It had been a tedious task to call Grayson and his mate, Claudia, over to the house. At first, we tried to come up with everything that wouldn't seem odd as we didn't want to attract any negative thoughts from them. We didn't want to let them know that we were ambushing them in any way.After another long hour of deciding, Leander finally placed a call over to Alpha Grayson's Beta who then handed the phone to the Alpha of the pack, the man we needed to bring in and question.Upon hearing his voice, I was more than sure that he was in possession of the poison and that it could be only him Sydney would have made a deal with.The Goldridge Pack was a known, favored pack around the area. It wasn't far from the town but not closeby as well. The drive could gather around for three long hours but by plane it would be merely a few thirty minutes, even less.Leander invited Grayson and Claudia over for brunch and to discuss future pack matters that couldn't be discussed at the charity event ea
"I was once fucked by Leander, just like he does to you. We all the same. We want power , dont you?" She grinned at my response and the proudness appeared in her eyes for a longer time."I don't , I'm nothing like you." I stared down at her with disgust in my tone. From the corner of my eyes, I looked at the food and said, "Eat it if you want to live. I don't mind burying you at all.""You wouldn't be here if you wanted to bury me, Hycinth." She huffed and sat back, pressing her back against the cold wall. "What are you going to do? Keep me here for the rest of my life? Kill me? You and I both know you can't do any of that. You have to eventually let me go. You still weak.""So you can kill more people? Take more innocent lives?" I asked her in all honesty.What did she want more? She had nearly ruined everything for me and now she was killing people left and right with the poison she had created."And who helped you create the posion? Where is he?", I asked."Don't worry about my
WARNING-the content of this book is VERY graphic and VERY dark. Do NOT read if you cannot stomach graphic violence or explicit intimacy.HYACINTH (AGE 15)"Daddy!" I sputtered and coughed in the upstairs hallway, lungs already dangerously full of smoke.The fire crackled all around us-my childhood home going up in flames.My father gripped my shoulders tightly, painfully, giving me a little shake. The eyes of his Wolf glowed with fury and hate. Not at me. But for the Alpha who had come to destroy him. The monster intent on cutting us all down and wreaking havoc...until not a person or a possession remained.My father yelled to be heard over the roar and crackling of wood around us, "Get back, Hycinth! Go to Luca at the safe house! Go now! Run!""No, Daddy!" I wailed again, tears streaming down my face. I didn't want to leave him. He was hurt. I could smell it. Blood from several deep claw and bite wounds wafted into the air. The scent of iron oxide, a byproduct of his leaking life-flu
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 avenu
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
"I was once fucked by Leander, just like he does to you. We all the same. We want power , dont you?" She grinned at my response and the proudness appeared in her eyes for a longer time."I don't , I'm nothing like you." I stared down at her with disgust in my tone. From the corner of my eyes, I looked at the food and said, "Eat it if you want to live. I don't mind burying you at all.""You wouldn't be here if you wanted to bury me, Hycinth." She huffed and sat back, pressing her back against the cold wall. "What are you going to do? Keep me here for the rest of my life? Kill me? You and I both know you can't do any of that. You have to eventually let me go. You still weak.""So you can kill more people? Take more innocent lives?" I asked her in all honesty.What did she want more? She had nearly ruined everything for me and now she was killing people left and right with the poison she had created."And who helped you create the posion? Where is he?", I asked."Don't worry about my
It had been a tedious task to call Grayson and his mate, Claudia, over to the house. At first, we tried to come up with everything that wouldn't seem odd as we didn't want to attract any negative thoughts from them. We didn't want to let them know that we were ambushing them in any way.After another long hour of deciding, Leander finally placed a call over to Alpha Grayson's Beta who then handed the phone to the Alpha of the pack, the man we needed to bring in and question.Upon hearing his voice, I was more than sure that he was in possession of the poison and that it could be only him Sydney would have made a deal with.The Goldridge Pack was a known, favored pack around the area. It wasn't far from the town but not closeby as well. The drive could gather around for three long hours but by plane it would be merely a few thirty minutes, even less.Leander invited Grayson and Claudia over for brunch and to discuss future pack matters that couldn't be discussed at the charity event ea
Magnus and Allison arrived at the house soon after we had called for them. We had told them the details they needed to know and put them on work. There were at least twenty packs surrounding ours, some couple hours drive away while some a small plane ride away. The packs that were small, covering little towns were ruled out as they were wealthy enough to buy the poison Sydney and whoever had helped her create it.Leander knew Sydney and she wasn't going to give anyone with a cheap price. It was her work and she must've received a great sum of money by selling it.We short-listed five packs and then looked at the timeline of Sydney's visit to these packs. The ones she hadn't visited at all were ruled out as well.At the end, we were only left with three packs.The Goldridge PackThe Iron ClawsThe Silverpaw PackWe had our suspicion on all three but couldn't find enough evidence to blame one.Night fell and the sky became as dark as it could. Heavy clouds formed, promising a rainy nigh
There was a little pause before he asked, "I can?" He spoke slowly as he still seemed to be unsure even after I told him to have it."No, I can't." He shook his head and looked away, changing his thoughts and killing the hunger within himself."Why not?""I can't hurt you.""You're not hurting me," I shook my head. "I want you to have it." I whispered, leaning closer to him and resting my free hand over his shoulder.He had resisted it yet again which meant he had the control but I couldn't leave him without fulfilling the need his eyes that continued to grow as every second passed by.With his gaze on mine, he pulled my hand closer to his mouth and then ran his tongue, tasting my blood at last. Watching him do it was enticing and terrifying at the same time. Suddenly, a heat grew between us. He pressed my palm harder against his lips and continued drinking my blood for a long minute.His eyes were wide open and on me. The hunger disappeared. My lips parted and I almost gasped at the
I stared at the fireplace inside Leander's office and warmed my hands while he scurried through papers behind me. "Did you keep track on her?" I asked him while looking over my shoulders.He seemed confused, "I don't know. I'm not sure but I did have one of my men follow her. Though, I didn't keep track of the updates as I was dealing with problems of my own." He looked behind and met with my gaze while holding a bundle of papers. "The last time I had seen Sydney was at the same time and she had poisoned me then."Problems.I understood what he had meant by that. After Sydney had given him the poison, he began changing and with that came awfully terrible things. He was not the monster that we had encountered in the forest as he had learned to control himself. I didn't know how he did it but I knew it was difficult and it took plenty of his time.I lowered my eyes to the papers in his hold before lifting myself off the ground and walking over to him. "What's this?" I placed a hand ove
Pressing my hand against my mouth, I took the stairs up and then slammed the door behind. There was a loud thud and then silence after that. I could no longer hear the taunts of Sydney. Her words had pierced into my head, deeper than I had imagined yet I knew it that she was a fucking psycho.Did Leander love me?!I stepped away from the basement and into the corridor where silent whimpers became loud. A tear fell from my eyes and onto my hand as I covered my mouth with it, to kill the sobs before anyone could hear it.Did I lose my child because I was meant to be alone?Can someone who really killed your family members really love you?!I thought about it for long and hard as thoughts of my child hood years flooded in my head.That one time when Leander killed my father in front of me.Did I really deserve a mate like him?!.Footsteps cascaded toward me and I stopped crying momentarily. My hands ran quickly over my cheeks, rubbing them dry and I cleared my throat before turning aroun
"This is good stuff," I whispered while bringing the glass of wine against my lips and taking a quick sip of it. The last time I had drank anything was a couple months ago, when I was in a bar, bored of killing people in the Cade's pack. That drink was merely out of boredom and nothing more.This one was a reward."Do you want some?" I offered to Leander as he leaned over the counter, his one hand resting underneath his body while the other one was under his chin. He gawked at me as if I was drinking someone's blood and not wine."Sydney is downstairs..." He trailed off, reminding me.I rolled my eyes and groaned, "So what?" The words continued to hover me in the silence. I turned to face him and continued, "I'm not going to bother with her but once I go there don't expect me to have any sympathy for her.""I'm not even expecting." He shook his head and then took the other glass of wine from the table.We stared at each other for a second before clinking our drinks together and cheeri
Leander had called upon his favorite group of warriors and had informed them about the plan. It was to capture Sydney if she were to come and see me somewhere near the hills. In order for her to actually come, I needed to be entirely alone and far away from Leander.Hues of the sunset settled in the sky. The curtains of the house were drawn open, letting as much as light inside.I had changed my clothes, showered and tied up my hair into a ponytail while leander spoke to the warriors, their names unknown as I didn't have enough time to catch up when I returned here."If you a weird feeling with in you Hycinth, we can stop this and...." He placed his hand over my shoulder and just above my flesh, sparks flew."No, I'm good", I brushed off his hand and returned to the warriors that stood inside the living room of the house. Six of them, lined together, standing idle and waiting for commands from their superiors."If Sydney is to show up, I cannot risk having any of you surround me. You
For a long minute, I stared at the ceiling above me, admiring the lines and the curves while hoping the heat within me would disappear by itself. I had stripped myself naked, left nothing on my body, not even my underwear. My lower ached with desire and I felt my heart racing as I tossed and turned around.Straying away from Leander was the quickest way to relieve some of the ache but it was still there, between my legs, troubling me like never, forcing me to let my mate inside the room and spread my legs for him.My eyes became heavy and I tossed aside the blanket, nearly dropping it to the floor. Fingers raced over my lower and I blew out a hot breath before touching myself.Everything ached.I pulled my legs up, spreading them further apart while my free hand moved over to my breasts. My nipples tightened and I pressed them between my fingers while rubbing my pussy from the top.My body was warm, as hot as it could get. I was going to be drenched in seconds if I didn't touch myself