Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
She looked disapppoited but the nodded “Yes, Daddy, I promise.”
Slowly, a group hadantennalized in front of us, one by one, from behind the trees and flowerbeds.
Men and wonten treseada nothing more appropriate to tropical temperatures than what I’d have pected from an Alaskan ecotuthored in semi-circle. Most of them were smiling at us in welcome, but ew hung back as though they were reserving judgment However ponéfantitat face stood out to me, and I gave a happy gasp.
“Malachi Xander–
“If Malachi’s hanging putitihare it must be safe enough,” Zane thought to me as soon as the Ancient vampire stepped out of the crowd that was greeting us. “How are you feeling about this? I’m getting conflict.”
I shifted Stella fromone eantac the other as I replied via the link. “I keep getting waves of reassurance from our Luna. Not sure she’s swaddoing it on purpose, or if that’s the reason I’m actually pretty cool right now. But I do know that if Malachin shealthis place has to be safe as hell.”
Mason’s voice slipped into any vidro how are you so cool? I gotta be honest, I’m not sure I’m okay. being surrounded by all these vampes “We’re all here together Feel Lenis Sheertruits Maladi. So should we,” Zane put in.
I could tell by the look on Meson’s face that he still wasn’t convinced. That was fine. Some healthy wariness would serve us well, so long as itididioned his so tense he went off without warning or provocation.
Lanie must’ve been feeling it, too, because she turned It even lifted the ends of her hair, and I swore could see almost at once in the golden tight of the courtyard.
him, her smile still wide. A glow surrounded her.
all sparkles glittering all around her. They faded “I mean, look at this f ucking place,” Meson thoughhtapne and Zane. “We’re in Alaska, and this is like something out of the Bahamas or some s hiti This stinks opmagic Xander. Do vamps control the weather?”
“Daddy,” Stella said with a frown. She put a tiny hand on my check to turn my face toward her. “Tell him not to worry so much?”
“Did you hear me thinking to your Daddy?” Meson asked dna dowodice.
She paused before answering. “I can just see your eyes am scared”
“There’s no need to be afraid, Mason.” A woman in a flowing green dres her blonde hair c her shoulders and back, stepped closer to us. She held out a delicate handdawnld my brother. A
tittle one might not be reading your mind..but I am”
Mason–
“Fuck this,” I muttered out loud as I took a step in front of Xander, a call to action clear in my voice.
I wasn’t worried about my brother, obviously, but carrying our sadness, he wasn’t going to be able to fight if he had to.
The woman’s laugh was a light tinkle that floated through the air like a thousand cascading butterflies. Fuck, for a few seconds I even swore that’s what I saw—tiny glowing insects fluttering about, and then they disappeared, but I wasn’t fooled. If she could read my mind, who was to say she couldn’t also insert stuff in there, too?
“I am Melina. Welcome to the enclave, Mason. I must assure you, here, you aren’t surrounded by vamps as you might think,” she said, sounding amused. “Shall we say, to put it gently, here in the haven we call Brightsky, we share our space with many supernaturals. Brightsky is a refuge for those who need it. Those such as yourselves.”
I tilted my head to chase away any residual sensation of those damn butterflies. “What the hell are you talking about? Other supernaturals?”
“Mason,” Lanie murmured.
Even though I loved and trusted her with my life, I ignored her. I took another step toward Melina.
“What others are you talking about? I know about him.” I gestured toward Greyson. “I know about hybrids. Vampires, witches. You’re telling me there are others?”
“Mason,” Lanie repeated firmly and took my hand to force me to look at her.
Zane joined her, and the two of them swirled their energies around me, but I waved them off. I had a responsibility to my mates and all three of my pack. One step wasn’t going to come without some explaining.
“Let him speak,” said a tall, murmuring man with steel-gray hair.
He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and unlike the others who wore light clothing, he was dressed for what I’d expect in an Austin winter. I tried to pinpoint his kind but couldn’t. He was not witch and not even dragon, which was still so new a smell I wasn’t quite used to. I nodded at him, though, and he returned it. Whoever he was, I liked his vibe.
Melina’s smile switched on like a camera iris that she peacefully waved a hand in his direction, then mine. “Mason should know he is welcome to question anything. Welcome here at Brightsky at any time, for any reason.”
Zane’s Beta energy tried to tickle the back of my mind at the base of my spine, but again, I did my best not to let it infiltrate me. I could sense his frustration with me.
“Beta,” I ordered through our private link. “Stand down.”
“I wouldn’t be a very good Beta if I did!” came his quick reply, though he did back off.
Well, he backed off of me. He focused on Melina. “Respectfully, it’s been a very short time since we learned other than wolf shifters existed. Wolves and humans, that’s what we believed.”
He took a breath, clearly shaken. “Finding out about vampires was a huge shock. And not just us, but all of us. Maybe you all have more information or whatever, but we’re understandably a little bit shook.”
Again, her light laughter tinkled through the air. No butterflies this time. Maybe she’d read my damn mind and felt how that unsettled me. But the flowers blooming around us nodded their heavy heads as if in agreement.
Lanie pulsed some Luna calm around me, which I allowed.
“Melina, there is so much we don’t understand, and we thank you for allowing us to come here to your home. Trust me, knowing we have a refuge is immensely reassuring. I hope you all will forgive any missteps we might take as we adjust.”
I couldn’t help but be proud of how well-spoken my Luna had become. When I met her as Katie, she was an unsure mother, and now she’d become almost regal.
Now, Katie no longer existed. Lanie carried herself like a fucking queen.
Melina smiled, looking like she was about to burst with pride. “My granddaughter, you and your kin are welcome here for as long as you like.”
“And if we want to leave?” I challenged him, aware of Lanie’s frown but wanting to get things out in the open right away.
Melina’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head with the same delicate grace she’d shown with every action so far. “Oh no, Mason, I’m afraid we can’t allow that. Not at all.”
Lanie–
“Zane. Hold him,” I sent through a private link. “He’s going to lose his s hit.”
“Got it,” Zane thought in reply.
Together, we wove a tapestry of calm for Mason, but I was surprised that instead of bursting into rage, he started laughing. He shook a finger at Melina. She laughed gently “If you’re going to read my mind,” he said, “you’d better be prepared for what’s in there.”
Zane and I shared confused looks. Melina, however, simply glided forward like she was walking on air and took Mason by the shoulders. She kissed one cheek, then the other, her lips brushing the air over his skin without actually touching.
“My dear new friend. You cannot leave without a bath, dinner, fresh clothes, and the assurance that you have our protection. We treat our guests with the utmost hospitality,” she said, then paused. “But I suppose you are not guests, are you? If you are family to Malachi, you are kin to us a all.”
“What did you think to her?” I heard Zane ask through the group link, but Mason only grinned and shook his head.
“Melina, perhaps our guests would be better prepared for what we have to share with them if they’re shown to their rooms and given a chance to rest. Reflect Refresh.”
The gray-haired man at the back of the group said this a bit sharply, and I wondered what his relationship was to Melina. She didn’t seem at all taken aback by his tone. If anything, the look she shot over her shoulder made me think he amused her.
“Allow me to introduce Jacques,” Melina said. “He is a warlock.”
“And her husband,” he said sternly, his brow furrowing “So, men can be witch kind,” Xander said aloud.
Malachi nodded “Your world is going to get so much bigger over the next few days, son. I hope you’re ready for it”
“Tim Penelope,” offered a pretty brunette whose eyes tipped up at the comers when she smiled Tm a vampire witch No wolf in me, but I’m fascinated by how you shift I’d love the chance to learn more about how It all works I mean, where does the for even come from? And where does it go?
“Pen, let’s get them to their rooms so they can relax a bit before dinner Melina chided kindly Penelope moved closer to link her arm through mine I do hope we can be friends, Lanie i promise you, I’m not always so nosy Eve just heard so much about you from Charlotte Well, we all have. I’m so very excited to have you here!”
I looked around the group of those who’d come to oreet us, wondering how many more lived here it had “You have the advantage, I guess,” I told her with a small, self-conscious chuckle. “Since none of us had any idea about any of this before a day ago.”
Gabriela hefted Alaina higher on her hip. Isaac clung to her leg. Both pups were staring, goggle-eyed, all around them. “These two little ones could certainly use a change of clothes. So could I. We’d be very grateful if you could show us where we’ll be staying.”
“I’ll take them. You, Penelope, stay here and help prepare for the dinner tonight. You’ll have plenty of time. to get to know Lanie later. Give her a chance to settle in,” my grandfather ordered. To me, he said, “I’ll take you all to your rooms. Your belongings have already been taken there.”
We gathered ourselves and the kids and followed him out of the courtyard, through an area dominated by the fountain I’d heard earlier, and then through a set of wooden doors that matched the ones on the outside wall. These, though, hung open in a way that suggested they were rarely closed. Inside the main building, the enclave turned out to be a maze of stairs, halls, and common rooms.
“Is that thing ing safe?” This time, Xander was the one with a suspicious glare at the elevator in front of us.
The doors were of elaborately scrolled metalwork that formed so many small scenes I thought I could spend hours looking at them all. My grandfather laughed and opened the door to usher us inside. Despite the antique appearance, all eight of us fit comfortably. Malachi hit the button marked seven.
“This building isn’t even seven stories high,” Mason said.
Malachi shook his head. “Floors zero through four are above. Five through eleven.
go below.”
The elevator shuddered and began to move, but without his explanation I’d have been hard-pressed to know if it was going up or down.
“It’s like what the humans call witches’ stairs,” Gabriela murmured admiringly. “Meant to confuse anyone.
who’s not supposed to be here.”
Malachi grinned at her. “You got it.”
The doors opened to let us out into a small, cozy entry foyer that looked like it belonged in a boutique hotel. That was surprise enough, but when my grandfather unlocked and pushed open the door, I couldn’t he back my cry of utter shock.
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?