The Mystical Attraction of Alpha

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

him how he likes it here

and gurgles like he really

I

Sinclair says, grinning proudly down at his son “He’s very

baby’s forehead “Yes, he is. The most clever

more months,” Roger calls to

chest with a smirk.

and shakes

Cora?” I ask,

and reaching for my hand. I give it, and, with another deep.

comes out

going still at the

the last time

my back, and then a little pulse of comfort. comes down the bond and I exhale, skipping forward a

the same situation we were in before. This is different,

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

serve my mother.

bowing a little and giving us a deep smile as

are welcome

other and then look back to the woman. “Is

Cora turns to me with

1

at Cora for a second and then, as I realize what she means that she can feel our

already I bite my lip, feeling a very

—

I cannot feel her. I used up our bond used the

Cora, and

concern, but I just shake my head and work hard to give

smile

glad

to me, sympathetic, and then we both

around at our whole party and taking a moment to

baby, admiring him “Please,

a group, we follow the priestess into my mother’s temple And as we go,

elegantly sparse, and the city temple was sweeping and impressive, this one is…cozy. The architecture is still bright and wide, but you can tell that women live here 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 a corner, I

priestess 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 you

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, who Sinclair helps me unbuckle from the carrier. I don’t

–

has placed a warm hand on my shoulder – Cora nods to the priestess

her immediately, we all do

beautiful Goddess, standing at the far end 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 but focusing

as I