The Courage to Love: The BraveHeart Series Book 2

Prologue - Jehlani

It's amazing how fast time can fly by...

It's been eighteen months since that fateful day in the Lupercal, and the days that followed have been tedious yet rewarding. So much has taken place, but sadly, not everything was good. The days leading up to Alpha Drake's and Quinton's services were somber, and no one was looking forward to it. Trent, Duke, and Quincy were inseparable during that time as their main focus was consoling each other. Trent and I decided to announce our pregnancy after we came back home from Yorubaland and things had settled down. Everyone was excited about the new addition to the royal family, and Afeni cried tears of joy while thanking us repeatedly for making her a grandma and replacing the love she just lost.

While I tried to enjoy my pregnancy, Thema began her diabolical task of destroying my family. It all started with her joining forces with the feral vampires of Florida and giving rogues a place to call home. Because of the rumor that her army was spanning in the ten thousands, Trent and Duke were forced to do a nationwide recruit of all werewolves that wanted to become a part of BraveHeart. To our surprise, there was a major turnout from all fifty states. It seems the news of my arrival and Trent and I's union was something that the entire werewolf species had been waiting on. So many came far and wide with hopes of being chosen to be a part of the most powerful wolf tribe since the start of the new age, and after careful deliberation, the BraveHeart tribe grew immeasurably. Thank the Goddess that training was swift and easy. Trent, Duke, and Quincy showed no mercy, but our new recruits, male and female, were more than ready to commit their talents and their lives to the new BraveHeart empire. As everything in the wolf community does, the news of our growth spread like wildfire, and that news spawned a war unlike anything we've seen or heard about.

To say that Thema's promise to become a virus to anything BraveHeart is an understatement. She began on the west coast, and it all started with a rapid increase of harsh crimes in the neighborhoods that had werewolves living nearby. Thema did well to cover her tracks, so of course, the werewolves were blamed, but she took things to another level by poisoning the vegetation and water supply of a new ally that Trent and Duke had just placed under our protection. Thema's legion pillaged through the home of the new Alpha and Luna of the Crimson Claw Pack and dismantled their entire security system, which was an easy fix, but further destruction came to Crimson Claw's Alpha Couple when Thema placed their newborn heir under a dark spell that left him deathly ill for weeks. When they called on us for help, I was exactly three days away from my powers falling dormant, so I rushed to their aide and successfully cured the young Alpha Prince from the deathly affliction, with my Alpha undoubtedly standing by my side. We even revamped the neighborhoods and put werewolves back into the good grace of humans. To thank me for saving their son, the Alpha Couple of Crimson Claw gifted me with a diamond, pearl, and sapphire parure, which included a matching necklace, earrings, brooch, bracelet, and diadem, all crafted in Kenya.

Things were quiet for a couple of weeks after that, and I was able to enjoy my pregnancy while the she-wolves waited on me hand and foot. With all of the attention I had been receiving, I was beginning to forget about the lethal promise, but I was reminded when word reached us that Thema successfully recruited a ruthless group of lycans that called themselves the Death Valley Stalkers. They just appeared from nowhere and started terrorizing the entire west coast, but now their terror was spreading to other areas. So many suffered at the hands of Thema and her army, and the sad part was, she was just getting started. After ripping through the entire western and midwestern regions, she went to New York and paid a visit to Alpha Jaylon and the Ladipo tribe, which is Afeni's birth tribe and a longstanding ally of BraveHeart. Afeni is the daughter of a former Ladipo Beta, and her being mated to the Alpha of BraveHeart meant an increase in rank and nobility for the Ladipo tribe.