When Samantha Layne's world gets turned upside down and her marriage falls apart, there is only one place she can go. The family home in Wyoming. Alone and heartbroken, Samantha tries to start over in a new state, but when the hot new neighbor decides to start sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, Samantha receives the shock of a lifetime. As the secrets begin to unfold all around her, will Samantha be able to move past them and love again?
View MoreSamara
Nine years old
“Samara! Samara, wake up!” my mother says urgently, shaking me awake.
“Hmm, what?” I ask sleepily. There’s a lot of banging nearby.
“Samara, wake up, you have to get dressed. The pack is under attack!”
I shoot up in bed. “What?”
“Hurry and be as quiet as possible,” my mother says, tossing clothes at me. It’s late fall, but we’ve already had our first snow and the air outside is cold.
I begin putting on the clothes over my nightclothes to save time, sliding my feet into shoes without lacing them up while my mother puts a coat on me.
“Listen to me. We’re going to sneak out of here and then you’re going to ride Simone and we’ll get you to safety.”
I haven’t gotten my wolf yet, I won’t until I turn 10, so I’ll have to ride my mother’s wolf so we can move faster. The only problem is, my family is descended from the rare white wolf. The gene comes from my mother’s side. Her wolf is white, my sister, Althea’s wolf is white, and I expect that my wolf will be white as well.
Usually, a wolf’s color is decided by the color of the person’s hair. But the women in my family are different. We are a very rare breed of wolf that descends from a long, pure line of Alphas. It doesn’t matter that my hair is brown, my wolf will be white.
My mother’s wolf’s pure white coat will be easily seen, even in the forest.
“Come on, Samara! We have to go!” she says.
“What about Althea?” I ask as my mother drags me into the hallway. She listens for a moment and then begins dragging me to the end of the hallway.
“She’s not in her room. She may already be helping your brother and father fight.”
My sister, Althea, is nineteen years old. My brother, Theodore, or Teddy as I call him, just turned eighteen. We have been planning his Alpha ceremony for nearly a year. My parents have been planning their retirement for the same amount of time. He is due to take over the pack this coming weekend.
At the end of the hallway, my mother opens the secret compartment that was put into this wall years ago when my great grandfather first built this packhouse. Only the Alpha family knows where the secret compartment is.
Just as my mother pushes me into the space, I hear a snarl behind her. Her eyes go wide, and she looks at me, quickly taking my face in her hands.
“Listen to me. You get downstairs. Find your father or your brother. They will get you out of here. I love you. Never forget that,” she says, and slams the door in my face.
A moment later I hear something heavy smash against the door, and I hear the sounds of clothes tearing before I hear Simone’s angry snarl. I stand in the small space, my hands over my mouth, trying not to cry out.
I listen to the battle on the other side of the door. I don’t have my wolf yet, so I don’t have a link to my family. But when I hear a wolf yelp, before the telltale ripping of flesh and I hear my father’s wolf cry in agony at losing his mate, I know that it is my mother who lost the battle outside the door.
I want to scream but a wolf’s nose at the bottom of the door jolts me back to reality. I race down the stairs as I hear wolf claws scratching to get through the door.
When I reach the first floor, the sounds are even louder than they were upstairs. I stand on the inside of the secret compartment, quietly sobbing, fear and grief keeping me frozen in place.
I’m not sure how long I stand there before the door is wrenched open.
I scream before I’m pulled into my brother’s arms.
“Thank the goddess, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he says, looking around quickly before pulling me out of the room.
“Listen to me, you have to run. Our parents are dead. If I win, I will find you. If not, stay hidden, don't let them find you, they will kill you,” he says, pulling me down the corridor.
He stops, pushing me behind him, just as a wolf leaps at us. My brother’s claws extend, and he slashes the wolf’s throat mid-air. He grabs my hand and is dragging me down the hall before the wolf’s dead body hits the ground.
“Where do I go?” I ask.
“Go south. These attackers seem to be from up here in the north. Stay out of the packs if you can, we don’t know who is a friend and who is a foe. If you can’t, don’t tell them who you are. Keep your Alpha blood a secret. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I say, crying.
He stops, looking around before turning to me and taking my face in his hands. “You’re stronger than you know, little sister. You can do this. I have faith in you.”
He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I love you, Teddy.”
“And I love you, Sammie,” he says.
His head jerks up. “Hide! Now!”
I turn, looking for a place to hide. He points to a small closet, and I rush to get inside. It has shelves and blankets, and I grab a blanket to cover myself with it. When I turn back, his finger is at his mouth, telling me to be quiet. I nod and get into the closet, tucking myself onto the floor under the lowest shelf.
I wait, listening.
“Oh, Sawyer, it’s you. I thought it was another one of those attackers,” my brother says, speaking to one of his best friends. I start to get out of the closet, knowing that they will help me get out of here.
I’ve just cracked open the door, my hand still holding the knob when I see a glint in Sawyer’s hand.
“I’m sorry brother, but it’s time for you to die,” Sawyer says before stabbing my brother several times with the knife. I tuck myself back into the closet, slapping my hands over my mouth as my brother falls to the floor, his eyes looking at me through the crack in the door.
‘Run!’ he mouths, and I nod, hoping he can see me.
“Sawyer! Sawyer, where are you?” I hear Roman, my brother’s other best friend call out.
Both of them? Both of them betrayed my brother?
“Roman, he’s dead. Theo is dead,” Sawyer says, tucking the knife away.
Roman looks past him, seeing Teddy on the floor, the blood pooling around him.
“Where is Samara?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her. I think her mother was going to try and get her out, but…”
“But she didn’t make it. Fuck!”
“Come on, we need to get out of here,” Sawyer says. “Let’s try to find Samara, see if she’s still alive.”
They take off running, back toward where the fighting is coming from. When they’re gone, I wait, watching my brother’s body, staring vacantly at me.
When I finally crawl out of space, I rush up to Teddy, checking his pulse which is very slow.
“Run,” he chokes, blood dripping from his mouth.
“Teddy!”
“Run, Sammie. Stay hidden. Tell no one who you are.”
I nod, sobbing as I lean down and hug my brother before jumping up and racing out the side door of our packhouse.
I stay in the shadows, following the well known paths of our pack lands until I reach the borders. Then I turn, seeing that the fighting is continuing, our pack still trying to win.
I turn and begin to run as fast as I can. It’s nearly dawn when I finally fall exhausted into a wooded area that allows for a small amount of protection from anyone walking by.
I’m not sure how long I sleep, but my dreams are fitful with images of my mother’s wolf getting ripped apart and Sawyer stabbing Teddy over and over. I get up midday and begin to run again. I’m exhausted, but my brother told me to run, so I run. I stay off the main roads, not wanting to be found.
I run for days, barely sleeping until I collapse, unable to run any further. I curl up into a ball and wait for death to take me.
I barely feel the wet noses that are sniffing me before I hear the masculine voice.
“She’s just a pup. Get her to Alpha William. She needs help.”
I feel strong arms pick me up and the person begins running with me in their arms.
“Alpha, we found this pup on the outskirts of our borders,” the man holding me says.
I feel gentle fingers push the hair out of my face. It reminds me of the way my father moves the hair out of my face when it’s blowing around.
“Is that her blood?” a deep baritone voice asks.
“I’m not sure. We found her and when we realized that she’s still alive, we brought her straight to you.”
“Get her to the pack hospital. If nothing else, she looks nearly frozen. I don’t smell a wolf on her, so she won’t be able to heal herself if she is injured.”
I was taken the pack hospital where I was fed and treated for minor injuries and dehydration. Alpha William came to see me every day and on the second day, he asked me my name.
“Sam….antha. Samantha,” I say, quickly changing my name. Teddy told me to hide my identity, so that’s what I’m going to do.
“Samantha, do you belong to a pack?” he asks me kindly.
Tears begin streaming down my face and I shake my head.
“You’ve had a rough time of it, haven’t you?” he asks me kindly.
I nod, struggling to breathe with the weight of everything that I witnessed still fresh in my mind.
“You’re safe now. You can stay here. No harm will come to you.”
“Thank you.”
“What is your rank, pup?”
“Omega,” I say, deciding that’s the best way to hide in a pack while I wait and hope that my sister will come for me.
“Okay, Samantha. Once you’re cleared by my doctor, I’ll get you a room and we’ll get you set up with a work schedule. How does that sound?” he asks.
“Fine,” I say, thinking I won’t be here long.
Two weeks later, I overhear the nurses talking in the hallway. I find out that my family is dead, and that Sawyer has taken over as Alpha of my family’s pack.
It was at that moment that I swore an oath to myself and my family. I swore that one day I would return home and take revenge on Sawyer and Roman for what they did.
SAMANTHA POV Oh God, what have I done? I scream the thought to myself as I follow Daniel's scent trail into the old pine forest. It's been hours since he left. I tried to give him time to cool off and come back to me, but I think that was a bad idea. I need to find him. I never meant to hurt him or behave as if I am unhappy to be pregnant again. I'm just stressed. Angelica is amazing, but she is a lot of work. If we didn't have the pack's help, I have no idea how I would get everything done. And I don't even do that much. I also wasn't a massive fan of being pregnant the first time. Yes, it was a magical experience, but I disliked all the heightened dramatic emotions that made me not act like myself. Plus, being that big is extremely uncomfortable. You can't sleep or even walk without experiencing growing pains. I hit an area in the forest that is denser than the others, and I decide to shift. He should be close enough to hear me yell. "DANIEL," I yell out with m
DANIEL POV "No, Boyd and Mike went over to Andrew's. They are helping him move his larger furniture. The movers delivered his stuff before we arrived," I answer as I pat my favorite horse. I have missed the smells and sounds of home so much. It's so peaceful here compared to Florida. Florida is awful, to be honest. I have no idea why humans retire there. It smells of mold and dirty water. It's humid and loud. Plus, it's the home to alligators. I leave the stall and head for the tack room. I want to check on everything. Not because I don't trust my men, but because I have missed doing it. I have missed the routine and the scents of Wyoming. I have missed working away my stress. "That's nice. Is Andrew comfortable with that," Stanley asks as he follows me with his hands tucked in his pockets. "Yeah. He commente
SAMANTHA POV It's been a week since Margaret Polk's body was found, and you would think we would be over it, but we aren't. The funeral is today, and I have no idea how I am going to hold myself together. All week the press has been harassing and torturing Andrew with in-depth questions that tear at my heart. They ask him what drove his son to murder. They ask him whether he abused his wife or son. They asked him if Adam and Margaret were having an incestuous affair. They ask him if Kelly O'Neal was a part of the relationship. You name it, they have asked it. When they tried to bring Angelica and me into it, he shuts them down. He denied them any further interviews and said if anyone went near us, he would sue. All in all, it's been an absolute nightmare. "Love, I believe Boyd is all set with all of Angelica's things, but I might be wrong. He has four bottles, two pacifiers, a change of clothes, and a crap ton of diapers... Is there anything else you can think of that he might
BENJI POV Mariah leans in a little closer as Lauren continues to eye her suspiciously from across the table. My anger towards the pregnant female grows. The other members have all moved past the fact that she is here, but Lauren is refusing. She is purposefully making Mariah feel uncomfortable, and I am ready to tear her hormonal head off. The only people that needed to accept Mariah were Luna and me. Lauren needs to realize we have accepted Mariah as a pack member. My mark is on her flesh. "The Hay sold, so that's a relief. I spoke to a couple of companies about the foundation of our future home, but without a set blueprint, they can't move forward," Stanley says, and Finley nods while swallowing his bite of brisket. "I'm sure Luna will move forward with the house once she returns. Right now is a stressful time," Finley says, and the stiffness in Stanley's shoulders eases. His face creases with sympathetic emotions, and we all feel that familiar pinch of sadness for wh
DANIEL POV "This seems promising. There is an off-road path to the water here," Boyd says, and I nod. "Roll down the window. See if you can smell anything," I urge, and he instantly follows the order. He closes his eyes and inhales the outside air as we slowly drive down the dirt/grass road. After about two seconds, his eyes snap back open. "She's here....and not just her normal smell. Her body is still here. This whole area smells like death," Boyd whispers, and I roll down my window. As soon as the first wave of air enters the car, I smell it. I smell death and decay emitting from somewhere nearby. I slowly stop the car. Boyd and I climb out in silence. The pit of my stomach is tight, and I almost feel nauseous thinking about seeing her. But we have to do this. We have to close the c
DANIEL POV "Sam said he would have chosen a spot with water. He might have been crazy, but he wasn't an idiot," I say as I drop one of Margaret's shirts in the backseat. Boyd and I already familiarized ourselves with her smell, but bringing her scent along will help. "Did he have any special spots," Boyd asks as he rounds the car to the passenger side. I nod as I recall mine and Andrew's private conversation last night. "Yeah. Andrew said he loved to fish. He gave me a list of the most private spots. But the thing is, most of the areas have some pretty big predators. Alligators being the main ones. We might be searching for a body that is being digested. So let's focus on locating her scent. We won't focus on finding the body, just her scent. I think Andrew would benefit from just knowing her final resting place," I say as I s
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