Nadia“Nadia,” Cole says, loosing a long breath and opening his eyes, looking evenly down at me now. “Please, come back to the table and eat with us. I’m sorry that we made you uncomfortable. We’ll change the subject.”“Nah,” I say, my surprise draining away and my anger retaking pride of place. I move again to step around Cole. This time he lets me and I put my food down on the table.“You didn’t eat anything, dear,” the woman says, looking worriedly between the food and me. “Would you like something else? We have –““Would you mind giving us a moment?” Cole says, giving the woman an apologetic smile – his most charming and princely. The woman blushes, laughs a little and nods, stepping away from the table.“Seriously, now you’re turning women away from their jobs, Cole?” I ask, casting a hand toward the woman’s retreating form.“If that’s what it takes to make you listen to me for thirty seconds, Nadia,” Cole replies, turning to me, cooler and more casual than he was a moment ago. “
Nadia “However you want this experience to go, Nadia,” Cole says, his expression cool as he keeps his eyes fastened, unblinking, on mine. “That’s how it will be.”I just stare at him, kind of…baffled by the offer.“You say it and I do it, all right? You’re in charge. You want me to fuck off and leave you alone and never talk to you again? I’ll do it. You want me to tell the guards to never say a goddamn word to Shayne and Grace and the rest of the nurses – hell, the rest of the humans? It’s done.”My eyes widen as I realize the very real power he’s handing to me right now.“You want me to get on my knees and grovel for forgiveness –“I gasp, snapping out of my shock as he starts to lower himself to the ground as he speaks.“Would you stop that!?” I lash out my arm, backhanding him across the shoulder. Cole grins and straightens as I sneak a look around the room - some eyes are on us, but most are engaged in their normal conversation. “You’re making a scene!”“You want me to make a sc
NadiaThe sound rings sharp between us. I watch as a shiver runs visibly through Cole, his eyes flashing, his face falling a bit with shock.I smirk and turn back to my tray, confused and a bit pleased with his reaction. I mean, I don’t know why I did it, and I don’t know what it means. I just hated it when I saw her do that – so bossy, so…territorial.But he’s under my command now.“Shall we go back to the table?” I ask, pretending to be breezy and cool even as my heart pounds.“Yes ma’am,” Cole murmurs, his voice humming throaty and low behind me.“Good!” I lift my tray and start back to where my friends are. Cole’s footsteps echo behind me and I work very hard to suppress my smile.After all, this is our business. No one else needs to know.“Hey!” Shay says, her eyes shining with real happiness when she sees me approach. “I’m so glad you’re back!”“I got hungry again,” I say, settling easily into my seat and twisting my lips at my now-soggy cereal.Cole sits down in his seat next t
Nadia God, but my butt hurts.I shift uncomfortably on the wooden bench that I’ve been sitting on since the ferry station opened at dawn, glaring up at the departure board as I’ve been doing for hours, waiting for my ferry’s dock to be announced – across the bay, back home. Far, far away from Cole fucking Kincaid, that Alpha jerk who claimed me last night – in front of his entire family, in front of my dad.I scowl, turning over the events in my mind for the millionth time, getting just as steamed and mortified about it as I was since the moment it happened.That smug jerk coming down the formal staircase inside the damn palace while I was just standing around waiting for dad to stop talking to the King so we could go. I knew I shouldn’t have listened to dad when he said it would be no big deal to wait for me there – I haven’t gone back to the palace since I was eight for a reason.I hate those stupid royal wolves – I never wanted to see them again.And the moment Cole had seen me
Rage flares through me as I stare up at Cole Kincaid, taking in his broad shoulders, his thick black hair, his tanned skin and slightly stubbled cheeks. And, of course, those fucking blue eyes that look like they’re staring right through me.It pisses me off even further that I have to tilt my head so far back to look into his face. I mean, I am not a short woman.“What are you doing here?” I sputter, already seething.“What am I – Nadia! What the hell are you doing here!?”“I’m going home,” I snap, tossing out a hand toward the boat behind me. “Or at least I was, until –“I gasp, my eyes flaring wide before I glare so deeply I can barely see between my narrowed lashes.“Cole,” I growl, “did you fucking cancel this ferry? To keep me here!?”He narrows his own eyes, stepping forward to loom over me. “Did you think I was going to let you go, Nadia?” His voice is low with anger, all rumbly and threatening. “You’re my fucking mate –““Oh, lay off!” I shout, stepping back and starting to t
ColeI take a deep breath, my eyes focused on my father at the front of the room as he debriefs his generals and counselors on the assault we’re beginning on the Children of Solace – a separatist group turned cult that we’ve recently discovered has been harming our citizens.“We’ll take any military volunteers we can get,” dad murmurs, leaning over a page full of data regarding the numbers we need, my sister Iris at his side bending over to look as well. “Some will aid reconnaissance teams as they collect information on the Children of Solace, and a smaller party to protect aid workers as they provide their own unique assistance.”I keep my eyes focused on dad as my brother elbows me in the side. “No doubts about which crew you’ll be volunteering for, right? Considering that’s what Nadia signed up for after you dragged her back from the ferry and her dad hauled her ass out of here?”I turn my head just slightly to glare at him. “Shut up, Jude.”“Nah,” Jude says with a happy sigh, grin
ColeI stare out the window of the train as it chugs south, passively admiring the beauty of this area of my country. I expected it to be flat, but mountains climb high in the distance, all red and umber, their craggy cliffs extending far into the desert that stretches around us. There are hills and craigs – much more to look at than I thought there would be. It is absolutely stunning and I suddenly feel remiss that I haven’t spent much time here before.But I can barely admire the beauty, distracted as I am by the anxiety that roils in my heart. My wolf howls, pacing in slow circles, knowing that we’re drawing near. And that even if I can’t wait to get there… the next few months are going to be hell.“Why so glum, Kincaid?” One of my men slumps into the booth seat across from me.I turn my head and sigh as I take in Greg Jenkins, one of the six corporals who volunteered to come on this mission as a guard under my command. I frown at him, my eyes moving quickly over his tall form, the
ColeI turn, sighing out my nose, meeting Nadia’s eyes as she stands slump-shouldered next to a shorter girl with long, straight red hair and a lovely round face. The new girl looks between us, shocked.I just take a deep breath, clenching my jaw, holding Nadia’s gaze steadily and not saying anything. Just…letting her see with my complete intransigence that I’m not kidding. Not at all.“Wait,” the redhead says, her eyes going wide with surprise and then delight. “Seriously? Is that him!? The Alpha who claimed you!?”Nadia doesn’t respond, just standing straighter now that her initial surprise has passed. She crosses her arms over her chest and glares so hard at me that I wonder if she’s trying to make me explode with the power of her gaze alone.“Wait, what?” Another young woman with wavy light-brown hair steps to Nadia’s other side and stares between me and my mate. “Is that – is that him!?”“It’s him!” The redhead hisses, grinning eagerly at her friend.“Well, what the hell, Nadia!”
NadiaThe sound rings sharp between us. I watch as a shiver runs visibly through Cole, his eyes flashing, his face falling a bit with shock.I smirk and turn back to my tray, confused and a bit pleased with his reaction. I mean, I don’t know why I did it, and I don’t know what it means. I just hated it when I saw her do that – so bossy, so…territorial.But he’s under my command now.“Shall we go back to the table?” I ask, pretending to be breezy and cool even as my heart pounds.“Yes ma’am,” Cole murmurs, his voice humming throaty and low behind me.“Good!” I lift my tray and start back to where my friends are. Cole’s footsteps echo behind me and I work very hard to suppress my smile.After all, this is our business. No one else needs to know.“Hey!” Shay says, her eyes shining with real happiness when she sees me approach. “I’m so glad you’re back!”“I got hungry again,” I say, settling easily into my seat and twisting my lips at my now-soggy cereal.Cole sits down in his seat next t
Nadia “However you want this experience to go, Nadia,” Cole says, his expression cool as he keeps his eyes fastened, unblinking, on mine. “That’s how it will be.”I just stare at him, kind of…baffled by the offer.“You say it and I do it, all right? You’re in charge. You want me to fuck off and leave you alone and never talk to you again? I’ll do it. You want me to tell the guards to never say a goddamn word to Shayne and Grace and the rest of the nurses – hell, the rest of the humans? It’s done.”My eyes widen as I realize the very real power he’s handing to me right now.“You want me to get on my knees and grovel for forgiveness –“I gasp, snapping out of my shock as he starts to lower himself to the ground as he speaks.“Would you stop that!?” I lash out my arm, backhanding him across the shoulder. Cole grins and straightens as I sneak a look around the room - some eyes are on us, but most are engaged in their normal conversation. “You’re making a scene!”“You want me to make a sc
Nadia“Nadia,” Cole says, loosing a long breath and opening his eyes, looking evenly down at me now. “Please, come back to the table and eat with us. I’m sorry that we made you uncomfortable. We’ll change the subject.”“Nah,” I say, my surprise draining away and my anger retaking pride of place. I move again to step around Cole. This time he lets me and I put my food down on the table.“You didn’t eat anything, dear,” the woman says, looking worriedly between the food and me. “Would you like something else? We have –““Would you mind giving us a moment?” Cole says, giving the woman an apologetic smile – his most charming and princely. The woman blushes, laughs a little and nods, stepping away from the table.“Seriously, now you’re turning women away from their jobs, Cole?” I ask, casting a hand toward the woman’s retreating form.“If that’s what it takes to make you listen to me for thirty seconds, Nadia,” Cole replies, turning to me, cooler and more casual than he was a moment ago. “
Nadia“And what does this whole mate thing mean for like, your dating life?” Grace asks, stabbing some eggs with her fork and taking a big bite, clearly absorbed in the questioning. “Do you just not date anyone, sitting around waiting for your mate?”“Grace!” I hiss, leaning towards her and smacking her arm. “Fucking – stop! You can’t just ask strangers whether or not they bite their girlfriends!”“Oh, you’re not a stranger, are you, Greg?” Shayne says, leaning towards the wolf next to her, wrinkling her nose adorably. He beams at her – as captivated as she said he is.“I can too ask!” Grace says, snapping her face towards me with a frown.“You’re being so rude!” I whisper, pissed and embarrassed as hell.“It’s not rude!” she bites back. But then her face falls and her shoulders straighten as she spins back towards the boys. “Oh my god. Was it rude? Am I being rude?”The brown-haired guard – Tommy, I think – laughs a little and shakes his head, clearly pleased with us.“It’s not rude,
Nadia I frown as I wake, confused, because the light on my eyelids – and the noise –My eyes blink open and I sit up, disoriented for a second. But then I realize that I’m not at home, or in my dorm room at school. That I’m in this stupid tent with twenty other nurses, which means I may never sleep properly again…“Morning, Nadi,” Grace says. I turn to see her smiling softly, rubbing one eye, peering at me with the other. “Did you sleep okay?”I sigh, wrapping my arms around my legs and resting my head down on my knees. “Not really.”She purses her mouth together in pity, perfectly aware of why I didn’t.Shayne groans, pulling her pillow over her head. “Would you two please shut up!”We both turn to her and I can’t help but smile as I pull my pillow from behind my back, throwing it at her. She gives a shriek of outrage but does not emerge.“Your fault, Shay,” Grace calls, grinning over at our friend. “We told you not to go back out last night.”“But they’re so cuttte,” she groans. I
ColeNadia stays tense and still for a long moment before she slowly stands, pressing her hands to her thighs and rising like a damned goddess from the mist. My heart starts to pound, my wolf making all kinds of unintelligible howls and yips as I watch every movement of every muscle, taking it all in.She tilts her chin up, proud, and holds my gaze. “No, Cole,” she whispers, dangerous. “I’m not jealous.”I smirk, unable to help it. “I mean, you look a little jealous.”She bares her teeth at me, just a flash – such a wolfish gesture, even for a human. “You think I’d be jealous,” she hisses, “of some slutty little witch who comes running in here like she owns the place –“I laugh lightly, delighted.“I mean I’d have more decency than that,” Nadia snaps, throwing out a hand to the center of the camp where Rose and the rest of her group have disappeared. “What a prideless –““Oh, come on,” I say, shrugging, casual. “Rose just has a very particular verve for life. She’s fun.”“She’s certai
ColeI beam up into Rose’s beautiful face, passively grateful that I thought to drop my knife and the stick I was whittling just in time to catch her. My eyelids threaten to flutter shut as I again smell her amazing scent – like snowfall – crisp and clean, with a touch of mint on the nose.God, fuck but that scent takes me back.“What are you doing so far from your palace, big scary wolf?” Rose asks, grinning down at me with her icy blue eyes crinkled with joy. “Have you gone wild and returned to your primordial self?”I shake my head at her, my smile deepening at her slight accent – the way she rolls her r’s, slurs her s’s and her c’s.“I came hunting after you, Rosie,” I murmur, playful, squeezing her tighter, making her laugh that lovely lilting laugh. “But the question is, what are you doing out here?”I bend, meaning to put her on her feet, but Rose gives a soft, petulant whine of dismay, holding me closer. I laugh and straighten, shaking my head at her, well aware that pretty mu
“Come on,” she says, nodding to the fire as we arrive at the edge of the guards’ camp. “Just…talk to them. See what they’re actually all about. If they suck, we’ll go.”“You forget,” I snap, glaring a little. “I grew up with these wolves. I know exactly who they are.”I turn away from her, storming into the little circle of firelight and taking a seat at the far side, pointedly as far away from the four wolves and their band of new friends as I can get. Cole Kincaid turns towards me as I sit, his brows raised in surprise.But I just stare into the fire, scowling and ignoring him.Or at least, pretending to.Grace sits down next to me and secretly I’m grateful that she didn’t abandon me. “Sorry,” I murmur, meaning it but not happy to admit it.“We’re good, Nadi,” she says, smiling and giving me a nudge. “Look, Shayne’s having a good time.”I raise my eyes to the group again, immediately seeing Shayne laughing, seated on a log next to a very tall, broad-shouldered blonde guard, sharing
Nadia“I’m not going out there, Shay,” I say, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest.“Oh, yes you are,” she murmurs, waving a hand at me, dismissive.“There won’t even be anyone to hang out with! They’ll be guarding us!”“Only two at night,” Shayne says, pointing at my packet with a wide grin. “Which leaves four for…free time. Me time. It’s Shay o’clock, baby! We’re going to go find some boys!”She whoops, excited, but I just glare at her, tightening my arms, refusing to go.“Fine,” Shayne says, shrugging and unscrewing the tequila’s cap, taking a long swig that makes her shudder, grimace, and then laugh. My mouth drops open at her gall. “I’ll go alone then – to hang out with a bunch of ravenous wolves who haven’t seen a girl in months –““Oh, for heaven’s sake, Shayne,” I snarl, standing up and snatching the bottle out of her hand. “You’re ridiculous.”“Yes,” she says, beaming at me, accepting the frankly accurate description with ease. “Come be ridiculous with me! Bec