~Zahara~ As soon as the door closes I huff and hear a chuckle behind me. “I swear, Lennox, you have the WORST timing……always!” Lennox gets closer to me and throws his arm around my shoulder. We head down stairs to get to my father’s office. “Don’t be mad at me, Z. It wasn’t my idea to meet right now. You know I hate to be a cockblocker…….well in your case, a puss-blocker.” Lennox starts to laugh and I elbow him in his ribs. “Shit Z, that hurts.” I turn to Lennox and smirk in satisfaction. We walk into my father’s office and he is talking to Simeon, our Beta and Lennox’s dad. Lennox and I sit on the couch in the office and wait for our fathers. “Guys, how did your trip go?” My father looks between Lennox and I, awaiting our report. Lennox launches into the issues that we had to help the pack with and the training that we helped with. “We have always had a good relationship with the Winter Pack and we hope that you two can continue that once we
~Cory~ I feel sparks on my cheek and my eyes shoot open. Zahara is lying next to me, stroking my face. I look around my room and quickly realize it’s Zahara’s room. I never left her room when she left to meet with her dad. “How long have I been out?” “Not too long, though I have to admit that I have been watching you sleep for a while. I didn’t have the heart to wake you……you looked too cute.” I can feel my cheeks heat up at this revelation. I swear Zahara has the most beautiful brown eyes. I could drown in them. They always seem to look through me and see something in me that no one else has seen. “We need to talk.” Immediately I can feel my stomach coil tightly. Those are not the words that anyone really wants to hear. I look at Zahara, not knowing what to say next. I try to find an answer in her eyes, but there is nothing there other than love. “What do we need to talk about?” I maneuver so that I’m on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Zahara shuff
~Nona~ I’ve had my freedom for a bit now, but it isn’t real freedom. I can’t leave this damn house. The only freedom I feel is the fact that I’m no longer chained like an animal and Zora has finally come back. She is as torn as I am though. She feels the mate bond fully, but hates Nero as much as I hate Laslo. They are holding us here against our will. Laslo comes and goes and when he’s here, the mate bond wins out and we have our way with each other. When he is gone, I reflect on my situation and I feel sick to my stomach. In reality, I’m feeling sick in real life. I have spent so much time bending over the toilet, emptying my stomach. I know what this could be, but I don’t want that to be the case. I don’t want to be tied to Laslo forever. I want to gather as much strength as I can and reject his ass. I just can’t find that strength in me. Zora can’t find it either. She has been so quiet and so defeated. We have always wanted our mate, but never under any circum
~Zahara~ Cory completely freaked out when I told him we need to introduce him to the pack. I know how nerve racking that can be, especially under these circumstances. I know he is afraid of how the pack will receive him, but he has to have faith that he will be welcomed with open arms. Cory and I spent the night in bed, but we just held each other and talked. I always enjoyed talking to Cory, even when it was just a short homeroom class in high school. We would discuss anything and everything and I always felt so at ease with him. It probably should have occurred to me that he was my mate, but I had no idea. We decided a short announcement at dinner the next day would be enough of an introduction. I don’t want to over do it for Cory. He is still very timid about a lot of things and I don’t want him to spiral out. My parents agreed that a short introduction at dinner would be the best way to handle this situation. I had some reports to finish u
~Lennox~ Zahara stares at me, waiting for me to tell her what’s going on. I have to admit that I don’t really know what to say. I know Cory has had no formal training and that his world has been forced down for so long. I also know that Cory is of Alpha blood, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened. I wasn’t prepared for what I experienced today.*Flashback* “Good job, Cory. Make sure you put your weight on that back foot and put all of your power into your swing.” Cory is taking direction really well, I have to say. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He is used to taking orders and his Alpha blood makes him a bit of a natural. Cory is a quick study and that will make this process so a lot smoother. Cory continues to practice the moves I have been teaching him when we are interrupted by the last voice I really want to hear. “Well look at what we have here boys……the wolfless wonder!” Shit……the terrible trio. How isn’t that they made their way here? We are
~Zahara~ I did not expect to hear what Lennox just told me. He said that Cory’s Alpha aura is stronger than my own and I know mine is pretty strong. He fought back and broke Frankie’s bone; that, alone, is crazy and so not like Cory. He is usually meek and quiet, letting things happen around him while he tries to zone out. I guess having his wolf wake up is changing a lot about Cory and I can’t really be mad about that. Lennox leaves me after telling me everything that happened with training. I am tempted to find Cory and check on him, but I decide not to. I don’t want him to think that I need to check up on him constantly. I want him to be bold and make choices on his own. The more I think about what Lennox told me, the more I believe this may actually be for the best. Word will spread about what happened with the terrible trio and that will bolster Cory’s image with the pack. They won’t see him as some weak, wolfless person. They will see him as str
~Zahara~ Silence fills the room and I’m in awe. Everyone is suffering under the weight of my mate’s aura. Everyone except myself and my parents. Being Cory’s mate means that I don’t fall to his aura; he doesn’t have that type of power over him and it’s the same for me. My parents are still the current Luna and Alpha so they have more power than myself and Cory right now. Neither of my parents has said anything about what is going on. I would have expected them to stop this or reel Cory in, but they are just watching everything unfold. My mom is shaking her head, but she has a slight grin on her face. My dad actually looks proud. He is sitting in the chair tall and proud. My eyes find Frankie and I watch him. He looks to be dying under the weight of Cory’s aura. His arm is in a sling and he is sweating profusely. I reach out and gently touch Cory. He doesn’t look at me, but I can feel his aura receding. Cory takes a step away from the table to fully face
~Zahara~ I could feel Cory’s uneasiness all night long. I tried to calm him, but nothing I said or did worked. His nervousness is not unwarranted, but it is a lot to deal with. I was never going to be able to keep him hidden forever and I think he may have forgotten that. I know he is worried about his old pack finding out he isn’t dead. The real issue is that he can’t remember who did this to him so he is worried that they will try again when they realize he survived. I sympathize with him, but this is where we are. I’ve been up since early this morning. Cory finally dozed off and I took the opportunity to go train. It was an intensive training and I’m glad I decided to do it. I needed the workout just to get some stuff out. It has been a crazy few days and I needed to let some things out. Walking out of the training area, I run into Lennox. “You did well today Len. You really got me moving.” Lennox chuckles and falls into step with me. “How