Troy Jonas Smart was not happy when I returned from the bathroom where I hid so I could mind link with Quinn. “I’m sorry. We need to cut this meeting short. My wife needs me for something at home.” Our meeting was in Jonas’s filthy strip club. It was so dirty that I was too afraid to touch anything in case I caught some rare, untreatable, extinct disease. I couldn’t even bring myself to sit down on one of the sticky barstools. “You know, I’m married too," Jonas said. "I don’t allow my wife to lead me around by the short and curlies like you do.” I raised my eyebrows and stared him right in the eyes until he backed down and lowered his gaze. I could never understand humans and their shallow feelings for their spouses. Wolves mated for life, humans didn’t, and my Lycan nature refused to accept that. I did not see the allure of a life where you didn’t commit fully to your mate. A life where you kept waiting for someone or something better to come along, and leaving a partner that was
Troy I listened quietly while Morella told me about the future, about how Quinn was going to break our bond and go to my father. “Why would she do that?” Morella shook her head. “The Fates do not reveal a person’s heart to me, only their actions.” “Okay,” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do I do to her that causes her to break the bond?” “You leave her.” “I would never. I-” Morella held up a hand to silence me. “You may or you may not. It all depends on you.” Sometimes, the witch could be really irritating with her riddles and refusal to reveal the whole truth to me. “Tell me what happens.” “I cannot tell you that.” “Why not?” I roared. “Tell me, so I can be prepared!” “I cannot tell you that which I do not know.” “Fuck!” I cursed. It wasn’t the witch that was being deliberately obtuse - it was the fucking fates themselves. “Okay, fine. You told Quinn to gather the she-wolves didn’t you?” “Yes. A she-wolf finds strength with her own kind.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said,
Quinn I explained to the women what Morella had showed me, how she told me that I’d break my bond with Troy and go to his father instead. All but Missus Lowry and Ida doubted Morella’s prophecy. “That means you can never leave,” the old housekeeper said. "You have to stay even if it hurts." "Yes," Giuliana agreed. "That is why we're here right? To keep you standing." “It's not that simple...I won't be the one who leaves. Troy is the one who leaves,” I explained. “At least...I think so. Morella was a little cryptic.” “I don't think the prince will leave,” Nell said. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” “Well,” Olivia chipped in, and gently squeezed my arm. “If he does leave, we’ll be here to make sure you don’t…go over a cliff and break your bond.” I glanced at Missus Lowry. “The end is not near,” I said to her, knowing she knew what I meant. It could mean she wouldn’t see the end of this war in her lifetime. “I think it won’t come for years yet.” “If you follow the path of break
Quinn “I don’t want you to make that promise to me,” I said to my Troy. “I have to,” he replied. “It’s the only way I’ll stay. I’ll force myself to stay because I keep my word. I think it’s my only redeeming quality.” “Shut up,” I said. “It’s not.” A dubious smile quivered around his lips. Troy let me go and got up to sit next to me. “You said Sebastian was afraid of you?” I nodded and put my head on Troy’s shoulder. He stiffened as if he suddenly didn’t like to feel me against him, then relaxed and rested his cheek on my crown. “At least that explains why he went…goes after you. If he thinks you can cast such a powerful spell before you’ve even matured, he’ll be under the impression that you’ll go feral the moment your powers manifest fully.” “Do I go feral?” “No,” he said. “It did…it will overcome you the first night, but from what I’ve seen, you keep your sanity.” I snorted loudly. “Can’t be.” “Why not?” “No sane person goes to Fionn Bailey out of their own free will.” “Y
Quinn"Where are we going?" I asked Troy."You'll see," he said mysteriously. "Dinner first though."By the time we were done with our supper the sun was already setting.I expected that we'd go to some kind of club or bar in Haverton, but Troy kept driving until we reached a town that was almost a hundred miles away. I knew this place, but not the name of the town. I passed through it on my way to Haverton. It was big enough to stay anonymous, but not so big that one could disappear.“There are almost no wolves here,” Troy declared.“Oh. Right,” I mumbled.My heart thrummed out a steady rhythm against my ribs. I was alight with excitement and nerves as Troy pulled into a half full parking lot outside a nightclub. "It's a fetish club," he declared, "but we are not going inside."Cars came and went, the headlights illuminating the inside of our vehicle as they drove past. “Get in the back seat,” Troy ordered.I climbed through the gap between the two front seats, but Troy got out and w
Troy Ever since Morella’s visit the previous day, I felt a little crack in my bond with Quinn. It wasn't too big yet, but it scared me. It would get worse if I did not attempt to heal the wound. I had some hope that we could mend the crack by being intimate – not just physically, but mentally – and indulging in what I considered a taboo fantasy helped with that a bit, but it was not enough. I didn't know if Quinn felt it, but I did. It was driving me insane. Like an itch I couldn't scratch. The itch woke me several times during the night, and every time it happened, I woke my mate up just so we could have sex or to talk to her while we cuddled. Yet, while I felt that little crack trying to heal throughout the night, it was back and bigger than ever when I woke the next morning. Ignoring my throbbing bladder, I went straight for the walk-in, eager to look at the painting while Quinn was still asleep; I needed to know if our promises and vows to each other changed anything. My hea
Troy I sat on one of the chairs in the darkened cinema room, watching the hands on my watch tick away the time. I tried to mind link with Quinn once, but she was still out of it, and all I felt from her was profound terror. I feared that she would see what I was about to do, but I could not let them go. I did not see any other way that would ensure my mate stayed and did not run to my father so they could burn down the world together. My father had to go for now - it was not yet his time - but perhaps Sebastian’s end would come sooner than Morella foresaw. My heart broke a little bit every time I thought about it, but I purposefully pushed the ache in my heart to the side and tapped into the part of me that was used to killing without any mercy. I needed that side of myself more than ever before. The soothsayer came out first. “I am Soothsayer Daniel,” he introduced himself as he climbed out of the hole. “Yeah,” I said. “I don’t care. Go upstairs to the Omega quarters. Ask for a
TroySomeone told the kings about Morella’s prophecy and they were trying to change the course of their destiny. That was why my father came here, why he'd take Quinn when the time came. They all knew what was going to happen to them, and they were trying everything in their power to fight against their own nature.It could work. That was the hell of it. If Morella, Eleanor, and even The Fates themselves were to be believed, it could work.That meant I'd have to change my approach. I could no longer sit back and wait for the right moment, for the day the kings would gather here at some undefined point in the future, when the princes would unite and kill their fathers in a display of solidarity.Whomever it was that blabbed did a piss poor job of it, and if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it was Magnus. He never did fully grasp the severity of what would happen if we did not succeed. He always thought it was a battle for the ultimate throne. To be the ruler of them all, but it was ne