As Knight drove back into the city, he began to feel himself calm down. He felt betrayed by the lie his mother had kept up for so long, but he knew that he would eventually forgive her. He had always been protective of her, ever since he had witnessed the way Carlos had treated her when he was just a kid. That wasn’t going to stop now.As he drove, his mind had been whirring, trying to make sense of it all. He had started out by giving Angel the benefit of the doubt, assuming that she didn’t know Carlos wasn’t really her father, just like Knight had, but as he got closer to the city, he started to wonder about that.He was brought out of his thoughts by the ringing of his cell phone.“Shit,” he swore. He had meant to call Sue to let her know she was on his way back but had been so caught up in his own head that he had forgotten. He knew it would be Sue before he even glanced at the screen.He quickly swiped the screen to answer and put it on speakerphone.“Hey, how’s the article comin
Sue stood on the porch of Knight’s grandparents’ house and watched Sarah and Jared play a giant game of Chutes and Ladders with Jared’s daughter out on the lawn. There were around forty people there for the pack barbeque. Some of them were swimming in the pool and others were standing around talking. It was warm out and the smell of barbequed food wafted around her. She felt calm, peaceful even. Knight had been hovering since they got there the night before. It had been late by the time they reached the house, having given their statements to the police and gotten checked out at the hospital.It was Sue who had insisted they stick to the plan to go and stay with Knight’s grandparents for the weekend. It felt good to be away from it all and with all the werewolves around her, surprisingly she felt safe. They had spent an hour talking with Knight’s family, filling them in on what had happened before finally going to bed.Sue had fallen asleep quickly and hadn’t woken until morning. K
The low, setting sun cast strange shadows on the bedroom wall. Knight West lived on the top floor of his building, so there were no trees outside. Still, the dark and shadowy figures twisted like tree branches, dancing, clashing in a sinister way.“It looks like two wolves fighting,” Sue said to him in a whisper. He hadn’t heard Sue come in, which was unusual. He didn’t know why, but something didn’t feel quite right.He turned and looked at his girlfriend and gasped when he saw the human. There was a huge gash across her throat and blood was gushing out of it, pumping and spraying onto the shadowy figures on the wall.“Sue,” he shouted, his hands clutching at Sue’s throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.“It’s no use,” Carlos, the man Knight had believed to be his father, said to him from across the room. “She’s human. She’s weak.”Knight let out a ferocious snarl and lunged at Carlos, shifting into his wolf form as he flew through the air. He launched at the other werewolf
Sue was well aware of her weaknesses, especially when it came to her appearance. Her light brown hair never did as it was told and no matter what glasses she bought, they never seemed to stay up her nose for very long. She had never tried counting the number of times per day she had to push them back up, but she was certain it was a big number. It had made her a little paranoid about the slope of her nose.However, the very worst thing about her, according to her best friend who worked in the fashion department at the magazine, was her fashion sense. She always seemed to nearly get it right but would end up adding something or missing something from her outfit.“Morning,” she greeted her friend Andrew as she sat at her desk in the bullpen.What was different about this day, however, was the fact that Sue knew fully well how ridiculous she looked. It was summer and Seattle was experiencing some very sunny and dry weather, and she had come to work wearing a turtleneck.Andrew swiveled o
Knight hadn’t been able to shake what had happened, what he had done to Sue. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad injury and perhaps Sue really didn’t blame him for it, but Knight certainly blamed himself. A few inches higher and he could have taken an eye. Knight had struggled with control his entire life. He had spent years believing that he took after his father that way, but now he knew he couldn’t blame it on genetics. Carlos, the man who had disappeared when Knight was nine, who had bullied and beaten his mom, had always been the ghost haunting Knight.As a teenager, he had struggled not to fly off the deep end over every little thing. His control was something he had worked hard for, something he took pride in. He had never felt more out of control than he did now.He let himself into his grandparents’ house without knocking, as was the norm. He had called ahead to make sure that he and his grandpa would be alone.“In here, Ev,” his grandpa called to him from the living room.There was a se
Sarah’s makeup had helped a lot to cover up the scratches on Sue’s neck. The moment she got home, she had wanted to wash it off, but she also didn’t want the marks to look too bad when Knight saw them.“If he sees them,” she muttered to herself as she made herself a coffee.Over the last few months the two of them had barely spent a night apart, and when they had, Knight had acted weird and possessive the following day. Sue had received a simple text from Knight after lunch.Out of office for rest of day. Call later xSue had assumed that Knight would be back in time for them to go home together, like usual, but no such luck. When Sue had tried calling him, it went straight to voice mail. She just knew the stupid werewolf was off somewhere obsessing over what had happened.Sue had gotten the bus home for the first time in weeks. Even weirder was the fact that she was in her own kitchen completely alone. It had never bothered her before, being by herself, but she had gotten so used to
Sue didn’t wake up in the best of moods. She missed the snoring werewolf beside her and had woken up several times through the night feeling as though something were missing. It was the monthly release day of the magazine and Sue’s first article for it was going to be in there. Writing for a magazine hadn’t exactly been her dream job, instead wanting to take on more serious journalism, but she found herself feeling proud. On the surface, her article looked like a simple piece on the rise of werewolf-focused hotels, but Sue had delved deeper than that, getting into the history of segregation and how vital it was that they not let themselves, as a society, slip backward.It wasn’t until she had her glasses on and was shuffling out toward the kitchen that she remembered her brother was there.Joey was asleep on the couch, his arm thrown up over his head and his mouth open. Like that, Joey looked younger. All his usual bravado was gone. Creeping a little closer, Sue allowed herself to ta
When Knight had insisted on taking her out for dinner to celebrate her first article with the magazine, Sue hadn’t really been too thrilled with the idea. What with Knight having his freak-out and Joey showing up at her place, Sue kind of just wanted a quiet night in with her boyfriend so she could ask how the therapy session went. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that it was going to take a lot more than one session to help Knight with his issues, but to Sue, it still didn’t seem like such a big deal. Sue wasn’t really sure why Knight was having a harder time with her attempted kidnapping than she was.“I did consider clearing out that Howlers we went to for our first date,” Knight told Sue as they drove to the restaurant, “and having the place to ourselves, but that seemed a little too much.”Howlers was the name of a chain of restaurants owned by Knight’s family. The two of them had gone to one on the spur of the moment, right after they first met.Sue smiled at the thought of it. “Wel
Christmas had never been a time Sue looked forward to. While most people were with their families, having fun and enjoying each other’s company, Sue was with her mother, making small talk and feeling like she didn’t belong. She would try and get to her house as late as was acceptable and leave as early as she could. Her mom certainly never tried to talk her into staying any longer.It wasn’t until the year before, her first Christmas with Knight, that she had actually started to look forward to it. Christmas Day was spent with the family, but Christmas Eve meant another pack party. Although Eden and Julia had taken care of most of the planning, as usual, Sue had asked them to give her one thing to do. She didn’t care what it was, she just felt like she should make a start on being a better alpha mate.This year she had been put in charge of Christmas-themed cupcakes and cookies. It was easy enough. She had found a good bakery and all she had to do was pick them up on the day. As she m
By the time Sue and Joey got back to the apartment, Sue was feeling a lot better about things. Spending time with her little brother tended to have that effect on her. It was funny, considering that Sue used to hate him when he was a spoiled little brat of a toddler messing up Sue’s room.“Knight’s not here,” Joey said disappointedly. Sue followed Joey into the kitchen when Joey found a note and held it out to Sue.I have some things I need to take care of. I’ll explain it all later. Meet you at the hotel.I love you.Knight.XxxSue sighed and folded the piece of paper up. “I guess he had to work.”Joey frowned at her and sat down at the breakfast bar. “Things are okay between you, right?”Sue watched her little brother grab a banana from the fruit bowl and unpeel it. Knowing Joey as she did, Sue knew he was probably just eating it because it was there, rather than the fact that he was actually hungry. She didn’t really know how much to tell Joey about what had been going on between
Knight hadn’t been to see his grandpa’s grave since the funeral. He hadn’t thought it was something he would take solace in. Yet, there he was, on his own, in the dark.It took a little while to find the grave. He remembered his grandma saying that they had to wait for the ground to settle before his tombstone could be placed. Instead, there was a wooden cross with a plaque glued to it. It simply read his name.In life, Lenard West had been such a big character, to see his grave like this, with no more than a measly wooden cross on it was like a stab in the gut. Everything in life died, logically Knight knew this. Still, to him, it didn’t make any sense that his grandpa, once the strongest man he knew, was now no more than ashes in the cold ground.He dropped to his knees in the slightly damp grass and felt a wave of nausea in the pit of his stomach. He might not be able to hear his grandpa talk back to him, but Knight could still talk to him, and he could probably guess what he would
After showering, Knight got dressed and went into the kitchen to put the waffle batter in a container in the fridge so that he could use it later. On the counter, Sue’s phone gave a little trill indicating that a message had come through. Knight hadn’t meant to look at it, but the message flashed across the screen. It was from Andrew.Hey. Hope you feel ok after last night. Listen, if you want to talk any more give me a call. I’m sorry Knight’s been working so much lately, and I hope things get better between you two soon. Here’s the number of the couple’s therapist we used, if you want it. Talk soon.Knight read it through quickly before the screen went black again. He felt an instant surge of anger go through him.Couple’s therapy? What the hell had Sue been telling him?He angrily swiped the phone from the counter and marched into the bedroom before tossing the phone onto the bed beside Sue.“If I didn’t like you talking to Leslie, my own cousin, about me, then why the hell would y
Knight had been feeling so bad about the fact he had been working so much the past week that he made sure to get home early. In the week since the fall gathering, Knight had hardly seen Sue. He knew it was his fault, but it couldn’t be helped. Still, he knew he had to make it up to his wife. He had spent the day working nonstop so that he could get home at a reasonable hour.What was early for him was still a full day’s work for anyone else. It was nearly seven when he let himself into the apartment. He had a bag of take out with him and a bottle of wine.“Sue,” he called out as he shrugged off his jacket. He didn’t need to wait for a response. His hearing and sense of smell would have picked up on something by now.He walked into the kitchen and put the bag of food on the counter. As he had been staying late at the office lately, Sue had been driving herself to and from work. Her car was in the underground garage, so Knight knew that his mate had come home after work.Pulling his pho
It was pretty late by the time Sue and Knight got back to the apartment. The car ride had been unusually quiet and tense. Sue had tried to make some effort at conversation, but she was tired and fed up. It was obvious that Knight was still mad at her for spilling the beans to his mom.When they came through the door, she half expected Knight to say something, to finally bring it up, but obviously that wasn’t his way.“Knight, I’ve said I’m sorry,” she said as Knight went to walk past her to go to the bedroom. “Like a hundred times.”That was obviously an exaggeration, but her point remained.“Sue, just let it go, please,” Knight said with a weary sigh. “I just want to go to bed.”“No,” Sue practically shouted. “You can’t. We’re not supposed to go to bed angry.”Knight turned on her with a look of annoyance marring his handsome face. “Where did you read that? The Big Book of Marriage Clichés?”“It’s okay that you’re mad at me.”“I’m not mad at you,” Knight practically barked.Sue found
Since his grandpa’s death, Knight had missed the old man every single day. Being at a pack party without him was a whole new kind of pain. Lenard had been so full of life. He was always at the center of every group, telling stories while everyone else hung on his every word.There was a light missing there today.Knight walked through the throng of people, trying his best to make small talk and act like he was interested in everything they were saying. After deciding he had mingled enough for the time being, he went looking for his cousins. If he was ever tired of people kissing his ass and telling him exactly what he wanted to hear, his cousins soon put it right. Particularly Leslie, who delighted in tormenting Knight.He found them over by the fortune telling machine that his grandma hired every year from a carnival supplier. As a kid, the thing had always given him the creeps. It was a glass booth with a creepy wizard-looking mannequin inside. You held on to a metal rod, and it pum
As they made their way back outside, Sue took the lead, walking faster than the others in an attempt to escape the awkward situation. She spotted Jared and Leslie over by one of the apple bobbing stations, and she made a beeline for them.The two of them were with Jared’s daughter, Marie, but it was the adults who were doing the bobbing.“Having fun?” she asked as she got closer to them. She looked behind her, sparing Knight a glance. She felt a bit bad about abandoning him to his mother and grandmother, but she couldn’t take Julia looking at her like she had taken her baby boy away from her again.“Jared made a joke about me having a big mouth,” Leslie told her. The hair around her face was a little wet, but Jared was absolutely soaking. “So I dunked him in it.”Sue laughed as Jared shook his head like a dog.“Do we win anything if we get an apple?” Marie asked.Sue didn’t know the little girl very well. She had only spoken to her a few times. While she was fine with kids, she wasn’t
The West pack had four official meetings every year, one for each season. The one they had in autumn was during the week of Halloween. A big party was thrown at the estate with games and various other attractions outside. Sue had been to a couple of their parties so far but not the Halloween one. It was going to be the first pack gathering since Lenard’s funeral and the first gathering under their new alpha.As the alpha’s mate, Sue still didn’t really know what her new role was, if any. Knight’s mother and grandmother had organized everything. If she was honest, she was grateful that they hadn’t asked for her input so far.“So, things not to mention to your mom are the fact that we got married and the fact that you’ve not only met your real dad but have also been hanging out with him and his pack,” Sue mused out loud as Knight parked the car outside his grandma’s house.Knight turned and gave her a look. “No, I’m going to tel