Colin turns his body to face mine. I can see the gold flecks dancing in his eyes. “When are you going to understand that I will gladly give everyone up for you? You are the most important thing to me. Anyone who has a problem with you has a problem with me.” Colin cups my face, smashing his lips to mine to drown out any argument I had. “We’re late,” I say. “Ah, but we’re late for a good reason.” “Not sure having your dessert before dinner is a good enough reason to keep your mother waiting.” He winks before knocking. Nicole is standing in front of us with a very impatient look on her face. “Hi, mother. Sorry we’re late. I got a little caught up in some especially important business.” “A true Alpha will always have important business, but the best Alphas know how to balance family life, too.” She huffs. He gives her a sweet kiss on the cheek, and she relaxes. Nicole’s apartment feels like we left the packhouse, but in reality, she just has her own wing. Her place is cozy and inv
** Trigger Warning ** The second my son and his mate leave, the scorching tears set themselves free. Hearing how Charles feels about Paige took me for a ride down memory lane. Twenty-two years ago, I was a lot like Paige. My future should’ve been bright, but the Moon Goddess had different plans for me. Don’t blame her for our mate’s insolence, Faith’s voice rings out in my head. I often wonder what my life would be had I not met Charles at the annual mating ball. Maybe I would’ve continued onto the warrior path and served my pack. Maybe I would’ve traveled or joined the werewolf military. It doesn’t really matter now though, does it? I remember the moment his hazelnut scent hit me. My heart was pounding, and my wolf was howling with glee. His ocean eyes locked with mine, and right then, I knew I was in love. I imagined a life of unconditional love, respect, and happiness. Oh, how wrong I was. Charles was amazing that night and for the year that followed it. I kept training in his
The constant beep of the machine is the only thing keeping me sane right now. It tells me that Nicole is still alive despite Charles’ best efforts. I’ve nursed Nicole back to health so many times before, but it was never this bad. Charles bashed her skull in and shattered several other bones. It’ll take her a long time to heal from this, even as a werewolf.I shift on the uncomfortable couch. Sleep is evading me. Every time I close my eyes, Nicole’s bloody, lifeless body awaits me. My wolf isn’t helping. His moods switch from howling sadly and hungrily growling for Charles’ blood. Not that we can find Charles to kill him. It’s been twenty-four hours since the attack, and Charles is long gone. Colin is losing his mind. He never knew the monster his father truly was. His mother protected him from that. I can only imagine how lost he feels right now. I know I felt lost the first time I saw what my brother had turned into.Paige says, “Nol
“Nolan, I know you love my mom, but this changes nothing for the plan,” James says.“It changes everything.” I gulp the last of my whiskey. “I’m out. I refuse to be a part of your plan any longer. I’m done. You are not Charles, James. You are not the rogue that murdered your family. You are not evil in any sense. Don’t let hate sculpt you into one of them.”My words hang over James like a dark cloud. His eyes tell me he is fighting with himself. Colin and Alex return with maps of the packs within 200 miles of ours. Colin rolls them all out one by one on his desk. I recognize the maps as Moonbeam Hills, Diamond Fang, Onyx Moon, Silver Shadow, Raven’s Blood, and Lunar Harvest.“Which territory is my dad most likely to run to?” Colin asks.“He still has friends in Moonbeam Hills and Lunar Harvest,” I say.“I think it’s best to split up the warriors and check all six packs.”
Nolan’s words from last night are still bouncing around in my head this morning. Was he right? Maybe my revenge is misplaced. Maybe my walls did make it hard to feel love from Colin and Nicole. He was right about one thing; I love my mother. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come running when I heard what happened. I try to remember back to when I first became obsessed with overthrowing Colin. I had always kept my distance from the family growing up. I can remember being so scared of losing them too, so I thought it would be better for me not to love them. That didn’t stop the love from growing, however.When I was eighteen, I remember being particularly frustrated that Colin was going to be my Alpha. I guess the doting love he got scraped against me. That frustration amplified when he asked me to be his Beta a year later. The hurt etched on his face when I refused is still painted on my brain. I had gone to the bar that night and drank myself into a stupor. I
The ability to argue leaves me, so I just nod my head.“Come help me in the garden before we lose the daylight.”“Ah, so the real reason you wanted me to stay was to put me to work?”“What can I say? You have a destiny to fulfill.”“I highly doubt that destiny has anything to do with your garden. Nevertheless, I shall appease an old lady such as yourself. I wouldn’t want you to break a hip.”Spending the day with my grandma made my bones hurt with sadness. I hadn’t realized how much I truly missed her. After I had helped her with the garden, we pulled vegetables to make her gumbo. Her gumbo made me feel loved. It wasn’t as fancy as what I ate with the Blackburn’s, but it was home. It was genuine, and it reminded me of my life before my parents died. Her chocolate chip cookies soothed aches I didn’t know I had. I feel better after today. Maybe she’s right about my fate. Maybe, jus
“So, you’re telling me that James only wanted to overthrow me because a witch planted the idea in his head? Did she also incite the useless rage he has for us? Did she command him to act the way he’s been acting?”James shifts next to her. He growls at my tone. Paige stays planted on my lap, not letting me carry out the violence playing in my head. One wrong move by him, and I would fucking lose it.“No. The witch inflated his childhood trauma to create rage. He already didn’t bond well with your family, so it was easy enough to do. She embedded the idea to overthrow you so far into his brain that he didn’t realize it wasn’t his idea. Had he been able to communicate with his wolf, this probably wouldn’t have happened. She brought out his worst qualities and used them for her benefit.” Rita pats his arm.I don’t bother to look at his conniving face. His admission of guilt tripped a live wire in me. I can’t calm down,
The rain patters against the umbrella as Paige and I make our way back to the packhouse hand in hand. The past two days have been a blur, but Paige and I handled them together, like a true Alpha and Luna. “The service was beautiful. Thank you for doing that for her,” I say. She had put aside her dislike for Sammie and worked with her family to plan a service. She was already the best Luna. I’m not sure that I could do the same if I were in her shoes. “Of course,” Paige says. I sighed before stepping inside. Chaos awaited me, this much I knew. The dining hall was full of pack members. Most of them are dressed in black. Paige squeezes my hand and pulls me into my office. This has become our second home while trying to find my father. The search has been disappointing. The warriors have found nothing, and the other packs swear they haven’t seen him. He’s a ghost right now. A ghost who co