Hunter’s POVIt was time for my memories to come back.Now Jane knew how she felt about me, deep down, we needed to be able to develop our new connection. She couldn’t do that with a giant baby; she needed a little taste of the real me.Reg poked his head out around the block, his paws covering his eyes. ‘Is it safe to come out?’ he asked, lifting one paw slowly and squinting out at me.‘Drama queen,’ I muttered. ‘Yes, it’s safe.’‘Well, I can’t be too careful with you around, Hunter!’ he chided. ‘Remember that time I saw you doing a naked conga line? You were holding a pineapple, yes, that’s it!’ He laughed. ‘And then you put the pineapple on your head and did the helicopter–’‘Sorry, who are you talking about? Because that sure as hell wasn’t me.’‘Well, it was you if I say it was.’ He shrugged.My face paled. ‘Do you – do you make stuff up like this regularly? And do you tell people this nonsense?’‘Oh, yeah! All the time! Ian loves hearing it, and he’s such a gossip he tells every
Jane’s POVI spun around, my jaw dropping. “No, Colin!” I cried. ‘Yes, Colin!’ cheered Ina. ‘It’s all coming together. You and Colin and Leif…’I tuned her out. “You can’t,” I went on, but Leif cut me off.“I don’t want you.” He sneered. “Just Jane.” He turned to me, eyebrows raised. “So what do you say? A hundred thousand dollars to be my sex slave. Do we have a deal?” He held out his hand.I swallowed hard as I eyed his hand, which was meaty and shaking slightly. That much money could get me out of here. It could keep my boys safe…I reached for his hand and shook it firmly. “I’ll be your sex slave,” I said.Colin grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, his brown eyes burning with intensity. “Don’t go,” he rasped. “Please, Jane. Just… don’t go.” ‘Oh, Jane!’ Ina pouted. ‘Look at those big sad eyes. How can you leave my chef like that? Let him come with you! He’d make a great sex slave – just look at those broad shoulders! And you remember how great last night was.’‘You just want Coli
Jane’s POVColin spun around, leaping at Keila again. She shifted before he could touch her, her big wolf form sprouting from her flesh. She snarled at him, lowering her muzzle to snare his shirt as he skidded to a halt in front of her.He was an Alpha. I didn’t understand why he didn’t just shift! An Alpha wolf would easily be able to handle Keila’s rogue wolf. Then I remembered what Ina had said before – that Alpha Colin didn’t have a scent because he was hiding a big secret. Did that secret have something to do with the fact he never let anyone see his wolf form?Keila shuddered, shifting out and holding Colin flush to her naked body. She licked a trail from his collarbone to his ear, laving the skin behind his neck. He was completely expressionless as she did, but the second she stopped he met my gaze with desperation in his eyes.“Jane, please,” Colin said, staring at me with huge brown eyes that looked so, so familiar for a moment that I frowned at him. Was it his resemblance to
Jane’s POVLeif threw me into a cell. I felt the cold bite of the concrete against the bare soles of my feet; I heard the metallic clang of the door swinging shut and the rasp of the lock being forcibly closed by rough hands.But I had no idea which cage he’d chucked me in. ‘Colin is in the middle,’ Ina reminded me, ‘so whichever one you’re in, you’ll be able to touch him through the bars. Why don’t you try to walk to the edge so you can feel your way around?’‘What’s the point?’ I sighed around the gag, recoiling from the wet cloth pressing my tongue down. ‘I can’t get out of this, Ina.’‘The point is that Colin might be able to help you out of the gag and blindfold, dummy! Do you want to stand still like a statue the whole time Leif is gone? That could be hours! At least try to make yourself more comfortable before you give up.’‘You’re right.’ I straightened my spine as much as I could, wincing as I felt the cable ties around my wrists digging in. But before I could step forward a
Jane’s POVStood alone in the dark, with even Ina blocked out, I didn’t know how long I waited. My ears strained constantly to hear anything, but no sound reached me in the dungeon. Cool air made my naked skin prickle. If I thought about Colin, I would be torn apart – half by lust, half by terror. I could still feel his hands mapping out the contours of my body, his tongue laving the soft spot behind my ear, his fingers teasing…But where had Keila taken him? What was she doing to him? Somehow, I didn’t get the feeling that she was pretending the way Leif was.Eventually I heard the soft slide of a door opening upstairs. I twisted around, wishing I could hug my arms around myself. “It’s me, Jane,” said Leif, and I couldn’t decide if I was more relieved or disappointed that it was his voice and not Alpha Colin’s. I grunted into my gag.“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he muttered. His rapid footsteps accompanied his words, and a moment later I heard the grind of metal as he opened the cell
Jane’s POVI stared at Leif, my eyes wide. Did he really believe that? Had this whole sex slave thing been a ruse to get me here? Was that why there’d been so much tension between us in the bedroom? I was so confused– ‘Excuse me?’ Ina cried, pointing an accusing paw at Leif. ‘You’re lying, pal!’‘How do you know?’ I hissed. ‘You aren’t my true wolf, right?’She sniffed. ‘No, I’m better. Where is your true wolf, huh, Jane? And anyway,’ she tutted, ‘I just know these things. Leif isn’t your mate. You know in your heart who is,’ she said, unusually wisely, and my back stiffened. I didn’t want to think about that guy. It didn’t matter what my heart felt or what the Moon Goddess had chosen for me. He’d hurt me too many times. So I took Leif’s hand and smiled at his mother. “It’s true,” I said, dipping my head respectfully towards her. “It’s nice to meet you.”She stilled. She opened her mouth.But before she could speak, Keila screamed.“Your mate?” she roared, standing up so abruptly h
Jane’s POV‘Her what now?’ cried Ina, putting her paws over her ears. ‘No no no! It can’t be! Colin can’t be that crazy lady’s mate! She just wants to use him and lick his abs. Not that I can blame her for that, they are delicious…’I stared at Colin, my mouth going slack. He wasn’t looking at Bea, the so-called mother of his mate. He was looking at me.‘Keila isn’t his mate,’ I scoffed. ‘He’s lying. Is it just to get a reaction out of me?’ From the way he was analysing my every breath, I had to think so. Then my heart dropped. ‘Is it just to hurt me?’ My chest panged. ‘I’d started to think Colin was different. I shouldn’t have let myself forget that all men are trash, Ina.’‘Don’t talk about my Chef Colin like that,’ said Ina, but she didn’t sound as sure of herself as usual.Bea gasped. “Both of my children have found their mates? And one is the Alpha of the Desert Assassin pack, no less?”She fell into excited conversation with Alpha Colin. I sat rigidly in my seat, waiting for a g
Jane’s POVFury burned hot through my veins. Rage consumed my soul. I lurched away from the wall and clenched my hands into fists.I was going to kill them. I didn’t have my poisons with me, but I had an Alpha wolf. And, above all else, I was a mother. Nothing would stop me from protecting my sons.‘I’m with you, girl!’ cried Ina. ‘I’m ready! Let’s take down these mother fu–’A hand closed over my mouth. Another grabbed me by the waist. I was yanked backwards, silenced and dragged away from my prey. I writhed against the hands that bound me, desperate to break free.‘Ina, shift out!’‘I can’t! Look who’s holding you. I’ll hurt him.’I twisted in his arms. It was Alpha Colin.His jaw was locked and, for a moment, I could’ve sworn his deep, soulful brown eyes were a cold, steely blue. I baulked – only to realise I was imagining things. That guy wasn’t here. I was so scared of him, so full of hatred aimed at him and only him, that I was starting to see glimpses of him in places he’d neve
Jane’s POV “Hunter?” I frowned at his back as he marched me up the stairs to our bedroom. “What’s going on?” He shot me a reassuring smile over his shoulder, but didn’t slow his pace. “I just need to talk to you.” We’d moved out of the pack house. It held too many memories for us both. Now, we lived in what was basically a small mansion on the edge of the forest, not far from Rose and S’s house. It was light and airy, all warm wood and draping ivy paired with gleaming, modern appliances and crisp, cream-painted walls. The kids had a room each: Owen’s filled with state-of-the-art tech gadgets, Ares’s with workout equipment, and Ava’s with easels and canvases and a drawing tablet. They had everything they needed, and more space than Owen and Ares had ever had, but most nights they dragged their mattresses into each other’s rooms and slept huddled together. We were safe now, but we’d all been through so much. Too much. I hoped my kids were young enough that they’d recover from the t
Hunter’s POVKim ran towards me, his jaw wide, his canines glinting in the weak sunlight. Owen and Ava clung haphazardly to his back. Fear flashed through me. I started towards them–But they were safe, and Jane was safe, and I was safe, and we were home. I sucked in a long, slow breath, and a forced a smile as they neared me. The smile took hold, tucking itself into the corners of my mouth, and by the time my children had reached me I was grinning at them. I opened my arms wide, and the three of them ran straight at me. We tumbled to the ground, rolling in the grass, laughing; Kim licked my face, and Ava and Owen scrambled into my arms.“Hey, kids.” I pulled back and ruffled their hair. Kim rolled onto his back, his paws sticking up in the air. Ava rubbed his belly.‘Wow,’ I said to Reg dryly, ‘he really is your son.’‘I saw Ares eat a salad the other day – and enjoy it.’ Reg shuddered. ‘I love him, but that really threw me.’I pinched the bridge of my nose. ‘Don’t remind me. Then
Jane’s POVTime passed strangely after that.There were noises out in the hall. Noises I probably should’ve listened to, made something of, but…What was the point? Hunter was gone. My heart, my soul – my life – was dead.My throat closed up around the words I’d spoken. I’d bared every important moment of my life to the Moon Goddess, bound my prayer in my story, and she hadn’t listened.She hadn’t listened.I knew Ava was still with me, still clinging half to me and half to her daddy, and that was the last straw for me. Her pain became glass shards, which scraped at the raw edges of my own wound.For a while, my hurt was so immense that I felt nothing at all. If Nina or Ava spoke to me, I didn’t hear them. I was numb, frozen to the spot, Hunter’s lifeblood going cold and sticky on my palms.Beneath the frost of my numbness, though, a fire roared. I was terrified to start feeling again, to start moving. The second I moved my aching legs and stood up, time would start again.And the sec
Jane’s POVI shifted out. “No!” I wailed. I fell to my knees, then crawled over to him. My fists pounded the cold, metallic floor with every weak, shuffling movement I made.“You can’t be gone,” I whimpered, tears streaming down my cheeks, a lump forcing my throat to close around the words. “You can’t be.”But I knew that he was. The mate bond writhed and shrieked within me, screeching out for the severed other half of its soul.“Hunter?” I choked, grabbing him gently. His head lolled back as I moved him. His eyes were open; their blue irises were cold, so cold, and his pupils were unseeing. Cuts nicked his face.I pried him away from his father. Hunter’s body was merged with Reg’s: his hands were furry and clawed, but the rest of him was human. I wished he had human hands I could hold.It was that thought that shattered me entirely. I would never be able to hold his hand again. It was silly, and childish, and pathetic, but it was that notion that broke me. Not that I had lost my ma
Jane’s POV I was torn between my sons. Owen was safe – for now – so I turned my attention to Ares. His wolf, Kim, hit the ground. I bit back a cry– Kim rolled over, tussling with his attacker. He snarled, revealing huge canine teeth, then dove his muzzle at the other wolf’s neck, again and again and again. Blood spurted, slicking his fur coat. Then they were rolling again, slamming sideways into the thinning crowd of battling werewolves. The wolf on top of Kim was grey, and as big as him, but its size looked abnormal – the result of performance enhancing drugs, not nature, as Kim’s stature was. They fell back, circling each other. Kim’s upper lip pulled back from his teeth, revealing shining white canines with blood dripping from them. My stomach turned over. Beneath that fur coat was my sweet son, who wasn’t quite seven years old yet. He and his brother had seen so much – too much – already. Kim pounced. The grey wolf was a half-second behind, but lunged forward with a snarl the
Jane’s POVAlpha Dylan – or what was left of him – pounced at Hunter. A scream built in my throat, but I was helpless to do anything. He’d given me a chance to get our kids out safely, and I wasn’t going to waste it.I wasn’t even sure how I was alive right now. One moment, I’d been lost to the foggy darkness of unconsciousness, and glad of it, too, after all the pain I’d been forced to endure. Even in the depths of nothingness, I’d known that agony beckoned in the light.But there were other things there besides the pain. Love, in all its many forms, waited for me here. My children. My mate. My friends.So I clung to wakefulness with everything I had and prayed that whatever was keeping me awake would keep working for another second, another minute, another hour. I needed every moment I could steal to get my kids to safety.Amy kicked the door open. My view of Hunter disappeared as Carl pushed me through it. The last I saw of him was his own father grinning at him, sick, twisted, sad
Hunter’s POVEverything moved in a blur. My eyes were fixed on my father, his mutated wolf filling my field of vision as he moved swiftly towards me. But, from the corner of my eye, a sudden burst of movement snagged my gaze.Jane sat bolt upright. She looked like a zombie, her wounds unhealed, her eyes blank – but she was moving, scrambling to grab the kids, crying out my name as my attention was forced back onto my dad.His jagged claws caught the edge of my shoulder. I shifted out before he could claim the upper hand, letting Reg’s powerful body burst out of mine.My father sneered down at me. The knobbed ridge of his spine seemed to snap as he bent low, his sickly orange eyes meeting mine. I could smell his stale breath. “You always were weak,” he said, his voice a hollow growl. It didn’t sound like it had; it was all wolf, vicious and as broken as he was.Suddenly, I wasn’t a grown man, a strong Alpha, a mate, standing before a weak and unwell old man who had clearly gone to desp
Hunter’s POVIt was too late. My hand was on the doorknob and it was already swinging open.There was no turning back now. Reg wailed. ‘I can smell her blood! Jane’s hurt! Jane’s dying! Jane’s dead!’The buzzing in my ears drowned out his mournful howls. Everything was moving in slow motion as I finished easing open the door. I took it all in whilst observing nothing other than the most heart-breaking thing I’d seen since… since...The present was so horrifying it eclipsed even my darkest memories.Jane was lashed securely to a metal table. My heart broke and, somewhere through the haze of my heartache, all I could think was: she must be so cold.Her limbs stuck out at odd angles. Blood covered her. But worst of all was her face. It was empty. It was like someone had made a perfect physical copy of her but had left out the most important part: her soul. The waxy figurine atop the metal table looked like Jane, broken and bruised but still my Jane, only without the bright spark of de
Hunter’s POVI expected for my world to spin off its axis at those words – but it didn’t. In fact, I felt very little. Nothing at all.I’d never clicked with Obie. I’d always been drawn to Ava but never to him. In my mind, she’d been my daughter and Obie had been Amy’s son. Huh. Now I knew why.That was why I fixed Carl with a cold stare and said flatly, “I know.”Compared to the other revelations I’d been through lately – hell, even in just the last few hours – this barely made me bat an eye. Maybe it was because I cared about Jane and Ava and her sons, but maybe it was because, deep down, I really didn’t care about Amy or Obie. ‘Hunter!’ gasped Reg. ‘How can you think that about a poor, innocent baby?’‘That’s the thing. I don’t think anything about him. Anyway, he’s nothing to do with me. Not really. That takes the matter out of my hands, don’t you think?’Reg muttered under his breath that I was horrible and unfeeling, and that was probably also true, but I still couldn’t make my