Rose It was a monumental effort to peel my eyes open, but nature called. After a week of no sleep at all, this was the most peaceful sleep of my life. I breathed in deep, nearly letting the comforting aroma surrounding me lull me back. With a sigh, though, I went to get out of bed. It took a couple tries of getting up to realize I was being held down by a heavy weight thrown across my waist. I froze, glimpses of last night seeping back into my brain. I was scared to look over and see who was lying next to me. My heart and wolf wanted to tell me it was my mate, but my brain said he never would have done what he did last night. He wouldn’t have cared. I kept my eyes squeezed shut as I turned over, too nervous to see who was before my eyelids. The hand that reached out to caress my cheek was a dead giveaway, though. “Bunny,” a husky voice breathed. I smiled in relief, but the illusion quickly ended as soon as my eyes opened. I jumped up out of bed, as if that would douse the
Liam I spent the entire day beating myself up. Half the time, it was for the way I acted last night. The other half, for my behavior this morning. The mixed messages I was giving off were confusing even me. It was no surprise when I found myself at the training grounds. I had noticed Rose was here quite often even though she was a scout, not a warrior, but I needed to burn off this physical tension. I hoped that she would be preoccupied with Anna and Lya so I could get some training in before she showed up. I zeroed in on Cody as soon as I got there. I wanted to say the rage that bubbled in my chest was from my wolf, but I knew it was just as much my own. Everything inside of me told me to kill him for threatening to take what was mine. Alo, the smug fucker of a wolf that he was, growled in approval of my assessment. I marched over to my old friend turned nemesis, a sardonic grin plastered on my face. “So Cody,” I said, pulling his attention away from the conversation he was in
Rose It had been two days since I had woken up to Liam in my bed, and I had skillfully avoided him since then. Tonight, though, there was a little sending off party for us in the packhouse, so I’d have to face him. Lya had finally decided to set up her office, but it was primarily used for us girls to hang out. If it was a pack matter - Wulver or Snow Moon - she was in Oliver’s office so she could ask questions and get help. She was currently pacing back and forth while Anna, Jade, and I watched. “He’s miserable, I hate him!” she shrieked. “He’s being a royal jerk to you, Rose, and he keeps talking to me like I know nothing! I mean, first he said all this stuff about me not knowinging how to be a wolf and alluded to me not being fit for alpha, but then when he tried to apologize, he just made it worse!” I let out a sigh of relief. It felt good to have my opinion of my mate validated by someone else he treated poorly, and it was really nice to have Lya back and acting as Lya -
Liam I had made my choice. The pain that tore through me as she made hers nearly ripped me in two. It was the fire that ripped through my chest that drove me and a bottle of Crown to her little studio apartment, ready to admonish her for her bad choices. Bad choices I encouraged her to make. My phone buzzed. I didn’t even have to check to know exactly who it was. “Well hello, dear old friend,” I said sarcastically, feeling like a girl on the verge of laughing during a fight. “I’m sorry,” Cody begged. “I am so sorry. I swear, I didn’t know. If I had any idea, I would never have…” His voice trailed off. I couldn’t decide if he didn’t want to voice he thought about fucking my mate, or he genuinely didn’t know what he wouldn’t have done. “I am gonna deal with my mate, and then I am going to come deal with you,” I told him, as if I was listing off my to do list for the day. “I didn’t know!” Cody insisted. I chuckled dryly. “Tell that to my wolf. It’s thanks to me I didn’t k
Rose I couldn’t sleep after Liam left. I was painfully aware that I would probably never sleep peacefully again without my mate by my side. At the same time, though, I had absolutely no interest in seeing him. Twice in one night, I was turned down. I always thought guys liked sex? I could see why Cody shot me down. In fact, It was pretty deplorable what I tried to do. At least, it would be if Liam was a halfway decent mate. If you asked me, he deserved to be hurt in the way that his mate sleeping with someone else would hurt him. Maybe then he’d realize what he had. And if Liam was so opposed to sleeping with virgins, why would he even care? Let someone else knock out my first time, and then he could have all the fun he wanted with his mate. Not that I’d ever let him touch me again. If I could help it, at least. He was my mate, so I was hardwired to want him in every way possible. I hated that I wanted him, but I couldn’t stop myself. He brought out a side of myself I had l
Liam I had resorted to drastic measures. If I didn’t do something extreme, I was worried I’d have no opportunity for my redemption arc. But, my mate was sitting in the passenger seat of my truck. She was glaring out the windshield, not responding to anything I tried to say, and her presence alone was making the drive much more bearable. I was settling for stealing glances over to the passenger seat, examining the way her pale blond hair glistened in the sun, watching as her eyes flashed with what I assumed was emotion, memorizing the length and tone of her legs. The itching at the corners of my mind were just faint enough to not tell me what she was so focused on she couldn’t talk to me. “I can tell you’re thinking about something,” I sighed, knowing better than to ask what was actually on her mind. All she did was grunt. “C’mon, I’ve been told I am significantly less annoying when I get what I want.” Rose’s glare was an expression I was growing a little emotionally attached to. “
Rose Liam and I had had exactly one conversation since our big fight. That conversation included zero eye contact, extreme physical distance, and only stipulated our schedule of shifts. We wanted eyes on patrols as often as possible thankfully, which meant we wouldn’t even have time to spend with each other, anyway. Not if there was actually going to be boots on the ground at all times, at least. Liam had made a comment about us needing more manpower up here, but I quickly refuted, reminding him that too much of a presence, it’d be obvious what we were doing. Keeping it secretly at a distance was probably good for us right now. I wasn’t proud of my outburst, and I needed some time to live it down. The logical solution was to have a conversation and apologize, but I wasn’t about to initiate it. I had to admit, a week in and these shifts were getting hard. Seven days of twelve hours in wolf form every day and still not being able to sleep was wearing on me. I felt like it was the sa
Liam I didn’t want to wake up. By this point, I had weeks of sleep to catch up on. But, my wolf urged me out of that peaceful place. I buried my head into the pillow, breathing in the spiced raspberries scent that clung to it, and resisted. Subconsciously, I reached over, searching out the embers I had fallen asleep wrapped up in. When I didn’t find them, I sat up, looking around. I half expected her to have left, but was pleasantly surprised when my eyes fell on my mate sitting cross legged at the far corner of the bed. “We need to talk,” she whispered, refusing to look at me. I fell back against the pillow and scrubbed sleep out of my eyes. Oh, blissful sleep. I just wanted to be cocooned in its sweet embrace again. “Yeah, probably.” I had finally admitted to myself that my mate was what I wanted. I didn’t know if I was ready to admit that to her, though. “You never wanted a mate.” I shook my head, confirming her statement. I waited for her to speak, thinking she would have m
I think I've figured it out. The thing that makes me enjoy a werewolf story so much is when I can easily make a connection to the characters. As I don't turn into a wolf (although I think I have a true mate bond with my fiance), their human skin bears the weight of making these characters 'real.' Their actions, reactions, internal monologue - you know, the things that make you want to hang out for a sunny afternoon and smoke meats with Liam, or sneak away for a glass of wine to gossip with Rose. It's for that reason I tackled a very toxic relationship in this story. I see them written all the time, but so often, there's just this magical moment where everything changes. It makes me roll my eyes and put the book down. My characters have very real reactions to what it is like to live in that kind of situation. There were heavy, heavy topics here, and I applaud you all for sitting through and reading them. I seriously did consider putting additional trigger/content warnings a couple tim
Liam I wanted to be angry with Jade. Furious, really. Rose’s injuries had been much more significant than she thought, and worse than the bond indicated to me. After her second surgery, it was my bunny that reined me in, encouraging me to think about what her friend - my cousin - was going through. Rose was convinced Jade was taking a slow walk to a shallow grave. But, I knew better. The death of a mate, especially an unmarked mate, affects everyone differently. Thom had been mostly fine, I was dying at the same rate as Rose, and Jade was somewhere in the middle. I didn’t quite know how to tell Rose their bond was much more pathetic than ours had ever been. They would have committed to each other without ever imprinting on each other’s souls. They were dead wolves walking, so it was a strange sort of blessing that neither had to live like that anymore. If I was a good man, I would have reached out to my cousin, ensured she was holding up okay, but Cody had been there for her, a
Rose I didn’t want to tell LIam the way he was carrying me hurt, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take it. Everything probably would have hurt right now, though. I settled for distraction. “Is it over?” I mumbled. I could feel him tense against me. “Today it is, but the war is far from won.” I pursed my lips. “Seems anticlimactic. Lya made it sound like she got a better battle scene.” “You’re a scout,” he reminded me. “Your contribution will always be in the way of information and perception.” He was right. I was hopeful that over the next few days it would come to light that perception had changed, and this was all worth it. At the very least, I hoped we got important information out of the deal. Maybe they caught the traitors, or the wolf that had attacked me. “Did anyone die?” I asked quietly. It was silent. I didn’t even know if Liam would know the answer to that question. It was the voice of a person I hadn’t even realized was there that answered. “Onl
Liam I looked down at my hands, unsure if the blood covering them was my own. I was no longer in the chains I had been imprisoned by for the last day. Hell, I wasn’t even in my house, and I had no idea how I got to the middle of the forest surrounding Lake Solitude. The last thing I recalled was sensing my mate’s distress. SIlver burned her wrists the same as it had been doing to mine, and I felt the wolf of mine fight through the toxic bonds. He must have taken over. For a fleeting moment, I thought about the unfortunate fuck who had been put in charge of watching me. Oliver and Gregory left to supervise the Cold Moon transfers who were running “patrols” while Lya, Cody, and Brandon were assisting Jade in preparing the barely functional hospital for the influx of emergencies they expected to receive tonight. That had been an oversight. That left only poor Daniel as the last of the folks present who was fully aware of what was going on. He had been a pack warrior, but had trans
Rose Silver burned my wrists as my wolf tried to burst through, oblivious to the pain it was causing me. Nothing mattered to her other than getting to her mate. Vivian had stopped forcing the tea down my throat last night. I had thought my heat had to be over, but when I woke up in the middle of the night, shackled to the bed, I discovered I was wrong. So painfully wrong. They were actual silver chains this time, not just a rope laced with silver. Vivian had explained that it was because at this point in my heat, we needed to keep my wolf at bay as well, but I had hardly listened. The only thing I cared about was that I was here, and my mate was not. As soon as I was free, everyone would pay for this. It was a dumb plan, and they had been cruel to put me through this torture. I’d make Liam kill them all for me. I tried desperately to reach out to him, beg him to come rescue me, but the silver prevented even a taste of the bond. All I needed was a taste, though. Just the smalle
Liam I was getting twitchy. Rose had been gone for a grant total of three days, and I was well on my way to insanity. I was absolutely certain if I had to sleep a third night in a row without her, I wouldn’t want up. So I wasn’t sleeping. An illogical plan, but the only one that I foresaw as having any hope of working if the members of this pack wanted to stay alive when they asked stupid questions. I was teetering on the edge, trying to keep myself drunk enough that I legitimately could’t go find Rose and ruin the plan that had been orchestrated. I had called in sick today, and knew I would do the same thing tomorrow. Brandon would tell Oliver soon, and then one of the Alphas would start asking questions, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. Lya had done a good job of deflecting her mate’s curiosity, but it wouldn’t last forever. He was overprotective of both her and his pack, and as it stood, I was surprised he hadn’t noticed that Rose was now a rogue. That, or my sister
Rose The distance from my mate was getting to me. At the suggestion of everyone who knew my whereabouts, I didn’t reach out to Liam that night. I couldn’t sleep, the constant overstretching of the bond trying to pull us back together keeping me awake. “How do you do it?” I asked Vivian, bleary eyed and exhausted, over another cup of the anti-heat juice she kept forcing down my throat. “Hmm?” she hummed, not even turning from what she was cooking. “How do you maintain distance from your mate?” This question did cause her to turn, coming to sit at the table with me. She set a plate of food in front of me - some kind of meat she had hunted for a couple nights ago. I didn’t much care what it was, though. “You know how a rubber band or hair tie loses tension the more often it’s stretched to its limit without breaking?” I nodded. “It’s kinda like that. You get used to it, the distance it’s stretched has to be further to be noticeable. But, it takes a lot of overstretching to do th
Folks!!I missed an updating day! I'm so sorry to do this to you guys, but there will be NO updates the next few days for 'Chase.' I sat down yesterday and looked at the chapters to post, and I just... wasn't happy. In an effort to give you guys the best story possible, I'd like to give it a couple days and rework the ending that is in the pipeline. I don't want to be "that" author that takes a random hiatus, but it is more important to me that I give Rose and Liam the ending they deserve than just post a lackluster ending. Trust me, with the stuff I drafted yesterday, I think you guys will agree. I promise, this isn't going to be a long hiatus like I took from 'Run.' after my mom's death. Just give me until 1.23.23, and I'll have more chapters out for you. Maybe I'll even post in bulk instead of just a single chapter a day. ;) In the interim, maybe you'd like to go check out 'Run.' and see where this whole adventure started? If Snow Moon is burning you out, go visit 'Curse of a Ly
Liam I went out to every site my warriors were claiming to pick up rogue scents. I quickly noticed they were laced with Wulver, though. I clearly hadn’t been the only one thinking we needed to loop a rogue in on our cause. “Chandler’s mate,” Gregory confirmed, coming up next to me. “She came down with him.” I cocked an eyebrow. “I’m surprised he found his way out of his hiding spot.” Gregory smirked. “You know as well as anyone that not everyone needs to be combative to be useful. How many times has information he passed on saved the day?” “More than I’d like to mention,” I grumbled. Chandler was a good guy, but a rogue in every sense of the word - other than his bond to the Wulver Pack. “He really brought his mate with him?” His mate, however, was every bit a Wulver, but a true rogue. I always wondered why Vivian never joined the Wulvers, but right now, it was proving useful. He nodded in confirmation. “How are your scouts holding up without their fearless leader?” I chuck