The Alphas’ P**n Star Mate

Mick POV

"How much longer is it going to be until she wakes up?" I asked, pacing near the door. Dez said that the invading Alpha had gone away, and Rome was buzzing with the urge to go after him ourselves. Miles and Ivar weren't much better, but neither of us were leaving the pack until our mate opened her eyes. "She's fully restored," Driana said. "Her body is just spent. She will wake up when she is ready."

Driana's eyes looked cloudy, and she had deep circles under her eyes. Rodger and his other sister didn't look much better. Rodger went after Chloe, trying to save her from being taken, and the sisters drained their magic by trying to restore our mate. I know they are working their hardest for her sake, but I can't help but be frustrated. I just want my mate to open her eyes and tell me she's okay herself.

"Is it safe to move her to the pack house now?" Miles asked.

Paulina began to smack her lips and click her gums together, waving her hands fervently at her brother and her sister.

"She's right. Before you try to take her, you both need to take this." Driana stood up from the ground where she was resting, watching Chloe, and walked to the kitchen. The counters were littered with botanical ingredients and glass jars filled with substances I couldn't identify. She lifted a cloth resting over two small glass containers with cork lids. The liquid inside was murky, and had a milky shimmer when shaken.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's the potion we've been trying to give you for nearly a week now. It will alert both of you when someone or something foreign invades your lands. We just needed one final ingredient," Rodger told me. "What ingredient is that?"

He lifted a knife off the table, then started walking towards Chloe. Before it registered to me what he was doing, he lifted her limp hand and poked the blade at the end of her finger, making blood drip down onto the floor. "What are you doing?!" Miles started to panic, moving to stop him, but Paulina stood in front of him to block his path.

"You both are next," Driana said. She uncorked the glasses and took turns holding them under Chloe's blood flow, letting a few drops spill into each one. Rodger then went to Miles, cutting him with the same blade and repeating the process before he and Driana came to me. "We put our all into perfecting this over the last few days. If even a bunny hops past your border, you two will feel it," Rodger said. He sealed the lid and gave the glass collider a shake before handing it to me. He gave the other to Miles and we both examined our shimmering, murky gifts with uncertainty.

"Down the hatch," Driana said. "Our niece needs your protection more than ever before. If some dark entity is after her, our magic will be useless as it stands. You will need warning before the next attack."

Not if there would be another attack. She was sure there would be one, and I was too.

I downed the sour-tasting liquid, gagging on the last gulp. As I was wiping my mouth, I saw Miles following suit. About ten seconds later, I felt a heated rush travel over my body, and Rome growled powerfully in my head. I sank to my knees, gravity weighing me down like a magnet. It took a minute for me to fight the feeling to stand on my feet again.

"What the hell was that?" Miles snarled, his body flexed as he held himself on the banister.

"You were connecting with the earth," Driana waved off his concern like it was no big deal. "You both will be fine. You'll just be woozy until you adjust to the added burden."

"Gee, thanks," I muttered. I felt sick, but if this would keep our mate a little safer, so be it.

Miles took a woven blanket from the couch and wrapped our mate in it, gingerly lifting her from the ground. The crystals that had been resting on her arms and legs fell to the ground around the pentagram. Her body was lifeless. She didn't stir at all, even as Miles adjusted her in his

arms.

I got up beside him and moved her hair out of her face. "She's never leaving the pack house again," I murmured. I traced the line of her jaw, hating myself for my inability to protect her. She should never exhaust herself to this extent to protect us, but that's what she did. "You're the one that first told me she wouldn't like that," Miles said. "I'm still wondering how to get her to agree to keep guards with her."

"We'll find a way," I said, tenderly kissing her head.

"We could always tie her to the bed," Rome offered, only half teasing.

"She would break free then tear us a new one," I huffed.

Our poor, overburdened mate.

"Let's get her home," I said to Miles.

~

Rodger POV

My chest felt heavy as I watched my daughter's mates carry her out of the house. She was still as could be, not even twitching in her sleep.

"I failed her again," I murmured, the guilt pressing in on me like a ton of bricks.

"Only by letting her mutilate her nipples," Driana scoffed, thinking of the piercing Chloe had. She patted my back as we stood at the door and watched her mates walking back to the pack house. Their warriors were gathering around them as they went, flanking their Alphas and Luna, guarding them as they went.

My daughter has so many others to support and protect her now, and she still ends up having to protect them in the end. Because of my incompetence, her burdens are always too great to bear. How will I ever reveal myself to her when I feel nothing but shame and guilt? "What did her magic look like?" Driana asked as I was still beating myself for my incompetence in her time of need.

"It was stronger than I could describe," I eventually said, not sure what Driana wanted to know. "Elemental, like us, but still strong."

"Good, because the magic in that beast wasn't from a weak creature. It was dark magic, and it will be back."

"I know," I whispered, dread taking over me.

We need to know where that magic came from.

Luckily, I have people skilled enough to help us find the magic's source.