My nerves are an utter mess as I check the clock over and over again, watching the minutes tick by painstakingly slowly. I just have to see him. That will calm me down, even if it’s just a glimpse. It’s a feeble thought. I know seeing him will only lead to me wanting to kiss him, which I won’t be able to do in public. There are rumors about me and Onyx, with his blatant favoritism there were bound to be. But the thing with rumors is, what makes them exciting is the mystery of whether they are real or not. Touching him the way I want to would turn rumor into fact, fairy tale into reality. As much as I want to live this fairytale, I’m not sure I’m ready for what it all entails.My hand taps my thigh while I crane my neck, looking from side to side. Anna and I have long since abandoned our station after the last person signed in. Now free to mingle, eat, and be giddy with everyone else. Anna was too happy and getting a little violent with her random excited slaps or screeching, so I sen
Onyx stands, unmoving as he watches me with hopeful eyes, gauging me, waiting for me to utter the word in confirmation. I revel in his scent and his heady gaze, never wanting to be removed from either again. “Mate,” I utter the words. The gravity of their meaning leaves me weightless as I push reality aside and relish this dream. Here I can achieve anything, here we can conquer the world together. The moment reality seeps into this happy bubble is one moment closer I am to losing him forever.“I knew it,” he whispers the words victoriously to himself, sauntering closer to me with each calculated step. One, two, three and he is right in front of me. His hands reach out, framing my face with a glorious, radiant smile. He completes me and I him. I can feel it in the electric sparks that dance along my skin, see it in his eyes that promise a future I know we don’t get to have. “Onyx…” I murmur, my resolve cracking under the weight of his loving gaze. This is real. The sparks are here an
My fear slowly melts away as Bill reaches out to help me up. I slap his hand away with a sneer and he frowns. He has never once been kind to me, even when the Alpha was looking. I highly doubt it’s going to change now that I’m a rogue. He sighs heavily and frowns. “Look, if I had known…” He pauses and runs his hands through his hair. “I didn’t realize–”“What the hell are you doing out here?” I scoff, standing and dusting myself off. “Come to gloat as I cross the line and fully become rogue?”He shakes his head in shock. “What? No! I picked up my mate’s scent and followed it.”I snort and dry chuckle. “Poor girl probably realized it was you and ran.” I mutter.“Yeah, kind of my worry too,” he responds. I stand in front of him awkwardly, waiting for him to excuse himself or for me to grow a pair and cross the border. Instead, we both avoid eye contact and stand in silence. After a moment of swinging my arms, waiting for something, anything, I huff out a sigh.“Well, I’ll be going the
*Onyx POV* My back aches as I stand from the ground, hating that this fucker got the better of me. Well, fuckers, since there are five rogues fighting me at once. That’s the thing with rogues. They can’t measure up one on one, so they team up against one person, hoping to overpower them. I glance around, watching my warriors fight as valiantly as they can. The cry of wolves losing their mates before their eyes echoes through the pack grounds and it drenches the remaining fighters in fear. Of all the nights to attack, they chose to night. They had a reason for tonight. They wanted to create this chaos to invoke fear. All it’s doing is effectively pissing me off. The five assholes in front of me lunge forward at once, and I drop to the ground at the last minute. I use my elongated claws, slashing across their middles, cutting through flesh like a hot knife through better. I turn to see two of them fall to their knees, trying to scrape up their intestines as they whine in pain. The
*Tilly POV*Run.Run faster. The only thing I can allow to go through my mind as I rush through the barrage of trees and forest foliage is to run. There is no time to slow down and look back, no time to let my mind wander worrying about my best friend and my mate. My mate. Onyx.My pace slows, and I look over my shoulder, regretting it immediately. I’m alone out here. Completely and utterly alone, and I did it to myself. I rest my hand on the rough bark of a tree, allowing myself a chance to breathe as my emotions win and everything I am trying to run from floods back in. Anna has to be okay. There is no way in hell that girl would ever fall. Not with her skill and determination. She is the ultimate apex predator. Onyx, though I’ve only ever seen him train, has to be a top fighter if he has won the right to train all the warriors for years in a row. My stomach lurches, bile rising as I imagine him injured on the ground. My stupid brain’s active imagination is trying to make me tu
“How did you find me so fast?” I ask Anna and she snorts. “Please, you think you can ever escape me?” She jokes and I sigh. “I’m serious, Anna.”She glances at me, her eyes full of curiosity and worry. “I left the second you left the pack grounds. I was with Onyx when he felt the bond on your side disappear.”“And you just knew which way I was running?” I ask her.“You have a scent, Til. I tracked you.” a frown crinkles her brows. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”I don’t miss her accusatory tone and I scoff, like I don’t know what she is talking about. She rolls her eyes and groans, clearly annoyed. “Onyx is your mate!” she announces, and I feel a soft pang in my chest, an ache in my heart.“Was. Anna, I rejected him.” I say, standing from the ground and realizing how naked I am. I grumble in frustration. Cursing the asshole who forced me to shift and ditch my bag. “Here.” Anna says, choosing to drop the subject, but I know it’s only for now. She tosses me a bag and I catc
*Onyx POV*“You understand you are in charge, right? Everything you decide to do has my full backing and I will bear the consequences of all actions?” I reiterate to Tic for probably the third time. My mind swirls with indecision and anxiety. My hands sweat and my stomach feels queasy, but there is no doubt in my mind that I have to do this. “Alpha, I have it under control. I won’t let you down,” Tic says, trying to hide his eye roll.It’s not that I don’t trust him, because I trust him with my life. I’ve never left my pack in this manner before, hell I leave my pack all the time this time of year for training. But now that we are dispatching everyone back to their original pack, it’s time for us to go back to our own lands and this will be the first time Tic travels back alone. This will be the longest time away from my pack, my duties. And as easy as I want to say this decision is, it’s far from it. Tilly is my mate. My fated Luna, the only person who can truly complete me. Even i
In the past twenty-two hours and seventeen minutes have been long, tiring, and fucking stressful. Every minute I am away from her is another minute a terrible scenario lives in my head. The possibility that she might be gone, taken somewhere I can’t follow, makes my chest ache with a rage so violent I could destroy any pack that stands between us. With my pack in trustworthy hands, I only have one thing to think about. Tilly.And how to convince her to come back with me. Everyone knows she tried to reject me. She didn’t really lower her voice when she uttered the words and mouthy warriors spread news faster than a gossiping, meddling mother. What they don’t know, thank heavens, is her reason, though I’m sure some could guess it if they tried. I have a long journey ahead if I think getting Tilly back will be as simple as saving her.She is the kind of woman who would thank me for helping, then send me on my way. Tilly is stubborn and determined, which is why I have to show to her how
I can honestly say I have the best readers! Thank you for always giving my books and characters a chance! Tilly was one of a kind and writing her story was one of the best times I’ve had writing. Her sass and emotional growth journey were so special to me! I hope you will hit the follow button in the app so you can get a notice when I get my next book up an going! Currently I have the sequel to Rebel Rising: The Lost Alph’s mate in the works but I won’t be posting it until I have at least 5-10 chapters. So read up on book one! If you are all caught up on my books I have a few authors I will always recommend: Alle, J Tarr, Allie Carstens and Emma Taylor! All four of these authors have fun and original ideas that always blow me away. Join my group online called Miri’s Shifter Cafe for updates on my work, more about me and characters! (I can’t name where the group is but it starts with “Face” and ends with “book”)Until the next journey, all my love
*Onyx POV** SIX YEARS LATER*Tilly’s leg bounces nervously in the seat next to me as I chuckle to myself, shaking my head. She instantly shoots me an annoyed glare. In six years, I still can’t get enough of her, annoyed or not. Hell, sometimes I prefer her annoyed. It makes for a very fun game of groveling at the end of the day. Her glare slowly morphs into a hidden smile as my emotions transfer to her. “Stop it.” She hisses and I shake my head, looking at the road before us.“I didn’t do anything,” I laugh.“I can feel you being amused and…stuff. It’s like you don’t even care about me and my feelings.” She fakes a whine, her lips turning into a big pout, and I growl in my chest. “Oooh, Oh I promise you, I care VERY much about feeling you. Uh, I mean your feelings.”She groans and presses her head on the back of the headrest. “You know how…” She pauses and looks behind her at the perfect five-year-old little boy we created who watches us intently. Then she looks back at me, her ch
***Bonus Chapter****Anna POV*Tilly looks perfect in her usual oversized top and scuffed up jeans. If I would have had it my way, that girl would be in the most expensive lace dress Onyx could muster up, but that wouldn’t be her. That would be me dressing her and honestly…She looks just as good right now as she would in any dress. It’s not the clothing she is wearing that makes it, but the smile on her lips that I am certain will remain there until the end of our days. It wasn’t easy keeping this secret from her, but damn, was it worth it. Onyx looks at her like our wolves look at the moon. She is more than his mate but his everything, and damn it, she deserves it. I think when the Goddess made their union; she knew Tilly would need a little extra from her mate. She and Onyx dance as the rest of the party guests leave, heading home just as the sun rises. It was one long ass party, that is for sure, and I am exhausted. Ty’s hand slides into mine, lifting it to his lip and pressing a
*Two weeks later**Tilly POV*One week in my new pack and I can, with absolute certainty, say that I have found my home. The pack is full of genuinely kind pack members. I have not had a single day without at least three cookies for breakfast and that is NOT a complaint. Onyx made the joke that they love me more than him, but I think they are just happy he is happy. It makes sense now why he felt he had to make a promise to them to take Harriet as his mate. She emulates what his pack is, and she is truly beloved by them all. But she is more cherished as a Gamma, more loved by her true mate than she would have been by a chosen one. And she deserves to be with the man meant to complete her. Just like I deserve the love I have with Onyx. It took some acceptance and I’ve got a long way to go, but I deserve it. Just like everyone else. I am meant to be here. With them. With him. My whole life, I have craved this fairy tale of someone being able to love me. I gave up the notion I could e
“Are you sore?” Onyx teases me as I limp to the bathroom, looking back to shoot him a glare. “No.” I lie and bite back a smile. “Mmm, good.” He murmurs, making the bed. “Means I can go harder tonight.” I gulp as a pang of needy pleasure shoots right for my sore bits, and I curse Onyx under my breath. He knows what his words do to me, and he is taking great pleasure in my struggle for more of him while my body simultaneously begs for reprieve. I’m a glutton for sweet, delicious punishment at his hands, apparently. He surprises me as he wraps his hands around my tummy from behind his chin finding the crook of my neck and he presses his cheek flush to mine. Then he walks me to the window, showing me the stunning view of snow-capped mountains as the sun cascades down on them. The world has been awake for hours while we had snuggled in the comfort of our bubble. “That’s home,” he mutters, nuzzling my jawline and dropping two kisses there. “Our home. Just beyond the mountains.” “Hm
Onyx eats the last of the pesto chicken and stands from the bed, taking our plates and setting them on the desk near the door. When he spins around, he has a glint in his eyes and I blush as his emotions flood my mind. It seems he is hungry again. Instead of coming to me, he moves to the bathroom to clean himself up and I chuckle to myself as my body is ravaged by the barrage of emotions he still has hammering into me. When he walks back out, he is clean shaven, his perfectly angled jawline on full display and it does to me exactly what the v shape at his waist does. Which is going to be great when we are in public. Nothing wrong with being hot and bothered ALL the time, right? His smile morphs into a sheepish grin as he stalks over to me, his eyes dark and his hands dropping to the waistband of his shorts. Before he shimmies them off and leaps onto the bed. I howl in laughter, giggling as he reaches out and takes hold of my ankles, yanking me down onto my back. Onyx then crawls u
*Tilly POV*“I hate meetings,” I whisper to Anna, who elbows me in my side. I stick my tongue out at her and she rolls her eyes before biting back a smile. Onyx reaches out and takes my hand, entwining our fingers as he pulls me back to the conversation that’s about to start.“Behave,” he whispers in my ear, but I hear the smile there. He prefers it when I misbehave and we both know it. It was my lack of decorum that drew him to me in the first place, right? My grandmother sits to the right of my grandfather and to his left another middle-aged man with a peppering of gray in his black hair. I tilt my head, trying to figure out who he is when my grandfather clears his throat, calling everyone’s attention. Only respective alphas and their mates are here. Anna being the exception to the rule since she will take the role once she gets home since she has found her mate.“I would like to first start by apologizing profusely.” My grandpa mutters, his eyes much clearer than they had been whe
I stand, and in one singular motion, I lift her and spin so she is on my lap. She rises on her knees, hovering just above me as I look up at her. The light shines from behind her, illuminating her hair and outlining the curves of her body as water splashes off her skin.The look in her eyes, that shy hunger, has my heart stuttering in my chest. I reach up, gingerly stroking her cheek before wrapping my hand around the nape of her neck and yank her lips to mine in a needy kiss. Her body presses to mine and the shock of how strong the sparks are makes us both gasp. She giggles into my mouth and it sends a thrill through me and down to the place where I need our bodies to meet.There is nothing I need more than to feel her in every way. But we are on her time right now. Meeting or not, nothing will make me rush this, rush her. Why the hell would I want to? I want to lap up every damn second like the thirsty wolf I am. I nibble on her bottom lip, then press my tongue along her lips, sea
*Onyx POV*We are all on edge, as we should be, considering where we are, but if what Tilly and Anna have told me is true, I think they are trustworthy. Not to mention Tilly is now this pack’s only hope of survival. To attack her or anyone she wishes to protect is death to the pack with no redemption. And it’s their own dumb rules that tied their hands like this.The boy leading us to our room stops for a minute and then turns toward Tilly. She clings to me, her pain seeping through the mate bond, notifying me she has once again done too much too soon. She should have just let me carry her the entire way. “If you need anything, just stick your head out and holler. I’ve already put clean towels and linens out. Audra, the she-wolf attending to you will be by with some clothing that fits.” He then gives a curt bow and walks off. “Well, that was interesting…” Tilly says, then her tired gray eyes look up at me. “Do we have servants like this in our pack?”My heart swells at her words. Ou