I whipped around, coming face to face with Leah. This was not going to be a heartwarming reunion given the look on her face. Leaned against the entryway to our apartment, arms crossed, and a scowl that would put the mothers of teenage boys to shame, I could only imagine the sight before her. A lycan, a werewolf, and a witch stared back at her, wide eyed and probably more afraid than if we were facing Ammit herself. “Leah,” I choked out. “I… I missed you!” “I'm sure,” she sneered. “You took off for weeks without so much as a goodbye! And then Blair goes after you? And then you randomly appear again with some mysterious hottie. Is he my sympathy souvenir, at the very least?” I had no control of the growl that rumbled out of my chest at her insinuation. “No.” “Okay, then,” Leah huffed. “Then you need to tell me what the hell you guys were just talking about, since I won't have anyone to distract me from my annoyance.” I stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. “We were -” “Re
I woke up to screaming. A blood curdling cry of distress that had alarms going off in my head. I tore myself away from Isaac’s body and was on my feet before I even attempted to process the situation, let alone what form I was in. The large, black lycan was quick to follow, towering over me protectively. “Oh my god, you’re actually wolves!” Leah shrieked from where she stood in the doorway to my bedroom. “There’s no full moon right now! It’s daytime!” How are you all wolfy?” I let my body relax, thankful the threat was only human shock. I let go of the wild, and my wolf form gave way to human skin. “It doesn’t work like that,” I sighed. “We can shift anytime.” Leah blanched. “You’re naked!” I stared blankly at her. “Yeah. Wolves don’t wear clothes.” “Oh,” she mumbled. “Is that Isaac, then?” I looked back to my silent protector as I made my way to the closet. He was still in wolf form, watching Leah cautiously. “Yep.” “Is he going to eat me?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Why
Isaac POV Maise and I argued all day about whether or not visiting the club could wait until tomorrow. I was of the mind that another day wouldn’t hurt - the damage couldn't get much worse - but she insisted it had to be sooner rather than later. Clearly, I had lost that argument. I had suggested everything. From going by myself for recon, to seeing if anything could be learned about the place at Djinn and Juice, to maybe a real date. I knew Maise well, though, and I knew when she decided something, there was absolutely no way to change her mind. So, I was following five feet of determination though the city streets of downtown Burlington like a lost puppy, still trying to argue my case. Call me old fashioned, but I really wanted my first night out with my mate to be anywhere but at a strip club. I didn’t think a “city” this small could have a seedy part of town, but the hipster downtown area was quickly fading away into the bleak echoes of broken promises. It was exactly where
Isaac couldn’t get me out of that place fast enough. I regretted ignoring his warnings, but appreciated that he hadn’t let me go alone. I couldn’t bear to think about what I would have done - or with who - if I had decided to take this on solo. Incubi and succubi fed on sex energy, turning it into a volatile and unforgiving magic. Alone, they were easy enough to deal with. In an environment where there was too much energy to be absorbed, it started seeping into the bystanders. I remembered it all, and cringed at what I had said and done. I had also had an easy time reading into Isaac’s thoughts when I forgot to maintain my own walls. I wasn’t sure if I felt worse for him or for myself. I gulped down magic-free air as soon as we were outside. The way Isaac wheeled around, I thought he was going to yell at me. I deserved it. Instead, he just knotted one hand in my hair, holding my head firmly, and plucked out the contacts. “Don’t wear these,” he grumbled, discarding them on the
Isaac’s face was unreadable as he studied the werebear. A perfectly closed book. It seemed as if he trusted this bear, but why wouldn’t he? Bears were just as much his citizens as wolves were. It was like he was the firm but fair father while the wolves and bears were siblings that were constantly at each other's throats. Or maybe he distrusted us all equally. The bear regarded the lycan with equal amounts of caution. That is to say that I couldn’t read him at all, either. People I couldn’t read made me nervous. “Have you been to the bear pack around here recently?” Benate asked. Isaac shook his head. “A trip is in the works.” I jerked my head around to Isaac. A trip to a bear pack was in the works? Was he aware how bears and wolves felt about each other? Maybe he didn’t plan on bringing me. Benate nodded. “Don’t let them know you’re the King when you do. It will be to your advantage for your identity to remain secret.” “What?” I blurted. “How will that even work? I mean,
The apartment was miraculously empty when we made it back, so we snuck into my room and fell into a blissful sleep. Ig could tell Isaac wasn’t tired, but I was. I was asleep in minutes, and couldn’t even care if he was as well so long as he stayed next to me. When we woke up, though, I started to get concerned. Leah wasn’t around, and there was no evidence that she had even made it back. It wasn’t unusual behavior from her, but she had unusual things going on in her life right now. “You don’t think he told her already, do you?” I mumbled absently. Isaac was the male that had actually grown up with an understanding of a mate bond, so I figured he’d have a better idea than me. He shook his head, though, seeming doubtful. “Maybe they decided to hook up, and he didn’t want to do it under the King and Queen’s nose.” I pursed my lips, still feeling uncertain. I had heard enough about bears to be just a little worried that something had gone horribly wrong and she was dead in a ditch
Isaac POV Maise studied me with such reverence, such rawness. I didn’t know what it was she saw or felt that drew forward such a privilege, but I felt unworthy. Truth was so subjective. I knew truth was the most important to Maise, but I felt the only thing she would accept was facts. She didn’t know there was a difference between the two yet, but the journey we were about to go on would show her. I genuinely didn’t know what difference there was between the facts and the way I perceived them. It would be a long learning curve for us, discovering how to share with each other without the infiltration of unintentional untruths. Both of us were so fiercely independent and used to answering to no one, we were bound to come to blows soon. Fate knew what she was doing when she set the lycan kings up to never want or have the opportunity to take a mate. A mate was the ultimate representation of unity, and having one would shift my focus away from the species I needed to protect. As we
I expected scorn from Isaac when he learned my real deepest, darkest secret. The transgressions of a foolish child convinced she knew enough to save the world. So many of my choices since my mother’s sacrifice had been as atonement for the sacrifice I failed to make. I didn’t expect him to keep me firmly positioned on his lap and pull out his phone to start making phone calls. Start marking a plan. As if anything they could do would save me from myself at this point. From what I understood from overhearing only half of his conversations, he felt there was more to my past mistake. Something that lingered other than just residual guilt. He didn’t seem to see that all that was truly necessary was for someone to pay for taking my mother instead of me. His hands absently combed through my hair as he focused on his conversation with Bram. New theories were floating around, but as they were only half spoken, I couldn’t piece them together. He handed me the phone, though, and I just stared
Annalise blinked slowly, as if she had just been struck across the face. "That... is not the turn I expected. Is that not the exact thing Melany and Karabasan did?"I smiled softly at her. "Name one person in this room Fate has assisted, given a better life. All it has done is harm each and every one of us. Is that retribution for crimes that were out of our control, or are we just being used as pawns to put on a show for our dear Goddess? Either way, it's wrong. If the Moon Goddess can take away immortality when her chosen no longer deserve it, we can take away the dealer when it becomes evident the deck is rigged.""No," Annalise declared, eyes darkening. "I can't stand by that. I won't see you destroy yourself and everyone around you the way our parents did.""You think that lowly of her, really?" Rudi scoffed. "You think Maise has the twisted, sadistic mindset to do what your father - what you - did to me? You forget. Fate doesn't only dictate the good. It a
Annalise's exiting statement resounded in my ears. It took me a moment to process what she said, but when I did, I chased her out of the room, catching up with her just outside the front door. It seemed that no matter the species, pregnant being move slowly. "Wait!" I called. "I have more questions!" Annalise turned to face me. "Well, the story is no fun if you are given all the answers." "And you know me well enough to know I don't take anyone's words at face value." "An aspect all good rulers should possess," she touted. "Maybe your mate could learn something from you, but it wouldn't matter. It's not like his words and demands bear any true meaning." A growl built in my own chest, one that made me seriously question whether or not I truly had no wolf blood. "Royalty may be given, but leadership is earned. He has that, I don't." "But you have the power to take it. Why don't you?" "Because I don't want it," I snapped. "Look at what the desire for power turned our parents into."
Long gone were the days of being surprised by anything. I prayed to the moon my days really were numbered, because I couldn't handle this anymore. With weary eyes, I looked up to Isaac, and saw he was able to feel the shock I refused to process. His eyes weren't even for me, transfixed on the names of my mother and supposed uncle. That made me thankful.Yin and Yang. That's what we were. You couldn't have one without the other, and each side held a small piece of its opposite, giving us the power to understand the balance.I looked around the room, and everything became abundantly more clear. Rudi and Kaleb denied the truth of their own destiny as mates because they didn't trust Fate. My cousin, I guess, was Team Fate, and her mate didn't know which side to choose. A human was here, but only because she so easily succumbed to the fleeting desires of that red string. My own mate, even, had no power to work against it. If he did, I wouldn't have been sitting on his lap.Fate controlled
Isaac POV Sitting in the basement, waiting for my mate, I realized something. All the control I always thought I lacked, had always been mine. I had a firm grasp on it, running my world like it was my puppet. My hands were in everything, and my knowledge spanned farther than even I knew. Fate had been a raucous dealer, but I knew how to play my cards. Control had always been my friend.I understood that now, because I felt the loss of it.In this room, Bram held confessions from Alpha King Faolan, and Kaleb knew the secrets of Karabasan. Only Maise had the information to tie them all together. I was at the mercy of whatever they had to share. Never had I sat in a room with no idea what would happen, and I didn't like it.Simply a month ago, I would have infiltrated every single one of these endeavors, but I had given it all up. Willingly, even. All because I needed to remain with a little girl. I adored her dearly and would not change the choices I had made, but the itch to regain th
Several times, everyone asked me if I wanted to stop and see my mother on our drive back to the lycan pack. Several times, I refused. I knew it didn't make the two lycans happy, but I was thankful they didn't press and allowed me the autonomy. I knew it would have to happen eventually, but I wasn't ready to open that door yet. Too many emotions I had worked so hard to eliminate from my life would resurface, and I couldn't handle that. Not with everything else going on.Bram, Isaac, and I had stayed in his Audi, and Blair and Leah had driven my truck up to the pack. I wanted to join my friends, but Isaac wouldn't let me out of his sight. I was a little surprised the witch had been trusted with someone who was essentially a prisoner, but I was happy trust between the two species was beginning to grow. I was also fairly certain Leah would endure the most lenient prison stay. If Benate went against Isaac's orders in the bear pack, Benate would pay for it, not his mate.We got back to th
When I resurfaced from sleep, I was still in fur with Isaac's monstrous wolf form wrapped around me. This was common for us werewolves, to simply say in our furs when a threat was sensed. Our wolves had more acute senses, and stood a better chance if there was a surprise attack. But, I didn't exactly know what the current threat was. It was only a mental battle that was waging. There was a quiet knock at the door before I heard it swing open. Isaac stiffened and growled at the intruder, followed by Leah's yelp and the door quickly slamming shut. When the door opened again, not even Isaac's posturing sent the unwanted guest away. "Stop it," Bram barked. "It's afternoon. She was checking on her friend." Wolves were exceptionally possessive and protective. You only get one mate, after all. They were worth laying down your life for. Add in that he was a lycan, tasked with the life of a runt, and Isaac was even more unreasonable. So, I wasn't surprised when Isaac picked me up by the scru
Isaac ran his fingers delicately up my arm, his eyes once again transfixed on the inky sky. "Something else is bothering you. Mind telling me?""Don't you already know?" I huffed. "You've been in my head since you found me on Church Street."I glanced up just enough to see Isaac purse his lips. "You think very little of me if you truly believe I'd negate your right to the privacy of your own mind."And there it was. Even though he so easily could, Isaac never dug for answers, always waiting for me to provide them. He knew the exact things to say to steer a conversation in the direction it needed to go, but the information I shared with him was always new. Unless he had heard it from a different source, of course. Not only did he want to know my thoughts, but he wanted to understand them, help me dissect them.It was one of the qualities that made him so trustworthy, but I didn't understand why. If my father had that ability, he would use it to control me. From my very limited interact
The sun was rising when I made it to the outskirts of Burlington, but all I saw was King Midas's touch. The city was just beginning to wake up right as I was starting to shut down. My paws felt like lead weights. It was exhaustion that begged me to stop, but not the physical kind. No, I was overwrought with emotion. Emotions I had successfully shut out for eight years - longer if I was being honest. The closer they got to the surface, the more the dam threatened to break.I wanted to lay down and drown in the flood that would ensue. Let it wash away all the trauma and my life along with it. The currents could carry me to the sweet release of oblivion, and the only people that would care would be the ones who abandoned me every step of the way. I certainly wouldn't mind. Not anymore.My entire existence, I had fought so hard for life. As a royal, assassination was a constant threat. Being an undeserving runt only compounded that. As a rogue, everyone and everything had been out to get
I had crammed myself against the passenger side door of Bram's car. I was staring at the man driving in absolute shock, quite certain he was nothing more than a figure of my imagination. He was supposed to be dead. "Call your mate," he said. I blinked dumbly at him. "What?" He never took his eyes off the road, simply repeating his request. I fumbled for my phone, struggling to find the power button to turn it back on. Out of my pocket also came the key to the car that was currently rolling down the twisting state roads of Vermont. "How did you get a key to this car?" He glanced over to me briefly, flashing his cocky grin - one of the few things I vividly remembered about him. "Bram gave it to me when I met up with him this morning. Now, call your mate." I just nodded, not wanting to argue with another one of the dead come back to life. The line had barely started to ring before it was connected. "Maise," Isaac growled in a tone that made it abundantly clear that I was in trouble