My father had prepared an evacuation plan for me, my mother and brother, as well as his most trusted Beta and his Beta's mate, in the event our pack was compromised beyond repair. My mind whirled with his instructions, my body on autopilot.
Three more steps and I reached the kitchen, located at the back of the house, positioned right over the cement bunker. I threw open the back door to make it appear as if I'd run out that way, and then I flew into the large walk-in pantry, closing the door behind me.
Diving to the floor, my fingernails scraped along the wood, feeling for the security latch.
It clicked open!
Lifting the lid just enough to shimmy my body through, I agilely dropped the remaining eight feet to the floor below. The fall didn't hurt me. Even though I had yet to shift, I had vigorously trained my entire life. My father had insisted on it, making me surprisingly formidable for my small frame.
The door settled in place above my head, and I heard the latch reengage. The avenue of my get-away wasn't noticeable unless you were looking for it, and would probably be under a pile of debris soon, making it impossible for Leander to find.
Snaking my way through the dark and damp cellar, I opened the small door to the underground tunnel that led almost a mile, all of the way up the mountain.
It was at that moment I heard him race across the floor above me and out the back door. A second of relief rippled through my body. I'd successfully eluded him!
But then, my reprieve was gone. I still had a long way to go to get free.
I flew through the utterly black tunnel, my extrasensory nose and eyes leading the way. The moist scent of the earth combined with the aged wood of the support beams scratched my throat. My nose wrinkled at the damp smell of mildew. But it was a hundred times better than the oxygen deprived, stifling smoke-filled house from which I'd come. I focused on slowing down my panicked breathing.
In. Out. In. Out.
I was fast. It would take less than four minutes for me to reach the safe house.
And if he were alive, Luca would be waiting for me.
Not blood by birth, my adopted brother was five years older than me. But even with the age gap, Luca had always been my best friend. I'd followed him around like a relentless puppy from the time I was four years old. And he allowed it. Even during his turbulent and hormonal transition from a juvenile into an adult wolf, he indulged the little shewolf who idolized him.
Panting, I reached the end of the tunnel and flung open the door. My heart burst in my chest when my eyes found him.
Luca jumped from his crouched position, where he'd been staring at the door, waiting for it to open, and snatched me into his arms. All of the air whooshed out of him as he exhaled, "Thank fuck."
My trembling in his arms quickly turned into full-blown shaking. He held me tighter. "It's going to be okay, Cinn! I'm going to get you out of here. I swear on my life!"
"Lucky... "I whispered the nickname I'd given him when I was five, my voice breaking. "What about mom? Did you see her? Is she coming?"
He fell silent.
I pushed against his chest. He released his tight hold, giving me some room, but didn't let go completely. I studied his sorrow filled face, absinthe green eyes unfocused, haunted by whatever memory he'd witnessed. His bottom lip quivered, and my heart broke. He never cried.
I knew the answer.
And my loss was his loss. My pain was his pain. My mother had been the only mother he'd ever known. He rasped, "I'm sorry."
"No!!!" a pitiful, barely-there wail came from my lips. I didn't have the strength for anything louder. I truly was an orphan now. We both were.
Lucky clutched me again in a bear hold, chest rising and falling with his tears.
After a long moment, I pulled back and swiped the moisture from my face with my sleeve. I looked up at him. I had to know. "Who did it? Who killed her?"
Violence contorted his expression, green eyes shifting to the dark pine orbs of his Wolf as he spat, "That bastard Alpha! I watched him break her neck and then tear out her throat. The sicko even smiled as he did it." I inhaled sharply, fear causing a full body shudder to rack up and down my spine. I could barely catch my breath. "It's...him. M-my...mate."
Luca's expression blackened. A hiss of disbelief came from his chest. "Your what?!"
"My mate," I whispered. I swayed unsteadily on my feet, feeling lightheaded.
My belly churned, and I forced down the bile that wanted to spew from my throat. "Leander, h-he saw me. He said I was his...mate."
"No fucking way," Luca snarled as if intent on changing the Moon's mind. His fingers dug deeper into his grip on my arms. I didn't think he even realized he was doing it, but my pinched expression must have clued him in because he abruptly relaxed his hold. He rubbed my arms for a second and then turned to pace across the floor. "Cinn, this is bad. He's not going to give up looking for you. Ever. We can't stay here. Not even for the night."
His words rang true. I sank down into a nearby chair at the wooden table and bit my lip, trying to control my emotion. "Where will we go?"
He made another circuit around the floor, absentmindedly pulling his shoulder-length, dark blonde hair out of the band holding it tight at his neck and shook out the wavy locks as he always did when he was thinking through a problem. He turned to face me, his expression controlled. "You know we can't go to another pack."
"I know," I whispered.
Fate had chosen-I was to be a lone wolf.
But it wasn't right to drag Luca into that lifestyle, not if he didn't have to. Wolves suffered without the companionship of a pack.
I didn't know how I was going to live and survive on my own, but I'd do whatever it took to save Luca from the same horrible destiny. I worked to make my voice firm. "I can take it from here. There's no need for you to live that life. Any of the other packs would take you in. The Alpha isn't looking for you. You'll be safe."
His eyes narrowed, a growl ripping from his throat, "What the fuck nonsense is that?"
"It isn't nonsense and you know it," I snapped back. I had to make my brother see reason. "You still have a mate out there. You need to be in a pack to find her, not traipsing around the country with me. Staying with me will only hurt you." My tongue felt thick, barely able to swallow around the boulder in my throat.
Stay strong. I coached myself.
If I broke down, there'd be no chance of him walking away.
Although, as I looked at him now, jaw tight, eyes piercing, I already knew his answer. And when he made up his mind, he was even more stubborn than me. He crossed the room and sat at the table facing me, our knees almost touching. I let him take my hands which were still shaking. He spoke softly, but there was no confusion. He wasn't giving me a choice. "We go together. We stay together."
I looked down at our joined hands, unable to speak and just nodded.
"Good girl," he soothed. "We'll go north. We'll find a remote town tucked away from the rest of civilization and close to the mountains. There are still a lot of territories not claimed by who was my mate. I pushed out every emotion, leaving me numb and focused on the task at hand. Lucky saw my change in demeanor and recognized it for what it was.
"That's it," he coached as he quickly stood to his feet and wrapped his hair back tightly at his neck. We each grabbed our bug-out bags made specifically for us. They contained survival gear, food, clothing, cash and an alternate identity to get us far away from here.
Slinging it over my shoulder, I followed Lucky out the back entrance where several vehicles were waiting. He called over his shoulder, "Car or motorcycle?"
I looked at the selection. A car would be convenient in case of rain, but the motorcycles would give us more flexibility and speed, particularly if we had to go off-road.
"Motorcycle."
He gave a nod of agreement and then glanced down at my outfit of torn jeans and T-shirt. His brow furrowed. "You're gonna need to change first."
"Oh, right," I mumbled and dropped the bag, digging around until I found a black leather racing outfit.
Lucky turned and strode over to the waiting motorcycle, giving me some privacy while I shimmied out of one outfit and into the other. When I finished, I grabbed a helmet and leaped onto mine. "I'm done."
He glanced over, head already concealed inside of a shiny black helmet. He flipped up the visor, absinthe eyes assessing me. "Are you going to be okay driving that thing?"
That thing was a Ducati 1098S motorcycle, currently purring beneath me. I was only fifteen but had been riding since I was old enough to walk. I gave him a determined nod.
Rolling forward up the winding path, he called over his shoulder, "Does that bag have a valid driver's license for you?"
Oh. I hadn't considered that. We didn't have time to stop and look. I gritted my teeth. "I don't know."
"Okay, don't get pulled over. We need to avoid a police chase if at all possible."
I rolled my eyes. "Just try to keep up."
"Will do, Cinn. Will do." His words cut off as we progressed onto the nearby dirt road.
Ten miles later, the dirt road turned into pavement. It was nighttime, and we were already far from the city. Lucky nodded to me and cut off his headlights. I did the same.
With a simple twist of my wrist, the sharp rev of engines could be heard, accelerating us at a shocking pace, as we both leaned down and increased speed, keeping our bodies tight against the frame of the motorcycles, eliminating as much wind resistance as possible.
We flew through the inky blackness-the moon hiding behind thick clouds -at speeds close to 150 mph. Neither of us needed light to see. We could go much faster and were less noticeable in the pitch dark.
After several hours, the adrenaline began to wear off. It looked like we had gotten free at least for now. And my brain was right back to the family I'd lost and the pack I'd left behind. How many had died? Did any survive? The motorcycle hummed a melody of vibration in my body while my tears flowed freely, washing down my face, wetting the black leather vest I wore, before they were whipped away by the wind.
All gone
Everything
Just gone
In the tiny span of a few hours, my life had been reduced to a pile of rubble and putrid ash, simmering with leftover hotspots, occasional bursts of smoke shooting into the air only to be immediately dispersed and carried away by the Northeastern wind.
And all of those things a little girl collected and loved were lost forever. My diary and art journal. Filled with musings and colorful drawings, random whimsies of a young mind.
Ticket stubs from every fair and carnival and movie, any event, really, I'd ever attended. My favorite stuffed animal, a black Wolf with white markings, two front paws and the tip of his tail looked like they'd been dipped in white ink. My mother gave him to me when I was four.
At the time, the stuffed animal had been almost as tall as I. I'd squealed and wrapped my little arms around the plush toy, barely saying thank you, before running up the stairs to my room to play.
At the still tender age of fifteen, I'd outgrown my dolls and stuffed animals. But not my Wolf. Never my Wolf. He'd slept by my side every night, protecting me, always. Until now. Now, he was simply gone, just like everything else, as if he'd never existed in the first place.
Along with my mother and father.
More tears splashed from my eyes, my chest aching with the strain.
Luca navigated his bike closer, close enough to reach out and place a hand on my fingers clutching the throttle. He'd known I'd been crying for hours. His sensitive Wolf nose could smell my tears. He was hurting just as much as me. I gripped his fingers tight for a moment, before letting go. I had to pull myself together if I was going to make it out of this alive.
And in one piece.
LEANDER'S POV"Why?!!!" I roared out my frustration and prowled across the room like a caged animal, then back again, stopping only to hurl a bottle of hundred-year-old Scotch across the room at a bookcase. I watched the glass break, amber liquid saturating the books and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Why her?! Why couldn't it be anybody but her?!" Clearly, the Moon had it out for me, the sly bitch. Because there was no more hilarious mistake than making that female my mate!My father sat reclined in a comfortable chair, utterly unaffected by my foul mood. When he could get a word in edgewise, he asked evenly, "Are you ready to tell me why you're having a temper tantrum like a two-year-old and destroying the study?"I growled and flashed fang.Instantly, he was on his feet and in my face, a sustained growl reverberating in his chest. Even in his fifties, the man was cut with rugged bulk and muscle, hewn and cultivated over thirty years as Alpha of Adamant Moon. He was respected, and
From my father's description, the texture and scent would be different during these three days -sweet, not salty, and silky smooth, not sticky. We'd rub it in like some supernatural magical lotion and let it dry.Outside the cabin, the mated pairs would feast and dance, day and night, excitement building, looking forward to the final night when we would emerge. And when we came out, we'd literally be swarmed, the females to her and the males to me, eager to transfer our combined essence of love-making from our skin to theirs. And the more they gathered, the better chance they had of conceiving, so it usually became quite physical.When we had transferred all we could from our skin to theirs, the mated pairs would break away and copulate. Hell, most of them probably wouldn't even make it home before they coupled together. Sometimes in fur. Sometimes in skin. Or a combination of both.The scent of our sex would be so thick in the air by that point, it would drive their primal natures wi
I motioned toward one of my enforcers. "Get her down and do as I promised. Prepare her body. Find out if she has any family who wants her remains. If not, we'll include her in our mourning ceremony." Not a ceremony I was looking forward to. Many of our wolves also perished in the battle. I hated losing any Wolf, but the events of today needed to happen.I waited until they removed her body from the room. And then focused on the remaining two men. The taller one had dirty blonde hair and glared at me in the same fashion as the female had. But he didn't have that rare special spark of loyalty she had. Still, he would be the more difficult one between the two to break.Getting right in his face, I made sure he paid attention and fully understood my words. "I'll give you one chance-and one chance only-to tell me what I want to know. How can I find her? Where would she go? She couldn't have just disappeared. I have wolves combing through the woods, and there's no trace of her. Surely, a ju
**Three Years Later**Hycinth (age 18)"Lucky..." I groaned, sounding a bit too close to a whine for my preference. I cleared my throat and began again, edging my voice with firmness, "Luca Diamonte, you need to pull yourself together. We have clients in less than an hour." A muffled voice came from behind the bathroom door, "Patience, Cinn."Growling under my breath, I turned on my heel and paced into our small kitchen. Coffee was clearly necessary today. I placed the single-use pod inside the Keurig and settled my favorite mug-white with black polka dots and a startling orange and red chrysanthemum flower- on the little stand. I set the machine to brew. Two minutes later, my coffee was ready, and Lucky wandered into the kitchen. I gathered the mug and climbed onto a tall stool next to the granite island.Dressed in his usual attire of dark jeans and a T-shirt, he smelled fresh and clean. The scent of his shower gel hit my nose, spicy and aromatic. I breathed in the familiar smell, m
Careful attention was required today. Both tattoos we were working on today were complex with a lot of intricate shading. Complete focus was required for the quality of work we'd become known for.It was the reason we were able to afford our tattoo shop and the loft we lived in above it. After doing a sleeve and chest work for the President of the Grimm Motorcycle Club a year ago, word had spread quickly, and bikers from several states made appointments for custom artwork.I'd always loved to draw. My first job after we'd fled was with a local tattoo parlor. With an ID in hand that said I was eighteen, I certainly hadn't looked it, not with the fresh face and innocence of my true fifteen-year-old self at the time. The owner had been suspicious, but after some trial sketches, he liked my work enough to hire me anyway. I smiled at the irony-I wasn't legally old enough to get a tattoo, but there I was, madly writing in permanent ink on the flesh of every type of client under the sun.Of
Tommy ignored him and continued, "So, the Club is having a little party on Saturday night. Any chance I could convince you to join us? I promise to show you a really good time," he said seductively, his voice low and deep, and suggestively grabbed his crotch for emphasis as if I wasn't already clear on his meaning.Luca snapped, "I swear, you better not have a boner over there...or I'ma throw you out on your ass."Tommy laughed, "Don't worry, I'll keep it in my pants...for now." Tommy was a badass on his own merit, the Grimm MC's Sgt. at Arms, respected and feared. But all humans could sense Luca's animalistic danger. They didn't know what made him different, but they felt the predator inside, and no one provoked him. It was probably another reason we'd garnered so much respect from the surrounding motorcycle clubs.Without warning, an unmistakable smell hit my nose-Wolf!One I didn't recognize!Terror crashed through me. My spine went rigid. Lucky had also caught the scent and was sn
LEANDER'S POVTEXT: We got her. ETA 4hrs.When the text came in almost fours hours ago, I'd stared down at my phone in disbelief. Three long years of searching had gone by, and I was beginning to think I'd never find her. My little mouse had been clever in hiding herself, indeed.But not clever enough.Now she was mine.My brain spun, anticipation lighting up every cell in my body. She would be there any minute. Finally!I wondered what she looked like now. I'd only had one fleeting glimpse of her as she hid behind her father in the middle of the chaos, fire, and hatred burning in equal measures. Heart shaped face and pert nose, strawberry blonde hair whipping about, caught up in the rushing wind of the flames. And those eyes-deep blue with iridescent flecks like a mountain lake whispering the reflection of the moon.That one glance had been seared into my brain.So innocent.So young.But she wasn't a juvenile anymore. By now, she'd shifted, and was a fully matured shewolf.No longer
"Shit!" breathed Ever."Motherfucking bitch!" The eyes of his Dagger's Wolf glowed black, menacing. He raised his hand to smack her."Do it and lose the arm!" I snarled fiercely, my body now vibrating with fury.How dare he raise a hand to her?I wasn't playing. If he hit her, I had no doubt I would remove his limb from his body. As it was, it took everything in me to hold my Wolf back from shifting and ripping out his throat.Again, Dagger's shocked expression met my feral one. He put his hand down, but the fury didn't leave his features.The little mouse bounced lightly on her toes like a boxer, eyes darting all around, calculating her next move. Even my father sat forward in surprise as he watched her.I wasn't sure what to say to calm her down, so I focused on Dagger again, looking at the claw marks on his face and blood on his shirt. His nose also looked a bit distorted. "What the fuck happened to you?"Tension rolled through his large frame. His jaw twitched as he spoke through
A shiver ran down my spine and suddenly the hunger left my stomach. "What do you mean?" I clicked my eyes to Leander. "Have you seen her?""No." He shook his head."Then?""I'm assuming she's the one that might have poisoned the man and that man belonged to the pack, which means that Sydney is somewhere here." Не continued, speaking slowly and cautiously.I wanted to hunt Sydney down, find her, question her and force her guilty for all the terrible things she had done. I wanted her to be punished, not just for today but for everything she had done. Over the year, I had grown to resent her, hate her more than I could possibly hate anyone.I pursued my lips and gripped the knife on the side of the table while taking in heavy breaths.What did she want now?"Why do you think she is here? D-do you think you can find her?" I asked him while stammering on my words as the thought of my mother made me quite nervous."I think she's going to find you. Her appearance here after poisoning me only
Tears after tears spilled from my eyes uncontrollably. I placed my hand over my mouth to hold in my sobs but the sounds still made it through. The pain was terrible and the fear was greater than every. I had barely ever been afraid of anything but tonight I was.The clock was striking to midnight and an hour had passed by since the horrific events yet I couldn't get any sleep.I wasn't going to.Whatever had attacked me tonight and killed people- Leander was that. He was the same monster as that man was and that monster was most terrific thing I had ever seen in all my twenty years of living.I wanted to blame someone for this, I wanted to be furious over Leander and pin my finger over him for everything but I couldn't. This wasn't his fault, it wasn't anyone's except for Sydney. My hatred for her was so much. After another hour of sobbing and bruising my eyes, I stood up from the bed and walked over to the washroom. Warm water flooded down from the tap and I used to wash away the dr
After Leander parted from me, I placed my hand over my mouth, holding in the urge to scream and snap at him. He just had to do one thing and he couldn't do that.All he had to do was kill the monster.The warriors were still running around the camp, trying to find their way out. After a minute of walking around, I figured the way out from the forest and back into the town. There were wet tire marks from the car that had left earlier with the injured boy. The tire marks were going to lead everyone back home.I told as many people as I could and guided them out from the camps while a few of them remained on the ground, injured. Some of the injured ones were getting carried away by the other warriors while the rest were still there.It was a monster that had tore through this forest, nothing more."You should come with us," One of the warriors whispered to me. "It's not safe for you here either." He continued.I looked over my shoulders, finding the rest of the tents getting on fire. The
I lined my lips straight, "Take him to the hospital before I rip your head off."The man quickly grabbed the boy off my shoulders and turned around to command the warriors in training. A few of them got into the vehicle nearby and they began driving out of the forest while the rest of them remained surrounded around me.Whispers began to rise between them.The ones that had gotten a sight of the boy and the wound on his neck were gossiping among themselves. I could hear it all."Did you see that? It looked like a bite. I think she bit a boy." One of them whispered to another and I rolled my eyes before turning around and walking back into the same path I came from.I needed to find Leander. The silence was eating me up alive. There was no sound of him or the monster we both had encountered. The night was getting darker and I was getting uncomfortable.I parted myself away from the camp and none of the warriors followed me. They remained there even though I had warned them to leave the
The skies began turning dark just when the sun began disappearing completely. The golden hues were gone in just a couple of minutes but we did get lucky to see the sun setting from the hills. My heart thudded loud and hard in my chest, I felt enthralled and wild and so did Leander. We took lead over one and another after every minute, we fought hard and bruised each other's wolf's slightly. We raced and tracked each other's scents across the forest.Until...The air became stiff and the atmosphere changed. We stopped on our tracks in the middle of nowhere, both of us sensing something unusual. There were wolves around, tons of pack wolves running around and some training but this was different.'Do you smell it?' I asked Leander while my nose wrinkled. It was strong-the stench of death and blood. If I could sense it, so could he and if we both did, it was somewhere near us.'Yes. It's a lot worse. It's coming from somewhere around. We need to shift back. 'He quickly said before turnin
The lunch meeting lasted for another long hour. I didn't keep track of the time as I engulfed in hearing the chatters between strong, powerful Alpha's. It was the first time I had been in a place packed with Alpha's. It was different this time.The meeting was concluded soon and the Alpha's began leaving. They began dividing, and parting ways, entering their own vehicles and soon taking the highway out of the town.So many thoughts swirled around in my head. What were they doing here? I knew for certain one of them was helping Leander with the poison but the others. What were they here for?"Did you find out if any of them has the poison?" I asked, hands inside my pocket while I stood outside, under the cold, chilling air and watched the skies change colors and the Alpha's leave the town.The gates of the house were widely opened, showing the paved roads outside. The sun, nearly setting, shone it's golden light onto the road and the several trees surrounding the house.If Leander had
Leander gawked at me with his eyes wide and his nostrils flaring. He blinked slowly, waiting for my response. The word blurted itself out of my mouth. I didn't think about it correctly. The damage couldn't be reversed now but I had to try."I don't mean it like that-" I began and he got dangerously close to me. Every step he took toward me, I took one step back. "I meant, I just want to find her and she's the one who did. She must've something going on in her head and I'm the only one who can find her." I tried to come up with something quick, before he grew any more furious.I had an idea to where I could find Sydney. She probably must be laying low in someone's pack. I now wanted to search for her again.She couldn't have ran to far. She was probably around waiting to see how the posion will affect leander."You're not leaving this place and if you do so, I'll drag you back myself and the next time, I won't be so gentle." He threatened, once more. It was the first time he had said t
Sydney had reached a new low and it was way too low for her. Why would she have given the poison to anyone? Why did she give the poison to Leander?What did Leander do to her when she came back to him?! Leander didn't tell me everything that happened when she came back in his life but I think Leander didn't treat her right. At this point I wasn't even jealousy that Leander allowed Sydney in his life even after her killing our pup. I was worried about him."But I overheard you speaking to this other man- l suppose the Alpha of the Silvertail pack about the new strain of the poison and something about his healers." I quirked my brow at him, remaining confused."He's not the enemy. I asked him a favor to figure out a way to reverse the affects of the poison and in return, I would offer some of my army to him whenever he's in need of it." Leander explained to me. "Though, his healers haven't come up with anything yet.""What about the healers in your pack?""Nothing. No one knows about i
The shower was running when I woke up. I traced my hand over the bed, hoping to feel Leander but he wasn't here. He was in the shower. Inhaling a deep breath, I pulled the duvet off my body and sat up straight on the bed. The sound of the water dripping continued as I hung my legs over the bed, waiting for him to come out of the shower.I waited for a couple of minutes but nothing.What was he doing in there for so long?I groaned and rubbed my eyes before dragging myself away from the bed and toward the curtains. I parted the curtains, letting in the morning sun which forced the sleep right out of me. Once the room was brightened, I stepped toward the bathroom and wrapped my hand around the door knob.Should I go inside? Was it right?Just before I could make a decision, I ran my free hand around my body, examining myself. I thought I would be hurt somewhere but I wasn't. There were a couple wounds on my shoulders and stomach but they had healed over the night, only leaving me with a