Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron)

Chapter 83

Chapter Eighty-Three

It seems that these Seers are taking the whole wedding celebration seriously. Once the main meal was

laid out and they ate their fill–I’m talking about each wolf making multiple trips to the buffet over the

course of a few hours–they moved the chairs out of the way and turned up the music.

It is all so surreal.

Modern hits and classic hip hop. These women are out on the dancefloor and partying like no one’s

watching. A couple of Seers approach me and try to drag me onto the dancefloor. I appreciate that they

want to include me. But I’m not up to it.

I watch for a few minutes. Any time you see seventy-something year-old women twerking…you’re

gonna watch. It’s like a car crash–you can’t look away.

When the music shifts to the “Cha Cha Slide,” I slip out of the tent and walk to the edge of the hilltop.

There is a bench and I sit. I stare out at the ocean.

The dancing was enough to shock me senseless, but what really has me numb…

I’m pregnant.

Valaria had cheered about ‘the first dreamwalker to be born in a century’ which I’m not even clear on

what that means, but her confirming that I’m pregnant–and that it indeed happened in that ‘other

plane’…that I’m going to be a mother again.

This changes everything.

I sit for several minutes, watching the waves batter the shore and feeling as beat up as that beach

below.

Eric comes over and drops onto the bench beside me.

“I bet you're thinking we should’ve stayed in bed today,” I tell him.

He barks a laugh. He rubs his eyes as if he thinks he’s dreaming. Or stuck in a nightmare. “I got

mated.”

“I saw. I think I may have been a bridesmaid.”

We’re both silent for a long time.

I rest my hand on top of his. He threads our fingers together.

The connection steadies both of us.

“Are you okay?” I whisper after a while.

He doesn’t reply.

“The threats that are coming…” He looks at me and his eyes are haunted. “I always thought I would be

the one to stop the violence. To unify our species and prevent calamity. But to hear these Seers tell it,

the war begins with me.”

That is a heavy burden to bear.

I don’t agree or disagree because words have too much power.

These ‘visions’ and prophecies… the fates of entire nations are guided by Seer words. Like it or not, I

am among them now.

I must choose my words carefully.

“I don’t think I can forgive her,” Eric says after another quiet stretch. “It feels too much like a betrayal of

my sister.” He glances at me. “Corinne liked you, you know. She told me once, she wished you two had

met under different circumstances.”

“She was really special, Eric.” My voice is thick.

He leans forwards and lets go of my hand. He rests his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

I’ve never seen him like this before.

Vulnerable.

It breaks me to see this powerful man cut off at the knees.

I rest my hand on his back, letting him know I’m here. He’s not alone.

And what of his happiness? Ashley is evil. I sympathize with her plight to avenge her family, but she

possesses a singularity of focus that is sociopathic. A victim or not, she doesn’t seem to care about

who else she hurts to achieve her goals.

She destroyed Cam’s life.

His pack’s.

Mine.

“You should’ve let me kill her,” I tease.

His mouth twitches and he looks at me. “You’re not that mean, Mia.” He grins. “But I appreciate the

sentiment.”

“Why did you stop me?” It’s not fair to ask but I do.

“Because she is my mate.” He shakes his head and his mouth contorts with disgust. “How could the

Goddess do this to me!? My pack will want to execute her for what she’s done. Corinne’s warriors will

be after blood. And everytime I look at her, I’ll be reminded of how she betrayed our species and how

she could go to any length to punish me.”

“Hey, all relationships have their problems.”

He laughs for a second, but then his gaze is reprimanding. “I can’t joke about this. This is the rest of my

life. This should’ve been a union to be celebrated. I wanted a partner. A true mate. Someone to stand

by my side and who would bear my children.”

“You can still have those things–”

“I wanted you.”

My gods, this man. He is… everything.

There is still a bond between us. It’s muted, but there. And the intimacy we three shared only hours

ago…

How can the body and heart–hell, the soul–change its focus so abruptly!?

And what the hell does that even mean!?

“Eric, maybe the Seer knows more than she’s telling us. We can ask Valaria–”

“Don’t even say her name. These Seers are all the same. Manipulating situations and moving us

around like chess pieces.”

He’s furious.

I’m just thankful he didn’t attack Ashley when we stood before her. If he had…would Valaria have

stripped him of his wolf too? Could her powers extend beyond wolves that were marked? I didn’t have

any answers.

I suppose I should be grateful they didn’t do the same thing to me.

Or maybe they wanted me to attack Ashley. Our guide made some weak comment about no violence

on the island, but neither the guide nor Valaria nor any other Seer moved to stop me when I was about

to tear out Ashley’s throat.

There was irony in this.

All those years ago, we were on a different mountaintop, when she tried to do that to me.

Violence begetting more violence…

It has to stop somewhere.

If not for us… for our families.

“Give it a chance, Eric. Surely you have to believe that there is hope. You’re mated to Ashley now. Not

just in words, but in bond. I can feel it.”

“Fuck this. She’s a wolf-less abomination. A terrible mother and worthless Luna. She’s a disgrace to my

pack and our species. It would’ve been better had the Goddess struck me down in battle than mated

me to such a heinous bitch.”

There’s a harsh gasp behind us.

Ashley.