Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate

Ella

It is, indeed, a long climb. Cora and I are panting by the time we get to the top, and even though

Sinclair took Rafe from me halfway through the hike I have to take a moment to catch my break

when we pull ourselves up to the final level.

Roger has the indecency to look a little smug about the fact that he barely looks winded and Cora

gives him a little shove on the shoulder as she works to take a few deep breaths and wipe the

sweat from her brow.

Even as I work to bring my heartrate back down, I absolutely marvel at the sight before me.

The Goddess’ temple, like the one in the city, is built completely with white marble. But unlike

the one in the city, this one looks….ancient. Vines grow in ropes all over it, looking almost as if the

structure is part of the forest itself, having grown up organically from it. The temple is tall and

wide, the pillars in front drawing my eyes upward to the slanted roof which curls into a dome. At

the very peak of the dome is a golden crescent moon, reaching up towards the sky, glinting in the

bright sunlight.

“Wow,” Cora says, standing straight next to me and likewise marveling at the temple. “Mom has

some….impressive property.”

“I know, right?” I mutter back, crossing my arms and shaking my head. If someone had told me,

when I was a little girl sleeping in my creaky little orphan bed, that my mom lived here…

Well. I probably would have believed them.

But I was a very imaginative child.

“Um,” Roger says, looking anxiously at Cora. “Shall we?”

I smile at him, seeing that he’s eager to move on but also that he wants to give her room to process this experience. It’s more intense for her than it is for him, and I think that it’s very sweet that he realizes this. Roger really has come leaps and bounds as a person from when I first met

him

Sinclair comes to stand next to me and I grin at him and then turn to my baby, taking his hands

asking him how he likes it here

claps and gurgles like he really

he understands sometimes,” I say quietly, smiling

grinning proudly down at his son “He’s

my baby’s forehead “Yes, he is. The

more months,” Roger calls to us, crossing his

chest with a smirk.

shakes

you ready, Cora?” I ask,

she says, giving me a nod and reaching for my hand. I give it, and, with another deep. breath, the five of us begin to walk towards the temple. As we approach, a woman

out of the

a moment, going still at the sight of

time

I feel Sinclair behind me, his hand warm against my back, and then a little pulse of comfort. comes down the bond and I exhale, skipping forward a little to stay at

is not the same situation we were in before. This

priestess we meet is going to try to take my baby away. Some of them,

serve my mother.

and giving us a

welcome here. And you are right

each other and then look back to the woman.

but Cora turns to me with

1

Cora for a second and then, as I realize what she means that

my lip, feeling a very deep

—

our bond used the magic of it to unbind my

save my child, and Cora, and my mate. Cora realizes this

concern, but I just shake my head and work hard

smile

say, squeezing her hand “I’m glad you can feel her for

me, sympathetic, and then we both tum back

says, smiling around at our whole party and taking

admiring

my mother’s temple And as we go, I wonder a everyone’s heart is pounding as much

and treat it as a home. As I look around at the padded benches by the windows, at the well-loved books neatly tucked into alcoves and the little worn stick broom tucked into

does not pause in the middle of the large central room of the temple, the space beneath the dome, but instead leads us across it to a door at the back. Before she opens it, she turns to us with a warm smile. “Are

tucks her hair behind her ears and Roger comes to stand behind her, straightening his shoulders, his face very serious. He is, after all, about to be introduced to his mate’s mother as such for the first time. I smile at both of them as I reach for the baby,

–

my shoulder – Cora nods to the priestess who opens the door

immediately,

of the room, glowing with the faint luminescence of moonlight. Her face breaks into a smile as we cross the room, her eyes flashing over all of us

as I look at