JesseI sat across from the Alphas of the Fangstorm Brotherhood. They had requested I meet with them and I decided to get it finished. We all stared at one another for a while, the silence stretching on.The Fangstorms were an odd pack. They heeded the old traditions like they were gospel. For them, it was of the utmost importance to stick to these traditions. But, if someone in the pack didn’t want to then they simply let them choose that path.If their path led them away from the pack then so be it. There would be no shunning or hatred towards them. It was simply how the ancestors wished it to me.“Jesse, you know why we have brought you here, correct?”I nodded. “You wish to know what pack we will be aligning ourselves with.”“Precisely,” one of the elders told me. “Have you made your decision yet or are the five of you still considering your options?”“We are still considering our options and to be honest, I don’t care what pack we end up with,” I said truthfully. “I am completely
Matt I was in a bad fucking mood. The Ashen Howl tribe was full of a bunch of assholes, which was why I hated them to my very core. It didn’t matter if they were the pack I was born into or not. The only thing I ever thought about was getting as far away from them as possible.This is something I always wanted! I knew my chance would come once I found a mate. I would hope that we’d choose her pack, but now I had the chance to make my own. It was honestly a fucking relief. To be able to start from nothing and make a pack with just me, Lia, and my friends was more than I could ever want.My sister had been kicked out of this pack for refusing to mate with her chosen mate right away. It was common now for people to go ahead and get an education or start a career first. No reason to rush into it before you are financially secure.But the Ashen Howl tribe was set in the old ways. They didn’t want to change with the times, frustrating everyone. At least they were frustrating the younger ge
LiaMy future mates seemed to be preoccupied with what we were going to do about our future pack decisions. I didn’t know what to do as I was packless, something that came with its issues.Our parents were part of a small pack, to begin with. They claimed they didn’t want to leave and wanted to stay because this was where their loyalty lay. Yes, it was small, but they were family. After my parents died, the rest of the back decided to go their separate ways.It was my parents that were the glue that held it together. Without them, the others didn’t see the point. Michael and I were still young, having not gone through our coming-of-age ceremony yet so we had no legal rights to vote on the fate of the pack.Soon we found ourselves packless, a fate that wasn’t as uncommon as people thought in modern-day wolf society. Wolves just didn’t want to talk about it often, treating it like it was some type of taboo subject.I never shied away from the fact that I didn’t have a pack. Some classma
ColbyI kept thinking about what happened when Lia was approaching us just as those girls were blatantly flirting with us as we waited for her to come outside. They just walked up to us, giggling and trying to engage in conversation with us.Rain started talking to them right away, but he was a friendly outgoing guy. He likely didn’t even realize they were flirting. Meanwhile, Matt just kept grunting in response to their questions and Jesse blatantly ignored them! I was the only one attempting to genuinely talk to them while aware of what they were trying to do.It was disrespectful for them to do it when they knew Lia was nearby.The second she saw the girls, I saw the jealousy flash across her face. She was experiencing a case of the green-eyed monster rearing it’s ugly head. It happened with me and the guys, but in Lia’s case, there was no reason for her to be jealous!I had no interest in anyone but Lia. The same could be said for Rain, Matt, and Jesse. Speaking for them wasn’t so
LiaI thought the jealousy was out of my system until the next day at school when I was getting ready to leave. It was just Colby there to pick me up and this time one girl was there, flirting with him. It was Madison, a girl who was one of the more stuck-up students in school.She always gushed whenever Colby and the rest of the rugby team came to Aspen School. I knew she had a crush on him and since she found out he was going to be my mate, she’d been giving me death glares.“Let's go, Colby,” I said coldly as I approached.He smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later Madison.”“Excuse me, Lia I was trying to have a conversation,” she said to me.“And we have to get back to the house,” I reminded her. “You know, because Colby is my future mate and lives with me now.”Madison turned red with anger. “Oh, you think you're so special just because you have four mates? Well, let me tell you that you don’t deserve any of them. You especially don’t deserve Colby!”“Hey Madison, that’s un
LiaI was having to grapple with the fact right now that I was starting to fall for my mates. It wasn’t something I wanted to happen, but it was happening. For weeks now we had been living together and they had been acting on their best behavior. All of them were trying their best to get me to warm up to them.The rain was funny, constantly making me laugh. Colby made me feel grounded, and always willing to have good conversations with me. Meanwhile, Jesse made me feel safe as if I could tell him anything. Then there was Matt who had the hardest time with it.He and I were more alike than I realized. The two of us had deep conversations with Matt actively responding whereas Jesse preferred to listen. There was a balance between all of them and now I see why they were such good friends.It didn’t help that the other day I had gone ahead and started a fight. While we were wolves, it wasn’t encouraged for us to get into fights while on the school grounds. If there were any serious injuri
LiaI woke up to Rain blowing up the group chat we had with each other. Sighing, I hopped on and decided to see what he was fussing about.We need to figure this pack situation out. Mom called me, and apparently, the council gave us a six-month deadline to decide. – RSix months? Seriously? I thought we had a year. – CNope. Law changed. It’s six months now. – RGreat. Just what I needed. As if dealing with my current pack’s drama wasn’t enough. – MWait, so we must decide between joining one of your packs or making a new one? – LPretty much. The new pack requires five members, which we have. But it’s not that simple. – RNothing ever is. – JLook, the Iron Fang elders are breathing down my neck about bringing you all in. But I know that’s not ideal for everyone. – CYes, not happening. No offense, Colby, but your pack’s as nervous as they come. – MOkay, so Iron Fang is off the table for Matt. What about Celestial Howl? – RHippie vibes aren’t my thing either. – MAnd Ashen Howl is
Lia“So what are we going to do?” I asked the guys, the four of us gathered around the dining room table.Matt shrugged. “I’m fine with any of your packs since my pack kicked me out.”He said this with the widest grin on his face. I was happy that Matt was no longer suffering from the stress his old pack was putting him under. It was great to see him like this, free and without stress.“I agree with Matt,” Jesse said, taking a sip of his tea. “It’s up to the three of you. Matt and I will go with whatever decision you make.”I looked at Rain and Colby. “So what do you two think?”“I think it’s a good idea if we make our pack,” Rain said, catching Colby by surprise. “Colby, my dude, don’t look so shocked.”Colby blinked. “I can’t believe that you are willing to walk away from your pack. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I thought you had your mind set on being with your pack.”“I did, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it would be good to start our pack
LiaI exhaled slowly, stretching out my fingers as the energy built inside me. A spark of light flickered between my palms, growing brighter as I focused. The magic thrummed through my veins, warm and alive, bending to my will.I flicked my wrist, sending a controlled pulse of energy toward the target. It hit dead center, leaving a faint scorch mark.Behind me, Simone let out a low whistle. “Damn, Lia. You’re getting pretty good at this.”I grinned, wiping the sweat from my brow. “I have to be.”Simone crossed her arms, watching me closely. “You mean you want to be.”I shrugged, rolling my shoulders. “Both. I need to be strong enough to protect everyone.”She tilted her head. “You know you don’t have to do everything alone, right?”I sighed, flexing my fingers as another surge of power built beneath my skin. “I know.”Simone didn’t look convinced. “Do you, though? Because it kind of seems like you’re trying to carry the whole damn world on your shoulders.”I glanced at her. “I’m not—”
ColbyTalking with Michael did help. It made me even more determined to protect Lia with every bone in my body.When it was later that night, I decided to head outside. I needed some air and was sick of being in the stuffy hotel room.The cool air felt good. I walked over to one of our cars, taking in the night sky and the sound of the crickets.There was one good thing about traveling away from the city; we were getting to see some beautiful sites. I loved it.It was a shame that the pack decided to do this because we were trying to prevent a bunch of ancient, sleeping dragons from waking up.The previous attack was still being talked about. Some of the dragons had been killed while others were apprehended by the various supernatural creature associations.Frankly, I was just grateful there weren’t a lot of casualties from the attack.I leaned against the hood of the car, inhaling the cool night air. My ribs ached, my knuckles were raw, and frustration still simmered under my skin. W
LiaI was so scared when I saw Matt fall down.Then I saw the blood. Anger and worry flooded through me followed by fear.I was so scared for him. He was bleeding and might die from his injuries.It was why I had learned a healing spell during my latest batch of studies.The pack was going to be heading into an unknown situation. I needed to make sure I could at least heal them to an extent.But the healing school came with a downside—it exhausted me.Rain came up beside me, wrapping an arm around me while Jesse and Colby helped Matt.The five of us hobbled out of the town. We weren’t followed by the coven; they wanted to be left alone so they were going to stay as far away from us as possible.After hopping in our car, we met with Simone. All of us regrouped. I stood there with Simone patted my shoulder.Growling in frustration, I started to walk ahead. My body was aching but I didn’t care. I needed to clear my mind.We left with nothing. No answers, no leads—just bruises, torn cloth
LiaI saw the town in the distance, and it made me sick to my stomach.The town was the definition of a ghost town. There wasn’t anyone around, and I swear I saw a tumbleweed drift by.It was like I had stepped into some creepy horror movie with western undertones.My magic was crackling at my fingertips, prepared and ready.A rustling reached my ears. I cried out, sending a blast of energy toward the overgrown grass. A squirrel scurried out, the edge of its tail singed.“Lia, my dude, you almost murdered a squirrel. What did that squirrel ever do to you?”“Nothing!” I shrieked. “And I didn’t know it was a squirrel. I thought it was one of the members of the coven!”Jesse rolled his eyes. “Could you two be any louder?” he asked, rolling his eyes.“Yeah, you're going to alert them to our presence,” Colby pointed out, holding his finger to his lips. “Seriously, we are far too exposed right now. Let’s duck into one of those abandoned buildings and hide out while discussing strategy.”Sim
MattI was angry.Angry that we were forced to go on this wild goose chase to ensure that these dragons wouldn’t keep waking up and destroying the world.It wasn’t like I wanted the world to be destroyed. This was my home—my life.But it still pissed me off.I’d rather be on the field, playing rugby and winning for my team. This was where I felt most alive.Or at home with Lia and the rest of the pack. We were great together, having built a family somehow.Michael and Gabi were lucky to be back at the house, but I know they’d rather be here with us. If not for the twins, they would be.I wouldn’t have let Lia come if she was pregnant.Then again, I don’t think any of us could’ve stopped her. When she puts her mind to something, she becomes very stubborn and determined.Grumbling to myself, I glanced over at Colby, who was staring out the window.The group was back on search. We jumped into our cars and started following the trail, not sure if we were going the right way. Tegan and Lia
LiaThe search wasn’t going very well. We were sitting here at night after a long day of searching, crowded around the flat screen in the room watching some movie. I wasn’t even paying much attention to it. It was some cheesy rom-com that couldn’t keep my interest.All that mattered was being able to sit there with my mates.Then the words Emergency Broadcast Announcement flashed across the screen. A very nervous-looking news announcer sat there, trembling behind the desk."This is an emergency alert from the National Emergency Broadcast System. We interrupt this program for an urgent announcement.""At approximately 8:42 PM, a sudden and unprovoked attack by rogue dragon shifters was reported in multiple locations. Authorities confirm significant structural damage, fires, and civilian casualties. Emergency response teams are being dispatched to affected areas.""All residents are urged to seek immediate shelter. Avoid open areas, remain indoors, and secure all entry points. Do not at
RainIt was safe to say that we were fucked.Lia’s mentor was trying her best to find out where the coven might be, but I was realizing we were going to need help… like, say, from another leader.One of the leaders in my vampire clan, Tegan, was the perfect person to reach out to. She was intelligent and knew a bunch of people. It wasn’t hard to gather lots of allies and contacts when you had been alive for over three hundred years.When I first found out about her age, I almost gasped out loud right there. I learned that it was rude to stare at a vampire after learning their age. One of those social rules you wanted to avoid.In my defense, I was new to the vampire way of life and was still struggling to adjust to the idea that I was one! But I was getting better.With a deep breath, I dialed Tegan’s number. I pressed the phone to my ear, pacing as the line rang.Tegan picked up almost immediately. "Rain. Didn’t expect to hear from you. Something wrong?""Yeah. I need your help."A d
JesseAfter we got back to the hotel, Lia went out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. I joined her and jabbed her with my elbow gently.“You’re thinking too hard.”Lia flinched, barely masking her glare. “And you’re sneaking up on people again.”I smirked, leaning against the balcony railing. “I wasn’t sneaking. You’re just too busy brooding.”She huffed. “I’m not brooding. I’m thinking.”“Uh-huh. And what’s the difference?”“Brooding is pointless. Thinking leads to solutions.”I gestured toward the city lights stretching beyond us. “Found any?”Silence. Then, a begrudging, “No.”“That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”She shifted, her expression cautious. “You have an idea?”“Sort of. More like a lead.”“Well? Don’t just sit there looking smug. Spit it out.”I tilted my head. “You trained as a witch, right?”Her expression tightened. “Yeah. Why?”“You ever keep in touch with your old magic teacher?”Lia blinked. “My mentor? Uh… a little. Why?”“Because she taught you magic?”She n
LiaDays start to blend when you are on the road. It’s hard to remember one from the next and in the beginning, all I could think about was how much school I was missing.School had become important to me now that I was able to focus on it. I was still taking magic lessons on the side, even with me being a full-fledged licensed witch. There was no such thing as learning too much. One could always find time and opportunity to learn!But now I was neglecting both my academic studies and magical studies. The Rosewater Coven was the cause of this and it filled me with annoyance.Simone was feeling the same way but she was more positive about it. She kept saying that it was important for us to find this coven and if we had to put school on the backburner then that was all we could do.Right now we were on day… god, I wasn’t even sure. We checked into the hotel and got a room for just the five of us. There were three beds and while it was going to be a bit crowded, I was fine with sharing w