The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

Roland POV

Something is wrong. I don’t know why, but I have this nagging feeling that something is wrong. Every time I try to tap into my senses to figure out what it is, my mind gets hazy. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Raven. I love her, but I’m not in love with her anymore. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, though. She told me she had been waiting for me for five years. I missed her. I miss Elena more, though. Elena. I tried reaching out to her a few times, but she finds ways to avoid me. Raven has been there for me. We’ve been making love lately, and though it feels good with her, I can’t stop comparing her to Elena.

Blaze hasn’t talked to me since I started hooking up again with Raven. He seems to forget she was once our mate, but he howls for Elena these days. I can’t abandon Raven, though. She survived so much torture just to get back home to me. I know this is hurting Elena, though. I see the way she looks at us. I see the hurt.

“Roly, do you like this outfit?” Raven says. I smiled, nodding at her. I watched Raven try on a few more things before we decided to go home. When we get back to the packhouse, the members are looking at me. As if they are pissed off. The fuck is their problem. I go inside, and Raven goes to the movie room. I decide to go to the kitchen, and I see Serene, Nate, Mia, and Cole. I can tell Serene and Mia have been crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked them, hoping I could help. This seems to make Serene cry again, and Nick tries to console her.

“What happened?” I commanded Cole. Mia starts crying, and he holds her.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” I yelled, causing all of them to jump.

Mate Blaze says, speaking for the first time in weeks.

What’s wrong with Raven?

Not Raven. I said, Mate idiot. Mate left the pack.

“Elena is gone,” Nate says.

“She is gone because of him.” Serene pointed at me with an angry expression on her face.

“Where did she go?” I asked, ignoring Serene.

No answer

“I said, Where did she go?” My voice booms.

“We don’t know Alpha; she would not tell us. She left, and the vampire went with her. Something about her being the decider of fate or something, but he followed her and promised to protect her. We do not know where she is, “Cole says. I can tell he is upset with me as well. I leave them in the kitchen and get on the phone to make some calls to find her.

I went to my room. Her closet door was open. All of her clothes, jewelry, and shoes are gone. The room is empty. I saw a note on my bed. RolandI was told you were gone, and I’m sorry we could not have done this in person, but to be honest, I probably would not have had the strength to do so in person. Our bonds have been getting weaker. I feel it is dim every day. Each time I see you with her, it’s like a knife in my heart. I can physically feel it when you take her to your bed. I can’t continue to do this anymore. We’ve grown apart so much these last few months. I’ve spoken to your pack and told them to stop being mean to you.

To accept you and to accept her as your luna once again. Who am I to come between a man and his first love? I’m no one. I feel like I’m suffocating each day. I can no longer feel like that fourteen-year-old girl trapped in the dungeon, unsure of her future. You choose your own. Now I’m choosing mine. It appears fate has not been written for us as we believed for this go-round, but I’m sure we will meet in the next life. We usually do. You don’t owe me anything. I owe you my life for saving mine. Take care of my pack. I love you. Elena

She’s gone, and she isn’t coming back. I can hear Blaze growling in frustration and howling in longing. I know things have been crazy lately, but I want to leave. Have I hurt her that much? I’ve been such a fool. Of course, I have been hurting her. I felt our mate bond got weaker, so of course she did. She felt it every time I had sex with Raven. I put her in pain. I did that. I read back the letter. I reread the letter. I smell it. Her scent is barely there. My mind is feeling hazy again for the first time in weeks. When it cleared, I had only one thing on my mind. Finding Elena. I have to find her. I have to find my Luna. I mindlink all the trackers in my pack to help me track her down. Raven walks up to me.

“Roly, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’ll be gone in a few days, Raven. When I come back, we will have some things to discuss,” I tell her. I realized at that moment that I don’t even care for her like I used to, so what have I been doing? She looks worried and walks up to me, kissing me on the mouth. I missed this. My beautiful Raven. The haziness is back again. At that same time, Serene and Nate come out of the kitchen and see it.

“Are you fucking serious, Roland?” Serene growls. She yells in Latin, her eyes turning white, and all the windows shatter. Then she passed out. What the fuck?

“I’m sorry, Alpha; I’ll get the windows fixed and take her to the room,” Nate says, apologizing. Shit. What was I about to do? I looked at the letter. Elena. Elena is gone. I was going to find her, but this fog in my mind is clouding my thoughts. What the fuck? I can’t contemplate it right now. Right now, Elena should be my priority, but a big part of me wants to just let her go and focus on my Raven. If Elena wants to leave, then sh*t. Let her. I have my Raven back, and that is all that matters to me. Elena POV

6 months later

It’s been six months since I’ve come back to the Black Suns. Since then, much has improved. My brother has changed the name to Dark Moon. My brother decided it would be best to co-alpha the pack, as he didn’t want to put me down as anything lower. I found out I was one month pregnant. Snow and I were incredibly happy. It took our minds off Roland. According to Lore, Lycan pregnancies are only 5 months long, which means I gave birth 4 months after my arrival. I’ve yet to visit my mom while I’ve been here, though Lynx says he has been torturing her each day. I figured I’d go and see her eventually and put her out of her misery. Since I became Alpha of the Dark Moon pack, I’ve strengthened this pack tremendously.

Security at the borders is tight. There are guards all around the place with face recognition software that one of our new pack members was able to create. He is half-cheetah. This pack wasn’t sure about bringing him in due to the racism they had been made to endure by Ned, but they had no choice. My word is the law around here. We also indicted a pack member who was a witch named Marlon. He is immensely powerful, and it is nice to have him around. He reminds me of Serene. Shawn has been helping me train the pack.

We all wake up at 5 a. m. each morning and train. I’ve made up with Lynx. Once he learned the truth, he wasn’t upset. Pack members said he beat himself up about it each day. I forgave him. Although we are not close, I still live with him. I forgave Jen as well. One of my wolves, Raina, has been stepping up each day. I gave the Gamma title to her. She has worked hard enough for it.

I call Serene on some days. It’s nice to be able to talk to her. She was ecstatic when I told her I had given birth. I sent her many photos. I gave birth to two sons, Aiden and Ethan. Aiden looks just like me, with his blue eyes, but he has Roland’s black hair. Ethan has Roland’s black hair as well as his eyes. Each time I look at him, he reminds me of his father. They are the love of my life. I know one day I’ll have to tell Roland he has kids, but he has no claim to them. He lost that right when he chose her. The twins are everything to me. I called Serene so we could video chat and she could see the boys.

She’s told me about some issues they have been having. Roland started looking for me, then gave up completely. He marked Raven and made her Luna. That hurt to hear, but it was no longer my business. Our mate bond was so weak that it was almost broken, but since neither of us rejected the other, it couldn’t break. She told me he barely leaves his floor in the packhouse and is never without Raven, and that Cole is doing most of the work. She told me there have been rogue attacks, and they have been getting increasingly frequent. Every time they capture one, they always kill themselves, but one rogue did tell them they were being led by a witch and a wolf. However, they don’t know the name.

I told her to keep me posted. I would send it and help if I could. Her pack is still like family to me. My boys are rolling around on the floor in my room, pulling each other’s hair, while I chuckle. They are already little troublemakers.

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I bring in the pack nurse to watch them while I handle some pack business. I have Lynx, Marlon, Raine, and Shawn with me.

“There is a witch in the north who has been taking bodies,” Lynx reports.

A witch who takes bodies, I say to myself.

“Is she draining them of blood?” I asked.

“How did you know?” Raine asks. I tell them the story of Roland’s mate.

“It’s most likely the same witch,” Marlon says. “There aren’t many dark witches left.””No matter who it is, I can’t have her take my pack members. I will see to this matter,” I told them.

While we’re discussing strategies, a pack member comes running, out of breath.

“Alpha, Alpha,” she says, bowing to Lynx and me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Your mother has escaped.”

I’m about to bark out orders to find her when I get a mindlink.

“Luna, your mother has said she is taking the kids for the day. I’m just letting you know.”

WHAT THE FUCK!

I ran to my room and pushed the pack nurse out the way. I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall.

“WHERE DID SHE TAKE MY KIDS?” I commanded.

“I don’t know Alpha,” she squeezed out. I dropped her.

I ran back to the office.

“My kids,” she said. She took my kids.” I cried out, releasing my aura.

“FIND THEM,” I command, and everyone leaves.

I rush out on pack ground, looking everywhere. I ran to the forest. I zipped back to the packhouse and back to my room. There is a note on the bed.

Your kids are safe for now. I’ve collected my mother from your dungeon. Your kids will remain safe as long as you come to get them alone. If you tell anyone, I will kill your kids. Come to the forest at midnight. There will be a man who will accompany you to me. You will know this man when you see him, as he has been waiting for you for a long time. If you tell anyone about this meeting, I will kill your kids.

The note burns up once I finish reading it. I stayed in the room for the rest of the day. I told Lynx not to let anyone near me. My kids. My beautiful boys. Someone has them, and I will get them back. When they are safe, I will kill everyone involved. I watched the time.

11. 30 pm.

I get dressed and put my hair in a ponytail. I gather small weapons. Knife, lockpick, and GPS locator. Shawn will be able to locate me if I’m in trouble, along with a few other weapons.

11. 55 pm.

I sneaked out the window and ran into the forest. It’s time to go get my kids. I get to the forest, and my heart stops.

No

This can’t be

“YOU!” I choked out.