It’s probably incredibly selfish to admit I could have really done without Cass showing up. Robyn is fascinating. Every chance I get I’m helplessly studying her. She knows it, too. The sweetest little smile creeps up her face when she catches me, battling the crimson flare of my irises at the simplest act. Friday, before setting off to find Cass, she headed away from the rest of the camp. I’m not a possessive asshole but eventually even Corbin wondered where she was. Striding down the path, my paranoia rocketed. Twigs cracking, puffs of breathing. I slowed down, approaching stealthily. Except I found Robyn at her most beautiful. She’s found a low, long limb of a tree, using it as a ballet barre. Over and over, she practised her movements. Her legs extended ever upwards without a tremble, arms poised. The strength involved was awe-inspiring. Instead of interrupting, I returned and simply said, “she’s fine,” Corbin looked at me quizzically, like I was meant to drag her back like a
With Robyn’s assistance, I managed to stand up, the armoured dress tearing into my ribs. The ruby red blood and tacky orange silk is stark against the stone floor, broken glass flashing back at me, reflecting the lightning above. Wiping my face, I watch as every person goes from staring at Elle’s mangled corpse to look up at me. “The Luna of Kallio!” Robyn declares again, firnly, and every head bows in compliant recognition. I somehow glided emotionlessly through the rest of my victory. Legs shaking, I descended and, without talking, headed into the ballroom. Away from the still-pouring rain, wind and carnage. The remaining Alpha Council followed suit. Now, in the middle of a party never intended for me, every single guest stares in a thousand different ways. From working out one scheming snake I’m potentially facing up to a dozen more going forward. Ayr has vanished into the bowels of the cliffs, taking Robyn and Lucas with him. It doesn't stop the gossip, wondering why he came
Devouring Ayr, my hands raking over his solid body, I barely know what I’m doing. I am reduced down to pure instinct and need. I can’t even blame my wolf. My longing for my mate is entirely my own. And I need his body, his kisses on me before I snap. Ayr’s blue eyes are swirling with rich green, his hands grabbing at the fabric of my vest top and shorts, stepping away from the door together whilst short and fierce meet my lips. When his hand quickly heads under the material of the thin vest top and makes contact with my bare skin, I have to stifle a groan. It's perfect. To be held by him is my safe haven. I should be asking him questions. How has he been? Do the Alpha’s of the Council all hate me? Are they already planning how to put someone less chaotic in charge? Is Lucas going to be okay? Why did my mother change her allegiance at the last second? Did Ayr miss me as much as I missed him? But instead, I press my lips to his, his tongue seeking mine, and wonder how I ever walked
Hissing through his teeth, “seeing you do that must be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” “This?” I smirk before rising up and doing it all over again. I’m forced to take it slow for a few reasons. I don’t want to almost-faint again for a start. Plus, he enjoys making me wait just now. He can use a little teasing. His hands are on my hips, avoiding my sore ribs. “Spitfire I’m so fucking proud of you.” “I love you, I love you,” wheezes out of me. Ayr is laid out on the stone floor before me, his jaw clenched and muscles under his neck straining as I took him all the way inside again. So blissfully full. Made to fit together. Bottoming out at the very base of his cock felt so good he let out a deep, guttural moan forcing me to lean over his chest, slapping my hand over his mouth. The change in angle only made him groan again. “Try to be quiet now,” I whisper with a smirk, staring straight into his stunningly emerald eyes as I guide my hips slowly back up his length. His hands on m
There was no point in me securing that room from Cass. One look at the battered, broken Marcus, and I should have known Raphael wasn’t heading with me for some furtive, silly tryst. I’ve spent a week sleeping a little closer to him every night. He’s been a gentleman to the point of madness. Part of me wants to explain all the awful, useless men I’ve been tangled with. Explain why I’ve been keeping him at arms length. Yet he said, right from the start, that he doesn’t consider me broken. I remember how hurt I felt when he first said that, but I've reflected since. He just doesn’t care about my past. Not because it’s unimportant, but because he cares regardless. So I’ve finally stopped trying to find his fatal flaw. The kink in his armour that makes him like Strike and all the other shitbags I’ve known. He’s just a good man. One, who doesn’t stop watching me with those shining crimson eyes like I’m something worth noticing. Surrounded by golden opulence in the royal suite, Marcus fl
It’s a victory for the history books, but not for me. Certainly not for Lucas or Marcus either. I sit and watch my injured friend sleeping. Raphael wakes with a start, clutching at fresh air before looking around with like a freshly hibernated bear. All dark features sleepy eyes and yawning. Stretching and heaving himself from the too-small makeshift bed, he comes to stand by me, staring down at Marcus. I already know what’s coming from my Beta eventually. It’s going to hurt, too. But for now, we watch the rise and fall of Marcus' chest. At least someone got that stinking blue rag of a shirt off him. /You think he will be okay?/ I ask cagily, knowing he tends to deal in straight facts./Physically, yes. In time./Then we’re of the same opinion. /When they questioned Imelda, she showed punching bags of wheat. Cesar punched them, and she screamed.//Fuckers./ Raphael growled in my head./Marcus thought they were mates. You know his whole thing with jade eyes? Imelda has them too./
I knew Ayr wouldn’t like the bridges. But it’s for a reason. He won’t see it yet, but if his pack is not the only access, then he is not the target for attacks and takeovers. Fenton and Locksley deserve access to Kallio on their terms. It is just levelling the playing field. It’s work for hundreds of men who have been told they are worthless. Those who want to leave now have three ways out rather than being disaffected and causing trouble in Kallio. It’s a new era, in every way. I want to build boats and explore the sea once more. Why have all the Alpha’s before me allowed this huge series of cliffs to only look out to the land and not the azure blue beauty beyond? I have no intentions of being cooped up in the cliffs like Elle. I want to get out into every town and village on horseback. I check, unable to stop my voice, sounding harsh. “I am merely informing you, Alpha Ayr, there is no action required from Volare.” The room falls silent. Ayr sizing each other up down the length o
I pause at the intrusion from Corbin, just as Ayr plants a kill on my cheek. “Hmm, I see what you mean about mindlink face,” smiling softly. “Don’t like that one, not at all,” before repeating the action as I flick my attention back to him and blush. Ayr kissed my cheek again, my searing blush making the area where his lips met my cheek resemble a furnace. “It’s your decision. But I had better keep kissing you until I’m sure you’re listening to me and not your very intense Beta.” I blushed again but didn’t stop Ayr tenderly kissing my cheek. It felt too good to protest with common sense. “He doesn’t know about us. I probably should tell him before he tries to hurt you. Protect me from you.” My handsome, blonde god of a mate sniffed in amusement before tilting my chin upwards. My world shrank down to his swirling irises. “I won’t be worrying about Corbin, Spitfire.” “I don’t know, we’re murdering Elders later this afternoon,” I say sweetly, knowing it will amuse him to know my biza
Corbin is the first to arrive, urgency in his steely eyes. He and Ayr now share the dubious honour of matching neck scars. I imagine his lower chest is even more grisly after the attack on him “Is everything okay? It’s so fantastic to see you,” enjoying the sweep of his huge, iron-like hug. The sweet scent of warm baking is the only soft feature about this hardened leader. “When they set up a room for me to recover in, they found this. I thought you should have it,” withdrawing a thick envelope from his jacket. “It’s written by your mother.” I stare at the aged paper and wonder just what I will gain from reading her drunken rantings. “What made you bring this? She must have hundreds of letters, I know she kept a diary too.”“She addressed it to you. It’s the only one with your name on it. No diaries found.” "Go on, I’ll greet everyone else. It will only irritate you if you don’t read it now, " Ayr suggested "Corbin and I need to talk bridges," as the pair grinned. I took the letter
Life is very different in Volare these days. Leo is almost two. Wonderful in every way, his pouty lips and blue eyes making it almost impossible to tell him no. I flit between wondering what my mother would think of my own material efforts. Praying I make better choices than her. I still don’t know what the hell was on her mind when she died. Was it out of love for me or hatred of Elle? Staring at Leo, I will never understand how she stood by all those years in silence. It has taken some serious organising but tonight, finally everyone is going to be reunited. A celebration of friendship. Raphael and Robyn have been sorely missed. Almost eighteen months without any visits between us. Corbin had requested all bridges go up for our own safety for a period. He was attacked in an uprising in the centre of Pemberton. Touring a pack and hit in the chest with a cannonball. Quite how the fuck a group of rebels got hold of a cannon is something Raphael is furiously investigating. The nigh
She’s dreamed of me? Even as my head spins in a frenzy of pure desire, I need to delve into that conversation more. Women are clearly my blind spot. No pun intended. She’s guiding me along the wooden wall, “I‘m staying in the packhouse, come on,” she breathes, and I’m so close to just being swept along. But this is serious. Flashes of Imelda cross my mind. “Jessica, Jessica, come on, what do you mean dreaming? What colour are your eyes?” as she drags me into the packhouse. Where I once snuck in order to shave in Ayr’s fancy bathroom. Her hand feels so tiny in mine. In fact, everything about her is petite. I’m almost stumbling, and I secretly love the way she doesn’t give a shit I can’t see. She’s taking me to her room regardless. “How about you just trust me?” she whispers before placing a kiss on my open chest. Shit that must be how tall she is. When she first kissed me, she must have been on her tiptoes. What the hell is this? “If you know who I am, I don’t…I’m not going to b
Jessica never appeared at dinner. It was a shame, I totally thought her and Marcus might hit it off, but there will be more opportunity. She’s got that daring confidence that I thought might spark his interest. When the lightning flashed and rain descended, everyone jumped in the packhouse. Ayr ran out to find Marcus. Check he hadn’t got caught in the storm and lost his bearings, but he was nowhere to be seen. His blue gauze was trodden into the mud by the packhouse door, though. “He’s not answering his link?” Ayr said, rubbing his chin. “If he wants us, he will,” Matthew answered steadily. “There’s a line of how much he’ll ask for.” Ayr reluctantly agreed, and the evening continued as planned. Drinks consumed, food eaten, I sat in our bed and watched Ayr as he stripped down. I know how long he stays awake at night reading to me. I also know how the instant he thinks I’m asleep he switches from pirate adventures to love sonnets. My dreams are warm, full of summer sun and happiness
The day I stop opening my eyes and searching for a flicker of dawn will be when my wolf stops trying too. Not once did I stop believing. Now, finally, after almost five years, something has happened. Since Ayr told me their silver wolf has vanished from the heavens, the constant blackness has started to part. There are shadows and hints of grey and white in my peripheral vision. I can’t see shapes, but there is lightness where once only pitch black existed. My first instinct was to call out to Berrybrow. But then I shut my lips and breathe sharply. This is for me to know. My secret. For if it turns out, all I can see are the shadows at the edges. What has been gained? But maybe, just maybe my purgatory is finally ending? I already know my irises have turned to jade. Mrs Berrybrow was sweet to sell it kindly, maybe as proof that my wolf is still trying to heal me. Ayr has since said he doesn’t give a fuck, that I was exactly the same man to him. Except hearing how the others hav
I secretly bought a set of jangling bells, but thankfully, they weren’t necessary. I did once tie them to her and woke up to a barrage of jangling cushions to the face. Then she pinned my wrists to the mattress as best as she could before wrapping her mouth around my semi-hard early morning dick. Confusing, briefly terrifying me and making me want to explode all in the space of five seconds. Perfection. Now, such spontaneity has been briefly retired. Instead, she has to choose from a pile of leatherbound books instead of leaping onto my groin. Holding out a selection of hardbacks, I mock-grumpily bark. “Pick one then,” before helping to place the covers over my hugely pregnant, half-glowing, half-irritated mate. We’re in the final stages of this miracle of a pregnancy, and somehow, my plan worked. “You always know which one I’ll choose,” she smiles back softly, her stunningly soft figure draped in an emerald green silk nightgown before choosing the same one she’s had for the pas
It’s not possible. “It can’t be…I mean…” only to turn and see the look on Ayr’s face. The one I’ve always wanted to see. It’s joyous. The sweetest, kindest expression. A god melted into a beaming man. But it is a look he shouldn’t be giving me. Anyway, it’s just one old lady’s opinion. I said I felt sick, but that surely happens to everyone who’s having the minor trauma of almost killing their mate in their sleep. Accepting the golden-eyed wolf could be hunting Ayr and I down for the rest of our lives out of spite is enough to turn anyone’s stomach. Or, as Mrs Berrybrow suggested, the golden-wolf attaches itself to a newborn. Then what? The instant some child turns eighteen and can connect with their spirit, will their soul be corrupted. Try to harm us? “Cass?” Ayr whispers, before reaching out for my hand. I have no idea how long I’ve been silent for whilst I felt the idyllic protection of my Volare life crumble around me. It's not safe. It will never be safe. I still can’t move
It’s been almost three months, and with Cass at my side, anything feels possible. Apart from conception, obviously, but we’ve both agreed that doesn’t matter in the slightest right now. I don’t know how it works, but even the Volare population seemed brighter. The packhouse has never seen so many bawdy nights, bands playing, people talking late into the night. Annoyingly, now I’m officially not a kidnapping, raping, deviant scumbag, the other packs are scrambling to purchase even more of our goods. Something to be remembered every time I am forced to attend a Council with the two-faced pricks. Apart from Locksley. He had absolutely zero scruples in buying fancy items from a despised Alpha. Or trying to seduce Cass via pastel suits and bouquets of flowers but thank fuck that game is over. At Cass’s request I have even led a couple of Volare full moon runs. Pretty sure she just wanted to get me naked in the Kallio side of the woods though. Unfamiliar territory to her meant I had th
Robyn had arrived in Volare with a few of my favourite gowns and essentials. Like she already knew I would never be coming back if they found me in Volare. “Cass what the hell happened here!” she gasped, taking in the dishevelled room. “Take a guess, Robyn!” I reply, towel wrapped around my body. “AH you're marked. I knew it!” she squealed.Hugging tightly, I quickly dressed, and we headed down to the main packhouse. I couldn’t resist my hunger any longer. Taking a long, empty bench in the far corner, my hair still damp from the shower with Ayr, I told her everything. Yet just last week, when we played with Lucy’s dolls house, I assured her I was fine. Snapped it at her if I recall properly. Now she knows the full extent of the agreement, the silver wolf waiting to be born. How we had decided, after making amends with everyone, that we had a clean slate. No guilt, no blame. Just forwards. “That’s exactly how it should be,” Robyn smiled. “I can not believe how much you’ve changed