All of the animosity trained from her face, replaced by confusion. "I'm sorry for your loss, and I hope you get the answers you seek. But it is a very dangerous time right now. You are standing in the crosshairs of a volatile conflict. We have not been able to confirm where everyone's loyalties stand. For your own sake and that of your sister, it would be better for you to return to her right now. Stay away because the blood of many wolves is going to be shed.""I can't leave, not yet. Tell me what happened. Have you tried negotiations? I didn't come here for that, but maybe I can help." Truthfully, the last thing I wanted to involve myself with was a war. Hycinth needed me now more than ever.Sydney replied flatly, "We're at war because Hycinth left him."And then I understood...My heart sank.Swallowing thickly, I tried to contain my dread. "What happened to Leander?" Somehow, I just knew I wasn't going to like the answer.For the first time, all of her defenses were gone. Her bott
House of CardsLucky"Nooo!" Sydney dropped to her knees in front of me.I didn't need to explain.She fully understood just from my reaction. Arms wrapping around my shoulders, she held tight. Her voice quivered, "I'm so sorry, Luca."We sat on the floor for several minutes while I composed myself. Sydney was silent...just there with me.Kneeling for so long caused my legs to feel numb. I shifted position so that I was sitting on my butt with my back against the couch, my elbow resting on my bent knee. My head felt heavy, and I struggled to keep it up, finally just dropping it back on the couch behind me with my eyes closed.Sydney's voice came soft, "I want you to keep it."Lifting my head to look at her, I found she was also still sitting on the floor across from me. Her eyes glistened with emotion.I looked down at my still tightly clenched fist and opened it to reveal the tiny gold treasure. I was desperate to keep the little locket, but I didn't know Sydney's sentimental attachm
At her words. memories of Hycinth floated through my mind...her barely able to get out of bed and the haunted look in her dead eyes. I shook my head sadly. "Hycinth may have had the willpower to walk away, but what good is it when she's left miserable without him?"Sydney studied my expression. "Hycinth really wants to come back?"Bringing my other knee up, I rested both elbows on them and nodded. "She'd been making strides...grieving and facing the past. I hoped it would only be a matter of time before she was strong enough to make the decision on her own, and I think she was getting there slowly but surely. But she's devastated after everything the Oracle told us yesterday. Alpha Grant hurt so many wolves in his effort to manipulate her future. Right now, she's internalizing guilt for all of them and can't see how anyone would want her when she was the catalyst for all of the pain."Sydney contemplated my words. "The pack is hurting now without their Luna and the effect her absence
Hycinth was carrying the second-chance baby...which meant I would bet everything I owned that Leander's sister was the first-chance baby whose life was tragically cut short.Sydney continued quietly, "Every loss of life is tragic, especially one so precious and innocent, but we just couldn't understand if her destiny was to change the world, how could she have died? Our hope died that day with her. We didn't get it back until the week after Leander's mating ceremony. When all ten mated-pairs conceive, we felt it again. We don't know what it means. We've reached out to Memoree, but she has refused our requests to talk."I had the answers she was seeking......but there was no way I could tell her before Hycinth told Leander."How was your Luna pregnant without all of the packs knowing?" I don't remember even ever knowing that."We kept it a secret, trying to protect her and the unborn child.But Isabelle was too softhearted. She believed the lies when your mother reached out with a fal
FeralLuckyA storm was coming......and when he arrived, he would burn the world down to get to Hycinth.There would be nothing and no one who could stop the devastation he left in his wake.I just hoped he got there before Dagger could carry out whatever diabolical plan he had for her. I'd seen the craziness in that male's eyes. He wasn't right in the head even before Leander maimed him.I snapped out of my dark thoughts. I still had work to do. There had to be a way to trace the license plate. I worked to keep my fingers from trembling as I dialed Tommy's number."What's up, Whiskey?" Tommy answered on the first ring, his voice instantly wary. I didn't normally call him, and certainly, not late at night.My throat was bone dry as I gritted out, "I need your help.""Fuck, "he swore. "What's going on? Is it Abby? I mean, Hycinth. Is she okay?"I worked to keep my emotion at bay. "No, Tommy, she's not.Someone abducted her. I got the plate, but I don't have any resource to run it."Wi
Abruptly, my father's audible voice came from my behind me, "We'll be out of mind link range. Do you have phones on you?"I spun around to face him.But Ever answered for me, "Yes. We've pack communication and back up power." He finished zipping up the bag in front of him and turned to assess the progress of his team of wolves. Most were ready to go.Walking to Ever's side, I said quietly, "If you want to stay..."His expression hardened, making his answer clear, but I continued anyway, "You know this might mean an imminent attack on our border. You have a pup on the way." I wouldn't take this choice away from him, not when he had so much at stake.A muscle in his jaw flexed. "Leander, I belong by your side.Cyril, Asher and the other warriors will protect what's mine."My throat tightened. I gave a hard nod.The rest of the warriors were silent now, prepared and ready to go.As we made our way out the door to the waiting vehicle's, Sydney was just entering the compound. What was she
"The way she said it," I replied, still trying to wrap my head around the truth. "Hycinth had been adamant that she knew everything. And her wording could have been taken to be consistent that she did.""Well, fuck." He exhaled heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly, it makes more sense that she wouldn't know that particular aspect."My hand clenched into a fist. "Does it really matter? Maybe she didn't know, but it still doesn't change the reason she left me-I killed her parents.""I don't know if it would have changed anything or not," he admitted in resignation."Maybe not," Sydney said softly, "but according to Luca, Hycinth has been just as miserable away from you as you have been away from her. He's been trying to help her grieve and finally let go of the past. We didn't get into the details, other than for him to confirm she wants to come back to you. Didn't she call you? Isn't that where we're headed?"Hope flared so sharply in my chest, I couldn't breathe. Gulping
Plan in MotionLeanderFace twisted with obvious disdain, the ridiculous human male snapped at me, "Are you the no good prick who knocked her up?"For a moment, all conscious thought fled my brain. I was utterly lost. My Wolf was equally frozen in my mind, standing stock still, not even a tail twitch. The human's words didn't make any sense. Of course, I understood the question and the implication, but the concept was just too impossible to wrap my brain around. Was it really possible? Could Hycinth be carrying my unborn young? Every indication from the male's narrowed eyes and combative expression to Luca's quick intake of breath pointed to the shocking truth.Abruptly, my Wolf sprang back to life, sending out a surge of Alpha dominance I'd never experienced before......every Wolf in the room dropped to the ground.The force of it shocked even me.The snarling animal in my head vibrated with out-of-control animosity. He wanted to have his mate and his pup...and he wanted them now!I
The house was quiet until Leander arrived an hour later after I woke up. I killed the time in the library, going through books and learning about the history of werewolves until he came. The conversation with Gwen lasted for only a few minutes. I didn't question her any longer once she had told me that he hadn't hurt her, not once in the past year.He wasn't lying. He had it under control-at least for himself."How are the injured wolves?" I asked him as he came inside the library and greeted me."They are better. The wounds heal up quick.""And the ones that died?""I paid respects to their families." He answered, lowering his gaze and curling his arms behind his back.There were a couple of deaths from last night. I wasn't sure how many but a few warriors were ripped by the monster and killed before Leander could kill him. He only acted when the monster had attacked me and if he hadn't, he wouldn't have killed him.I closed the book I had been reading and set it aside on the table.
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