“Excuse me?”
He’d surprised her when he’d let slip that he wanted to protect her. Help her. But…Isabella couldn’t have heard him correctly, could she?
“I want to make it clear that our prior agreements still stand, and they have no relation to your decision. Regardless of my position, you have a choice, of course.”
Maybe she had heard him correctly. He couldn’t possibly be serious. She gaped at him. Yes, there was heat between them. Tension. She sensed it, too. But she wasn’t about to admit that. Definitely not to him. She couldn’t risk another relationship with an alpha wolf—no matter how attractive and brave he might be, or how tempting the offer. No matter how much she wanted to see that softer side of him again.No. She needed to nip this in the bud before it got out of hand.
She settled on being saucy. It worked with him, and that seemed to be the only way they could conver
“You seem distracted.” Dean stood inside the Missoula ranch barn beside Jeremy, a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other as he took inventory of the ranch’s supply stock.Distracted was putting it lightly. Jeremy had spent the morning on the subpack’s small training field running drills. Considering the Missoula ranch was only about a quarter the size of Wolf Pack Run, their training field was less than what he was used to. The Missoula ranch, though fully operational and similar in function to Wolf Pack Run, didn’t boast Wolf Pack Run’s underground training facilities and an additional training field like his men were used to, but they were soldiers and cowboys, so they’d make do.Even with the field cramped with men, the monotony of drills had left his mind far too much room to wander. After a short lunch break, when they’d regrouped for sparring, it’d become clear to Jeremy that, for once, his head wasn&rsq
The door to Jeremy’s private cabin burst open, allowing the cold to blow in. The fire in the hearth flickered, the flames briefly dimming to a steady burning ember before roaring to life again. Jeremy stared into the fire, his thoughts racing. The cold at his back sent a chill down his spine, but it wasn’t the wind that caused him to still. It was the feminine voice that accompanied it.“You wanted to see me, Commander?”It had only been two days, but her voice sounded throatier, deeper in timbre than he remembered, the kind of voice meant for late-night phone calls and meetings in dark corners of a hotel lobby.Austin held her by the arms. Her wrists were bound again, though he knew she’d been roaming around without handcuffs inside the guest cabin that served as her house arrest. She watched him with incredulous eyes, as if he’d had nerve to summon her. He’d missed that cheekiness, stubborn woman that she was.H
Isabella gaped at Jeremy. For once, she found herself at a loss for words.He believed her…when no one else ever had. That thought was enough to undo her. The tears came fast, pouring down her cheeks. They were a mixture of relief, gratitude, and regret that she hadn’t told him sooner. She’d never expected anyone to believe her, let alone the Grey Wolf high commander. And now…“You can’t possibly mean?” She whispered the words. It felt as if speaking at a normal pitch would cause the possibility to evaporate into the ether.Jeremy gave a hard nod. His jaw was drawn tight. “That’s exactly what I mean. You’re free to go.”“What about my testimony to the Seven Range Pact?” she breathed. “I’ll think of something.”Her eyes grew wide. He would do that? For her? “But it can’t be that simple. They’re expecting me to testify. If I don’t sho
Jeremy prowled toward Isabella, crossing the cabin in three quick strides. Her back was turned toward him, and he knew she hadn’t prepared for his onslaught. He caught her shoulders in his hands, and she stilled beneath his touch, bracing a hand against the door for support.Slowly, his hands slid over her, one resting on the delicate skin of her neck and the other cupping the side of one breast. She inhaled a sharp breath, and he eased her closer. The full curve of her ass pushed against the throbbing erection behind the fly of his jeans, and he growled, low and deep.His words were a fevered whisper against her ear. “I want you, Isabella Beaumont. I’ve wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you, naked and about to steal my horse.”She opened her mouth to protest, but her words caught on a gasp as his canines brushed against the delicate skin of her throat. He caressed her breast, massaging and kneading until the hardened peak of her
Isabella shivered as Jeremy ran a hand down over her thighs. She was nude, spread wide before him, but he was still fully clothed. His gaze blazed a trail of heatthrough her as he admired her. As if she were a breathtaking sight down there. And the lights were still on…He could see every detail of her in full color. It should have mortified her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. He seemed entranced by her, as if she were a moving work of art meant for him to touch, feel, taste. The surge of power that thrummed through her in response was addictive. He was going slowly, which she knew was solely for her pleasure; she’d felt how ready he was. He idly ran his fingers between the lips of her pussy. The movement was so casual yet intimate that she felt the build of arousal rising in her chest again. He touched her as if she were his, as if there were no restrictions between them and he found pleasure in every part of her.It’d ne
“What?” Isabella’s eyes grew wide, and she surged forward against the ties.Jeremy had no doubt that if she’d been untied, she would have throttled him. It took every ounce of his strength and control to move this slowly, to ease her into it, but he needed this to be good for her. He wanted to take her rough and hard right now, pumping into her until the bed frame banged against the wall, but this was about her, not him.“That’s so unfair,” she breathed. Her hazel eyes narrowed into a glare as she shook her head at him. “You have to realize I have a hard time talking about… about that.”That was the whole point. Isabella needed to push her boundaries. He’d seen that in her from the very first time they’d met in the clearing. She didn’t care much for rules, especially the ones he set. It was what had drawn him to her from the start.But when it came to her sexuality, she was tim
Jeremy stepped out onto the cabin’s wraparound porch, easing the door closed behind him. The silhouettes of the pine trees cast dark shadows over the shimmering white snow, promising an unknown world within their depths. The forest wasn’t the only unknown laid out before him. His mind drifted to the sight of Isabella lying naked on his bed, her legs tangled in the sheets and a look of pure, sated bliss on her face. It’d taken everything in him to walk out of the cabin and leave her to her own devices.But he needed to clear his head—and fast. He’d never had any trouble walking away after sex, but as he’d retreated out to the silence of the cold night, he’d had to fight to put one foot in front of the other. That’d never been a problem before. His break post-sex was ritualistic in nature, putting distance between him and whatever partner he happened to be with. It was the way it’d always been for him, even back before he&rs
If Jeremy died here tonight, it wouldn’t be in vain. He couldn’t remember the last time they had given him water, and his limbs ached with dehydration. Nausea churned his stomach. Metal clanged against metal as he rattled the chains that held him in place. It had become a game of sorts, a reminder to his enemy that he’d yet to give up.Not even with the tip of the vampire’s silver blade shoved against his windpipe.“I’ll ask you one more time, Commander.” The deep voice echoed against the steel walls. His enemy eased the blade ever closer to Jeremy’s jugular. “Will you surrender to me?”It was the game they played. The sick fuck favored slow, sadistic methods intended to break a wolf.Jeremy wasn’t any wolf.Summoning the last bit of fight left in him, Jeremy closed his eyes, leaning into the searing pain of the blade without fear. In the freezing air of the dungeon, even with his body b
In all my dreams of being surrounded by wolves, which had haunted me since the murder of my parents, never once had those wolves been mechanicalmonsters.It turned out that reality was more terrifying than nightmares, who knew? Except perhaps the shifters had known all along that single skins had beastshidden within them as well, even if they only ever showed one face.The back of my throat was sticky with sweat in the sweltering heat of the Justice Chamber, and my heart thundered. My Charms and Anthony formed a defensive circle around me, when Moon pushed his brother behind him. The wind from Mischief’s violently beating wings gusted across my cheeks like breath.The mechanical wolves growled.I moved, as they prowled closer. Their eyes glowed, just like Moon’s, yet freakishly wrong. They wore loosely over their bronze backs the white pelts of the real murdered Alphas, as if they were wolves try
I hunched my shoulders, staring blankly back at where the House of Heights had once stood and the terrible visions from the past that Siobhanny had shown me.Now, there was only rubble with the bones of beams and floorboards jutting out.I glowered at mangled remains of the metal cage from the Discipline Cellar.Holy hell, my Charms had witnessed the atrocities committed by my ancestors. How could they be lying here with me snuggled on the lawns? How could Jeremy be running his gloved hand up and down with teasing touches between my tits, until I thought that I’d growl at him just to caress my aching nubs, for the sake of Hecate?“I’m not the same as them,” I said in a small voice. “I’m not my great-grandmother or my mother.”I could sense that my guys had stilled but I didn’t dare look over at them. “Oh, but you are, sorceres
Trapped beneath the heights sea of the ceiling in the Discipline Cellar, I stared wildly, as it bulged above Siobhanny’s head, then birthed a gilded angel whosewings beat with furious magic.Holy hell, it was Mischief in truly godly form who hovered above Siobhanny. I realized that I’d never seen him acting the archduke before and sparking with righteous rage.It was scorching-hot.Yet why had he held back when we’d been fighting? And how much was it costing him to rescue us now? Unless, you know, he had more of a plan than to fright Siobhanny into letting us go?My jerremy wrenched at the shackles around King, battling against the dark magic that bound him and hissing at its sting. King twisted in his chains to dodge the dripping heights, when Jeremy and Moon snatched up paddles to hold over his shoulders and protect him.Yep, I didn’t miss the irony of the
I stepped alone into the middle of a war. Only, there was no rattle of gunfire, boom of explosions, or thunder of tanks. Instead, there was an eerie red that swallowed the world like it’d been transformed to Mars, which consumed even the sky. My own red cocooned itself around me, as if it could protect me from the jerremy shadows in this past memory that washed over the ancient woodsand the banks of the Thames.Huh, that was what it was like to know that you’d only been a kid playing with your powers because these shadows that stormed with fury were my jerremy shadows at their most terrifying.They were the jerremy tide and boy, were they not being controlled.I paled, pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes like that would end the horror of the scene, but when I pulled my hands away again, nothing had changed: my great-grandmother was still alone on the hill beside the Thames, decimating the werewolves.S
Dazed, I stared at the smoldering bed and scorched walls of my bedroom, which had now been transformed into a battleground.I clutched Zhen, as he hugged my throat. He growled at Siobhanny, even though she was still hiding from sight.Siobhanny was the essence of the House of Heights and every Wolve Winner who’d come before me. She wouldn’t kill one of the Wolve Winner line, right? Unless, I’d pissed off my ancestors enough with my modernization of their customs because let’s face it: their traditions sucked.My uncle had often faced opposition when he’d modernized his company.But then, he’d never risked burning.I watched as my Charms warily prowled to their feet. Anthony draggedMischief to the corner of the room, since his burst of flight had exhausted him.Moon held out his hand to me, helping me to my
I was a Wolve Winner, sprawled in bed with three Claimed werewolves, an angel, and a god. But honestly, all I cared about was the guy I loved who laynext to me like he’d been cursed under a wicked sorceres’s spell.And I was the sorceres who’d poisoned him.Except, this wasn’t a fairy tale because in a fairy tale, Moon would awake on a kiss.I pressed my mouth more firmly to Moon’s mouth like this kiss would count as our first one, and it’d stir him back to life. Although, I knew that it wouldn’t count as our first kiss because Moon couldn’t feel it, and it had no magical powers to awaken him.I still imagined Moon’s arms raising to clasp around my throat, as his amber eyes fluttered open to stare into mine with love, loyalty, and wonder at our kiss, when his tongue pushed up to press between my parted mouth with equal de
In a sorcereses’ house that moved like it was made of no more than cards and any motherent could fall, I was held firm in the cool arms of a mage, when a wolve nuzzled at my shoulder. The Ambbuttador and Alex might not be mine in the way that my Charms were, but I could feel my connection to them through myshadows.How could I keep either safe from my aunt whose rage was tearing apart the House of Seasons? The ceiling warped, caving in, and I shrieked.“When you were born, I made a promise to your mum because she’d already lost a child.” Isabella levitated go to me.My mother had lost a child?I’d never known that but then, I guessed that I’d been too young to tell, before my parents had been killed.Yet why had my uncle never told me?My chest ached at the thought. Had it been a brother or a sister? Did they die in the womb, at birth, or after? Would t
This wasn’t a cloud but the floor of the Clocktower in the House of Seasons, when I was looking out through the glbutt clockface onto the city below. I must have a bitch of a concussion, although I also had a feeling that maybe angel duty would’ve been easier than whatever Isabella had planned.Still: yey life…I groaned, rubbing my sore temples, as I shoved myself onto my knees. The room swam, and I swayed with dizziness.I was going to hurl.“Ah, you’re awake, sleepyhead. Did you have sweet dreams of sinful shifters?” My head shot up at Isabella’s voice from across the room, then I bent over again, as lights flashed in front of my eyes. Isabella tutted. “No puking in my fabulous house. My Alpha has been working hard today, and with your constant screaming about wolve rights, it’d be mean of you to give him another chore. Unless you get off on the ide
I didn’t know that I’d be able to experience my Charms’ pain like it was my own, but when Lyall savaged Moon’s throat right over my own Wolve Bite,severing my Claim, I howled.Agony swept through me — Moon’s own, entwining around mine — when my shadows trembled with it. I dropped to my knees on the marble bathroom floor, cradling my arms around my head.Then suddenly, Moon’s heights tugged at my red. I lowered my arms, until my look met Moon’s, even though Lyall was still licking over her bite, savoring his blood with a smug satisfaction that filled me with a shuddering urge to kick her butt.King and Jeremy prowled closer, growling.Then, despite the fact that Moon was naked apart from his collar, bitten, and shaking, he lifted his chin, which in any other Alpha would’ve looked like he was offering his throat submissively.Yet in Moon…?