NATHANIEL “The moment of truth is finally here. Are you excited?” Alan teased, clasping on my cufflinks.“Fuck off.” I yanked my wrist out of his grasp.“He’s afraid Ayra won’t be his mate,” Aiden piped up from my balcony. “I have a simple solution for that. Don’t go,” he said, walking into my room.“Ayra and Kimberly put in a lot of work. It wouldn’t be fair to ask her to sit it out. Also, I know she’s my mate.”“Is that Acheron speaking or Nathaniel? It seems you’re forgetting this ceremony is for wolves,” Alan said.“I think our demons are a deciding factor. If your demon loses interest in your mate, things won’t work out. Anyone regretting not asking Mom about this before she died?” The twins shook their heads.“Just you. Why do you think we’re sitting it out? We’re going to be out of here tomorrow before the heat hits us hard and forces us to go find a female who could be our mate,” Aiden said.I understood where they were coming from. If it weren’t for Ayra, I’d have stayed at

AYRAMonths Later…I was sick to my stomach. This was the third time I was throwing up the contents of my stomach in the space of an hour.Of course, I wasn’t naïve. This wasn’t the first time. Since the week began, I’d become best friends with the toilet.“I think I’m pregnant,” I said to the girls over lunch. I couldn’t even bring myself to eat the food the server had placed in front of me. The diner was oddly empty, but I chalked it up to it being cold. Maybe they preferred staying home, where it was warm.Reese couldn’t join us because she was heavily pregnant, and according to her, she didn’t want people congratulating her and letting her know how cute she looked with her bump."Face it. I’m fucking fat," she had barked at me one time when I said she was beautiful.“Really?” Kimberly asked with excitement. “I was going to say the same thing. Logan and I are expecting a baby.”“Oh, God,” Nikki groaned, banging her head on the table. “First, it was Reese, and now, it’s you two. Ree

AYRAEver since Nathaniel mentioned Ryker was waking Draven up, he’d been on the edge, doing some research in his well-stocked library.He never came down for meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were in his office or the library. He spent every waking hour in one of those two places, and at this point, I was frustrated. Whatever he was looking for, he wasn’t finding it, and that left him frustrated.“At some point, you’re gonna have to sleep,” I said, pressing my lip into a flat line when I found him in the library, bent over yet another book. “You’re fucking crazy, Nathaniel. Stop, okay? You’re slowly losing your mind.”“You don’t understand, Ayra. I have to stop this.”“Stop what, exactly?”“Draven. If he wakes up, we won’t survive the attack,” Nathaniel replied with a crazed look in his eyes. Fuck, I wasn’t getting through to him.“The baby!”That effectively snapped him out of his haze. “What happened to the baby?”“How about we talk about that in the bathroom? You stink.” I snapp

AYRA“You want me to practice this spell with you?”“Yes,” Ishmael agreed.I turned to Nathaniel, who sat across from me on the kitchen island. “Are you sure he hasn’t lost his mind?”“Nah, babe. He’s alright.”“I don’t think he is. How does being a vampire and a sorceress correlate?”“You’ll see. Just do as I asked.” Ishmael slid a note over to me. “Or you could practice on your own. Just make sure you let me know if you succeed. It’s the most basic thing a mage could ever do.”“Yeah, well, I’m not a mage. You seem to have forgotten that, and for some fucked up reason, Nathaniel agrees with you.”“I just think it wouldn’t hurt to try.”“Sure. When do I start?”“Anytime you feel like it. If you need any help, my door is always open to you.”“Thanks,” I said absentmindedly, staring down at the paper.“Ayra!”I snapped my head up to find Nathaniel glaring at me. “Were you calling me?”“Was that question supposed to be asked five times ago or we’re just counting the sixth?”I smiled shee

ISHMAEL“I don’t suppose you asked to see me just to stare at me,” Keela said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.“I didn’t,” I confirmed.“Good. Want something to drink?” She asked, pouring out two glasses of wine.She refused to meet me anywhere but here. Here being a fancy restaurant she frequented. It was in the public eye too, and I understood her logic for coming here.Supernaturals couldn’t risk their identities in front of humans, or so we thought. I wouldn’t put it past Samuel or Ryker to try something here.“I say we finish what we’re here to discuss before you order any food.”She groaned at my response, throwing her head back against the chair. The neck of her halter dress slid down her neck, and my eyes zeroed in on the mark there.Interesting.It was just convenient that she spotted a mark that said she belonged to a vampire while she lived with Zachary. It could very well be anyone’s, but my instincts told me it was Zachary’s.So, the vampire king was also involve