Isaac POV Maise was, for lack of better terms, being a brat. I knew she had very little interest in visiting the bear pack and only wanted to go so she didn’t get left out, but I had assumed she wouldn’t do her best to sabotage the trip altogether. It started with a mopey attitude and refusing to talk when I spoke to her. When I finally got it out of her what was wrong, she became unreasonably clingy. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my Princess and want her by my side every waking second, but I had become accustomed to her easy going, actively participating presence. Not her whiney, pushy, demanding side. That could go. At the advice of Benate, we would be presenting ourselves as rogues. He was confident he was the only member of that pack that had met a lycan, so for a short visit, it should be doable. That, however, meant taking Maise’s truck, as rogues rarely had enough money for a six figure vehicle like mine. Maise whined when I set to fixing it on Sunday, compla
I greatly enjoyed road trips with Isaac. In the few weeks I had known him, we seemed to be getting a lot of experience with them, too. I wondered if this was normal for the Lycan King. At some point throughout the weekend, a decent stereo had been put in the truck. I had no idea how Isaac had actually found time for all the fixes and upgrades to my old rust bucket, but it made me feel a little bad for antagonizing him the past few days. But, it also enabled us to play my favorite road trip game. We went back and forth, making a playlist full of songs that reminded us of certain things. ‘Sweet Caroline’ came up on the queau, and I happily began bopping along. “Oh! I love this song. This was one of your picks. What was the question?” Isaac glanced away from the road and flashed me a jovial smile and squeezed the hand that had not left my thigh since about a hundred miles back. “I know. I think you asked, ‘What’s a song that makes you think of a time you forgot the rest of the wor
I pulled my wrist out of his grasp and dragged the fabric over my head. My eyes didn’t leave his as I slipped my fingers under the waistband of my leggings. Lust mingled with the hazel of his eyes, bringing out the golden flecks I loved so much. As he had initially requested, the matching lace set stayed on. When I had chosen it this morning, it was with the intention of taunting him, one last attempt to get him to drag me over the edge he was so nervous of introducing me to. Funny how our roles had reversed. Isaac’s eyes raked over my body, drinking me in hungrily. He had said his favorite color was blue or green, and his expression screamed he approved of the emerald lace. My insides warmed at just the thought that I’d made my mate happy. “On the bed,” he rasped. I tripped over my own feet as I scrambled to do his bidding. Warm hands caught me, though, and gently laid me down on my back. Sparks jumped along my skin as he trailed his hands along my arms and gripped my wrists to p
True to his word, Isaac had us out of bed in four hours. The sun had barely begun to rise, so it was too early. I was taking so long to get moving he ended up simply carrying me to the truck and instructing me to sleep. When I woke up, there was a breakfast sandwich on my lap and The Menzingers playing softly. “What time is it?” I asked groggily, scrubbing at my bleary eyes. Isaac didn’t take his eyes off the road. In fact, it seemed as if he was white knuckling the steering wheel. “Nearly noon.” “What’s wrong?” I watched Isaac’s jaw tick. “I don’t like visiting bear packs. It’s not a place I feel comfortable taking you. Their men are shunned if they don’t keep their women in line well enough.” “We knew this, though. Besides, I definitely found a flogger and paddle in your toy box I stumbled upon the other day. Are you one to talk?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Flogging and paddling when it’s been mutually agreed upon is different than beating and shaming for even
I had always felt werebears were less refined than their wolf or fox counterparts. I had only been in a bear pack a couple of times, and each one reminded me of a hippie, off grid commune of tiny homes or van lifers. This one was no exception. Bears didn’t have a packhouse at all, opting for a setup similar to a residential summer camp or campground. The cabin we were assigned was alarmingly close to their dungeon, and as far from their alpha as we could get. It was scant, at best. Little more than a single room. The bears that had led us here informed us we would have a meeting with the Alpha to determine if we would actually be allowed to stay before dinner. As soon as we were alone, Isaac propped me up on the bed and studied me carefully. “I shouldn’t have brought you,” he grumbled. “This is a dumb thing to risk you over.” The drain on my energy was getting more prevalent the longer I was here, but I still managed a soft laugh. “You couldn’t have figured that out all the time
Isaac POV The girl sent to check on Maise was wary of men. That much was abundantly clear, and I didn’t blame her one bit. I sensed that she posed no threat, though, so I left her with my mate and took a stroll around the pack. Based on my preliminary research, this was not one of the larger bear packs, but was revered as being alarmingly successful. They had a high amount of exports given their size and resources, and always operated in the black - a rare occurrence for any smaller pack. The open air market I ended up in did not allude to their wealth. I couldn’t tell if I felt that way because of our natural surroundings, or the way these women presented themselves. Whenever I spotted a man, though, it was clear where the money and power went within a household. I was treated as a leper. That was expected, as I was a stranger. I removed myself from the crowds, too, steering clear of a woman torn out from behind her rickety vendor cart and forced to her knees as well as a youn
For whatever reason, Isaac’s words didn’t sit well with me. Nothing that would happen over the next few days seemed remarkable. I wasn’t putting myself at any risk - the man I was with would go to the ends of the earth to protect me. That, I trusted beyond a shadow of a doubt. We had a half hour or so before dinner. In that time, Isaac didn’t take his hands off me once. Soft hands rememorized every inch of me and lips traced along my skin. I still had to stay quiet - the cabins were not soundproofed - but Isaac left that cabin with a few more scratches along his back and arms to add to his collection. It seemed that dinner was held in the town square. Isaac told me that earlier in the day vendor carts had been brought out and it was an open air market. Now, it had been set up as an outdoor dining hall. Before we joined the crowd, he caught me by the wrist and turned me to face him. “Please, just follow along tonight,” he pleaded. I gave him a devious smirk. “Yes, sir.” I alway
It took me a moment to realize I heard vibrating, too. I yelped when a device I knew quite well came in contact with my thigh. I looked down frantically, but Isaac’s hand caught my jaw and forced me to look at him.“Eyes on me, Princess.”I nodded. Slowly, the vibrations traveled up my thigh and closer to my core. “Wh-wha-whaa-”Isaac's pace was slow and steady. It came in direct contact with my clit, sending my body arching upwards in search of more. I sucked in a sharp breath. This didn’t seem like much of a punishment.I found my release too quickly. To be perfectly honest, toys simply got me to orgasms. They didn’t make orgasms fun. Isaac was in control, which was erotic, but I’d much prefer touch.
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