My body felt like it was working on autopilot as I followed James into his aunt Joan’s home. Her face was set in a permanent scowl; her arms crossed tight over her chest. James held his head up high as he walked through the front door. I followed closely, feeling as if I was intruding on family matters. The man named Dante sat at a small table for four, chewing his nails. The moment his eyes met James’, I could see the apologies he wished he could speak out loud. “Your mother raised you better than this, James,” Joan shook her head as she flopped into one of the creaky wooden chairs. James ran his fingers through his hair before sitting in the seat across from Dante. I hesitated a beat before Joan’s eyes found mine, “You are part of this family. That seat right there is yours.” She’d softened her voice when she spoke to me, patting the table in front of the only empty seat. “I’m sorry, James,” Dante muttered quietly, but Joan interrupted, “You should be sorry. The both of you shou
“Well spit it out,” James growled. I don’t think he realized that Dante had skillfully waited for the perfect moment to drop that bomb into the conversation, and I couldn’t agree with the timing more.The thought of Marina makes my stomach churn. “Like I said before, since your appearance at the Gathering, there has been a lot of talk. The werewolf community doesn’t consider you an Alpha anymore, given your lack of pack.” Dante looked nervous, which was comical considering the man was massive and covered in tattoos. “There has been talk about finishing the job that the rogues started,” Dante started, pausing for a moment to reach James’ angry glare. “You still think a bunch of rogues outsmarted me?” he spat through gritted teeth. The air in the room thickened with tension, making it hard to breathe. “I don’t think anything,” Dante snarled. “I know you were attacked. I know we don’t have names on who did it. And based off the information I’ve been given; I know that Rogues were pai
“Are you okay?” James glances over from the driver’s seat. I force a smile, “Do you want the honest answer, or the one that will pacify you?” “Rosa,” he opened his mouth, releasing a heavy breath, “I don’t want you to ever simply pacify me. I want the truth. All of it. Even if it hurts like hell.”I nodded slowly, not expecting that response. “I’m not really sure if I’m okay. I feel like everything that happened when I’d found out you were a supernatural creature doesn’t even compare to what’s happening right now.” My head falls to my hands, and I scrub my eyes with my palms, “Nothing makes sense.”James’ hand gently grabs mine, pulling it from my face and up to his lips. The soft skin brushes against my knuckles, and for a brief moment; I feel like everything is going to be okay. But that moment is so short lived, I don’t even have time to enjoy it. “Why does someone want you dead?” Out of everything I’ve found out today, that’s the thing that has stuck out in my mind. I can’t w
“The first time I felt him again was when you’d gotten hurt at the hospital,” James whispered, looking away from me for the first time. His eyes screwed shut and his features morphed into those of pain. “When you’d fallen and cut your head.”What a day that was. “What exactly changed?” I finally pulled away from his face, urging him to pull over to the side of the road so that we could continue this conversation. He nodded, continuing to look as if he was going to be sick at any moment. “Honestly, I think it was your blood. I was sitting with the doctor in the other room, and the scent of copper mixed with what I now know was your scent carried me back. I felt Onyx fighting against whatever has been keeping him away,” James leaned his head back, staring out of the open sunroof. “What do you mean by something keeping him away? Do you still feel him?” His head lolled to the side, “It feels like he’s in a little glass box in my head.” A ghost of a smile graced his face, “And before
This woman was going to be the death of me. The light, creamy skin on her legs glow beneath the moonlight. Illuminated like the Goddess that she is. Her golden blonde hair hangs in loose curls around her face, framing mine as she hovers over my lap. I want to capture this moment in my mind, because something doesn’t feel right in the depths of my bones. Despite the pleasure that coursed through me only moments ago, I can’t shake the feeling of dread that has settled in the pit of my stomach. “James,” Rosa’s soft skin brushes against my jawline as her eyes bore into my own. “What’s wrong?”“Can you feel that?” The words leave my lips faster than I can stop them, and I wish I hadn't because the concern in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with fear.She leans back, and her brows pinch together in confusion before her eyes widen, “Something is wrong.”Out of the corner of my eye, I see three identical glowing white eyes hidden just inside of the thick layer of forest surrounding
My head is spinning as I run through the darkness. I started along the road, the sound of my feet pounding against the pavement creating an eerie echo through the woods. I need to get to Dante and Joan before it’s too late. But the further I get from James, the more the ache in my chest intensifies. It’s almost debilitating. Stealing my breath from my lungs without care. It’s like every nerve ending in my body is pulling me back to where I left James alone with those three monsters. I stumble to my knees as the pain nearly sears my body in two. It feels like I’m being torn in half. Like my insides are begging to return to James.The feeling isn’t foreign to me. I’ve felt this once before. The night of our last movie night. It was similar to all of the times I’d had my episodes before, but so much stronger. Even now, the pain is far more intense than it was that night all those years ago.The mate bond. I forced myself up from the pavement, ignoring the screaming pain from where
Three pairs of eyes turned at the same time, making me gasp. I’d seen the eyes on the wolves during the gathering, but none of them looked like that.Not only that, but these three smelled like death. I’ve been around enough dying people to know that scent. It’s not something that disappears from your mind.Yellowed teeth snapped at me, as if to warn me to leave them to their prey.“Ro…. Sa,” my voice fell weakly from James’ lips, “Jus…. Go.”The wolf standing on James back stepped towards me, narrowing it’s milky white eyes. He appeared soulless and a shiver snaked down the length of my spine.My fingertips carefully unscrewed the lid to the water bottle filled with poison. A puff of compressed smoke curled out from the top, making the wolf in the middle growl. The moment the sound left his lips, the other two turned their attention to me, leaving James to lie helpless in the dirt.The liquid rippled ominously in the bottle due to my shaking hands. I didn’t have a plan when I decided
My body felt as if it were on fire. Every nerve ending was pulsing in hot agony.I felt Onyx break the restraints in my mind, making my head pulse with tiny explosions of pain. Then he forced the shift, all within a matter of seconds.‘Where the hell have you been?’‘Later,’ he growled, ‘I have some business to take care of first.’I knew exactly what business he was referring to. Onyx was a bloodthirsty wolf. He loved the hunt. Loved being on the front lines. But more importantly, he loves to protect.He’s got a knight complex.Rosa’s scent swirled heavily around me, sending a shiver through Onyx. Sweet rose and savory peaches overwhelmed me like a drug coursing through my veins. I’d smelled her scent before. Faintly lingering in the house or blowing in the wind, but this was something entirely different.Even when I’d realized that Marina was my mate for the first time; It didn’t feel like this.Onyx growled, the sound shaking the earth beneath our paws. Flutters above our head sign