VICTOR I had never been happier to have a tongue in my mouth than at this moment right here. Being able to finally speak was an advantage. Being able to eat properly and taste my food again was great. Being able to feel Dea's tongue caress mine was spectacular. But, being able to pleasure her the way she had just pleasured me was an opportunity I never thought I would have, and yet, here I was about to do just that. I gripped Dea under her pits and steadied her on her heels before I picked my underwear and pants up, fastening the zip and button but removing the belt. My shirt lay in pieces on the floor from me shredding the material just so I could offer her what she wanted. She could have asked for almost anything and I would have found a way to give it to her. That was why, when she gazed up at me with those pleading doe eyes, a little more of my restraint broke away—not all of it though. I couldn't bed her as much as I craved to because she wasn't ready for what that would mean.
DEA After Victor and I cleaned up, we both agreed it would be best for us to go to sleep before we did something either one of us would regret. I wasn't certain I wanted to go all the way with him. My cravings to feel him next to me grew with each passing moment. I ached for him. With every heartbeat, I yearned for him. The more time we spent together, the more I got to know him as a person and the more I fell. Guilt for moving on so quickly from Jason ebbed and flowed like waves kissing the shore. They were prevalent when Jason was around. Like now for instance. He glared at me from across the lobby, daggers of pure vengeance flying my way. A low growl sounded beside me and the earthy scent that accompanied it instantly had my skin prickling with the memory of last night, "The only reason he's not dead is because of you. I hope you know that."I sighed and shifted my attention to the mammoth of a man who dwarfed me. Using a knuckle to push my glasses up the bridge of my nose, I wh
VICTOR I shuffled in my seat, feeling my ass go numb after the third hour of not moving. Dea was on that God damned plane alone with no one to protect her. I tried my utmost best to get onto the same flight as her but to no avail. The very next flight which left after her was the one I knew I had to book. "Stop moving, big man. I'm trying to sleep over here," Saint grumbled, peaking an eye open at me. "Sorry," I half-heartedly apologized even though I kept shifting until I realized I wouldn't be comfortable until we landed and finally gave up. Saint loosened a breath and sat up straighter in her seat, "Are you two any closer to completing the bond?""I don't know," I answered honestly. My mind trailed back to those treasured moments locked in that hotel room. Moments I wasn't sure I would experience again but I craved them every second I thought of her. The taste of Dea still lingered on my tongue, making me salivate for her like a hu
DEA"What!" The word left my mouth as an expression and not a question. Why? Because my brother had said the most absurd thing to me that my mind couldn't possibly conjure. No one was home. I had come from work and found Sam waiting for me. He said he needed to talk to me. I hadn't expected this conversation to take such a turn. My weekend went great—bar the hiccup of almost dying and finding out vampires existed. But the revelations just kept coming. An onslaught of information that didn't just pertain to this new fantasy world but also me. I raised my hands and began signing aggressively as I paced the length of the lounge, "You're trying to tell me that I might turn into a fluffy, gigantic wolf with enormous fangs. Will I crave raw meat if I do?"Why was that the first question out of the platoon I had which rolled off my tongue?Sam chuffed—almost like a dog—and shook out his hair which had grown a little too long for him before saying in his distorted voice, "No. Not really. Y
VICTOR "There's not much to report, Alpha," one of the wolves whom Saint had assigned to follow Jason informed, "he barely leaves the institute and, if he does, he goes straight home.""Keep watching him. Something doesn't feel right. I don't want to let my guard down and then regret it later on," I ordered whilst scrubbing a hand down my face. Exhaustion weighed heavily on my shoulders. This was what being an Alpha was about. Giving every drop of yourself to the people around you until you were too drained to drag yourself to bed. And, as excruciating as it sounded, it was the most rewarding thing in the world. "Yes Alpha," the man offered me a curt but respectful nod of his head before leaping and shifting into a massive brown wolf. He took off a moment later in the direction of the city. I pivoted until I was faced with the domineering sight of our new pack house. The outer shell was complete, but the inside still had a lot to be done. It was progress. Pride blossomed in my che
DEAHis hands. They were searing hot and all over me, branding my flesh through my clothes. He kissed me like he couldn't get enough of my taste. His soft lips moved against mine—a stark contrast to the prickly feeling of his mustache and beard scraping against my skin. Victor pressed himself against me, pulling me in until not a sliver of oxygen could pass through us. It was hot, and heated, teeth clashing, and tongues twisting. A mix of passion and lust and pleasure and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. Something tugged at my heart and, as my eyes fluttered shut, I saw a literal thread glowing, burning in a white blinding light. I pulled away from Victor, inhaling a sharp breath as I did so. My lungs rejoiced as I fed them the oxygen they were screaming for but I was so consumed by Victor, that I ignored them. "What the hell was that?" My words were fast and frantic as I searched Victor's face for the answers. His sharp features were cast in a shadow due to the
VICTOR "Dea?"Her body lolled in my grasp as she lost consciousness. I placed her down on the marble island, my hand beneath her head so I could be as gentle as possible. Removing my shirt, I cleaned her stomach and tossed it aside before pulling up my pants. I didn't leave her side. Every rise and fall of her chest was a rise and fall of my own. The heartbeats that filled the time between allowed all-consuming fear to slither beneath my skin. Like shards of glass, that fear pierced deeper and deeper inside of me. Was she going to shift now? Did I hurt her? She had to be okay. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if she wasn't. Her dark, straight-as-a-pin silken locks fanned out around her. With less than a thought, my hand disappeared into the thick mane, fingers carding through the soft strands."Wake up, come on," I cooed softly. My eyes wracked down her naked frame, lingering on her perked nipples which pebbled due to the cold draft that ran through the place. I didn't wan
DEAErica blinked at me as if I had sprouted another head from my shoulder. She reached out, fingers almost grazing the mark which sat where my shoulder met my neck, before yanking her hand back as if the mark could bite her. Strangely enough, Victor's bite had healed overnight. What was left behind was a black stain on my skin of a wolf with a ring around it. How a bite healed into such a beautiful design, I didn't understand. The area was still a little red and tender but otherwise, I didn't feel any pain compared to the all-consuming pain which resulted in me losing consciousness last night. "It's gorgeous," Erica whispered as her eyes bounced from one person to the next in the institute's cafeteria, "very eye-catching. Are you sure that came from a bite?" I understood the skepticism perfectly. I stood for half an hour in front of the bathroom mirror when Victor and I got back to the apartment. Every curve and detail was analyzed by my less-than-perfect eye-sight as I prodded th
DEA"Dea, Angel, I'm home." Crystal blue eyes glimmered up at me from the living room rug, filled with mirth and warmth like I had never known. "In here, Papa," she yelled as she pushed herself onto her feet. Angel was ten now. She was a surprise to both Victor and I. We weren't trying for her. At the time, we spent more time apart than we did together—me pursuing my career while he did his thing as alpha. It worked out for us in the best possible way. I managed to go on exhibitions and tours, conduct experiments, and travel the world with Victor. Two years of living that life until one morning I found out I was expecting. And then everything changed. Now she was ten. Now I lived in the sanctuary as a full-time mom and Luna of the pack, and I didn't regret a thing about it. Especially since I couldn't explain my lack of aging to the people around me. Erica was the only one from my outside life to visit me, otherwise, I didn't care for the rest.Victor filled the doorway with his
VICTOR I carved a hand through my hair as the blistering water cascaded down my taut muscles. The sweltering heat did nothing to rid my body of its tension. My guilt refused to swirl down the drain with the soap suds from my body and hair. Maybe it wasn't even guilt anymore. Maybe it was the fact that I missed Saint. I found myself seeking her out during my day. When I needed something done, I'd begin to instruct her only to realize she wasn't there. When I needed to share something, I sought her out. When the pack house was finally complete I couldn't even step into it. I could barely step into my apartment without being reminded of the girl. The girl who never got the chance to fully live. Once the doctor had cleared Dea, she returned to her usual routine. I saw her on the weekends now, unable to bear the thought of entering my apartment. Besides that, I had a lot of work to complete in the sanctuary. Tania had placed a ward around the sanctuary's border. Only wolves I trusted c
DEABeep. Beep. Beep.The sound was the pinnacle of annoyance. It wasn't my alarm going off. Maybe it was Victor's. Maybe he needed to be somewhere. Then, why wasn't he switching the darn thing off?With a groan, I peeled my eyelids open. A blur of white and baby blue assaulted my weak vision. Then the burning scent of disinfectants trickled up my nostrils. Memories of the last time I was conscious came rushing back like a river overflowing its banks during a storm. It swept me off my feet, drowning me in the current. The beeps grew louder and more feverish with every memory that flashed behind my unblinking gaze. I extended my arm out, feeling around for my glasses. When I felt them, I perched it in place with a sound of irritation scratching the back of my throat. The colors solidified. A blindly white ceiling glared back at me. Baby blue walls encased me. The beep was not from an alarm but from multiple monitors hooked up to my arm and body. I was in some sort of hospital room b
VICTOR"Dea!" I had shifted when I watched the horrific scene unfold. She was attacked and I was nowhere near her to help. My claws swiped at the underbelly of a rogue wolf, penetrating deep until guts spilled from the bloodied incisions. They were all going to die. My remorse bled from my wounds and stained the ground, not a drop remaining in my system. Not when one of them had gotten so close to ripping the best thing that had ever happened to me away. Their numbers were finally dwindling while the death count on my land grew at an alarming rate. I wasn't a superstitious man when it came to death but even I had reservations regarding starting a life on land tainted with so much blood. This made me angrier. I tried to do a good thing, tried to help these creatures that were revolting against me, and this was my payment—them going after the person I loved. "I think I've figured out who their leader is."I heard the drawl of Julian's voice before I saw him. A breeze tousled my lon
DEAI had never witnessed murder before. Not with my eyes at least. I went from a wide-eyed, wet-behind-the-ears scientist to this—whatever this was. Jason's death was something that haunted my dreams. In the darkest hours when the shadows grew thicker and the cold was icier, the ominous sound of his neck snapping under pressure weaseled its way into my dreams. Daylight hours were easier to ignore the relentless echo of it which gnawed at my sanity like a dog with a bone. This. This was different. This wasn't murder. This was a massacre and all I could do was sit back and watch as if this was some morbid scene out of Twilight. Except, the vampires didn't shimmer here and the wolves were far more feral. This wouldn't worm its way into my dreams. This would become a night terror, stuck on repeat each time my eyes fluttered shut. I'd never crave the warm embrace of sleep ever again. Because, now, it felt more like claws peeling layers of my skin back instead of the reprieve it was mea
VICTORMy paws thundered against the earthen floor, snapping fallen branches and dried leaves in my wake. A flurry of heavy breaths and howls sounded as a pack of five of us cut our way through the forest toward the sanctuary. Alec had enlisted two other wolves to help him with his breaking and entering abilities along with the theft of blood. We hadn't had to go to a blood bank at all. There was a local blood drive in town to encourage people to donate. We simply tapped into their supply. I was sure they wouldn't miss the ten bags we had nabbed. We made sure to snatch the common types so they could be easily restocked. I accompanied them—along with Saint—to make sure things went as planned and none of the wolves got any nefarious ideas. The duffle hung from my jaw, sharp teeth piercing through the knitted handles. I was as gentle as I could be as I dodged thick roots that arched from the ground and large boulders that served as unrelenting obstacles in my path. A foreboding sensatio
DEA"Hands up or your opponent will easily strike you. Protect your face at all costs so you can anticipate their next strike," Quade ordered. We were only fifteen minutes into my usual hour combat class but I already heaved for air while my lungs threatened to vacate my body to find a new owner that would take better care of them. I had gone to work this morning with three wolves patrolling the building. Victor had even ordered a wolf to trail Erica. As my best friend, she had a target on her back. Or, at least, that was what Sydney implied and Sylvain agreed—something about that happening to her mother's best friend. Of course, I didn't have the heart to tell Erica about everything that was happening. She was already keeping in tune with the office gossip for me. According to the latest office news, a rumor had spread like wildfire that Jason had eloped with one of the interns. Apparently, he and the intern had a relationship for over a year behind my back, and now that Jason and
VICTOR I inhaled deeply, held my breath for five seconds, and then exhaled slowly and steadily as I shut the door. Dea's thoughts were so loud throughout the night I had to build up a mental block between us until she learned to protect her thoughts. Her worry echoed down the bond. Her fear reverberated through my body. Her love spilled into my heart and slithered into the marrow of my bones. I had allowed her thoughts to bombard my head, allowed them to infiltrate like a feral animal gnawing at my sanity. But when her thoughts of loving me fluttered around my mind like a beautiful fragile butterfly that could be squashed at any given moment, I built that wall and kept it up. Everyone had dispersed to their respective rooms. It was late and I didn't want to risk driving back to the city at this hour. The chances of us getting ambushed were high and I had confidence that I could protect Dea. However, I wasn't about to fool myself into thinking I could take out a pack of rogues when I
DEA I wasn't sure what to make of it. After everything that happened with Jason, I thought we had cleared all our hurdles. At least, that was a hurdle in the relationship Victor and I shared. This was a different kind of hurdle entirely. This was not only an attempt on Victor's pack, but also on his life. It put things into perspective. I acknowledged the risks that came with being in a relationship with Victor. Acknowledging them and facing them in reality were two very different things. The thought of losing Victor had a sharp, acidic tang of bile crawling up my throat. I forced it down but the bitterness coated my tongue. It scared me. My fear was palpable and no doubt loud by the way Victor clasped my hand in his and offered a reassuring squeeze. It drowned out my insecurities about Sydney being here. By the way Victor regarded her with an almost cold exterior, I almost felt sorry for the girl. She didn't deserve the knotted ball of wool t