Raiden’s pov“Come home,” mom pleaded.I've been away for several weeks now. Thankfully we had great allies that I could stay at in between my search for Atalanta.I was not giving up on my mate. I needed to know if she was okay.Those weren’t lies she told us. Those scars on her body were from real abuse. My timid little mouse wasn't that much of an actress. I could always see through her lies, even if I didn't know what the truth behind them was.But she really did love spending time with us. She didn’t get to leave her house before coming here, and she didn’t have any friends.Since they sent both her and her brother, it must mean she was the contingency, the backup.Mom had communicated that maybe Atalanta could be part of the whole poisoning at the school, but I refused to believe that.Suzie had been with her all night and morning. When would she have had the chance?She’s not a bad person. Atalanta might be brainwashed, but everything she’s learned we can unlearn.Dad had mindli
Zev’s pov “I’m worried,” Grace said as she helped me out of bed. I had been stuck in bed for two weeks, healing from my rejection. Can I call it my rejection since I rejected her? She didn’t accept or even feel any of it. Even if she didn't accept my rejection, she would have still felt it if she had a wolf. Her lies and her betrayal... In a sense, she rejected me first. She ran away, making it impossible for me to forgive her. Raiden thought the hunters had captured her. Why take someone that already belongs to you? Yes, she had a sad backstory, but how much of it was lies? And how much of it was deception meant to trick us. And the worst thing is... I can understand why she tricked Raiden, but me? I’m nobody. She didn’t have to start writing letters. Had she always known it was me? She didn’t have to let me open up. She didn’t have to get me to fall in love with her. Everything I taught Lana about werewolves she could have found out in a different way. By reading a book, atte
Raiden’s pov‘Come home.’ Dad said through our mindlink.‘I still haven’t found her, but I am close, dad. Just a week or a bit longer and,-‘Dad cut me off, ‘it wasn’t a question, Raiden. Come home.’I scoffed, annoyed at his reply. Didn’t he realize how important this was? Atalanta might be hurt! She’s my mate. The future Luna of our pack. She takes priority over, well, everything.‘No.’Dad growled through the mindlink, and I could only imagine the look on his face right now.Yesterday I interrogated and killed another hunter. This one wasn’t as easy to break, clearly scared of his leader. I had to respect his efforts to remain silent, even if it meant biting his own tongue off.But before he did, he managed to say one thing that drew my attention. He told me he wouldn’t talk because General Sweets would do much worse to him than I ever could.There was that name again, and I knew I was close. There had been others to mention this general’s name, but this hunter seemed to actually kn
Zev’s povI dropped to the floor and quickly got back up.He’s not the same man he was when he left. It’s not just the way he looks, and he looks like a dirty rogue. His skin was covered in dirt and blood, and goddess knows what.He didn’t smell dirty; he smelled like blood and death.There were scars, bullet wounds, scratches, bite marks... Did he encounter hunters? Rogues? How many did he have to kill to stay alive, or did he start to enjoy it?Before this, Raiden hadn’t killed anyone. Archer was his first.The risk of bloodthirst was always strong in alphas. They’re the strongest of us, the most lethal. But as long as this is used to protect their pack, it’s fine. It becomes a problem when Alphas start killing for no reason. When they go in search of that feeling you get when you kill someone.To kill out of self-preservation or when you’re attacked is different. The Crescent Moon pack had never been the pack to attack first.We pride ourselves on our ways of resolving conflicts wit
Atalanta’s pov Uncle Sweets asked me to write a journal. He decided that instead of me continuing on the serum, he was upping the dose just a bit to see what the effects were. I knew I was being used to experiment on, but like many of my feelings lately, I pushed the reality of what that meant down. It was getting harder and harder to ignore everything that felt wrong about this place. But it wasn't just this place; it was me. I had changed, and I had grown used to being able to speak freely and plan my schedule with my friends. But now, my days were set in stone. My daily routine consisted of training, eating, taking a pill, going to sleep, taking a shower, and then training again. The days were becoming monotone, and I wasn't sure how long I had been here or which day it was. The journal might be helpful. It’s not the reason the general wanted me to keep it, though. He wanted me to write down how I felt and if there were other side effects than before. “You’re the only one tak
Atalanta’s povI couldn’t fall asleep after that, so instead I tried to find a way out. At the same time, I tried to piece together what I had heard. Even if I didn’t want to know the truth before, it was needed for me to survive this.My mother had unknowingly slept with a werewolf. Did she fall in love like I did? Or was it just a fling? A way to escape this community and her pending marriage to my dad.When did she realize what I was? Had she always known? Is that why she hates me?I was born as the prey she was meant to hunt.And General Sweets was going to make more people like me. How? Was he going to use the women here?Or have some huntermen force themselves on the shewolves they caught?Both options were extremely wrong for so many reasons.They didn’t need me for that part though, so why keep me? So my great uncle could do unthinkable things to me in his bedroom instead of a laboratory, or was I still necessary for their tests?Proof of why the general’s plan could work. No w
Raiden’s pov“There’s more you found out, isn’t there?” Dad asked once we sat down in his office.I had been so damn hungry, but hearing them all speak about my mate like that made me lose my appetite. Okay, not really; I was still starving, but it was either walk away or beat them all up, and I had just showered.I was here for one day, and I did not want to beat up anyone just yet, especially not in front of my parents and grandparents.“Atalanta and Archer smelled like werewolves; they had strength humans don’t possess. She wasn’t as strong as the rest of us, but she was still stronger than a human.” I explained. “One of the hunters mentioned a serum they used. Archer said the same thing, but what he either didn’t know or didn’t tell me was that the serum is dangerous.”“How so?” Dad asked.“It killed a lot of test subjects,” I said, worrying about my mate. Was she okay? Why was I wasting time here when I could be out there looking for her?“So they were both sent to Ardale with a h
Atalanta’s pov I was almost out of the hunter’s compound when someone spotted me. I was stronger than him thanks to my mixed blood, but I wasn’t healed yet from my fight earlier today, so it took longer than I wanted to take him down. He got a few good hits in before I kicked him in the groin. In the end, I had to use the knife I brought, stabbing him in the neck. I had never killed anyone before, and I threw up when it was over. I’m not brave or strong. How I wish I had memorized the route to the Crescent Moon pack, but I didn't. It probably took me longer than it needed to, but I tried to follow the tire tracks from all the cars that had left. They couldn’t drive the main roads but had to use dirt roads not to stand out so their tire tracks were easy to follow. It was still light out, but it was starting to get darker. It would have been beautiful to see the sunset and the blue moon shine, but I didn't have time to watch it. My eyesight is better than that of a human, and it