*Craig*There were many perks to being the Alpha one of the most powerful packs in the world. But there was always one short fall for the title I carried—I had to deal with elders who thought they knew far better than me simply because they had outlived the majority of their generation. Not only that, but I had to deal with other Alphas who acted as though we were in high-school. It was both frustrating and annoying. My time in Washington was nothing short of a shit show. From the moment I landed, I had complaints and rants of anger in each ear. It seemed like with each fire I put out, two more sprouted out in its place. I was drowning in a sea of politics, pettiness and stupidity. I had called on the seven Alphas of the north and south for assistance, but like I had expected, I was met with great resistance on their part. They were trying to attach decades old mistakes to the present day. Those were the actions of my forefathers but not me. I was a different man, my word me
*Dawn*I stared up at the ceiling completely lost in thought. Today was the first time in a long time I felt like I could breathe and then it was snatched away. I just wanted to have a normal life. I just wanted to go back to the way that things used to be. I didn’t want the stress or the horror of this wolf stuff. I wanted to cry it out but I had cried so much in the last two weeks, I had nothing left inside me. I was running on empty. The more books I read, the more questions I had. I worried about the first shift. I worried how I would deal with Jason, and Craig as well. I was still mad at him but for some reason, my heart was calling to him. I wanted him here and not wherever he was.I rolled over in my bed trying to calm my mind so I could get some sleep but I had been tossing and turning for hours and I knew that sleep was not going to come. Candice was out again in the town with her friends while I was here. I knew that I could just change and meet her in the tow
We worked well into the night on our respective pieces. Craig painted in silence, but he had moved his easel now and his body was now facing me instead of away. I couldn't see why he was working on though. He wanted to keep it a a secret until it was finally done.I, on the other hand, was not at all sure what I was doing. I had started and destroyed so many different shapes that I had lost count at 20. The creative juices just weren’t flowing the way they had that night. But I also think that had to do with the fact that I was not severely depressed anymore unlike that day. I had just squashed another wet piece when a granola bar was waved in front of my face.“You need to eat something,” Craig stated. He waved the bar in my face again. “It has cranberries in it.”I hated that he had picked up on my slight addiction to the fruit. I grabbed the treat with a grateful smile and moved away from my now destroyed piece. “Any progress on yours?” I asked.The man had taken off h
By the time we left the studio, I was feeling far better than I had when I came in. That pressure that was pushing back on me had lessened but it wasn’t entirely gone. “We have the next week off the competition,” Craig noted. His voice was low but in the dead of night it rippled through the air like a scream.“Yep.” I pooped the ‘p’ at the end. “I don’t know why they're giving us so much down time. After the first challenge, you would think they would want to get everything rolling.” In the back of my mind, that silent clock that was sent 10 days ago ticked away. I had 20 days left before my 30 days were up and I had to turn myself in to Jason.Dread seeped into my body. I tried to push away the negative emotions and just lived in the moment. Right now, I was with Craig under a beautiful moon. Jason was an ocean away and a problem I would face another day. “I didn’t know you could paint,” I started, changing the topic. I nudged my shoulder with his. “Why didn’t you enter u
We drove up some mountains and down a small trail that just about fit our car. The road was bumpy and if I was being honest, it did not suit the luxury vehicle we were in. But the nature around us was beautiful. We came to a stop just outside a large cave opening that looked a lot more ominous and off-putting than its surrounding of tall pine trees with sunlight streaming through it. The birds chirped all around us and the gentle wind brushed through the trees like a whisper. Craig went to the boot of the car and got out some flashlights and what looked like a gun. Normally, the gun would have freaked me out but I had seen so much in the past two weeks, that not much fazed me. I looked at the large opening of the cave. Up until this point, the trip had been easy and fun. But now, it was about to get a whole lot heavier. I didn’t know if I was fully prepared to find out what we were about to see. “Ready?” Craig came up beside me. His eyes then fixed on me. “You okay?”I no
I could not believe what I was hearing. “No.” I moved out of his hold. “Don’t do this to me, Craig.”His features softened. “I’m not lying to you, Dawn. You own me in every way a person can own a man. And I know you don’t feel the pull yet, but I’m sure you feel this…pull toward me. This unmistakeable attraction.”“I…” He was right I did feel the attraction. Was that what all those sparks were before? The mate bond?“I don’t know if I can believe you,” I continued. “After all the lies you have told and truths you have hidden, how do I know that this is for real? How do I know that this isn’t just another ploy to keep me at your side?”He surged forward and took hold of my hand in his. Immediately, small little sparks prickled my skin and my body reacted to him in the way it always did.“Trust this, trust this feeling.” He brought my hand over his heart. I could feel the fast, yet steady beating of that thing in the middle of his chest. “My heart beats for you. I breathe
*Craig*I was bound in steel to a metal chair with electrical pads pasted to my chest. I was surrounded by four concrete walls with no windows and no bars, just a small wooden door that led to I don't know where. The only source of light was a light bulb that high above my head like a spotlight. When they had transported me here, they had drugged me, so I was knocked out for the entirety of the journey. Serena leaned against the wall, looking as smug as ever. It infuriated me and my wolf. "A little far from home, aren't we, Serena?" I lifted my head to look at the corner where she stood. "You shouldn't have come all this way only to be told 'no.'"Nothing. She gave me nothing. All she did was stare at me through the shadows. "The great bloodhound," she tsked. "How the mighty have fallen, all for a little piece of pussy."I pulled against my restraints, but the more I pulled, the more the wolfsbane scarred my skin. "Fuck you, Serena!" "Oh, but then that would make your
I stared at the dean of the university like I had seen a ghost. Wrinkled face. Potbelly. A face only a mother could love.Edgar. I never liked the man. He thought of himself too highly and enjoyed making others squirm. I oculi break the man with the snap of my finger but I knew I had to play nice. I was not in a place where I could act out. I hated it. But his time would come soon enough. "Rescue me?" I said, tilting my head sideways."But of course." He set his mug down. "She was so worried about you. She thought that you were dead." "What are you talking about, Edgar?" "Who else would have the idiotic inclination to want to care for you? Dawn, clearly. The poor girl was hysterical when she woke up and couldn't find you. We had to sedate her to keep her from harming herself."I growled. "Where is she?"If he had harmed a single hair on her head, treaty or not, I would rip his heart out of his chest and feed it to him. There were few things in this world I