding my place in the book, and when Quinn returned to the seat across from me, she tilted her head to look at it. She pursed her lips.
“Huh. I didn’t figure you for a history lover.”
I looked down at the book. It was History of the Great Wars. So far, the little bits I’d managed to read been kept a secret, “I thought it looked interesting, but it really isn’t.” I shrugged and put the book away into my bag and forced a smile. “Tell me about you! How is your mom? And…”
I coughed a little and cleared my throat.
“How’s Asher?”
Quinn made a face. “Well, he sure was a pain in the a ss to live with for a little while. A sore loser. Not that I blame you,” she added hastily. “How’s Mason?”
“Oh…” I frowned. “Their friendship didn’t suffer, did it?”
Asher and I had never become more than friends, but there’d been that flirtation there. He’d even taken me out on a date. Once I’d met Mason, though, I’d known at once there was never going to be anything beyond friendship for me with Quinn’s brother.
Even then, my body had known Mason was meant to be my mate.
“Who knows how men keep their friendships?” She paused, leaning forward and lowering her voice to serious tone. “I should be really furious with you, too. All this time, not even a text? What happened to you, Katie? You and Mason ran off together. There were rumors that you and that Alpha from Constantine Pack were together, too, along with his Beta.”
“Rumors? From who?”
Quinn waved a hand. “You know, people talk. Some have asked me where you and Stella went off to. I wasn’t really sure what to say. I was worried that something bad had happened to you. You kind of left the way you showed up…without a word.”
A few bad things had happened to me, but a few good things had, too. I wanted to share them with my friend, but again, held myself back. This woman had been with me when I gave birth, and I still simply couldn’t bring myself to share the truth.
Quinn must’ve sensed my hesitation because she lifted her coffee mug and waited for me to do the same.
When I did, she tapped hers against mine.
“Cheers,” she said quietly. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen. No matter what it is, I hope you know that I’m your friend, Katie.”
Finally, my walls crumbled down. I put my coffee mug on the table with a thump. Coffee splashed, but neither of us moved to wipe it up. When I drew in a heavy breath, Quinn reached across the table to take my hand.
“Well, first things first,” I said at last. “I guess I should start off with the fact that…my name isn’t Katie.”
Mason–
Xander and Zane had gone off for a run in the woods and what I assumed was some private time between the two of them. I hadn’t been able to hear them through the link, but I could tell they were having a pretty deep discussion before they left. Maybe it should’ve bothered me more, being left out like that, but…
“It’s going to take you all some time to get used to how it all works.” Gabriela said this from the kitchen doorway to me in the living room. She held up a plate of cake. “I made this. It’s carrot with cream cheese icing. Want some?”
himself up to I checked the babies, who were all playing happily in their playpen. Isaac had pulled up babble at his sisters, who were watching him with a keen intent I knew would lead to them trying it next. They were safe where they were, though, and my stomach was rumbling.
Plus, I wanted to spend some time getting to know the woman my father had married.
“Coffee?” Gabriela asked as she cut a thick slice of dake for me.
I dug my fork in and took a big bite. F uck, it was good. I nodded with my mouth full, and she slid a mug. toward me, then filled it with hot coffee.
“It’s a good thing you boys urged Lanie to take some time to herself. She was getting a little stir crazy here in the Ollage. By the way my son and his Beta took off a little while ago, I’d say we all are. Do you need to run off somewhere, too?”
I shook my head as I took another bite. “Not right now. Anyway, someone has to stay and help out with those three pups. They’re too much of a handful for one person alone.”
“It was certainly easier when they couldn’t move around.” Gabriela twisted to look into the living room fondly. “They’re so precious. What a gift.”
“An unexpected one,” I told her sincerely. “I never thought I’d be part of a family like this.”
Xander’s mother studied me solemnly. “I never in a million full moons would have believed I’d ever be sitting across a kitchen table feeding the son of my husband’s mistress carrot cake.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry Orion did that to you”
Gabriela shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize for the cruelties your parents did. None of us are without flaw. I was foolish to trust him the way I did. At any rate, I’m glad to have the chance to know you, Mason. I always wanted Xander to have a brother. Zane has filled part of that need in him, but not exactly the same as you can”
“No,” I said after a second, laughing. “I don’t think I can do that.”
She smiled, but it looked a little sad. “Lanie was right, you know. There is change on the h orizon. Big things are coming. I’ve tried to ask the Goddess for insight, but since I am no longer the Luna, my access to her is much dimmer”
“Ah. So you did overhear us. I wasn’t sure.”
Xander’s mother nodded. “I heard.”
“Is it hard for you? Having Lanie be the Luna now, I mean. Since you were the Luna for so long…” I licked the tines of my fork, adding, “Xander wasn’t happy about having to share his Alpha status with me, but at least he didn’t lose it altogether.”
“Yes,” Gabriela said so bluntly it surprised me. “It is hard to give up my role, my status, all of it. I’m used to a certain amount of power, and of course it’s difficult to lose that, no matter how certain I am that Lanie deserves it. She’s incredibly strong, Mason.”
Something in her voice clued me in. “And you’re worried about that for some reason,”
“Lanie is a hybrid,” Gabriela said with that same bluntness. “None of us knows what that all means, and while I cannot condone what the High Council and my former husband were trying to do to the hybrids…1 can’t help but wonder if we do need to be concerned about how they are able to access their powers. She’s not just a wolf, Mason. Not a simple Luna. She’s got the vampire powers, and she’s the only Luna I’ve ever heard of who has three mates.”
I scowled. “You think I shouldn’t be mated to her…?”
“I didn’t say that. The fact is, no matter what I think, she is your mate. And Xander’s. And Zane’s. And it’s clear the Goddess blessed that union of you four,” Gabriela shook her head. “But it’s also clear to me that with great power and strength comes a vast amount of stress not to mention responsibility”
“And you think she can’t handle it?” I accused, angry on Lanie’s behalf.
“I don’t think anything.” Gabriela snapped. “But we don’t know anything, either. Like I said, she’s very strong. Maybe that’s why she has three mates. She needs all three of you to help her. If something should happen to that bond…”
I calmed down. “It won’t. Nothing can break us apart Gabriela shook her head and gave me a sad smile. “Thope you’re right,: son.”
But something in the way she said it made me think she didn’t have the same confidence I did.
Lanie–
Quinn stared at me without speaking, but her eyebrows went up so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline. She took a slow slip of coffee, still staring at me over the rim of her mug. Her wide eyes made me want to giggle, but I couldn’t be sure if she was mad at me or not.
She put the cup down. “I can’t even be shocked that your name isn’t Katie. I knew there was something mysterious about you!
This is like, so romantic and wild. You have a secret identity!”
“No, not like that.” I quickly shook my head. “I wasn’t keeping it a secret on purpose, anyway. Goddess, I’m not even sure where to start.”
“Probably at the beginning.” Quinn offered and put her chin in her hands to blink her eyes at me. “I’m ready.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “So…1 guess I can go all the way back to Xander and Zane. My mates.”
Quinn gasped aloud and sat back so hard she rocked her chair on two legs. I waved at her to be quiet, not wanting the entire coffee shop to hear our conversation. She nodded and scooted her chair closer to me.
“What about Mason?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and braced myself. “He’s also my mate”
Her jaw dropped. Her eyes flashed as her wolf rose from the surprise. She quickly soothed her wolf into being quiet, but her voice held a touch of a growl when she whispered to me.
“What the actual f uck, Katie? Or not Katie, what is your name, anyway?”
“It’s Lanie. Lanie Constantine.” I had to shake my head at that. I never really thought of myself that way. “I’m the Luna of Constantine Pack”
“lam going to pass out from this,” Quinn said. “I can’t even.”
I was glad she was able to keep a good sense of humor about all of this. It really was a lot to take in.
“It’s been a wild ride,” I admitted. “First, I was given to Xander and Zane to be their mate. But they were in love with someone else…”
She held up her hands. “Hold on. Let me digest this. That’s not supposed to work.”
“It didn’t at first. But it turns out the woman they wanted to take as their mate, Alice, was also with…” I hesitated, not sure I could even say it out loud without it all sounding ridiculous. “Well, she was with Mason.
And although they took her as their mate, she never could hear the mind link with Xander and Zane, which meant-”
“That the mate bond didn’t work,” Quinn finished for me. “But it did with you?”
I nodded. If I wanted to tell her everything, the entire truth, I would have to reveal that I was a hybrid and vampire side go away, but at the expense of my memories. It was the reason I’d ended up in Stillwood with the name Katie, not knowing where I’d come from, who I really was, or who’d fathered my baby.
Quinn must’ve been able to see my reluctance on my face, even if she couldn’t possibly know the reason why I didn’t want to say what was on my mind.
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?