Nobela ni Jasmyne Ford

“What the hell is going on?” I shut my door and stand in front of it. I search my room for a minute, thinking this might be about the rogue vampires or even a jealous Glynn.“Never mind, I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be putting you in danger as well.” He is manic and crying now. I’m trying to stay calm and get him to give me something to cling to. He just hasn’t given me much to understand.“We’ve been friends forever, Booker, just spit it out.” I lock the door and sit on my bed, staring at the crazed man before me. “Plus, where would I even hide you?”“Anywhere. I don’t know what to do or even what to say. I came to my only friend, but all of this is so complicated. They think... I raped Marta.” His words are sharp stings across my skin.I feel like I’m sinking into my bed. My mouth is dry now. I can’t look at him. Avoiding looking at anything, my mouth hangs open.“Marta?” Hearing him say it makes it even less real. I tremble at the thought of betraying my sister. “You can’t be h

“I will bed you another time,” Glynn says angrily. “There was a rape tonight and I must go attend a meeting with the council.”“Shouldn’t I go?” I stand on my heels facing him.“Not this time.” His eyes flicker. “You have just been linked to me, and I want you to get your rest after the ceremony and the blood practice. When I come for you again, I will want to take what’s mine.”I didn’t fight back this time. Fighting back as a married alpha queen is useless. My biggest job now is to bring cubs to life. Even if I hated him, I would have to lie with him. It was even within his rights to procreate by force. Also, he was right, I needed my rest.I was tired and the last thing I wanted to do was to face a pack member who could commit a rape. Worse if the rapist were a vampire then I wouldn’t want to see the consequences of their actions. I couldn’t watch the carnage tonight.I think instead about my own future and the tension I can finally let go of from this evening.I hate that we are s

Glynn and I both look up into the trees, but we can’t see the owner of the voice. The darkness of the trees wraps around us as if a thick blanket, and for a moment, there is this unnatural silence that feels heavy. I can sense the presence there, just beyond my line of sight.I think it’s some twisted prank, maybe one of the clan testing our nerves. There’s something about the air that changes. The hairs on the back of my neck rise. I move my hand into Glynn’s, naturally reaching for comfort, but it’s more than that, I’m grounding myself, as much for him as for me.Glynn, ever the defender, is already poised in a way that makes it clear he’s ready for a fight. Every muscle in his body is tight with eagerness, his stance wide and strong. His eyes are sharp, scanning the surrounding trees.“Fanger!” Glynn sees the figure before I do. His voice is tight, and he locks eyes with the figure emerging from the shadows. This thing that has no more humanity left in it is barely visible against

“You look like food,” I stare at my little sister in all her semi-nude glory.She might not have filled it out completely, but she was well on her way. Her bare feet held lightly furred legs under a light pink dress with large cut-outs exposing her back, breasts, thighs, and muscled belly.“Maybe I will have two things to celebrate tonight,” my mother bursts into the room with a red rose for Marta. The rose signified her virginity, and it also let the wolves know that she was my father’s daughter and, just like me, she couldn’t be touched before marriage.The run was mandatory, and lesser wolves would find holes to stick appendages in for short periods, but a select few in the upper royals would be looking for their mate. Petitions would pour in. When the elders agreed to the match, the girls would be whisked off for the ceremonies and bled for their marks.My sister had three years to make a love match as a second daughter. The privileges given to the children that were born second o

Low murmurs ripple through the hall like a rising storm, the weight of unspoken judgments pressing against my chest. The elders, draped in ceremonial robes, move toward the central platform with the solemn grace of those who have seen centuries of bloodshed and hard-won victories. Their faces, etched with wisdom and battle scars, remain unreadable as they take their places.In the middle of a circle of wolves, a frail, trembling figure curls inward, barely clothed, her skin too pale against the flickering torchlight. A vampire—small, human-like, and fragile-looking—yet undeniably dangerous. I’ve never seen one this close before. Today will be one for the history books.“You bloodsuckers dare to spy on us?” Justine’s voice slices through the silence, a blade sharpened by generations of fury. Her red hair burns under the torchlight as she grabs the vampire’s face, fingers pressing deep enough to leave marks. “I asked you a question.” It wasn’t a question as much as an accusation. Thi

Cubs chase me, lapping at the blood falling from my horribly bandaged open wound.“Get out of here!” I shout, my voice ragged, but they only hesitate for a moment before creeping closer again.Ignoring them, I stumble forward, my legs nearly giving out beneath me as I drag myself toward the only place I can think of—home. My parents' front door looms ahead, familiar yet distant, and I push through without hesitation. The house is quiet, eerily so. No flickering lamp. No scent of dinner lingering in the air. Just silence.I don’t stop. Can’t stop. My body moves on instinct, guiding me upstairs to the one place that has always meant safety. My old bed welcomes me with the same creaky protest as it always has, and I collapse into it, my breath coming in shallow gasps.Then I feel them. Warm hands pressing gently against my shoulders.“What the fuck?” I scream out, shooting upright.Booker’s voice is tender, but I can hear the trace of tension in it. He backs away, giving me space, his h

“ I can not do it tonight." I can't ignore Brandon's threat, even if I want to. "Besides, sometimes I pick up an extra hit at night." “There aren’t any night kills tonight. The boss is using the time to figure out who’s going to get monitored first by the A.S. members. Now, you have to double with me before I have to beg.” He is already pleading with his eyes, and I can't ignore it. I also realize that if I say yes, then I'll get to spend more time with Jade. “Fine. I wouldn’t want to make you beg.” I say parking the car a few houses down from the hit. Even though begging is exactly what he is doing. Soon, it might turn to groveling, and I'd be more uncomfortable. I could have told him off and instantly shut him up, but honestly, I had my own interest in the date now. “Why don't you want me to beg? The ladies say I beg so well.” He laughs, but I can’t help but laugh with him. He was far from a ladies' man, but with hi

“Back just in time.” Caleb is typing quickly on his computer. "I hate computers. Did I ever tell you that?"I laugh at him. "You may have told me once or twice."The truth is that Caleb had mentioned many times that he hated computers and that robots were going to take over the world. I told him that they predicted that happening years before the Great War, and here we are with robots still piles of metal.Caleb's office is a unique mixture of bright colored art in jagged picture frames and odd green plants that almost looked blue in the light. He loved to talk about plants. His weird fascination with plants probably led to him being single. Not only was he single, but he didn't even seem like he had a warm bed.I questioned him about it; if he was ever lonely, and he just stared at me. I realized it was a stupid question. Everyone in this world was lonely. Guys like us were lonelier still because we lacked the time and education to impress the women who

It’s a hot day for fall. Anyone would notice the heat across their forehead, but it's more of a buzz than sticky sweat. I roll down my passenger-side window to enjoy the cool breeze coming in. Something deep inside me runs hot. I know what is inside me runs and burns, but could it also kill me for not being moldable?My wolf has made sure I know he is there the last couple of days. He leaves bites within my abdomen when I'm not paying attention to him. He howls in my sleep, and I'm lucky I live alone. He wants just one time to be able to run free. I want to take the shackles off, that is my human skin.My place isn't anything special, but it causes me to calm down as I roll up to it. Virginia is so dangerous and dirty, but my house is clean and away from the crowds. I had carved out a place for myself in the underbelly of the East Coast.Maybe this is the quiet part of town because the dirt is kept under wraps? Quiet could mean dangerous in its way. This way of life takes getting used

“Hi, my name is Kayla Donaldson. I’m the vice president of the A.S. this year. The Assassination Squadron has sent me to the smaller regions to evaluate each establishment’s progress. Every region has its shortcomings, but the southern region? It’s falling behind far too much." She is loud but precise."With that said," she continues in a monotone, "here’s Brent Hammond with this year’s A.S.S. stats.” She moves aside, wiping the corner of her mouth with her fingers. It is clear that she is more of a field expert than someone who should touch a microphone.Brent steps onto the stage, positioning himself in front of the podium. Brent is a clown.He looks exactly like an assassin ripped from the pages of a romance novel—right down to the smug grin and smoldering brown eyes. His dark curls roll over his large, overly formed forehead that would seem effortless if it weren't calculated. His skin is warm, and everything about him screams charm.And yet, from where I stand, he’s irritatingly p

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Caleb asks for the fourth time when we hit the door to my office. I ignore the question. He can tell I’m in no mood, and the fierce look in my eyes forces him to take a step back. Peeling off my equipment, I watch as he grabs the next file off my desk.I'm used to having three kills a day, but I don't want to hear it. The afternoon hit is always the worst one, and Caleb's face tells me all I need to know. I'm a neanderthal as I shove my hands into a jar of peanut butter and slush it down my throat.He slides the file over to me, and I read the name Heather Brooks. Her details immediately intrigue me. She’s a small girl at 5'4, 110 pounds. She’s wanted for charges including grand larceny and murder. She carries no weapons, and she doesn’t have a list of possible contacts.“Hey, you guys back already?” Camille pokes her head in, her brown hair falling clumsily across her forehead as I’m finishing the file. She looks nervous about something, maybe her first kill.

Most of the assassins that we’re in my graduating class have died already and I had attributed most of their deaths to a lack of intuition. “Room 502 is this way.” Caleb starts to move left. He hasn’t picked up on anything unusual.“Hush,” I say listening with my lycanthrope hearing. Room 502 might be left, but I hear the silence that way. To the right, however, I can hear heavy male voices. I ignore Caleb’s whispered protests and start my descent down the hallway. Caleb follows me with his gun drawn like he’s finally catching on.His breath starts to quicken as he tries to keep up with me. He stops behind me as we come up to the room with the voices. Every bone in my body, tells me Jack’s inside. I remain calm, but my fingers stay firmly placed on my trigger. I look at Caleb and signal for him to remain quiet.This is a very delicate situation because I haven’t tuned in to Gordon yet.This is one of the moments in my life that I almost beg to change. That shedding my skin and becomin