Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
There was no librarian here. People who wanted to check out books simply wrote their names and the book titles in a ledger, along with their address in the enclave. I started there, skimming the list of titles just in case someone had checked the book out.
I ran my finger down the lines, page after page. I came up with nothing. That was good…unless someone had taken the book without checking it out.
I wouldn’t let myself believe that. The Moon Goddess was guiding me. I had to trust in that guidance!
But…where to begin? The library itself wasn’t huge, but all four walls had shelves from the floor all the way to the ceiling, so tall there was a ladder on a rail that you had to climb to get to the very top shelves.
Long rows of other shelves filled the center space with cubbies crammed full of books in the corners, too.
There were also shelves that formed small reading nooks like the one I’d been sitting in.
Thousands of books. No idea where to begin. I thought about what I’d seen in my vision. The size of the book was a good clue to start with. It had been about the size of a big photo album, not small like a paperback novel.
Also, it was leather-bound with gold leaf. Many of the books I was looking at had paper covers. I could eliminate them easily. Even so, it was going to take me a few hours to comb through all of the books.
Auick glance at the big clock on the wall told me I didn’t have hours. I wanted to pick up the pups from school and spend time with them before everyone else came back to our quarters.
Mason and Xander hadn’t told me what time they’d be back from the leadership meeting. I didn’t know where Zane had gone, and my mother-in-law kept her own schedule, too. She’d also been distant from me lately. Still helpful with the children but not as chatty with me as she’d been before.
Sometimes, it felt like she was studying me when she thought I couldn’t see her. Hopefully, finding this book would help with that.
The more knowledge I had, the better off we’d all be.
The only thing I could do right now was start my search. And if I didn’t find the book I needed, I’d have to come back tomorrow and the next day until I did. I decided to make it easier on myself by starting at the library’s far corner, on the bottom shelf. There weren’t many other people browsing here, but I didn’t want to attract any extra attention by climbing those tall ladders.
However, the Moon Goddess must still have been gulding my feet and my hands, because the moment I crouched down to run my fingers along the row of books on the lowest shelf, I felt the nubbly, rough leather cover of a book much bigger than all the others there.
My heart leaped into my throat. I refused to rush and yank it out, instead pulling it out slowly and carefully in case the book was fragile. It had looked really old in the vision. At last, I held it in both hands.
Oversized, the book filled my entire lap. Just as I’d seen it, the gold foil title said Celestial.
For a few seconds I almost couldn’t bring myself to open it. I was so afraid I’d find out something I didn’t want to know…but at the same time, I desperately wanted to be prepared to face whatever was coming our way.
Zane–
I was a little out of breath by the time I finished jogging to the bottom of the stairs. Another reminder that I really needed to find a place where I could let Blade run free more often. Brightsky might be exactly what that spider had said-self-contained. But underground tunnels couldn’t compete with a real bright sky. Me and my wolf both needed some more regular exercise.
The smell reached me before the sight. Dampness. Not briny like the ocean, but more like minerals. I could hear the slosh of water as I turned a corner of the bare concrete corridor. The room beyond was lit with hundreds of lights that gave the space a natural glow.
The ponds didn’t look natural, though. They were built of concrete, large rectangles more like swimming pools.
I spotted Greyson right away. He had a net with a long handle that he was dragging through the water. I watched as he h ooked what turned out to be a basket.
He pulled it out, dripping, and set it on the side of the pond.
“Grey!” I called out, lifting a hand in greeting.
For a second, he looked confused. When he saw me, though, he gave a wide grin and waved back. “Zane!
Hey!”
I made my way toward him. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but a spider told me you were down here.”
“They’re everywhere. How do you think the hallway lighting brightens and dims as you’re walking, or how the lights show you just where you want to go?”
Greyson leaned the net handle against the wall.
“I thought it was tech.”
He shook his head. “Brightsky has tons of tech, sure, but the enclavian spiders are everywhere. Most of the time you won’t even see them. I’m surprised one showed itself to you.”
Greyson put his hands on his hips and twisted at the waist, cracking his back. Then he rolled his head back and forth, cracking his neck. When he saw me looking, he laughed. “Sorry. Had a pretty solid workout earlier, and it kind of wrecked me.”
“I wish you’d called me. I need a solid workout,” I said Greyson studied me. “Next time, I will. For sure. So…
did you need something?”
[e)
“Huh?”
“You said one of the spiders told you I was down here.
Were you looking for me?”
S hit. If I said yes, was I going to look like a weirdo?
“Mostly just exploring,” I said. “But I’m glad I found you.”
“Your Alphas are in the leadership council meeting, huh? So’s Charlotte. I know what it’s like to have to find ways to fill your time. Want to see ‘something cool?”
I nodded. “Always.”
Greyson opened one of the clams to show me the pearls inside. “These are worth hundreds of dollars each. I haven’t been assigned farm duties in years, but sometimes I like to come down here and just check.
them out. It’s always quiet. Gives me time to think.”
He pocketed the pearls and tossed the empty shell into a container at the end of the pond.
“Seems like maybe you’ve got a lot on your mind,”
Greyson said. “Anything you want to talk about?”
Together, we walked along the edges of the ponds and into a long hallway on the outside. We passed a lot of doors, and when I peeked inside I could see other similar rooms. I waited until we reached the end of the hall and another set of stairs before I answered.
“I want to talk about what happened with Lanie and Charlotte, I guess.”
“What about it?” Greyson gave me a curious look as we started to climb the stairs.
I paused on the landing. “Don’t you feel…s hit. I hate to even say it. Violated?”
Greyson’s laugh wasn’t mocking. “I get what you’re saying. Yeah, at first I was kind of upset. I’d never hurt my mate like that. But…well, it’s part of being in a relationship with Charlotte.”
“What? Having your mind be controlled?” I didn’t even pretend I could understand this.
“Being tested, if it’s necessary. She’s a hybrid, just like Lanie. There are lots of things Charlotte didn’t realize she could do until she was tested. I’m sure it’s all pretty confusing for you as Lanie’s mate.” Greyson eyed me. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here. I can’t promise to answer all your questions, but if I can’t, I can try to find someone who can.”
“Yeah…” I said with a nod and sense of hope rising inside me. I hadn’t realized just how much all of this was weighing on me until Greyson made the offer.
“Yeah. I’d like that. I’m not sure I’d even know where to start.”
“Tell you what,” he said with a grin. “Let’s go grab a drink, and we’ll see what happens.”
Mason–
“What the hell was that about?” Xander said as we both watched the Ancient vampire speed out of the room like he was on fire.
The door slammed behind Malachi so hard a picture fell off the wall. I shrugged. “Who knows?”
My brother pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Vamps, man. They’re weird.”
“Yeah,” I agreed even though I didn’t really want it to be true. After all, our Luna was part vampire. So were our pups.
As if he’d read my mind, Xander said, “Lanie’s not like that.”
“You saw her the day she used her mind control on Greyson, bro. She might not be fully vamp, but she’s definitely not what we are used to. The things she can do…the things they’re suggesting she might be able to do…..”
“Those things are weird,” Xander said firmly. “Our Luna is not. It’s all f ucking weird, and I don’t like it. Nove our Luna beyond the Moon and stars, but I don’t want this for her. I agree she needs training to keep her safe, but… ah, d mn it, man. Malachi says we don’t want her to be stronger than us, but what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with wanting to be able to protect her?”
I sat back in my chair, rocking it a bit on the back legs. “No matter how powerful she is, we’ll always be able to do that. Which means we’d better forget about what her weirdo grandfather is doing and get to work.
I don’t really want to be in here all night, and he was pretty clear he wanted to get her started with heavy training by the morning.”
“Not happening,” my brother said curtly. He waved a hand at the laptop and my pile of folders. “I’ve never drafted safety protocols for anything like this before, and I know you haven’t, either. It’s going to take time to figure out what the best way to go about this would be. Also to reference anyone on these lists that he intends to have in her training.”
“If they live in the enclave, they’ve already been vetted,” I told him.
Xander shook his head again. “I don’t care about their credit scores or criminal records. I want to know who they are. Anyone who gets close enough to our Luna needs to pass inspection. They have to be trustworthy to keep her from getting hurt. Tell me you don’t want to make sure of that.”
“Of course I do. But I’m more worried about what Malachi said. About how the longer we wait, the more likely it becomes that our Luna might start having issues. She’s already had some strange s hit crop up with her. I’m concerned,” my brother said.
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?