Throwing me onto the bed It’s like a living dream. I’d allowed myself to wonder what would happen that first night and here I am. So what if I’m another notch on his bedpost, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s like ticking a box, /you tell yourself that/ Raya sarcastically adds. The idea that I won't see him again after tonight does make my heart ache. Especially when he joins me on the bed. As the mattress sank with our combined weight, I rolled me towards him, my arm and shoulders against his solid chest. Laid down flat, gazing up at him, propped up by an elbow he watches me. Those dark eyes completely fixed on mine. I gently lift some fallen black locks from his forehead, pushing them behind his ear. It’s just a natural, comfortable position. Just two people gazing at each other. The fact we were completely naked, flushed and panting seemed immaterial. Stripped of everything, even the cool leather jacket Dex is still an intimidating presence. Those jet black tattoos, fierce strips
Dawn hits me like a smack in the face. As my eyes adjust to the bright light it is clear Kate has vanished, leaving me with nothing but my own foolish urges. She didn’t answer a single question of mine, but I’ve got to hold that body again. Her perfect skin, so smooth, even under the cold of the rain just felt better, more enticing than any other woman. She knew the drill, unspoken but obvious. Kate isn’t foolish enough to be found in my bed when all the staff are awake. Complaining internally to Alba, I may have bee known as “Mr fuck em and chuck em” but I’m feeling very much chucked right now. /Karma/ he grunted in reply. Helpful. Still it would have been nice to get a goodbye. /Would you have let her leave?/ Alba growled possessively, as I realised he was as annoyed about waking up alone as me. A peculiar wolf I have. All I know about her scarred leg is that she did it in the Warrior session. Even that took some teasing out of her. She was resolved to play games, unless I t
Stealing softly out of the bed was a wrench. It was so warm and comfortable there with him. Just a couple of weeks on the thin, iron railed bunk beds I called home made my body melt into the luxury of his room. Last night, even after my leg interrupted the fun, was perfect. Dex made me laugh until my sides hurt with his devious sense of humour, I was wrapped in a perfect cocoon of bonfire and white sheets with a man I couldn’t tell my secrets to. I’d rather be a mystery than a burden. Perhaps if I believed he could fix things I might have told him everything. But he can’t. Even the Alpha heir can’t make someone pass the Assessment. They can’t make people stop hating you. It is a beautiful morning. At least my run of luck didn’t extend to ruining things with Alpha Dex. I can leave with a heart full of happy memories at least. The image of his smolderingly dark eyes, his face grinning so triumphantly at me as I shove a towards him will sustain me through pretty much anything the w
Arriving back at the compound everything was eerily quiet. Everyone was at breakfast in the hall I realised, recognising my own hunger despite the fear in my mind. Though Raya was exhausted we sprinted all the way back to the dorm, almost slipping on cobbles as our destination beckoned. I didn’t expect to find anyone waiting for me. My heart leapt as I briefly hoped it was Dex, seeing the black-shirted masculine figures at my door. Immediately the platinum hair told me it was Beta Glenn alongside a hulking bald ape of a man. Either Beta Goran or Beta Damian. It wasn’t good as they watched me slow down to a trot as I walked up to the door. “Shft now,” the bald Beta barked, staring at me with cold brown eyes. His bald head and face were lined with wrinkles. From his awkward lean, his huge body is clearly tired and in pain from standing about waiting for me. One of them had the scent of cinnamon, a harsh, rich scent that repelled me. A peculiar thing considering Dex’s smoky scent made
Berlarot deserves an apology from me the next time we meet. From little seeds grow mighty oaks. In this case a furious, jealous, possibly unhinged oak in the figure of Rose who stood blatantly seething at Kate. That boring, stiff grey dress of hers meant business, as did the chunky black boots I could always imagine her kicking me with. I had to shove my way to get a good view of the spectacle. I had merrily arrived back in time for breakfast, intending to claim I’d been for a run and instead found Kate mid-trial. It was like watching a strange, twisted dream come true. Except my dreams at the moment still consist of me begging Alpha Dex to slam me over his car bonnet whilst hitching up my leather skirt. But you get my point. That red dress was so not her style. Why on earth would she choose to wear that for something like this? It’s the morning, not a formal event? As she hugged her waist it only emphasised her cleavage. Bitterly I found myself comparing, did I ever look as hot i
Waiting in the blinding sunshine for Alpha Fyrestone to pass his condemnation left me quaking with fear. Everything I had ever trusted about the pack, justice, fairness and goodness was melting away like a landslide. Leaving me with the scarred remains, ugly, bitter lies that saw me judged as guilty of a crime I did not commit. That I would never commit, Where is Dex? My eyes scan the area behind Rose and Alpha Fyrestone, waiting for him to burst through the packhouse door. To declare he knew me, that I would never do such a thing. Yes I was running out of money but even so I would never have stolen. I was intending to quit the Assessment today, and start my new life in Verna. A low-key simple life of labour but now, watching those dark intense eyes of Alpha Fyrestone I knew even that wasn’t going to be an option. “Kate Winters you are hereby exiled from the Fyrestone pack” his bass voice boomed. His pronouncement bounced around the tall white buildings like an earthquake as I hear
Tattoos done, and I'm feeling good. It was early afternoon when our car finally pulled back into the compound. We had joked the whole way back about Rhett being a coward, adding time on with his breaks. He barely got half his shoulder blade inked and he was a wreck."I'll be telling everyone the Beta Bear is a teddy bear you know, " I joked."I'll be telling everyone you're off the market," he replied with a grin."What do you mean by that," I laughed as we bounced along the cobbles."You know exactly who I mean," he said, rolling his eyes as I merely smiled and rubbed my chin. "Fuck off," I said softly, "I'm this awesome all the time, nothings changed.""Whatever," he said, shaking his head with a chuckle.Rhett hadn’t even switched the engine off before /My chamber, now/ came through from my father. Shit, Kate really must have woken the house up last night because he sounds pissed.Weirdly, Rhett must have got the same memo, shooting me a look of confusion as we shrugged and exited.
Beta Glenn was right to warn me about getting away before the pain kicked in. Well actually he’s just plain old Glenn to me, now he’s no longer my Beta, entitled to my immediate respect and obedience. Raya took us far into the baking shrubland, well out of sight of anyone else before the first stabbing pains began. With a whimper she had to stop, we weren’t following the roads but rather the sun, ensuring we kept going south-west. Scrabbling behind a set of boulders for shade we stayed in wolf form, to ride out the pain. It wasn’t in my heart, not like what I felt when I realised Dex was nowhere to be seen. It was a guttural, deep burning pain. It felt more like a bereavement, a piece of me missing, taken back by its owner because I did not deserve it. Whimpering, Raya curled up and tried to endure the waves of agony. By the time she felt fit to walk again the sun was low and the air began to finally cool. It had been wise to avoid the ferocity of the sun given the distance we had
###ONE YEAR LATER###KATESo I’m Luna Kate now. We had a big, outdoor ceremony that everyone appeared to see. Dex wore all black, looking absolutely unreal. I wore a long fitted red gown, in keeping with the ruby in his eyes and the colours of Fyrestone. Almost everybody was there, of course Roxie was not.Dex and I have taken the bike to Verna a few times since that first outing. I think it’s his favourite thing to do when life gets a bit much. We also haven’t made it back once without having stopped mid-way home. Something about the adrenalin of the tattoo gun I guess.I did get a tattoo added for Roxie in the end. It took me a while to think about what I wanted but in the end I had a twisting, mixed up lightning bolt. Not a cheesy, pointy outline, but the crackling, thin shards that splinter across a dark sky. It is on the side of my ribs, surrounded by the constellations of the Fyrestone compound.It stood for all the lightning and thunderstorms we sheltered in together as children
Just for a while we switched off. There was a whole world of shit to deal with back at the packhouse. Dex hadn’t yet mentioned the gigantic black opal ring of his fathers that was now on his hand either. The drunken bonfire blowout tonight sounded absolutely perfect to be honest, it wasn’t even something I usually enjoyed doing. So much had happened it sounded amazing to just relax for a few hours.I knew he was stressed about Rhett being so weakened, the fact there was no way Glenn and Ariel would be able to live happily under the scorching sun of Fyrestone. However right now, tearing along the red dust ground at a dangerously fast speed it didn’t matter for a while.He took the bends with rough, sharp leans that made me hold my breath and cling onto his chest for dear life as we raced across the desert plains. His leather jacket smelt so delicious, the bonfire scent that first captured my heart fast becoming a permanent part of me. I wondered if he found himself smelling of grass e
Finally, after what feels like weeks we are back in Fyrestone. The whole campus turns out to greet our return. Matt and Felix are treated like living gods, one blonde girl with red lipstick, Cherry I think, particularly clinging onto Matt as the student feted two of their own winning a war.The cars that arrived to fetch us from Foxton were gratefully received. The men were tired and ready to recuperate. Of course, it was only what was expected of them. To be classed as a Warrior meant to risk your lives and battle for the pack. Fyrestone had lost several men as well. A lot of them nearer my fathers generation, men he was reluctant to let out to pasture. My selection of younger, sleeker warrior students and recent graduates had all survived. My father and Rose were waiting at the Packhouse for us, alongside a scarily-slimmed down Rhett. His ashy blonde hair tied in a topknot and a smile brimming on his ridiculously bushy beard. If he had looked almost feral before, he certainly did
With a heavy heart we had to leave. Cliffrill, Foxton and other packs needed Dex’s presence. When I told Roxie she was almost enthusiastic at the prospect of being left. “Go, go be the Luna, it’s fine. I don’t want everyone here watching me scab over anyway.” she had insisted.I did wonder how much of it was getting rid of me, or knowing that the sooner we left the sooner Felix would be gone. He tried again to talk to her but Mina had to show him out when Roxie refused to see him.Now Mina and Olaf are mated, very happily so by the sounds ringing out day and night she is coming with us. So we have had to entrust Roxie’s final healing to Etherly. Still a petite, sour faced little thing I sat her down for a talk as we prepared to leave.“Are you happy Austin has gone?”“Not particularly,” she said with a scowl, her petite features against twenty years every time she creased up so sourly. “I had a good life here.”“There is nothing to stop you having a good life elsewhere. This place was
Fuck me I owe Olaf a drink. Maybe ten. He can have every jewel in this shithole.The sight of Kate standing there in the gardens, not that she was really eyeing up the silent giant was enough to make Alba go wild. The green silk slip she wore was fluttering softly in the breeze, her eyes so brown and soulful combined with that honey hair. I was rock hard before I even stood behind her.Now I’m watching as my mate keeps her eyes on me, unzipping my pants on her knees. I know it’s maybe immature, enjoying the risk of being outside but it’s something Alba and I have in common. Fuck, it’s clearly something Kate likes too, she’s been bent over a balcony howling before now so this is junior league in comparison.When she started teasing me, suggesting things I could do to her she had no idea how wild it drives me. Or maybe she does know exactly what she’s doing, in which case she deserves my cock in her mouth even more.Her plump perfectly pink lips kissing and wrapping around the head of m
The tender-hearted bear of a man who waited outside the door was soon replaced by a different beast entirely. On waking up he flexed his Alpha authority with ease. Ordering his collection of men into different brigades, plus reserves arrived with supplies and information. Almost twenty hours after the battle was won and the dust was starting to settle.A constant flurry of decisions had to be made. Dex, now sat in the library answered dozens of questions. Dispensing supplies, where everything needed to go and handling every kind of diplomatic crisis. We received an update on Rhett, he had been successfully taken by the Fyrestone and was under care.Glenn would still be heading back to Foxton to inform Luna Madeline but a scout had returned from his group to confirm Eduardo was being held captive. His pack were apparently only too happy to place him under arrest. It was peculiar how no local rebellion occurred. Fyrestone’s warriors were allowed across the territory without difficulty.
Hours of chanting, each of us holding Roxie’s charred hand or foot as Olaf mixed herbs and guided our voiced was exhausting. My head dropped, fighting waves of tiredness after days of running from Foxton. Olaf and Felix had battled too, their red wounds matching Roxie’s battered form. It was peculiar to feel the ebb and flow of her body. I would feel warmth and a pulse only for it to simmer away. Her breathing was barely there, her chest flickering instead of rising. Her wolf was pushing itself to the limits and there was no way of knowing what would happen.On the sofas, rapidly staining with blood as her wounds seeped, we surrounded her with our love. As dawn broke over a new day Mina looked around and clanged the cymbals.Olaf began to shake his head in failure, the herbs, hair and peculiar rocks he had procured moved to one side. He was accepting defeat. I couldn't. I gave my last bit of energy, chanting louder, closer to her ear praying with everything I had that she would choos
After swimming in the blackness, for what could have been years or seconds I was calm. Unable to form a thought, feel any pain I simply existed in a pool of darkness. That almost-tumbling feeling of falling asleep, when you’re just on the brink of accepting tiredness, was the only sensation. Then the pungent, unmistakable scent of burning hair entered the darkness.The first emotion and clear thought that dripped into my awareness was the fear that the smell was sulphur. That Berlarot even in death remained tied to me.As my senses slowly strengthened, like a slow turning up of volume I found my inner voice. Another thought occurred when I realised it was not Berlarot, was the assumption that the burning smell was my own hair. Perhaps the tower was burning, maybe Kate had done something marvellous and saved everyone.Kate. My sister.I’d left her. I’d jumped and left her to the mercy of Austin. A coward till the end. Death is the correct path for me.Thoughts swam around in the black
What the hell has happened here. We’ve saved the fucking day and I’m getting shit for it.As she vanished around the corner the blonde girl with blue eyes approached. “I’m Mina, I did not want to get Kate’s hopes up but I think…Roxie needs a healer. She might not be completely gone yet.”I groaned, rubbing my face. We’re just a collection of fighters, “Azus, do you?” knowing the answer would be a no before he walked off to check on his injured men. Then, as quiet as a tiger through the trees Olaf came into view. He was completely naked, his grey hair shorn, eyes shimmering gold and yellow.He walked down the grassy path, all of us staring at his intimidating presence. Was he some kind of fucking sun god? Blessed with serious muscles and abs behind all that weird grey hair it felt as though we were all meeting him for the first time.Ignoring everyone’s stares he fixed his eyes on the tall, blonde Mina. We all saw her breath catch, her eyes widen as she fell under some kind of spell. F