More coming in 4-5 hours; I won't keep you hanging too much longer.
(Piper POV)Was it smart for me to taunt and knowingly disrespect an arrogant, cocky beast of an alpha? No, of course not. Especially not one who had accepted me into his pack and allowed me a safe place to stay, few questions asked, while I was on the run.But you already know that I get triggered by sexist bullsh&t. I do things I probably should not do.And being triggered does explain some of my reaction to Alpha Aiden. However, I NEVER, EVER would have tried something like that at Blue Ridge. Even when I am triggered, I am a rule follower, and the rules are very clear that you are to always respect your alpha and obey their summons. That is just how it is.But this situation was different. I wasn’t taunting Alpha Aiden just because I was triggered. When he first announced my punishment, I was actually crushed. In fact, I cried every day for a week straight after our conversation. Part of that was the timing. I was already starting to mentally break because of the overwhe
(Piper POV)“You have really been doing this every night?” Alpha Aiden asked me for the third time.I rolled my eyes. “Yes.”“By yourself?”“Yes, which is exactly how you wanted it, remember? Fewer males around to randomly f&&k me,” I replied. There was some bitterness in my tone, but not as much as earlier. Now my voice held an equal amount of genuine humor.Alpha Aiden looked up at me and sighed.“How many do we have left?”“115.”“As in, one-hundred and fifteen?”“Yes.”Alpha Aiden wiped sweat off of his eyebrow with the back of his hand.“Is that total?”“No. That is the number left in this building.”“How many buildings?”“Well, we have the packhouse, which we are doing now; the hospital; the warrior dormitory; and the training facility. So… three more after this one.”“Oh, good Goddess.”I laughed. I could not help it. This was poetic justice, and I was enjoying every single minute of it.I had not intended to break down in tears in front of Alpha Aiden earlier. In fac
(Piper POV)Another two months passed, and life at Moon Shadow had mostly become tolerable again. After our last fight, Alpha Aiden had lifted most of my punishment, including the offensive, impractical rules about having no contact with unmated males. He also allowed me to go back to working days; the night shift would once again be rotated amongst the omegas just like it used to be.The only part about the punishment that Alpha Aiden kept in place was the requirement that I not leave the pack for any reason. His excuses for leaving that part in place were confusing, but given how close I now was to my 20th birthday, I was mostly okay with it.Alpha Aiden did continue to make the occasional, irritating comment about wanting me to avoid being around unmated male wolves, but he did not enforce any restrictions. He also never again called me a whore or a sl&t. And, importantly, he himself seemed to stop sleeping around. I think the combination of all of those things made it easier
(Piper POV)It started as a normal Thursday evening. I was sitting in the dining hall eating dinner with Maya, Asher, Becky, and a few of the other warriors and omegas. We were at a round table and all the seats were full, so when Daphne walked in, I had some naïve hope that she would be forced to sit elsewhere. Sadly, I had no such luck.Daphne grabbed a chair from another table and brought it over. She then started to push it into the gap between me and Asher, effectively forcing Asher and everyone else to move over a few inches to accommodate her.“Seriously, Daphne?” I said in an annoyed voice.“What?”“There are plenty of empty seats at other tables. Why do you have to sit at this one?”Daphne looked at me in confusion.“Why would I sit anywhere else? I always sit by you, Piper.”“Yes, you always TRY to sit by me, and I do not understand why. You don’t even like me.”I did not want to be rude, but Daphne’s weird behavior had been going on for weeks now and I was exhausted.
(Piper POV)"What is your end game, really? We all know that you have one."Daphne opened her mouth to protest, but then seemingly decided against it.“Ok, fine,” Daphne huffed. “I just don’t think it is fair that Piper will not be honest about her birthday while everyone else in the pack is running around making bets about when she will meet her mate and who her mate will be.”“I never asked you to bet on my personal life,” I snapped. “If you don’t think it is fair, don’t participate.”“You may not have asked me to participate, but you never told me not to. And I now have $5,000 riding on winning the bet.”Asher spit out his drink. “$5,000?!?!” he exclaimed. “Daphne, why would you bet $5,000 on anything, much less who Piper’s mate is?”Daphne gave a fake-innocent smile. “First of all, I did not bet on who Piper’s mate was. I bet on whether she would have a mate at all. Second of all, despite what Maya wants to believe, I am Piper’s best friend and I know her better than anyo
(Piper POV)All of the dreams started the same way. I would watch myself walk through a beautiful forest, and then I would find myself standing before a grand waterfall. We do not have waterfalls like that in Blue Ridge, in Moon Shadow, or any in other pack that I had been to, so I had no idea where I was. Nevertheless, something about the waterfall felt both magical and comforting. In the first dream, I sat down on a large rock and soaked my feet in the pool of water below the waterfall. At some point, a handsome, muscular male came and sat down beside me. His face was fuzzy and I did not know who he was, but sitting next to him somehow made me feel better, and I knew that I could trust him. Without saying anything to each other, I put my head on his shoulder. We sat together until I woke up.The next day, I could not shake the memory of the dream. Nothing much happened in it, but yet it felt far too real to forget. Strangely, the dream also made my anxiety about everythi
(Piper POV)To my disappointment, my mother did not appear in the dreams again until the night before my 20th birthday.That final dream started the same way as all the others, with me and the male at the grand waterfall. I do not remember what we talked about that night, but I remember feeling more anxious than normal.“You seem distracted tonight, Piper. What is bothering you?” the male asked.“My mother. She came here once. Why hasn’t she come again?”“You miss her a lot.”“I do,” I said sadly. “Why hasn’t she come back? Why isn’t she here?”Suddenly I heard a female voice behind me.“You silly girl. I am always here with you, Piper. You do not have to see me for me to be here.”I jumped up from the rock and looked towards the forest. As soon as my eyes landed on my mother, I took off running towards her. Unlike the male’s face, nothing about my mother’s voice or look was fuzzy. Instead, my mother looked and sounded radiant and happy.“Mom!” I cried as I wrapped my arms a
(Piper POV)They say that the safest place to be during a hurricane is in the eye of the storm. If we take that concept and apply it to my life, my 20th birthday was the eye of the sh&t storm that my life had (and would) become.In other words, my 20th birthday actually went pretty well. There was very little pomp or circumstance, and —even more importantly— there was very little drama.You might wonder how I could manage to have a drama-free birthday with Daphne lingering around. Well, that was the first birthday surprise that I received: Daphne volunteered to work the night shift the night before, meaning that we worked opposite shifts and she spent most of my birthday sleeping. I have no idea what inspired her to volunteer —it was very out of character for her— but I was not about to complain. After all, I deserved one day of peace and quiet. And peace and quiet is exactly what I got. If I am being completely honest, a small part of me was sad that I did not wake up to a spe
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