"Do you hear that?" I whispered, snapping my eyes to Milly.
It'd been silent hours. The children thankfully had all gone to sleep and Milly and I were in too much anxiety to speak.
I was dragged away from the flames by two of the men, they squeezed me tight and held my wrists and ankles but there were no stakes anymore. My children were safe and I was unphased by their guns and threats.They weren't going to kill
Leo pushed Andrea off him and he slumped down onto the floor, his eyes wide open at the night sky and his limbs as still as the air.He didn't blink. His chest didn't rise and fall in breath. There was no beating of a heart inside his r
I woke in the soft sheets of my bed, slowly opening my eyes to see Max and Milly sat at my feet."Hey," Milly said softly, reaching for my hand.
"You can't be here," I said at long last."You have every right to be hesitant," he replied, his voice getting hoarser. "But I won't hurt you. I can't hurt you. I'm dying."
A few hours later, Leo and I walked hand in hand through the hospital until we reached the room labelled 'Luca Romano'.He grinned widely as he saw us through the window and started wiggling his legs like an excited child.
The Fifth Book in the Alpha Loren Series coming to GoodNovel now!The Rise of the AlphaThere are few things you can do as Alpha of the Stella pack without attracting unwanted attention. Going off the rails months before inheriting the Alphaship isn't one of them.The fate of the Stella pack rested on Cato's shoulders. That's an enormous weight for a sixteen-year-old, and as his seventeenth birthday neared, it grew unbearable. So he turns to drugs and crime, leaving the pack vulnerable to opportunistic enemies.But with trouble bubbling on the horizon and everything at stake, will Cato rise to defeat it? Or will the great Stella pack finally meet its end?
PrologueDear reader,Life is a road.Whether we travel it skipping and singing or dragging our feet, we all have a journey to make. Us ordinary people navigate our own way through the maze of junctions and turnings to where we want to be. Some of us get lost along the way, some find other destinations before the right one, but it’s all part of the adventure we call life.Cato Loren’s road was a little different.On the day he was born, it was paved from beginning to end in a straight, untwisting, unwavering line. No exits, no slip lanes, no laybys. Each sign pointed to one destination: becoming Alpha.This doesn’t sound like the makings for a particularly interesting story. A child is born and seventeen years later he becomes an Alpha. That's it, right?If only it could have been that simple…
December 19th - six months before Cato becomes AlphaLeo's point of viewIt was past midnight, and the forest was deadly dark. Thick clouds covered the moon, but I had the gravelly snarls of my men and the wretched stench of rogues to follow. As rain fell, I pulled my hood over my head, but the water soaked through, oozing into my clothes and sticking to my skin.“Alpha,” Blair said as I emerged from the forest.A circle of my men in wolf form surrounded six strangers. Their hair was matted, their clothes ripped, and each one shook as my men snarled and growled.“They were found crossing the Northern border,” Blair said, standing next to me and folding his arms, “Rogues for sure.”Terror gripped their faces as rain streamed down their foreheads, dripping from their noses and running over their lips.What a miserable way to die.“Bring one to me.”Blair stepped th
December 23rdCato’s point of viewI stood by my office window in the base, my Dad beside me. In the street below, a nurse walked Adelaide out of the hospital. When she flew in from Vermont two days ago, she couldn’t walk, her skin sickly white and her body frail and weak.Now we watched as she sprinted across the street to where her father was standing. She leapt into his arms as he squeezed her tight and swung her around, kissing her head repeatedly.“You may come to regret letting him walk free, Cato,” Dad said, “But must say, I’ve never seen him love anyone, let alone that much.”I’d spent all morning speaking to Adelaide. Everything she and Luciano said matched perfectly, giving me no reason to suspect any malicious intent.“Maybe he had no one to love until Adelaide came along,” I said, “With no parents and you as his only friend, it must have been lonely.&rdq
December 20th Cato’s point of viewWhen Dad and I came home, I was greeted by Jess striding down the hall. She grabbed my face in my cheeks and kissed me, clutching my shirt in her fist.“Thank you,” she said as I pressed my forehead against hers, “I’m so glad we’re all safe.”I glanced over her shoulder. Her parents sat in the living room, wrapped in blankets, watching us.“Have you told them about us?”She nodded as she took my hand to lead me into the living room. My Mom and Grandad sat with them, steaming cups of coffee in their hands.“Alpha,” Jess’s father said, getting to his feet, “Thank you again.”I nodded, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile. The last time I looked into those eyes, he was punishing Jess and me for loving each other.“... I also owe you an apology. I sho
December 20thCato’s point of viewLuciano sat on the opposite of the table, his wrists shackled and four guards in the room. My Dad sat next to me, staring at Luciano, not saying a word.“Why didn’t you just ask?” I said.Dad scoffed, “Because he knew the answer he’d get.”“I would never refuse to help a nine-year-old with terminal leukaemia,” I said.“Then your father failed to raise you well,” Luciano said, his eyes shifting from Dad to me, “You don’t help your enemies.”“He has his mother’s heart,” Dad said, “She helped you even after you gave Andrea Martinez the coordinates of the bunker all our children hid in.”“And if she hadn’t, you would be drinking champagne with your Lunas tonight. But here you are in a dark prison cell with me.”I res
December 20th- at duskCato’s point of viewI walked through the forest with Elias and Milly, only our heartbeats pounding in our ribcages to fill the silence. After crossing the border, we soon reached the designated meeting point.“Are you ready, Milly?” I asked.“I haven’t used my powers for anything other than healing in years,” she said, looking at her hands, “Let’s hope it’s a force of memory.”Two figures emerged from the shadows of the trees, the fading light falling on their faces.“Good evening, Alpha,” one said.He looked as Elias had described. An unsettling smile and dark boring eyes. A couple of feet behind him stood Nicolos Jones.“Grandfather?”With his face stony and cold, he didn’t utter a word.“Your Grandfather has decided I can offer him more than y
December 20th Leo’s point of viewElla and I were in the kitchen opening a bottle of champagne, awaiting all our family and friends for a party.“Is that the one we’ve been saving?” she asked.I drew behind her and rested my hand on her hip.“Yes. We have a lot to celebrate. I have finally retired, our son is successfully Alpha, and has found his Luna. Elias is also remarkably alive and maybe won’t be an entirely useless Beta.”She grinned as I leant in to kiss her.“I also have a beautiful mate and a reason to celebrate every day.”Through her sheer cotton dress, my fingers pressed against her curves. I had to drag my lips away and take a deep breath.“If I touch you any more, I won’t stop.”She turned and rested her hands on my chest.Her lips were millimetres from mine as her fingers
December 20th Cato’s point of viewWhen Elias, Jess and I escaped the crowd to a quiet part of the forest, I lifted Jess and spun around. She giggled and grabbed my face, pressing her lips against mine.“My handsome Alpha,” she said, running her hands down my chest, “And Elias, you never told me you were going to be Beta!”Elias’s lips twitched, “Well, we were busy running for our lives.”I put Jess on the ground as Elias held his shoulders tense, worry etched on his face.“What?”“I found Jess in Vermont,” he said.Vermont...“Alongside men with dark markings on their skin like those who attacked-”“Lili,” I whispered, “The ones after something from Stella.”Jess nodded, “We didn’t know until it was too late. When the Alpha learnt of my relati
December 20th - forty-five minutes before Cato becomes AlphaCato’s point of viewAfter a lot of hugging, crying from Granny, and congratulations from my Grandads, my Dad looked at his watch.“Shit, we don’t have long,” he said.My Mom glanced at Jess and Elias, her eyes wide. The forest entwined with their hair, rips left their clothes in ruins, and mud and dirt covered them head to toe. She took Jess’s hand.“I have a dress that will fit you,” she said, pulling her toward the stairs. “Cato, sort your Beta out with a suit.”Elias and I ran upstairs. He just had time to wash the mud off his face, comb his hair and slip into one of my old suits.“Very dapper,” I said as he came out of the bathroom, buttoning his sleeves.He gave me a twirl, a grin on his face, “Do I look like a Beta?”I cocked my head and examined him.“M
December 20th - the day Cato becomes AlphaElla’s point of viewCato stood in front of the mirror, dressed in his finest suit as I tied his tie. I wound the silk fabric around and tucked it underneath, finishing with a perfect knot. After smoothing his collar and straightening his jacket, I looked up.“How are you feeling?” I asked.His cheeks were taut, a mechanical expression holding his lips, and his eyes glazed.“Like this is going to be the worst birthday of my life,” he said, not taking his eyes off the reflection in the mirror.It was 11 am. The ceremony was just after midday at the time of the solar noon, but still no sign of Elias.“He’s not going to be here, is he?”I shook my head as he took a shaky breath.“But everyone else is. They’re all waiting downstairs.”I walked with Cato to the top of the stairs. In the ha
Ten days ago...Elias’s point of viewThe bus left me in the middle of Vermont’s most remote forest.I’d been travelling for eleven days, avoiding towns and main roads so Alpha Loren couldn’t track me. I only turned my phone on to text home when I could get a fast ride away from where the signal would trace to, and every time I rode the bus or train, I covered my face with my hoody.My plan was against Cato’s wishes. The Alpha and Luna would never allow it either. But this is what Cato needed, and I couldn’t let them stop me.I glanced around. That was the final bus I needed to take, meaning my destination was a short walk away, yet there was nothing except a rusty bus stop sign and trees for miles. But the coordinates led me here. This had to be it. So taking a deep breath, I stepped off the single-track road and headed West.The trees loomed over me, casting distorted, shadowy shapes on the ground