Kit's POVIt was good that Sera hadn't stayed. If the elders were this nasty when she wasn't here, I didn't want to think about how awful they'd be to her if she was. Weeks passed with council meeting after council meeting. They would try to hammer in ideologies that I didn't agree with. Not remotely. Old, outdated ways of thinking that benefited them, but not the pack. Frankly, it went through one ear and out the other. All the same bullshit.And in between those meetings, I had curious wolves who wanted to meet me. See their new Alpha face-to-face. Sniff me out to determine for themselves if I was safe. As was their right. I wasn't going to turn them away. I needed them to trust me. I needed them to understand that I served them, not the other way around. But it would take a lot of work to get to the level of trust we needed.I expected that. Thankfully, I had Xander with me as interim Alpha while all the dust settled. They trusted him. And he was proving to me how des
Seraphina's POVWhen I saw Kit's truck pull into Rosie's driveway, I almost didn't believe it was him. We had spent so much time apart, that it felt surreal to see him again in the flesh. We spent weeks pulling on the bond whenever we thought about each other…which was all the time.He'd call me every night to say goodnight to Annika. She'd share with him her growing vocabulary and he told her he loved her. After I put her to bed, we'd talk until the early morning hours. About how Abe slept on Rosie's couch at night and spent the day reconnecting with his wife after years of being apart. How I helped Rosie care for the homestead and I somehow didn't kill any of her plants yet. I would also tell him about how much Annika loved feeding the chickens and would go so far as asking to feed the goats at Reiner Ranch.He never talked much about what was happening on the packlands, but he sounded exhausted. It was like I was his escape from all the complications of bureaucracy and clea
Seraphina's POVKit stepped inside my room, tossing his bag on top of my bed. My eyes gazed over his arms, the broadness of his shoulders. I ached with longing. A bead of heat flared between my thighs. I was hypersensitive to him, feeling his body heat flush through me.I missed him.I missed his arms around me.His mouth pressed against mine.I missed how he felt inside of me.Desire coiled in my belly. We had so much to talk about, but first I needed to have him. Reacquaint myself with his body. I needed to remind him just how badly I burned for him. Wetness gathered between my legs as my eyes raked down his back, the firm muscles bulging through the fabric.Despite how he claimed they didn't feed him on the packlands, he looked so much better than he did the night of the blood moon. Filled back out. Tall and strong, not gaunt at all. Of course, I'm sure that the boost of Alpha power helped.Kit always had power that buzzed beneath his skin, that called to mine, but n
CW: Mentions of domestic abuse and sexual assaultSeraphina's POVA nightmare.Recurring every time I closed my eyes. My stomach would drop and my fingers would go cold. My husband, the bane of my existence, would stand over me, a cruel grin on his lips. Madness gleamed in his eyes. A glinting silver blade in his hand. The hilt was off-white like dried bone. Ancient runes carved into it. Old magic. Dark magic. Magicks my family warned me to steer clear from time and time again. Dark as the abyss beneath us all. The magic you can't ever come back from. A shrill cry from the corner of the circle. My daughter. Her wails like a warning. Begging me to get up. Move.Fight.My limbs felt heavy. My screams fell silent. Like trying to wade through waist-deep water soaking into garments. Sinking me with every step. Deeper and deeper into the muddy silt. But I tried. I fought. I clawed my way through it, but every time, I failed.He caught up to me before I could get to
Seraphina's POV:I didn't know much about the Outskirts. Only that it was home to the outcasts. Shifters with no pack or clan. Unaligned fae. Refugees also would flee to the Outskirts to evade war. William's doing. His bloodthirst extended across the entire continent, leaving the Outskirts the only place untouched by it. The border wasn't what I imagined it would look like. No gates or walls or border soldiers. Open. Only partially hidden by a thicket of woods. Trees that seemed to touch the sky with grand sprawling branches, reminded me of the trees back home.Beautiful, and full of life that stood the test of time. Until William started a war with my people. An insatiable hunger to devour the land. Garner more subjects. More people to leer over. The final thing William did to my home was burning our trees to the ground. And our traditions, the immaculate green landscape, and all hope became ash. We were losing. The council was running out of options. At that point in
Seraphina's POVFour weeks later…The smell of bacon and eggs filled the kitchen as Rosie got ready for the farmers market. Annika giggled happily while she stacked and knocked over her blocks in the living room. I took some fresh pancakes and cut them into fun shapes for Annika. Rosie came down the stairs, dressed sensibly for her stand at the farmers market. "You didn't have to make me breakfast," Rosie said, but I could tell by the tone of her voice, she was grateful."Hey, you said I could start helping out when I started feeling better," I reminded her, waving my egg spatula in the air. "Well, thank you, Sera. I appreciate it.""Least I could do," I replied, getting a plate ready for Rosie. I put it down on the table for her before grabbing Annika and sitting her in her high chair. Then Annika instantly splattered herself with butter. Babbling and stuffing her mouth unabashedly. I'm sure many people found it gross, but I didn't mind the mess as long as she enjo
Kit's POVWhen I was a boy, my older brother would push me into the mud. Tell me I was worthless. That I'd never find a mate. He told me I was cursed, malformed, the reason our mother died during my birth. It only got worse into my teen years, and eventually when he took up the mantle of Shifter King and banished me off the Blood Moon packlands. I don't know what I did to him to garner his animosity. But now I knew everything Will said was a lie. I wasn't cursed.Or worthless.Destined to never find my mate.Because how could it be true, when my mate was standing right in front of me? My wolf moved around restlessly, more excited than he's been in years. Her scent was altered, but I could still feel the tether. Warm and glowing white inside of me. It tightened in my chest, flooding my entire body with heat. My hand was still tingling where she shook it. I knew she was mine the moment I laid eyes on her. Even in a hoodie sweatshirt a few sizes too large, blonde ha
Seraphina's POVAfter a few days, I received word from Abe. Rosie brought home a letter from the post office. At first glance, it just looked like a casual letter telling Rosie how much he loves and misses her. But as Rosie broke out the codec, Abe was saying so much more.So far, William spent his evenings the same way he did while I was there. In the company of entertainers. Drowning himself in booze and drugs. It was a miracle he sobered up enough by the morning to lead the city. Abe was certain William wasn't actively looking for us yet. But chances are the elders would start breathing down his neck if I didn't show up soon. After all, I also had his heir. He ended the letter by promising updates as they came and how he hoped Annika and I were getting the home we needed.When Rosie told me the last part, I nearly burst into tears. Grateful that someone like Abe was looking after me. And now his daughter helped me stand on my own two feet. Mainly, I felt relieved Abe was al