Vanessa Alpha Ebony sets a plate down before me, her brown eyes smiling. “Eat.”My stomach churns, the notion of food making me ill. But I know she’s right. I haven’t eaten all day. My nerves are all tied up in knots and my mind is fully focused on Jake , Kev , and Jordan .They checked in again about an hour ago before turning off their comms.We’re all waiting now for the trap to play out. Alpha Pan and Alpha Lance are in position.Alpha Duncan has them up on the feeds. And Alpha Ebony is busy trying to distract herself by feeding me. I can sense her concern, the scent subtle but there. So I try to calm her by picking up the sub and taking a bite. She has her own plate as well, one she focuses on when she sees me eating.Alpha Duncan wanders over to press a kiss to her head, his lips going to her ear. “He’ll be fine,” he says, the words low but easily heard via myenhanced senses.I pretend that I didn’t overhear it, though, not wanting to intrude on their moment.Their clan is dif
Kev Jordan gestures for me to lead, aware that this is my sort of playground.I take point, using my nose to lead the way. We’ve already doused our scent in mud, using defacing leaves and other woodsy items to make us smell more like the forest around us and less like Carnage Wolves.But a strong shifter will be able to scent us coming. Which is why we keep a good distance between us with me leading about twenty-five yards ahead. It’ll make it seem like I’m a one off at first, potentially encouraging any enforcer-types in the area to attack.I have two guns loaded with silver bullets and over a dozen knives tucked into various places in my jeans.One ballsy shifter won’t be an issue.Fuck, I could probably easily take down a dozen enforcer-types in my current mood.I move on silent feet, my boots barely touching the ground as I run through the trees. They’re as familiar to me as the island.Because Drone technology is fucking amazing.I’ve never actually been here, but I’m navigating
Vanessa Several Minutes Earlierhe silver burns against my neck, but I don’t stop staring up at the man I once called father. There’s something different about him, a sense ofindifference that feels wrong. He’s looking at me like he doesn’t even recognize me.Like he didn’t spend two decades raising me as his own. Most males leave the child-rearing to the females, but he often helped with my training as a child, ensuring I was the fastest female of my age. He pushed me, perhaps not kindly, but I am who I am today because of his influence.Yet his expression registers absolutely nothing as he holds the knife to my throat. It’s like he’s frozen there, demanding I stay without evenrequesting it.“Good job, Gafton,” a new voice says, the source of it making my stomach churn. Alpha Kin.He steps into view, his intimidating size immediately making me want to shrink into a corner. It’s also the look in his eyes that has me almost cringing. His fractured irises are blazing with fragments o
Jake Several Minutes Earlier our lives or hers, Bryson said.I choose neither, I think as he enters the clearing with the phone near his side.It’s a mistake. He’s still hooked up to the speakers, allowing me to hear Vanessa ’s response.She’s in pain and she’s furious. But he doesn’t seem to realize that because he’s grinning triumphantly.The three enforcers at his back don’t appear nearly as confident because they are all who remain of Bryson’s team.Meanwhile, all my wolves are still alive.Because I have something he doesn’t heart.He uses hive mind manipulation and enslaved pussy to tame his wolves.That only allows for so much loyalty in a pack. And those wolves at his back don’t appear too keen on dying for their insane leader right now.Because they know that’s what’s about to happen. A roar comes through the phone, the source of it all Vanessa , and a loud crash follows. Beta Gafton dropping the phone, I translate.Kev is moving before I can even lift my weapon.He has two bl
Vanessa They’re here.It’s an intrinsic reaction, one that causes the hairs along my nape to stand on end. Alpha Dirk must sense it as well because he perks up in his chair.“They’re going to try to kill you,” Alpha Ebony tells him conversationally.“I know,” he replies with a sigh. “I probably deserve it.”“You don’t,” she replies.And I agree with her. After Jake ’s howl came through the phone, Alpha Dirk fell to his knees and bowed his head.Not for Jake .But for me.He remained that way as we listened to the aftermath of that howl, overheard Jake ’s conversation with Alpha Crane, and his inevitable frustration over the phone not working on his end.Not once did Alpha Dirk stir.As the phone went quiet, my wolf started to move, sniffing the alpha male with interest.He didn’t move, allowing her to circle him while scenting the air for any signs of malcontent.She found none.I eventually stepped away from him with a grunt.Only then did he start to sit up, his dark green eyes inte
Jake he shock in Vanessa ’s gaze tells me how badly I’ve fucked this up.She’s surprised we’re going to claim her.She shouldn’t be surprised.She should be expectant.Instead she’s gaping at me.I slowly lower her to her feet. Jordanis immediately there behind her,grabbing her hips to provide balance. Not that she needs it. She’s fully healed, just has a bit of dry blood on her.And Alpha Kin’s saliva. My wolf growls inside at that.He had no right to touch her, let alone lick her. If he wasn’t already dead, I would kill him again.I cradle Vanessa ’s face between my hands as Kev enters the shower last. I walk her backward into Jordan , trapping her between us. “I should have bitten you the moment I knotted you,” I tell her. “You’ve been ours from the moment that Kev pulled you out of the water.”“But… but we don’t know if…” She trails off, swallowing. Then her brow furrows as her gaze drifts to the side. “Well, my mom did. So maybe…” She blinks back at me. “Is that what you’re basing
Jordan love’s sweet aroma makes me so fucking hard, I nearly come from the scent alone.Jake groans, his head falling to her shoulder. “Fuck.”Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what I want to do. Fuck Vanessa .But Jake is already inside her, his knot claiming the sweet heaven between her thighs.Kev growls, as do I. Not in anger, but in hunger.Our mate is going into heat. Her gaze is liquid black, her pupils blown so wide I can barely see the whites of her eyes. That didn’t happen last time.Which tells me this is the real deal. She’s about to lose herself to estrus for days, maybe even a week or more.And I cannot fucking wait.“I have to address the pack,” Jake says, sounding agonized by the mere notion of having to leave her in this state.But we just suffered a major loss with Alpha Duncan’s death. And experienced a huge win by taking down Alpha Bryson.Jake doesn’t have a choice. This is where his duty as Pack Alpha will have to come first. “You can make it a quick speech,” I tell him.
Kev Jake is a better wolf than I am.He’s somehow holding himself together for this speech and embracing the pack as though he has all the time in the world.While all I want to do is return to the den and fuck our mate into oblivion.However, it’s Jordan ’s turn. I’m just pissed I couldn’t be there to watch him finally let himself fuck her.“It’s a new era for the Black Mountain Pack,” Jake is saying.“Because we’re finally ready to go home.”Howls echo into the night, the wolves thrilled that we’ve handled the Blood moon Pack once and for all. The Santeetlah Pack is all that’s left. Butwe’ll save them for after Jake ascends.Alpha Bryson became our primary challenge seven years ago. And now he’s dead.A bit anticlimactic for my taste, but that’s Jake ’s way. He’s not the type to prolong torture or make someone suffer. When he has the upperhand, he uses it without remorse.I’m just sad I didn’t have a chance to take the bastard’s head.It would have made for a nice trophy in the de
Epilogue. One Year Laterstand beneath a tree, watching Vanessa as she spins around the yard with our daughter in her arms. Technically, the baby has Kev ’s genetics, not mine, but all three of us consider that little girl ours, just like Vanessa .She’s as beautiful as her mother. The tenderness of the moment keeps me from interrupting as I don’t have the best news to deliver. I don’t want to spoil their fun. Vanessa giggles as the baby babbles at her.Then Kev swoops in to steal the little bundle of love away. He does it with a huge grin that makes Vanessa laugh harder, but his dark eyes catch mine and I know he’s done this for me.He can sense that I need to talk to her.I’ve kept it from the mental connection, not wanting to risk Vanessa overhearing it in my thoughts. But he reads me almost as well as Jordan does.“I’m going to go see if I can’t coax our little beauty into taking a nap,”Kev says, a purr already igniting in his chest. “Then maybe mommy will reward me by eng
Vanessa olt gave me a shirt. Then he fisted my hair and tilted my head back to examine my neck, his gaze intent as he bent to kiss the mark he left on my throat. My skin still tingles now with the memory of the pleasure chasing away the pain. A logical part of me is aware that I should be pissed at him for pulling a knife on me, but my wolf is too intrigued to allow that logical part to gain purpose. Not once did I feel threatened beneath him. The tension in his body told me he was very much in control. And the hardness pressed up against my core told me he was also very aroused by the position. The whole display of power somehow kept me grounded. It made me feel safe despite the lethal blade against my skin. He didn’t use silver on me, just steel. Maybe I would have felt more fear had it been the latter. Regardless, I’m fascinated by the way my body responded to his. There was no fear, only mild interest. And a hell of a lot of anger over the punishment they gave m
JordanHe considers her a moment, his expression thoughtful. There’s still so much Vanessa has to learn about our kind. It’s a good thing we have aneternity to teach her.“It’s common for Carnage Wolves destined to be Pack Alphas to venture into the wild to find themselves, to prove themselves worthythrough a series of challenges,” Jake explains slowly. “Accepting my fate from the Elders was the first challenge in my journey. Killing Bryson will be my final challenge, making it time for me to finally return to the Black Mountain Pack.”“Oh.” She swallows. “So everyone will, uh, leave with you?”“Not everyone,” he says. “There are wolves who need to be kept on Carnage Island. And we’ll ensure they survive and prosper. It’ll be asecondary base for our kind, a shelter of protection.”“I see.” She sounds breathless. “A-and me?”He stares at her. “What do you think?”“I…” She clears her throat, some of that confidence seeming to seep back into her stature, the wolf inside her remindin
I understand she has Blood moon genetics in her as well, but the only way she could have been created is if an Alpha knotted her mother.Which means her mother either also had Carnage Wolf ancestry or was a very unique breed of wolf.Regardless, the Carnage part of her is going to dominate the Blood moon side. The process started when she first shifted. She’s becoming one with her wolf. And when that merger completes itself, she’ll very likely go into a fullestrus cycle. Which is when we’ll claim her.Jake already spoke to his father about it, asking if he knew of any other half-breeds that turned Omega in the past. There was only one caseAlpha Umber knew about, and that female did become a full Omega once taken by her Alpha clan.He told Jake this is his final test to claim the Omega. Once our clan is done, we’ll gain the required favor of the pack and Jake will be able to return as the incoming Black Mountain Alpha.It’s almost a circumstance of fate that we couldn’t complete the
Chapter Vanessa I wake to a pang in my lower belly, my thighs trembling with an aftershock of pain that elicits a low whimper from my chest. Ugh. It feels like a tree fell on my head.Every part of me aches, but especially my insides. I groan, trying to curl into a ball, only to come up against a hard wall of flesh. I freeze, my heart leaping into my throat.Warmth washes over me, touching me all the way to my toes.“Morning, gorgeous,” a deep voice rumbles, fingers combing through my hair. “Well, evening, technically. You’ve slept all day.” I swallow. Where am I?Everything feels so hazy.So unclear.So… so… unreal.Because the fantasy unfolding in my mind can’t be accurate. Jake forcing me to shift. Followed by a chase. Kev catching me. Both of them… I shiver, the vivid memory of having them inside me making my thighs clench, which stirs another whine from deep within. Because ow.“Shhh,” the masculine wall hums.Jordan , I recognize, his peppermint scent surrounding me. But there
Chapter Jordan he’s beautiful,” I whisper, stroking my palm up and down her thigh,offering her comfort as she begins her descent into true madness.Estrus is a multi day affair and we’re only in the first few hours of her heat cycle. She was beautifully aware for the beginning, something that I know Jake is pleased about. He wanted her to be aware enough to consent and participate in the union.But he didn’t bite her. Not truly, anyway.I understand why.He wants to make sure she accepts all three of us first. I have no doubt that she will. She responded to my kiss with a passion I felt all the way to my soul.She wants us all.And once she wakes up, it’ll be my turn to knot her.Our sweet, beautiful Omega.A diamond we never anticipated finding on this island.The Alphas are going to be furious when they wake, but we won her fair and square. And now she’s sequestered away in our underground den. Not the one she’s been in the last few days. That home is for the others to be able to easil
Vanessa Energy hums through the air, causing the hairs along my arms to stand on end.But it’s for an entirely different reason today than two months ago.I’m in the same field.Standing in the same place I once kneeled.Only now I’m standing. I’m clothed. And I’m staring directly at the male who once rejected me.Seeing Canton now, I can’t remember why I ever found him attractive.He has nothing on my three mates. He’s a fucking pansy ass, Kev says to us all. Look at him. He’s ready to wet himself just like last time.That pansy ass managed to keep a hold on Vanessa ’s wolf for almost a week, Jake reminds him. Looks can be deceiving.He’s right.I remember feeling Canton’s power.He’s certainly not weak. He took advantage of an untrained shifter, Kev argues. Hardly makeshim strong.Also a fair point. I didn’t know how to control my inner animal and she was pissed at me for denying her all these years. It made her easy tomanipulate.Alpha Crane clears his throat. “Well. We’re here,
Jake I love is very particular about her nest.That started around day two of her heat.We’re now on day nine and all of us are exhausted.“I’m not fucking you until you eat that sandwich,” Kev says sternly, making my lips curl. “Now, Vanessa .”She growls at him.He growls back.We’re not in the nest right now, but on the floor beside it. Because we learned on day three that food in the nest creates a furiouslittle Omega. And we’ve not made that mistake since.But she’s still not a fan of eating. She just wants our seed.However, we’ve found withholding sex will eventually make her cooperate. Which Kev is doing now while I check in on island operations.The power and telephone functions were finally fully restored three days ago.Alpha Lance, Alpha Edwin, and Alpha Ion all worked as a team to help clean up the mess Alpha Kin made. Alpha Ebony and Alpha Pan also returned after the burial to assist.And Alpha Dirk oversaw the restoration of telecommunications on his own.I’ve review
Vanessa Blood.Sweat.Sex.I’m swimming in a sea of peppermint, ash, copper, and pine. I never want to surface.Swimming. Drowning. Swimming again.But there’s something not quite right. The bed is too lumpy. It’s… imperfect.And I really dislike that sensation. I stir from my cloud of dizzy desire and hit the lump on the bed. It’s soft and plushy and in the wrong place.Growling, I move it to the corner. But then I find another misshapen clump and have to move it, too.Which unearths a third one.And then a fourth. By the the tenth, I’m a snarling mess, ripping apart the bed and everything on it.Clearly, I need to make the bed again.Once I’m satisfied with the mattress and the lack of bumps, I start over. Carefully.I pick up sheets and shirts and jeans and towels and everything I can find, crafting the perfect bed to rest within. My males are here.I feel them watching me.One of them even hands items to me, trying to help. I purr when I like the offering and snarl when I dislike