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Amy’s POVI was based in a room with a tastefully laminated sign which read: ‘Songbird’. Grinding my teeth wasn’t good for me but it was turning into an unfortunate – or should that be fortunate? – habit. Toothache may not be such a bad thing in these circumstances.If I had to plead illness, so be it.The door was permanently open and I kept trying to guess which of my visitors was the important one in terms of impressing. Not the giggly teenager who hadn’t found her wolf yet, surely? Hopefully not the warrior with the watchful eyes who kept scoping the environment, usually coming back to rest on my cleavage.I wasn’t wearing a gown, though the dress was lower cut than I had realised.“Trying to influence your peers?” Kane mocked me, earlier. “But which ones?”I took no notice and slapped his hand away.We’d shared the same Suite, just not the same bed, and now he was ogling me in the full length mirror. I never liked being in the pleasure room for long. It held so many bad memories.
Amy’s POVMy weakness is spiders. I don’t like killing them, yet I can’t bear the sight of them running. When I was unmated I used to check my bedding every night in case one of them was lurking beneath, waiting to wander over my body in the night.Kane was likely to have placed me in a roomful had I been honest. Imagine being rescued from a particularly hairy one by a leering Lycan while Jake grinned and cracked his knuckles.The Alpha was keeping tight-lipped about the activity for the second day. Apparently, we would each be based in the same three rooms – minus the tacky signs, of course – while fascinated bystanders ogled us. We were no better than goldfish or zoo animals.And how could we be competitive when we didn’t know each other’s score to date?I didn’t even have to ask about that one. Once we were gathered in his office, we each received a slip of paper. I had scored a seven, Zena a six and Sharon an infuriating eight.“Day two will be a lesson in endurance,” he announced
Kane’s POVI grabbed a handful of salted caramel popcorn. I really should be working, but this was a big part of it. Or so I tried to convince myself. Having a Luna to share my burden … Wait, who was I kidding? Amy always did more.My workload hadn’t doubled as I’d claimed. It just meant the buck stopped with me again, as it should do.We didn’t have time for this. Fuck my stupid sister and her little ploy.See how she liked this one.I caught my breath when I saw Amy bending over the table, compliant for once.I couldn’t resist. “What a view.”“How much longer, asshole?”“Until your visitor arrives? Expected imminently. Or did you mean, can you change position?”“Pretty please?”“No,” I said.“Jerk,” she muttered.“You really don’t want to greet him topless, do you?”“Him? Kane you promised me. Everyone will start thinking I’m a slut again. Do you know what Sharon had the nerve to say to me yesterday? She asked if I’d had a request for that song by Wheatus. I pretended not to underst
Lisa’s POVIt was all going wrong. At least my mate had the decency to tell me he would be with her, Amy.I burst into Kane’s office without knocking.“How could you?” I cried.“Sit down, Lisa. I’ve been expecting you,” he said.“I prefer to stand.”He shrugged. “Suit yourself. This could take a while. I have calls to make.”I flopped onto the couch, wondering if I would ever feel happy again.“So, who’s in the lead after two days?” I asked.“Guess.”“What a farce!”“That’s what Amy said about the whole thing.”“Who are you phoning?”“Alpha Philip.”“What about?”“He called me.”This was getting me nowhere but I wasn’t about to let him off the hook.The conversation was boring at first, but I pricked up my ears at the mention of a new “vampire menace” in the area. Alpha Philip was old enough to be our father and used some odd expressions. Still, it was kind of him to call and could prove useful.I often thought of Mina. If I left a window open tonight, maybe she would find her way to
Amy’s POV I was still in the pack’s infirmary when they brought in a distressed Zena. She was making even less sense than usual, wittering on about “them bloodsuckers”. I turned my face away, too exhausted to deal with this right now. Kane had been to see me with some flowers. Did he know nothing about how to treat his mate? All they did was make me sneeze and I got the nurse to dump them. I really hoped he wasn’t making progress with that Luna calendar, even if it was for his eyes only as he had claimed. Though it could hardly be described as raunchy. It made me laugh to hear Lisa was confined to quarters. Serve her right. And the news was just filtering through that the Delta was missing. “I saw them take him,” Zena insisted, a short time later. She was now fit enough to be discharged, unlike me. “Do me a favour,” I urged my new personal assistant. “Comb my hair before you go.” She beamed as if the very thought of that was a pleasure to her. "You have such a sheen, Luna. I
Amy’s POVSo now we knew. What a mess. Grebe was insisting he’d gotten her with pup. I looked at him as if he was crazy, but Kane seemed to think such a thing was possible: the knowing. Had it worked with me? I wondered.The border guard said he wanted to see Zena to apologise.“I’ll consider it,” the Alpha said.“Only if she agrees.”“Of course, Luna. Nothing excuses what I did. I don’t expect we’ll ever form a relationship, but if there is offspring, I’d like regular access.”“To a hybrid or hybrids?” I asked.Maybe I was being a little harsh. But rape is rape.He shrugged. “Still mine,” he muttered.I couldn’t warm to him and yet I despised him less for that.“How could you ever have suspected Jake?” I stormed to Kane once Grebe had departed.“Given his track record, it was a fair assumption.”“You mean with Lisa, don’t you? Why is she being so difficult? Do we need to contain Blaylock some more?”“No!”His forceful reply shocked me. That was when I knew. Satyr’s influence had outl
Amy’s POVAfter Kane’s assault where he pulled out clumps of my hair, I knew I had to act. Gazing at the roots, I allowed myself the luxury of a few tears, knowing it would keep him at bay.I wasn’t asleep when the first crisis broke. I even blessed Nathan Grebe for taking that monster from my side. Zena was quite safe from him, I was certain, especially under the doctor’s care. So what if the border guard had pre-empted things. For me it demonstrated his innate decency. Or maybe it was just his guilty conscience he wanted to appease.I heard about the rogue the next day. Her scent had been all over the Alpha. If we were true mates I would be close to feral now, wanting to claw her eyes out. As it was, I thanked her for taking what I could not.Francis came to see me once Kane was in his office.“Do you ever sleep, Beta?” I asked.“A few hours here and there. I’ll come straight to the point. It’s about Noah.”“Have you found him?”“No, sorry to disappoint you. I think he was close to
Amy’s POV “What do you want, Blaylock? Tell us,” I dared, not altogether surprised to find I was shaking. “You can’t begin to imagine.” The tinny voice didn’t lessen the impact of his words much. “World domination?” I rolled my eyes. Francis had been watching too much TV. “Lycans only,” came the cryptic reply. “He wants to rid the universe of everyone save his kind.” Jarvis, at least, had a grasp of the situation. “Execute him,” I said, not bothering to conceal my contempt. “How?” Worryingly, the query came from our resident scientist. “Destroy the clone,” Beta Francis suggested. Both Jarvis and I protested. I couldn’t have said why, given my earlier sentiments. But I had a ready excuse. “Blaylock will only find another host,” I said. “Maybe my spirit guide can help.” Expecting to have to explain how it worked with Anastasia, it seemed Francis recalled her unannounced visit. “Blind Stacey.” I was close to reprimanding him for his familiarity when he added, “I liked her.