Chapter 14 WARNING: Strong language and sexual situations.

Alpha Michael woke up face down on a loading ramp in his warehouse. The place was quiet; it was still too early for his type of business to start. He didn’t remember much about last night, and he'd never had hangovers before. That was the fault of his stupid wolf being gone.

He had to be born with a fucking coward for a wolf, always nagging for him to change, to stop hurting our mate. Then, finally, one night his wolf went silent and never spoke again. It was only a matter of time before Michael couldn’t feel its presence.

His pack didn’t know his wolf was completely gone, though he suspected that several of his enforcers were suffering from the same condition. The werebears must have found them not much of a challenge; basically, they were just a bunch of worthless humans. Michael started laughing at the irony.

He got up and went to his office to make some coffee. He mind-linked his asshole of a Beta that he was up and sober again. He waited for his Beta to answer and then went to the bathroom to wash off some of the crud from last night.

When he looked up in the mirror, it wasn’t his face staring back at him; it was the face of his wolf. He was shocked. How was this possible?

“I am here to warn you. The goddess sent me here for one final message: You are to stop all this abusive, dark shit that you are doing, then you will make it right again. Then, and only then, can I return to you. You have until the next full moon.”

Just like that, his wolf was gone again. Michael scoffed at his wolf’s message. “There is no chance of me stopping now, you idiot. I’m getting way too much money and fun that it doesn’t matter what you say.”

Just as the words left his mouth, a deafening growl was heard, then the words, “Till the next full moon.”

Michael sat down at his desk, drinking his coffee, waiting for his Beta to come let him out. His Beta was getting more and more defiant. If he took it too far, he would just have to replace him.

Duncan sat listening to all the stuff that Jack had found. It was enough evidence to hang them all twice over. He looked over at Adira; she was holding her own so far, occasionally adding in a few details that she remembered.

Jack looked over at the two of them. He was happy his friend had found his mate. It was then that he caught Adira’s scent again.

“Duncan, I would like to know if it will be alright to get some DNA from Adira?”

“Why do you want it?”

“It is just a hunch. If I’m wrong, then no harm, no foul, but if I’m right, then I think it will prove that Adira and Lily are not full sisters, definitely not twins.”

Both Adira and Duncan stared at Jack, saying nothing.

“Jack, are you saying that I am not a twin? How is that possible?”

“I am not sure, Luna Adira. What I can tell you is that when I smell you and your sister, there are some big familial differences. Makes me think that you two only share a father.”

Duncan put his arm around Adira for comfort, while kissing her on top of the head. He couldn’t help thinking, How did this pack end up so messed up?

Marco spoke up. "I don’t think they are going to stop trying to get our Luna, though. I think that it’s for the best that we let the mages see if they can extend the magic on this little house, just for a couple of weeks. We caught their assassins easily this time; I am going to go and interrogate the one we have in custody, see what answers he can give us."

“Marco, we tried to question the two that we kept alive. We got nothing out of them.”

“Jack, if you like, you can come with me. I can show you how to get a wolf to talk.”

With that, Jack and Marco left. Marco mind-linked Duncan, informing him that he would keep the link open during the interrogation, so if there was anything Duncan wanted to know, Marco could get the answer for him.

Adira was still sitting in Duncan’s lap, with his arms wrapped around her, thinking about all the information she just heard. It gave her some really mixed-up emotions. Could Lily be so messed up because she was abused, too? Why does Alpha Michael want her back so badly?

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even know when Duncan carried her to their bedroom. She finally came out of her thoughts when Duncan sat down on the bed with her still in his lap. He started to kiss her neck, right where he would mark her as his.

She couldn’t help it; she let out a moan of pleasure.

“Duncan,” she whispered into his ear, “I want you to make me yours. I want you to mark me. I don’t know why I feel that it is so urgent that you do so; I just want it.”

“Adira,” he whispered her name, and it sent tingles down her spine and straight to her core.

“Are you sure, my little wolf? Once it is done, it can’t be undone. There will be no me without you, no you without me.”

“I know what I want, and I won’t regret it ever. I want, I need to be yours. I want you in my mind; I want to be in yours. Please, Duncan, fill up this emptiness inside me with your love.”

Duncan was lost; there was no way to resist this kind of temptation, nor did he want to.

“Okay, we will take it slow, and if you want to stop, we will stop.”

With that, she reached up and pulled his head down for a hard, passionate kiss. No more talking.

Duncan removed his clothes a little at a time while she watched.

He watched her eyes go from that warm coffee color to deep black. Her wolf was here with her. That brought out Apollo; he didn’t take over; he was just blended with Duncan.

“Adira, I want you to take your clothes off slowly for me. Let me see you uncover that gorgeous body, one piece at a time.”

Adira felt her panties getting wetter. Duncan’s voice was a low, deep growl; his scent was everywhere, driving her crazy. She was getting so hot; it was too much. She had to have him end this painful pleasure she was feeling; it was urgent. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her.

“Duncan, I need you right now!”

Duncan could smell her arousal, and then he smelt something else. Oh, god, she is going into heat!

He quickly mind-linked Marco, telling him that Adira was in heat and that he was to keep every male away. Marco linked back that he would keep them away. He also said that the mages would be there in two hours, at sunset, to lengthen the time on the cabin. I will warn them not to bother you.

Duncan wanted the first experience to be a slow, romantic kind of thing, but Adira was going crazy. He went into the bathroom as Adira whined his name. He can’t take her like this; it is too fast; he is going to have to slow things down.

He filled the tub with ice-cold water and then added all the ice he could find to it. He ran into the bedroom and scooped her up.

“Adira, listen to me: you are going into heat. You are not in control of your body. If we mate during your heat, you will get pregnant. Is this what you really want right now?”

“I only want what is best for you. If you can tell me that this is what you truly want, then I will; if there is a doubt in your pretty mind, though, we will take another route. I will do all I can to get you through this; I have to know your answer. In order to get your true answer, I am going to put you in the ice bath to calm down the heat and clear your mind.”

Lily sat in her room; there was nothing to do but stare at the walls. She couldn’t even look out the windows; they were boarded over.

She’d been feeling agitated and uncomfortable all afternoon; she was no longer being drugged, though she wouldn’t mind if they did right now. The room just seemed to get hotter and hotter, with no end in sight.

It was then that she realized what was going on. Oh my goddess, I’m going into heat. She realized that since she had been here, she wasn’t able to take her daily potion keeping her heat at bay.

She went to the bathroom and ran an ice-cold bath. This is going to turn into a nightmare. She had managed to suppress her heat for two years now; she knew that the Alpha was waiting for it, and she wasn’t going to give it to him, not after what he had done to her and the one she loved.

This one was going to be a bad one. She had suppressed it for far too long; her poor wolf was rolling around in agony. “Hang in there; I will get us through this.”