Liam The door crashed open with such force I was convinced we were under attack. I barged into the living room, a silver knife in hand. I dropped it quickly when I noticed it was only Rose, frantically digging through her purse. “Bunny?” I questioned. “What’s wrong?” “Strawberry Moon,” she huffed. She looked up at me, wide eyed and rosy cheeked. “Adara said Strawberry Moon is going to get attacked by Cold Moon tonight.” Rose continued rifling through her purse, muttering to herself while I was frozen in place. I watched as she resorted to simply dumping all the contents out onto the table and grabbing her phone. Most everyone I knew was in Strawberry Moon. It was my childhood home. They hadn’t had an attack in my entire life, and I would go so far as to question their ability to survive one. It was a pack hidden within one of the peninsulas of midcoast Maine, making it far enough off the beaten path that it was frequently ignored. It was small but mighty, probably due to the ext
Rose If there was one thing Liam had not learned about me, it was the part I was still learning about myself. Namely, that I could be a loose cannon when I wanted to be. I had only recently discovered the ability and power to make decisions for myself, and I would find a way to do it. We needed information, and I had the power to get it. I had heard what Liam said about this potentially having nothing to do with Snow Moon at all. That was what made me feel like I had the liberty to play outside the rules. From my understanding, being a Wulver was part of my future, even if I wasn’t one yet. Doing my part to protect them felt like it was necessary. It was easy to get information out of Adara. She bragged endlessly about the house Derek had moved her into the second she graduated from her warrior training. It was the largest house in the town, positioned farthest from everything else. I knew that somewhere in that house were the answers we needed. All I needed to find it was time.
Liam Rose was hiding something. I knew it. She said she was meeting Adara for drinks again, which would be believable enough as they had spent quite a bit of time together the past several days, but I knew for a fact Adara was running patrols tonight. ‘Let her have some privacy,’ Alo insisted. ‘She deserves to have some time where she doesn’t feel smothered.’ I reluctantly complied, settling for spending my evening with a glass of scotch and another peruse through one of the history books on the mate bond. Marking her had settled how frantically I worried about her. Having the enhanced link to her calmed me significantly, although I did my best to try and block it most times. I knew she would see it as an intrusion of privacy. Tonight, though, I tried to keep the one way link more open. Just in case. Because I knew she had lied. A soft knock at the door reminded me the world was still moving forward even though I stayed stationary just in case my mate needed me. I waited to
Rose The one thing I wanted from tonight was confirmation that I was someone to be heard. I left the Gamma’s house knowing I had that. Adara didn’t know I was directing our conversation on the training field today toward this information, but she had single handedly betrayed every single one of Derek’s biggest secrets when she ranted about how it was so frustrating he wouldn’t allow her anywhere near his home office, going so far as to put a lock on it once she moved in. She thought she was just complaining about a lack of trust between mates, too. A quick call down to Cyber and a giant ‘I owe you’ disabled their security system. All I had to do was jimmy a window open, crack the code to the safe, and take the information I needed. Derek was smart, but I was smarter. His safe was built into a drawer of his desk, which I nearly missed, but it was easy enough to see which numbers were the most used. I was glad I had decided to bring my tablet and simply take pictures of all the
Liam Rose, Jade, Brandon, and I were scattered throughout the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Rose had shared the photos she had taken with us, so we had tablets or phones in one hand, and notepads to record important things we read in the other. “I can’t believe you actually got all this, Rose,” Brandon said. “This is fucking gold. Ollie is going to be so glad you ignored him.” I watched her smile smugly. She had been taking all the compliments with grace, but I could feel how the ego boosts encouraged her. “Where’s Greg?” I asked. “I called him. He’s never late.” Rose looked up from her perch on the kitchen counter. “He isn’t. He somehow got Derek’s mate out of the house for me, so he’s probably just wrapping that up.” I gritted my teeth. As proud as I was that my little mate did all of this, it bothered me that someone had helped her put herself at risk. He always saw the bigger picture with no holds barred regarding individual safety, so long as it was the best
Rose My blood ran cold. All color drained from my face. That couldn’t be right. “I was hoping I’d read something later on that would suggest they chose a different path,” Jade said quietly. Liam glared over at his cousin. “This says they will kill the Wulver Alpha, directing all control of the Wulvers to them. What else could they decide to do?” “Well, clearly they don’t know too much about the Wulvers, then,” Jade pointed out. “The alpha link can only go to a Wulver. Otherwise, we would have been overthrown generations ago.” I looked to Gregory, hoping he would have an idea. His voice drifted through the mindlink, for my knowledge only. ‘You said you wanted to be a rogue, right, girl?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ He gave me an almost imperceptible nod. It was all the confirmation I needed that the plan I had slowly been developing was on the right track. Brandon joined Liam and Gregory in front of the timeline. “Maybe it’s still about Snow Moon, and they’re looking to weaken Olli
Liam I was lost in the ocean of my mate’s eyes, and I wanted to stay there. I hadn’t been certain of many things in my life, but I was certain of this. My bunny had single handedly, and with very little effort on her end, changed even the most core beliefs I had, showing me they meant nothing if I couldn’t have her. I hated the mate bond, but mostly because I wanted to feel this, completely unencumbered. I leaned down and kissed her, the fire I knew her skin held roaring to life. We were far from the perfect mates, but we were exactly what each other needed, showing us the sides of ourselves we never wanted to admit resided deep within us. My lips moved against hers slowly, savoring the flavor of her skin. I pulled back abruptly, sliding my arms under her knees and behind her back to carry her to the bedroom with me. I placed her gently on her feet once we got there, and immediately set to work ridding her of her clothes. Rose followed suit, tugging my shirt over my head
Rose I stood in the doorway of the bedroom, watching my mate sleep peacefully. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting a soft golden hue over the bed. My wolf prodded at me, reminding me we had very little time before he would notice I was gone. Time was of the essence. I wasn’t completely certain about this by any means. I was putting a lot of trust into Gregory. I wished I could get more assistance from the people up here, but everyone would try to stop me. I was the broken girl. They would think I was acting recklessly. I was broken. I wasn’t denying that. And I was being reckless. But for good reason. Everyone had decided the priority needed to be taking down Cold Moon’s insiders, and doing it in such a way that it gave no doubt to the rest of everyone up here that Snow Moon was the pack they needed to put their trust in. Very few words were ever exchanged when discussing this plan with Gregory. Shortly after Liam had drifted back to sleep, he had mindlinked me to tell
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