Trista’s POV Lola’s screams pierced the air. I continued to walk away. She was being banished. Her screams were high-pitched. I could hear the pain in her voice. Right now, they were dragging her to the pack border.Just like they’d dragged me five years ago.I had a brief flash of sympathy for her.Five years ago, I’d suffered a horrific double torture. First, the breaking of my mate-bond. Then, being banished.Banishment.It had changed a bit over the course of history because now we could go and live in human society. That hadn’t always been the case. There was a time when a banished wolf had very few options. They were destined to be rogues, forever without a pack. It was dangerous. Many of them died.But now? A lot of rogues chose to integrate into the human world. That’s what I’d done. It wasn’t easy, though. A wolf’s pack is the root of all things. It’s the anchor that holds us. Our security. Our culture. Our ancestral past. Our packs are a primitive bond that holds us
Trista’s POVI couldn’t help but notice Johnson’s naked body as he stood. His clothes had long since been torn to shreds and my tiny cardigan did little cover his muscular frame as we walked away from the water and down the beach. His chest was glistening from the water. Normally, I would have taken a moment to appreciate and admire his perfectly sculpted chest. But time was of the essence. We had to get out of here. So I tried to avert my eyes. Luckily, we had found his torn pants. They must have stuck to his fur or something.I noticed the gash marks on his thighs as we walked along. They looked deep. He also had some across his chest, as well as a bite mark on his neck. The wounds were already healing, but I had to admit, they were pretty bad. This made the situation even more urgent. We had to get somewhere safe so he could heal.We avoided everyone as we walked back to the car. We could see the bonfire flames in the distance and heard loud laughter and howls. Luckily, we managed
Trista’s POVJohnson sat down beside me, beer in hand.“Well, to my first werewolf wedding,” he sighed, clinking his beer bottle with mine.I smiled weakly. “Was it everything you thought it would be?” I asked sarcastically. “And then some,” he confessed.We sat in silence for a moment, both of us uncertain of what to say.“You know, it really was beautiful, though,” he sighed. “I was a bit shocked at first, by the blood and knives. But once I got past that, there was something very meaningful about the rituals. Almost…transcendent.”I nodded. This was a very different Johsnon than the one who had fired off questions like a child during the wedding. This was the Johnson I knew – the mature, retrospective, intelligent Johnson.“Werewolves love their rituals,” I responded. “Some of our rituals date back centuries. We take them very seriously.”He took my hand then and squeezed it. “Were you afraid?”There was no sense beating around the bush. We needed to talk about what happened. I
Johnson‘s POVTrista clinked her bottle with mine and settled back into her chair. Her smile unfurled as she took my hand.I sighed with relief.Everything was okay. She wasn’t afraid of me. I hadn’t hurt her.Thank God. Or the Moon Goddess, as the werewolves say.The pain in my neck was almost completely gone. My mind flashed back to the pain I’d felt when I turned back into a human.I wasn’t being completely honest with Trista. I’d glossed over how much the shift had actually hurt. And I told her I couldn’t remember anything.That wasn’t exactly the truth.The truth was…well…it was almost too horrific to think about.I remember seeing her in the tent. Carlos and his sister had her pinned down. I saw that her dress was torn open. Carlos appeared to be sexual assaulting Trista while she was struggling helplessly. Anger rose in me, and I reshed toward the tent. Then I saw a beast, a big wolf pounce on them. I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that Trista was in danger. And
Trista‘s POVKnock. Knock. Knock. It sounded like thunder in my head. I opened my eyes and realized it was just Hazel knocking on my door. Sunlight flooded through the window.It was morning. I squinted in the light. I had a headache. I must have drank a bit too much beer with Johnson last night. He must have brought me to bed and tucked me in, too. Because my memory was a bit groggy and I didn’t remember going to bed“Trista?” Hazel called from the living room. “I let myself in. I hope that’s okay?”“I’m coming,” I called from the bedroom. Of course it was okay. I’d given Hazel a key. She was welcome in my home any time.I quickly wrapped myself in a housecoat and went out to meet her in the kitchen. She was already putting on a pot of coffee. I yawned and scratched my head.“I need some serious caffeine, stat,” I told her. Then I glanced at the clock.Oh my! It was past nine!I didn’t hear my kids. Their shoes were by the front door were gone. Johnson must have brought them to schoo
“Well,” she started. “Carlos’ position at the company has been suspended indefinitely.”“Serves him right,” I said. “What about Lola?”“Apparently she threw quite the fit last night after she was evicted. Like, full on temper tantrum. She made a complete ass of herself. But…I guess she just disappeared sometime in the middle of the night.”“She probably went to beg other packs to take her in. Or to find a place here in town, in human society.”“Maybe,” Hazel shrugged, sipping her coffee. “At the end of the day, they got punished. Both of them. They’re evil and their actions have consequences. Carlos can’t have kids and Lola is evicted now. It really doesn’t affect me. I’m Beta of Blue Moon Crescent. That’s all I ever wanted. All I have to lose over all of this is an unloving, jerk of a husband. So yeah. I’m good.” She flashed me a smile.“What did you think of Liam?” she asked.“What about Liam?” I chewed thoughtfully on the pancakes.“I mean, about his decision to NOT accept Lola as
Trista’s POVI met her concerned eyes. She knew. She was partly asking me, partly telling me that she knew. She knew that Johnson was the white beast.There were no secrets between me and Hazel. We were best friends – sisters. So I nodded.“Yes,” I confirmed.“Oh Trista,” she said, clamping her hand over mine. We were both very worried, and it felt good to share this worry and burden with someone else.“He doesn’t know,” I told her. “Not really. I mean, he knows that he turned into some sort of beast. But he can’t…he can’t remember everything. He doesn’t know how strong and powerful he really was.”Hazel pressed her lips together, paused in thought.“Well, I heard he was frantic. Almost completely out of control. He just sort of came out of nowhere and started causing havoc. A dozen of our strongest warriors couldn’t even stop him.”“Oh,” I said, as my heart dropped. I hadn’t heard that side of the story. All I had known was that he appeared in the tent, fought the wolves, and then le
I thought about that for a moment. I've seen it all in the five years we've been together and how well he takes care of the kids. Although we haven't officially confronted our relationship, the kids love him and he's their Johnson Daddy. on that level, he's become my actual family. Yes, I guess if I were to describe the relationship between Johnson and I, we are more like family than friends.I nodded.“Yes. I know he’s not technically family. But he’s an integral part of my life. So I guess I’m factoring him in, you know? And if he gets into trouble here, then I’ll leave with him.”“That would be very sad for Liam,” Hazel said. “If you left.”I wasn’t surprised that Hazel sympathized with Liam. He had, after all, just shown his loyalty to her at the pack hospital when Alpha Jeremy was being a total asshole. And if I was being honest with myself, Liam was really good to Hazel. So I understood her return loyalty to him.I, however, was NOT factoring Liam into my life choices. Whether