THE AWAKENING

“How can there be two?”

The question, delivered in Tieran’s quiet, deliberate tone was edged with uncertainty and echoed throughout the closed room.

Cassandra remained rigidly silent as the seer removed her weathered palms from Cassandra’s slightly rounded belly and looked as bewildered as the rest of the Barrachius clan inside the room.

Tieran, the Alpha of Clan Barrachius glared at Cassandra as if she were to blame for this upset in his plans. Cassandra glared back. It wasn’t her fault she had an overactive womb.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she snapped, moving away from the seer and straightening her shirt. It was bad enough she already felt like some kind of lab experiment gone awry, now she had to deal with this? “Maybe the prophesy is wrong.”

“Impossible,” Tieran retorted, though his eyes told a different story. He turned to the grizzled woman looking pensively at Cassandra’s belly. “What does this mean?”

“I do not know,” she answered truthfully. “But it cannot bode well. The prophesy clearly stated there was one child. I must consult the Mother Goddess for answers.”

“Great, get her on the phone and get some answers so everyone can stop staring at me like I’m the devil,” Cassandra grumbled.

Jandin bowed low to whisper in her ear, “The Mother Goddess is the moon.”

Oh.

She cast a thankful smile Jandin’s way for his explanation but she felt like an idiot. Of course, the Mother Goddess was the moon.

How obvious. Not.

part of a kooky religious cult instead of some paranormal underground species that just so happens to be

done here?” she asked, ready to leave this room and all the pairs of eyes staring at her for answers she couldn’t

Cassandra bristled. She hated when he bossed her around like she was an underling of

from the room, not because Tieran told her to, but because she couldn’t stand another minute being scrutinized for

to her bedroom two at a time. Since discovering she was the Prophesied One, all manner of unpleasant things had been forced upon her — including losing her virginity and being kidnapped by two separate people on two different times

enough

she waited. Tieran, the Alpha, and consequently, one of her baby daddys, insisted on feeding her

were very attached to their customs and traditions. If Tieran and Cassandra actually liked each other, it wouldn’t be a big deal that Tieran felt obligated to feed her, but as it was, neither wanted

bone-melting sex between them, Cassandra might’ve tried to find a

maybe not exactly rip his throat out, that was a bit over the top, but lately, her hormones had been kicking into overdrive and sometimes she

perfection — and it was no small tragedy to be in his arms or beneath him, but when he looked at her, there was nothing but pure lust glazed over the veneer of anger and resentment and that

ten times the amount of stupid that it mattered to

dangerous Phasing period of her Breeding Time and now that she was pregnant, she simply ate and

hungry and she always wanted sex. And considering that the one person who would oblige couldn’t actually stand to be around her unless he

Cassandra didn’t think Tieran would have sex with her ever again but as it was, he couldn’t help himself just as she couldn’t help herself when she’d been

them, drawing them ever

child. Cristophe had

Alpha would always protect his mate when

how is it you know so much about werewolves?” Cassandra had groused after Cristophe had educated her in the finer points of being a werewolf. She’d been shocked to learn Cristophe was with the werewolves when previously he’d disdained their presence like a man who disliked dogs and was suddenly