The Lycan Prince 's Puppy (eBook)

A Secret Baby Rejected Mate Billionaire Werewolf Romance (book two)

Isaac Freddie (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
244 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-0-00-094200-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Kimberly Chen, now Luna of California's most powerful werewolf pack, knows fairy tales are real.

Her husband, Micah Collier, once publicly rejected her, but their love triumphed over pack politics and ancient traditions, leading to their fated union. Their daughter, Ivory, is a testament to their unbreakable bond-a child with extraordinary powers, making her a beacon in the supernatural world.

Their hard-won peace is shattered when the dangerous rogue, Brayan Gregory, escapes his prison, obsessed with harnessing Ivory's unique abilities. He believes the child of a fated Luna and a powerful Alpha holds the key to unimaginable power. This time, his target isn't just Ivory, but the very heart of the pack: Kimberly herself. He seeks to exploit her past vulnerabilities, hoping to use her as leverage against Micah and to sow discord within their united front.

Now, Kimberly and Micah must stand together, stronger than ever, to protect their daughter and their pack. Their marriage, once a testament to second chances, will be tested by a relentless enemy who understands their every weakness. As they face Brayan, they'll discover that even true love can be threatened by the darkest of obsessions, and that their greatest strength lies not just in their powers, but in the unwavering devotion of their family

Textauszug

PROLOGUE: Between Life and Death

 

The sanctuary was hidden deep in the redwood forests of Northern California, so far off any map that even GPS couldn't find it.

Micah carried Kimberly through ancient trees that seemed to whisper secrets in languages older than human memory, following Holland Donovan down a path that appeared and disappeared like a mirage. Ivory walked beside them, her small hand clutched in his free one, her silver eyes wide with the kind of awareness that came from being born between two worlds.

"How much further?" Micah asked, though his arms never tired of holding Kimberly's still form.

She was breathing, her heart was beating, but she hadn't opened her eyes since that moment in the warehouse three days ago.

The doctors at the hospital had called it a miracle, said the bullet wound was healing impossibly fast, but they couldn't explain why she wouldn't wake up.

 

"We're here," Donovan said, stopping before what looked like a solid wall of redwood bark.

He pressed his hand against the tree, and the bark shimmered like water, revealing an opening that definitely hadn't been there a moment before.

Beyond it lay a valley that shouldn't have existed, a pocket of space that felt separate from the rest of the world.

Buildings made of living wood and stone rose from the forest floor, their walls glowing with soft bioluminescent light that pulsed like a heartbeat.

"Welcome to Sanctuary," Donovan said, leading them through the entrance. "One of the last places where the old magic still runs strong."

The path wound between buildings that seemed to grow from the earth itself, their architecture flowing and organic in a way that made Micah's eyes water if he looked too closely.

People moved between the structures, but they weren't entirely human.

Some had the elongated limbs and pointed ears of the fae, others bore the marks of shapeshifters from species he didn't recognize.

All of them stopped to stare as their small group passed, their expressions mixing curiosity with something that might have been reverence.

"They can sense what she is," Donovan explained, noticing Micah's tension.

"A soul caught between worlds is rare, sacred to those who understand the old ways."

"Is that what she is? Caught between worlds?"

"Life and death, mortal and immortal, human and wolf. She exists in the spaces between definitions now, and that makes her both incredibly powerful and incredibly fragile."

They reached a building at the center of the valley, its walls made of crystal that seemed to contain trapped starlight.

Inside, the air hummed with energy that made Micah's wolf pace restlessly.

Healing pools carved from natural stone reflected the crystal walls, their waters glowing with the same soft light that illuminated the entire sanctuary.

"Lay her here," Donovan said, indicating a raised platform beside the largest pool.

 

Micah placed Kimberly gently on the smooth stone, his hands lingering on her face as he brushed a strand of dark hair from her forehead.

She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, but there was something ethereal about her now, as if she were already half-gone.

"Mama sleeping?" Ivory asked, climbing onto the platform to curl up beside her mother.

"Yes, baby girl. Mama's sleeping." Micah's voice caught on the words. "But we're going to help her wake up."

"The child can sense it too," Donovan observed, watching as Ivory pressed her small hand against Kimberly's chest.

"She knows her mother is walking the line between worlds."

"Can you save her?" Micah asked, desperation bleeding through his carefully controlled voice.

"I can't. But the sanctuary might be able to, if you're willing to pay the price."

"What price?"

Donovan gestured to the crystal walls around them, to the pools that reflected light that came from no visible source.

"This place exists outside normal reality, sustained by the belief and sacrifice of those who built it.

To anchor a soul that's drifting between worlds, to pull her back from the edge of death itself, requires a demonstration of love so pure, so absolute, that it can reshape reality."

"Tell me what I have to do."

"The Trials of the Heart," Donovan said, his voice taking on the formal cadence of ritual.

"Three tests that will strip away everything you think you know about yourself, everything you think you know about love.

You'll face your deepest fears, your greatest failures, your most shameful truths. And if you survive, if your love proves strong enough, the sanctuary will grant her life."

"And if I fail?"

"Then she fades away completely, and you lose her forever."

Micah looked down at Kimberly's still face, at the woman who'd given him everything and asked for nothing in return.

The woman who'd died protecting their daughter, who'd whispered her love with her last breath. The choice wasn't really a choice at all.

"When do we start?"

"Now." Donovan moved to one of the smaller pools, dipping his hands in the glowing water.

"But first, you need to understand what you're risking. The trials don't just test your love for her.

They test whether you're worthy of the kind of love that can conquer death itself. Many have tried. Most have failed."

"What happens to those who fail?"

"They become part of the sanctuary, their essence absorbed into the crystal walls, their love adding to the power that sustains this place."

Donovan's expression was grim. "It's not death, exactly, but it's not life either."

Micah felt a chill run down his spine, but he didn't hesitate. "I understand."

"Daddy?" Ivory looked up at him with those unsettling silver eyes. "You're scared."

"Yes, little princess. Daddy's scared." He knelt beside the platform, taking her small hand in his. "But sometimes we have to do scary things to protect the people we love."

"Like Mama did. She was scared, but she saved me anyway."

"Exactly like Mama did." Micah kissed her forehead, breathing in her scent of innocence and wild magic.

"I need you to stay here with her while I'm gone, okay? Keep her company, tell her stories, sing her the songs she used to sing to you."

"She can hear me?"

"I think so. I think part of her is still here, still listening."

Ivory nodded solemnly, settling herself more comfortably beside her mother.

"I'll take care of her, Daddy. I'll make sure she doesn't get lonely."

Donovan led Micah to another part of the crystal chamber, where three doorways had been carved into the living rock.

Each one glowed with a different color of light: red like blood, white like bone, black like the space between stars.

 

"The first trial is Fear," Donovan explained, indicating the red doorway.

"You'll face the thing you're most afraid of, the terror that lives in the deepest part of your soul.

The second is Truth, where you'll confront the lies you tell yourself, the failures you've tried to forget.

The third is Sacrifice, where you'll discover what you're truly willing to give up for love."

"How long will it take?"

"Time moves differently in the trials. You might be gone for minutes or days or years.

But in this world, in this moment, you'll return before the sun sets."

Micah looked back at Kimberly and Ivory, at his family that was both complete and broken.

Then he stepped toward the red doorway, toward the trial that would either save the woman he loved or destroy them both.

"Remember," Donovan called after him. "Love isn't just about wanting someone.

It's about being willing to become worthy of them, no matter the cost."

The red light swallowed Micah whole, and suddenly he was standing in the pack house in Napa Valley, but it was wrong somehow. The walls were stained with blood, the air thick with the smell of death and smoke. Bodies lay scattered across the floor, pack members he'd known since childhood, people he'd sworn to protect.

"You failed them," a voice said behind him.

Micah turned to see himself, but older, scarred, with eyes that held the weight of terrible choices.

This other version of him wore the clothes of an alpha, but they were torn and bloodstained, marked with the evidence of battles lost.

"You failed them all," the other Micah continued. "Your pack, your family, everyone who trusted you to keep them safe. And now you're going to fail her too."

"No." Micah's voice was steady, though his heart was racing. "I won't let that happen."

"You already did. She's dying because of you, because you weren't strong enough to protect her. Just like you weren't strong enough to protect them."

The other Micah gestured to the bodies on the floor, and Micah recognized them now.

His parents, his beta, the children who'd played in the pack house gardens.

All dead because he'd made the wrong choice, because he'd chosen love over duty and doomed them all.

"This is what happens when alphas put their hearts before their responsibilities," the other Micah said. "This is the price of your selfishness."

"It's not real." But even as Micah said it, he could smell the blood, could hear the dying gasps of people he'd loved. "This didn't happen."

"Didn't it? You chose her over your pack once before. You're doing it again now. How many more will die because you can't let go?"

The scene shifted, and suddenly they were in the warehouse in Oakland.

But this time,...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 25.6.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-094200-6 / 0000942006
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-094200-5 / 9780000942005