“We will drive separately.” Jared took Nora by the hand and drug her off to another car. “Fine by me,” Luca muttered as he opened the passenger door for me. As soon as I was in, he slammed the door shut and walked around. “What was that all about?” I asked as Luca got in. “I need to be nicer to Jared.” “Ha! Demi was right.” Heather laughed. “He’s too soft. There is a reason Alpha Winston hasn’t allowed him to take over. He needs to man up a little.” “I’m guessing you would hate to be that man that helped him in that process?”“Listen…” Luca looked over at me. “I know he is your childhood friend and I know he saved Heather, but that was eight years ago. People change. Like I said, I don’t trust anyone but you and Heath. There might be a moment that Nora will have to choose, and I’m trying to prevent that. I have other contacts we will utilize. My only priority is for you to find the truth and be alive when it’s over. Anything else is out of my control.” I understood where he was
“Probably nothing worth our life… still worth something.” Heather carried the box over to me.With my hand on one side, she had hers on the other. Slowly, we opened it together. A faded pink fuzzy dairy sat on top. There were pictures, a paw print pendant necklace, and three cans of beer. However, at the very bottom was what we were really after. Heather pulled out a silver Pandora bracelet. “Dad got it for mom. That day, we were playing dress up and took this when we shouldn’t have. Mom came knocking, and we had to hide it before she saw us. I never got a chance to put it back.” “There is a paw print, opal charm for Heather’s birthday, one for fighting, family and love.” I touched each one, remembering how happy she was each time she got one. “Dad and I were working on adding more.” Heather held it out to show Heath. Heath admired it. “It’s beautiful.” He said as unclasped it and put it around her wrist.“Thank you.” Heather beamed as she held it out for me to see. “Maybe you ca
“I’m sure. We will be okay.” Nora nodded. “Okay. Just remember I love you.” “Love you, too.” I tried smiling at her as she gave me one last look. “Luca…” Heath looked at Luca. Luca sighed and looked at the packhouse. He wasn’t sure why I was sending everyone away, but he wasn’t questioning me. “We are good. Take our car and go drive around for a while. Come back in a few hours and then we will head to Rook’s.” “You only have a few hours until it starts getting dark…” Heath warned us as he put his arm around Heather’s shoulders. “Then don’t be late.” Luca smirked as Heath flipped him off. In the distance, we heard Jared’s car start up before it quietly pulled out. We stayed silent until Heath’s car quietly rode off into the distance. “What’s up?” Luca finally asked. He walked to the fountain and sat down. “I don’t know. I was just done with their bickering and wanted some time alone here.” I stayed standing, looking at the fountain. “I don’t know how that survived.” Luca took
We both looked up at the rogues standing at the cliff. “We better keep moving.” Luca was breathing heavily. “Yes.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell him just how deep into the forest we just became. Swimming down a little further, there were some rocks we could climb up on. A large bear was fishing down the stream, but completely ignored us. “If it wasn’t for the circumstance, I would admire how pretty this was.” Luca stood up and put his hands on his hips. His eyes looked at the waterfall hidden behind the thick brush of the forest. “We would dare each other to jump off that cliff when we were younger. Dad would always ground me, but it was fun.” “Why would he ground you?” Luca asked as we started walking.“Well… it would take a days hike to get home…” “A day’s hike?” I could hear the annoyance in his voice.“You should probably prepare yourself to spend the night in the forest…. Or two.” “Two days?” There was something else in his voice.“Are you scared?” I could help but
“I told you to keep your eyes down…” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the roof flew off the walls, sprinkling us with dirt and debris. Three long razer blade claws swiped down across my face. “Shit!” Luca screamed like a scared toddler than a big bad alpha. Ignoring the pain, I lunged at the creature. Too many times I battled these shifters. My claws dug into its stomach as it opened his jaw. The toxic saliva spraying all over my face as it gave one final scream before falling over. “Run!” I yelled and took off without waiting to see if he was behind me. The toxins were burning my vision. I needed to get to the water and flush this out. “You’re bleeding!” Luca caught me just as we reached a stream. “Listen…” dropping to my knees, scooping up the water and splashing my face. The cool water felt spicy and welcoming. “I’m going to pass out and probably hallucinate. You need to find somewhere and keep your fucking eyes down.” Everything started spinning. “Demi… love… I’m
Demi fell forward into my chest. Her breathing relaxed as a day walker stepped out from behind a tree. Every hair in my body tensed, but I swear it was the same one from before. He looked at Demi before looking at me with curious eyes. I didn’t sense any hostility, but my wolf was on edge. “Help me.” I wasn’t sure why I said that. I wasn’t even sure what I needed help with. He walked up to Demi, slowly. Turning her body, I let him see her face. As soon as the cuts were visible, he turned his face into anguish? It wasn’t mad at me. Thrashing his fist into the trees, he let out a screech that made me wince in pain. It was a screech I heard many times growing up. One that my grandma told me to always avoid looking for. It only meant one thing. The creature calmed down, but his breathing was heavy. Looking at my eyes, he looked behind him. As if asking me to follow him. I wasn’t sure what he wanted or if he wanted to harm us. However, my gut was telling me to follow him. Picking Demi
He looked over at a hole in the wall and then back at us. “He wants us to go in.” Demi whispered.I stood up first, holding my hand out for her. “Come on. Let’s see where this takes us.” Demi went first. The creature didn’t follow me through the hole. Instead, he drove back into the water and disappeared. “Luca…I…” If it wasn’t for our wolf’s vision, we would have to hold on to the walls to guide us. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her tightly against me. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he forced her head to look at me. “I love you, Demi Rose. Regardless of what we find.” My jaw clenched as I fought the urge to shut my mouth. This was foreign to me. I didn’t grow up expressing my feelings. When she said she felt like a business transaction, I was blown away. That is what I saw my dad and step-mom act like. Heath always told me that wasn’t how mates acted, but he wasn’t an alpha. I just assumed alphas had to be different. Looking intoDemi’s eyes it made me want to be different. “I’ll
Demi and I pressed ourselves against the wall. It was a good thing they weren’t paying attention as they ran into the darkness. We closed our eyes to keep ourselves hidden, so we didn’t see who passed us. “Stay quiet. We need to go.” I whispered in our mind-link. I could feel the anguish Demi was feeling. Whoever that woman and man were, could have been responsible for her parent’s death. We took one step into the lights and both of our jaws dropped. More creatures were being transformed, but in the daylight was more terrifying. There was a very large ladder against the far wall. “Start climbing. I’ll be right behind you.” Just as I said it, the woman let out the kind of scream that sent chills to your bones. “Go!” Demi nodded and took off as I looked at the bucket. The first time worked, so I didn’t even hesitate as I did it again. “Luca!” The man and woman stood in the entrance with their jaws on the floor. The only thing that separated us was the orange liquid spreading acros
“I have popcorn and bourbon!” Amelia held them up. “I just came for a good time.” Peggy shrugged. “Ditto.” Nora was putting on a movie. “I grabbed the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. We can watch it and smoke.” They were all wearing the same lounge set as I was, just different colors. “How very nice of you all.” I couldn’t help but smirk as I sat down. They moved the chairs and pillows near the balcony and had the doors open. The cool rain air was refreshing as Veronica handed me a cigar. “Here is your cake and bowl of popcorn.” Peppy pushed it towards me. “The most important part… bourbon.” Amelia handed me a tall glass, completely filled. No one spoke of the packhouse or questioned me about how I felt. Instead, they focused on smoking, eating and drinking. If this isn’t how a group of friends is supposed to cheer you up, do you even have a group of friends? The door flew open. “I’m sorry I’m late!” Lilith looked devilish as she ran in. Carrying a large bowl, she almost tripped over
I wasn’t even sure what to say to her. Heath put his hand on her shoulder and she instantly followed him out to the car. Luca didn’t try to touch me. Instead, he just stood beside me, letting me work through my emotions. “This is now a historic landmark and we won’t be able to rebuild on it.” I wasn’t sure why I said that, but it was true. Even if I wanted to, there is no way to make sure the rest of the ground is safe without thorough examinations. That might take years to complete. What was once a private territory for wolves could turn into a tourist attraction. “We would have to know where this comes out of and where it starts. Whatever you did find, it could come out down there.” “Or have sunken to the bottom to be gone forever.” Luca nodded. “It could be. Demi, I had to pull you out when I did or we would have both ended up in the river.” I wasn’t sure why I was mad at him for that. Logically, I knew he was right. I knew he saved my life. Only, my heart didn’t understand. M
“This is straight bourbon.” I had to cough a few times since I wasn’t prepared for that.Luca laughed and took it from me. “She did tell you it would keep you warm.” He took a long swig from it before he handed it back. “Let’s climb down and see if we see anything in there.” “Seriously?” I was shocked. Taking my own drink, I tightened the cap back on and set it down. “Let’s go!” Luca wrapped his arm around my waist, keeping me from running away. “Listen here.” He muttered. “You need to be safe and not go all Indiana Jones on me when we get in there.” “Indiana Jones? If I had a whip, I’d whip you for saying that.” “I know that.” Luca rolled his eyes. “I meant that if there is treasure, you need to be smart about this.” “Yeah, yeah. I heard you.” Luca let my waist go and walked beside me as we came up to the crane. I watched as Luca went up to the operator and spoke with him for a second. The crane operator nodded, and Luca stepped back. As Luca walked back to me, the crane moved
“I like it.” Amelia nodded and pointed her fork at me. “That’s the spirit.” “That’s the spirit?” Nora looked at Amelia like she grew three heads. “Don’t you think she should be laying low and seeing how things unfold?” Amelia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that is what a weak alpha would do. She is a female alpha. The only one in this world today. If she doesn’t make a statement, then what? Plus, this isn’t about popularity. This is about getting even. Are you going to tell me that you would roll over if your family was killed?” She raised her eyebrow at Nora. “That is what makes her an alpha and you a luna.” Nora didn’t appreciate that comment. She sat up straight and looked at Jared. “What I think Nora is meaning is that she just wants Demi to be happy.” It was Veronica’s turn to look at Nora. “Demi won’t be happy until she finds out the truth. Just like everyone else here. If this would have happened to any of us, we would be doing the same thing. Laying down and being happy is for pe
She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t have a response to that. Instead, we fell into an understood silence as they kept working. Jared ended up joining us. Nodding his head towards me, he stayed on the other side of the group. The entire morning was just me standing there as they removed piece by piece. The mist became heavier at one point and all that was left were Luca and myself. We were completely drenched, but I didn’t care. Luca didn’t complain once as the water dripped down his chin, landing on every single muscle showing through his shirt. If I wasn’t torn up, watching the place I grew up with being burned, I would have been turned on. “It’s still watching us.” Luca finally muttered as lunch time was approaching. “Probably will all day. This is new and a change to their environment.” “Demi? Luca?” Peggy walked up to us. Her hair was stuck to her face, telling me she hadn’t went in any shelter that was placed up. “You are soaked.” I commented before turning back to my home. She
“Aren’t you going to stop her?” Heather whispered as I shut the door on them. I didn’t hear what Luca had to say to her. “What are you doing?” He asked, slightly curious. “I saw movement. What if it’s that creature again? We should name him.” “Name him? He isn’t our pet, Demi.” Part of me wanted to slap him through the mind-link, but I wasn’t sure how. “Are we going to just call him the creature? There are a lot of creatures out here. No one even attacks at night. All the more reason to think it was them who took my pack down.” Luca didn’t respond right away. “Freddy.” “Freddy? Like Freddy Krueger?” I crept along any open path. It didn’t look like anything had been disturbed but something was in the trees behind it. “Just because he comes out at night?” “I mean… it fits. See anything?” Luca seemed rather calm. “Something is in the trees, but it isn’t coming out. It doesn’t want me here.” That sent warning bells to Luca. “Maybe come back now?” “I’m assuming Heather is freakin
“Good to know I have that much power over you.” Kissing him hard one last time, I pushed him back.“Maybe we can sneak away and have more fun in the woods?” Luca rolled his eyes, but walked out of the bathroom as he adjusted himself. “I’m learning more and more about your kinky desires.” “What are yours?” I asked as he slipped on his shoes. Luca smirked as he looked up. “We are installing a pole in our bedroom.” I felt the heat rise in my cheeks as my tongue pushed against it. “I guess I’ll need some outfits…” “Love, you can have whatever you want.” Luca stood up and walked towards the door. “Ready?” “Ready for business Luca and not playful Luca…. never.” Luca rolled his eyes, but I felt the humor in him. As I passed him, he squeezed my ass. “Just remember all the fun things I’ll do to you. Do you really want me to do that in front of someone?” He whispered behind me. Wanting to call his bluff, I turned and looked at me. “Maybe I do.” Crossing my hands, I knew my boobs pushed
“I know you are awake…” Luca’s finger gently moved my hair out of my face. I was lying on my back, twisted in the sheets. He had fucked me into the night and now I was so sore that it hurt to move my legs. I swear my legs kept twitched all night. “I’m not.” Groaning, Luca turned my head towards him. His laugher died in his throat as he kissed my cheek. “We need to get moving. I want to be out there before anyone else.” I felt Luca shift beside me and my pillow dipped under my head. “You want to go into the woods while it’s still dark?” “I want to see if anything is lurking around… yes.” That got my attention. “Weren’t we supposed to have a relaxing week and get to know each other? Now we are seeking out legends that we were warned against.”“We are getting to know each other. I know if I do this…” Luca flicked my nipple with his finger, causing me to flinch. “… you will get aroused.” “Great. You know my body. What about my mind? Do you know me when the lights are on, too?” Luca
His jaw clenched as he closed the gap between me. The glass dropped from my hands, landing hard on the carpet at the same moment Luca’s hand wrapped around my waist. The other threaded through my hair at the base of my head, he yanked my hair. I was forced to look deep into his eyes. My breath got stuck in my throat as I read his emotions in his eyes. The more time I spent with him, the more I realized this was his way of showing his emotions. He wasn’t someone that spoke them out loud. No, he showed me how he felt. Right now, we both had so much frustration and nervous energy from almost losing each other, this was more about connecting again. I was done looking into his eyes. Grabbing the back of his neck, I pulled him down to me. It was like a switch went off. That’s all it took for him to slam his lips against mine. My core was instantly throbbing with need. I needed him in me, and I needed it now. Luca pushed me backwards until my legs hit the bed. Breaking the kiss, Luca put