JAMES POVI dreamed about Addie. I dreamed I was on one side of a raging river and her wolf, Talia, was next to me. We were looking across the river at Addie who was calling to us, but we couldn’t hear her.She looked sad and tired. I tried to mind link her in my dream, but it didn’t work. I tried shouting over the noise of the river, but the distance was too great and the noise of the water was too loud. I sat down and Talia lay next to me, putting her massive head in my lap. I stroked her and we watched Addie running up and down the riverbank, trying to find a way to come back to us, yelling for us. I knew she wouldn’t be able to cross, just yet. She would eventually, though. We just had to find her.I woke up with a gasp and lay on my back, tears leaking from my eyes. It took so much control to not leap on to a plane or hop into a car and drive to St. Louis to find my mate. I had to trust that Emily was doing what she could with the information she had. I just wanted mo
ADDIE POVThe guys insisted on dropping me off at my hotel room, even coming into my room to make sure it was safe. I snickered that this; I had just defeated more people in the ring than had ever been done before. But if it made them feel better to make sure I’m okay, then that’s fine. I don’t mind. I kind of liked it, actually.Wolf looked around with distain. “You got enough cash to move out, now, right?” He looked a little disgusted when he looked behind the shower curtain to make sure no big, bad wolf was hiding there.“Yeah. I’d like to get a refund for the week I didn’t use,” I mused. “I’ll ask the clerk tomorrow.”Wolf nodded. “Good idea. Find yourself another place to stay before you come into work. I’ll have one of the girls cover for you.” He turned to go and then looked back at me. “You up for another fight tomorrow? One of the guys in Afton is hosting tomorrow night. It might be a good way to make some bank quick.”I shrugged. “I’m okay with that. An apar
JAMES POVZachary was nervous. Too nervous. He was going to blow it and we knew it. I sighed. “Gag him,” I gave the order to the guard and then gestured that Zach sit next to Bryon on the couch. I took out the phone we got from Dale’s body and handed it to Toby. We knew that this would be a possibility, but we were hoping that we wouldn’t have to do it.Danny had dealt with Dale, and we were counting on the fact that Danny probably didn’t know Zach’s voice well. I kept him in the office just in case Danny asked a question we didn’t know the answer to. I could do my little trick, peek into Zach’s mind, and figure it out.Toby called. Danny answered after the second ring.“I know this isn’t Dale. He’s never prompt.”“Yeah. It’s Zach. Brad killed Dale. Got mad about something and next thing I know Dale’s bleeding out. What the hell, man? I didn’t sign up for this.” Oh, Toby was good. A little bit of fear and a little bit of resentment. Perfect.“What did you do with the
EMILY POVBruce left after breakfast to hang out at the gas station and follow Jenna back to her house after her shift. We knew that Addie didn’t have a car or money when she started out and we assumed she would get a job right away. We were going to use the apartment as a starting point and then canvas out, looking to see if we could find her place of employment and, hopefully, her.We had the license plate number of Jenna’s car from a surveillance camera and Snap was going through footage to see if he could find it anywhere. We were hoping to not have to wait until the end of Jenna’s shift to figure out where she lived.And Troi and I were back to canvassing the streets. We decided to start knocking on the doors of some of the lower priced hotels in the area and seeing if Addie was staying at one of those.We lucked out around noon. We pulled into the parking lot of an incredibly sleezy hotel and Troi made a face at me. “No way Luna stayed here. Let’s move on.”I shook my hea
ADDIE POV We closed up at 4:30 and Wolf gave me a ride back to my new place. I made dinner for myself in the kitchenette with a few things I had picked up at the grocery store over my lunch. It was a simple dinner of macaroni and cheese with some meatballs I had made out of ground beef and barbecue sauce, but it was delicious. I think I like to cook. I don’t know, though. I hadn’t had the opportunity before now. I then got dressed in my outfit and turned on the television while I waited for Wolf and Damian to pick me up. The fight was at midnight and I had some time to waste. I had no idea what type of fight it was but I was ready to make some money. I figured I would fight as many fights as I could until I had enough money to comfortably rent an apartment, furnish it and have a little bit in savings. When that happened, I was done. I didn’t particularly enjoy beating up humans one after another, especially when they didn’t do anything wrong. I dozed off and woke up to
JAMES POV“We found her, Alpha!” My phone rang and before I could utter a greeting, Emily burst out. “We found her!”I leaped out of my chair before I realized I didn’t have anywhere to run to. “Does she remember?”Emily laughed, giddy with relief. “We don’t know. We haven’t actually got her yet. We found where she works and found out she’s involved in underground fighting. We called the owner of the gym she works at, but he didn’t answer. Snap found information of one of the employees. She didn’t know where Addie is currently living but she knows where she’s going to be at midnight tonight.”I couldn’t stand the suspense. “Where?”“An underground fight. She’s fighting as the Grim Reaper. It’s how she’s making her money.”“And she’s going to be there at midnight? For sure?”Emily laughed again. “According to this girl. She said Addie’s really good.”I felt pride swell. Yes, she was. There would be no human that would defeat her. Toby came into my office. I switched th
ADDIE POV“Hey, Little Pup.” The man spoke those words to me, and I grinned back at him. “Hey, James,” I said, lowering my stance into a fighting pose. The bell dinged. He didn’t move, just kept grinning at me.“I really missed you,” he said, standing still, turning his palms to me, body relaxed. James. Why did I know that his name was James?Mate. I heard Talia say, quietly. I stilled. Talia? I asked. Are you back?We’re back, Little Pup, she said, and I felt a warm feeling flood me. I looked over at James, seeing him again for the first time. His scent washed over me, blueberry pancakes, freshly mowed grass and cloves. Mate, Talia said, again, louder this time. I knew. I could feel him. “James,” I said, quietly but with emotion. He could hear the connection in my voice. His grin got bigger. “Oh, Addie. I’ve missed you so much!” He still stood there, not moving. I was acutely aware of the crowd, silent, watching our exchange. “Throw me in the river so I can take
ADDIE POVIt was hard to cuddle in the back seat with Bruce driving like a maniac to get us back to the airport quickly. James wouldn’t let me go, though, and I held on as best I could as Bruce took another wild corner.James explained what had been going on while I was gone. Bruce tossed in a few edits to the story.“Emily recognized the witch when she was driven away so we figured out pretty quick what had happened to you. It took us longer to figure out who did it and why, but Snap found a video of Danny putting you on the bus.”I nodded. “They ambushed me back at the house. They called the driver and told him to kill Emily if I didn’t cooperate. They had him on speaker and I thought that he had hurt her. I could hear her screaming.”Bruce chuckled from the front seat. “Our little Emily is one smart cookie. She kept screaming to throw Zoe and Danny off. She thought she was keeping you safe. She ended up killing the driver and racing back to the house, but you were gone
ADDIETwo months later, on the day of the full moon and summer solstice, I was dressed in a sapphire blue gown that was fitted on the top and billowed to the ground in shimmery waves. A laughing Emily was trying to help me with my makeup. Her growing belly was in the way, and Gracie was crawling around getting underfoot. Undeterred, Emily tried to add another swipe of mascara to my already heavy lashes. “Come on, Addie! It will make your eyes pop!”I laughed back at her. “My eyes will look like spiders if you put another coat on my lashes!” Tonight was the night of my Luna ceremony. Wolves from many of our cooperating packs were in attendance as well as all of the pack members from our pack. We had invited the Council members and were surprised when most of them accepted. Matthew and Jessie were also going to be there bringing their newborn pup with them. I knew that James had already spent time snuggling their baby boy and getting his fill of the newborn smells. I had bee
ADDIEAfter the excitement of everything, the next few months felt almost boring by comparison. We were busy, that was for sure. My Luna Ceremony had been postponed and we were beginning the planning again. We were also actively involved in helping Matt and Jessie build a new Packhouse before their pup arrived. The old packhouse was being turned into a youth center and dormitory for the continuing education prospects that Jessie wanted to bring to her Pack. In the days of Alpha Cole, it was decreed by the Alpha what the profession of the wolves coming of age would be. Jessie wanted to give them choices and equal opportunities. I was excited to be a part of that.Three weeks after we returned from our latest mishap in the city, Emily asked if we could have lunch in the village. I agreed, knowing something was up.“Do you want me to bring James?” I asked. “No,” she said, a sly look on her face. I agreed, letting her keep her secret for now. I would know soon enough.I met Jam
ADDIE I got into the car and looked James over, satisfied that he only had a few bumps and bruises but nothing was seriously hurt. I could smell the wolfsbane on his breath and knew he had been dosed but I could tell that it was slowly leaving his body. How is he? I asked Talia. Scout is weak but recovering. He will be fine, she answered. I gave a sigh of relief. Toby got into the driver’s seat and turned the SUV over, backing out of the drive. “Where to, Luna?” he asked. “Aren’t we waiting for the other warriors?” I asked, turning back to look at the house. He shook his head. “No, they need to do some cleanup. They are going to need to call the council for help. Vanessa went rogue and there is a lot that will have to be done to minimize exposure to the human world.” He had a look of disgust on his face. "First and foremost, they will have to figure out what to do about two human bodies. Old man and woman. They didn't even have a chance against her." I nodded, suddenl
ADDIE POVI walked out of the conference room with Roman and the other guard chasing after me, pulling along a reluctant Brad. Toby came, too, lips pressed together. I recognized the look. He hated the idea and wanted to set up a counterattack at the park at midnight, but he also recognized that my plan might work. It was fueled by pure rage on my part, but I was positive I would get James back.Alice had called ahead and worked her magic so by the time I made it to the front doors, a valet was there with a set of keys and an SUV was sitting in the drive up. I caught the keys as they were tossed to me and the warriors dove into the back seat, shoving Brad between them. Toby jumped into the passenger seat, buckling up as I started driving away.“What’s the plan, Luna?” Roman asked tentatively from the back seat. Toby glanced back at him but said nothing. “I know the area. It’s estates. I’ll find a spot to pull over and drop you and Brad off. We’ll meet up at the house, but I
ADDIE POV I was pissed. I’ve absolutely had it with Vanessa and Zoe and everyone else who felt like they had a right to mess with James and my happiness. I was going to end this and I was going to end this today. I commandeered an empty conference room and started organizing and planning. The first person to arrive was Alice who came through the door at a dead run. “How can I help?” she panted. I slid a computer over to her. “Figure out where Vanessa is. And, if you can, figure out how I can contact her.” Alice took the laptop from me and started tapping away, accessing the company files to find a current address. "She's moved around a few times. I don't think she's still at the address we have on file, but I'll have one of our security drive by and check." She picked up her cell phone and dialed. I started pacing, wanting things to move faster. Matthew came in to give me an update on Bryon. I listened and said all the appropriate things, but I honestly didn’t care.
JAMES POVWhen Bryon and I stepped into the elevator he remained stoic until the doors shut, then he punched me on the arm. “Your mate is one of a kind, you know,” he said, wistfully, with a smile.I grinned at him. “I know. You’ll get your mate, hopefully soon. And she’ll be pretty amazing, too.”He punched me again. “But not as amazing as Addie?” I laughed out loud. “As you said, she’s one of a kind.”He turned to face the door of the elevator again and he had his serious Gamma face on by the time the doors opened. One of the amazing things about Bryon is that he knew when to cut up and he knew when to be serious.I waved to the security guard at the gate. “Until next time, Alpha,” he shouted at me. “Hopefully never again,” I shouted back. “No offense, Jeff.”“None taken, Alpha,” he said, laughing. The double doors to the outside opened, and I heard a loud pop. Byron fell over beside me.It took me a second for my brain to register what was happening. When Bryon fell,
ADDIEThe trial was over for the witnesses. We were dismissed by the Council and the prisoners were taken back to their cells. The Council still had to work out some details, but they were taking a quick break.“I want to talk to Matthew for a second,” I whispered to James. He smiled at me. “Bryon and I will go get the car,” he said. “It takes a little bit of time to get it back from the valet so you have a few minutes.”I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and watched him step into the elevator with Bryon. I had to wait a few minutes; many were congratulating Matthew on the acquisition of the Hellroaring River Pack. He finally was able to break away and he came to me.“Addie!” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “I don’t know what to say. What a gift!”I grinned back at him. “Are you sure? I wanted to make sure you aren’t mad at me.”He shrugged. “I will probably step down from the council, much to the delight of some of our Junior members,” he smiled over my shoulder w
ADDIE POVI don’t much remember my hearing when I was being tried for killing Alpha Cole. I think I was pretty much in shock and willing to play the victim. It was one of the few times in my life that I left the fight to others and didn’t much care about my future.I felt no empathy for Zoe or Jackson as they sat in their chairs, glaring balefully at the others. The other Councilmembers were really good with their poker faces; however, most would have a flicker of disgust when their gaze would fall upon Jackson. Exploiting another Pack for their wealth was not unheard of, but it wasn’t something that a prim, proper, upstanding Councilmember would do under any circumstances. Jackson broke that law, and they would be forced to deal with him harshly.I wasn’t surprised, nor was I dismayed when I found that Jackson’s punishment was death. For the werewolf population to trust their leadership, it had to be above reproach. They had to show a unified front and discipline harshly.Matt
ADDIEI looked over at James. I didn’t know Dr. Joanna as well as he did, and I wasn’t as trusting as he was. It scared me that she knew about my gift, and it scared me that she had a gift of her own.“How does that work for you and for us?” I asked. Both of them looked at me with confusion.“James is unaffected by my gift unless he wants to be,” I explained. “He has to literally want to be controlled by my gift. Same in reverse. I have to want him to read my mind. You figured out my gift because you somehow recognized what I was trying to do during the battle. Can you use your gift against me?”Dr. Joanna grinned. “Don’t know. I haven’t ever tried. As you know, there’s not many of us out there.” I nodded, acknowledging that point. “I’ll try. Be prepared to duck.”She pointed to a paperweight on her bookcase and it came flying at me. I ducked but I didn’t have to. The paperweight struck an invisible barrier and dropped to the ground. I sucked in my breath. “That is s