Next chapter hopefully going up later tonight.
(Jenny Brogan POV)When Nick and I first arrived at Bloodstone Pack, I thought that the mistakes that I made in the past were long behind me.It turns out that I was wrong. Although Nick, Luna Lily, Alpha James, and the others had long since forgiven me, I realized that I had never completely forgiven myself. That was and is a problem. In fact, I think that is why I have so far resisted the idea of having pups with Nick. I have not only worried that I did not deserve to have any pups, but I have also feared that I would not be the kind of mother that my pups needed me to be.Where did all these epiphanies come from, you may wonder? Piper. Well, not really her per se. More like helping Piper. The more I help her —and the more that I think about ways to help her— the more I feel like I am somehow redeeming myself and my soul. That I am earning back the Moon Goddess’ trust and faith in me.I admit that I came on a little too strong at first, but I backed off. I chose to instead
(Piper POV) I somehow make it to the border in record time, without running into any other guards along the way. Kade is not at our meeting spot yet, so I find a tree stump and sit down. As soon as I sit, I realize that my hands are shaking. I cannot believe that Jenny has been kidnapped, and all because her kidnappers thought that she was me. The crazy thing is, why would anyone want to kidnap me? Like everything else lately, it does not make any sense.Hopefully, once we get my engagement ring off and (most of) the spells are gone, I will be able to think more clearly. Maybe I will even be able to help with the efforts to find and save Jenny. I say a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess that Nick will find her quickly and that Jenny will be safe. I do not know what I will do if the kidnappers hurt her.I try to calm my nerves as best I can as I continue to wait for Kade. I still have not heard from Penelope, so I close my eyes and try reach out to her again. Unfortunately, sh
(Piper POV)Kade directs me to a spot a few feet away and then video-calls Dr. Hyder. After a few words of greeting, Kade turns the phone around so that Dr. Hyder and I can see one another for the first time.“Piper, it is an honor to finally see you. I am sorry that it is under these circumstances,” Dr. Hyder says.“The honor is all mine,” I say truthfully. “Have you heard any updates about Jenny?”“Not yet. But we will find her. Don’t you worry about that. Are you ready to get started?”“Yes, Sir.”“Kade, I assume that you have the syringes and the drydratipramine?”“Yes, Sir.”“And the anti-antagramine?“Yes, Sir.”“Good. Now put your phone in your shirt pocket, with the camera at the top allowing me to watch what is happening, and then let me see you fill each syringe.”Kade follows the instructions. As he pulls out the syringes, I notice that one has a red rubber top and the other has a black rubber top. I assume the different colors are so that they do not get mixed up w
(Piper POV)The next time that I opened my eyes, I was in a hotel room. Given the position of the sun and the sunlight streaming through the windows, I guessed that it was now morning.I sat up and began to look around. I felt different, but I could not put my finger on exactly why. My head did feel clearer, though. Like it was somehow easier to think.“Good morning, Sunshine,” Kade said to me as he came out of the bathroom.Kade was shirtless, and it appeared that he had just gotten out of the shower because his hair was wet. Kade was an attractive male, but seeing his semi-naked body did nothing for me. Spotting his shirt on the bed opposite me, I tossed it to him.“How long was I out?” I asked.“A while,” Kade replied with a smile. “Apparently dying, even temporarily, takes a lot of energy out of you.”“What time is it?”“8 am.”“What day is it?”“Saturday.”“My wedding day,” I whispered, almost to myself.I looked down at my left hand. My engagement ring was no longer there
(Piper POV)Kade and I made our way to a human diner that was walking distance from our hotel. Thankfully, despite it being a Sunday morning, it was not very crowded. My guess was that most people were either sleeping in or were at church. Either way, I was grateful for the quiet and super excited about the food.The pretty, young waitress sat us in a booth towards the back. After not-so-subtly trying to figure out if Kade and I were a couple, she stepped away to grab a couple of menus.Before she came back, I saw her unbutton the top three buttons of her uniform, exposing her red lace bra and the tops of her obviously-fake breasts. When I saw her do it, I laughed and rolled my eyes. Did that desperate trick really work on men?Well, apparently it does, because when she came back over and I glanced over at Kade, he was practically drooling in appreciation. In fact, when the waitress leaned over to place his water and silverware in front of him, I was half-surprised that he did n
(Piper POV)I was pretty quiet for the rest of breakfast.Kade tried to apologize, but I wasn’t sure why. I reassured him that he did not need to do so. I was the one who should be sorry. I was, after all, the one who started the conversation, and he was right that who he slept with was none of my business. I told him that I was just in a mood —because of being hungry, having died yesterday, and missing my wedding today— and that he should just ignore me.Kade did not seem too convinced that there wasn’t more to it, but he thankfully let it go. The last thing that I wanted to do was admit that I missed Leo.Once our pancakes arrived, we began to talk about the next part of our journey. And by “we,” I mean that Kade talked, and I mostly listened.Dr. Hyder wanted Kade to take me back to his pack, Red River, but that was on the other side of the country. Taking a plane would be the fastest way to get there, but Dr. Hyder did not want me getting on a plane for at least a week. He
(Leo Bloodstone POV)It has been almost 48 hours.I was supposed to be a married male by now. Piper was supposed to be wearing my mark. I was supposed to be explaining to Piper everything that I had done and why, and then —assuming she understood and was willing to accept it— having more of the best sex of my entire life while giving the symbolic middle finger to the werewolf council.Instead, Piper is gone. I have no idea where she is. Despite the three spells that I had placed on her engagement ring and despite all the other precautions that I took, it wasn’t enough. She left. And without a trace.I am a complete and utter wreck. If you were to see me right now, you may not even believe that I was me. The big, bad alpha has been reduced to a fraction of who I was before. I think most of my enemies would take one look at me and call me a major f&&king p&ssy right now. Hell, most of my friends probably would too. Especially because, instead of being out there killing someone
(Leo Bloodstone POV)After Ellis was banished, most things around Bloodstone Pack remained the same. Building layouts and training schedules, for example. However, we did make a few important changes.Some of the most important changes involved adding cameras to areas that had never had cameras in them before. This included the alpha and beta floors and all of the panic rooms. My parents had always resisted having cameras in these areas. They believed that privacy was important, especially for ranked wolves and especially for wolves forced into small spaces during a panic situation.I had a different philosophy. For me, security was more important than privacy… especially because —after everything that went down with Ellis, Ingrid, and I— I no longer trusted many of the wolves that had previously had access to those areas. Thus, when I became acting alpha, I had a special team install a lot of cameras in a variety of discreet locations. The cameras would be capable of both audi
I have NOT abandoned this story. 2024 just hates me.I am determined to finish this story, and do so as soon as possible.2024 willing, updates start again tomorrow.
(Piper POV)“Boss thinks it is time for you to go back to Bloodstone Pack.”I practically jumped off of the bench, almost throwing up right then and there. “What?!?!? You have to be joking.”Viper sighed. “No. I’m serious.”“No, you are insane,” I replied angrily. “How could you possibly suggest that I go back to him?!?!? After all that he has done?!?!?!”Even if a part of my heart still craves him, I added silently.“That is why I wanted us to talk. I need you to tell me what happened between you.”“You have been watching me for years. So you must already know.”“We are bikers not psychics.”I sighed and pointed to the darkening sky.“You really want to do this right now?”“Yes.”“Why?”“Again, boss’s orders.”“Which boss? Rooster?”“No. The one who hired us.”“And that was?”“Someone that loves you a lot. Someone who even you would have to agree has always had your best interests in mind.”I laughed bitterly. “And now I know for sure that you are lying. No one alive fit
(Piper POV)“How do you know about my connection to Leo Bloodstone?” I asked gingerly.Viper ignored my question. “Why did you run away from Bloodstone Pack?” he asked me instead.“Answer my question first.”“No.”“Viper ---”“Poison, this is important. Before I tell you anything, I need to know why you ran away from Bloodstone Pack. I’ve given you time and space the last few months to see if you would tell me on your own, and you haven’t. Now I need to know.”“Why now? In the middle of a run with everyone else?”“Boss’s orders.”Huh. That comment puzzled me. The boss/ alpha/ president of the club was Rooster. I had only met him a few times, and he only barely seemed to notice me.“Rooster knows about Leo too?”“Yes.”“Why does he care? Did Leo threaten the club?”“No.”“So why does Rooster care?” “Before I answer that, answer my question first. Why did you run away from Bloodstone Pack?”Just like that, the anger and frustration I was feeling towards Viper returned. I de
(Piper POV)As Viper and I continued to sit in silence on the bench overlooking the lake, the sky darkened, signaling a thunderstorm was on its way. At first, I tried to ignore the impending change in weather. However, after several raindrops hit my face and the first roar of thunder landed in the distance, I stood up and faced him. Regardless of whether I was ready to talk about my past, I knew that we needed to quickly do so and then get back on the road.“You said that you wanted to talk, so let’s talk,” I said softly.“We have been keeping secrets from each other,” Viper said in a serious tone of voice. “That needs to end today.”I gulped.“What do you mean?”“Don’t play stupid with me. We both know each other better than that.”“Well, I thought we did…”“Poison,” he said sternly.I sighed. “Okay, fine. Where do you want to start?”“First, I want you to tell me something. Do you trust me?” Viper responded.“That’s a weird place to start.”“Maybe. But answer the question
(Piper POV)I was silent for a long time after Viper told me that we needed to talk. I knew that he was right, but I was not sure who should start the conversation… him or me. Ten minutes earlier, I would have been sure that I was the one who needed to talk and confess some things. However, it was also ten minutes earlier that I had no idea that Viper knew anything about my past, much less about Leo Bloodstone’s connection to it. It was now clear to me that Viper had been keeping secrets of his own. Because, of course he was. All of the males around me kept secrets. URRRRGGGGGGHHHHH.I suppose I should back up before I confuse you any further. I forgot that I skipped ahead and left a few things out.As you already know, I had a car accident six months before this. Just before the accident, I stole a delivery van and ran away from Moon Shadow Pack. I thought that I had gotten away successfully, and I was planning to make my way to Dr. Hyder’s pack for treatment and help elimi
(Six Months Later)(Piper POV)I found myself lost in thought as I stared out over a large lake. It was still pretty early in the morning, so there were not a lot of people around. The only movement that I saw came from the water, the wind, and the birds.So much had happened in the past six months. In many ways, I was happier than I had been in a very long time. However, a big part of me still longed for my old home, my old friends, my (now deceased) family, and …as stupid as it sounds… for Leo. After all the time that had passed, and after all of Leo’s lies, tricks, and secrets, I was not sure why my heart still held on to Leo. After all, we had only been together for a couple of weeks. I tried to convince myself that it was just the lingering effects of the spells that he had placed on me. For her part, when I asked her about it, Penelope agreed with me that that was all it was. However, I think both of us knew deep down that it was more than that; we just did not want to
(Leo Bloodstone POV)“Where is she?” I asked.Addie did not answer right away. I could tell that she was beginning to fade. I began to worry that Addie would pass out or fall asleep any minute.“WHERE IS PIPER?” I repeated in a louder voice.“I don’t know,” she said in a sing-song voice.“How long has she been missing?”“I don’t know. A while.”“What happened?”“I don’t know.”Addie closed her eyes and leaned her head on one of her suitcases. No. I could not let her sleep. Not yet.I gently grabbed Addie by both of her arms. “Addie, this is important. Please concentrate. Where is Piper?”Addie shook my hands off of her. “I already told you, Leo. I don’t know!!! She was here, and then she wasn’t.”“What happened? Why did she leave?”Addie took in an annoyed breath. “I. DON’T. KNOW.”“I came all the way out here to get her, Addie. And I came because you called me. You’ve got to do better than that. You know how important this is. Give me something!”At that point, Add
(Leo Bloodstone POV)It was nearly 2 am by the time that my team and I finally made it to Moon Shadow Pack. It had taken me longer than I expected to leave, mainly because my father —despite doing better— was still not 100%. More on that later.I felt a mix of relief, guilt, and worry as we got close to the pack gates, and as I thought about Piper and all that had happened the past few weeks. But above everything else, I felt a sense of excitement. I genuinely missed her, and I could not wait to hold her in my arms again.I promised myself and my wolf that, once we found Piper, I would explain as much as I could to her. I would also never let anyone hurt her again. Nor would I ever let her go… even if I had to handcuff her to me this time.I was not surprised that Addie was waiting for me when we arrived. I was, however, surprised to see her sitting on the ground, waiting for me outside the border… by herself… while surrounded by suitcases and a few empty bottles of wolfsbane vo
(Piper POV)Luna Addie told Leo where I was. How could she do that? I really had thought that she had wanted to help me. Was I that bad a judge of character? I mean, yes, I had not completely trusted her …but I had trusted her a little bit… and I had never expected her to turn me over to Leo. Maybe she really did want to punish me for my relationship with Aiden, and her saying otherwise was just a lie.Goddess.No matter what, it was now clear that I could not trust anyone. Nor could I trust my own judgment.It was also clear that I needed to get out of Moon Shadow Pack. There was no way that I could stay now that Leo knew where I was.I raced as quickly as I could to my bedroom so that I could grab my duffle bag. Thankfully, I had not unpacked it at all and no one stopped me on the way to get it; everyone seemed busy with other tasks.Once I had my duffle bag, I went to Kade’s room on the next floor up to let him know that I was leaving. Despite being angry with me, I assum