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
After what was supposed to have been a nice, celebratory dinner, a moment of peace after the chaos, Knight drove them back to his apartment. It had been eerily quiet in the car. Sue usually found it hard not to talk continuously, especially when she thought Knight was tense about something, but tonight Knight had found it hard to get two words out of Sue.“Blair’s a bitch,” Knight finally said to fill the silence as he let them into his apartment. “She’s the stereotypical, superficial model type. That’s why I broke up with her.”Sue just nodded and went straight through to the kitchen to get a drink. Knight hung back in the doorway, watching as Sue pulled a bottle of wine out of the rack and opened it.“Are you mad at me?” Knight had to ask. “Do you think I should have handled that differently?”“No,” Sue finally said before taking a long sip of her wine. “I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at all. I’m sad.”Knight felt a pang in his chest knowing that someone from his past had caused S
The only downside to dating Knight, Sue decided, was coming into work with him. Knight liked to be at the office early, and rather than make her own way there, Sue went with him. The only good side was that Knight stopped for coffee on the way, so Sue could sit in the break room, usually alone, and drink it in peace. There were always a few people at the office already, no doubt wanting to make a good impression on Knight.She sat on the couch with her coffee in one hand and a banana in the other. Ever since she and Knight had gotten serious with each other, Knight had started insisting that Sue eat a little healthier. It kind of annoyed her that she had to eat a banana instead of a bagel for breakfast, but then she remembered Knight’s reasoning for it.“I want you around for a long time,” Knight had told her. “I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”After hearing something like that, Sue couldn’t very well complain. Still, she really was missing those bagels.“Oh.” Bo
Knight wasn’t antisocial, no matter what Sue said. He loved Sue and he loved his family, but it was a Tuesday night and he really just wanted to be at home with the game on, not meeting Jared and Sarah for dinner. It had been a few weeks since that trashy magazine had printed photos of him and Sue, and Knight’s anger over it had only just started to abate. Those at work who hadn’t known about the relationship before certainly knew now.“She’s my best friend and he’s your cousin,” Sue pointed out as they made their way into the building. “Can you at least pretend that you’re having fun?”Knight shot her a big, fake grin, which just made Sue roll her big doe eyes. “Honestly, anyone would think I was making you eat a salad the way you’re acting.”Knight had to admit that it wasn’t quite that bad. At least the place Jared had chosen had good food.“Okay, I’m sorry,” Knight said, taking hold of Sue’s hand. “I promise not to be…”“Grumpy?” Sue helpfully supplied with a wry grin.“Right. Th
It was late by the time they got back to Knight’s apartment. The whole drive home, Knight had been fielding calls from his mom and his grandparents about what had happened after seeing it on the news. It was scary to think how close the bomb had been to them. What was even scarier was the thought that someone he knew could have easily been inside that hotel.“Are you okay?” Knight asked her as he let them inside.“Yeah,” Sue quickly answered. She ran his hand over Knight’s arm before he removed his jacket. “I’m just tired. We were at your grandpa’s hotel just a few weeks ago. I can’t stop thinking, what if it had happened there?”“I know,” Knight said. He kissed the top of Sue’s head. “The world can be a shitty and scary place sometimes.”“You think it was a humans-first group?”Knight shrugged a shoulder. “Or a werewolves-first group who objected to humans being allowed in. Or it could be something else entirely.”Sue nodded and rubbed at his arms.“Here, let me get you a drink,” Kn
Sue wasn’t exactly sure what she had expected when Knight agreed to let her come along to see Carlos in prison. Her knowledge of prisons was pretty limited to HBO shows and porn. They drove down a long road, passing two security huts along the way. There were guards all around, including on top of the walls, and they all had guns.Instantly Sue felt on edge. The large building up ahead was a depressing gray structure with high walls all around with barbed wire on top. She still hadn’t completely gotten over the shock of the bombing last week and her nerves had been on edge since—not that she would ever let Knight know that. The werewolf had enough on his mind without Sue adding to it.“You always take me to the nicest places,” Sje said in attempt to lighten the mood.“You sure you want to do this?” Knight asked. “We can turn back.”Sue looked over at the werewolf and saw that he, too, was uneasy. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given that Knight was about to face the man he had
“I’m starting to think this is a bad idea,” Sue said as their car sped down the highway.“You’re just nervous,” Knight tried to appease her. “You’ll be fine.”“I’m not nervous,” Sue insisted in a petulant tone. “I just think we should do it another day. My mom might not even be home. Joey’s probably out with friends or something. We should just go home and come see them another time.”Knight glanced over at his passenger with a concerned frown. As someone who loved his family and never went more than a few days without seeing them, Knight couldn’t really understand why Sue was so freaked out by the fact that they were about to visit them.“What’s really going on?” Knight asked. “Is it me? Are you nervous about me meeting your mom?”“No,” Sue said a little too quickly. “She’s just never been completely okay with the way I've live my life.”“What do you mean?”“Well, any time it comes up, she changes the subject and acts like nothing happened,” Sue explained.“Well, it’s going to be pre
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