The Alpha’s Heir (Fated Destinies II, #2)

1 Meg

Meg

“You’re telling me that an insane warlock was spilling blood all over an altar as a sacrifice to awaken the old gods and you didn’t think twice about ripping his throat out during the ceremony?” I kept my voice calm despite the circumstances.

It’d only been a few hours since the goddess Morrigan had shown up in the woods and given me the life-altering news.

“When you put it that way…” My sister, Trish, cringed as she leaned against her mate, Jaxon. “No?”

“Are you nuts?” I growled as my internal wolf surged to the surface.

“Megaera Cerberus!” Mom cried. “Sit down and let’s talk like rational creatures.”

“Let her stand. I want to see where this goes.” Alec—my other triplet sister—smirked into her beer.

“Girls,” Dad warned, glancing at the new addition to our Sunday family dinner table. Morrigan was currently watching this little family spat with a smile on her face.

The food on the table from our first Sunday dinner in weeks had grown cold. I’d been looking forward to this, wanting a chance to see Trish again after she’d moved to Cadejo Pack territory, becoming their Luna and Alpha Jaxon’s mate.

I’d been so happy for my sister.

I could kill her now. The wolf inside of me bared her teeth, frustrated at her littermate.

“In my defense, why would they make completing a ritual to awaken the ancient gods so easy to complete?” Trish grinned. “Shouldn’t there have been some kind of failsafe?”

Let me out. I’ll show her failsafe.

Let it go, I growled at my wolf to shut up before I did something stupid.

It wasn’t Trish’s fault.

She’d always been somewhat careless. Not that I blamed her. The issues with her broken magic weren’t something she could control. If you believed Alec, the fault might’ve been mine. I could live with that. I’d spent most of my life cleaning up both of their messes—literally and figuratively.

It made sense that I’d do it again now.

My eyes went to Morrigan. The goddess wore all black leather, having gotten rid of her floating gossamer skirts in favor of legs to walk on.

I could still feel the remnants of her power. The bruises were currently fading on my skin. She hadn’t even touched me, just tossed me around like a rag doll when my wolf had tried to fight against this proclamation.

You can’t blame a girl for trying.

“Can someone please, calmly”—Mom’s gaze cut to me and Alec—“explain what’s going on?”

“And then maybe introduce us all to your new friend?” Aunt Coral placed her napkin on the table.

Her mate, Skoll, nodded beside her.

I cringed as I felt the weight of their stares.

Alpha Kera and her mate, Alpha Jareth, had remained silent as I stormed in to ruin Sunday dinner.

I could hear her lecture now. The reminder that I wasn’t ready to lead Cerberus Pack.

This outburst of emotion would be another link in my collar—the one that confined me to being my Alpha’s bitch for the rest of my life.

It doesn’t have to be this way. My wolf growled.

I ignored her, raising my chin as I got control of my emotions. “As I was saying, the gods are apparently waking up and this…” I stepped to the side and swept my arm out, giving her the introduction she desired. “Is the Morrigan come to save us from that fate.”

“I don’t know about all that.” Morrigan leaned back in her chair, amusement dancing over her face. “But I will take a beer.”

Alpha Kera eyed the woman warily.

“She’s a goddess. Stronger than any witch I’ve ever met,” I gave my Alpha warning through our mental pack link, the silent tether that connected us all to our Alpha and demanded obedience, even from me.

Though my wolf loved to fight against it.

If Kera heard me, she didn’t show it. But I could sense the aggression ramping up in her. That was my problem too. Being an alpha wolf kept us tense and on alert at all times.

Honestly, it could get exhausting.

“There’s plenty of food and drink for everyone,” Mom told Morrigan, being polite as always. It wasn’t in her nature to let anyone go hungry, even if the woman standing before her was about to sacrifice her daughter.

But I needed a drink before dropping that bombshell on the family.

“Thank you for your hospitality, witch.” Morrigan stabbed her knife right through a piece of steak and ripped off a chunk with her teeth.

“You’re welcome.” Mom arched an eyebrow as Alpha Kera began to growl. I could sense my Alpha getting ready to fight. To try and put the goddess in her place for acting like a beast at Mom’s table.

Might as well warn them all, my wolf sighed as she licked her metaphorical wounds from earlier.

“Don’t try to fight the goddess. She’s stronger than she looks,” I told my family. “Morrigan is strange in her ways, but from what I can tell, she’s trying to help.”

Alpha Jareth, Alpha Jaxon, and Mom didn’t share a telepathic pack link with the rest of us, but they seemed to get the message anyway when Alpha Kera stopped growling. Everyone settled in their seats. I pretended not to notice Alec take the steak knife and bring it to her lap under the napkin.

“As I was saying, Morrigan here has a message and a plan, apparently.” I grabbed the pitcher of beer and filled my cup.

Morrigan motioned for me to pour her some too. She looked us all over; her eyes lingered on the three of us triplet sisters for a moment too long.

“The two of you.” Morrigan turned her attention to my mom and Aunt Coral. “Is it true what they say about the human city? That if you hadn’t escaped, you would’ve been tortured for your magical abilities?”

“It’s getting better,” Aunt Coral hurried to say. “We’ve been working with the humans to open the borders and change a few things. To accept that magic exists and change policy surrounding those with Lycan DNA. Progress is slow, but it’s there.”

I adored my aunt. She was the diplomat of the family, always keeping the peace. We both shared a love of reading, and she was the one who’d gotten me into books at a young age, feeding me juicier stories the older I got.

I hated seeing Coral downplay her abilities.

My first instinct was to protect my aunt. “Kera and Coral and Mom have done more for human and wolf shifter relations than anyone else in our known history.”

“It isn’t enough.” Morrigan sipped her drink.

Dad started growling.

Mom shushed him before turning to the goddess. “What else do you think we should do?”

“It’s too late anyway.” Morrigan sighed just as a cloud passed over the moon.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, showing the glowing whites.

My family gasped. I took a long drink of my beer. Seeing this the second time around wasn’t as terrifying. It’s amazing what the brain can rationalize and accept in such a short time.

“The scales have tipped, and the gods shall walk among us again, restoring the balance of nature. Blood calls, demanding a sacrifice.” Morrigan’s voice rang with an eerie, haunting echo.

The cloud passed by the moon and the goddess blinked as her vision cleared again.

I didn’t think anyone in my family had breathed for the last few seconds.

“You speak in riddles.” Alec was the first to recover. “Say what you mean.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Morrigan smirked at my sister. “We have one chance to stop them from returning to the earth to remake the world as they see fit. Trust me, it’s in everyone’s best interest if that doesn’t happen again.”

“You say it like you’re not one of them,” Trish said. She and Jaxon sat so close together it seemed they were fused at the side. Hearing her speak up to the goddess this way, with no hint of fear in her voice, did something to me.

She’s feeling strong again.

I nodded as pride made my chest swell.

That’s why I’d been rushing to family dinner tonight. I’d wanted to see it with my own eyes and I was glad it happened now, because I didn’t know where I’d be next week.

The thought of that threatened to pull me under. To choke me.

Everything I worked for…

“I’m one of them, but not all of us try to sculpt the world in our image.” Morrigan laughed. “As a goddess of fate and prophecy, let’s just say I’m in the select few that enjoy free will.”

“When you say all the gods…” Aunt Coral’s question trailed off as she glanced at me. “Like all of them?”

My cheeks flushed when I realized why my aunt was looking at me that way. Was it last year we’d read the spicy series on contemporary Greek gods and their romantic partners? It was a good one from what I could remember, but I read so much that books and plots tended to blend together sometimes.

Trish hadn’t read it. Not that I was aware of. So I didn’t know why the color drained from her face now.

“In the temple tent, Vincent had statues of so many different religions and gods.” Trish seemed to answer the question on my face.

“Well, of course.” Morrigan shrugged. “Earth is a diverse world. There are many different gods.”

“How many?” Dad asked.

“Too many to count. It’ll be chaos if they all wake at once.” Morrigan bit into another piece of steak.

Do gods even need to eat?

I needed to brush up on mythology—and not just the kind from my romance books—to understand what she was saying. But if it all went according to her plan, then it wouldn’t matter. We’d stop the gods before they came back. Everything would return to normal.

Except for me.

“Why are the gods asleep in the first place?” Jaxon asked. It was different to have his deep voice at our table. But he belonged here. I’d always known it.

“You all stopped praying to them,” Morrigan said, like this was our fault. “And they would’ve stayed that way if the ritual hadn’t woken them up. You’re lucky I was already half-awake and got here first.”

So lucky… My wolf rolled her eyes.

It’ll be okay.

I looked at my family again—really looked at them. The way Alec’s leg bounced under the table. Knowing she twisted that knife in her hand.

Trish and Jaxon. Newly mated and in love.

The way Dad watched Mom like she hung the moon, even after all these years together.

How Mom soothed him with just a look. Or a tender smile that she gave us all.

Aunt Coral and her hulking mate Skoll. They’d never had children of their own, preferring to travel the world together and spoil their nieces and nephews rotten.

Then Alpha Jareth. His dark eyes that only lit up or seemed at peace when he was in Alpha Kera’s presence. Likewise, she leaned on him. Secret touches they thought no one else noticed.

Kera caught me looking at her and frowned.

I stared a second longer, knowing I should lower my eyes in submission, but unable to do that. She understood, even if her wolf hated it.

I loved my family. I’d die for them.

“What exactly is this plan?” Kera looked away first. I almost laughed at the irony of the situation.

Good Alphas always put the needs of the pack before their own.

Hadn’t Kera been the one to teach me that?

She’d hate this plan, but she’d know why I had to follow it through.

“We need a sacrifice.” Morrigan finished chewing her meat like she had all the time in the world and my life wasn’t hanging in the balance.

“The gods can’t resist a good drama or tragedy.

And we’ll give it to them. A marriage. One to show that the humans and shifters are working together as nature intended. ”

“You need a shifter to marry a human?” Mom glanced at Dad. “Don’t we count?”

“No, witch.” Morrigan sighed. “That would be too easy. It has to be a sacrifice. We’ll make it an arranged marriage like the days of old. The best way to appease the gods is to entertain them or give them an offering. We do both at once in return for hopefully many more years of slumber.”

Did she say hopefully?

Do we have a better plan?

“And whose happiness do you suppose we sacrifice?” Kera had her fork in her hand now, tongs raised as if she were about to stab someone.

“Mine,” I said, before she did something stupid and tried to handle this like a wolf would.

Everyone stopped to look at me.

“It’s fine,” I told them. “I already accepted.”

“The heir to the great Cerberus Pack mating with a human dignitary. A grand wedding in honor of the gods.” Morrigan giggled like she was tickled with the idea of it all. “This will work beautifully.”

“Absolutely not,” Mom growled.

Dad pushed back from the table. “Over my dead body.”

My sisters started yelling.

“I’ll handle this.” Alpha Kera’s eyes glowed red.

“Are they always so intense?” Morrigan was still laughing as I excused myself and let my family learn their lesson the hard way.

We did try to warn them.