Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
*LIAM POV*
While the others were doing a practice run with Leif and Jorma, I decided to go to Nick’s Place and hang out with my sister, Grace, Rory and the kids. I sat reading books to Maddix, and then we played with some building blocks. He started to get sleepy so Rory brought him his sippy cup, and he crawled up into my lap. He played with my beard as he drifted off to dreamland, and I felt a tear escape my eye. “You alright over there big brother?” Rebecca asked. I nodded my head and told her everything was perfect. “It’s amazing watching you and Loki with him. To be honest, I never pictured either of you as fathers growing up. You were both all work and training and very little play. It’s good though, you all came together when you really needed one another,” she continued. She wasn’t wrong. We had waited forever for our mate, and when we found her we also found other pieces of our life we had been missing. Now everything is coming together, and we can’t be happier. I looked at my watch and it said it was 9:40pm. I told the girls to get ready to take the kids downstairs to the safe room, and I held my son close for just a few more minutes. Rory came and took him from me, and reassured me she would protect him at all cost. I hugged my cousin, and thanked her. I did the same with Grace and my sister and all three women told me to keep their mates safe, and I left for the cell house.
With my hands in my pockets, I walked with my head towards the ground. “Alpha Liam, please wait.” I heard from behind me. I turned to see who it was, and I saw Christopher running towards me. “What’s up Chris, everything good?” I asked. He nodded his head, and handed me a book. He told me to open it to a certain page, and when I did I was shocked. On the page was a picture of a wolf who looked a lot like Ruby. Under the description it read, ‘Goddess Wolf’. She was the wolf that inhabited the Goddess as she walked the earth. She had the ability to adjust to the magic and traits of the human to whom she was fated, and in this case, she was able to consume and use all of Melian’s Fae magic. All of it. I closed the book and asked Christopher if I could keep the book for just a while so that I could show Gretchen and Mel, and he agreed. I told him to either lock up inside the library or in his cabin and not to come out until morning. He said he was on his way there when he saw me, and would continue to his destination. I thanked him and moved quicker towards the cell house. Marion and Pablo were there already with Ginger, and I asked why they were there. They should have been on lockdown with everyone else. Pablo informed me that they would be helping outside the cell house while we worked inside. They were going to hold a protective barrier around the cell house as added security. I shook their hands and thanked them and made my way inside. The others were already there waiting for me, and I pulled Mel and Gretchen to the side. I showed them the book that Chris had given me, and a smile spread across Gretchen’s face. “I knew it! I had suspicion, but this confirms it all for me. Luna, you are more special than we thought.” She explained. Mel read through the book about the Goddess Wolf, and I could tell she was conversing with Ruby. She smiled and said Ruby confirmed that the book was true, and she was part of the Goddess herself at one time. She said Ruby would like to concentrate on the task at hand at the moment, and the explanation could come later. We agreed with her, and joined the others.
Gretchen went over everything that would happen. She asked me if she could put somewhat of a spell on me to where it would make me unable to hear anything spoken to me verbally, and create a block to where Mammon couldn’t break through my mind. I know they are all worried about me because of what happened before, but I believed I could fight it this time. To ease their minds, I agreed to the block only. I don’t think I could handle not being able to hear at all. Mel begged me to reconsider, but in the end she respected my decision. Once we all knew our roles and our timing of action, we moved down the hallway to Callum’s cell. It had been some time since we had been down here, and he had trashed the cell to where all he had was a bunch of rubble in a pile. He looked worse this time, and I almost felt sorry for the former alpha. Gretchen tried to reach Callum himself, but Mammon had completely overtaken his vessel. The grim realization showed on her face. Without allowing her eyes to leave him, she said, “It’s now or never. His strength is growing and there is nothing left of Callum. The alpha demon, Mammon, dies tonight or we all will perish under his control. The spell that is on his cell is weakening, so we must act quickly!” she said. The uncles were on each side of Mel, and Jorma made sure she knew that she wasn’t alone, and Leif assured her they wouldn’t fail if they worked together. “No fear, worry or doubt about going into the alpha’s mind, the little bird, the demon will feed off of it.” he warned. She shook her head violently and exclaimed, “I don’t fear him! I have full confidence in all of us, including you, Liam. I love all of you and we will not fail!” My head snapped at her, surprised that she knew I was still slightly hesitant. “I love you too, baby!” I told her, and Liam repeated those words to her too. We moved to the spot where Gretchen instructed us and her and Luke moved to the center of the glass of the cell. They joined hands and started to chant in a foreign language. I saw the trio of my mate and her uncles clasp hands in a tight grip, and then go into a trance. A bright pink glow surrounded them as they fell deeper into their sedated state, and Gretchen started to explain what was happening as Luke continued to chant. Gretchen demanded Loki, Jason and myself to get into position, so we did. The glow grew brighter, and when I turned to check on my mate, there stood Ruby surrounded by two identical silver wolves. Their paws still connected. Ruby carried a royal aura about her, and the twin uncles’ aura nearly caused even Loki and I to submit. All of a sudden, we heard Gretchen yell, “NOW ALPHAS! ENTER NOW!”
FÃG AN Soitheach SEO
*LOKI POV*
I was hyper-focused on Gretchen’s words, and trying not to let the pink hue in the room distract me so much that I almost missed the fact that Jason and I started to enter and Liam hesitated. “Liam, NOW!” I yelled to him. He broke his gaze from our mate and ran to catch up with us. It was originally only supposed to be Liam and I, but my gut told me to fight for Jason to be in there as well. It was just as important to him as it was to us. We tried to surround what was once Callum Star, and keep him blocked between us and the glass of the cell. He was screaming profanities and hatred towards us, especially Liam. He was trying to manipulate Liam’s thoughts again, but he was unaware of the block that was put up by Gretchen. Liam, however, was playing it off as if Mammon was actually getting to him. Before Liam flashed me a look that only I would understand, I thought the block wasn’t working. The creature would try and taunt us like he was going to attack, but would back off at the last second and laugh maniacally. I told both Liam and Jason to stay alert, because I had a feeling the demon alpha was about to attack to try and get to the door to escape. I noticed Jason glanced out the glass to check on his family, and that is when Callum lunged for Jason. I ran and kicked the demon’s vessel and he hit the glass with a hard thud and slumped to the ground. He quickly recovered and came towards me. I shifted and jumped towards him, knocking him to the ground. Liam and Jason jumped on him to pin him to the ground, and I stayed in my wolf form. Liam told me that as soon as Gretchen gave the word, Zeus would finish off the demon alpha. Zeus nodded to my brother, and turned his head to watch our mate and the others. Gretchen had her hand in the air, and was patiently watching Mel and her uncles. Suddenly, Leif’s wolf, Jester, opened his eyes and they were glowing a bright blue. He was followed by Jorma’s wolf, Lennon, and his eyes glowed a bright red. This signified that they had found Mammon. Patiently we waited for Ruby to open her eyes, and she kept letting out small whimpers. Minutes after her uncles, Ruby finally opened her eyes and they were glowing the brightest purple I had ever seen. The trio of hybrid wolves let out the most menacing growls I had ever heard, even as an alpha. Gretchen closed her eyes, and Luke started to chant again. The demon’s vessel started to thrash about, and scream the most horrendous sounds. Gretchen dropped her hands and screamed, “DEMON MAMMON, YOU HOLD NO POWER HERE NOW! BE GONE YOU GASTLY CREATURE! FÃG AN Soitheach SEO!!!” Mammon’s voice was screeching through the room and Gretchen looked at me and nodded her head. Jason and Liam held up Callum’s body and, with one swift movement, I ripped his head from his body! I threw the head towards the door, and Rico picked it up, wrapped it in a cloth, and ran it outside to throw it in the burn pit. Marion, Pablo and Ginger started to chant over the fire and it started to burn in a rage. You could smell the stench of death inside the cell house. Luke had joined them, and the four chanted words in Gaelic until the fire had burned the head to ashes.
Once, the head was burned, the body was thrown into the fire as well. The uncles and Mel had collapsed as they came out of their trance, and had shifted back to their human forms. We covered them each with a blanket, and Roxy and her crew rushed in to check their vitals. All of them were fine, but Roxy couldn’t find both the heartbeats of our pups. Liam started to panic, and Roxy tried to calm him down. Gretchen tells Roxy, Jason and myself to get the trio to the hospital to be fully examined, specifically Melian. We carried them to the pack hospital and the orderlies and Dr. Flores took them all into rooms. I noticed Roxy taking an ultrasound machine into Melian’s room, and I nervously paced the waiting room. I couldn’t take it anymore, and started towards Mel’s room. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the best sound I could have heard all day. The heartbeats of my babies. There were definitely more than two, and I assumed one was Mel’s until Roxy called me in. I refused to go in until Liam arrived, and thankfully it wasn’t long before he showed up. I asked if he was OK, and he said that he was fine now thanks to Gretchen.
Roxy led us into Melian’s room, and sat us both near the ultrasound machine. “Boys, there is something I need you to see. It will make the end of this crazy day so worth it,” she said. She started to move the wand around Mel’s belly and she showed us again Baby A, and Baby B and how their heartbeats were strong. Then she moved the wand again to kind of nudge Baby B a little bit, and there was Baby C. She was a little smaller than her sisters, but she was still there. “How did she get missed Roxy? I don’t understand,” I asked. Liam hadn’t moved his eyes from the screen, and his jaw was really close to meeting the floor. “Sometimes, when one is smaller than the others, they get hidden, so to speak. Their heartbeats aren’t as strong at first, so it could also be hard to detect. Three girls, and they all look very healthy.” Roxy explained. “Three girls? Who has three girls?” We heard Mel’s sweet voice ask. She was awake and had overheard part of our conversation. I moved out of the way of the screen and Roxy pointed to each of our babies, and then explained the situation again to our mate. Mel started to cry, and repeated the words ‘3 girls’ several times. She rolled to her side and stared at both Liam and I and expressed that she was excited about the news, but needed to know how we felt. Liam was the first to tell her how he felt, and that he was overwhelmed, but happy. I told her I felt the same. We could have 20 girls, and it wouldn’t make a difference to me. She was relieved that we felt that way, and couldn’t wait to tell everyone the news. However, her mood turned glum for a moment. She cuddled into my shoulder and held Liam’s hand and said, “I almost failed out of fear.”
Starry Moon Is Born
*MELIAN POV*
I was fearful going into the ritual, and I knew better than to be. I wasn’t alone, and I knew I shouldn’t be scared, but who in their right mind wouldn’t be afraid to hunt a demon? Once entering Callum’s mind, I took in the scene that was taking place. His mind was littered with thorny vines and cages. It was definitely Mammon’s way of keeping Callum trapped in his own mind, so that the demon could have his way. My uncles and I separated but didn’t travel too far from one another. We searched everywhere for some trace of Callum but he was nowhere to be found. Mammon had completely taken his mind and soul from him. Leif called for us all to shift, and we did. Ruby, Lennon and Jester started to run though the vines, destroying them as they traveled through them. Mammon kept trying to throw us off of his trail, but Jester was the first to find him. I could hear Jester fighting with Mammon, and apparently, the noise of the fight led Lennon to their location. Ruby ran like the wind trying to find a path to get through to her uncles and help them end the demon, but no matter what she did she couldn’t find a path. It hadn’t registered to her that she needed to go through the vines and not around them, because Mammon wouldn’t have made it easy for them with a path. She called out to her uncles and she heard Lennon say “Go through the vines, not around them”, and it clicked. She started to tear through the vines with her teeth until she could see the chaos that was happening. Her uncles had Mammon in a situation where he had to continue fighting but still tried to escape. Lennon and Jester’s eyes had a glow in them, and Ruby recognized that as the signal to Gretchen that they had found him and were trying to contain him in one place. Lennon’s were red, and Jester’s a bright blue. Once Ruby reached the twins and Mammon, hers started to glow a bright purple. Ruby snarled at the demon every time he tried to approach her. Lennon, Jester and Ruby started to circle the demon, not allowing him to move. He was trapped. A loud roar echoed through Callum’s head and the demon disappeared. We were snapped out of Callum’s head and collapsed into darkness. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the pack hospital with my mates beside me. They were looking at an ultrasound screen, and I overheard them talking about a third girl.
“Third girl? What are you talking about? What third girl?” I whispered. Loki and Liam snapped their heads at me and were relieved to see that I was OK. Roxy explained to me that we were having a third girl, and that she was smaller than the other two. She had been hidden by baby B, and because she was small, her heartbeat was faint. I think my mates expected me to be in shock or upset about another baby, but I was already carrying two. What was one more? Right? Instead of talking immediately about the babies, I rolled to my side, and stared at my mates. In a small whisper I said, “I almost failed.” Loki stopped me from saying anything else, and got down at eye level with me. “Babe, but you didn’t. We didn’t. Mammon is one less thing we have to worry about now. Don’t dwell on the almost, and let’s celebrate that we did it. OK?’ I nodded my head and started to drift off again. As I closed my eyes, I said the name ‘Asteria Iris’. That was our runts name. Ruby was the one to say it, and I was making it happen. Iris Becker had been there for our pack and us when we needed her, and this was mine and Ruby’s tribute to her. I just hoped she approved.
I woke up still in the pack hospital, and my mates were passed out in the chairs that were on each side of my bed. Dr. Flores came in to check on me, and I told him I felt fine. He checked my vitals, and did another ultrasound, and this time baby Asteria was in full view. I woke my mates and told them we could leave, but I wanted to check on my uncles. Dr. Flores informed me that they had already been discharged, and were at the packhouse. My mates helped me off the bed and held my hand as we left, and on the way to the packhouse Liam asked me a weird question. “Baby, where did you come up with the new baby’s name? Asteria isn’t a common name.” I explained to him that Ruby chose it, but wouldn’t tell me why. I also told him that it only felt right for the middle name to be Iris, for 2 reasons. The other 2 have flower names, and Iris has always been so good to us. Loki chuckled in amusement, but they both wondered why Ruby was being so secretive about the name Asteria. Either way, they loved it as much as I did and didn’t question me any more about it.
We ran into Jason in the foyer, outside the dining hall, and my uncles were with him. He had just come from a meeting with the Royal Council about his bid as Alpha at Dark Star. He shared the news that he had been chosen to take over, and the pack would now be called Starry Moon. He also informed us that Leif and Jorma would be his Beta and Gamma. I was beyond happy for them all, but a sudden sadness enveloped me. Most of my family will be leaving for their new pack soon. Sure, I had my mates, my son and the new family I had found here at Blood Moon. Yet it felt different. I felt sort of alone. I had just found my uncles just a day ago, and now they were going to be leaving within a couple of weeks. I knew it was selfish of me to feel this way, but I had been alone for so long that I just wanted to hold onto something that resembled the good side of my bloodline a little longer. Seeing my shift in mood, my brother took my hand and led me to a nearby room. He pulled me in and closed the door for privacy. “Sis, I know this is going to be hard on you, but we will see each other more than you think. Starry is so much closer than you think it is, and I don’t think Rebecca could go too long without seeing you, Grace or the kids. Besides, those little girls will be here soon and we wouldn’t miss their arrival for anything in the world.” He explained. He also reminded me that they actually had to go in and clear out the rebels who had taken over Dark Star when Callum was captured. “We can’t even move until that is taken care of. You will be stuck with us for several more weeks before we can even prepare to move. So no more sadness, OK? It’s time to celebrate a lot of happy changes.”
A King’s Decision
*JASON POV*
It had been a long night, and I was so ready to get some shut eye. I knew it wasn’t possible yet, because I had to meet with Iris and the Royal Council. This time it was more than just her, Declan and Jasper. There were 3 others who held a higher rank than Iris. Bosko Daniels, Yvonne Markum, and the King himself, Alpha Dezmond Michaels. Royal security flooded the packhouse, and Liam and Loki were unaware that the King had decided to attend the meeting. They were still at the hospital with Mel. Leif and Jorma weren’t out as long as Mel was, and left shortly after waking. I asked them to attend the meeting with Rico and I, and they graciously agreed. I was so nervous and I thought it would help to have family with me, even if I barely knew them now. On the way to the conference room, Rico popped into the kitchen to ask Mildred, the cook in charge that day, to send in lots of coffee, juice and water. He also asked for simple breakfast items like danish, toast, donuts and fruit bowls. She said she would make up a good selection and send it in when she was done. When we entered the conference room, Iris and Declan were already there. Jasper had gone to fetch the king and others. Iris guided us where to sit in accordance to where the king and his associates would sit. I nervously took my seat, which would face the King once he was in the room. I kept glancing over at Rico, who would only give a slight nod and wink to let me know I would be fine. All kinds of different scenarios ran through my mind and they all weighed down to one thing. The worst that could happen would be that I would be denied the position, and I would stay here in Blood Moon and work where needed. Either was honestly fine with me. The door opened and the most regal man walked through the door. He was probably the biggest wolf I have ever seen and carried an aura of pure authority, but also a kind demeanor. We stood as he walked past us, and only sat once he was comfortably situated in his seat. I asked us to sit, and leaned forward to speak.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.