Andromeda's Reign
Andromeda’s Reign
A ‘Moonrising’ Story
By K. S. Haigwood
&
Anne Conley
K. S Haigwood & Anne Conley
Text copyright © 2016 by K. S. Haigwood
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.
Andromeda’s Reign
Edited by: Ella Medler
Cover Design by: Steve Schmeckpeper
Cover Model: Derrick Keith Shane Meacham
Cover Photography by: Eric David Battershell
Ebook Format by: Deena Rae at E-BookBuilders
Table of Contents
Other Books by This Author:
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Note to the reader from Ace:
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
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Epilogue
A look inside Eternal Illusion
Eternal Illusion - Chapter One
A look inside Four Winds series – Falling for Heaven
Falling for Heaven - Chapter One
About Anne
Anne's Books
About Kristie
Kristie's Bookshelf
For The Reader
Other Books by This Author:
Save My Soul Series
Save My Soul – Book 1
Hell’s Gift – Book 2
Good Side of Sin – Book 3
My Sweet Purgatory – Book 4 (Coming Soon)
Heaven’s Rejects (Coming Soon)
Eternal Island Series
Eternal Island – Book 1
Eternal Immortality – Book 2
Eternal Illusion – Book 3
Eternal Innocence (Coming Soon)
Spin-Off:
Salacious Limerick - Clay (Coming Soon)
Moonrising Series
Accepting the Moon – Prequel
Midnight Moonrising – Book 1
Andromeda’s Reign — Book 2
Vieux Carre Lune (Coming Soon)
Also Coming Soon
Freedom’s Chains
Dedication
For Penny and Stacie. Thank you so much for believing in me. Making the two best sisters in the world proud of me has always been one of my biggest goals in life. Y’all make me feel like I’ve accomplished that one. I love you both more than chocolate.
Acknowledgements
Where do I start? This book would have never been written if Anne Conley hadn’t suggested that Midnight Moonrising needed yet another conflict — Ace. And what a fun ride it was to write his story with her. I couldn’t have written such an amazing story without you, Anne. At times, I wondered if it was ever going to end. “Just one more chapter.” #TeamAce
Special thanks to Ella for her awesome editing skills. I know this was a long one, but I hope the wild ride made the trip worth it. I love you, chica.
I want to give some extra hugs to several special women in my life. Hello, beta readers! Jess, Fabie, April, Amanda, Jackie, Tbird, Alisha and Stephanie… Wow! Thank you so much for screaming at me to give you the next chapter and arguing with me about—well, about everything. Y’all gave me so much inspiration. You are my support. You are my sisters, and I love each and every one of you with all my heart. Thank you, #feedbackQueens! Fabie, I love it so damn hard that you cry over every happy, sad—um, well, all of the scenes really. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right. You can have Phoenix. Jess,… … … I shouldn’t give you credit for anything. LOL. Without your wisecracks about Mena and your constant badgering, I never could have put as much humor in this book as I did. You keep me laughing. Thank you so much for your support and sarcasm. You can have Ace. Oh, he’s already locked in your closet, isn’t he? I was wondering where he went! Take good care of him. I’ll need him back for the next book.
Thank you to my amazing formatter, Deena Schoenfeldt, with e-BookBuilders, and the HBIC of Badass Book Society! You’re my favorite formatter and Badass Book Bitch, Deena!
I’d also like to give thanks to Eric David Battershell for the amazing cover image of Derrick Meacham, and to Darkmantle Designs for transforming that awesome image into a perfect cover.
As always, everything I do is dedicated to my family. Without their support, none of my writing would have seen the light of day. I love you guys.
Betas who read Andromeda’s Reign as it was being written:
Anne Conley
Jess Dabooknut
Trenda Tbird London
April Stinson-Scott
Fabie Gutierrez
Amanda Hernandez
Jackie Senior
Stephanie Littlefield
Alisha Carter
Betas who read Andromeda’s Reign after it was complete:
Joyce Wetherbee
Joyce Turner-Cox
Dawn Call
Wendy Schindler
Lisa Moody
Satena Jones-Scoggin
You guys rock!
Be sure to check the back of the book for information on the authors, their works and upcoming releases. Anne and I would love to hear your thoughts on Ace’s story and the best way to do that is to leave a revi
ew where you bought it. Thank you for purchasing Andromeda’s Reign and welcome to my world.
Note to the reader from Ace:
Oh, hey! You made it! Hell yeah! I guess that means I made a great impression in the last story. I know you didn’t come all this way to see Phoenix, did you? He’s not here. Well, okay, he’s in my story a little, but he’s definitely not the best looking Alpha here. I am. It’s okay if you don’t agree with me now, but you will soon. You will soon. *wink*
Chapter 1
Wednesday, February 4th 2015 5:42 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
“Do it again,” I demanded.
I could feel Andromeda trying to give up emotionally, as well as physically, but I pushed her harder. I knew what her body and mind were capable of, and we were nowhere near her breaking point. She was a lot stronger than she thought she was.
Our connection, as we both liked to refer to the bond, seemed to be growing stronger, rather than weaker, like Andromeda had hoped it would. She wanted to find a way to reverse the ritual.
I didn’t.
She could feel my every emotion and hear my every thought—unless I blocked the telepathy—but it worked both ways, so she could keep me out of her mind, too. Unfortunately, we couldn’t block the emotions.
I felt each and every happy memory she’d had with Phoenix and each and every sad moment she’d had without him. The only time she wasn’t thinking about him was when we were training. So I planned to make her train. A lot.
This damn rollercoaster of feelings was literally driving me insane. I had never in all my life felt as much as I had in the last week, and I hated it. Me… with one girl… forever… I rolled my eyes at the absurdity that my life had become in only the blink of an eye. But as crazy as that all sounded, and even though I had in no way asked or planned for any of it, I couldn’t bring myself to hate the fact that I was finally ready to settle down.
I blocked Andromeda’s kick, grabbed her shoe and threw her to her back on the workout mat. Grinning down at her furious, pale-green eyes, I offered her my hand.
She huffed as she got to her feet on her own, looking down as she limped away from me. What a terrible actress. Chaos could have done a better job of fooling me.
I shook my head as my hands came up to rest on my hips. “Don’t give me that shit. It might work on your wolf cubs or even your boyfriend, but you can’t fake it with me, Andra. We’re bonded. I know you’re not hurt, so don’t—”
“I’m tired, Ace—”
“You shouldn’t be tired,” I sneered. “You slept the whole flight here. But for the sake of avoiding a pointless argument, humor me. What are you going to do when you’re in battle and you get tired? Are you going to limp away? What if I’m not there to kill the fucker for you next time?”
“I never asked for this!” she screamed as she whirled around to glare at me, her beautiful eyes brightened by the tears shimmering in them.
“I didn’t, either!” I roared back. She flinched as our emotions tangled together. I knew those tears weren’t there because she was sad, because her fury washed over me like I had been doused with boiling water. The rush of it almost hurt. The anger sucked, but I knew anger. I could deal with anger. Anger was my friend. It was the sadness and the heartbreak and the sappy-frilly-frilly I couldn’t fucking deal with. Unfortunately for me, Andra seemed to be full to the brim with all that shit.
With more effort than I really wanted to put forth with the mood I was in, I waded through her rage, then through my madness and forced calm over us.
This bond was new to us both, but getting it through her thick head that it would be easier on us if she would dump her boyfriend was like trying to breathe under water. I might have understood her side of the argument a little better if she had been dating the vampire longer than a month, and never mind the fact that two of those weeks she was locked in a silver cage as a wolf. They hadn’t even had time to get to know each other. I knew her. She knew me. We had direct contact with each other’s thoughts, memories and emotions, yet she wouldn’t even consider the idea of us being together on an intimate level. I didn’t understand it at all.
After a moment, I held out my hand again. “Come here.” I’d be dead and damned before I went to her, not with how she’d been acting since we left Montgomery, Alabama.
She looked down at my hand and set her jaw. I knew she wanted to touch me just as much as I needed her to, but I also knew by her thoughts that she wouldn’t without a little more encouragement.
“I know you promised Phoenix that you would try to be happy with me, here in Sin City. Do I need to make a call to the High Vampire of Montgomery to let him know you aren’t playing fair, Andra? My first attempt at getting him to break things off with you was just that: my first attempt. You may hate me before this is all over and done with between you and your bloodsucker, but, in the end, you will still need me and you won’t have him. I can live with that. Can you?”
Her lip quivered, and I nearly caved. I couldn’t handle the tears, but I could counteract with a little rage, just enough to give her a taste of how I felt. “Ace—”
“You’re mine, Andra. I’m willing to give you some time to let that soak in, but I won’t wait long.” I hardened my voice to a steely edge, even though she could undoubtedly tell I was serious. She had bonded with me, damn it! She was mine. She didn’t belong to some vampire nearly two thousand miles away. And when he got here, he still wouldn’t have her completely. I had to tamp down the utter rage at Andra’s memories of the vampire in bed with her, his skin sliding against hers, his mouth on my mate’s mouth. Fuck. If she wasn’t going to realize it on her own, I’d have to push the issue. “He can’t have you, Andra. I won’t let that happen.” I said the last part slowly, maybe for dramatic effect or maybe it was because, deep in my heart, I knew it to be true—I wouldn’t let him have her. By the fear in her widening eyes, I could tell she was seeing things from my perspective now. It was about damn time.
“I knew you would do this! I knew you would get me here and try to control me—”
“The only thing I’m trying to do is train you, but you won’t stop thinking of him long enough to concentrate on keeping your lovesick ass alive if this were a real situation!”
“Why do I need to learn how to fight so fast? We’ve barely stopped since we got here. And why haven’t you let me in your mind in two days? You shut me out the moment I asked about Justice.”
I huffed. I couldn’t tell her about Justice yet. If this upset her, I could only imagine how enraged she would be when I told her that I nailed a huge target on her head with our bonding. The worst part was that I knew it before I even did it. I didn’t know how to break the news to her without her hating me for it. Hell, I hated me for it. “I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”
“Well, I’m not ready to stop missing Phoenix yet,” she bit back. “I’ve only been away from my home for a little more than half a day, Ace. Cut me a little slack.”
I guess I was damned and dead, because I took a step forward, reached out and took her hand. The relief was immediate. Our rage subsided and our tempers calmed as if we’d never been angry at all. Our fight seemed so petty now. “I’m sorry. I am trying, Andra, and I will talk to you about Justice soon. I promise. I just have to figure out how to go about doing it the right way.”
She nodded as she wrapped her arms around me, and I looked up to the high ceiling, thanking the good Lord above us that He had given me enough sense to apologize. There was no better feeling in the world than when she was in my arms. It felt like heaven. It was new for me—totally unheard of for me—but I was quickly getting used to it. That in itself was mystifying.
“I’ll understand,” she said, and I lowered my head so that I could whisper in her ear.
“About what?”
“About him. Whatever it is, I’ll understand, Ace.”
God, if that were only true! Sighing heavily, I said, “I hope you wil
l.”
“Were you lovers?”
I blinked rapidly at that. What the fuck? “No!” I had to laugh. Of course she would think something like that! “I’ve never been intimate with Justice… or any other guy, for that matter,” I said in disbelief, and then a smile crept across my face. “I like puss—”
Andra quickly clamped a hand over my mouth. “I hate that word. Call it something else.”
I threw my head back and laughed harder than I had in a long time. After I calmed down enough to speak clearly, I said, “What do you call it?”
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she blushed, and then those walls swiftly went up, blocking me out of her mind. Damn it! “I’m not telling you what I call my… my…”
“Pussy?”
She slapped my chest, and I laughed. “Stop! That sounds so gross to me.”
She did a little shudder-wiggle thing, and I couldn’t stop laughing. I’m serious. It was freaking hilarious watching her squirm over a word I’d said in everyday conversation most of my adult life.
“Okay, we won’t talk about what you call yours. What do you think I should call it in general? I have to call it something.”
“Why do you have to call it anything? People don’t go around talking about hoo-has all day long. You could just leave that particular body part out of your vocabulary altogether,” she said matter-of-factly.
My eyebrows rose as I stared at her in fascination. “Hoo-has?”
“Well, hoo-has is plural, meaning more than one. Hoo-ha is singular, meaning only one.”
Shit! Is she really giving me a grammar lesson on pussy slang?
“I know what singular means, Andra. I’m fairly educated.”