Elliot."Wake."The command reverberated through me, and the world tilted.I wasn't waking... not in the way the wolf demanded. Instead, I was pulled into something else entirely.The darkness receded slowly, giving way to a world steeped in muted colours and restless energy.My limbs felt like lead, as though gravity itself had grown heavier. The ground beneath me was soft and damp, blades of grass brushing against my bare feet.I opened my eyes fully, and the world came into focus. Storm clouds churned above, restless and alive, their deep grays and purples twisting like smoke caught in a hurricane. Thunder rolled in the distance, a low rumble that resonated in my chest, and occasional forks of lightning split the sky. The air was thick with tension, heavy with the scent of rain that hadn't yet fallen.This was a far cry from the snow peaked land I had been on mere moments ago... how did I move from there to... here?I was standing in the middle of a vast field, the grass stretc
Damien.The room was too quiet. Not peaceful or soothing, but oppressive. A silence so thick it pressed against my ears, amplified the sound of my own heartbeat, and magnified every inhale and exhale coming from the person lying in front of me.My... saviour. He looked so small like this. Fragile, almost. The bed dwarfed his lanky frame, his blond hair stark against the pillow. His chest rose and fell steadily, but it was faint, too faint for comfort. The blanket was pulled up to his waist, hiding the worst of the bruises that marred his skin... ugly purple bruises that appeared moments after Celeste made me inject wolf bane into him.Bloody witch.I sat beside him, my fingers wrapped gently around his hand. It was warm, and that was something.But it wasn't enough.Not when his fingers didn't curl back around mine, didn't squeeze the way they usually did when he wanted to tell me without words that I wasn't alone. I reached out with my free hand, brushing a strand of blond hair f
Elliot. There was nothing more heartbreaking than working on the anniversary of your fiancee’s death. I stood by the kitchen window, my eyes fixed on the mountain view bathed in the early morning mist. It was as cold and unyielding as the five years since Janice’s death. Every morning began the same... coffee, silence, and the ache of what I lost. Most days, that was exactly how I liked it. “Harper, where’s my damn article?” A voice rang through the phone sitting next to me, breaking the quiet. Shit. I grabbed it, already rolling my eyes as I saw my editor’s name on the screen. I pressed the answer button. “Good morning to you too, Frank.” “No time for pleasantries. I need that piece on the roadwork finished today. The mayor’s been breathing down my neck about public safety since the logging trucks started using the main street. And don’t even get me started on the wildfire complaints” Frank was always the sweet one. And I enjoyed talking to him. “Roadwork? Thrilling.” I said
Elliot. I made it back to my cabin, breathless, every nerve in my body buzzing. My legs felt weak as I slammed the door shut behind me, leaning heavily against it. My hands were trembling, and my heart refused to slow its rapid pace. What the hell had I just seen? The growl, the marks, and that..thing that was more than just an animal. The way it stood, the way its eyes gleamed with an unnatural intelligence, was something far worse. I stumbled over to the kitchen table and collapsed into a chair, my body finally catching up to my brain. My pulse hammered in my ears, a drumming rhythm that drowned out everything else. The cool air coming from the window did nothing to touch the heat seeping through my skin, every muscle wound up tight like a coiled spring. Ready to snap. That thing could have killed me. I could have still been there, torn to shreds, if it wasn’t for what had scared it off. What was that howl? Like something out of a nightmare, both terrifying and oddly protec
Elliot.The early morning fog clung to the forest like a secret, the sun barely breaking through the thick canopy of trees.I stood at the edge of the woods, my breath misting in the cool air.It was now or never.Every fibre of my being screamed at me to turn back, to leave thus cursed place, and never look back. But something deeper... some kind of pull I couldn't explain drew me in.It wasn't just curiosity anymore.My boots crunched against the dried leaves and twigs as I took my first steps into the woods, the sound echoing unnaturally loud in the otherwise silent morning.The trail was faint, barely recognizable from the surrounding undergrowth, but I remembered the direction I had run the previous night. The glowing eyes, the sharp claws, and that howl... it seemed to plague my dreams now.If that creature was out there, I had nothing but an axe I had found in the garage of my house. It wouldn't kill him, but I had to know more.Figure out what was in these woods, not just for
Elliot.I had to keep moving, forcing my legs forward, even with each step heavier than the last.The man I was dragging through the woods felt like dead weight now, his body limp, bleeding, and barely conscious.I glanced over my shoulder, heart pounding in my chest. It was hard to see anything behind me, but I knew something was out there.Lurking."Come on, man. Stay with me," I muttered through clenched teeth. His weight dragged me down, each step slower than the last. "Just hold on a little longer."He groaned, his head rolling to the side in his barely conscious state. Blood seeped through his torn shirt, and I could feel the wetness of it on my hands as I tried to support him.It was everywhere.I glanced down at him, shaking him lightly. "Hey! Hey, can you hear me?"His eyelids fluttered, and a weak gasp escaped his lips. "Run," he managed to say, though the words were barely audible."I'm not leaving you," I said firmly, trying to ignore the panic clawing at the edges of my m
Elliot. The fire in the living room crackled softly as I knelt beside the unconscious man, cleaning the gashes on his chest with as much care as I could muster. My mind still raced as I tried to piece together what had happened in the woods. The creature behind us. How it suddenly disappeared the moment we were out of the woods. What was it? I glanced up at the man's face, pale and slick with sweat, as I worked on bandaging a particularly nasty cut on his side. Only something as horrible as what was in those woods could have done something like this. I was sure of it. As I finished wrapping the last bandage, his body stirred. His eyes fluttered open, bleary, and unfocused. “Hey, take it easy,” I murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving too quickly. “You’re safe. Just… try to relax.” His gaze darted around the room, panic flashing in his eyes before they landed on me. He flinched, trying to sit up, but I gently pushed him back down. “Where am I?” he
Damien. The air in the woods had been heavy, thick with the scent of my blood and the howl of something I wished I'd never heard. My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, urging me to go back, to get to him. To the nameless stranger that had rescued me. I never should have let my guard down. Should have kept running. That was what rogues do. We did not get involved. We did not stay. We survived. But him... I clenched my fists, the human side of me fighting the wolf, torn between instinct and reason. My legs were aching from the miles I'd covered since I'd heard the howl, but something kept pulling me back. Him. How on earth had that puny human run with an unconscious me through this woods? My wolf growled low in my chest. "He's our mate." He didn't understand why I was hesitating. It never did. Wolves weren't wired like humans, they didn't care about logic or consequences. And it knew the man was ours. Ours to protect. Ours to stay with. But we couldn’t stay. Not with what w
Damien.The room was too quiet. Not peaceful or soothing, but oppressive. A silence so thick it pressed against my ears, amplified the sound of my own heartbeat, and magnified every inhale and exhale coming from the person lying in front of me.My... saviour. He looked so small like this. Fragile, almost. The bed dwarfed his lanky frame, his blond hair stark against the pillow. His chest rose and fell steadily, but it was faint, too faint for comfort. The blanket was pulled up to his waist, hiding the worst of the bruises that marred his skin... ugly purple bruises that appeared moments after Celeste made me inject wolf bane into him.Bloody witch.I sat beside him, my fingers wrapped gently around his hand. It was warm, and that was something.But it wasn't enough.Not when his fingers didn't curl back around mine, didn't squeeze the way they usually did when he wanted to tell me without words that I wasn't alone. I reached out with my free hand, brushing a strand of blond hair f
Elliot."Wake."The command reverberated through me, and the world tilted.I wasn't waking... not in the way the wolf demanded. Instead, I was pulled into something else entirely.The darkness receded slowly, giving way to a world steeped in muted colours and restless energy.My limbs felt like lead, as though gravity itself had grown heavier. The ground beneath me was soft and damp, blades of grass brushing against my bare feet.I opened my eyes fully, and the world came into focus. Storm clouds churned above, restless and alive, their deep grays and purples twisting like smoke caught in a hurricane. Thunder rolled in the distance, a low rumble that resonated in my chest, and occasional forks of lightning split the sky. The air was thick with tension, heavy with the scent of rain that hadn't yet fallen.This was a far cry from the snow peaked land I had been on mere moments ago... how did I move from there to... here?I was standing in the middle of a vast field, the grass stretc
Elliot.Everything was distant... a haze of voices and sensations muffled by an overwhelming darkness.The heat burned first, an unrelenting fire that licked at my skin from the inside out. I tried to breathe, but each gasp felt like inhaling flames. Somewhere beyond the suffocating fog, I could hear Damien’s voice, sharp and urgent.“Elliot!” It tugged at me, an anchor in the storm, but I couldn’t hold onto it. The darkness thickened, dragging me under until the voices faded completely. And then, I was somewhere else. The first thing I noticed was the snow. It blanketed everything in sight, stretching endlessly in all directions. Mountains loomed on the horizon, their jagged peaks piercing the steel-gray sky. A biting wind swept through the air, carrying with it an eerie silence. I stood in the middle of it, barefoot, wearing nothing but a thin shirt and pants. The cold should have been unbearable, but I felt nothing... just a numbness that seeped into my bones. Where was
Damien."Elliot!"My voice thundered through the room, panic gripping me as I lunged forward. Elliot crumpled to the ground, his knees buckling beneath him. I caught him just in time, lowering him to the floor, his body limp in my arms.From puking... to fainting.He had fainted twice within how many hours now. That wasn't good.With how much Elliot want to do things without being tied to me, do things like he wasn't my fucking mate, like he wasn't the only one I would willingly die for... it almost made me think he had rejected me.But the bond was still there. Tugging at me. Binding us together. And now it was screaming in agony. His skin was scorching hot, his breathing shallow and laboured. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his face was pale... too pale. I pressed my hand against his cheek, feeling the unnatural heat radiating from him.He was okay... okay... he was okay just for a few moments ago. Standing and talking..."What's happening to him?" I growled, my voice barely s
Elliot."How the heck is my brother turning into... into... what was it again... a Fenrir?" Ethan's voice ringed out after a few minutes of silence.Of course.Of course, that was what he'd latch onto. Not the witch standing before us, not Damien agreeing to help someone because of me, and certainly not the fact that my life had just been flipped upside down.No.Ethan chose to hyper-focus on one single word.Celeste’s lips curved into an amused smile, her dark eyes sparkling with mischief. "Ah, Fenrir. The rare and ancient breed of werewolf."Ethan blinked, then gestured wildly at me. "And you're telling me that he... my perpetually grumpy, sometimes sunshine, coffee-addicted, very human ligtle brother... is one of those things?"“Technically,” Celeste said with a dramatic pause, “he’s becoming one.” How does that even happen?My head spun as I tried to keep up. "Becoming? What does that even mean? I've never been a wolf before."Celeste raised a finger, as if I'd just given her th
Elliot."Hello, Celeste."The air in the shop felt heavier now, like it had a pulse of its own. Every flicker of the dim light above seemed to draw attention to this woman... Celeste’s unnervingly calm smirk. She looked exactly the same way she had in the memory I stole from Damien... a beautiful, cold enigma that reeked of power and secrets.And I hated her instantly. She wasn’t just the witch meant to help me get over this power stuff. She was the witch that had helped Damien and Ryan wreck havoc on my poor Janice. The reason they could do all that madness.The thought sent a ripple of anger through me, but I bit it down. For now. "Celeste," Damien breathed out her name again, his tone laced with exasperation. "I need your help."And what had she meant by her douche one nightstand? Did they have something? Had he slept with her?And how was that my business when I made it clear I didn't want anything to do with him anymore?Her sharp eyes darted to me for a split second, and a
Damien.Elliot didn't stop looking at me strangely. Like there was something he wanted to say but didn't know how.Well, or maybe he couldn't. With Ethan here.The streets of New York blurred past as I drove, their neon glow casting sharp shadows on the faces of the men in the truck with me. Ethan's snice comments came from the passenger seat every few minutes, a relentless stream of questions and accusations that I ignored with practised ease.I wouldn't let him get to me again.Elliot... Saviour sat silent in the back, his eyes distant whenever he wasn't staring at me, as he was probably trying to piece together whatever scraps of clarity he could.The air was heavy with unspoken truths. The tension a third passenger in the truck."For the second time, where the heck are we going?" Ethan finally snapped, his tone cutting through the tense silence like a blade. "Damien, I swear to God, if this is a shady side project..."Goddess."It's not," I cut him off sharply, gripping the wheel
Elliot.The world around me was cloaked in an unnatural darkness, not the comforting kind but the kind that smothered, pressing down like unseen hands. My breaths were shallow, my chest heavy as if something weighed on me.I wasn't in the club anymore... or anywhere close to it. No pounding music, no flickering neon lights. This place was still... eerily silent, except for the distant sound of murmured voices. Where was I?I followed the sound, though my legs didn't feel like they were moving. The landscape shifted with each step... blurred walls and towering shadows forming and melting around me. I wasn't supposed to be here, wherever here was, but something... or someone... was pulling me closer.The voices grew louder. Familiar words drifted through the haze, but I couldn't grasp their meaning. My heart raced as I rounded a corner that hadn't been there a moment ago, and suddenly, they came into view. Two figures stood in the void, their forms sharp and real against the shifting
Damien.Fuck.The cool night air was heavy with the smell of oil, sweat, and alcohol as I dragged Elliot toward the truck parked haphazardly at the curb. His body was slack in my arms, but every so often, he'd struggle, mumbling incoherent words that hit like shards of glass.Luckily for us, most of the clubbers outside were inside now so no one would stand in my way."Get off me," he slurred, twisting half-heartedly. His fingers clawed weakly at my shirt, but his legs buckled under him again, and I had to adjust my grip to keep him upright. "Damn it, Elliot," I muttered, my wolf snarling in frustration. "Did you add a few extra pounds or something?""Leave him alone." The voice cut through the vibrations from the club like a blade, sharp and demanding. I froze, looking up to see Ethan emerging from the nightclub. His blond hair glinted under the neon lights, and his eyes zeroed in on me with predatory focus.Well, that was one thing."What the hell is going on here?" Ethan demand