AnnalyseCass and I were spending our last day together hanging out and packing.Chase and I were going to River Moon to attend Jace’s ascension ceremony. I couldn’t stand the bastard, but Chase had to attend and he wanted me with him.I was a little nervous about it all because Chase and I had never discussed what happened in my past, he just knew that there was a boy who had hurt me at one point.We were taking Cass with us and she would meet up with her parents and go home from there.“Hey. Sorry about this last week. We were supposed to be hanging out and catching up. Instead, I was, uh, otherwise occupied.”, I said to her, feeling genuinely bad about not spending as much time with her as I wanted to.“I know, Lyse. But seriously? Occupied? I’d say you two were somewhere fucking like rabbits.”, she countered, wiggling her eyebrows.“Hey-”, I started, a slight flush coming to my cheeks because, well, she wasn’t wrong.She put a hand up to stop me. “I would have been doing the same.
AnnalyseHaving dinner with my mate and my best friend was great. It felt, well, normal.Except the looks that Cass and Ryker kept throwing at each other. He joined us part way through, saying that he and Chase had some things to discuss after we finished.“So”, Cass started, “Do you have a dress for Jace’s ceremony?”, she asked.“Yeah.”, I answered, shrugging, probably looking like I was sucking on a lemon.“What’s with the face?”, Chase asked.“I’d honestly rather not go.”, I said, glancing over at Cass. She was the only one who knew the story behind Jace’s assholery.“And I don’t blame you, Lyse. After what he did-”, she started.She noticed the quick shake of my head and stopped, but not before Chase picked it up.I looked over at him warily.“What did he do, Lyse?”, he asked quietly. Too quietly. I looked into his eyes as he rubbed small circles on the back of my hand with his thumb, feeling my apprehension, I’m sure.“Can we talk about this later? Without an audience?”, I all b
AnnalyseCass and I sat in the garden listening to the sounds of the forest and were talking about Jace’s ceremony tomorrow, when I caught what looked like dark mist out of the corner of my eye.I looked over at Cass.“Hey. Did you see that?”, I asked.“What?”“It looked like black mist.”, I said, my senses on high alert now, Bella pacing in my head.“No. I didn’t see anything. Are you sure that you aren’t just thinking about what happened? That dude is a serious asshole.”, she said.“You’re telling me.”, I said, the memory of what he was about to do flashing in my mind.“Hey.”, Cass said, “Are you okay?”“Yeah. Just a little shaken up. Thank the goddess that Chase showed up when he did.”, I said as a small shiver ran through me.“Why didn’t they just kill him? It’s not like a Lycan to leave someone who threatened their mate alive.”“I think they want information before going any further. The situation is…. Tricky.”, I said vaguely.As much as I love Cass, there are still things that
AnnalyseAs we made our way toward River Moon pack territory, I was both excited to see my parents and friends and nervous to have to be going to Jace’s house. The main pack house. After what happened, I avoided the place like a whore avoids church.Chase must have sensed my anxiety though. He kept side-eyeing me as we drove, squeezing my hand in reassurance every few minutes.I knew that I needed to tell him what happened, but a part of me was still so mad, and to be honest, a little ashamed too. He was my mate though. He’d understand and most likely, it would probably help me feel better to get it all out there.“Hey.”, I said as he looked at me again.“Yeah?”, he answered.“When we get to my parents’ place, can we talk?”, I asked, nervous.“Of course. You can tell me anything, Lyse.”“Ok. But you aren’t going to like it.”, I warned.“Whatever it is, we’ll get through it.”, he said, squeezing my hand again.Ryker looked at us over his shoulder from the front seat. “So, the plan is t
AnnalyseI froze in shock for a minute. “Mom?”, I all but squealed, throwing myself at her for a hug.She held me tight for a few moments and I held her right back. We hadn’t been away from each other for a terribly long time, but I missed her so much.“Where are we?”, I asked after a minute, taking in my surroundings.We were in some kind of small alcove, like an entryway, barely big enough to fit two, let alone seven of us.She smiled at me. “You’ll see.”, she said softly.“Dylan? Have you commanded the others?”, she asked, looking at my mate.“I was just about to do that, Carolina.”, he answered as he turned on the top step to face the others.I looked on, curious and wondering what was going on.“Cass, Weston, Harrison, Ryker.”, he started, looking at each of them in turn as he said their names.They watched and waited after acknowledging him.“All of today and anything you know now or will learn or see in the future pertaining to Annalyse Mitchell, my mate, needs to be guarded at
AnnalyseAfter our shower, we got dressed and headed downstairs to wait for my dad to get home. What I really wanted to do was curl up with Chase and take a nice, solid nap.These past weeks have been revelation after revelation for me and I was on what felt like perpetual overload in my brain.There was so much to process and it seemed like more was coming my way.I heard the front door open and then click closed. “Lina? Lyse? Is anyone home?”, he called out, taking off his coat to hang in the entry closet.“Yeah, Dad. We’re in here.”, I called back, getting up from the sofa to give him a hug as he walked in the room.He folded me into his chest just like he had always done when I was little. I felt my eyes start to sting as he hugged me, not realizing until just now how much I’ve missed seeing my parents every day. And Dad always gave the best hugs.“Is everything ok?”, he asked as he held me by the shoulders, noticing the extra shine from unshed tears.“Yeah.”, I said. “I just real
AnnalyseAfter a night plagued with dreams and worry, morning seemed to come sooner than I would have liked. I had so many questions and I was still in shock at all that I had learned yesterday.We also had Jace’s ceremony tonight and I had to tell Chase about the history there. I was truly concerned for other she wolves in our pack at the thought of him becoming Alpha. If he could do what he tried to do to me at free will and without anyone to challenge him or consequences for his actions, what else would he be bold enough to try?I hadn’t spoken much on the way over yesterday because I was truly scared of the repercussions of speaking up. At the same time, I was doubly concerned about not saying anything. I left Chase sleeping and went down to the kitchen to get coffee for the two of us, saying hello to Harrison as I passed by.“How was everything last night?”, I asked as I passed him in the entryway.“All was quiet, Luna.”I gave him the side eye as I passed, conveying without wor
ChaseI walked out of Lyse’s room, relatively calm given the anger I had writhing inside of me at her revelations of the wish-he-was-gonna-be Alpha, Jace.I made a quick call to my father to let him know my intentions and was aware of the potential fall out. Not that I needed his approval now that I was King, but it was smart to have his council on matters like this. His experience is still invaluable.Upon his agreement, I made a call to Merrick and was headed to meet him now. There was much to discuss before tonight’s ceremony. I had to fill Ryker in too.As I rounded the corner to the kitchen, Carolina looked up and smiled, handing me a cup of coffee. “Good morning, Dylan.”, “Good morning, Carolina.”, I smiled back. “You can call me Chase, you know. You’re kind of part of my inner circle now, you know.”, I said with a wink.She laughed. “You always were a smart ass. Your mom would be proud of the man you’ve become.”, she said seriously.“Thanks for that.”, I answered. “Hey. Is Me