Finnick’s POVSearing pain coursed through me at my mate’s implied rejection. The strength of it threatened to knock me off my feet as I stumbled my way to the door. I should have been prepared for it. It was no more than I’d expected, no more than I deserved. Still, I’d let my guard down and now I was paying the price. “She wasn’t supposed to be home!” I lamented aloud to myself.By the time I realized she was really there, it had been far too late to rein in my wolf. Then we’d found her with another man and instinct took over. No wolf could sit back and allow another man to touch his mate. Callum had taken over in less than a heartbeat, intent on claiming his mate and removing the threat. And though there was a small voice in my head telling me it was a very bad idea, it was miniscule compared to the joy and elation I’d felt at finally having her within my reach. For the briefest of moments, I’d held her in my arms and it was everything to me. She was everything that I’d ever wa
Finnick’s POV As the sun rose, I dragged myself to the bathroom, determined to face my mate and find a way to convince her I would never hurt her again, to make amends for the suffering I’d caused her in any way she’d let me. I faced the mirror as I brushed my teeth and I barely recognized the person staring back at me. My eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, highlighted by the dark circles of sunken skin underneath them. My cheeks were red and raw from rubbing away the tears that had fallen throughout the night. I washed my face in cool water, hoping to soothe the inflamed skin but it was useless. Giving up, I showered quickly and dressed in some faded jeans, a black t-shirt, and some black biker boots, then headed out the door. My heart raced and my palms were sweating, sliding along the steering wheel as I drove to Sarah’s house. I tried rehearsing what I would say but nothing I came up with was even close to good enough. Ultimately, I settled on throwing out the script altogethe
Sarah’s POV I’d been at Fair Winds for over a week. Seven whole days had passed since my world had been made whole and then turned to ash in the space of an hour. Yet somehow, it still felt like it just happened yesterday, the wounds still raw and oozing. Originally, I had planned to come for a fun visit with my cousin, Hallie. She was the same age as me and we always had the best time when we got together. But not this time. This time I’d stayed locked up in my room, alternating between body-wracking sobs and hours of frantic pacing as I tried to force my brain to think logically about my predicament. It was a battle I had no chance of winning. Because my heart was thoroughly shattered, and nothing is ever logical when it comes to matters of the heart. “Sarah?” Hallie called my name after knocking softly on my door. “It’s okay. Hal. You can come in.” I called back. I knew she was worried about me and I couldn’t keep pushing her off. “Hey.” She greeted timidly, testing the wa
*Warning: This chapter contains mature content of a sexual nature Sarah’s POV I hadn’t slept much the past week, hoping to avoid the nightmares I knew would plague me when I did. I fought to keep my eyes open but my lids were so heavy, drooping against my will. I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew, I was being startled awake by someone calling to me. “Hey kitten, I’ve been trying to wake you!” Finn called from the doorway. What was he doing here? He stalked into the room, heading right towards me with a sexy smirk on his face. My heart thundered in my chest in both excitement and fear at the thought of him touching me. He looked good enough to eat and I couldn’t help the way my body heated for him. But giving him a chance to hurt me again terrified me. I took the opportunity to drink him in as he moved closer and closer to me. He was shirtless, his eight-pack on full display. The top button of his jeans was undone and my eyes trailed his defined v-line down to w
Finnick’s POV Over a week had passed since that day, the day that had been both the best and worst day of my life. And the past week had been the worst of all by far. I’d barely slept and I looked like shit. My stomach was in knots and just the thought of food made me nauseated. It seemed all I could do was think about Sarah.If I thought I’d been miserable all those years without Sarah, it was nothing compared to the agony I felt now. Having held her in my arms, feeling what it could be like to finally have her as my mate, only to watch her pull away from me was pure torture. But even that paled in comparison to the onslaught of anguish I experienced every time I remembered the look on her face when she learned the truth of my betrayal. Broken. That’s the only word I could use to describe it. When I’d told her the truth about knowing she was my mate all this time, how I’d abandoned her and defiled our bond in the worst way, it had broken her. I couldn’t stop seeing the way the ligh
Finnick’s POV Sarah was home. Now my wolf’s behavior was beginning to make sense. His mate was close. Sadie, Sarah’s wolf, was drowning in her own despair and Callum could feel her anxiety through their bond. I could only hope this wouldn’t be the fight he was preparing for. “Shit!” Seth’s single word pretty much summed up how I was feeling but it brought me out of my shocked stupor and back to the situation at hand. I blew out an anxious breath and shoved open the jeep door. “Well, I guess this is the moment of truth. I might as well get it over with and go face the music.” I told myself as much as I was telling him. “Um, I’ll hang back and give you two some time to talk. Good luck man.” I felt the sincerity in his tone and knew that he meant it. “Yeah, thanks. I’m going to need it.” I said the last part under my breath but I knew he heard me. My feet dragged with every step I took towards the front door. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t going to go my way a
Sarah’s POV Death. That must have been what happened. I died. Not my body. No, my body lived on, dragging me along with it, breath after painful breath. But my soul was dead. It left me just like Finnick had. Minutes before he walked through the door, my wolf had gone crazy, snarling and growling in my head. But it wasn’t some unseen threat that caused her animosity. No, that was all directed at me. She’d sensed him coming, and knowing I intended to reject him, she’d unleashed her anger on me. It was the same argument we’d had the entire way home from Fair Winds. “We’re NOT rejecting our mate!” Sadie barked at me, making one final attempt to take control when his car pulled into the driveway. But I had been prepared for that and was able to hold her back. “You know we can’t accept him Sadie! He doesn’t respect us and we can’t trust him. He’ll only hurt us again!” I hurled back. “You don’t know that! He wants us! And Callum won’t let him hurt us again!” She countered. “Maybe
Sarah’s POV When I woke up hours later, I was in my room, burrowed under the covers in my bed. Thankfully, I could feel Sadie again, though she was very still in the back of my mind. At least she was still there. Moonlight streamed through the open curtains of my bedroom window and the sight of it pushed my sadness aside long enough to allow my anger to surface. I hated our Moon Goddess for what she’d done to me. I didn’t need the glowing evidence of her constant presence or the reminder of her sick use of authority. How dare she play with people’s lives this way! Finnick and I never had a chance and she knew it before she ever set our bond in motion. What had I ever done to her to deserve such a fate? I wished she’d just stayed out of my life, let me take a chosen mate. I certainly couldn’t have fucked it up any worse than she had for me. Why couldn’t I have just been happy with Kyle, never knowing what a true mate bond felt like? There was no guarantee I’d get a second chance
To all my lovely readers, Thank you so much for the love and loyalty you've shown the Celtic Wolf series so far! I am so thankful to each and every one of you for sharing this journey with me! I will be taking a little time to do some more writing and editing on book 3 before I begin publishing but it will be coming soon! The final book in the series will follow Dillon and Zoe's story. It will begin a little earlier in the timeline from where book 2 ended, taking us to the currrent time and beyond, culminating in the final showdown between the wolves, Light and Dark Fae. Stay tuned to find out what fate has in store for Dillon and Zoe, and all wolf kind! Much love to you all, Cara Update: The title for book 3 is A Cruel Fate: Her Gamma's Regret. I plan to begin publishing in early July. Hope you will all join me for the final book in the series!
(Four Months Later) Sarah’s POV “Aaagh! I can’t do this anymore!” I cried, falling back into Zayne’s arms, totally spent. “Yes, you can, princess! You’re almost there.” he encouraged, brushing my hair back out of my face and wiping the sweat off my forehead. “You’ve got this, kitten. Just keep thinking about holding our pup in your arms.” Finn added. “Why is it taking so long? Kat pushed out two babies in less than an hour.” I complained at the unfairness of my situation. “My babies were smaller because there were two of them, sweetie.” Kat explained. “”But I had to do this part twice and it hurt like a bitch both times if that makes you feel any better.” “It doesn’t!” I pouted. “I’m so tired. And Sadie is pacing in my mind, worried about the pup. It’s too much!” Finn pressed his forehead to mine. “Callum and Triton will calm Sadie. Just try to relax until the next contraction.” I’d gone into labor nearly twelve hours ago and our stubborn little pup was still refusing to
Sarah’s POV Reaching the exit of the goddess forsaken prison we were being held in was easier than expected. The arrogance of the Dark Fae in thinking themselves too superior to wolves, even gifted wolves, to even consider we might be capable of such a thing made our work that much easier. Only three creatures stood in our way as we ran through the barren corridors and Kat easily took them down. It was only once we actually made it outside that the real obstacles appeared. Nearly running smack into the back of the colossal Dark Fae army could have easily ended our bid for freedom. Miraculously, Kat was able to create an invisible wall of air between us and them, Zoe and I bouncing off of it and falling back on our assess. Still, we somehow went unnoticed. The Moon Goddess was definitely with us. Kat quickly helped me to my feet and we both lifted Zoe from the ground. My sister-in-law was shaking so violently, she could barely force her legs to move. Kat was already heading for cover
Zayne’s POV As we pulled away from Glass Lake territory, an entire cavalcade of vehicles trailed behind us, all filled with our best fighters. But knowing what the Dark Fae could do, I wasn’t sure it would be enough. At most, a wolf attack would provide a distraction, but that distraction could mean the difference between success and failure. Guilt slithered through my veins at the thought we were leading them like lambs to a slaughter. “How many Light Fae do you think will come?” I asked Finn for the hundredth time, my leg bouncing nervously and bumping into his. “Enough, I hope.” Finn answered vaguely, placing a steadying hand on my knee. Finn slid his hand into mine, lacing our fingers together. It was comforting to feel his warm body pressed into my side and his strong hand gripping mine. But even so, the fear and uncertainty passing back and forth between us through the bond was like an elephant on my chest, crushing me. My free hand slipped inside my jacket pocket, feelin
Sarah’s POV I woke with a start and immediately missed the coolness of the stone my face had been pressed against. My stomach roiled and bile burned in my throat. I tried to breathe through my nose but it didn’t help and before I knew it, dry heaves wracked my body. I tried to brush my hair out of my face but the motion produced a loud clanking sound and a searing pain in my wrists as my arms were yanked back. It was then I realized I was sitting on a dirt floor, my arms bound in silver and chained to the wall. Suddenly it all came rushing back. Attempting to clear the grogginess, I shook my head but that only made the nausea return. I rested my cheek against the cool stone wall and waited for the churning in my gut to subside. And while I waited, I tried to make sense of my surroundings. Where the fuck was I? I had no idea how far we’d run when the Dark Fae found us. And we’d covered our scent so wherever we were, no one would be able to track us here. We were just going to h
Finn’s POV Hours passed while we ran in circles, chasing scents that had somehow ceased to exist. Zayne and I felt nothing through the bond. No fear, no pain. It was as if our mate had disappeared completely, along with her scent. Dillon and Zoe had not sealed their bond so he couldn’t tell, but the Alphas said their connection with Kat felt the same. Simply empty. None of us wanted to admit defeat but it was painfully clear we were getting nowhere. Finally Reegan and Ryan suggested we return to the packhouse to regroup and gather reinforcements. The rest of us reluctantly agreed, having no better options. “We are too far to reach the pack through mindlink, but I will call Elder Alma on our way home and ask her to contact the Fae Queen. Maybe she will know how we can find them.” Ryan offered up what seemed to be our only remaining option. Reegan nodded curtly, acknowledging his brother, but otherwise he hadn’t spoken a word in the last hour. I knew he was trying to maintain the o
A few hours earlier at the Karaoke Lounge Reegan’s POV I loved listening to Kat sing. I could still remember that first night I’d heard her beautiful voice. I was already desperately in love with her at the time but hearing her sing only enchanted me further. I’d even dreamed about the day she would sing to our children and now that dream had come true. When the emcee called her on stage, indicating it was her turn to perform, I knew what had already been a good night so far was about to get even better. Ryan and I both watched in awe as she picked up the mic and sung the first few lines in that sexy, sultry voice of hers. I stole a glance at the rest of our table to find they were all equally entranced. But as the song went on, I became more and more distracted. My eyes never left my gorgeous Luna but my mind drifted. My gut twisted nervously as the feeling that I was missing something kept growing stronger. I tried to shake it off, determined not to ruin the evening for my brothe
Sarah’s POV I quickly pushed through the door behind me and walked around the back of the building until I came to another door. As I predicted, Kat came bursting through it, nearly bowling me over in her haste. “Fuck!” She cried out when she slammed into me. “Sorry!” “What for?” My voice was hard, perturbed that she hadn’t let me in on her plan. “Are you sorry for nearly running me over or for trying to leave without me?” Before she could answer, footsteps were heard running up behind us. I turned, my claws out to attack our intruder. “Damn it Zoe! You scared the shit out of me!” I growled when she came into view. “I was ready to rip you apart. What are you doing here?” “The better question is, what are the two of you doing here?” She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. “It doesn’t matter, Zoe. You have to go back. Both of you do.” Kat growled at us. “You might not know it yet, but the Moon Goddess chose me as your Gamma Female. So whether you like it or not, where my
Sarah’s POV I couldn’t shake the nausea that had settled in my gut like an unwelcome houseguest. I was excited for a night out with my mates and our friends but the feeling that something bad would happen just wouldn’t leave me alone. Maybe I really did have PTSD. After the last attack, maybe I was no longer capable of believing we could celebrate together without the Dark Fae coming along to destroy our happiness. No matter what, I wouldn’t let my apprehension show on my face. We deserved an opportunity to let loose and have fun. I wasn’t about to ruin that for everyone else, especially Kat. If anyone had earned a reprieve, it was her. Determined to have a good time, I shoved all negativity aside and focused on perfecting my make-up. I hadn’t been getting much sleep or eating much lately and it was beginning to show on my face. My skin looked pale and my eyes looked tired and drawn. I had my work cut out for me. But no matter how hard I tried to divert my attention, the nausea