Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“And you think I’m not?”
Aknock came at that her dohr, which opened before either of us could answer it. Charlotte peeked herhradad ad, then steppedhipsinsSthe She frowned.
‘I was looking for Moradialabhiv Do you know where he went? Charlotte asked.d He said he was sick sind randah out/d told her.
Her frown got deeper. So diabthedthe crdasle between her eyes. “Sick? But…..he doesn’t get sick.
Kander shrugged. “Everyone gets gets sink sometimes.”
No. I mean…vampires don’tdpettsick.Sick.
He didn’t say he was sick. He said haid he was einwell,”
corrected. “He looked sick to me. Said Stawiswasnt physical. Then he ran out of here like a shot.”
Charlotte looked concerned. lihaveltovgadigd find him. But while I’m here, I wanted to see if you were.re able for another meeting.ing.
kept my groan to myself. Xander and had a datafov off work to do just to get things in place for Malachi’s led testing with Lanie. We might even have twockwork:uhrough the entire night, something I wasn’t looking ng ard to.
What kind of meeting?” Xander askedsked.
Specifically security. I have some concerns,rns, Charlotte said in a low voice. “I didn’t want to bring them to toother entire leadership council, in case I’m being f line. But I know that the two of you would be able to loob apuatpour qurotocols without the prejudice of g lived here for a long time. I’d like to get your opinionision over havehave enough defense systems in place, Id we be attacked. Specifically by your High Council heil.”
My wolf perked up at that.
Do you have reason to believe that’s going to happen?baskedsked her.
Charlotte shook her head, but her expression twistedsted.
No it’s just a feeling I can’t seem to shake. I have no proof that your tight@gh Councilknows about t much less that you’re all here. But there’s been a flurry of activity on mynotaybbdd blogsicmuch like it danie was searching. It feels suspicious. Like someone’s been tracking king her.”
poly accept is that your Luna is not like you” Greyson shrugged as hegged as he kn look, like i was going to argue with him.
Were you “Were you with Cherl Greyson In Greyson frowned an abusive Alabusive Alpha and freed ! when she when she and I got toget I though! althought about my t “She’s luckyShe’s lucky to have questions questions for me. Ask av Not even siNot even sure wher that whatever I thought I understood about Charlotte was never going toer going to aswbbold to watch. Listen. Learn. I had to let her lead,” Greyson said in an said advice you advies you have for me?!
novdan know anything about dragon culture. Is that a problem? problem?
“That’s a tougats a tough one, control talenatal talents, of course I didn’t. Are grains. Are you say decides to decides to do?”
176 Grevesm? Greyson chuckled, and I couldn’t even take offense. He was se. He was Greyson’s larensen claughter c eterol as thevels the Alpha, but….yeah. No. It’s not really the same. I’d e same. Id “But you’re okayyoure okay wel s,” I said.
remembering thaiensgtthat last time with Lanie when she’d been wild been wild ed to pretendo pascade wasn’t getting hard thinking about it. Talk about is kabout aid with a nod. Asafondragonfor dragons, since we’re mostly solitary and same hierarchy you awonyesodowolvesado. But because we tend toward ontrol to someone else one else.”, s. right?
dn’t imagine my life without bewithmythesdymjust saying that my nature y our relationship had to work, datuwonkland think the same could be ust a wolf, after all. after all.”
Not because any of us don’t aucemintea copiiites for who she is.
“That was para fasegaft of a “What if Malacht habitacorba Greyson shook his heakst wouldn’t have allowed that towRED D
to be totally ignorant of the test c.
I’m really all right with laticettivi to perform, too. If you’re calfedbon her using you as a Weapon a weap “That makes me feel a li Lime “The best advice I’d give time, and even for us, Chariot “And Wolves don’t live that ow exactly what that means. So welne working working all the time just “Not usually. No. So you shoul ndships, too.” Greyson paused and sippedritisipadthis beer His gaze your entire life.”
new what he was getting at. My Alpha$/leavingmiebving the behind. I just him.
“Were you with Charlotte when she was first learning about how to hone her hybrid skills?”
Greyson frowned and shook his head. “No. I’m much younger than she is. She’d already been mated to an abusive Alpha and freed herself from that relationship before she and I met. She was fairly confident in herself when she and I got together. Still always learning, though. That’s something you’ll have to prepare yourself for.”
I thought about my Luna. “Whatever she needs, I’m ready to give her.”
“She’s lucky to have you, Zane.” Greyson tipped his beer mug toward mine. “But I’m sure you have questions for me. Ask away.”
“Not even sure where to begin. I guess let’s just start with the basics,” I said. “What’s the biggest piece of advice you have for me? How can I be ready to support Lanie, no matter what she needs?”
“That’s a tough one, since we’re not sure how her hybrid traits will manifest. We know about the mind control talents, of course.” He laughed.
I didn’t. “Are you saying that I should be ready to let her make me hurt or kill people if that’s what she decides to do?”
Greyson’s laughter cut off abruptly, and his smile faded. “No. Of course not.”
“But you’re okay with what she did to you.”
“That was part of a test.”
“What if Malachi hadn’t stopped you? What if you’d ended up actually hurting Charlotte? Or worse?”
Greyson shook his head. “I realize how shocking that must have seemed, but I promise you, Zane, Malachi wouldn’t have allowed that to happen. And they couldn’t tell me ahead of time for my consent, because I had to be totally ignorant of the test for it to work.
I’m really all right with all of it. They did what they had to do. There might be other difficult tasks for Lanie to perform, too. If you’re called on to help her, then yes, be prepared. But I don’t think you have to worry about her using you as a weapon.”
“That makes me feel a little better.” But only a little.
“The best advice I’d give you is to be prepared that you will age faster than she will. Dragons live a long time, and even for us, Charlotte’s hybrid traits have given her a vampire’s lifespan.”
“And wolves don’t live that long,” I said.
“Not usually. No. So you should be ready to serve her for the rest of your life…but not the rest of hers.”
Lanie–
Instead of opening the book, I clutched it to my chest. I sent up another grateful prayer to the Moon Goddess.
“And thank you for not losing patience with me,” I added in my head. “For trusting that I can and will always follow you.”
I didn’t think anyone would pay attention to me reading a book. Everyone was doing the same thing.
Since I wasn’t sure what I was going to find, though, I wanted to take the book back to our quarters. I wanted to be able to take better notes than on my phone, too.
The first thing that happened when I stood up was that the book was so heavy I had to use both hands to carry it. And then when I headed toward the desk where the ledger was, I tripped and almost fell over. I barely hung onto the book!
Luckily for my pride, nobody seemed to notice my clumsiness. When I tried again to get to the desk, I stubbed my toe and let out a sharp cry. This time it was much more noticeable that nobody turned to look at I went still, looking around. Seriously, nobody was looking at me or even seemed to notice I was standing in the aisle, based on how someone nearly ran me over. I had to jump out of the way. They looked back, though, surprised when I muttered, “Excuse you.”
So…1 wasn’t invisible.
But every time I tried to get that book to the desk so I could check it out using the ledger, something stopped me. Something was shielding me from anyone in this library seeing that I carried that book.
“Okay, okay,” I thought to the Moon Goddess. “I get the hint. No paper trail.”
It felt wrong to take that book out without following the rules. Like stealing. But for a good cause, I told myself as I carried it out of the library without anyone shouting after me that I should come back and sign it out. Once the door closed silently behind me the book itself got instantly lighter.
I couldn’t do anything about the sheer size of it, so I tucked it under my arm and scurried through the hallways and staircases, heading for home. I’d have an hour or so to read it before I had to pick up the children from school, and then hopefully some more time after that.
Just like in the library, nobody seemed to pay me any attention. I got on an elevator just before the doors closed, and nobody so much as looked at me or asked what floor I needed them to push. I did it myself, and the woman standing in front of the panel looked surprised, but as soon as I moved back a step, her face went blank again.
I did find myself wondering what kind of mischief I could get into with everyone in the enclave seemingly thinking I wasn’t there.
When I was a kid, I’d always been fascinated by the stories about magic cloaks and whatnot…the book in my hand seemed like something of an equivalent. I wasn’t going to risk anything, though. After all, I wasn’t eight years old.
Once back in our quarters, I cleared off the heavy wooden table from the children’s books and board games. I found a notepad and several pens, and I settled into the chair with the giant book in front of me. This was it. Was I finally going to find out the truth about my precious little girl?
Carefully, I opened the cover. The inside pages were of thick paper that had rough-cut edges. Instead of printed words, I saw handwritten scribbles that looked to be in a similar handwriting to the essay that I’d found tucked inside the other book. When I pulled it out, sure enough, they were the same.
The title of the book was Celestial, but there was no author. To my shock, as I turned the first page, the words…..moved. They scrambled around and then settled back into place. This time they appeared to be printed like a regular book, making it much easier to read.
That wasn’t the only shocker, though. The pictures in this book moved, too. Kind of like gifs, the illustrations ran on loops. I flipped through the entire book, fascinated by this magic. Had the author of the book been a witch?
Witches can read My jaw dropped. Did this book just…read my mind and react to my thoughts?
Witch blood Can read The words scrambled and formed the message, then reverted to the text. A picture of a rising sun side by side with a matching moon looped over and over.
“Where do I start?” I said aloud.
Beginning I laughed. Of course. Where else? I shouldn’t need a smart a ss book to tell me that.
So, that’s where I started.
Page one.
The first sentence.
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?