“Your face mirrors my thoughts exactly,” said Dylan, who stood carefully examining Xavier’s expression as he uncovered this surreal truth from his family’s history. “How do you figure that went down?”Xavier shook his head, “A family losing their Alpha status? I couldn’t tell you. I’ve never even heard of something like that happening before.”Dylan spread his hands, gesturing to Victor’s well-appointed estate, “It would explain how Victor’s achieved so much. You think your father knew about the connection.”“It’s possible. If Victor showed this to my father, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that my dad decided to repay Victor in whatever way he thought was fitting.”Xavier thought back on what memories he had of Victor from his time as an Alpha and before. In his youth, the older male had always encouraged his and Sophia’s friendship with Sam, bringing her along with him to meetings with August that the girl would otherwise have no reason to attend, making sure that the t
Looking at the rhinestone-studded, leopard-printed rectangle, it was insane to think how much damage such an innocuous item had caused. Sam had been glued to the thing, spending hours on end scrolling through it as if it held the secrets of the universe.If Xavier was lucky, it would hold the secrets to her death. How had she gotten herself caught up in a conspiracy that had ultimately torn their lives apart? Why had his closest friends been the ones targeted? When he pressed the phone’s power button, he hadn’t really expected it to turn on, so it was a fortunate turn when the screen dutifully sparked to life. The home screen sprung up, making Xavier’s chest constrict. Staring back at him was a photo he didn’t remember taking on a day he didn’t specifically remember spending with anyone else on the screen. His own face sported a rare full-toothed smile that he usually reserved for the girls’ pictures. He had an arm flung around Sam, who, in turn, had an arm wrapped around Sophia. Av
When Ava opened her eyes, it was her own gray gaze staring back at her. She jumped, surprised to find the rest of herself slowly coming into view, starting from the eyes and growing outward until a picture-perfect mirror of herself stood before her.She stared slack-jawed at the carbon copy. Her copper tresses falling to her waist in layered waves, her favorite black silk pajama set, even her sky-blue pedicure – it was all identical to the very slightest detail. Save for one thing.Her clone was glaring at her. And by ‘glaring,’ this was no run-of-the-mill disdainful expression. There was hopelessness, despair, and anger, all topped off with no spare amount of disdain. This ‘other’ Ava was a female wronged…but the target of her ire was unclear.“Are you happy?”Ava blinked in stunned silence as the lips that looked so much like her own moved without her say so. What a strange question. Of course, she was happy – in fact, she couldn’t remember being happier in her life.“Yes,” she said
“So, I take it you’ve fixed the Ava Davis problem?”The expression on Jack’s face told Xavier just how unlikely it was that the healer would believe him whether he told the truth or not. Jack was loyal as the day was long, but he was by no means a yes man. Goddess, but the male was opinionated.“In a sense,” Xavier said, getting out of his car to greet his friend.“That sounds suspiciously like a no, Xavier,” Jack’s brow furrowed as he scolded him.“I haven’t seen you in months, and this is how you greet me?”Save for the rare times when Xavier needed his help to diagnose and treat wayward mates, Jack’s primary duty was to the Pack, so he spent the majority of his time traveling around Red Moon territory providing medical aid to Pack members in need.“And I bet no one else told you how bad it was to keep Ava around in all of that time, did they?” Jack went around to the back seat of his own car to grab his sizable traveling medical kit.A savant in the medical field, Jack could do any
Xavier and Jack had very different reactions to learning that his mother, who they’d only just learned had completely lost all connection to her Wolf, had suddenly found it again. Where Jack sat forward, his full attention turned onto Renata; Xavier was too shocked to make any discernable movements. This revelation could change…everything for him. Not only was he on the cusp of finding actual answers to take back to Ava – Xavier might get his mother back as well. “That’s amazing,” Jack exclaimed. “When did it begin? Can you think of anything, in particular, that may have prompted your Wolf’s return? Have you noticed any changes in your physical or mental wellbeing since reconnecting with her?”When Xavier saw his mother’s eyes begin to glaze over, he put a hand on Jack’s shoulder, putting an end to the barrage of questions. “Steady, Jack. One at a time.”It took a visible effort, but Jack reigned himself in. “Apologies,” he said, giving Renata a reassuring smile. “This is simply an…
Xavier was careful not to let any of his misgivings show on his face as he stood in front of his father the day after learning that after nearly twenty years of marriage, his mother had found her true love in another male. The concept felt preposterous to him, and he felt ridiculous for feeling that way.Their parent’s marriage hadn’t been intact for over three years. What truly stung was the death of a stunted spark of hope that he hadn’t realized he still harbored until he’d realized that his mother was finally going to be able to leave the hospital, but when she did, it wouldn’t mean that his family would go back to the way things were before his sister had been murdered.It was a childish assumption, but it was one that hurt to be dashed. Even without the complicated and unexpected addition of a mate, his mother would still be burned by her time in the hospital – even if it had ultimately saved her life, living the last few years in a drugged haze would have to leave a mark.His f
Ava only stared at the check in Noah’s hand, not making a move to take it from him.Noah’s brow furrowed, “What’s wrong, A? This is a good thing. We’re moving forward.”She nodded numbly. There were too many emotions buzzing around inside her all at once. Her thoughts were deafening. “No, I’m excited. Really, it just feels too…real, you know? I can’t believe that the contract’s already up!”He rubbed her back, “Time flies, doesn’t it?”Ava swallowed as images from her dream came rising back up to the surface, like a monster lurking in the deep. There was the root of her discomfort; time really had flown by, so much so that she hadn’t even realized that her deal with Xavier had been coming to an end.Now, Ava had no idea what would come next. And what’s more, she had nothing left to hide behind. Her dream had left her with the sinking feeling that she’d come to a crossroad. Would she keep living her dream life with Noah, or would she finally face her problems head-on?The slip of paper
A mad dash ensued as Ava and Noah rushed to get themselves straightened up enough to greet Noah’s waiting mother at the door. Ava pulled on a pair of soft black leggings and an oversized sweater before hastily running a brush through her hair. “This is exciting!” Ava said, even though her belly was riddled with nerves. “Did you know she was coming?”Noah cocked his head to the side as he re-fastened his belt, “Does it look like I knew she’d be here?”Ava shrugged, “I don’t know. I thought maybe she’s one of those people who likes to arrive early.”“You can stop trying to give my mother the benefit of the doubt,” he sighed. “She’s the kind of person who likes to keep people on their toes, is what she is.”Ava paused on her way out of the room, “Is it a…problem? That she’s here?”His smile was tight and didn’t reach his eyes, but he shook his head anyway. “No, don’t worry about it,” he said, rubbing her arm as he passed her on his way out of the room. “She’s probably just excited to me
The helicopters hovered above the arena as long dark ropes unfurled from the gaping voids of their cockpits, and soldiers in white began to descend into the Trial grounds. The largest chopper in the group tilted downward, and Xavier watched in horror as gun turrets descended from the vehicle’s hull.Just as he shouted a warning, it was drowned out by the spray of rapid machine-gun fire that bathed the stands where his people, his allies, his mate stood watching on in bewildered shock. It was a stroke of luck and good fortune that Emmaline and Marnie Adair had insisted on attending the Trial along with several other representatives from their coven.The witches were quick to respond, throwing up glimmering shields that did an excellent job of deflecting the rain of bullets, sending them careening off to join the hundreds of other projectiles currently reducing the two-hundred-year-old structure to little more than kindling.Xavier roared his fury and shifted, sna
The weeks leading up to the next month’s Blue Moon and the Trial by Combat scheduled for that night went by surprisingly quickly and quietly. The calm before the storm.Ava, for her part, spent most of that time talking, getting to know as much as she could about her newfound allies. There was a host of information that the spellcasters and the shapeshifters had to bring to the table; doors that she had never known were there to open. Her analytical tactician's mind was thoroughly stimulated at the influx of new information.She had to be thankful that Marnie and Emmaline’s coven had deemed their cause worth investing their time and resources into. And the Selkies? Ava was under no naïve misconception that their involvement was due to anything less than desperation. It just so happened that desperation was as good a motivator as any.Slowly, ever so carefully, Ava worked with Emmaline, Marnie, and the Selkie diplomats to covertly spread the word of th
“The nerve of you is astounding, Adair. What, pray tell, did you think you would accomplish by bringing them here?”The hostile vibe Ava had picked up even from a dozen yards away and through several inches of bulletproof glass somehow didn’t manage to improve by coming into close proximity to the…finfolk? The Selkies, Marnie had called them. People who could turn into seals.It seemed ridiculous, given her own circumstances, that…well, anything really, could surprise her at this point. And, to be fair, it wasn’t the existence of seal people that was currently throwing her for a loop; it was being hit, once again, with the staggering realization of just how little she actually knew about the world around her, her own wider community.And it wasn’t just Ava, either. Through their bond, she could feel Xavier’s mind whirring, struggling to quickly process the new influx of information. Even now, after all this time,
“Alright, alright, shock aside, this is good for us, right?”“That we’re so out of touch that we didn’t even know that there’s an ancient order of witches ruling the world?” “I’m having a hard time tracking your logic, sweets.”“First, to be clear, the institution is ancient, not the witches,” “Well, save for a few that I can think of, but none that we know personally.”“All that aside,” Ava reiterated through gritted teeth. “We all want the same thing! We came here looking for allies to start a new society, and here you all already have irrefutable proof that our plan has legs.”“In theory,” Emmaline emphasized. “Once again, I feel the need to impress upon you the fact that we have no real insight on the inner workings of these pan-supernatural communities outside of the fact that they exist. Much less whether something of the like would
Ava and the Alphas gaped as the two embraced. One female, one woman. One Wolf, the other a human witch. And yet, somehow, they claimed to be sisters. It wasn’t just a turn of phrase or empty words, either. Now that the idea had been spoken, Ava saw the glimmers of recognition solidify into irrefutable shared features between the two.The piercing emerald green of their eyes, the deeply rich, almost black of their hair, even the shapes of their noses and their general bearings were the same.“You’re sisters?” Ava asked.“You’re Alpha?” Liam asked even louder.Emmaline cocked her head to the side in the same bold challenge that Marnie was good for adopting pretty much anytime she found herself speaking with any Wolven male. Ava was beginning to realize that the habit was probably born of more than simply dealing with male bravado.“Why wouldn’t I be?” Emmaline asked, her supple voice thick with saccha
“No.”The line went silent as Ava blinked rapidly, her neurons firing at all cylinders struggling to process the fact that her brother had just blatantly shut down such a simple request for information and why on earth that would be.“Excuse me?” She finally asked. “What do you mean no?”“I mean that I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go meddling in Grave Crown affairs,” he said, his voice stern and giving no quarter. That was all well and good that he felt so strongly, but as long as he was also giving her no answers, ‘no’ wasn’t going to cut it for her.“Grave Crown affairs are Alliance affairs, Aiden. You know that,” she replied.Her brother huffed on the other end of the phone – a frustrated sound. “Even if the Alliance still existed, you, I, and everyone else knows that hasn’t been the case in a long time.”“Bullshit,&rdquo
Ava blinked in and out of consciousness as searing pain ripped through her abdomen. Whenever she surfaced, the renewed shock of pain would cause her to take a quick breath inward that would send yet another, even more, intense wave rocketing through her, sending her back into oblivion.It took a couple of tries and several hours for Ava to wake and stay awake; the pain finally dulled to a thrumming ache. When she could finally open her eyes without her eyelids feeling as if they were made of lead, the first thing she saw was Jack’s pensive face hovering over hers.And the second thing she registered, along with an intense sense of déjà vu, was Xavier’s equally pensive face a little ways off, slumped in a nearby chair.“This feels awfully familiar,” she quipped, her dry throat making her joke sound more like a croak.“Really? And to think that I was just beginning to forget what it was like trying to glue you back togeth
First came the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns. Then came the screams.All around her, bodies flew into motion as she stood with her phone gripped numbly in her fist.“Ava,” she heard Noah’s desperate voice faintly through the other end of the line as if through a fog. “Ava, what’s happening? Talk to me! Has it already started, damn it?!”Without a word in response, Ava ended the call with a flick of her thumb, far too thrown by just how quickly the tide had shifted today. Neia hadn’t just crossed a line – she’d obliterated it and re-drawn a new one in her image.Ava sprung into action, doing the first thing that came to mind as she ran to the nearest emergency call button and smashed it. The system was relatively shiny and new, having only been installed after her run-in with those sadistic bastards in room 701.Now, flashing warning lights lit up every hallway in the building. The blaring alarm made it im
Eight months ago, if someone had told Ava that just the sight of the Green Light Club’s garish neon sign would be enough to make her smile, she would have laughed in their face. Alright, well, she probably wouldn’t have, but she certainly wouldn’t have believed them either.And yet, here she was, grinning from ear to ear, at the prospect of feeling something familiar, even if the majority of her memories of the place were of the variety that was best left forgotten. She was fairly sure that there was probably some sort of clinical diagnosis with a long name used to describe the contextually perverse sense of relief she felt at her first glance of shiny black lacquer and crushed green velvet. Goddess, this place was awful, and she was so glad to be back.Then again, the journey getting back to the club had been fraught enough to make her eager to climb under the first black silk duvet she saw, regardless of the fact that it could never, under any cir