Mated in Chaos, page 1
Mated in Chaos
AN ASPEN PACK NOVEL
CARRIE ANN RYAN
Contents
Copyright
Praise for Carrie Ann Ryan….
Mated in Chaos
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
A Note from Carrie Ann
Also from Carrie Ann Ryan
About the Author
Mated in Chaos
An Aspen Pack Novel
By: Carrie Ann Ryan
© 2022 Carrie Ann Ryan
eBook ISBN: 978-1-947007-52-9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-947007-53-6
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Cover Art by Sweet N Spicy Designs
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This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book 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 person or use proper retail channels to lend a copy. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
Praise for Carrie Ann Ryan….
“Count on Carrie Ann Ryan for emotional, sexy, character driven stories that capture your heart!” – Carly Phillips, NY Times bestselling author
“Carrie Ann Ryan’s romances are my newest addiction! The emotion in her books captures me from the very beginning. The hope and healing hold me close until the end. These love stories will simply sweep you away.” ~ NYT Bestselling Author Deveny Perry
"Carrie Ann Ryan writes the perfect balance of sweet and heat ensuring every story feeds the soul." - Audrey Carlan, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
“Carrie Ann Ryan never fails to draw readers in with passion, raw sensuality, and characters that pop off the page. Any book by Carrie Ann is an absolute treat.” – New York Times Bestselling Author J. Kenner
“Carrie Ann Ryan knows how to pull your heartstrings and make your pulse pound! Her wonderful Redwood Pack series will draw you in and keep you reading long into the night. I can’t wait to see what comes next with the new generation, the Talons. Keep them coming, Carrie Ann!” –Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of CRAVE THE NIGHT
"With snarky humor, sizzling love scenes, and brilliant, imaginative worldbuilding, The Dante's Circle series reads as if Carrie Ann Ryan peeked at my personal wish list!" – NYT Bestselling Author, Larissa Ione
"Carrie Ann Ryan writes sexy shifters in a world full of passionate happily-ever-afters." – New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend
“Carrie Ann’s books are sexy with characters you can’t help but love from page one. They are heat and heart blended to perfection.” New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Rylon
Carrie Ann Ryan's books are wickedly funny and deliciously hot, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. They'll keep you up all night!” USA Today Bestselling Author Cari Quinn
"Once again, Carrie Ann Ryan knocks the Dante's Circle series out of the park. The queen of hot, sexy, enthralling paranormal romance, Carrie Ann is an author not to miss!" New York Times bestselling Author Marie Harte
Dedication
For Grandma Sharon
I miss you.
Mated in Chaos
My wolf hid my fated mates—until the moon goddess forced our mating.
As Alpha of the Central Pack, I know we are the weakest link in the alliance, but I will stop at nothing to prove our worth and rebuild from our shameful and brutal past.
Along the way I fell for Adalyn and Nico, but stayed away, thinking they were fated for each other—and never me.
When a mating bond is forced on us, our worlds collide and now we must survive in this new fated life where rules break and the heat between us boils over.
Only Valac’s revenge over losing his mate in our previous battles take danger to a new level and if I’m not careful, I’ll lose my two mates before I even get a chance to make them fall for me like I have for them.
And if we’re not careful, the darker danger hiding in the shadows might break us all. As Valac’s master is waiting. And he’s closer than we think.
Prologue
Cole
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I had been an Alpha for around as long as Chase had, and yet for me, it felt as though I was an amateur while Chase fought the vampires in battle after battle.
I looked down at my hands, knowing I needed to be stronger than this. Needed to be better. I was the Alpha of the Central Pack.
It always made me laugh inside when Chase mentioned that he was the cursed Alpha, the one who was trying to clean up after his father’s sins.
The Aspens hadn’t lost their magic. Hadn’t been relegated to nothing. Hadn’t lost all forms of bonds and blessings from the moon goddess herself.
No, that had been the Centrals. That had been my people.
I stood at the entrance of my small den, knowing that we didn’t have the hustle and bustle of the others. We lived and worked outside the den most times because there just wasn’t enough space. It was safer for us to blend in with the humans rather than keep all of our people in one place. Or maybe it was because we had blended in before we had become a Pack, and it was harder to leave that practice.
My wolf pawed at me, knowing it wanted to run, to see someone.
But that wasn’t an answer.
My wolf wouldn’t allow them to be the answer.
I needed to focus on my Pack, the powers that weren’t strong enough, and the fact that the Aspens needed us to be at their side. What would happen once they realized that we were not the Pack that they thought we were? We didn’t bring anything to the table except our hearts and what little power we had. The Talons and the Redwoods were the ones with all the strength. I felt as if we were failing.
I shook my head and knew I needed to be better. Chase had learned to believe in himself, so damn it, I could too.
Because we weren’t a large Pack, it was my turn to be on patrol. We guarded the small territory between the Redwoods and the Talons on the north side of the neutral zone. And since it was my turn to be on this side of the land, I was nearest to the Redwoods, and our paths crossed more often than not.
So that was why I scented him.
The person that I shouldn’t.
It was odd because Nico was nearly my age, but I felt so much older than him. He was the son of the former Healer and a human and a wolf. The son of the Redwood triad, the legendary power base that had brought honor, respect, and hope to the Pack itself.
And there was something special about Nico.
Something that angered my wolf.
Just like someone else angered my wolf.
But an Alpha didn’t get to think those thoughts, and I had to remember that.
I turned the corner, knowing that we were probably on patrol together. Nico and Skye often ran together, but I knew she was healing, and now her patrol would be completely different since she was the Aspen Pack Alpha alongside Chase.
I still couldn’t believe I hadn’t guessed at her powers. Of course, I had never met someone like her before, having only thought it was a bedtime story, not something that could be true.
But there were so many surprises in that family, in all of us.
It was a surprise to everyone that I was the Alpha. I shouldn’t be. But here I was, and there was no going back now.
“Are you getting all grumpy again?” Nico asked, grinning up at me.
“I’m not grumpy.” I growled the words, sounding grumpier. “Shit, I can’t help it. I was thinking.”
“If that’s what you think,” Nico said with a laugh. “You in the mood to run?” he asked.
“Honestly, yes.”
“Sounds good to me. I would say things have been a little quiet here, but that would be a lie.”
“And bad luck,” I growled.
Nico just shrugged, and we began our run in silence, since we needed to keep our senses tuned in to the area around us. I was a strong wolf, could shift faster than most, but Nico was fast in general. The magic that he used was a thing of beauty. And sometimes, it took me a lot more than it should to stop staring at him while he moved. I wanted to think it was just admiring his magic, but now my wolf had other ideas.
“Hey there, you guys,” another familiar voice said, and we both stopped, Nico nearly tripping over his feet, very unlike him.
Adalyn stood there, a smile on her face as she waved at us, Lily by her side. Adalyn was an Aspen Pack hunter, a beautiful wolf who could fight like nobody else, and Lily was a witch of the Aspens, with barely any power, but used everything she had to protect her people.
They were our friends, but it was odd to see them up here near the Central den.
“Hey there, Addy, Lily. What are you
Addy? Since when did he call her Addy?
Why was I jealous?
And who was I jealous of?
“I’m just escorting Lily here to meet with the Central Healer,” Adalyn answered as Lily waved.
“Yes, there are a few things we’re going to go over book-wise, and Adalyn wanted to drive.” Lily beamed at us, and the four of us stood there, alert since we were still on patrol, but it felt good to be here, to talk to them.
But my wolf was confused.
Just like the rest of us.
“Are you guys on patrol?” Lily asked.
“We are,” Nico answered easily. “Do you want us to escort you to the Central den?”
That should have been something I said since I was the Alpha, but I didn’t mind Nico speaking since he was better at it, and my tongue seemed to be tied. Something odd was going on, and my wolf and I didn’t like it.
“We’re good,” Adalyn said. “But if I see you on my way back, I’ll join you. I’m off for the day, but I could still use a run.”
My wolf pushed at me to say something. Anything. “Just keep an eye out. You know why.”
There I was, grumpy and growly again.
Adalyn gave me a look Nico seemed to share, and Lily just looked confused.
“Is everything okay?” Adalyn asked.
But I didn’t have time to answer. Instead, Adalyn’s eyes were wide, and then Nico was growling, and I was throwing myself over the three of them, Lily’s scream echoing in my ears.
There was a flash of light, a shrill voice, heat, a burn, and then nothing as a bomb went off in the middle of exactly where we had just been standing.
Chapter
One
Cole
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All I wanted was a large cup of coffee, the moon shining through my fur, and a place to nap. Maybe not even in that order. But I was the Alpha of the Central Pack. I didn’t always get to rest when I wanted to, nor did I get what I wanted.
Maybe I was doing this Alpha thing wrong.
My wolf pushed at me slightly, taking a big stretch. We had been up for most of the night, cuddling a new wolf pup who missed his mother. Kayt, the boy’s mom, was out east visiting her old Pack, her own mother having grown ill from a wasting sickness that was rare but not unheard of in Packs. In fact, I had never met anyone with it before, but her mother was ill and needed her daughter and the moon goddess. The infant was too young to travel that far, and she didn’t want her baby near that sickness just in case. So, the father, my Pack, and I took care of the pup.
I was grateful that it seemed that Kayt’s mother was well on the way to recovery and Kayt would be home the next day.
But that meant a lack of sleep for me.
I rolled my shoulders back, making my way down the street as humans and witches and other paranormals that still hid within their skins walked past. I ignored the twinge, the one that wouldn’t go away.
It had been two months since the bomb had nearly killed me. Since I had stood next to three people I cared about and thought I had lost them forever.
Without Nico pulling Lily in the way he had, the young witch would have died instantly. But Nico had covered her body with his, taking the brunt of the impact for her. While I had thrown myself over Adalyn and as much of Nico as he had allowed me to.
I still didn’t think it had been enough.
Even with our three respective Healers, each using their magics that connected them to the Pack with their bonds, we were only now finishing our healing. Adalyn had been forced once again into a boot on her foot, the break she had finally healed from the previous battles with the vampires having sliced right open again. Her bones had shattered, her flesh had seared. I could still scent the burn in my nostrils, could hear her scream as we hit the ground.
Nico had ended up with burns over most of his body, a broken elbow, and a shattered pelvis.
While I had ended up with a broken shoulder, jaw, nose, leg, and internal bleeding that had taken Lane, my Healer, a week to take care of.
We were all exhausted from battle after battle with the vampires.
And all of our Packs were injured. Weakening. And I knew we were the weakest.
My shoulder still ached, as did some patches of skin that still felt brand new even after two months. Lane had put in so much of her strength that I was afraid she would have faded if she had kept going.
And it wasn’t as if the vampires had stopped attacking us in the interim.
They still wanted to take us out no matter what. That single bomb they had thrown at us from a distance using a drone had only been their first attempt.
Valac wasn’t going to back down.
We had killed his mate, and he wanted revenge. Only, he kept evading us.
All of our trackers, the wolves who could scent others’ trails from all four Packs, had been able to find the secret lairs the vampires had been using these past years.
All of them had been emptied. From what we had known, vampires had been made from demons over thirty years ago when the demon Caym had been brought into our world. Through unspeakable tragedy, that demon had taken over the Pack that had summoned him. That Pack had lost part of itself, a sickly and oily substance coating their souls through the bonds that connected them to the moon goddess and their Alpha.
Other demons had come from the hell realm in order to bring him back for punishment.
I didn’t know if Caym was still alive.
All I knew was that someone or something had slithered through the opening between dimensions and had been building an army all this time. And we only knew the beginnings of it. The full scope had evaded us, something that angered all four Alphas in this region. Let alone the other Alphas around the world. We were all weary. There had been other sightings, in Texas, in England, with other Packs that were our allies around the world. But Valac and the others had their stronghold in the Pacific Northwest—where we were.
And I blamed myself.
It was hard not to when it wasn’t just an unknown Pack that had brought forth the initial demon. It had been the Centrals.
My Pack.
Before I was born, long before I had taken up the mantle of Alpha. It wasn’t me who had done this. It had been the other Alpha and his son. They had sacrificed their own Central Pack princess, using her heart and blood in order to summon the demon. And they had committed other unspeakable atrocities. They had killed so many and started this war.
The Centrals had lost our ability to be a Pack. The moon goddess had weakened herself to strip titles and Pack bonds. Those who survived the initial calling of the demon brands had been left without a Pack.
Those elders and submissives that hid the children and weaker ones from the old Alpha and demon.
And those members had children, like my sister and me.
My sister wasn’t a Central any longer, having mated into the Talon Pack, our neighbors and allies.
And during that time, the moon goddess had blessed us again. Or at least, some called it a blessing. She had given us Pack bonds to keep us safe, protected. Because a group of wolves not connected by bonds were alone. We had all been so afraid to join other Packs, afraid that we wouldn’t even be assimilated or allowed in. So we hadn’t had the strength to heal ourselves, to protect ourselves.
And then, from one breath to the next, I had been thrust into the position of Alpha.
And here I stood, the leader of a small Pack with a tiny den, and we’re just now trying to get our feet under us.
