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
Ava had been confused when Noah’s mother had dropped by their home and begun asking incredibly invasive questions and spouting vague rhetoric with very little context or payoff. She’d been perplexed when all but kicked his mother out of the house instead of allowing her to make a point. But now, hours after he’d gotten into his car and disappeared without a word, Ava was downright pissed. As it was, there were too many unknown variables for her to piece together what the hell was going on between the two of them, much less whatever part Neia Thomas wanted her to play.Ava wanted desperately to believe the best of Noah and that he, in turn, wanted what was best for her. Nothing else made sense to her. She didn’t have to be here because Noah didn’t have to pick her up from the club in the first place. Ava had been upfront with him from the beginning that she didn’t have anything to offer him but herself, so what could his mother see in her that was worth poaching?Who’s to say that wha
Noah looked across the room to where Ava’s sleeping form lay wrapped up in the bed they’d made together and throttled the creeping feeling that years of best-laid plans were slipping out of his grasp.Careful not to make a sound, he backed out of their bedroom and closed the door firmly behind him. By the time he made his way down the dark corridor to his office, his phone was already ringing. “Mother.” He said in greeting as he rounded his desk and sat heavily in the deep brown leather chair behind it. “Did you tie up your loose ends, Noah?”He sighed. No, Neia Thomas was not a subtle person by any stretch of the imagination. But it soul even a fraction less bold, could never have hoped to accomplish the things she had. It was times like these – and over the years, there had been plenty – that he needed to remind himself of the fact that his mother’s vision, while grand and dangerous, was ultimately good.And she’d gone through hell to see it come to fruition.Born in a small rural
The night was dark as pitch out in the country, and the air held a frigid bite that made it known that summer was well and truly over. Ava made short work of her dash off of Noah’s property, navigating the forest adjacent to the main driveway in order to keep the automatic floodlights from going off.She wasn’t hiding from Noah, necessarily. Ava didn’t know exactly how he’d react to finding out that she’d slunk out of the house in the middle of the night without telling him, but she didn’t think he’d react too poorly. Of course, only a day ago, the sliver of doubt she carried wouldn’t have existed at all.But yesterday, she’d been willfully ignorant. Ridiculously comfortable with the idea of living with a near-stranger she knew next to nothing about, just because he treated her well. Ava cared for Noah so much, but it shouldn’t have taken such a rude awakening for her to realize that she’d allowed her life to revolve around him. Just like her life had revolved around Xavier before him
It didn’t take long before the gabled rooftops of Shady Oak proper rose to cast a whimsical silhouette against the stary backdrop of the night sky. Ava expected Aiden to stop at some point so that they could put together a game plan on how to best find Marnie, but to her surprise, he kept going until finally coming to a stop in front of a large Victorian home.It was beautiful and stately, just like the many of the decades-old homes that made Shady Oak the quaint old-world retreat that it was. It was pleasantly secluded, taking up a large corner lot that was surrounded on all sides by trees.Ava had no idea how Aiden knew that this home belonged to Marnie, but he seemed awfully confident as he shut his bike down and removed his helmet.“How do you know that this is the place?” She asked.“I told you I ran perimeter as soon as we got here. This place reeks of witchcraft…no offense.”“None taken.”They both jumped and whipped around to find Marnie sitting on the retaining wall behind th
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