HycinthThe day flew by quickly. After spending most of the morning dress shopping, Leander and I caught lunch at a local Italian restaurant and then headed back for the Announcement Ceremony. I suspected Leander had purposefully kept us away until the very last moment to avoid any more potential drama. When we arrived, Gwen met us at the door and quickly followed us into our temporary room. She waited in a comfy chair while Leander changed clothes in the walk-in closet and I went into the bathroom to get ready. I could hear them talking through the door.Leander's voice was curt, "Stay with her.""I will. Don't worry. I've got this. I won't let anything happen," Gwen assured. "Now get going. We'll meet you down there."I didn't hear him give a response, just the door opening and closing again. It took several more minutes for me to sweep my hair up onto my head, leaving soft tendrils wisping around my face. I didn't apply much makeup. The cut of the dress was so elegant and simple th
LEANDER'S POVI held my little mouse close, tucked under the crook of my arm, splayed fingers applying pressure to her lower spine to keep her exactly where I wanted her-no distance between us, not even an inch. The pert mounds of her breasts pressed against my side, her two hardened nubs, the evidence of her arousal, poking into my chest. Her little hands rested flat against my back and right pectoral muscle. She was a perfect fit tucked under the crook of my arm, her tiny shape molded and created for me, two halves of one whole, just right together.I hadn't anticipated clutching her tightly during the speeches part of the ceremony. Typically, the Alpha and Luna stood next to each other, holding hands. But after the sweet scent of her arousal filled the air, she was lucky that's all I did, instead of listening to every primal instinct in my body, demanding I toss her over my shoulder and find the nearest den so that I could make her mine.My posturing was much more than physical. Na
Ever gave a hard nod to Alpha Cyril and stepped back. My father's deep baritone voice was easily heard as he spoke to Sydney, "Your sentence is fifteen. Count each one out loud. Is that understood?""Yes," she whimpered.Fifteen wasn't bad. It shouldn't take too long. I was more than ready to move along to the next step.My father didn't waste any time. His hand came up, and the paddle came down, the slap against her bare skin resounding loudly in the air. Sydney flinched hard but made no sound other than to gasp, "One!"As the punishment continued, and swat after swat rained down, Sydney was no longer able to contain her cries of pain. Her chest heaved as she panted hard. The wolves all watched on eagerly, twittering among themselves, pleased with the spectacle. I was a little surprised at their vocalness. They were usually reserved during public punishment, and I wondered what their conversation amongst themselves consisted of. It was hard to hear over the constant slapping of the p
HycinthThe air teemed with excitement. Howls, shouts, and cries of happiness- a symphony of the Wolves' hearts. Even the ground beneath our feet pulsed as hundreds of Wolves stomped their joy. I heard and felt it all, but none of it mattered. There was only one Wolf I could focus on, and he captured my complete attention- Leander.His bite had overwhelmed and stunned me. I didn't know what I expected, but not the utter bliss that wrapped around me like a cocoon. Being in his arms, surrounded by his warmth -words were pitifully inadequate to describe the sensation, only to say it felt like it was where I belonged -I was home.Leander's violet and cerulean irises glowed dark as he pulled back from my neck. I stared at his full lips, wanting him...wanting more. He guessed my thoughts and whispered, "Not yet, little mouse."I frowned. He'd told me that twice now, and I wasn't feeling any more patient than when I'd heard it the first time. If anything, my desire for him had doubled. Uncon
Rather than let me calm down and get myself under control, the asshat leaned in and whispered hungrily in my ear, "The things I'm shortcake. His expression changed. He positively radiated sexual intent as he slowly brought his mouth down.Was he going to kiss me?! Here? Now?My already racing heart took off like a rocket, thumping in my chest. I sat frozen, unable to move as he slowly eliminated the space between us. However, rather than finding his lips against mine, I felt his tongue sweep out and lick the corner of my mouth- apparently a bit of cream was left over there.Regardless of the benign reason for the touch, seeing his I'm-going-to-taste-you-e verywhere-soon expression and feeling his tongue lick the edge of my lips caused arousal to positively burst out of me. It was like a ripcord had been pulled and stunning heat shot through my belly making my pelvis clench and my toes curl. I had to wrap my hands into fists...to keep myself from jumping on him and riding him hard like
I refocused on Leander. "Stop it. Whatever you are thinking, stop it right now! My brother's just being an ass. It comes naturally to him. He can't help it."Leander looked at Lucky, not quite ready to let it go and said, "Maybe we should keep your brother with us during the rest of the celebration. Just in case he has any other pearls of wisdom he would like to share.""Maybe, he should go back to the dungeon until he learns to behave," I retorted.Lucky's face fell, genuine hurt crossing his expression, and instantly, I regretted my words. I said hurriedly, "I didn't mean that! Of course, I want you to stay with us for as long as possible.""Why don't you find him a seat nearby," Leander said to one of the wolves guarding him. The Wolf did as ordered and all three sat down close by.Leander and I went back to the still waiting line of wolves and continued where we'd left off. I enjoyed hearing their stories and was fascinated as I watched Leander interact with them. He made eye cont
Chapter 22: Running With The WolvesLeanderI kept Lucky close by during the ceremony. Not just for the reason I gave Hycinth...because Lucky didn't seem to give a shit before he said whatever the hell he wanted...I liked his boldness and the opportunity he might spout other useful tidbits of information about my little mouse. However, the other reason was much, more simple I wanted him to see how she reacted to me, I wanted him to see us together. Regardless of his parentage and his history, he was a full adult male Wolf. I could sense it pained him not to have his own mate...and he understood how nature was driving me to possess mine.I also wanted his blessing. I would never tell him that, but I recognized how invaluable it would be. All I had to do was be transparent enough, and let him see the truth for himself...how I felt about his sister. Maybe it wouldn't change anything, maybe it wouldn't help...but maybe it would. It couldn't hurt to try. And I was willing to try anything a
Lucky's expression was still affected by the scene that had unfolded in front of him, but he nodded his head and walked away with the guards.Ever turned to Hycinth and murmured, "We have stalls located on the east side where you can remove your dress in privacy and shift.""Okay," she responded and looked at my Wolf hesitantly. It was obvious she wasn't sure what he would be doing while she changed. He answered that question for her by walking toward the changing stalls. She quickly scrambled after him. When they reached their destination, he nudged the door open with his big head. She went inside the large sectioned off space that was open to the air above. And he followed along right with her, not intending to leave her side for even a moment.Her heart raced as she understood what he wanted her to do get undressed in front of him and shift. Amazingly enough, there was no negotiation like I'd had to go through to see her creamy flesh. She simply complied with his wishes, removing h
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