~~~ Yesterday ~~~ Pierce hangs up the phone. He should be here already, but there he goes, demanding shit as if he doesn't have orders. There’s only ever been one other time when he’s used the friendship we have for personal gain, if you can even call it that. If Pierce wanted to leave, he'd be gone. Whoever needed to be dead, would be, and he'd be here by nightfall. That's how this works. Whatever my father wants, he does. Whatever my father asks of me, Pierce does out of loyalty. I took care of him. I presented my father with a cruel boy who has a blackened heart and nothing to his name… and he made him into his, my, biggest weapon. But no, 'WE still need a single distraction and transport,' he said, still clinging onto that girl. That girl is a pawn, one I need, and she’s making him sloppy. He may have fallen prey to her charms, but the Pierce I know wouldn’t have let that happen. It was impossible to make a counter-ability plan for an Iota when Pierce being put in ch
Heaviness is weighing down on me, the pressure of it feeling more solid than fluid. I’m not in the water. Opening my eyes feels just as impossible. Except, every flutter brings the pain of what feels like sand under my lash line before they draw back together like magnets, but the only thing to see is darkness. And not the kind of darkness I'm used to, that I wish I was seeing right now… this is just dead space darkness. That’s what I wish I was... dead.I don’t want to open them. I can’t face whatever lies on the other side of the darkness. Not when seeing him with her broke my heart. No. Broken isn't quite strong enough, not when it ripped savagely in half. It’s irreparable. Stupid… little… Devlin. ‘Of course she’s in there…’ Brixton’s voice had carried through the house softly, ‘...we’re home free now, love.’I tried to get up slowly, to go see what I didn’t want to believe my ears were hearing… but seeing it was so much worse. ‘You’ve got the money?’ His voice continued thr
A sudden burst of light wakes me, burning into my eyes and making it impossible to see through, when a small voice cuts through the silence. “I don’t understand what he sees in you.” I sit up quickly, trying desperately to see through the light, but no matter how much I try, the contrast between the darkness they kept me in and the light is too much right now. “Pathetic,” she continues, “I’ve been watching you for a while now… trying to figure it out… but it just continues to not add up.” The sounds of metal scraping on the floor has me tensing, my wrists screaming in response at where the restraints feel like they are slicing into my skin. “I wasn’t sure she would follow through with the trade,” her footsteps sound closer and closer to me, “everyone thinks you need fear… but money and favors can be a much better motivator.” Chocolate-covered-peanuts, eyes! The one time I need them to work and they suddenly don’t know how to function in light. “Do it then!” I scream as the
The tension on my wrists suddenly loosens, and even though I want to will my arms in front of me, the numbness in them only allows them to fall flat beside me. “In fact,” Trent’s mate walks around to where I can see her, “I’ve just helped you, fed, and watered you.” “You set this whole thing up,” I snap, “and when Trent finds me-” “He’s never going to find you,” she smiles, swinging the keys around one of her fingers as she speaks to me, “he won’t even look. Once he’s fully mine, I’ll let someone find you, and take you back to the Stones.” Both outcomes are things I don’t want. Trent will find me, of that I’m almost positive, but when he does, my life is over regardless. I’ll die by his hands, or he’ll lock me up until he needs to use me or bores of me again. “You’ll see,” I taunt her, smiling right back at her, wishing she’d rethink her stance on this. It could be so much simpler for both of us if she let me go now, and I would stay true to my word. “WE will, won’t we? Because
The light assaults my eyes as they fly open, blinking through the pain of it until I see her pacing at the far end of the room. She stops immediately as I sit up and rushes at the cage, colliding with it roughly, and making the metal bars shaking from the contact. “What the hell is so special about you? HUH?” She’s screaming at me, but her words aren’t reaching me. I’m not interested in what she has to say, just the way that she keeps grabbing onto the bars in between words. I watch the way her hair passes through them, angry with myself for how weak I feel, but then she rounds the cage. My fingers pass over the rough edge of the scar on my chest, and while I’m not sure when my hand got there, I am sure that if I’m strong enough to survive this long… I’m strong enough to survive her.Pain blasts across my skull as she reaches through and grabs a fistful of my hair, pulling the back of my head tight against the bars. My vision clouds as her fingers curl tight against my scalp and s
I'm not sure where I'm going, or what is out here under cover of the light, but every step coats my skin with the familiar heat of the sun, and every blink brings a little more clarity. Nothing but trees lie ahead of me, and with the full sunlight out, this is about to be the shortest hunt of her life. My feet dig into the dirt and moss below them, my legs carrying me through the open spaces as quickly as they can. I used to be fast. Faster than all the boys… faster than Donny… but not as fast as Brixton. His name echoing through my head brings a sense of freedom that has no place on this run. I was running for my life then too. I just didn't realize it, but now the stakes are higher. My chest rises and falls quickly as I beg for more oxygen to flood through me. With every step my knees threaten to give out, the exhaustion creeping in, and my hands ache from every rough branch I've gripped and propelled past. I’ve been running for what seems like an eternity when up ahead a small
The wolf tries to recover from its fall quickly but ends up limping its way back to solid ground. Every step it takes, it has to drag with it what looks like metal jaws. Sharp, metal teeth that are piercing into its hind leg, clasped around it and leaving behind a trail of blood. The longer Corbyn stands there casually looking at it, the more confused I grow. This should be ruining his plan… unless it’s not her… or unless him leaping over that exact spot was no accident. “Devlin,” he finally speaks in my direction, as if we're old friends who are casually passing each other by. "Did you set that?" I whisper so low that I’m not sure he’ll hear me, but an amused huff has my head swinging his way. His face gives nothing away as usual, and just as the corner of his mouth tips up, unnoticeable to anyone else, another three wolves descend from the tree line. Their heads are all low to the ground, growling with their teeth bared, as they approach with tentative steps until one looks
"She won't be fully healed in two days," Mary says cautiously. "She doesn't need to be," Corbyn lazily inputs from across the room as Trent licks at my shoulder more, "out." Mary leaves promptly, never so much as looking back at me, but she never did. "Two days?" Corbyn practically stares through me at my question. "Two days," Trent repeats, exchanging the robe I'm wearing for a dress, "until the full moon marks our marriage." My eyes lock into his, "But what about my birth-" "I'm not waiting another nine days," he brushes my hair over one shoulder, leaving his mark on display, "the pack won't stand for it." He presses a long slow kiss to my lips, seemingly over the roadblock that was his mate, "I have to tend to a few things, Corbyn will be with you." He turns to leave, but being left with Corbyn is a terrible idea. Trent hasn't left my side since he carried me from the forest yesterday, and it's a reaction I can't control when I reach out and grab his arm, pulling at him t
Thank you to everyone who took this journey with me at a much slower pace than usual! Is Devlin out? Is she in? Are we ready for a change of scenery? A lot more spice?? Book 2 is the last book in the "Where The Monster's Hide" Series, and is my sole focus until completion. It will be less dark themed, and more spicier, where all the burning questions will be answered and we'll see Devlin elevate - any guesses? Need to know when Book 2 releases? Find our F B group and you'll be the first to see the blurb, the cover reveal, and know when it plans on launching!
“You kissed her,” I say and Brixton’s eyes grow lighter, but I’m not second-guessing anything this time. He gave me a chance once. How true that chance was, I’ll never know, but I should have taken it then, and I’m not remaking mistakes when I’m so close. “Devlin, I-” His words are cut short when the knives that were tucked into the back of my dress, are firmly planted in his lower abdomen. He falls to his knees, and mine buckle, but I don’t have a heart left to care… I gave that away when he destroyed it. The light blue in his eyes tries to hold onto me, or maybe it’s me trying to hold onto them… because I’m not planning on ever seeing them again. The tears stream down my face as he clutches onto his stomach, unable to say anything to me, as the grape scent that used to lull me, burns with every step I take as I run from him… …from this room… …from this life. I slide my shoes off as soon as I am through the tree line. The silver blades will buy some time, but not much. But
I was expecting a big finale, a flood of liquid, but all I feel is underwhelmed at the trickle of what the pill had to offer as the liquid slides past my lips to his… and it tastes… good. “Dee,” Trent breathes in confusion, angry as he reaches for me. I step back, expecting him to lunge forward, but he drops to the ground in front of me, grasping onto his throat. “What have you done?” The old man gasps, hurriedly trying all the door handles, in hope one will open, as I watch Trent’s face turn color. The closer his body gets to laying on the floor, the more victorious I feel. I may still die here, but I did this… I killed him. Darcia had her wires crossed. Smart, but dumb. She thought I was the one in the house with a pineapple allergy, that she could take me out and have it look like a fluke allergy, but she just killed the one thing she wanted most. A laugh bubbles up inside of me as I lick my lips, watching his chest stop moving, nothing will ever taste this good. Clap…
Pungent acid rises in my throat as my back presses into Corbyn, and the sounds of me gagging only filter through, as his voice does, "Not in the dress." I spin in his arms, but as I go to find solace in his touch, I find myself pressing against where he's holding me at an arm's length. "You'll ruin your makeup," he says, as if I just unboxed a plant. "You knew," I yell, shaking my head as I try to back up from him, but he grips onto me right before I stumble backward. "You didn't think he would let Gavin get away with trying to claim the prize, did you?" “What are you-” I’m mid-scream when he interrupts me, “A Queen's debt, is a King’s to settle." "How did he even know that, Corbyn?" I step into his space, needing to hear him confirm it, for him to say it out loud… he told him. I can wait all I want here, but the silence from him is exactly what I expected, it’s the calmness that’s fallen over me, that I didn’t see coming. Did I want Gavin dead? Yes. Am I upset that
There are no windows here, by design I'm sure, but the location is gorgeous. The one beauty there is in today, that I'll hold onto. Trent woke me this morning just before lunch, and we left alone, but arrived to pack members already patrolling the area in shifted form. They're surrounding the area, this carved-out piece of beauty just outside of the city, where the trees are high and the greenery is all shades. They look at home here, but the real monsters that make up those wolves, belong anywhere but somewhere so peaceful. Walking into the building was like navigating a maze, but the space for the ceremony has a large window on the roof where the treetops don't reach and the sunlight shines through, lighting the entire room flawlessly. ‘The moon delivered you to me, because you're mine, and I am yours. It's you, and me, always.' When the full moon is on display tonight, it will make for the perfect setting… almost like the kind of wedding girls dream about… almost like I’
Two hours. Sometimes, even though I’m sure I would regret it, I can’t help but wonder what Corbyn is thinking about. Does he feel genuine emotions? Or is he literally sitting there with a blank mind and nothing running through his head? It’s been two hours since he switched places with Trent and he’s done nothing but sit on the chair across from me and watch me. It’s given me time to process what he said, ‘a woman who had an affair with the Alpha… it was my mother… ’He must look a lot like his mother, where Trent looks more like their father.Their… father. He has so many of Gavin’s mannerisms, but those could have been developed from growing up here. It’s impossible to tell if Corbyn is lying, but while he’s never told me the whole truth… he’s never lied to me, either. It would make him the rightful Alpha, Gavin’s first born… and Corbyn doesn’t seem like the type to let that go. I jump a little when there’s a knock at the door, but not him… never him. The Darling’s are the l
His voice fades out as my heart beats faster, her blood thrumming through me… calling out to me. She needs me. And I fucking need her. "You're fucking everything up, Pierce…" Dead. Slice… … spray… … beautiful. His blood is going to spill over this, and when it coats us, Sweetness will bathe in it with me. Oz has no idea who he's fucking with. "...That girl means nothing, she was always part of the plan. Just because you got your dick wet…" The metal restraints I’m in are the only thing that prevents his death, a new instinct I should care to temper, but don’t. He’s lucky I care more about getting to her than I do about him dying. There used to be loyalty there, a barrier between us, but it doesn't exist now, and when my blade slices off feather by feather, he's going to regret crossing me. He's the one fucking everything up. All that time he spent building trust between us as children… wasted in one decision. He excluded me from his plan, making choices with
~~~ Five Days Ago ~~~ The little jumps in his heartbeat tells me he’s awake, not that he’s letting on as he hangs from the chains in this room. Tactical. At least he hasn't lost all common sense. Pierce’s breathing gets longer, deeper, for one count… two… CLANG! When his attempt to break through the chains doesn’t go as planned, his eyes light up, finding mine immediately. I spoke too soon. There's no way he surveyed his surroundings in less than five seconds with enough evidence to act. “Feeling any less inclined to-” “WHERE… IS… SHE?!” His roar does nothing but make that part of me I repress come to the surface. It’s paying attention, but we don’t need the rogue piece of my father’s DNA right now. He subtly leans against the chains one way and another, his face giving nothing away as the silver burns his skin. He can check for weaknesses all he wants, but I prepared this room just for him. He has two cuffs on each wrist and foot, and a collar for added security. It w
He stares down at me, caging me with his palms pressed flat to the wall on either side of me. Corbyn is confusing at the best of times, but right now, the last thing I need is to try to navigate what he’s after. “If you want to kill me, do it already.” I press against his chest and he allows the space for me to walk past him. “Switching Alpha’s now?” He asks casually as my hand hovers over the door handle. “You knew,” I say without turning and there’s a sour taste developing on my tongue, one laced in the knowledge that he’s known this whole time that Gavin killed my family on purpose. He grips my wrist, ignoring my statement, as he drags me into the small bathroom in the room, but thankfully it doesn’t come equipped with a tub. He pulls the hand towel from the hanging rod, getting it wet before dragging it along my skin where Gavin was. He heard… everything. “There was a woman who had an affair with the Alpha. She later died giving birth, despite there being no complication