So why does she still have the rogue mark?
It’s evening when my parents find me in Nova’s hospital room, carrying food and a duffel bag with a change of clothes and some toiletries. “This is your mate? Our future Luna?” My mother’s voice, though bleeding the sadness that she feels about Nova’s condition, also holds a hint of excitement. This is what she’s wanted for me for a long time. And she’s made no secret of the fact that she wants grandpups ASAP. I can’t help but smile, though it’s small and pained. I know that Nova is a rogue, but finding out how she became one, even the scant details that I have, make me feel oddly better. People are only rogues for bad reasons, usually things that they have done themselves. Violent crimes. Rape. Frequent assaults. But that isn’t Nova. And I don’t know how I could have thought that the Goddess would have mated me with someone like that. It made me judge her. It made me less than ecstatic that she was my mate. If I had immediately accepted
“Wait. You’re saying that Noah Martin’s mate…she’s Nova’s mother?” Dad asks. “It appears so, Alpha,” Dr. Fern replies, nodding towards the lab form still in my hands. Dad grabs it and looks it over as if it makes sense to him. Of course, it might. When Mom had her lymphoma scare, Dad had done a shit ton of research to figure out as much as he could to help her. Mom is a hybrid witch and werewolf. Her healing abilities aren’t the same as a typical werewolf. So when she started to have symptoms, like unexplained fevers and weight loss and weird bruising, it wasn’t something that we could just blow off. Luckily, with treatment, early detection, and her sped up healing abilities, she was able to heal quickly. Dad pulls out his phone and looks up a picture of Karmyn. When her picture pops up, his mouth flattens into a line and he turns his phone so that Mom can see who it is. When she sees it, she gasps. “What is it?” I as
One week later… The sharp smell of astringent is the first thing that registers as the blackness starts to fade. I open my eyes, squinting even in the low lights. I’m facing a bank of windows and can easily see that it seems to be the dead of night. I can see the moon shining in the sky, letting me know that I’m high up in the floors of whatever building I’m in. That doesn’t take long to figure out with the IV in my arm and the machine beeping along merrily beside me. The hospital. How the hell did I get here? Why am I here? Searching my memory, the last thing that I remember is reaching for my money in my room as I was trying to get away. Did Roy come home? Did he beat me? Based on the aches and pains in my body, as well as the pounding in my head, that seems likely. But how did I get to the hospital? I’ve never woken up in any place other than the room that I was beaten in.
The doctor comes in and checks Nova over. She’s healing well and her wolf has come back online. The doctor wanted her to eat something to give her wolf some energy, but Nova’s eyes were already heavy. “You sleep. When you wake up, we’ll make sure that you get some food in there,” Dr. Fern tells her, a calm and fatherly tone to his words. “Thanks, doctor,” Nova says, her eyes already closing and a cute sleepy note in her voice. I can’t help but smile at her and I kiss her forehead as she drifts off to sleep. I follow Dr. Fern out of the room, wanting to make sure that I didn’t wake her up. Once the door is closed, I turn to the doctor. “Alright, how is she really?’ Dr. Fern allows me to look at her chart, as if I would really understand anything written here. “I told her the truth, Alpha. Our Luna is doing great. Her wolf appears to have almost completely healed all of her broken bones. The abdominal bruising that was concerning
I’m pushing the hospital food around on my plate, trying to make it look like I’ve actually been eating something. I mean, I know I need to eat. I need to build up my strength and all, but holy shit is this stuff bad. There’s like no seasoning. Everything is the texture of mush. I didn’t know that it was possible to burn something and have it partially frozen at the same time. Unfortunately, Dr. Fern is going to be pissed if I don’t eat. He said that me getting strong is the only way that he’ll let me out. And part of that is me eating my meals. Maybe I can order some food to my room? Pizza would definitely make me feel stronger. I’m trying to figure out if I can stomach a few more bites or if I should just risk flushing it down the toilet when there is a knock on the door to my room. Confused, I call, “Come in.” It’s weird that someone would be knocking on my door. The nurses knock, but they come right in, not waiting. And Ivan, the only other per
The bastard managed to hold out a lot longer than I thought he would, but after finding out that he’s a beta blood, that makes sense. He’s tougher than the typical wolf, able to heal damage faster and withstand more damage than the typical wolf. I have two advantages over him. One, I’m an alpha, pissed off over the pain and suffering that this asshole has caused my mate her entire life. That is the other half of my soul and he damaged her just because he could. And there is very little a wolf won’t do for their mate. Add to that the fact that I have an alpha’s strength and temper and Roy was in for a whole hell of a lot of pain. Two, those hot shots might heal all of the physical injuries that he’s experiencing from the torture that I’m putting him through. But it does nothing to heal the mental damage. There’s only so much continuous pain that you can take before you start to crack. I’m pretty sure that he was catatonic by the time that I lef
I haven’t seen Nova all day and I’m excited to get to her room. I slept in my bed for a few hours, but it was shit sleep. Now that I know what it’s like to have my mate’s scent in the room with me as I sleep, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to sleep without it again. I’m excited to see Nova, so when I walk into the room, I’m smiling as big as I can. Even more so since the nurse told me that she was awake. Turns out, the nurse didn’t tell me everything, because I see movement to the side of the room and I look over to see my parents sitting on the couch. “Hey Mom and Dad. What are you two doing here?” I ask with a furrowed brow. “I came to apologize to her, son. I need her to forgive me. I need her to know that I never meant – “ Dad’s voice cuts off as he starts to cry, his face in his hands and his shoulders shaking. Fuck! Fang curses in my head. She’s not ready for this shit. They couldn’t hold on to it for a few days so tha
Alpha Derek and Luna Annalise are staring at me from the couch like I’m the missing link in their world to finally attain peace. I’m assuming that Ivan told them that I’m his mate, though I still don’t quite believe that. My wolf didn’t recognize him. I mean, there is something about him that I can’t quite seem to be able to let go of. As much as he scares me, I also long for his touch. And with my wolf not recognizing him…well, I’ve heard people say that their wolf has talked to them. That their wolf has a name. Things that their wolf thinks and feels and wants. My wolf has never done that. I mean, every once in a while, I’ll get feelings of anger that seem to come from more than me. Especially when Roy was beating me. That’s when I would have bursts of defiance. Sometimes I would fight back. Sometimes I would partially shift. It was inconsistent and I could never predict it. But it was there. It made me wonder i
The rest of lunch is tense. Oh, everyone is cordial and conversation continues with very few hiccups. The men of the table trade war stories. Harley seems to like fighting – I mean really like fighting. There isn’t a single story that he tells that doesn’t have him kicking someone’s ass. It’s slightly disturbing. Especially with the way my mother stares at him with adoration. I mean, I really like Ivan, may even be falling for him. But she stares at Harley like the sun’s rises out of his ass. It’s nauseating. Almost like she traded in a world that revolved around Roy – because he was abusive – to revolving around Harley – because he isn’t. We’re about halfway through the meal when Jude and Lucy walk back in the room. Truth be told, I had expected her to reject him. I mean, the fear that was rolling off her in waves did not bode well for the start of a relationship. But when they walk back in, it’s a completely different story. Jude is walking close to her,
This is the first time since I met Ivan that I wish I had the ability to mindlink him. I need to know what he thinks of my “family” because these people give me the creeps.Honestly? Harley is the only one who isn’t giving me the heebie-jeebies.My mother is way too emotional for this. If she had really cared about me, where has she been for the last ten years?And my “sister?”Like I said before, we’re obviously not blood-related. Lucy has to be Harley’s daughter from before he met my mom because my mother is lily-white, and Lucy has the most beautiful mocha skin I’ve ever seen. Her tone nearly matches her father’s exactly.Besides, Lucy looks like she’s the same age as me, and I know my mother wasn’t with anyone but my father at that time. He barely let the female out of the house.Lucy chatters on at my left about her pack and all the clubs and social activities she’s a part of. Luna Annelise is speaking with my mother, and Ivan and Alpha Derek seem to be getting along well with Ha
Three days later…I’m so nervous that my hands are shaking. I can barely button up the buttons on my sundress. “Fuck!” I curse under my breath.“Here, let me,” I hear from behind me. Suddenly, Ivan’s large hands gently grab mine and squeeze. I sigh, looking up into his eyes. There’s so much emotion there. Emotion that I’m not used to seeing. I think it might be love.Ivan gives me a small smile and I try to return it, though it probably looks like more of a grimace than anything. It brings a light of amusement in Ivan’s eyes, though he doesn’t tease me as he does up the buttons for me.When he’s done, he kisses my nose. “Beautiful.”I just roll my eyes before sitting on the bed to put my shoes on. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous. It’s not like I’ve never seen her before.”“I get it. You haven’t seen her in years and you’re worried about how you two will get along,” he says.I cock my head at him. “Are you just saying that because you can feel my emotions?”“It helps,” he
I love that I can feel Nova’s emotions through my matemark on her shoulder. I can even hear her thoughts if they get really loud. All of that will change when she marks me. Then I can listen in on her thoughts whenever I want to. We won’t even have to mindlink each other, we’ll just be able to hear the other when we turn our minds to it. Though, I do need to initiate her into the pack again. I want her to be able to mindlink with anyone, especially if she gets into trouble again and I can’t get there. Just for the safety of my mate, I need her to be able to contact Jakobi, Erick, Jude, and Bryson. I’ll have to talk to her about it after breakfast. But as of right now, we need to get to the breakfast table. I’ve had multiple wolves attempting to break through my mental walls to mindlink me. I can tell by their mental signatures that they are my parents and my boys, probably trying to find out why we aren’t downstairs yet. Too bad for them, they needed to wait for me to di
Standing in the shower, I wash the soap out of my hair only to feel two strong arms wrap around me, sliding along my waist and moving up to cup my breasts.I can’t help but smile and lean back into Ivan’s chest. “Good morning.” And I can feel how good of a morning he thinks it is.“Mmmm,” he hums against my neck before he begins mouthing at my matemark.My body arches into his and my bottom lip immediately goes between my teeth. His fingers find my nipples and he begins to pinch and roll them between his thumbs and forefingers. The moan that flows from my lips elicits a growl from Ivan and he presses his cock against my ass.“Ivan, we can’t do this right now,” I say, though I’m not sure how convincing I am with the way that my ass is rubbing all over Ivan’s cock.“You’re my mate. I always have time to show you how much I love you. How fucking sexy you are.” One of Ivan’s hands travels down to my pussy, his finger splitting me open and finding my button. “Fuck, little rabbit.
I stand from the bed long enough to pull off my sleep shorts and then I’m straddling Ivan again. His cock, which had started to soften after he came in my mouth, is already back at half-mast again. Gotta love werewolf stamina. Still, there’s definite exhaustion slowing Ivan’s movements as he runs his hands up and down my arms as I prop myself up to look down at him. “Fuck, Nova. That was mind blowing,” he says, his hands moving to my waist and moving up my torso. His hands seem to have a magnet to my breasts, though I’m not complaining. I get a lot of stimulation from my nipples. The more that he wants to play with them, the happier I’ll be. Taking his hands and placing them on my tits, I smile at him. “We’re not done yet.” The exhaustion seems to melt from him as his fingers play with my nipples. My pussy, which was already impossibly wet from sucking him off seems to gush at the feeling of his fingers on my nipples. I use it to make my pussy glide over his nearly fu
The last thing I remember is running Nova’s hair through my fingers, the feeling of sparks marching up and down my skin as sleep tugged me under. I had to have fallen asleep. I have to be dreaming right now because I have the sweet scent of my mate all around me, the feeling of her body pressed against mine, and her taste on my lips. Of her own volition. Though Nova had willingly accepted all of my touches, but she has never initiated them herself. So this has to be a dream. I’d like to say that I was a gentleman. That I let her take the lead and take what she wanted from me. I’d love to be able to say that. But this is my dream, so I can do what I want, right? So my hand fists in her hair, holding her to me. My other hand wraps around her body and pulls her on top of me so that she’s straddling my suddenly raging hard on. And the growl that Fang and I emit is completely feral. And then I hear her moan. My eyes pop open and I see her looking at me, her gaze darkened with
We spent the whole rest of the day with Jude, Bryson, Erick, and Jakobi. The point was to let me get to know Ivan’s best friends, most trusted confidents, and inner circle. Jude is…dammit the guy is fucking hilarious. He finds a way to make a joke about everything. A way to put everyone at ease, even in the tensest of situations. He apologized to me for the way that we met that night after Ivan brought me to the pack house the first time and kept me laughing and relaxed the whole time. Bryson, his delta, is really sweet. Sometimes a little slow on the uptake, but the male has a great heart and is fiercely loyal. It was clear how much he loves his friends and he immediately welcomed me as part of the group like I’ve always been a part of them. Erick is fucking intense. As the gamma, his role is to be my protector from everyone and everything, including Ivan. He immediately sat between me and Ivan, getting me drinks and the best food until Ivan literally had to order him to b
I stare down at the male in front of me, the alpha of my pack. I should feel power at having him kneel in front of me. Smugness. Satisfaction. All I feel is a love. And a healthy does of fear. Because he could very easily be lying just to get me to stay. He could just be using me, like everyone else in this awful life. How do I trust him? Neither Bite nor I know what to do at this point. “I don’t know how to trust you,” I tell him. “Not just because of the mark. I’ve…There’s never been anyone other than Cody that I could trust.” His eyes soften, his tight muscles loosen as he looks at me. Carefully, slowly, he reaches out and strokes my cheek. “I am sorry, little rabbit. You have a had a heard life. And I have just made it harder for you.” Even with how angry I am, the sense of his betrayal still sizzling in my veins, I lean into his touch. He is my mate after all. I close my eyes and let my self sink into the feeling of sparks that flow across my skin. When