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“DORMS Everyone! Don’t make me lock this place down! No movement until noon!”Only Declan’s voice chased me down the corridors. The man himself had let me go. My blood is pumping so hard I can feel a headache cresting. Every sinew is tensed, fists clenched imagining I still had her hair in my hands.Despite never entering the Black Hall before, it didn’t take me long to find her. Even in the darkness, her extravagant moans were easily distinguishable. Every sense was heightened by my rage, my wolf urging me to fight. Fight and finally take some justice for myself.I had never even considered that she would not be locked up. She is guilty of trying to have me hurt, if not murdered by Ronan. How can everyone not see this? How could Declan? How could he talk of love, possibly being mated and wanting me to keep me safe! Pack first, survival first. Fuck him then.“Wait up!” Elvie cried, her bare feet slapping the concrete. “What the hell just happened? You nearly scalped her!”“Would I hav
His lips were on mine. His hands clench my hair. How is this happening? I knew if I lifted my hands up from the metal door, I would find his solid smooth chest. I would feel the warmth of his skin, the rush of his pulse. If I opened my eyes, his irises would be blazing gold. The confidence that oozed from him was almost hypnotic. Around Viktor, everything seemed so possible, so easy. Cat burglar, escape artist, seducer, lock picker, master forger. So many twisted skills, a dozen lives lived already. He never had a care in the world. Even now. He’s been practically starved for a week, and he’s still smiling, still making me giggle. As my mouth opened just enough to allow his tongue to find mine, I felt uneasy. It felt so good because it wasn’t real. It was betrayal. Deep in the back of my mind, I knew danger swirled alongside his swagger. This was the man who held a knife to my throat, who tricked me with that same knife when I first found him hiding. All this, suddenly finding me
I don’t know if Reu left his door open on purpose but like the sneakiest lowlife I eavesdropped. I stood with my back planted against the concrete wall and squeezed my eyes shut as she wept. Weeping into another man's arms. I love Reu like a brother, I trust him with my life but it should have been me she poured her heart out too. I was holding the long cotton top she had flung back at me. The slightest hints of vanilla simultaneously wounding and lifting me. What Reu said about anger, about both of us being damaged. Well, there might be some truth in that. What direction does my life take now that I have achieved my twenty year aim of destroying Valdis? I could be installed as Alpha of this pack. Or a mercenary, employed by the Rogue council for further dirty work. I don’t have a clue. “Reu, I can’t look away from the past either, how am I meant to help Declan?” Hearing her say my name made that bit under my ribs ache. Reu groaned in frustration, I could just imagine him running
After Reu silently escorted me back to the dorm I climbed into bed and collapsed into a void of sleep. Yesterday’s recovery, the full moon, Corina, Viktor and his knife all happened in just a few short hours. I had nothing left to give. . “Do we wake her? It’s been like eighteen hours now?” Mara whispered, her voice full of concern. Adding up without frowning takes me an embarrassingly long time to realise it is almost midnight. Shit, that’s a hell of a sleep. “No! She’ll wake when she’s ready. She’s not locked in that weird fear-thing anymore. She's just tired. So, fancy moving to a guys dorm now the rules have changed?” I could easily imagine Elvie’s mischievous smirk and dazzling eyes flashing with amusement as Mara floundered. In a low voice filled with hesitation, Mara said. “No, no there’s nobody. Just the Full Moon fun and games. It’s not love, so what’s the point of dressing it up? What goes on down here as something more?” Underneath my blanket I felt my heart race in a
I woke with a start, the weight of Declan’s arm across me, the unfamiliar bed all giving me a momentary flash of panic. Realising I was still snuggled up with the huge body of Declan, I smiled and gently nuzzled in closer. As I wriggled into his warmth, my rear rubbed against the ridges of his v-line. Slowly, tantalisingly I felt his cock come to life just beneath me. He wore sweatpants but I could feel every inch of him rising. He grunted sleepily, his face nuzzling into the back of my neck. The tickle of his short brown beard and heat of his breath on my bare skin was exquisite. I clenched my legs together, aware that I was already feeling a desperate, longing heat. There was no way to blame this on my wolf. After a few minutes, my body still reacting to his sleepy movements, I allowed my free arm to move downwards. I felt his hard length prodding at me and couldn’t help my breath hitching. Rock solid, huge and perfect, as my heating core twinged with its own ideas I stayed still
The past few weeks have been like walking across a rickety bridge. As happy as I am to wake up with Lyra each morning, something is coming. She knows it too. We’re both just enjoying this strange, precious little segment of time before everything turns sour. Both of us know the realities of life. People like us aren’t made for happy endings. So for now we enjoy every single night. Whilst Howen could be found fucking Corina up against a corridor wall last week, proudly displaying their so-called relationship Lyra and I are more cautious. I am watching everyone. I spend all day going from place to place, trying to catch snippets of conversation. Assess the mood It hurts me to see Howen so easily turned by Corina. Have his years with Reu and I mean nothing? Two meals a day are starting to annoy folk. Of course it will. Especially the Rogues. As Fabian scowls into his bowl I announce to the queue of waiting men, “Look, we’re big guys, we love our food. We aren’t made for small portions
After he explained everything, we settled into a soft silence. Laid in his bed, it almost felt possible to ignore the outside.I wanted to shout down every one of these musty grey corridors that Declan and Reu weren’t villains. He was a man who had endured so much and deserved everyone’s respect. Cuddled together, we talked softly about so many things. He told me about growing up here as a boy. We had played in the same mossy hidey-holes that I once cowered in. We searched the same caves for imaginary treasure.I heard about the other Rogues' backgrounds. Fabian and Dill, the grey-eyed curly-blonde haired twins, were found after Valdis tore through their pack a hundred miles from here. For no reason other than to prove he could. He imagined a challenge and burnt it down.The same for the dark-skinned, quiet Mitra and Naji, the two youngest rogues. Closer to my age, they had been tortured for months before arranging their own resistance movement. I had thought they wore tattoos up th
I might be caged but I’m not beaten. So Lyra woke and shacked up with Declan. She’s signed her own death warrant for touching me like that. Dragging me by hair in front of everyone! I heard the gossip. It was relentless. Weeks I’ve spent listening to them laughing about my face hitting the concrete wall, how Lyra went easy on me. It left my nails bitten to the quick in frustration. I was so close. I might be stuck in my fathers room but an open door allows a lot of chatter to float my way. She doesn’t even realise the whole reason my father kept her alive was as bait for her mother to return. She is nothing more than a maggot on a fishing line as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Of course, my fathers room still contains no codes. Howen has been helping. He carried all my furs and belongings in too. Grinning proudly, his long red beard constantly brushes against me. He acts like we have moved in togrther.. His broad shoulders, six-pack and thighs like tree trunks have not
### FIVE YEARS LATER ### The truck has seen better days. More grey than black it trundles us wherever we need. Declan has become the expert at fixing it, fully aware that I absolutely love it when he gets oil on his hands or face. Rolling up his sleeves, showing his huge forearms that are solid from hard work, I offer up a daily prayer of thanks to the Goddess. “You are sure this is the place?” “I heard about it from the others back home.” Home was our small fishing village named Filney. Today was an unusual adventure for us, having barely left our little world for so long. Leaving the fortress all those years ago we had just headed south. With no more diversions or magnetic tourist attractions to show me, Declan took me to the very furthest tip of our nation. It still took a couple of months to get so far south. Just as he had dreamed, I fell asleep in the truck, waking up to him gently nudging me. However back then there had been no bump, just the first twinges of nausea and
The rumours were true. Only a minute or two after we got Howen and Pearl onto the ground did a silent shaft of light blaze down. Watching from outside the fortress it appeared painful, the way everyone dropped to the floor covering their eyes. Even I had to shield my eyes with my hands.From what I could see amidst the whiteness Elvie appeared to have lost her mind, stood tall, flailing her arms and shouting upwards. Declan held me close, wrapping his leather jacket back around my shoulders and kissing the top of my head.“Thank you,” leaning into him, loving the warmth of his huge body against mine.“What for?”“For not wanting to change us.”Declan shifted, leaning against the black truck door. “Can I say I am happy with myself without sounding like a dick? I’m covered in damage but I don’t care anymore.”“Well you are perfect, to me at least.” I smiled, watching him roll his eyes even though he squeezed me a little tighter. As quickly as it descended the beam vanished. From a dista
The past few months have been a blur. When the Goddess light first appeared I didn't have a clue what to do. Instinct took over as I shredded into Reu's jacket with my claws, my wolf somehow emerging for the first time since I accidentally shifted at fourteen. I was whipped so severely for just my claws emerging in front of a Beta that I never tried it again. But when the light subsided, returning us to cold darkness I was sprawled underneath Reu in my wolf form. "What the fuck just happened?" Dill shouted, as everyone rubbed their eyes and huddled. Nearly everyone had dropped to the floor, unable to find their way indoors in the searing brightness. "Is everyone okay!" Reu shouted, clambering to his feet, his white hair a ragged mess. "Does anyone need help!" Everyone gasped as he stood up, revealing my shifted form. All the originals knew what a big deal it was. "Elvie is that you!" Arlen cried out, pointing in surprise. Then Sol gasped. "Arlen your…your hands!" "Dill your fac
I squealed as Declan roughly shoved me into Pearl, scattering us to the ground.Then I saw why. Holding a long-barrelled shotgun, eyes blazing a furious gold stood Viktor. He was red-faced, sweating with exertion. Blonde hair now hung down to his shoulders, dirty and tangled. “What the fuck are you doing here,” Viktor said with a sneer, keeping the barrel pointed directly at Declan’s face. Manoeuvring so he could see all three of us togethe, his once handsome face twisted in smug victory.Gesturing the gun quickly towards me I gasped in fear as he mocked us. “You’re looking good Lyra, and a pretty friend too. My Declan, aren't you getting adventurous. Or did you fancy a less damaged slut for a while?”“Fuck off,” Pearl growled but this was no time for trading insults. Not when my mate had a gun waved in his face.“You’ve hidden the golden wolf here then?” Declan said flatly, flexing his huge chest, parting his legs to try and cover Pearl and I. From my crouched position I could feel
Lyra, forever formed of kindness and light raced to her side, Skidding into the blood and straw, not caring about her light cotton dress as she cradled Mara’s long blonde hair in her hands. “Mara what happened to you! Shit! Pearl, get some help, quick!” As the guard swore and cursed his bad luck, Pearl ran off. I heard her rummaging around in the guard room at the top of the corridor. Mara spluttered, her teeth stained with blood. Lyra carefully stroked her blonde hair away from the blood on her face, as gently as a mother would a newborn. “Lyra he…I did everything he asked.” “But you hurt people for him? The guards at the fortress, the men in this gold sale?” “I had to! I didn’t want to but he told me it was the only way. The only way we could be together. We put the golden wolf safe then came here to sell the little trinkets,” as she got upset her words became more ragged, her breathing starting to rattle. “We had such a good time…it was, he was perfect.” Pearl came scampering b
I have failed. Six months ensuring nothing harmed her happiness and I’ve gone and trashed it anyway. Those green eyes are filled with confusion and it’s all because of me. Because of something as simple as a dream. Albert having finally waddled downstairs, I slowly walk towards her. For the first time she steps backwards. Fuck. “You want to find Viktor? Howen? Both of them?” “I have to,” I confessed sadly, slumping down to sit on the soft bed. I rubbed at my eyes, running my hands through my short brown curls in frustration. “Lyra, these nightmares…these dreams are telling me I’ve got to do something.” “What dreams?” her voice softening, even though her arms are still folded. I keep my head in my hands, gripping my hair tightly as I force the words out. “Last night, I saw Howen as he was, as a young man being led away from me by Viktor, into a crowded road. I run, I search. I kill strangers in the streets to try to get to him. It drives me feral to the point where my dream ends wi
Of course leaving the Fortress wouldn’t be complete without some final bloodshed. Seeing how Declan’s brotherhood had torn themselves to pieces the instant Beldon died was sobering. When I asked if we needed to tell the rest of the Rogues waiting back at the base, Declan shook his head. “The ones that made it out would have high-tailed it straight back there anyway."“What made Beldon and Morrell so…angry?” “I think they let their Bond fail. I don’t think you can live a life that violent, however well intentioned and not let it taint something pure,” Declan replied flatly. “Once that starts to rot, it all falls apart. Like how you described Corina.”So with Beldon’s body gingerly dragged from the flatbed of the dented black truck, we left. We were silent for the first few hours. Mainly because I was staring out of the window like an idiot at everything new. Declan was content to just drive, and watch me from the corner of his eye. Seeing the cragged black mountains up close, actual
Declan and Lyra left a few days ago. Elvie and I insisted on being the ones to take them back to what was left of the Rogue camp. On the snowmobiles, carrying machine guns and blades, we found a site of devastation. Blood had been spilled. A huge amount of it judging by the snowy corpse-clumps in the ground. Only one truck remained, Beldon’s frosted corpse. Tent sheeting flapped with claw marks, chunks of leather clothing shredded. Elvie and Lyra had shuddered to discover Amelie under one of the collapsed tents. “So this is Rogue law?” Elvie had muttered with a bitter tone. “You never know with Amelie, she may have struck the first blow or tried to lead a group attack,” I said after a minute's consideration. She always wanted to play big.She wouldn’t have even been up here had she not begged to come. Sitting quietly around every campfire for years, I have learned to watch people when they think they aren’t being studied. Amelie wanted more than her usual piece of Dec the instant
Seeing Declan standing above my bed, blanket in hand, face flushed with desire I had for a second assumed it was just another fantasy. Too much hugging of the sandalwood-scented pillow, tricking myself again.Then he kissed me. He was so real. With a desire that bordered on frenzy, he seized and fucked me so exquisitely I felt I was coming apart at the seams. Only his gruff, heavy hold over my body kept me together. There was no feeling like it in the world when he sunk that deep inside. Laid next to him, watching the rise and fall of his chest, my toes curled at the memory of how he grabbed my ass, admiring me even though I knew my back was littered with scars.I love how even in his sleep, if I try to move away he instinctively pulls me closer. So excited to have him home I study him, unable to rest myself. His brown hair is shaggy and unkempt. That brown beard I love is even more ragged and needs trimming after so many days away.Despite the fighting and lack of food, Declan’s bod