"Your friend was put in another room." Thomas is by my side when I wake up, gently pressing an ice bag on the left side of my head. But even with that, I can feel every second of Caroline's training throbbing in my head. I bite my lip as i get up and make sense of my surroundings, mostly of the little silver bracelet that stands as proof of the fact that I am not a good liar. If I would have, the king would have trusted me by now."It's fine... I deserved it." I tell him as I grab the hand he offers to help me stand up. He holds it for a second longer than he should and I realize I was staring at him. Well, not at him, at every feature that reminds me of Damon."I'm sorry about earlier. I just... A lot of things happened at once and...""It's ok." No it was not and he is a piece of crap, but if I can't fool the father maybe I can the son? "I was surprised since you said you have a girlfriend and you know... I have a mate.""Yeah... She really doesn't want to be involved with this so s
Caroline is standing so close to me, I can feel her breath on the back of my head. The king wanted her to be on the other side of the little funeral march as Damon called it, but Caroline looked ready to snap a few necks before she would be separated from me."As long as my pack stands, she is my Luna! It is my duty to protect her or die trying!" None of the men in the office questioned her determination, so she was allowed to act as my bodyguard if it came down to it."Wish you'd have been as determined in the last life too." I can't help but clap at her as we make our way to the MoonWalk pack's borders."Yeah... me too." She answers, to my surprise. Usually, when I make remarks like this she counters with the fact that I wasn't powerful or useful enough to be accepted, let alone respected as Luna. She must sense my surprise because she's quick to explain. "I know. That's what I thought all my life, but... I know Omegas who wouldn't have betrayed the pack for all the power in the wor
On the second night of the funeral march, once we reach the fourth pack that abandoned their territory, I see Thomas starting to put things together. His father calmed down a lot and is now advancing slower, making sure the sentinels spread in between the bases and the army can maintain the pack link and keep the communication open. No shadow of the Strychnos plant.That's not good."This doesn't feel right." I say to Thomas as we find ourselves walking next to each other."Why are you scared? Even if it's a trap, your mate will protect you. No one will jump to punish a Moon Priestess.""Yeah... But..." I let the silence speak as I look at the ground. I know Thomas looks at me so I brush my hair off my face so he can see my teary eyes."But you're not sure." Thomas tries to sound sympathetic, but I would be a fool not to feel the satisfaction in his voice."He is my mate, he would... protect me.""You know, every time you say the story of your past life, there is one detail that doesn
"This time, everything will work perfectly." Damon seemed confident, even though that never happened before. And I really, really wanted to believe him, mostly because I needed to, but also because he made it seem so real. Like we had a chance.But that chance slips a little bit through my fingers with every look the council throws at each other. Or even worse, with every look they sneak in Thomas' direction. Waiting for him to take a decision, to take the lead. And unfortunately, Thomas is not desperate, he is young and has all the time to be cautious and smart about his decisions.After a bit of bickering, the king explains his reasoning in an avalanche of ill-fitted sentences."It would be unwise to march, while we lose the base." Someone comments."This is absurd!" Thomas finally bursts and shouts at his father. "Damon doesn't have enough men to take over the pack. We left enough warriors there to make sure of that. We can't march back, wasting everything because you got informati
Werewolves don't fight in daylight. I think it's one of the first things I remember my teacher saying, way before I could truly comprehend the meaning of it. It was fine until a century or two ago when, if any unlucky human saw anything they would have been considered mad, but now, with phones and cameras in everyone's pocket?We are wolves in the shadow, humans in the light.We were. Until this war. Until the rogues broke every rule we have ever been taught and we had to push ourselves out of everything that felt right in order to defeat them.Once the sun starts to rise, and the piles of bodies gather around the open field, every instinct screams at me to run. To hide. I see everyone around me feeling the same, everyone remembering what we've been taught. Except our enemy, who teached their children that victory must come at any price.I see people so tired, they can't maintain their wolf form. They fall on their knees, so tired they don't raise their heads when the enemy bites off
"Damon! We really need to hurry!" I try to sound assertive, but it sounds more like a moan. His hand is roaming under my shirt , leaving a burning sensation of pure desire on every inch of skin he touches. I get drunk with his smell, his presence, his love. So much so, that it worries me what I will do when the mate bond finally snaps into place. Will we ever leave this room?But to find that out we really need to leave. Like five minutes ago.I manage to peel Damon off of me with the promise of tonight being our first time as mates and with that we are out the door to Caroline's Alpha ceremony.We drive by the southern packs that managed to rebuild most of what was destroyed in the war. By how things are going, they will become fully independent again in less than a year."The road helped a lot of them connect to resources." I say, proud that we could make it real. My grandma started it by telling me how nice it would be to be able to just drive to her cousin's pack in the north. Wit
"Rose…” His voice, like fine whiskey, smooth with a slow burn that lit me up from the inside.My body is not mine to control anymore; my mind doesn’t belong to me. I try to turn around, I try to open my eyes, but in vain. The pressure of a body over me holds me prisoner between the soft sheets as a man touches me with a sense of pure adoration that makes me shiver. When I moan, unable to hold it in anymore, he growls in my ear, like the sound of my pleasure takes away all his human restrain, allowing him to become like the beast his is hiding under the skin.“Damon!” I find myself calling a name that I don’t recognize. But in fact, I can barely recognize my own voice now. So full of need, pleading for more and more until I melt entirely under his touch.“I’ve waited so long… Too long.” He whispers, his voice playful, yet so far from a joking now. “I don’t know how gentle I can manage to be, my dear mate.”“Then don’t be!” I didn’t know if the words come out as an order or a plea. “Clai
"Why? Why? Why?" I ask, tears running down my mud-stained face. "I am one of you too! I try my best! Even if you don’t like me, why do you have to be so mean?"Caroline stands in front of me. Only thirteen, but she’s already tall and beautiful, like a model. She’s also strong, the greatest pup in our group. She is everything I ever wanted to be, but I know I never will."Because you are not one of us!" She replies, her voice so cold it freezes the blood in my veins. "So do us a favor and just die already!"The rest of the group seems taken aback too. They were laughing a second ago as I guess, me being pushed into the mud was funny, but once the word "die" comes out of her mouth, the giggles and piggy noises stopped completely. That was a bit much… Even for the cruelest of them. And the worst part? She didn’t even sound like she was trying to be mean; she was sincere."Cut it out, Caroline. If you have time to make fun of others, you have time to train," Axel intervenes, coming towards