The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

Arabella PovContent rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

The ball was ending, and I was tired. Cassie and Sam have been tailing me all night, trying to get me to tell them how I got the wound on my face, but I didn’t tell them. I just felt like I was slowly dying. The ball was concluding, and people were leaving the ballroom. King Damon approached me. I’ve been keeping my face down, half because I didn’t want to look at him after what he did and half because I didn’t want him to see the mark on my face, but fucking fate had other plans. He gripped my arm with one hand and my face in his with the other.

“Who did this to your fucking face?” he growls lowly. I tried to think of a lie.

“I fell and hit my face on something,” I tell him, but he grips me harder.

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid, Omega? Let’s go,” he says, starting to drag me out of the room. I feel royal in my head, starting to bounce aggressively.

Turn around, she commands, and I lock eyes with the triplet Adonis. I’m hit with a rush of feeling deep in my heart once I do, and it makes me dizzy. I turn to another triplet next to him, and I’m hit again, the dizzy feeling washing over me. Damon is still pulling me to the door as I finally set eyes on Ares. I’m hit with the feeling once more.

Mate Mate Mate Royal yells, and I look at Ares, who is realizing who I am as well. Mother fucker, I’m mated to three wolves. The realization and the exhaustion of the night catch up with me, and I start seeing black spots. The last thing I see before I give in is all three Alphas rushing towards me. Adonis Pov

Once I smelled blueberries, I knew who it was instantly. I linked Kyle to bring the pack soldiers in. When Ash told me about Ares punching her, I swear I never wanted to kill my brother as much as I did at that moment, but Arabella’s mate smell completely washed over me. Once we reached the room and saw her, she looked back at us. The mate bond connected instantly, and it made us fall back a bit. I saw the bond hit her, and she looked really weak. We rushed to her as she passed out. The king dropped her on the floor, which angered me as well. Ash was at her side, instantly picking her up in his arms, and I felt the mate tingles of their touch through the bond. Her friend Sam rushed over to her but was blocked in an instant by Kyle, whose eyes were black as he was growling at her. She pushed him out of the way quickly and went to Ash to check on Arabella.

The fucker who dropped her looked shocked, but I had him pinned by his neck against the wall before he could even figure out what was going on. Our pack soldiers were piling in, surrounding everyone inside. All the men grabbed their mates, looking around in confusion. Damon was struggling and cursing in my grip, but he was powerless as Silas growled through me, and that made him stop and shut up quickly.

“What is this about?” He said it with a little fear in his eyes. Good. I’m going to keep it there.

“OUR FUCKING MATE.” I growled loudly and tossed him to the floor near Ares, who was just standing there, staring at Arabella’s body. I’m not finished with him either, but I will deal with him later. Damon stands up, in a defensive position.

“She is a simple Omega; how could she ever be mated to you?” He spat as I circled him, ready to attack.

“She is mated to all three of us. I’ve been told what you’ve been doing to her. She is not leaving with you.” I growled at him. He stops walking as someone who I assume is one of his ally alphas comes over to him and talks to him, most likely explaining the gravity of the situation. That seems to pull him out of his stance, as he stands up and fixes himself. He had a smirk on his face. “According to our laws, she will stay here, but you three have to acknowledge she is your mate. He looks at Ares as he says this. I walk over to Ash, who is holding onto Arabella, and Ash is glaring at Ares, ready to see his answer. Ares is still looking at Arabella’s body and then looks up at Ash and me. I know our eyes are black, and we are glaring at him as our wolves are out, ready to see what he says. It’s extremely quiet as everyone now looks at Ares. It’s common knowledge that he doesn’t want a mate, and when he rejects her, it will shatter the mate bond. He looks like he is about to say no when I hear Ash through the triplet bond.

If you reject her, I will fucking kill him, and then I will fucking kill you.

I look towards Ash at the sudden declaration, and Ares’s eyes widen quickly before they turn to anger. I hold an attached stance in case he tries to attack Ash, but he smirks and turns his gaze to King Damon.

“You heard my brother; she is our mate? Do you really want to be stupid enough to find out what happens if you attempt to take her away?” He says this to Damon, smiling. Ash and I glanced at each other. We weren’t expecting this. Damon wasn’t either, as his smile was wiped off his face instantly. He glanced at her in our arms. Ash and I growled at the disrespect. He turned his attention to Sam next to us.

“You’re coming with me,” he says, but Kyle stands protectively in front of her.

“Touch my mate, you die.” His wolf growled at him. His eyes turn angry as he realizes he no longer has anything. Moreover, Arabella was no longer his. He walks out angrily, with his alphas following him. I link Clair and the soldiers to make sure he gets his sh*t and leaves the pack lands. Ares walks up to us, and Arabella stirs.

“Take her to the guest room,” he says and turns around, walking out. Ash walks her to the guest room while Sam, Kyle, and I follow. I went into my room to find her a shirt and some shorts to sleep in. When I come back in, Kyle and Sam seem to be in a heated debate, and Ash is sitting on the bed, watching Arabella sleep.

“What is your problem?” I asked Kyle and Sam.

“She wants to sleep in this room tonight, but she belongs in my room,” Kyle says, frustrated.

“I don’t care where you think I belong; she is my best friend, and I’m not fucking leaving her,” Sam replied, crossing her arms.

“But you’re my mate,” Kyle says, trying to pull her in and smell her.

“You don’t know half of the shit we have had to face in the place we come from, Mate. I’m staying here with her. When she wakes up, I will consider sleeping in your room.” She pushes him away. He storms out of the room, pissed.

“Finally, someone to put him in his place,” I say playfully, and she smiles.

“I figured you were her mate when you saved her. At the palace, the queen hits her constantly, and no one does anything. The king does worse to her. Thank you for saving her. She didn’t say anything, but I’m sure she was thinking about you. Also, she was lying about what she said; she was forced.” Sam tried to explain, but I held my hand up, stopping her.

“We already know. We were told everything already.” I tell her, and she nods. Suddenly, Arabella sits up, clutching her chest.

“It hurts; it hurts; what is happening?” She moans in pain. Suddenly I feel the same pain, just not as bad, and then I know. Ares is fucking someone. I swear, I’m going to disable him. I almost walk out when she groans again, in really bad pain. The pain I’m feeling hurts, but I know what she is feeling is 10 times as bad since she is at the other end of our bond. If Ares had never acknowledged her as our mate, she wouldn’t have felt a thing. Usually, you don’t feel a partner cheating until you mark them, but the rules are bent due to our lycan nature. Ash and I try to calm her as she cries from the pain, and we seem to have been that way for a while. We hear a pop, and I realize she is now shifting. Ash puts her on the floor softly as I push the bed away to give her room.

She cried out in pain. Ash and I both took her hand and talked her through it until, finally, she shifted. When she finally stops shifting, I marvel at her wolf. She is truly a sight to behold. Ash Pov

Arabella’s Wolf is so beautiful, I almost want to cry. I know from the report Adonis had that she is special, but seeing her wolf in person is amazing. Her wolf is so silver that it can pass for white. Her wolf is almost the same height as ours, instantly confirming her royal status since she is taller than the average wolf. Once I felt the pain of needles in my heart, I knew Ares was cheating on her. Fucking bastard, but I couldn’t focus on him. I tried linking to him, but he cut our link. I was probably mad; I threatened him earlier. He will get over it.

I stood up and kissed her wolf on the head. She nudges her head lovingly on my legs and Adonis as well.

“Shift,” Adonis commands with his Lycan voice, but she continues to rub her head on his legs. He looks at me, confused. No wolf can refuse our Lycan shift command.

It’s because she is a royal alpha wolf bred by an extremely powerful force. She does not have to respond to our commands like others, Soren tells me. I got on my knees.

“Hi Wolf girl, you are stunning, and I can’t wait for you to meet my Wolf Soren, but if it’s okay with you, can we please have Arabella back now? She has had a long night and a horrible life, as I know you have seen, and we want to start right away by making sure that changes tonight, pretty lady,” I told her, kissing her on the head again. She nods and licks my face, then shifts back to Arabella.

“Until next time,” she says through our bond.

Sam takes her clothes from Adonis, and I turn around, waiting for her to get dressed. When she is done, I move the bed back, and Ash sets her back on it.

Thankfully, the needles we were feeling are gone.

“He is sleeping with someone else,” she says, and my heart feels like it’s breaking as I feel her sadness. I held her until she was done, then wiped her eyes. She gazed at me after her eyes widened at her, and she realized something.

“The feral wolf,” she whispers, and I nod and kiss her head.

“Not feral; I just didn’t want to scare you,” I told her, smiling.

She nodded and let more tears fall, but they seemed happy as she smiled at me, and then she looked at Adonis. He kneels in front of her. Her long blonde hair has come out of her bun, and it falls over her eyes. He put her hair out of her heart-shaped face and took her hand, kissing it. She smiled at him.

“Guess I’m invisible now,” her friend says, and Arabella jumps, realizing the girl is there.

“Never,” Arabella says and holds out her hand, pulling the girl into a hug. The girl spends a while telling her what happened, and her eyes widen in surprise when she hears Ares claim her as his.

“He doesn’t love me,” she says sadly, holding her head down. This upsets me and Adonis, but we both know how Ares feels. I hugged her again, letting her smell me.

“He does, Bella. He is just stubborn and doesn’t realize it, but we will talk to him. She nods and lays down. I knew she would be sleepy soon. The first shift of a wolf is always the hardest on the body, and some people sleep for a few days after.

We tucked her in and kissed her on the head. Her friend got in bed beside her, which annoyed me slightly, but I could tell it made Bella more comfortable, so I let it go.

“Goodnight, Bella,” I told her.

“Goodnight, Beauty,” Adonis tells her before we walk out and shut the door behind her.

“I’m thinking we will finish what we started earlier,” I tell Adonis.

“Look at you reading my mind,” he replies, and we set off to find Ares.