AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
Juda Hemlock, the First Omega Ancestor of The Hemlock Wolf Pack & the Moonscale Dragon Flight
Frost stared down at the coffee table as if the soul of the tree it came from lingered just under it. Of course, he wasn’t really looking at the coffee table. There was no reason to give the dead wood the stink eye. That dirty look was for one Terrick Lost Fang the not-so-little prince of the Lost Fang Coven. Unlike a lot of stateside vampire covens the Lost Fang Coven never particularly ran afoul of humans or shifters. They kept to themselves and pretended to be a little ‘cult’ until the last fall of the human government. Like most groups, they had a few bad apples over the years, but they usually cleaned up their own messes too.
“I don’t think they say prince anymore, mate,” Frost said, finally leaning back against the sofa and looking up at me.
We’d been together long enough now that I wasn’t sure he even needed to peer onto our mating link to know what I was thinking about.
“Prince isn’t the title I’m worried about him having,” I crossed my arms, leaning against the doorway that separated our sitting room from the library. We’d come a long way from living in the caves of Hemlock Mountain and running from cannibals, but some things never changed. Where there was a village, there was an asshole. At least one asshole. Usually more.
“He’s not really our problem right now. I mean, soon maybe. In the Pit,” Frost shrugged. “If one of his own ancestors don’t take him first.”
“Alpha,” I said, narrowing my eyes on him. “Do you really want Scott to live his whole life without his Alpha?”
“Who says it’ll be his whole life? If things play out tonight, Terrick will die. We’ll have him probably a few decades and I’ll toss him back out there once he gets the message.”
“They’re closer than ever and if Scott’s murmured prayers mean anything he’s pretty close to going off the deep end. I’ve been there. I remember that feeling,” I said, crossing the room to join him on the sofa.
“Mate, the son of Lee Knight and Bane Hemlock is not a slave. He’s not been stolen or sold or forced into hard labor. He’s not starving or kicked out of his pack for some nonsensical reason,” Frost said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him.
For a second, I forgot what we were discussing. I buried my face in his shoulder and breathed in his metallic scent. As always, Frost smelled just like home.
“Maybe not,” I pulled away, flashing him a grin to let him know I knew all his tricks now. “You’re not going to distract me from this. It’s serious.”
“They’re all serious to you, mate,” he took my hand in his and kissed it. “I know that. I understand that, but not every lost twenty-something is ours to save.”
“Scott Knight-Hemlock is our descendant. He is ours to save.”
“He’s not the sibling I’m worried about in that group,” Frost said, dropping my hand and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “He’s one of them with a brain.”
“I know, Alpha,” I sighed, pulling my legs up onto the sofa under me. “That’s why we must take care of him! He has a brain and a big heart and—well, I think he’s good for the group. Good for his siblings too, even if they don’t see it yet.”
“What would you have me do, mate?” he took my hand again and met my gaze.
His eyes shifted to their draconic form to let me know his inner beast gathered up the magic for the request he knew was coming. Frost had only granted the sort of second chance I wanted to ask for a handful of times. It was a magic that came to us when we fled with Fenrir to the Other World.
“Are you going to make me say it?” I asked, scooting closer to him.
He cocked his head to the side and waited for me to continue speaking.
“Make him a Pit hound. Give him another chance,” I said, turning toward the television where an unconscious Terrick Lost Fang lay against his steering wheel.
The sound was muted because his bleeding forehead leaned against the horn. The blaring honk echoed from his orange Moonscale Fang 3.4.
“I’m only giving him one moon. If he needs more than that he’s not worthy of Scott. Hell, he’s not worthy as it stands. Why do you think I’m so willing to wait for his door, mate of my heart, wolf of my soul?”
A blush swept across my face, but this was no time to think of Frost naked and hard. He knew how to push all my buttons, and even after all these centuries, still could. I wanted him and knew he didn’t think saving Terrick was a particularly good idea.
“Frost,” I whispered his name, “not everyone deserves a second chance, but he’s young. It’s only his third life. He and his omega are yet to meet on Earthside. What if that’s all he needs? What if his selfish and reckless behavior is simply that no one ever showed him what’s really worth living for?”
“His family isn’t horrible. They’re honorable,” Frost said, pushing a loose lock of hair behind my ear.
“Honorable doesn’t always equal nurturing, Alpha,” I said, squeezing his arm. “You know that.”
“If he fails, it’ll only leave Scott more heartbroken.”
“I know.”
