(Leo Bloodstone POV)Piper just kissed me. No drugs were involved. No force or threats. Just my sweet Little Pea voluntarily and enthusiastically kissing me.Best f&&king kiss of my life.I knew that forcing her hand in marriage was wrong. I also knew that my reasons for doing it were pretty sh&tty. And I knew that, if Piper knew the truth, she might have a hard time forgiving me. Worse, I knew that if Piper knew the truth, she might want something different than what I wanted.But a kiss that felt that d&mn good had to mean something.As soon as her lips touched mine, I put my hands on either side of her face and kissed her with everything I had. The moment she opened her mouth, allowing our tongues to intertwine, I lost the small shred of control that I had been holding onto. I picked her up by her thighs, forcing her to wrap her beautiful legs around my waist. I then carried her to her bed, ready to f&&king pounce.I felt her reach her hands under my hoodie, running her han
(Piper POV)The visit to the pack doctor was … interesting.The doctor examined me in both my human and wolf forms, took blood work, did a bunch of tests, and asked me a ton of questions. As intrusive as all of it was, I appreciated that the doctor was thorough. I did not tell Leo this, but I had lots of questions about the herbs myself… questions that Xander had never had time to answer. The only thing that annoyed me about the appointment was Leo. For example, he refused to leave my side for even a second; he refused to look away while I changed into an examination gown; and he asked the doctor almost as many questions as the doctor asked me.Ultimately, though, it was fine. Mostly. At least until the end.“How long have you been taking the herbs, Piper?”“A little more than two years.”“Is that safe?” Leo asked.“Probably, although it is rare for wolves to use scent blockers for such long periods of time. Do you mind if I ask why you have been taking them for so long?”I gl
(Leo Bloodstone POV)Our walk back to the packhouse took much less time than our walk to the hospital, primarily because my steps were hastened by anger. I could tell that Piper was also angry. However, to her credit, she left me alone to my own thoughts during the walk, choosing to avoid making a scene in front of the many pack members that we passed.I still could not believe that I had even briefly considered letting Piper continue to take herbs given to her by that moron a&&hole Xander. I had yet to figure out what his end game was, or even what his real motivations were, but he was consistently doing things that made me trust him less and less. This whole herb thing was a perfect example.Once we arrived at the packhouse, I took Piper through a back entrance —thus avoiding any of my family members who may have wanted to chat— and led Piper directly up to her room.“Give me the rest of the herbs,” I demanded the second that we walked in.Instead of getting them for me, she clo
(Piper POV)Maybe our fight about the herbs was a stupid one, but Leo was not backing down. And, once again, I found myself crying.At this point in my story, you are probably used to me crying. However, what you have to understand is that —prior to me running away from Blue Ridge— I never would have considered myself a crier. Yes, I cried… but not that often. It just wasn’t my thing.It was only after leaving Blue Ridge that I began to cry all the time. It was one of the few outlets that I had to deal with feeling guilty, overwhelmed, confused, and homesick.This silly fight with Leo was a good example of these emotions hitting me all at once.Yes, I was raging mad at Leo for ordering me around and making decisions without thinking about my input. I did not like being bossed around or treated like a toddler. And I HATED a male thinking that his wife was required to do whatever he told her to do.None of that is what brought me to tears, though. What brought me to tears was th
(Piper POV)When Leo told me that I was going to go shopping with his mom, grandmother, and aunts, I was anything but excited.Yes, I needed clothes. Desperately. The duffle bag of clothing that I had with me was meant to last for a few days, not for several weeks. However, I was still adjusting to all the changes that had been thrown at me. Spending an entire day shopping —not just for regular clothes but for a wedding dress, too— originally sounded like a wildly horrible idea.Thankfully, I was wrong. Shopping with Leo’s mom, grandmother, and aunts actually turned out to be really, really fun.As Leo predicted, they treated me a little bit like a living doll. They made me try on and model clothes in every single store, and they all had strong opinions about what I needed and what would look good on me. Thankfully, their strong opinions came with good taste and good fashion sense. But much more importantly, they continued to be incredibly kind and welcoming towards me. They
(Piper POV)“Oh, I work here now. Didn’t Leo tell you?”“Get out of here, Ingrid,” Grandma Rosie growled.“Did you not hear me, Grandma Luna? I SAID I WORK HERE NOW.”Ingrid spoke the last part slowly and loudly, as though Grandma Rosie was deaf.My jaw dropped at her condescending tone… especially because I could not believe that she was using it with Grandma Rosie, who until this moment had seemed to me to be one of the sweetest she-wolves that I had ever met.“My ears work just fine, Ingrid. Yours are the ones that I am worried about. Leave. Now.”I obviously had not known Grandma Rosie for very long, but this was the first time that I had seen her angry. And truthfully? Her angry face was scarier than Leo’s.“I do not think that my boss would be happy if I left,” Ingrid replied dismissively.“Why? Are you banging him too?” Leo’s Aunt Madeline asked.Ingrid rolled her eyes. “My personal life is none of your concern. Now, who is she?” she asked, gesturing to me.“None of
(Piper POV)After our marathon-shopping trip, we grabbed a quick dinner at a restaurant downtown. Dinner itself was great, but I noticed that we got a fair number of looks from other diners. Of course, by “we” I really mean “me.” I suppose that wasn’t all that surprising given that I was a newbie in town. I did hear a few whispers speculating about who “the blond was” that was eating with Luna and Grandma Luna, but thankfully, none of the guesses were mean.We ultimately did not make it back to the packhouse until close to 8 pm.Once we got back, two of the guards carried in the shopping bags for me, and I began unpacking and sorting through all of the day’s purchases. My room had both a large dresser and a large walk-in closet, and it took me a while to get everything sorted. As I unpacked, I kept wondering if Leo was going to stop by and ask me how the shopping trip went, or if he would check-in on me. I desperately wanted to talk to him about Ingrid, and find out why his fam
(Xander POV)“A little to the right. A little more. And to the left. And to the right. Now, go a little faster! Keep going. Perfect! Just like that. Yes! Faster! YEEEEEEEEESSSS!!! Now flip me around! Yes! Do it again! And again! Oh, Xander. You are sooooo good at this!!!!”I smiled down at the petite blond in my arms, whose rich brown eyes were laser focused on me. We had only just met, but I loved the praise that she freely gave me; I loved the way that her body moved with mine; I loved the way that she guided how I touched her; and I loved the sound effects that she made when I did things that she liked.This was my second dance lesson in the past 48 hours, and given how much I liked about Candice, I was already ready to book my next several sessions with her.Yes, dance lessons. Piper had always loved to dance, but that was the one thing that I was not willing to do with her in the past. I was embarrassed by the fact that I was born with two left feet, so to speak.
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