An idea builds in my mind while I watch the omegas and answer questions for them. What if this is a sign? I know the twins were just born and I’m still healing, but if this is what I needed to see to get myself out of the funk I’ve been in? Milo is right. I need to focus on myself and my pups. The best way for me to focus on myself is to get my problems off my mind. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and help other people. That always makes me feel the best. If I feel my best, I might heal faster, even if Lex isn’t with me to help. If I heal faster, maybe she will come back faster. I roll my lip between my fingers and look around the room. Okay. If this is some sort of sign, what do I do with it? What if I turn these gifts into donations to my little grass roots foundation? What if this is the beginning of real funding and backing for something so close to my heart? Bronx and I created The Goddess Foundation to help female wolves who need to escape abuse. He may not be intere
Bronx’s POV Doctor Khe keeps her hand on the crook of my arm until we get to her car in the parking lot. “Whoa.” I stare at the customized Jeep Wrangler. The tan Jeep has a three-inch lift to accommodate the eighteen-inch wheels with large nobby tires. The windows have a limousine tint and there is a rack of lights across the top that could rival Times Square when they are lit up. A rack on top holds two spare gasoline tanks, as well as an equipment kit to get yourself unstuck from the sand. The winch on the front looks like they made it to pull wooly mammoths out of the ground. “She’s beautiful, right?” Doctor Khe sighs. The smile on her face makes her look even more gorgeous. I don’t even care what her car looks like. “Yeah, she is.” “In the back please, Alpha.” She pats my forearm without looking at me and steps away to let Klay give her a leg up into the driver’s seat. I look down at the spot where her hand was. Now that she’s not next to me, the feeling of desire for her d
“Here we are, Bronx. Welcome to our rehabilitation facility.” Doctor Khe says as we pull up to a sprawling ranch style building with smaller buildings surrounding it. “Your room will be in the main building. At least until we release your wolf. We’ll see if you need more seclusion to work things out with him when we get to that point.” “So you’ve helped werewolves who have blocked their wolves before?” I lower the dark sunglasses and look at her. “Are you going to explain how this all works?” “Yes, we have and yes, I will, all in due time.” She puts her arm across the back of the seat and turns toward me. “I won’t deny, there are aspects of your situation that are unique, but we will discuss those in our first session together. I’m confident that I can help you.” Finally, she’s ready to discuss business. I try not to let myself get distracted by her crystal blue eyes. “When do they start?” “Your therapy sessions?” “Yes, ma’am.” I try to remind myself she’s my doctor. Klay said th
“Now, we have a nurse practitioner who will do a physical examination after we check your bags. His office is down that hall. Your doctor already sent medical records and your current therapist sent notes from your sessions together. Very interesting stuff there, Bronx. Unfortunately, the last session was five months ago.” She stops and gives me a smile I can’t read, but it makes me uncomfortable that she already knows so much about me and I know nothing about her except that she is smoking hot and owns a rehabilitation ranch in the middle of a desert. “Yeah, I stopped going, but I’m glad to know my team is on top of their shit.” I look around, assessing my surroundings. Everything is so calm here. There’s no boisterous laughing, no omegas running to their next task. No wolves outside the windows growling while they play. Everything is just so… “It’s quiet here.” “Does that bother you?” She tilts her head and looks at me, her eyes full of curiosity. “The serenity? I know it’s not a
“Whoa there, ma’am. What the Hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t take my hair gel or dental floss.” I look between Klay and a counselor who is overseeing my luggage search. “I use those every day.” “Don’t worry, Mister Mason. There is a fresh package of dental floss in the bathroom of your suite and we can’t allow the hair gel because it contains alcohol. We have a personal care pantry where we can find you an alternative.” “Ma’am, I promise you, I’m not drinking my fucking hair gel.” I argue with her. “This is bullshit.” “We’ll give it back to you when your stay here is complete, Mister Mason.” She looks at me solemnly. “The rules are in place for everyone’s safety and there are no exceptions.” “Okay, fine, but my dental floss?!” I feel my eyes growing wide. Did they send me to rehab or prison? “Yes. Even your dental floss.” This woman is too calm, and it’s irritating me. I rub my hands over my face in frustration and lean back in the chair with my arms crossed, tapping m
“Bronx, you need to wake up. Right now. Open your eyes and look at me. I’m not asking. I’m commanding you.” A sharp voice penetrates through the mindlink, abruptly breaking the connection. The disruption causes a sharp pain in my head and a falling feeling, even though my feet are on solid ground. “It’s time to come back. You need to stay inside the compound.” I let my eyes flicker open and look around, feeling disoriented. I’m alone in the desert. Turn around, but I see nothing familiar. The night sky is clear, letting the moon and stars illuminate the landscape with an eerie blue glow. I sniff the air, but nothing smells familiar. How did I get here? I was drunk on a plane. Where was I going? There was a beautiful woman? Something about a weretiger? That can’t be right. A crackly voice? I remember a pink light, but I don’t remember where it was coming from. How do I get back? Where am I going? Home? I don’t know how I got here. How the fuck am I going to get home? Kas. I heard K
When we get back to the compound, Arrow pacing on the porch waiting for us. As the headlights shine on him, I see he is only wearing a pair of shorts, exposing a full back tattoo of a pair of large feathered wings. He jogs up to the Jeep and opens my door to help me out of the car. He keeps a tight grip on my elbow. “Feel better, Bronx?” I can feel a sense of relief coming from him. “You had us worried. Sy you had about two minutes before I was coming after you.” “Suea was with me.” She comes around and takes my other elbow, leading me toward the front door. “Can I call home, please?” I can’t shake the feeling that I need to find out if Kas’s voice was real. “I think maybe something is wrong there.” “Not at one-thirty in the morning, Bronx.” Arrow claps me on the shoulder and. “Your pack has people and procedures in place in case there’s an emergency. If there is something going on that requires your involvement, they know how to get a hold of us. Otherwise, we’ll contact them in
Kas takes my hand and leads me upstairs. She already shut the first door at the top of the stairs. There is a sign with a pair of wolves with noses touching. They look like Saint and Lex The banner below them says ‘Maya & Andres’ in painted in script letters. My heart beats happily, knowing they are here with us. The closed door mutes the pine and lavender scents, but it is there.I stop so I can open the door and get a peek at them. As I reach for the knob, Kas catches my hand. I look up at her to see her holding up a finger to her smiling lips, urging me to be quiet. I turn back to the door, but my hand falls because it’s already open, allowing me to tiptoe into the room. Kas keeps ahold of my hand. It’s almost as if it scares her to let go.I look into the crib. The twins are together, sleeping soundly. I want to touch them, but I don’t want to interrupt their nap either. I settle for leaning over and watching them hold hands, blissfully unaware of the world around them. Kas leans
TWO YEARS LATER “There’s no way this is it, Lex.” I stare at the ancient temple. “This is what we’ve been looking for, for almost two years, and it’s abandoned. Leticia must have had the wrong coordinates.” “Well, Zeus doesn’t like people looking for them.” She huffs at me. “If you want their help, have faith and believe that you’ll find them. I recommend closing your eyes and fixing your damned mindset, Kas. That’s the only way we are going to get home.” Leticia was released from the Waiting Room about six months after she and Aphrodite were sent there. After a while, she realized she didn’t need to use dark magic against the Goddess of Love. When her thirty days were up, she got to leave, but Aphrodite is still trapped there. The Menae have tried to counsel her on what she needs to do to escape, but she refuses to comply. We used Leticia’s informants and connections to find out where The Fates reside in hopes of helping change Bianca Beryl’s thread. It’s an outside chance, but M
“Hey Little Sister, I got a little somethin’ for ya.” Milo’s hand pushes past the door of my office with a plate containing an omelet, sausage, toast, and a pastry. “Can I come in?” “Of course you can.” I lean back in my seat and smile, secretly grateful for the interruption. “Mrs. Miller is worried that you’re not eating enough.” He sets the plate and silverware rolled in a napkin on my desk followed by a cup of coffee. “Are you doing okay?” “I won’t lie to you, Milo, so…” I press my lips together and look around the office. “No, I’m not okay. It’s been almost three weeks and still no word from Bronx. I have no clue when he’ll be back and there’s literally nothing I can do about it. Maya and Dre keep asking about him. The last time they saw him he was fighting the Minotaur, then he disappeared into a portal wearing his boxers and your tac vest. I can tell Tavi misses him, too. I’ve been letting her sleep with one of his shirts, so at least she has his scent with her, but… do you k
“Kas, pacing a hole in the floor won’t help.” Lex jumps in front of me, blocking my way. “You heard Mother. We need to be patient. Why don’t you sit down and eat something?”“Is food all you think about, Lex?” I drop my shoulders and try to step around her, but she side steps, to stay in front of me. “It’s been hours. What if Zeus put Bronx in Tartarus or something?”“Kas, I love you, but you’re driving me nuts.” She pulls on the edge of my nightgown to the small table. “No news is good news. Now sit. Eat.”The table has a delicious spread of breakfast foods and pastries. None of it looks like it will take the knot out of my stomach. I settle for a cup of tea with a pleasant Jasmine aroma and look out the window. The enormous white horses buck and play in the field with no cares in the world. My mind wanders. I wonder what is happening to our pack right now. Who is watching our children? Does Lady Camille still have Tavi in the coven’s realm, or was she able to bring her home? Are Co
Kas’s POVThe scent of honeysuckle pulls at the edges of my mind. It reminds me of my mother. I open my eyes. Where I could be. It’s an airy room, but there are no defined walls. I see low backed, ornately decorated chairs surrounding a small table with a teapot and fine china cups. There is a wide window on my left. The window is open, letting the honeysuckle scent in on a gentle breeze. Outside, there is a meadow with a few olive trees and large white horses grazing. Coffee and dark chocolate overtake the honeysuckle, making me smile. I roll on my side in the silky white sheets. Bronx is sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. He is pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. A lit cigarette rests between his fingers. I watch a fine stream of smoke rise from the tip. It leaves the burnt tobacco aroma I thought he left behind years ago.“Please don’t be mad, Baby. I just needed this one.” He whispers without looking at me before he takes a long drag from the ci
When I don’t go for an immediate attack, Ares gives me a stupid smile and rolls his shoulders. “Ready to submit, Child of Perses?” “Yeah, I don’t go down that easily, you stupid fuck.” I give him a dry laugh and swing the sword around, letting its weight settle into my hand. I don’t care how desperate things may seem. He won’t get the reaction he wants out of me. I’ll go down fighting.This time Ares half runs, half hobbles at me. I roll to the side to protect my injured shoulder, but he lunges and grabs me by the armpit, digging his thumb deep into the open wound and squeezes hard.I use a jiu jitsu throw Kas has successfully used on me by planting my foot and throwing him over my hip. His ass hits the ground, shaking the throne room. Glass shards shower us from the ceiling, slicing into my skin.Ignore the pain. Ignore the pain.I let my body weight drop into a roll, giving us enough momentum for me to land on top of him. It’s a short-lived achievement. He throws his elbow out and
Ares is standing between me and Kas. I listen long enough to make sure her heart is still beating while I assess the room. Not that it matters. I’m going to destroy him, whether she’s breathing or not. His mouth is full of blood, and the inside of his knee is deeply bruised. I don’t know what Kas did to his mouth or how she could reach that high, but she was trying to take his leg out. He doesn’t seem in a hurry to come to me, so he must be in pain. That’s my girl.“Bingo.” Saint hisses at the realization that our target is already injured. He pushes forward, heightening all my senses. “Are you ready to break a kneecap?”“Give me a second.” I continue looking around. “He’s got at least seventy pounds on us. He’s definitely injured or he would have already attacked first, but I still need to check the room.”The Menae’s barrier is still in place - Ares can’t escape. Broken marble - potential weapons. A section of Aphrodite’s whip - another potential weapon. Puddles of dark blood - sli
The beast’s roar pierces my ears. My muscles strain to keep the door closed while it pushes from the outside. Saint extends his claws from my toes to dig into the floor still slippery with Sondi’s blood. “Saint, I need all your strength.” I grit my teeth and brace myself as the Minotaur slams its body weight against the door.“YOU ALREADY HAVE IT!” He growls. “You think I want that thing getting in here?!”The growling and howls from the other two cells remind me I’m not just fighting for my life and the lives of our packs pups. I’m fighting for our whole pack. “HOLD THE LINE!” I scream out loud. No one answers, but I don’t need them to. I just need them to know that I’m still with them.“Bronx, we’re through the portal.” Milo finally comes through. “We’re on the way.”“We’re under attack!” I pull my head back as the Minotaur tries to push his horns through the cell door. “The entire pack is here. MOVE!”“Get some kids to pull their trackers off.” Reggie sounds out of breath. “It wi
“Aphrodite, let them go.” I growl at the screen. “This is your last warning.”Aphrodite throws her head back and laughs. The sound pierces my ears like nails on a chalkboard. “You’re in no position to give me warnings, Demigod.” She snarls at the screen.There is a flicker and glitch in the feed that makes her pause. Her face darkens at the interruption. She looks beyond the screen then back into the camera, making hand motions I have seen Delilah, Leticia, and Kas use in the past. She’s using magic. Just like Kas said, she must be bad at it.“She’s using magic.” I mutter under my breath. My mind tries to connect with why it’s important, but the screaming coming from Ashley’s cell is distracting me.The feed stabilizes, and Aphrodite regains her composure. “I have control here. Iokaste and I had a deal, and she broke her promise. Now, I will destroy ALL aspects of her life and you will be participants. I’ve already sent a fun surprise to one cell. Don’t worry. There are two more surp
“Marco, I need your help.” I send him a mindlink. “Once we have the kids settled, you can get back to your pups.”“What’s up, Alpha?” He comes over and squats next to me.“We need to get the kids organized and as quiet as possible.” I lower my eyes and concentrate. “Uh, let’s see. Kids wearing a shirt under their uniform sweaters need to take the sweaters off. Figure out how many babies are here. Get them all wrapped in sweaters to keep them warm. Assign the oldest kids to take care of babies. Oldest gets the youngest until you pair everyone up. If there is an odd number, Andy is with you.”“Okay. We can do that.” He stands up to complete the assignment.“Marco, we need them to be quiet. The door opens inward. If anything in that hallway hears them, we’re sitting ducks. Tell them there’s a damn reward for the quietest or some shit.”“Got it, Alpha.” He claps my shoulder. “You help Sondi.”I watch him walk away, clapping quietly to get the children’s attention, then turn back to Sondi.