“Harper, you need to wake up, my mate,” Nikoli says, as I blink my eyes open to see him leaning over me. I smile, stretching a little and remembering the night before. I don’t know what time we went to sleep because we couldn’t get enough of each other. It was a night of learning about each other’s bodies, about what we each like, and I don’t ever want to change anything between any of us. The night was perfect. I look over to see Colton already out of bed, getting dressed, and he winks at me as he does his shirt up.
“I have to get everyone ready. They will be here soon,” Nikoli tells me, and reality crashes down on me. It’s today.
“I can’t lose you, not any of you. You’re my family now,” I say, and he smiles widely, moving closer and kissing me.
“We will fight them and win. But right now, we have to go and speak to everyone,” Nikoli replies, sliding out of bed, completely naked, and it gives me a lovely view of his fantastic ass.
“Harper,” he says, looking over his shoulder at me as he walks to his wardrobe. I smile at him and get out of the bed, pulling on my clothes from yesterday. I look in the mirror at my reflection and decide, other than the messy hair, I don’t look any different. I feel different, almost older, and some part of me feels like I belong to Nikoli and Colton now. Like I’m complete, where it wasn’t before.
“Harper, you okay?” Colton asks me.
“Yes, I just feel a little… I don’t know how to explain it,” I whisper but he hears me.
“We are connected now. I can feel extreme emotions from you and find where you are. You can do the same for Nikoli and me,” he tells me, and I nod, walking over to him just as he pulls his jumper on over his shirt.
“Is there no way out of this?” I ask him, as he pulls me into a hug.
“No. We fight, and we win. That’s the only way.” He lifts my chin with his finger as he speaks, making sure I listen to every word. He kisses me hard and firm, a kiss I won’t be able to forget, before letting go.
“We will make it out of this,” Nikoli says as he opens the door to the bedroom. I let him lead us out of our bedroom and down the stairs. When we open the front door, dozens of wolves look back at us as they wait on the quiet driveway. I try to hide how nervous I feel in front of them all as Gold walks over, with a giant grey wolf at her side. I recognise the wolf as Erik and Gold looks nothing like I’ve seen her before. She has a leather outfit on, with daggers strapped to her thighs, and a crossbow in her hand. She winks at me when she gets close, and then Nikoli starts to talk.
“We fight today, and we fight for our pack. I once asked many of you to fight to get these lands back from the Hogs, and you did, and we lost some of our pack doing so. This time, we have allies.” Nikoli waves a hand at Colton at my other side.
“We may not be wolves, and we may not know each other well, but believe me when I say, I will fight. My coven will fight to save the first place I feel at home,” Colton shouts, and there are cheers following his words.
“We won then for a home, for the right to the land we were born on. I’m asking you to fight for something else today. I’m asking you to fight for our mates. For my mate, my alpha female,” Nikoli says, and I step forward, sliding my hand into his.
“If someone told me a month ago that following a wolf into the woods would change my entire life, I would have laughed. But it did. Before I came here, I had only Colton. I didn’t have a family, as I brought up in foster care, or any clue what that is or how it feels to have people you love. I hate to ask the family I have found, to fight, but here I am asking. I love Colton, my vampire and my mate. I love Nikoli, my mate and my alpha. Your alpha. Will you fight for us?” I ask, and the wolves bow their heads together before lifting them up to the sky, every single one of them howling. I smile up at Nikoli, who raises our joined hands and kisses my knuckles.
“They are coming soon, and I need to plan. You need to protect the women and children with Gold,” he tells me, going over the plan we have spoken about. I want to be with him, but it’s not smart when I don’t know to fight.
“Be safe,” I say and press my lips against his. He kisses me back slowly before I step away, and Colton pulls me into his arms, kissing my forehead.
“Keep each other safe, promise?” I ask him, and he nods, looking over my head at Nikoli.
“I will. As long as you are safe, I will fight to make sure you stay that way,” he tells me and then kisses me. A kiss that shouldn’t be public and Gold starts wolf whistling. I laugh and pull away from a smiling Colt.
“Let’s go; they are coming,” Gold says, moving closer to me, and Nikoli nods before walking through rows of wolves with Colton at his side. Seeing both my mates walking away is difficult; every part of me wants to run after them. I follow Gold through the front door, back into the house, and we walk towards the large training rooms behind the house.
“He will be okay and so will we, but just in case, I want you to have this,” Gold says, stopping outside the room and holding out a dagger for me. It has a black leather handle and a silver blade.
“Thanks, but I think I would be better off shifting,” I tell her.
“You would, but I still want you to have this.”
Gold doesn’t wait for a reply as she opens the training room doors, and the faces of many women and children in the pack look back at us. Snow walks over with Arisa at her side, a worried expression crossing her face, but she smiles when Arisa runs up to me, and I hug her. I look to see Light being held tightly in the arms of a vampire that I don’t know, an older woman who came with all the vampires yesterday. I will have to remember to ask Colton who she is, but Light seems to trust her.
“Are the silly pigs going to go away soon?” Arisa asks me, and Snow answers before I can.
“Arisa, why don’t you go and play with the other children over there?”
She nods, letting me put her down, and runs over to the ten or so children seated around a big pile of toys. The women are spread out on the floor throughout the room; some reading and some attempting to do anything other than look worried. I turn my head towards the window when I hear a loud growl, the sound echoing around the room.
“They will make it,” Gold says, holding my hand. We spend the next two hours pacing the room, waiting for any news, but we don’t get any. I hear growls and loud bangs, but feel nothing other than a slight bit of anger from Nikoli and worry from Colton. Suddenly, a woman screams out and holds her chest, bursting into tears as Snow runs over.
“Her mate died. They say you can feel it,” Gold whispers to me. I stand up and walk away from her, going to stand by the doors and hope no one else will die. The woman’s loud cries are something I will never forget.
“Someone is coming,” Gold says as she walks over to me, stopping at my side by the door. I don’t think as I pull the door open and step out into the corridor, expecting to see one of my pack.
“Little wolf…I’ve been looking for you,” the Hog shifter from the car park says, stopping a few steps away from me, with his two friends at his side.