I tried to look casual. “Oh?” I asked hesitantly.
Was she afraid I was going to start shape-shifting when the moon came up or something? Because Rig had already told me all that moon stuff was bullshit. I had to swallow back a bubble of hysterical laughter.
“What?”
Meg shook her hands suddenly, then a shiver rocked through her. “I can’t be sure,” she hedged, not looking me in the eye. “But I think… I think you need to be careful about Rig.”
I froze.
“Some of the stuff these people are saying… it fits, Cara. It fits for Rig, and Charlie, and Mack, and Jack and this whole pack thing they have g
~ RIG ~Shit. Shit shit shit. Shit.Cara was staring at me like I’d grown a second head—but I could feel her anger rising too.Shit. She didn’t understand.We both took a second to breath and calm down, but my head was racing.I didn’t want to kill Meg. Of course not. It wasn’t even the first thing I’d thought. But I couldn’t deny it was more than possible. She hadn’t just come to believe the wolves were real, she’d connected them with me. With us. That wasn’t something we could just ignore.“Car—”&l
~ RIG ~It had been such a tense night—a tense week—I couldn’t let her go. I was supposed to return to the packhouse so there was no risk of anyone questioning where I slept, or who I was with. But if anyone had followed me, they’d seen me leave the library hours earlier, and they’d seen Cara leave alone too. I’d come here as Ralf.It was risky—if a wolf really wanted to find me and knew I’d gone to the library, they could follow my wolf-scent.I wavered back and forth, but decided to stay, at least until she slept. Looking at Cara’s eyes, bloodshot with weariness, but shining and pleading with me, I didn’t even talk to her about it.We both needed rest, her most of all.
~ RIG ~The guys were all still up when I got home. I’d chugged a beer at the bar that made me feel sick, then walked home, making certain I got the attention of a few people before I got there.Natalie had made coffee. I was sipping a cup since it didn’t look like I’d be sleeping anytime soon.When I sat down they all gathered and now I sat on the couch, staring into my cup, resisting the urge to walk out and go back to Cara.“How is she?” Charlie asked.I shrugged. “Asleep. I hope.”“So?” Mack asked.“So, what?”
~ RIG ~“I am not letting Mack touch my mate.”Natalie rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about him doing anything with her. I’m saying when we’re walking across campus, or at the library, or we go out for fucking dinner, I don’t know. The point is, she’s with us and no one thinks twice about it, because she’s his… rebellious phase.”I could picture exactly what she was saying. Knew it was a good idea. But it made my skin crawl and my hackles rise.But Natalie’s gaze was piercing, and she didn’t look away. “You know it’s the only way to have her close an
~ CARA ~I woke to my phone buzzing and sat bolt upright. The room was mostly dim because the curtains were pulled. But there was a thin line of bright sunlight glaring through where Rig hadn’t been able to close them properly after himself.Right? That was real… right?I breathed for a minute, scanning back through my memories of the past two days. It was all so surreal still. But it was true… wasn’t it?I picked up my phone and frowned.BABE, SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH YOUR CAT.YOU NEED TO COME OVER. NOW.
~ CARA ~“Oh, come on! There must be some humans who know? But stay loyal?”They all looked at each other, Natalie seemed thoughtful, but the guys just looked dark. Rig kept staring at me, pleading.“No,” he said. “At least, none that know for real. I’m sure some exist somewhere, but we don’t bring them in. It’s too dangerous, Cara. I told you—”“Yes, yes, I know. But… but this is the way it’s been done by these wolves you hate, right? The ones who control everything and everyone? I thought you wanted to do things differently? Isn’t that the whole point? How can we have two sets of rules—one for wolves, and one for humans? It’s okay to give the wolves freedom, but if a human s
~ RIG ~Fuck, I hated being the reason for that terrified expression on her face. But she had to understand. The hierarchy was powerful. It’s why my father and other assholes like him fought so hard to keep themselves at the top of it.When one wolf was submitted to another, an element of their free will was lost. And the closer they were tied, the more loyal the wolf, the more their Alpha could compel them.And that was why I hardly ever used my Alpha power. Because if it was strong enough, on some level it turned wolves into slaves. My father loved that shit. It made me sick.I’d had to explain it all to Cara—how the vow tied our pack to us, all the ways their natura
~ CARA ~An hour later we were both lying on the bed, fully clothed, and barely speaking, both of us lost in thoughts. Rig lay on his back, one arm curled under his head, the other down between us. I was on my side with my head resting on his shoulder, while Purrkins curled between my stomach and Rig’s waist, Rig’s fingers thoughtlessly trailing up and down Purrkins’ back.My cat was purring so loudly it vibrated against my ribs.We hadn’t talked a lot, but that was okay, which was a strange place to be. Just being there with him, laying near him, my body felt relaxed in a way I’d never really experienced before.It had to be this bond he was talking about. I’d woken feeling restless and energized—but tense with it. Now… no
~ 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