“Fuck fuck fuck” I mutter as I toss workout clothes, pajamas, and a few outfits into my giant duffel bag, I don’t know what to expect on the trip so I pack a variety of things “fucking moon goddess and her bullshit” I’m whispering and trying to hold myself together. I feel like I can’t even breathe, I sit on the edge of my bed and bury my face into my hands, what the fuck am I going to do?
‘Mm Nico isn’t bad, but he’s not mate’ Nya grumbles
‘Massively fucking helpful, thanks’ I snap
‘Maybe..’ She whines in pain ‘maybe mate was killed’ I almost let out a howl with her as the thought sends an ache of pain through me
‘Will we be happy with Nico?’ I ask, avoiding the thought of our
Liam and Nico were stewing, we sat at the cafe near the Inn and sipped coffee after our lunch. We had been waiting on the alpha for 2 hours now, the streets were moderately busy especially for such a small looking town. I’d guess they were all finding a reason to catch a glimpse of the visitors, I wouldn’t be surprised to find someone vacuuming their porch just to have an excuse. I tapped my foot quietly, anxious for this exchange to be over, but also dreading the trip ending. I felt like there was no time to contemplate my choice on choosing Nico as a mate, but then maybe I already knew I’d have to choose him, was there really any point in dragging out the inevitable?‘Romantic’ Nya huffed in annoyance, we both wanted to wait for our mate, but at 26 with an impending war, a mating proposal, and the high possibility our true mate was dead, neither of us could really fight it.
My wounds sting considerably more in human form, I’m curled in the fetal position but push myself up to sit, drawing my legs closer to my body and wincing as my bloody feet scrape the ground. Wrapping my arms around my knees I glare at Jensen as he stands a few feet away.“Maybe it’s just you I’m always needing to run from” I spat at him“Noted” his eyes darken “but don’t be fooled kitten, I’ll always find you if I want to”I scoff at him, “I’m not the same pathetic little girl you knew” I raise my chin and he quirks an eyebrow at my position, ragged and bleeding on the forest floor“Funny, you’re still clinging to that pathetic alpha all these years later”
Having spent my entire life solely focused on being a good girl and stressing about my true mate, I finally felt like I could breathe around Nico. I felt sure in my choice of him, this whole fated mate thing was way more hyped up. Sure I was drawn to Jensen in a magnetic way, there was no denying that, his scent made my head do weird things and lit up my body, but I could definitely avoid the pull, and I would certainly be able to keep away from him when I saw him again. Nya had retreated and was locking herself away, but she would come around, the mate thing was harder for her than me. I was okay, I was hurt, but I was going to be happy if it fucking killed me..Of course fate loves to slap you when you’re feeling confident. Nico had insisted we go out for a nice dinner, dragging a hilariously awkward Liam along who pointedly refused to discuss mates and instead found any other topic, including weather, hum
The crunch of gravel fills the air as we pull into the pack house driveway, it wasn’t far from the inn but we decided against walking. Liam had begrudgingly come along, it may or may not have taken an alpha command on Nico’s part, reminding him that we came here for a reason and a little awkwardness between the pack alpha and myself was no reason to lose our heads. I had refrained from requesting to stay, not only did I want details, but I wanted to face this situation and stop running, I refused to give Jensen the satisfaction.. that and as much as I denied it to myself I couldn’t resist a chance to be around him. Damn mate bond.The pack house was beautiful in a rustic way, it backed a large lake, the moonlight shimmering off the surface of the water. The house itself was large, two story, green shudders on the windows, beautiful flowers around the foundation and trailed along the path leading
Jensen is silent for a few moments, he stares at the fire, before turning back to face us, “I was a rogue, after my pack was killed” his eyes meet mine briefly “I was a hostage who was trained, and beaten, and kept in the dark about what was going on. But about a year after they took me in, a group of us escaped, the rogues have a madness taking over, not the normal rogue behavior, but they are actually losing their minds. They seem to believe that packs have banded together with witches to wipe out all rogues.” He let out a sigh and sat back “we spent a year rescuing those we could, which is where the first of our numbers began and where we were able to piece together information. The rogues have been planning for years, this madness is some sort of disease spreading through them, it’s creating and fueling paranoia and violence. They have witches hostage, and have been creating an army, I have kept my pack as hidden as
I’m sprawled naked on the couch in the packhouse, empty bottles of liquor littering the room around me. The sun is rising to ruin my sleep, piercing my eyes and splitting my head into a deep ache.“She felt it you know” John’s voice fills the room“Felt what?” I groan“Your little tryst with Alliana” the statement stabs my swirling gut. I sit up and clutch my head in my hands, I was running on very little sleep, heavy alcohol ingestion, and raging blue balls.“Fuck, I forgot about the bond”“She was nearly sick in my car, I had the good sense to wait to bring her back to the alpha” he was disapproving, but that didn’t matter, I didn’t need his comments to know I had
“You could have killed him” Nico rubs his face“I couldn’t have, mate bond” I point out, none of my attacks were deadly, my wolf wouldn’t let me anyways“It looked like you were gonna kill him” Liam chuckled and I had to fight from laughing with him“That’s not the point, you can’t do that in his territory, he could have you killed for attempting to take his pack”“He started it” I growled, my amusement fading rapidly‘He deserved it’ Nya said to me, she was feeling smug with how the fight had turned out, preening with proud energy“Let’s just get through this training and get home” he meets m
*Jessie*I could physically feel the moment Jensen stepped out of his car, I spotted him out of the corner of my eye and knew for sure when his scent smashed into me like a freight train. I refused to look in his direction, I refused to give him an ounce of my attention. But I could feel his eyes on me throughout the early evening.The moon was rising quickly and so was the energy, a frantic buzzing was blanketing the party, left and right shifters were losing their inhibitions between the alcohol and the moons influence. Mates were shamelessly touching and kissing, Nico, Liam, and I were talking, just the three of us remained together as most were beginning to pair off, or shift and explore the forest together. I could feel Nya pushing forward, it was getting harder to remain in human form and almost excruciating to stay away from Jensen.
Ryver lead us forward and we stood for a moment, waiting for the other men in the group to follow. The women chained to me were whispering in hushed tones, Nya turned an ear in their direction to listen, we caught bits about magic, witches, and fear.‘They’re not wrong to be afraid, this is clearly the work of witches’ Nya growled to me,‘Nico will never find this place’ I muttered ‘To hell with Nico’ she snapped back, ‘how exactly are we going to escape this place? I hate to break it to you but no one will be coming to our rescue.’The realization truly slammed into me like a sack of bricks, I had no one left to even notice I was gone. My mate had rejected me, my almost chosen mate had replaced me, my pack had exiled me. I may as well be in a cage with the magic that encased us here. ‘Everything has a weakness’ I told her firmly, ‘even this place’ But we could both feel each other’s apprehension. A few moments later Heath and Fig approached from the stairs.“All clear and the gate
The rest of the journey was much the same, Ryver kept me close and I wondered if he had an interest in me, the implications of that honestly scared me, or if he was concerned I’d attack someone, which was the more likely of the two. Nya wanted to rip the throat out of everyone who came near us, Ryver included, or most of all actually. But every sunrise he tied us up and disappeared, returning with fresh meat, and always tucking his gloves into the silver collar around our neck, making comments about how he didn’t want to lose them, or jokes about having me hang on to them for him. Those moments were the only ones where Nya wasn’t daydreaming of his head being torn from his body, the relief from the silver calmed us both so much that we slept well in the warmth of the sun peeking through the trees, despite our internal clock feeling like we were jet lagged, the relief was so goddamn nice that we slept hard. Heath and Fig were the only two who approached, I couldn’t quite grasp who wa
We followed the large male for a few hours in silence, a few chained women whispered to each other, but our captors didn’t speak and the group of witches trailed so far behind us they disappeared an hour or so back. Nya was raging mad, the fur was singed off our neck and we dripped blood every few steps. She wouldn’t even speak to me as I tried to come up with ways to escape, the most she said was a muttered annoyance about humans. I watched through her eyes as she glared daggers into the head of the man leading us, we were a rather large wolf for a female thanks to all the training, but this man still towered over us. He yanked the chains hard causing us to slide forward, the women behind us shrieked in pain as they too were pulled forward. He wound the chains tighter around his gloved fists before glancing down at us. “I can feel your glares feral one” he chuckled and Nya bared her bloody teeth, “savage little beast you are, will you shift so we can speak?”Nya just turned her gaz
A month had passed since I was thrown from Emerald Falls Pack, I let Nya lead us through the forests, staying clear of any pack lands as we roamed. She was able to hunt and keep our body nourished, but I could feel the quiet creeping into our minds, being a rogue was a heavy burden for a wolf, we needed a pack, we needed companionship. However with the wars between rogues and packs going on we weren’t able to join another pack, even setting foot on their lands was an instant death sentence, and there would be no pleading my case to join anywhere since I would immediately be deemed a spy and locked up. I was truly fucked, it was Nya and I against the world now.We stopped at a river to drink, we were heading west hoping for some warm weather and to stay away from main packs inland. The sun was peaking through the trees as Nya lapped at the cool water, filling our empty belly with hydration and soothing our thirst. The mud caking our paws and legs was thick, but it aided in hiding our s
The sound of car doors closing had me looking up from my coffee, Liam met my gaze, pity in his eyes and I clenched my jaw. My forced chosen mate is here. Taking one last sip of the black liquid, I stood and strode toward the door, taking a deep breath to calm myself and my wolf.The morning sun reflecting off the car cut my vision briefly, the scent of wildflowers and morning rain wrapped around my senses, suddenly my wolf was urging us forward, and I stumbled the last few steps of the pack house.In front of me stood a female I recognized from my travels, Anne with soft blond hair and hazel eyes. She had been kind but hadn’t been my mate, I looked at her my eyebrows scrunching before scenting the air again. Movement behind her caught my eye, a small female, must be barely 18 or 19 peered around Anne’s shoulder, her giant blue eyes looked up at me and an expression of shock on her face.“Mate” she and I whispered together.Anne whipped around, her eyes on the beautiful girl, “Gloria?”
*Jensen*She was gone, our mixed scents still hung in the air around me and a twisted feeling of regret sat in my gut, Oren was shut off from me as well. I just sat there, watching the moon glowing red and the eclipse passing. Every inch of my body was in pain from the severing of the bond, and yet a sick sense of numbness was rattling within me.It wasn’t until the moonlight had eased back into its white glow that I finally looked down, my hands and crotch smeared red, blood? Had I hurt us being too rough? Was Jess okay? The realization of her innocence slammed into me a second later and I puked. For 10 years I had been so sure she had given herself to that fucking alpha, but she had waited. She had cherished the mate bond..I let out a roar and in an instant I’m smashing the couch, shredding cushions, r
His hands are rough, fisting my hair, gripping my hip, pawing at my breasts, one second we are locked in a kiss so fierce the world could burn down around us and we’d never even know, and the next second he’s nipping the flesh on my neck, grazing the spot his mark should be. I’m gasping and clawing at his back, pulling him toward me. There’s no way to stop, I can hear the tiniest shadow of myself screaming somewhere in the distance, but the moon ticking closer to complete eclipse and the vivid red soaking the sky has my own inner voice drowning faster than the heat pooling between my thighs. Jensen and I fall onto the cream cushions of the couch, he lays me back, a growl rumbling in his chest as he spreads my legs, running a finger slowly from my knee to my core, sparks feel like flames and I hear myself let out a raspy plea. His fingers slick from my juices, he slides one inside of
*Jessie*I could physically feel the moment Jensen stepped out of his car, I spotted him out of the corner of my eye and knew for sure when his scent smashed into me like a freight train. I refused to look in his direction, I refused to give him an ounce of my attention. But I could feel his eyes on me throughout the early evening.The moon was rising quickly and so was the energy, a frantic buzzing was blanketing the party, left and right shifters were losing their inhibitions between the alcohol and the moons influence. Mates were shamelessly touching and kissing, Nico, Liam, and I were talking, just the three of us remained together as most were beginning to pair off, or shift and explore the forest together. I could feel Nya pushing forward, it was getting harder to remain in human form and almost excruciating to stay away from Jensen.
“You could have killed him” Nico rubs his face“I couldn’t have, mate bond” I point out, none of my attacks were deadly, my wolf wouldn’t let me anyways“It looked like you were gonna kill him” Liam chuckled and I had to fight from laughing with him“That’s not the point, you can’t do that in his territory, he could have you killed for attempting to take his pack”“He started it” I growled, my amusement fading rapidly‘He deserved it’ Nya said to me, she was feeling smug with how the fight had turned out, preening with proud energy“Let’s just get through this training and get home” he meets m