Sierra was asleep on the couch with her head resting on Kane, he gave me a begrudging look when I walked in through the front door and I couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t impressed with me at all. I carried all the bags inside and she woke up after a while from the noise.“You’re back,” she said as she joined me in the kitchen.“You were asleep when I left, didn’t want to wake you,” I said.“The cat kept me company,” she said and Kane growled low enough so only I could hear him.“He has a name, Kane. I got you these,” I said and handed her the bag from the pharmacy.“Thank you,” she said.“No problem, the sooner you’re better the sooner you can leave,” I said and Kane laughed at me.“Wow, you weren’t joking when you said you don’t like people,” she said.“I have work to do, your presence interferes with that,” I said as I started packing things away.“I’ll be the perfect house guest, I promise,” she said and poured herself a glass of water to drink her pills.“Dinner’s around six or
I was sitting on a chair next to the bed when I heard Sierra’s breathing change as she woke up. She kept her eyes closed for a moment and I stared at her. She had dark brown hair where Samantha had blonde hair, deep blue eyes where Samantha had brown ones. They were nothing alike, so I had to wonder why I hadn’t just let her go when she ran.“I know you’re awake, Sierra,” I said softly and she shifted on the bed to turn towards me.“What happened?” she asked.“You ran, we found you passed out against a tree, brought you back, same as the other night,” I said.“I’m sorry,” she said and looked down avoiding my eyes.“Why did you run?” I asked.“I was afraid that they’d find me here,” she said softly.“This is where you start talking, and not some bullshit story about rogues, the truth,” I said.“I ran away from the pack because I heard what they were planning for me, I couldn’t stay,” she said.“Everything Sierra, now’s the time to trust someone, I can’t help you if I don’t know the tru
“Basically it’s a he said, she said scenario,” Jett mused.“Not really Jett, they need to prove what they’re claiming,” I said to him.“True, but for that to happen you’d have to hand her over to the Council,” he said.“I can’t do that,” I said to him.“Why not?”“There’s no guarantee that whoever won’t hand her over to Hastings for interrogation, she’s human, you know that by our laws the Council will favour Hastings,” I said.“Griff, do you realize what you’re saying?” Jett asked me.“What else am I supposed to do here, Jett? We both know she’s not lying, she has pack secrets, fuck man, she is the pack secret, that’s the only reason they want her back. They need to silence her before she actually tells someone what’s going on over there,” I said to him.“This is messed up,” Jett said.“What’s going to happen to me?” Sierra asked.“Nothing,” I said to her. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”“Maybe you should bring her to the clowder house, she’s safer there than here,” Jett said.“N
Sierra stood in front of me, very close to me, she leaned forward and kissed me. I don’t know what I was thinking in that moment as I kissed her back, but I felt a pull towards her that I couldn’t explain. Her hands were on my face and mine were pulling her closer.I lifted her up as I stood and placed her on the bathroom counter. She was wearing a t-shirt and I was practically naked. She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me closer to her. I pulled the t-shirt over her head as I felt my wounds starting to heal.I didn’t remember moving us to the bed or taking my underwear off but the next moment I was hovering on top of her, pushing into her and reality set in when she hissed in pain and I stopped moving. It dawned on me then, but it was too late to stop.“Don’t stop, Griffin,” she whispered.I didn’t stop, neither of us wanted to stop. Things changed for me in that moment as I looked into her eyes, moving slowly together. I started to feel things I hadn’t felt in eight years and
“What just happened?” Sierra asked me as we waited at the reception counter.“You’ve been released on bail in my custody, so now I’m responsible for you attending court or I’ll be arrested,” I said to her.“You paid two million dollars?” she whisper yelled at me.“Yes, if you attend court the bail money will be paid back to me when the trial ends,” I said to her.She looked at me with wide eyes as Ravi came back and handed me a memory stick. It would contain all the evidence, statements, video footage, if there were any, and all other matters related to the case. I thanked her and nudged Sierra towards the elevator.“Two million dollars,” she whispered.“It’s just money, Sierra,” I said to her as we reached the ground floor and I signed us out of the building by scanning my handprint onto the screen again.We left the building and walked back towards the way we came. I grabbed her hand again as more people filled the sidewalks and kept walking towards the portal. It opened again and I
“There’s something I need you to do,” I said to Sierra two weeks later as I finished my trial preparation for the day.The amount of evidence I had worked through had been insane and there were a lot to process and I had a whole notebook full of notes and questions. I had requested independent investigators for the video footage, handwriting analysis and I also requested the dungeon records from the Hastings pack. I was still waiting for feedback on most of my requests.“What do you need?” Sierra asked.“You need to formally reject the Hastings pack,” I said to her.“But I was never part of their pack,” she said.“Technically you were, you lived there among them for your whole life, even if you never took the oath to obey the Alpha, you accepted their rules and punishments as if you were a member,” I said to her.“Okay, how do I do that?” she asked.“I, Sierra Peyton, hereby reject the Hastings pack as my own, I reject Alpha Conrad Hastings as my Alpha and protector. I hereby accept t
“Griffin! Where are you going?” Jett asked as I grabbed my weapons and pushed him out of my way and walked to the clearing.“Didn’t you just see what I saw?” I asked him as I turned around and glared at him.“Take a breath, brother, I know we saw someone that looks like her,” he said.“No, that was her! I don’t know how but that’s what I’m going to find out,” I said to him as I started walking again.“It’s not possible, we all saw her die Griffin, I was there with you, remember!” he said loudly.“I know what we saw, I’ve seen it every night for the past eight years!” I yelled at him.“And what about Sierra?” he asked me.“What about Sierra?” I yelled, “I don’t know what to think or feel but I have to find Samantha!”“Fine, but I’m coming with you,” he said.“Potestatiu solis et luna. Tellus, venti, aque, ignis,” I said as nature’s elements combined in my mind’s eye.“Aperta portal,” I said and the portal opened in front of us.We walked through the portal and stood outside the buildin
My sleep was restless and I struggled to stay asleep. Both of their scents haunted me and in the end it was Samantha’s scent that won. My door creaked open and I was awake instantly as her scent reached out to me in my room.“Griffin,” she whispered from the doorway and I sat up in my bed.“What’s wrong?” I asked her.She walked towards the bed and sat down in front of me. She looked wide awake as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. I could smell the shampoo from her hair, she was so close to me as she leaned forward and kissed me.It was all too familiar, the way she grabbed my shirt in her hand and pulled me closer, her other hand around my neck and before I knew it she was straddling me. I opened my eyes and broke the kiss off and pushed her off me.“We can’t,” I said as she sat on the bed and looked at me.“Because you have her now?” she asked me bitterly.“Sam, it’s complicated,” I sighed.“Not really, Griff. I’ve waited eight years for you, praying you’d come to find
“Wake up Samantha,” I said as I sat on one of the chairs that I had pulled up close to the bed.“Griffin?” she asked questioningly as she rubbed her eyes and sat up groggily, “what’s going on?”“Why did you do it?” I asked her.“Do what?”“Why did you betray me?” I asked.“I didn’t, what are you talking about?” she asked me.“You knew that attack was happening, you gave your father information about me, about my family,” I said.“Griffin….” she said.“Where is it?” I asked her.“Where’s what?” she asked me looking somewhat afraid now.“Your hunter’s mark,” I said and her eyes widened just a fraction. It was so sudden that I almost missed it.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said as her eyes darted to the door.“You smell different, I didn’t want to believe it at first, but Kane was right, I can smell it now,” I said to her.She darted up from the bed and pulled the door open to find Kane standing there growling at her. I stood up as she backed away and pushed her back tow
I found Kane sitting near the jetty looking out over the lake. He seemed lost in thought and he hadn’t been in the house all day. I had brought his dinner with me because now I was worried. It wasn’t like Kane to act like this.“What’s up with you, big guy?” I asked him as I placed the container down in front of him.“Nothing,” he said and gobbled his food up.“What are you doing out here?” I asked him.“Waiting,” he said.“Waiting for what?” I asked.“Something,” he said.“I’m starting to worry about you, Kane,” I said and he looked at me.“I don’t know how to explain it. Something’s off, I don’t know what, something’s not right with Samantha,” he said.“What do you mean?”“Her scent’s different, she smells like them,” he said.“Them who?”“Hunters,” he said and looked back towards the lake.“I pulled her from a warehouse crawling with them,” I said.“No, her scent’s changed Griffin, how can you not smell it? She’s been here for a whole day and she still smells different,” he said.I
Samantha had fainted in my arms and I was now sitting on the couch watching her sleep after I had gotten us out of that building and safely through the portal. I still couldn’t believe that I was looking at her.The sun would rise soon yet I wasn’t as tired as I should be. I guess the shock of finding her was enough to keep me wide awake. She lay there peacefully while an inner turmoil waged war inside me. Kane had returned an hour ago and so far he’d only been staring at her intently.“Is this real?” Kane asked me after a moment.“I don’t know,” I said to him.She stirred slightly and I sat watching her wake up. It was like I knew every stretch of her muscles, every groan as her senses awakened, the way her eyelids flickered lightly before opening, the smile tugging on the sides of her lips.“Griff…. Griffin?” she said questioningly as she sat up blinking a few times.“All these years I thought you were dead,” I said to her.“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered looking at me
I kept my eyes closed for a few more seconds as my mind cleared from the fog of sleep and I swung my legs over the edge of the bed as I rubbed my face with my hands. The air was chilly but it didn’t bother me. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost five am.I got dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I made coffee for myself and swallowed the aftertaste of scotch away. There was a dull headache thumping at the back of my head and I wondered how much I drank last night.Kane didn’t stir from his spot as I finished my coffee and slapped him on his ribs. He growled at me but said nothing, it wasn’t really unusual, he liked to ignore me. I left the front door open and started jogging to the other side of the house and into the trees.I didn’t really feel like jogging but I knew that I had to get the alcohol out of my system otherwise I’d be useless for the rest of the day and I had plenty to do. The run cleared my head and by the time I go
I don’t know how long I sat on the ground with Sierra’s body clasped against mine, willing her to live, trying to warm up her ice cold skin. Kane had left at one point and when he returned it was with Jett following him.“Griffin,” he whispered.I couldn’t look at him, I couldn’t even breathe properly. My head snapped up as Jett’s hands touched her and I wanted to rip his arms off for daring to come close to her. His hand landed on my shoulder instead but I couldn’t focus on his voice.“Shit Griff,” he said and I looked up as I saw tears in his eyes.“She’s gone,” I whispered.“I know Griff, I’m sorry brother, I’m so sorry,” he said.“Just leave me alone,” I said and lowered my head to hers again.“Griff you need to come home, bring her home so we can lay her to rest properly,” he said. He reached out for her again and I pulled her back against me.“Don’t touch her,” I said and he stood up and took a step backwards with his hands in the air.I stood up with his help and kept her close
I woke up on the floor of my bedroom, alone. It was dark and quiet and I groaned as I rolled onto my back. Sierra’s scent was fading and the choking feeling of pain gripped me again. She had left me, she had really left me. How had I missed our wedding?She would never forgive me or take me back now, all this for my revenge. It could’ve waited, I could’ve killed them later, after the wedding but like every other time in my life, that bloodlust took over and I just had to kill them.“Kane,” I murmured.“I’m here,” he said sounding dejected.“She left,” I said.We could both feel her pain, it would continue until I accepted her rejection. She was heartbroken and it was killing me slowly. Chester’s words were also still with me, Samantha’s abortion, locked in a cage for three years. She had wanted to tell me everything.I had killed her out of rage when she was forced to betray me. I didn’t want to believe him but I did. She had betrayed me but not that first time, only after being subje
“How did you figure it out?” Chester asked me.He was strapped to the stainless steel table and he knew that death would come for him soon, he just didn’t realize what I was going to do to him before he died.“Someone sent me a text, telling me where to find that original agreement that you kept in your safe,” I said to him.“Who?” he asked me.“I don’t know Chester, I don’t really care, once I had that agreement, the rest was fairly easy,” I told him.“It would’ve gone the same way, your father just beat you to it,” he said.“That was the biggest mistake of your life, you should’ve known I’d come after you for this,” I said.“That’s why I had Rosco, he was supposed to shoot you in the head,” he said.“Why do you want me dead so badly?” I asked him.“It all started with that hunter treaty, I gave them information and they took out my enemies too, you messed all that up,” he said to me.“How? You won that case, you got the treaty,” I said to him.“Samantha Cartwright, her father was li
I took a knife from the block in the kitchen and walked slowly upstairs and stopped at the first guest room. Kevin and Phil were sharing the double bed with a pillow placed between them. Phil was snoring and they were both lying on their backs.I walked right up to Kevin, one floorboard creaking but they didn’t even move in their sleep. I watched him for a few minutes as he lay there peacefully, not knowing that they willingly came with me to their deaths.I slit his throat quietly and had my over his mouth and nose to minimize the noises he’d make as he struggled for air. He never even opened his eyes, the cut had severed the arteries and not just nicked them.I removed my hand when I heard his heart stop and I stuck the knife deep into his chest, leaving it there. Kane was already on the bed when I closed the door behind me and took a shower to wash the blood off. Some of it had sprayed onto my face and my hand was covered as well.I slept peacefully that night and I was awake but s
“Kane,” I spoke in his mind the moment I ported back into the house, “computer room.”“Is that an order, Alpha?” he asked me and yawned.“Trust me, you want in on this,” I said to him.Kane didn’t answer me but I knew he’d meet me. He was loyal when it mattered and only gave me shit about things that didn’t matter. When it came down to it, Kane always had my back and I wanted him with me when I did this.“I’m here, what’s the emergency,” he asked me.“The Council has asked for our protection and we’re going to take them to a safe location,” I said to him.“You woke me up for babysitting duty?” he growled at me.“We’re babysitting the men responsible for Damon’s death,” I said to him.“What the fuck Griffin…. oh, I get it,” he said as realization dawned on him.“I’m not an idiot, Kane,” I said to him.“Debatable, how did you manage this one?” he asked me.“Seems Grant was murdered in his office and now they’re running scared,” I said.“And who killed Grant?” he asked me flicking his ta