The basement was more of a game room or lounge. There was a wet bar, pool table, and large TV, all accented by deep, rich tones and leather furniture. Just add a singing fish and it’d be a perfect man cave, if I had learned anything from binging streaming services. Bram had claimed a chair and had his body positioned away from where Isaac and I sat on the couch. Everything was tense and awkward, and had been for nearly half an hour. No one was talking, and I was growing bored. With an exasperated sigh, I stood up and headed toward the bar. It was well stocked, but with a manly collection of booze. It took a little bit of thinking, but I had a few pretty colored drinks made up eventually. I garnished them with tiny umbrellas because it’s impossible to be mad when you have a froo froo colored drink with an umbrella in it in your hand. Once they were handed out to two very confused lycans, I took mine over to the pool table and started racking up. “Hey Bram, I betcha ten dollars I c
If it weren’t obvious enough, the pool game was abandoned. It was a nice idea to alleviate tensions and get Bram at least willing to talk, but it had served a much different purpose than I intended. Blair’s arrival saved the day, and also allowed me some much needed time away from all the testosterone. Locked away in the guest room I had laid claim to, Blair and I were curled up in the cozy sitting area while the boys were on the phone with Kaleb to devise a plan. The way the lycan pack ran was weird. Isaac was the king, obviously, but it varied enough from a normal werewolf pack setup that I couldn’t determine who was beta, gamma, et cetera. This place also didn’t seem to have a luna, which confused me just as much as it made sense. However, I think we could all agree the patriarchy needed to take a step back. Blair had snuck out to obtain snacks while I perused through more books she had brought up for me. When she crept back in with chips, salsa, and wine, I was reminded how
Isaac POV As one who submitted to the powers of fate, I spent a long time researching the meaning behind names in my younger days. You quickly saw a pattern - a name was almost a prophecy in and of itself. Margaret, my Princess’s given name, means pearl. A pearl is a gem developed from dirt, grime, and bacteria, but is traumatized into a coveted thing of beauty. I stared down at my pearl, my gift borne of darkness, disgusted with everything about her. The half lives that brought her into existence, the turmoil that polished her edges, and the trauma that made her beautiful. She was everything I wanted, and everything I couldn’t have. The new prophecy left no room for negotiation. We would not be mates. I had failed her in that regard. There had been twenty three eclipses over her lifetime, and the only time I searched her out and gave us the opportunity to fulfill our fate, I left, so certain there would be another chance with better timing. If I had not been so dumb and blind,
Have you ever woken up, and just refused to move because you are that perfect temperature of warm, the blankets are just right, and the pillows are in a perfect smoosh position? You’re far from tired anymore, because you just had the most restful sleep of your life, but shifting even the slightest bit would be nothing short of a sin, as if fate was telling you your one and only purpose was to stay in bed all day. I hated fate with a passion, but in this moment, I could come to a temporary truce with her. Everything keeping me comfortable shifted, but pulled me with it. I refused to open my eyes as I was moved around against my will, moaning softly in protest. I tried to wiggle myself deeper into the security such bliss provided, until whatever was emitting such tantalizing prickles of heat laughed softly, reverberating through my skin. “Princess,” a voice whispered against my hair. “I know you’re awake.” “No,” I mumbled. Hands came up, massaging my scalp. “C’mon, you have trai
Training review: It was not that horrible. At least, it wasn’t that horrible yet. After varying warm up exercises, it seemed to be mostly circuit training. Nothing I hadn’t done before. Maybe tomorrow would be different, but for now, I was thankful it was over. Isaac had abandoned me once we entered, and I soon discovered that was because he was leading training. Apparently, it was usually Kaleb’s job, and self led when they both were gone. I had stuck to myself the entire time, simply following instructions. “Folks!” Isaac called, just as I was attempting to sneak out the door before getting roped into an awkward conversation. “We’ll have one sparring match today. Noah and the runt.” I turned slowly. It seemed like the seas were parting, and all eyes were on me. I had picked up on all the attention I had gathered throughout training, as everyone was curious about the runt that had shown up. I wondered if they knew who I was, but given the tittering and snickering I heard from
I diverged from the lycans, heading to Isaac’s cottage while they made their way to the packhouse. Outside the door, I shifted and dashed up to my bedroom. I barely noticed Bram as I ran by, but he respectfully kept his eyes trained on his book. Blair, however, was a different story. She whistled at me, cocking one eyebrow. “What?” I snapped, glaring at her as I dug for clothes. “You’ve seen me naked before.” “I haven’t seen you naked and covered in hickies, though,” she laughed. I took half a second to glance at myself in the full length mirror on the door to the closet. “Training bruises.” Her sidelong glance told me all I needed to know: the witch didn’t buy that for a second. She placed her book down and stood, heading for the door. “I have to head to the packhouse with Bram. You’ll be fine here alone, right?” “What?” I demanded. “No, I’m coming!” “I promise, I’ll tell you everything if you just appease these guys this once,” she begged. I looked down at my shirts, decidi
All eyes were on Kaleb, his claim silencing us all. “What do you mean by that?” Blair asked cautiously. He sighed, scrubbing his hands across his face. “I don’t know prophecies, so I’m probably wrong. But, it started changing when Maise got involved in the mix. Prior to that, it was only Isaac that knew about it, and he was doing everything by the books and following procedure to keep the peace. It was Maise - or more specifically, the curse of the rogue - that changed the game.” Bram grunted. “You may have a point,” he conceded. “But that’s an ambiguous thing to base an entire strategy around.” “It’s more than anyone else came up with,” Isaac grumbled. “And it’s something that can be done now.” The tension rolling off everyone in the room was palpable. It was silent, but it seemed like just the smallest little spark would cause everything to combust. That spark, however, seemed to be when Isaac brushed a strand of hair out of my face and studied the way I worried my lower lip
Isaac POV The Princess had deemed her work was done, slipping out of the room while I still held everyone’s attention. I had quickly learned she would give just enough information to do damage, then wait to see if the way we rebuilt from the destruction that information caused was what she thought was correct. I should have known. The past eight years I had been focused on my Princess. Her past eight years had been focused on her people. She had a plan, and all she had done was make small suggestions to the right people to get that plan working for her. She held all the power here, because her desire for power had not been selfish. It was in this way lycans usually died. They began to think selfishly, devising how to use their near immortality for personal gain. I had been doing that, struggling to find a way to spend Maise’s forever with her. If I had read my history books correctly, I had a minimal amount of time to right that wrong before the moon decided my gift of being a l
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