Dawn’s POVThere was a precious number of experiences and feelings that would ever come close to having your art inspected. I tried to breathe normally, as much as possible, as my eyes followed the piercing gaze of the various judges and examiners as they walked around our art piece. There were no marks or signs on the marble flooring of the various artworks and project pieces having been dragged through the place, which told me that they had brought it in early enough to clean the area around us. I felt nerves rushing through me so badly my hands began to tingle, and without thinking I grasped Craig’s hand that hung between us.I saw him looking at me from the corner of my eyes, but he didn’t move and neither did I. My gaze didn’t turn away from the men and women still standing there, clipboards in hand, glasses sat on the ends of their noses as they took looks up and down and from side to side.It was a feeling of nervousness from being judged, and excitement from being judg
Dawn’s POV“So, who’s the girl?”I watched with mild amusement as Craig choked slightly on his drink, hitting himself on the chest lightly to swallow down properly before he turned to me.“Huh?”I shook my head at him. “I read through your portfolio, in almost all of your projects this past two years you’ve been either implementing a female figure or making it the star of your piece. I mean, I could be reading into it, but it seems like you’re pulling inspiration from someone. She always looks the same in every individual piece.”“And you think someone broke my heart? That’s why I keep putting a woman in it?” I shrugged my shoulders as I raised my hands in defense.“Just an observation. Although given how defensive you got…” I raised my brow at him and he laughed.“Alright, you got me.” He leaned on his hand as he stared at me. “Well, no, I didn’t get my heart broken.”“No?” I asked teasingly, and he made a strange face at me as he rolled his eyes.“No, more like… hea
Dawn’s POVI woke up the next morning just as Candice had exited the bathroom. “Look who’s back from the land of the dead,” she greeted me, and I felt my head hit the pillow again as soon as I heard her voice. There was a split moment, maybe five seconds or so, where I would wake up and have my mind completely blank.In those few seconds, the world was peaceful. Right up until the sixth second when everything from the previous few days came crashing back to me. I thought about everything that had happened from my encounters with Craig, to the men who had attacked us in the studio apartment and then, finally, stopping on remembering that I had been passed onto the next round of the competition.“How did your examination go?” I asked Candice from the bed, my head still covered by the blanket just enough so that my face was poking out. I watched as her thumb struck out from the cupboard door that was open.“Pretty chill, if we’re excluding the part the examiners ripped apart my en
Dawn’s POVCraig was insane. I think that was the only way to describe him.“Do you do this often?” I asked him once the plane landed.“Huh?” He turned to me.“Do you buy two spontaneous plane tickets, take a stranger on the ride and force them to introduce you to their aunt, often?”“Nah,” he said as he unbuckled and stood up. “Sometimes it’s their uncle.”The ride back home was even more insane. He had managed to procure us a car that waited with a valet, holding a big sign that read his last name on it. The man took both of our small carry-on suitcases and placed them in the trunk of the car before opening the door for us to get in at the back. And after telling the man where I lived, we were off.I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking, its bounce a clear indication that I was nervous. Or maybe it was fear—maybe I was afraid of what we might find when we do eventually end up at my front door and I have to confront my aunt about everything that’s happened at the university
Dawn’s POVA frustrated groan left me as I slumped down onto the bed behind me. I could feel the agitation and frustration filing up inside of me, something like both anger and relief flooding me the moment I realized I wasn’t going to find anything incriminating in my aunt’s room.A momentary lapse of shame ran through me, too, when I realized what I had done. I had gone through and ransacked her entire room, invading her privacy and trust, just because of a suspicion. There was no reason for my aunt to be hiding anything from me, and no reason for me to have not trusted her based on just a few small things I assumed in the past few days about her. She had raised me and protected me for so long, so why did I doubt her all of a sudden?I had no reason to, right? As the shame began to overwhelm me, I suddenly stood up and walked away from the bed, unable to stew in that emotion. I was on my way to Craig in the attic when I tripped on something, my foot knocking against an uneven p
“You’re lying!” I spat at the man on the other side of the cell. His dark green eyes danced over my features, his jaw hard set. “I am not like you. I am no monster.”He rolled his eyes at my words. “Is that supposed to hurt me?”I let out a growl that had never come from me before. I tugged at my restraints but the harder I pulled, it felt like they were only getting tighter. The man walked toward the bars of the cells, his eyes darkening as the moon shined down from the skylight that hung above me. “You are a shifter, Dawn. From the very moment you were born, we were fated to each other. You were given to me by the people you loved most in this world. You are my mate.”“Enough! No more lies!” He had to be lying there was no way that I was a shifter. I would know if I was a shifter. My parents would have said something to me, surely. If not them, then maybe my aunt would have—oh no. I had this gut feeling in the pit of stomach. The letters, the box with the same sign
I stared out the window at the Rocky Mountain side. I had no idea how far this man had brought me but I knew that we were likely far up north. Did shifters favor the forests? I mean since they were part wolf, it made sense to me why they would like to frolic amongst the trees. Did they frolic or was that just something that was written into movies? I hugged myself tightly trying to offer the comfort I needed. I was not someone who was easily shaken by many things but this was all too much for me to bear. Within less than a week, my entire life was flipped upside down. I was apparently a wolf, my parents had promised me to a mad man and not only that, but I was set to marry said mad man in just over a month. I let out a shaky breath trying to calm myself but failing at each attempt.The door opened and in walked Jason. He had changed into a pair of form fitting sweats and a hoodie and looked like he was ready to go out for a run. It was annoying that the man was as handsome a
“You promised yourself to that lunatic?!” he roared. “He only wants you before your wolf forms on your birthday, and at the rate you’re going, that’s sure to happen!” “Don’t yell at me, Craig.” I stood my feet and glared at the man who was plaguing my mind from the moment I laid eyes on him in that dumb court yard. “I had to do what I needed to do.”“You are playing with powers that are far beyond you, Dawn. You don’t know the kind of man Jason Black is!”“He has told me more about myself in the few short hours I was with him than either of you.” I snapped. My aunt flinched in my peripheral vision and a part of me almost felt bad for snapping. Almost. “I need answers. Why was I marked? Why can’t I refuse him? What do I stand to gain in all of this? Can you at least tell me that?!”Silence. Then I turned to my aunt. “What’s going on?” “Sweetie, I wish I had more answers for you. I really do.”“How could he mark me as a baby? He doesn’t seem that much older than me…” I p
*Dawn*I had stared outside by the pool area where Craig stood over Jason’s body. He held Jason’s heart in his hands like it was it was squishy toy. Bile rose from my stomach and made my way up my throat. I used all my might to keep it down. It was over. The war was finally done. The enemy was defeated and now, I was free to be with the man I loved without having to look over my shoulder. So, why did I feel like this was only just the beginning? My hand absently when to the place Craig had marked me the other night. Coincidentally, it was in the same place my mark that I had shared with Jason was. When my finger touched the still healing wound, my body shuddered. I didn’t know if it was the old mark or the new one but something moved from my skin all throughout my body. I pushed down then ominous feeling and drew my mind back to the present. Craig must have felt my eyes on him because he lifted his gaze to the window and found me. His features softened when he saw my f
*Craig*There were three things I was sure of in this life: 1.Dawn Fairborne was my mate. 2.I loved Dawn Fairborne more than life itself. 3.I enjoyed having sex with Dawn. For the past 48 hours, we had spent our time entangled with one another. And in between the mind blowing sex we had—in every room in the cabin mind you—we broke away for food and to explore the forest. It had been the best two days of my life. The girl was this drug that I just couldn’t quite get enough of. I was a goner from the first ‘hello’. Now, she sat on my lap as we watched the sunrise beyond the horizon on our second day here. I felt so complete. I knew that this was the place I was meant to be.We had a whole host of problems to deal with outside of this place, but I knew that as long as her hand remained in mine, we would be okay. Dawn drew circles on the inside of my palm. I kissed the top of her head, breathing in her sweet scent. Her hair was still a little damp from the sh
Our lips crashed together again, the heat only increasing. Craig lifted me from the marble countertop and started moving. I was so preoccupied with his lips, I didn’t care where he was taking us. All I cared about was him and the throbbing between my legs. I felt us climbing some stairs and heading down a long space before a door clicked open. Craig laid me down on a soft bed, not once breaking our kiss. I had changed into sweatpants and a large hoodie after the cave, but I wore no underwear. I could feel the slickness against my leg already. Craig broke our kiss allowing me a chance to catch my breath. He used his elbows to hover over me so he wasn’t crushing my body beneath his. Our hot breaths mingled together into one small cloud of passion. “We will take it slow,” he assured me. “But it will hurt.”I shook my head. “I don’t need slow. I just need all of you.”I was out of my mind thinking that I could handle him at first go without being tentative. But I was
*Dawn*We sat in the car, my hand in his over the console. His thumb absently rubbed the back of my hand gently. I felt whole and complete being with him like this. I watched the trees move past us as we went up the winding road on the side of the mountain. He hadn’t told me what we were going to do, but I had an inkling of how our night was going to transpire. I was nervous but I was also excited. I was ready for this. I was ready for us. Wherever we were going was hidden away from society, or at least it seemed that way. The large pine trees acted like walls on either side of the road. The sun peaked just beyond the horizon as it gave way to a new day.So much had transpired within the last 24 hours, it was crazy. I had almost died, Jason was lamost killed, I had come to accept Craig as my mate, and Serena was redoing Craig’s pack against any retaliation. The mark was also gone from skin and now, I was free to be claimed by another. I was hopeful for our future. But ther
I lifted Jason by his neck and held him in the air. I held onto his neck making sure to give him just enough oxygen to keep him alive but also closing in on his pipes so he felt the pressure. “Tell me,” I growled. Even with his face turning red, the bastard still smiled at me. “Craig, he is baiting you. If you kill him, then we lose the ability to help Dawn.” Serena was right. I threw Jason onto the floor and scowled at him. I had to pull my wolf back to keep him from murdering the man he so desperately wanted to kill. “How do I remove the mark, Jason? I will only ask you one more time.”He coughed trying to rid the pain from his throat. I could see the sausage like bruise marks on his neck. “I can tell you how to remove the mark. But what will I get in return?”“Your life,” I seethed. He looked up at me with those pitiful eyes of his. “You think yourself to be God, but you are nothing in this world, Craig. Just because you stopped me today, doesn’t mean that I
*Craig*We moved through the cave as quietly as we could. I could hear the faint mutterings of a male voice that I was sure was Jason. Serena was right behind me with her hand on my shoulder. The darkness was slowly fading away as we neared the end of the cave. I could see the yellow light from flame torches mixed in with the bright blue hue of the moon. “Alpha, we are almost ready.” I recognized that voice. I peered round fhe corner of the entry way to the dome structure and saw Dawn’s aunt Cassie. What the hell was she doing here with him? As far as I knew, Dawn and her had come to an agreement when she left after her visit. Had she not told me the whole truth? My eyes moved from Cassie, who stood in a long white cloak, to the woman was was laying on a stone tabel with her arms and feet bound to it. It was Dawn. Her eyes were wide open but she wasn’t moving. For a second, I thought she wasn’t breathing, but when I saw the rising and falling of her chest, I soon
*Craig*The only thing that was left in this fucking rooftop was the dinner table that he had set up for her. I had felt her and I had heard her voice call to me. She was in danger and she needed me. I had wasted no time getting here, but it was too late. They were long gone and I was left to think of a way to track her. I was trying to keep a level head but the fact that he had her had my entire body in knots. The man was psycho and I knew that he was plotting and planning something. I should have never allowed her to go. I should have just gone with my instincts at locked her away and hid her from him. So, what if she was angry with me? At least she would have been in my care and by my side. “You need to calm down,” Jared tried to reason with me over the phone, but it was no use. When I came to rooftop, she wasn’t there. “You being this angsty will not help her.”“And neither will me standing here and doing nothing!” My anger was not toward him and he knew that. But I
I was about to murder the last family I had. The rage that poured into me was unhealthy and it heated my body in every vein, cell and nerve. All I could see is red at the moment. I don’t fully remember getting up but one moment, I was on the ground and the next, I was lunging at my aunt. She was lucky that Jason got in between us because I was ready to take her down. The anger building inside of me was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The tears that had pricked my eyes seconds ago were completely gone now. Now my gaze was laser focused on my aunt who hid behind Jason like the coward she was. She had crossed the line. I mean she had crossed it far before this, but now, it was too much. She had cried tears of pure agony and regret and yet, here she stood, next to the man who was trying to capture me and make me his prisoner. “I trusted you! I forgave you!” I shouted.“I'm sorry,” she cried. “But I had to. This is for the good of the pack and all those involved.”“Not
As the words left my lips, I knew that I had made a mistake. His nostrils flared and his eyes raged with an anger I had never seen before. His fists were balled on the table as he held onto his metal knife for dear life. The man looked like he was ready to murder me, or at the very least, maim me. Shit.I had messed up dismally and now, I was about to pay the price for what I had done. “I have been nothing but patient with you, Dawn. I have taken your disrespect and I have even allowed you time to frolic here without a single care in the world. But you have taken it too far. Do you not understand how many sacrificed their lives just so you could be breathing right now?”The ice in his words hit right in the centre of my chest. “You think that this man will love you? That he will treat you any better than a common whore?” He slammed his fist only the table sending the food in my plate flying. “You are far more stupid than I had initially realized! How can you not see his tr