Jonathan was already home when I arrived home from work. He looked more bothered than usual.“What’s going on?” I asked him, sitting beside him on the couch. I entwined my fingers through his and peered up at him through my lashes.“An outsider has been hunting on our grounds,” he answered.“What?” I asked, keeping my wording short. That couldn’t have been right. No wolf dared to hunt outside their given hunting grounds. It was against the law and violating that specific law could mean death on their end.Nobody was that stupid.“Edward Harris came to my office today and told me that they could smell an outsider as they hunted this morning. I went down to the woodland forest with Chief Miller and his deputies to check it out,” he explained.“Was it another pack?” I asked.“I’m not sure yet. They are still out there tracking the scent,” he answered.If it’s a wolf from a pack, that could cause a territory war to break out between packs. A lot of innocent wolves could die; women and chil
They mated. Erick mated with my 16-year-old half-sister, Ronnie. This was not something I wanted sprung on me right now. The fact that one of Jonathan’s best friends mated with someone in my family that I don’t trust whatsoever. Now he’s all defending her and telling me I need to give her a chance.Like hell, I’d do that. “Arina?” Jonathan said, trying to calm me down. I’ve been fuming and walking back and forth for the whole hour after they all left. I’m not even sure what to say at this point. This is all too much for me, and on top of that, I’m PREGNANT.“Arina!” Jonathan said again, this time louder.I stopped pacing to look at him.“You are getting so worked up over this,” he said.“He mated with Ronnie, Jonathan. Ronnie!” I yelled.“I get that. I do. But maybe he’s right. Did you ever actually speak to Ronnie?” He asked.Since all the years I’ve known Ronnie, we have never actually had a full conversation. So, I knew he was right. I never knew what to say to her. I hated to ad
Silverside was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. It was a city of silver concrete skyscraping buildings that practically touched the clouds. The roads were made from freshly paved cement and were filled with tons of rush-hour traffic.I had never seen this many cars in my life; I’ve lived in the countryside my whole life that I almost forgot that cars existed. Except for Jonathan’s, but we don’t use it that often. Just as there were many cars on the roads, there were probably more people swarming the streets.Looking over at Jonathan, he seemed to be just as amazed as I was.Rolling down the window I was hit with the scent of street food from a nearby vendor. They seemed to be selling hot dogs and fried dough. I’ve never tasted fried dough before, but I knew Natalie at the bakery in Sabrebite, has been bragging about her fried dough recipe for a long time.As we pulled up to the Conway Manor, my mouth dropped open. It sat on a hilltop of leafy green grass and blooming spr
Watching Arina from across the ballroom, Boris knew he was in trouble. She found the paintings that Emlin had done and from her reaction, she knew her mother painted them. Once she noticed the watermark she was stumbling backward and looked to be almost sick.The only reason she would react like that is if she knew something was going on.Boris couldn’t get over how much of Emlin was inside of Arina: personality, interests, even her looks.Arina’s eyes scanned the ballroom until they found Boris.He thought back to the last day he saw Emlin. It was the day she painted that photo. Nikini was out of town at a conference and Emlin was staying over for a few days. Arina, at the time, was just an infant. After Boris’s and Emlin’s first night of passion, it was something that neither of them wanted to end. Emlin felt safe with Boris and Boris had felt something he hasn’t felt in a long time. Happiness.As much as he loved his luna to be, Nikini, there was something about Emlin that was unf
It was true.My mother had an affair with Boris Conway.Boris’s study was on the other side of the manor. It reminded me of a mini-library. It was far enough away from the ballroom where I couldn’t hear the party going on and where we wouldn’t be interrupted.Boris insisted we spoke further about my mother, but at a faraway distance from Nikini because she doesn’t know any of this information and he’d rather keep it that way.Jonathan wanted to join in on the meeting, afraid of leaving me alone. But I insisted that this was something I needed to do by myself. So, he settled on waiting in the hallway and keeping a lookout for unwanted visitors.Jonathan warned me not to mention anything more about my father to Boris. He was afraid that it might stir up some issues amongst Alpha’s; especially ones that were involved with the same wolf.“So, what my father said was true?” I asked softly. “My mother had an affair with you?”Boris nodded once.“Yes,” he answered. “I wasn’t aware he knew.”“
Jonathan didn’t like leaving Arina home alone after the week they’ve had, but Chief Miller wanted to speak with him at the Grower Howler Police Station.The police station was a small brick building towards the center of town. Inside the police station, the deputies remained at their desks filling out files and documents.Chief Miller was waiting in his office, in the back of the station near the jail cells. The jail cells only consisted of a few wolves that were caught stealing from locals. Most of the bigger crimes from wolves would be sent to Silverside where they kept the prison. Anyone in custody had to be cufflinked which prevented them from changing into their wolf forms. Only the chiefs had access to disarming the cufflinks.Chief Miller sat at his desk, looking uneasy, as Jonathan entered.“What’s going on?” Jonathan asked as he sat at one of the chairs placed in front of the desk.“We were able to trace the scent back to a pack,” Chief Miller went on to say.Jonathan swallowe
Jessica arrived a few hours after Jonathan left. I was relieved when she showed up. I haven’t been able to spend time with her since before I married Jonathan and it’ll be nice to enjoy this time together. “I need all of the details of your Silverside trip,” she started as soon as she got there.We had just returned from Silverside yesterday and I haven’t had the chance to tell her about anything yet.She sat on the couch and peered up at me with big curious eyes.“It was definitely interesting,” I told her. She waited patiently for me to continue. “Boris was different than I expected.”“Was he as amazing as I imagine?” She asked.“Boris was pretty great,” I told her. “Nikini and Makenna, not so much.”Her face fell.“Really? But they are both so beautiful!” Jessica cooed.I rolled my eyes.“That doesn’t mean they are good people. They are snobby and act like they are above everyone and everything,” I explained.“But they are! They are filthy rich,” Jessica said.“I know and they know
She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Since he showed up at the oak tree in the center of town and told her how she is his mate, she hasn’t been able to get him out of her mind. She hasn’t told anybody about this; not that she had many people to talk to anyways.The moment she saw him, she felt something for him. That was undeniable. But meeting your mate at such a young age, was terrifying. Then again, Arina basically met her mate when she was born.For a long time, Ronnie envied Arina. She was strong, outspoken, and knew what she wanted out of life. She had friends that loved her and a mate that would do anything for her, even when she didn’t know he was her mate.Then her wedding, ugh her wedding.It was so beautiful that Ronnie wanted to cry. The autumn colors, the beautiful gardens, Arina’s dress. It was all so perfect. Ronnie couldn’t help but be a little bit jealous of her.As a child, Ronnie only wanted that sisterly relationship, but it didn’t seem like Arina was ever going to
Ronnie stood in the mirror, staring at her small figure as the white gown hugged her body perfectly. She wore a strapless wedding gown that had light pink flowers decaling the sides and wrapping around her waist. The dress flowed delicately around her legs and down to the ground, expanding its lacy fabrics around her feet.She wore her hair down but pinned back with a white barrette that had small pink flowers entwined in it; her hair also had the same pink flowers looped around her curly locks.Arina was in charge of doing her makeup and she did a perfect job; she made it seem like Ronnie wasn’t wearing any makeup at all, but it still highlighted her fair features, brightening them.As she finished getting ready, Jonathan and some of their other friends were setting up the wedding venue at the Oaktree. Ronnie wanted to get married somewhere that was meaningful to everyone. She figured the Oaktree would be perfect, that way she knew Emlin would also be attending and a part of the wedd
I’ve been scared. The last couple of weeks has been a little rough on me mentally and physically. Since we returned home from the Overseer manor, my body hadn’t wanted to cooperate with me. It started with my mood swings; I’ve been snapping at Jonathan for no reason. My body has been sore all over. I’ve had this migraine I couldn’t shake. I’m overly tired.I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me until this morning when I tried to change into my wolf form to go hunting and I realized I couldn’t.Pregnant?Could I really be pregnant? Were we ready to have another baby?Emee was still a lot to take care of and they were still so young. However, now that I was a full-fledged adult werewolf, that meant this round of pregnancy should be a lot easier and less painful. Hopeful I won’t almost die during this childbirth.“What’s wrong?” Jonathan asked as he came into our bedroom.I was standing in front of the mirror, staring at my body. I already had body dysmorphia and hated the way I looked; no
It was time.It was time he finally took on the role as Overseer; officially. The world needed an Overseer, and he couldn’t delay the process any longer. They’ve gone too long without any actual order and because of that, so many people had gotten hurt. A lot of packs have been overturned; Alpha’s are abusing their powers and hurting their lunas.Witches are being summoned and used for attack. It wasn’t fair to everybody to have to continue living in fear. Even when every obstacle that came their way was defeated, a lot of wolves still got hurt and killed because of everything that’s happened.Arina’s mom, Jonathan’s dad, Jessica, Spencer, Anderson, Nikini, and even Arina at times have had it so badly this past year. He could hardly imagine what the rest of the world was looking like without Jonathan by their side.He didn’t want to wait around to find out any longer. He needed to start being the Overseer that everybody deserved. He was ready to rise to the top.He called his mom over
Weeks had gone by since I spoke to Jessica about Spencer. From the sounds of the guest room not long afterward, it seems she took my advice and decided to give Spencer a try. I hadn’t mentioned to Jessica about being able to hear them because I didn’t want to embarrass either of them. But I was glad Jessica finally listened to her howling wolf and gave in to her desires.Since then, they’ve been closer than ever. Wherever Spencer goes, Jessica goes, and vice versa. It was nice to see her finally loosening up since Greggory and actually trusting another male wolf. They both had it rough in their lives; Jessica a little bit later in life, but what she went through was terrible and it nearly killed her.I couldn’t blame her for having these trust issues.When she had amnesia, she didn’t remember all the things she’s been through with Greggory. Sure, she had the evidence of the abuse and knew what happened, but she didn’t have those painful memories that came attached with them.Maybe wit
He was always around now; one minute he was a mystery guy in the town of Moon-Valley and now he was living in the room next to hers. Spencer. What kind of name is Spencer anyways? Why did he have to show up and turn everything around? Not that he did anything bad. Actually, he kind of saved her life and she would forever owe him that debt. But she didn’t want to owe anyone new a debt that couldn’t repay.He was always looking at her with this loving admiration bullshit and she just got her heart ripped out of her chest by a man she used to look at like that. She thought she knew what love was and she thought she finally found her mate but ended up being a complete lie. She would be stupid if she fell for that again. She couldn’t fall for that again.But Spencer didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would lie to her; then again, neither did Greggory. She knew Greggory her entire life and she thought he was someone she could trust. Sure, he was a flirt with the ladies around town and did
Jonathan seemed weird when they returned from Silverside. Well actually, he seemed weird after he returned from his night in the town with Boris. But she wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed, so she didn’t bring it up.Things were finally starting to be good again and she didn’t want to ruin that for anybody. In a couple of weeks, she was going to be celebrating her 17th birthday party. She was excited to be that much closer to adulthood where she can finally marry Erick and have him as her mate. She wanted more than anything to spend the rest of her life with her mate.Erick kept saying he had a surprise for her on her birthday; she already knew they were going to have a huge party in Ironclaw, but she didn’t’ know what the rest of the surprise was going to be. She had to admit that she was curious and excited all at the same time. She was happy to get together with her friends and family to finally have some fun and have no worries.Things were finally getting better.Jonathan and Ari
Arina, Emee, and the rest of the crew stayed back at the manor once the ceremony came to an end. Jonathan wasn’t planning on telling anybody, other than Boris where he was headed. He didn’t want to worry anybody, but there were questions he needed answered.He told everybody he was going out into the town with Boris to try and get his mind off Nikini’s death. Which he fully plans on doing, but he also needed to make a small stop somewhere first and speak with somebody.The prison waiting room was quiet; just the light tapping of the dispatcher typing away on his computer in the corner of the room. The television was turned off because of how late it was. Boris didn’t ask any questions as to why Jonathan wanted to see Rock. He was done asking questions about anything now.Jonathan followed Boris through the male wing of the prison; it was much like the female wing, except it smelled fouler. Like Willa, Boris was kept at the far end of the prison. Once they reached his door, Jonathan co
A few days had passed since Willa and Greggory were defeated and locked away. Ronnie and Erick finally felt safe enough to return to Ironclaw full-time and stay in the house they took from Rock. Jessica and Spencer stayed in our guestroom because Jessica didn’t feel comfortable returning to the home she shared with Greggory.She says there are too many painful memories that took place in that home in such a short time that she couldn’t bear going back there anytime soon. I couldn’t blame her. That was the house he was once married to Rachel in. That was the house where he nearly killed Jessica and she was trapped inside.Spencer was glad to be anywhere, as long as he got to be near Jessica. I think she was still conflicted and confused about her own relationship with Spencer. She doesn’t remember anything from when she lost her memory; so whatever connection she once had with him, was completely gone. Except for the connection, she felt when she first met him.She no longer trusted he
Spencer was waiting for us outside the bunker doorway; his features looked pale white. I saw some blood trickling from his knuckles from when he was punching the door in an attempt to get it open. As we approached him a flood of relief washed over him, and I could literally hear his heart rate lessening.“I brought some reinforcements,” I told him, motioning for my mom and Naomi.He stepped aside from the door to join me as we watched my mom and Naomi approach the door cautiously.“Were you able to hear and speak with them?” I asked, keeping my tone low.He shook his head; the grim look on his face returned.“No, I tried to link them, and I couldn’t get a hold of either of them,” Spencer said.That wasn’t sounding good; that heavy feeling in my stomach was returning.“With the enchantment, Willa put on the bunker, it seems she put a block on it as well. You won’t be able to communicate with them until we get it open,” Naomi answered, overhearing our conversation.I breathed out in rel