Freya sprinted into my room waking me up with a delirious squeal. “You healed my mother!”“I swear I didn’t, we just talked!” I groaned into the pillow, wincing as Freya clambered onto the bed like a cat.“What about, what did you say, do you think she will be well enough for the ceremony now?”Of course. The number one priority in Freya’s world. Her mouth was racing away. "I wonder when she'll be fit enough to visit the ceremony site, I hope she likes what I chose-"“I really don’t know, get off my you lump,” and she shuffled down to the far end of the mattress, her huge smile disarming my initial grouchy reaction to being woken up by bodily impact. “I found her crying and we had a talk-""She was crying?" Freya's eyes widening. I lifted my legs up, wrapping my arms around and resting my chin. My blonde hair fell about my shoulders as I yawned into life. "She was but when we spoke she calmed down. She thought I was my mother.""Oh she thought you were Luna Cherish!""Only for a second
I only lasted a week. A single week and I’m back here like a fool. I was fine until this morning, then my mark was going crazy. Burning and tingling at my skin so sharply I had to pull up on the bike before I steered into a rabbit hole. Stood under the morning sun in the middle of a dry, arid cornfield I was completely alone yet It felt as though she was right there. I even shivered, closing my eyes, allowing myself to imagine the sensation was her running her hand over it, sending pulses of lust through every nerve ending.How am I meant to follow up leads and investigate with shit going on? I’m having the wolfsbane vial secretly analysed by a master craftsman I trust. A bag of gold and a threat to take his throat if he loses it should keep it safe. Something about that silvery tube just feels off. When I roll it in my hands, the feel of the metal seam, it’s too unusual. There has got to be a link to the culprits through this item.At the same time, I’ve been trailing Cillian, ret
I do the best thing I can do after that strangeness. I head down to the training bleachers and sign myself up for some physical punishment. Round after round of sparring with the other trainees. Thanks to me I have them all on this double-strength workout routine. Our guards failed their purpose in allowing that vial of wolfsbane within fifty miles of the castle. So not only are they being re-educated in physical fitness but I have requested experts in security, espionage and tracking get these dregs whipped into shape.Annoyingly we have had to pay for these experts to come in from Rising Star, Phillipe’s parents pack. The Beta’s patrol every night now, I hire local villagers to try and sneak in, capture-the-flag style. The fact that not one of them has approached me when I arrive disguised on a roaring motorcycle is a source of absolute fury.So the beefy Beta’s attempt to land sneaky rabbit punches, whip my legs away with low kicks and hit below the belt. The disdain my own pack
That might have been the most daring I’ve ever felt in my life. Taking control and making him sweat. I am amazed it went so well! I have no idea how I didn’t look at his cock. Probably because I didn’t stop staring at it while he showered so I’d got enough admiring done to keep me sane for a few minutes. Perhaps the huge gown I'm drowning in hid the scent of my arousal but watching him soap and scrub his skin under the hot water was hypnotizingly hot. His body is unbelievable. Even down to his fine, dark chest hair covering his sculpted pecs. Of course his abs are perfect but I had never realised how defined and chiselled his back and broad thighs were. Not until I spent fifteen minutes spying on him in the shower anyway.If he hadn’t said those cruel things about our bond to Luna Helena I might have attempted to join him. Even though I still don't even fully know that he didn't kill my parents. It's purely my own trust in him. I've no evidence to say he's innocent. I know he's kil
Walking with Luna Helena felt like standing on the edge of a cliff. Every topic seemed to have the potential to upset the delicate balance she had just restored. With only four weeks until Freya’s ceremony I could feel the desperation in the family to make sure her recovery remained on track.“How are you feeling today?” “I am well thank you. I believe that makes you the twentieth person to ask me today,” she sighed. So she's almost fifty and still a sarcastic smartass. It gives me hope for the future I guess.“Well, in that case is there anything would you like to talk about other than your health,” I grinned. Helena pointed to a narrow track, taking away from the overpowering herb garden. Silently we strolled together, until the track grew faint and we were surrounded by thick-trunked trees."Where are we heading to?" Helena did not answer me, instead she launched into her questions. “I want to know about your visions of course. Have you had any more? How are you recording them,
I have to revisit our suite in order to dress for this family dinner. Although the room is empty I can still taste his spiced scent. I take pains to look my best, maybe he’ll think back on this plunging emerald green gown next time he’s fled the scene and regret some decisions. Especially with its halter neck tied in a bow that trailed down my back. My blonde hair falls like a shimmering waterfall, my green eyes are bright and energetic. The air itself has a crackle to it as though something has to happen. The more I ponder just what scenarios could happen in a dining room with Nikolai the less I regret leaving my underwear in its drawer. So finally, draped in a flowing emerald green silk dress I practically float down the red-carpeted corridors. The fire torches are lit, stained glass windows at the head of every staircase gleaming ominously. Night is when this gloomy castle comes to life.Walking into the dining room I was quickly deflated. Alexander, Helena, Freya and Phillipe an
I tried to quell the fear in my heart. If he wanted to up the stakes so did I. “I want to change my terms. A kiss is too cheap for your price.”“Fair enough,” he grunted, his deep eyes never leaving my face. “Don’t go making the question impossible though, play fair.”I raised an eyebrow at the audacity of him to think I was the one playing dirty in this encounter. My heartbeat quickened as I refused to be intimidated. He is trying to bluff me, he would never make me reject him. Surely not. “If you guess incorrectly, I want the kiss, I want you to swear never say I am only your wolf's interest again…and to make me come twice before this dull event ends.”His eyes lit up hungrily at the last one and this time his breath hitched. Like a tango, each movement seemed to lead us a little closer, a little tenser as a servant passed or a curtain moved in the breeze. I took a step further towards the french doors, he stood tall and straight. As if the room suddenly had another column supporti
In a billowing cloud of green silk I quickly trotted along the corridors. I headed downstairs but instead of the courtyard I followed a small pathway to the side. Darkness engulfed, there were no torches to light in the empty metal slots. I had wandered into an abandoned part of the castle.It seemed as good a place as any to storm off to, so using my hand to feel against the stone wall I continued until I felt a dead end. My high heels clicked along the stone, echoing loudly. Blindly feeling to my side my fingers stung with pain. Silver. These were vertical silver bars. I must have wandered into the castle’s old dungeon. I was touching dank, cobwebbed prison cells. At least I was alone. I crept inside the cell and leant my back against the musty wall. The revealing back of my gown shivered against the cold stone.Cillian. My twin. My gentle, soulful fox-haired brother who adored my parents exactly the same as I did. To even consider him capable of such an act was heart-breaking. We
We are three weeks into this war with the Hybrid Army. My mind buzzes with mindlinks. The silence and lack of activity only raises tension as we stare down the country roads. Men are positioned on clifftops, every vehicle movement monitored.Staring for hours down a silent valley of green forest I couldn't help reminiscing. The surprise at seeing Maddox, carrying his hurriedly written sealed letter. He arrived just after the Full Moon Dance, the single, unmated hopefuls having completed their line ups. I was relieved none of my battalion made a match, to rip that new bond apart would be brutal. He stood panting as I read how Helena had made the move to declare war via ripping Beta Patrick’s eye out. I was shocked, but I wasn’t against the move. It's unhealable too, it used to mean someone who abused women. It’s still the sign of a criminal today. He took the vials of all those stolen wolves. He's guilty as sin and I'll happy rake his other eye when I get chance.Sadly, Maddox’s arriv
He is a beast. In the best possible way. He slinks around on the bed like some lazy, dark-eyed cat. Then, in an instant he’s full of fire. The intensity in his eyes is breathtaking. How much he cares for his pack. The way he sends me to heaven with his touch. How beautifully his muscular body shines in the water, the droplets from his black hair landing on me like drum beats as he devoured me. I’m in love with every single side of himWe have marked each other, we’re bound to other body and soul, and yet there are still surprises. The strip-sparring was the silliest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I had to beg him to stop in case I was sick, wrapped up together in a heap on the floor. And he let me win, just like he said he would back before our attack.It felt wrong to have enjoyed the past few days so much when we walked into the yellow parlour room. There was no mistaking the sound of her voice as he opened the large wooden door. Nikolai’s big sister is a curious personality. Lik
There was no secrecy or hidden drop-off by the steely-eyed Maddox as we approached White Forest castle's courtyard. The flags fluttered at half-mast in formal mourning. A quick shudder raced down my spine.The drive saw Maddox had fill Vee and I in on the events of the past week. Phillipe had been sniffing around my parents the instant the news of my alleged death broke. Maddox had overheard at least one enquiry about their intention to still lead. Reminding them Freya was here to help. A peaceful conquest.“Is Freya okay?” Vee asked, her green eyes full of worry. “She must have been devastated at the news.”“She’s been in a bad way. Not much let up on the crying to be honest the couple of times I’ve seen her.”Coldly I interrupted Maddox, “the more upset she is now, the more likely that hurt will propel her into doing the right thing. Rejecting Phillipe and getting the hell away from him.”Then the sweet, teasing voice of Vee filtered through./The prophecy Padgett gave me. She said t
I almost dropped to the floor when I saw my sisters. The copper-haired dark-eyed stares of my beautiful little sisters. All dressed up and already squealing with excitement. A year younger than me, Leona and Naomi wore cream and beige-toned clinging maxi-gowns, their athletic shapes on display. At just sixteen, Eleanour wore an elaborate white concoction that had an insane amount of feathers. She was a gold, white and silver bonanza. Little Phoebe, our baby of thirteen, sported a bright pink, almost flamenco style dress.“What are you all doing here? You all look so beautiful! Oh Goddess I am so pleased to see you all!” I cried as we hugged, most of us trying to stop any tears from spoiling our make-up.Leona inhaled sharply after the initial elation dialled down, trying to stop her tears escaping. Taking my hand she whispered. “This was Alpha Cillian’s idea. He knew that Papa would have wanted to give us away at our Ceremonies, so he suggested we start a new tradition in his honour.
"This space is ours now. Brand new just for us?" I asked softly, my fingertips gently wandering up Cillians chest. My other hand entwined with his, my wrist against his, feeling the strength of his pulse against mine."Our suite. Our space. Not soundproofed, yet though," he added and I smiled. I placed a soft kiss on his cheek and got on my tiptoes. Whispering into his ear as my free hand now searched downwards his body jerked into life. "Well the room needs christening Alpha. It's bad luck for us to leave now…and I'm too loud…"His eyebrow raised and then as I started gently massaging the front of his pants. Letting go of his hand as I deftly began unbuttoning. First his shirt then pants, all the while rubbing and toying with the ever-stiffening bulge I was longing to see. He shut his eyes, hissing as I grew braver.Placing kisses down his neck, on his mark and down his chest his breathing quickened. I sucked and licked every ridge of muscle, I thoroughly followed the sharply defined
The scarlet blush on Genevieve’s face as I told her I would be sending the bill for the redecoration to White Forest was sweet revenge. Certainly not revenge enough for walking to Nikolai’s bare ass and my office turned into a dilapidated sex den, but Matilda had asked me so sweetly not to be angry about it I yielded. Nikolai was more serious, completely straight-faxed. He, naturally, wanted to know everything about his parents' reaction. He only started grinning when I said his father had gone full claws-out rage at me.As he proudly strutted about, occasionally wrapping an arm around Gen’s waist while he listened I was amazed at his strength. The fact he had recovered so swiftly from the tired heap yesterday showed just how immensely powerful his wolf was. No wonder he had struggled for control before. Barely concealing a smirk as we stood paper-strewn wreckage, “I thought he might flare up."“No heads-up though?” “Nah, you’re quicker than him, but he’s scary as fuck when he gets
He resembled his father so strongly. Dark coffee brown eyes with flashes of ruby and jet black curls down to his jawline. Clenched tightly he looked ready to cause some damage if I didn’t stop gaping with an open mouth and answer him quickly.“Gen came to chat to me, I asked if we could swap rooms, have a change of scenery,” I lied, as Gen had blushingly begged me to. She wanted to surprise Nikolai with the reason why he was moving rooms. I wasn’t going to start asking too many questions about their sex life. I knew the power of the mate bond, the way one’s wolf keens and yearns for the other's touch. /Locked in a room, unable to make a sound together, you’d have climbed onto the roof and made for the trees with Cillian/ Nina mocked. I always considered myself fairly shy and boring but I have become alarmingly addicted to what Cillian can do to me. I am no different to Gen in craving my soul’s partner.“Swapping rooms? Is she insane? Is this a trick, are you in danger?” his voice dr
I’ve never experienced such a swing of emotions. When Cillian is here everything is joy. Even though war is coming and the preparations are clear to see across the town centre if he is in my eyeline I am the happiest woman on earth.Groups of men are being organised into battalions, put through drills and formations. I watched as the first batches were taken almost within an hour of us first arriving back alongside the pyre. Alongside the still smoking heap of collapsed wood men were completing their circuits. Group after group of exhausted, sweating semi-naked men tumbled into the square, all timed with a stopwatch by a stone-faced Zeke and his clipboard.Losing Franz has broken him inside. He’s hurting with nowhere to let it out. When I was fixing him up back at Tange’s he confessed to me how much he hated Zena.“She just walked out, for the exact amount of time it took to kill Franz? I don’t buy it,” he had scoffed. “Just left him there!”At the time I didn’t know what to say. I d
Beta’s Maddox and Adrian led me away, leaving a quietly distraught Helena and Alexander with the letter. Deposited in a library with huge vaulted stone ceilings, candelabras, and endless lines of bookshelves containing detailed historical records. Rise and fall is inevitable. I know in my bones Shadowlands is too young a pack to be cut down now. We will prosper. Finding out how Phillipe is protecting himself from harm is a big one. There is always the danger that killing Ruth would still leave him as Alpha, wielding power. “Mind if I read while I wait?”“No problem. It’s only the public record, anyway,” Beta Adrian replied, taking a seat by the door. Maddox kept his thick, tattooed arms folded. He wasn’t taking his eyes off me for a second.Random curiosity made me grab the books covering years when my father was a Beta here. He was head of the Beta Warriors and fought against the now defunct Five Lakes pack two decades ago. I read for hours about the lead-up to the attack, culmina