Lord Alpha

Lord Alpha BLOOD WITCH CHRONICLES BOOK THREE KELLY COULTER Copyright © 2023 by Kelly Coulter All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Contents Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Epilogue About the Author Also by Kelly Coulter Prologue Robert Garrick Manor 1558 Caitlyn hummed beneath her breath, the light tone in contrast to the anxiety swirling within me. “I do not think this is the right way to do things, petal.” She looked up at me from where she stood at her table, in the room I had made for her for exactly this reason. Creating magic. But this was not what I had in mind when I tied my life to hers in marriage. Caitlyn was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. When I first saw her, I knew that my life would be irrevocably changed. Her spirit was like nothing I experienced before from the prim and proper ladies back home in London. The day I left the manor with my father, I remembered handing her a yellow rose, a symbol of everlasting friendship, and a promise to return for her. The apples of her cheeks had blushed pink, but her eyes stayed fixed on mine in challenge. And she had held me to that promise, forsaking all others from the human village nearby, waiting for me to ask the elder for her hand in marriage. We had been young, but there was no mistaking the love and admiration I held for the woman in front of me. “You promised me you would love me forever, Robert. Is this not what you want?” Atlas’s large body lay prone beside her, his breaths calm and even in the face of his mistress’s ire. “We have Lauren now, do you not want to be there for her too?” Guilt overrode my worry at the coming night. I should want this, this is what most people dreamed of. No sickness, no ageing. A lifetime with the ones I love, an eternity with the woman who held my heart, building a family together. Yet I was but a man, raised in the eyes of the church, my instincts were screaming at me that God would not want this to happen. That I should be happy with the natural order of things—going against His will felt unnatural. “We discussed this, husband. You said you wanted this.” I had said that, but I never thought for a second that it would be something she could pull off. I never thought it would be possible. Especially not for someone of her skill set. She had always been reckless with her power. Practising way past her skill level despite being told by the elders not to. The fact that she had permission for this from the coven leader was a strange thing. Yet I had no reason not to trust her word. She skipped around the room gathering herbs and tying them off with string to keep them separated from each other. She tied neat little bows around each bundle and placed them in her satchel along with her grimoire. “Come, Atlas, we will prepare the site for tonight.” Her familiar raised gracefully from his position and prowled after her, his bright amber eyes watching me with an almost human gaze. I have never understood their connection, even though I knew that they could feel each other, could communicate in some way. Caitlyn had tried to explain their bond to me before, and it felt wrong that I would be the one coming between their union that had been predestined since before I even knew that blood witches existed. My worry settled on me like a mantel. I left the room that I had built especially for my wife’s craft and went a floor lower to a room where I always found my peace. I had designed our bedchamber so that all our needs were met. There was a dressing area with a vanity tucked off into one corner. The large bed that took up almost an entire wall was surrounded from each post by red silk that cocooned us in our own little world each night. To the side of our bed was a bassinet that currently sat empty, but it was where our daughter slept - beside us - in safety and comfort, and in a place that we both knew she would be safe. Often during the darkness, I was awoken by her cries of hunger. It fascinated me that Cait arose from her slumber and nursed our child herself. Many of the aristocracy - my own mother included - had hired wetnurses to feed their babies, also requiring staff on hand at all times to manage the household and any young. My wife had always seen to everything herself, with the exception of her coven, who often helped during the daylight hours. They passed Lauren around, carrying her from one part of the village to another, never letting her be put down. It was on these days that I seldom got to see my own child, I was not welcome in the village of blood witches. Morag and the other elders frowned upon our marriage, they did not accept that Caitlyn was in love with me and choose to be by my side. They had decided very early on in our courtship that I was here to take her from them. No matter how many times I had