Dedicated to reader, Jasmyn_Grier, who’s loved Natalie and Mack for a long time.
*****
I tipped my chin at Rig back in the car, then closed the door behind Natalie who’d stalked inside without even looking at him.
I turned slowly to watch her stiff back stomping across the floor and into the kitchen where she started slamming around. Making coffee or killing something, I wasn’t sure.
“Nat?”
The only response was the sharp clang of the coffee pot on the countertop.
I took a deep breath and followed her into the kitchen, stopping to lean on the breakfast bar, out of her way as she stalked back and forth from the pantry to the coffeemaker, th
~ RIG ~‘Mack?’‘Yeah?’‘You guys sleeping?’Mack snorted down the link. ‘Not even close.’‘Us, either.’We were both quiet for a second. What I was about to propose had seemed like such a good idea, but it was hitting me that Nat and Mack hadn’t had the time we’d had. I knew my idea was going to suck for them. But I also wondered if it was going to help all of us.‘I was just talki
~ CARA ~It all happened so fast, if I hadn’t had heightened senses I’m not even sure I would have seen it all.Natalie, twitching and nervous, went to give Charlie a hug.It seemed like Charlie’s eyes lit up and his nostrils flared in the same split second that Mack exploded, a vicious snarl tearing out of him that raised the hair on the back of my neck. Instinctively, I stopped, crouched, my claws suddenly there, but Rig just moved.He was a blur, a growl, a weighted shadow that moved faster than I could see—putting himself between Charlie and Mack, his back to Charlie and facing down Mack, who’d drawn up short when he met his Alpha—teeth bared and
SOUNDTRACK: “Masquerade” by Euphoria + Bolshiee.*****~ NATALIE ~Taking a shower was heavenly—even in a male’s bathroom that was a little more cramped than I was used to, and had a curtain instead of a door.Sharing the River House with Mack had been a treat—spacious and clean and quiet. This felt more… domesticated. Like it was real. Like he was mine.Washing my hair in the shower while he came in and out of the bathroom was a strange kind of comfort I hadn’t anticipated.There was still tension and nerves in me. Still fear wanting to claw its way to the surface. But I held it at bay. Helping Mack through that moment had helped me focus too, brought me ba
~ CARA ~I don’t know what time Rig came to bed because I fell asleep, and he obviously used that wolf stealth to sneak in with me without waking me up.But when his alarm went off so early the next morning that the sun hadn’t even finished coming up, I woke from a warm nest, curled up with Rig, and with Beans on the pillow above my head, to a jolt and a rush of adrenaline that raised all the hair on my arms and made my heart thunder in my ears.Rig groaned and rolled half-away, reaching for his phone, scrambling on the screen for a second until he got the alarm turned off, then let it drop the bed.The adrenaline didn’t stop pulsing through me, though. Even though I knew there was no immediate danger, I could feel the tension in Rig and… I just k
~ CARA ~I never even considered how it would feel to lose the link with Rig. I’d been out of his arms and out of his sight a few times since we completed the bond, but never out of range.When he drove away with Natalie in the jeep and twenty minutes later I was alone in my head it almost sent me into a panic.My scent must have changed, because I was sitting on the couch in the living room, intending to wait an hour before I went to see Meg since it was still so early, and I’d probably wake her up. But Charlie appeared suddenly out of the kitchen, frowning at me.“You okay?”It was embarrassing how intimately these wolves knew each other. Of course, I could scent his unease as well, so maybe we we
~ CARA ~I had never wished I could link with the other wolves more than in the moment when I walked out of that dorm with my head spinning, and my sweet friend back in her room still wiping tears off her face.I wanted to pick Charlie up by his scruff and shake him.And Rig too.What the hell were they doing? What had they agreed to without telling me?Why was Charlie treating Meg like she was repulsive?And why hadn’t Rig told me the night before?Charlie couldn’t come into the girl’s dorm, so he and I had arranged that when I was done with Meg I’d walk out the lower side door and into the trees whe
~ CARA ~I woke up, but even when I blinked I couldn’t see anything. Something soft but thick brushed my eyelashes.A blindfold? What?I inhaled, about to call for Rig—was this a game? If so, I could probably get behind it if he let me brush my teeth first—when the scent of the Night Walker hit the back of my throat, and everything that had happened came rushing back. I sat bolt-upright, then winced and grabbed my head, which was screaming with pain and spinning so badly I wondered if I might throw up."You'll want to give yourself some time before you move. You may have a concussion."The first thing that struck me was how warm the man's voice was, as if he was actually concerned for me.
~ CARA ~I could barely hear past the thunder of my pulse in my head.I couldn’t decide if he was crazy, or really onto something—Stephen had said he was a killing machine. That he could beat a wolf one-on-one. If that was true…I swallowed hard. “You want me to believe—”“I want you to think back and pay attention, Cara. I could have killed you, I chose not to. I could have killed any of those dogs that follow you around like puppies—which includes whichever of them has taken you—and I didn’t. If you are mated to the Alpha King’s son, he will kill you. Unless I kill him first. So… you’re here to make your c
~ RIG ~ I let my upper lip curl up and bare my teeth. Let him see that he was dealing with a helluva lot more than a spoiled rich kid. His instincts were dulled by humanity and alcohol, but even his dimwitted senses caught the flash of my teeth. He stiffened. I smiled. “My wife wants to share her wedding with her Mom—we eloped, but we’ve just watched some friends getting married and it’s making her think about what we missed, so we’re going to do it properly. Make another memory. And Cara wants to share that with her mom. So, we’re going to renew our vows in front of everyone we care about. Which, sadly, includes you.” He smiled and I wanted to bite his face off. “You are invited,” I growled. “But you
SOUNDTRACK: “Your Daughter” by Chase McDaniel. ***** ~ RIG (Three weeks later) ~ Getting out of my jeep in the driveway of the house that was the site of Cara’s torture turned my stomach. My Alpha power—still difficult to contain at times, making me itchy and prone to aggression—surged as I took in the cracked cement with weeds and grass growing up, the overgrown flower beds now little jungles of three foot weeds, and the grass that was thin and patchy, and mostly dead. This was the place that her fucking father had made her believe no one could love her. This was the place she’d been hurt. This was the place I wanted to burn to the fucking ground. But for today, at least, that wasn’t the assig
SOUNDTRACK: “Unbearable” by Nathan Wagner. ***** ~ CHARLIE ~ Watching Mack salivate over Natalie as she walked up the aisle was a very specific kind of torment. Because even though I was supposed to be watching our friends publicly vow themselves, my eyes kept drifting back to Meg who, alongside Cara and Tessa, was standing with Natalie today. She looked… stunning. Natalie, always with the impeccable taste that I didn’t understand, but could fully appreciate, had draped all the girls in floor-length, light-green, figure-hugging-but-not-clinging dresses that revealed flesh without being suggestive. It was fucking torture.
~ MACK ~ When Natalie and Cara finally reached us on the stage, I knew that there was an exchange with the officiant. Cara and Rig said something, but I didn’t hear it. I just took Natalie’s hands and pulled her up to stand in front of me. I was aware of people speaking after that. The officiant—a wolf who’d been among the rebels, whose aunt was human, and had become ordained—spoke for a few minutes about marriage and what it meant, but all I could think about was the deep pools of her eyes, that hollow in her throat that she’d offered me the night before last, and how my entire blood hummed with love and desire and— There was a ripple of laughter. “Oh, what?” I asked. Someone had asked me something. Oh, right. “I do!”
SOUNDTRACK: “Don’t Give Up on Me” by Andy Grammar ***** ~ MACK ~ I had been shitting myself. Absolutely, one hundred percent, about-to-claw-my-own-hair-off, crapping my pants. When Cara told me about the human traditions around a wedding, and what she was planning to do with Rig for their vow renewal—which included not seeing or sleeping with each other the day before the ceremony, which sounded crazy—I’d joked with Natalie that we should do that too. I’d thought it would be cute and maybe increase anticipation for when we did come back together after the ceremony. I hadn’t banked on my mate getting cold feet about doing this in front of the packs, and how her nerves would kick my insecurities into gear—and that the whole damn thing would b
SOUNDTRACK: “Break Your Fall” by UNSECRET and Marc Scibilia. ***** ~ NATALIE ~ “This is stupid and… and indulgent and it doesn’t matter! I should never have agreed to this. It’s nothing but a dumb, human tradition and… it means nothing. I’m not doing it.” I stood in the bedroom that we’d made into a bridal suite—complete with three-way mirror—and folded my arms. I’d been staring at myself and all I could see were the imperfections. Tessa had done a beautiful job on my make up, but everything else just felt… sticky. My dress was a touch too tight around my breasts. There were too many people here and they were all going to be staring. I could feel Mack out there panting with nerves, but what if he didn’t like the dress? I should have shown it to him! Why had I let Cara talk me into all this traditional nonsense? “Natalie, you get your gorgeous ass out there and marry that man before he sweats through his Armani suit,” Cara growled. “Seriously, don’t make me turn it into an orde
~ RIG ~I started towards her, but was halted almost immediately as I watched in awe while my mate carved through lines of wolves as if they were butter.Claws, teeth, whirling body—despite her bulk, she moved like liquid, tail lashing and claws like wicked hooks designed to tear through fur and flesh.I shook and trembled because my father’s power was shifting to me and my veins were boiling with it—while the rest of me simmered in the rising rage and terror of the wolves around us.The transfer of Alpha should have been peaceful. There was an established hierarchy waiting, swelling with the newfound power. But my father was a liar and cheat, and he’d encouraged his wolves towards the same.The hierarchy, the elders, his advisors, every pack and family of power rolled towards us, howling in rage and fear.And my wolves, newly risen and brimming with the triumph of victory and the added confidence of success, tore right back to meet them.Mack, Charlie, Jack, and Natalie tore for me,
SOUNDTRACK: “Legendz” by AG and Devvon Terrell ***** ~ RIG ~ Everything slowed to a crawl, time seemed almost not to move at all as I watched my father go for my mate and I turned, twisting, pushing my body in ways I never had, panic screaming in my head, frantic to reach him before he got her. I couldn’t move fast enough. He was going to land at her feet before I did and his power would carry him right to her throat. She wasn’t equipped for this… It all washed through me in that second—the rage for what he’d done, the fury about his injustices, the anger that he would still cheat, even before the witnesses, and the shocking weight of grief because that was my mate. But then the second wave arrived that left me desperate, panicked, humiliated and hating myself. If she died right now it was my fault. My side screamed in pain as I launched myself after him, but my father seemed to hang in mid-air. I had time to see Cara bare her teeth and crouch. Everything moved so slowly I could
~ RIG ~My father saw the opening he’d been waiting for, gathered himself on his haunches and launched at me, the light of victory in his eyes.Instinctively, I didn’t even try to meet the attack, just leaped straight into the air in an attempt to deflect, dropping my chin, trying to hide my throat as my father snaked in—and to my horror, he would have taken me, except that was the moment Stephen howled in the link, then sent images to us both:Himself. Head bowed. Shoulders rolled forward. His human form submitted.To me.It was a boom of thunder right over my head. In any context, the submission of an Alpha brought al