SILAS
I should have been out there, should have been searching those woods for my daughter along with my pack warriors but Grace needed me and my heart was being torn in two. On one hand, I had my missing daughter to deal with and on the other, I had a mate that blamed herself and consistently felt as if she brought this upon us. Thanks to the bond strengthening, I could feel exactly what she felt, the pain and the turmoil. She couldn't shut it off the way I had. I made sure she couldn't feel what I felt by building a mental blockage. If she did feel what I felt, I was scared that she would know that I did blame her in a way.
I hated myself for it and no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, I blamed her. There wasn't a day Sydney left this house unless I took her to visit her grandparents. She was six and homeschooled but her teachers always taught her in the back yard under the watchful eyes of the guards.
SILASA loud shrill vibrated through the forest as my teeth sunk into where her shoulder met her neck. I dug down deep until the metallic taste of her blood filled my mouth. After a minute, my canines retracted and I lapped my tongue over the puncture holes to seal them, a soft, delicate moan leaving Grace's lips as I did so."Mine!" I growled into her ear.Her body went weak, knees bunkling underneath her. Before she could hit the ground, I wrapped my arms under her and swooped her up — bridal style. She had fainted from the pain that coursed through her but it would get better soon. Once it did, she would go into heat and that was something, in normal circumstances, I would have looked forward to. But knowing that she would be going into heat for an entire week meant that she needed me at her side. How could I search for my daughter and still take care of my mate? Clearly, I hadn't thought this through.
GRACE Sydney was back and I was grateful. I barely had a chance to see her since Silas had gotten her packed and sent her off with his parents', claiming that she would be safer there. Part of me wanted to protest against that because I was fully capable of taking care of her. However, the predicament I found myself in, shut me up.That night, Silas had gotten someone to repair the upstairs bedroom; fitting in a window he had supposedly run through, causing it to shatter. The following day, I just laid in bed, refusing Silas to touch me, to come near me. He had no right to give me his mark before I was even ready for it. It was something he couldn't take back but I refused to give him my body because of it. I'd rather suffer the heat and die.My stubbornness lasted about a day and a half. Thursday went by slower than it was possible. As each minute passed, I could feel the heat consuming me. My blood felt as
GRACEI was starving so it didn't surprise me that I scarfed my food down so quickly. The unbearable, all-consuming heat hadn't returned to my body and I decided to take advantage of that. It felt good to have a break from the pain but I couldn't help but wonder how much longer I could keep my resolve strong. If he kept doing things like that just to help me then how long would it take me to cave in?I was by no means inexperienced in the bedroom but at the same time, I wasn't very experienced as well. The only person I had ever been with was Carter and until recently, I never thought about being with anyone else - both physically and emotionally.Sauntering over to the walk-in closet, I picked out one of Silas' shirts and slipped into it. The thin material of the baby blue tee hugged my figure, stretching over my bust and falling just below my bottom. I brought the shirt to my nose and inhaled his scent. It
GRACE"Grace, where the hell are you?" Monica sounded frantic over the phone, "Rumors have been spreading around the pack that you ran away and then I felt our mind link shatter and your link to the pack severe. What's going on?"There was a warm feeling in my heart at how much Monica truly cared for me. She came off as bitchy but her heart was anything but. She just had a difficult time showing it sometimes.I looked up at Silas who slept next to me in bed. Ever since I asked him to sleep with me he never left my side, taking care of me as much as he could each time a new wave of heat hit me. He smiled down at me, fingers tracing the length of my spine. My eyes silently asked him if I could disclose the truth to my best friend to which he smiled and nodded."I'm fine, Mono. I did run away and I was heading back to the pack but Silas caught up and stopped me," I dropped my voice, whisperin
GRACEThursday rolled in quickly. My heat had ended and I felt amazing. If Silas was unhappy that we hadn't completed the mate bond, he never showed it. He insisted that he would wait until I could give myself to him but everything else was still fair game.We managed to talk a lot during the last few days. He was still way too stressed for his own good but being around me calmed him, I could tell that much. We told one another about our childhood. Although his was spent just as Sydney's — sheltered and in a house which felt more like a prison — he still had fairly fond memories. Especially of his younger sisters.His opinion about pack laws differed from the past alpha from what I could tell. Silas was all for change, throwing out the old and bringing in the new to improve and strengthen the pack. However, if his father didn't stop butting his head in every matter, Silas would never truly get a chance to run
GRACE"You look exactly like her," Helene hissed, anger seeping into her words as her eyes gave me a once over, "the same hair, body shape, skin color. The same pale blue eyes. Whoever killed her meant it as a message directed to you." As she spoke, more venom leaked into her voice, shouting for the rest to hear.Silas took a threatening step forward to the girl. Her outburst not only disrespected me but him as well. I wouldn't allow him to punish her because of her words though. It made no sense to when clearly she was greaving and angry. Silas failed to mention that major detail about that dead body. All he said was: 'Just another random pack member...'But it wasn't completely random, was it? That girl was chosen because she resembled me just the way that child was chosen because she was the closest to Sydney's appearance they could get. Something else clicked in my head as well. The youn
GRACEWe sat in the kitchen of the pack house, Lana nursing a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. She sat up on a bar stool, elbows on the counter. Silas and I knelt against the island, arms crossed with confusion lacing our features. We had to bring her here because she refused to disclose anything to me while surrounded by so many men ready to attack her.Silas sent his men away and personally escorted us back here. He wasn't too thrilled about the idea of allowing a rogue within the pack borders but I somehow subdued him. One: I would have never allowed him to hurt Monica's mate and Two: she didn't smell the way normal rogues smelt. She had this earthy scent with an undertone of smoke from a campfire."Thanks for the coffee," she muttered, holding up the mug, "you really didn't have to. I'm sort of use to werewolves that belong in packs being rude to me. Treating me like I'm the plague or something," she
GRACEThe rest of the week sped by and by the weekend, we had nothing. It was like Monica had vanished off the face of the Earth. There wasn't even a scent for us to track or a note left behind with some sort of threat. I guess the note wasn't needed. I got the threat and the warning loud and clear. If I continued staying here, more people I cared about would be harmed and even more strangers would die.Silas had sent wolves to the Silver Dawn pack to somehow track Monica's scent but they returned to us with strange news. There was no scent left behind. It was like Monica never existed in the pack. Whoever took her somehow made it seem like Monica was just a figment of my imagination.We knew she was still alive but hanging onto a thread. With each passing day, Lana could feel the mate bond getting weaker and weaker. She described it as a thread snapping daily under the tension of them not only being separate
GRACE Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe... The room door opened, revealing Monica and Lana. They were the last to arrive but at least the were both fully dressed. I couldn't bring myself to frown at them because they looked absolutely adorable together. Two years had passed since the incident and they had moved on, creating a wonderful life for themselves. Monica was allowed to remain in the pack she called home from birth and I was grateful to Alpha Rykes for that. Cassidy, Diana (my elder sister), and Jasmine (Silas' sister) had been here since morning trying to help me out. Anne would drop in now and then but she mostly remained downstairs to help cater the guests. Anne and I had a rocky start when we met two years ago but we were navigating around our relationship quiet well now. We both shared a love for Silas, Sydney, and our newest addition, Sylvain who just turned three month
SILAS"How the fuck does someone burn toast?" I chastised, grumbling in announce as I bounced the black, hard bread in my hand and then flung it into the sink."Daddy," my seven year old shot me a glare as she chided, "Bad word, and you burnt the toast because you were too busy trying not to burn the bacon," she snickered, sitting on the bar stool and watching me with amusement lighting up her eyes. She was growing up to be such a beautiful young girl."I'm usually not such a bad cook," I pointed out in a hushed tone, making certain not to wake my sleeping mate up.It was now a little over a year since I met Grace and we were going strong. The pack respected her as their Luna, looked up to her and protected her in the same way she protected them. They warmed up to her quickly and I could see how that made her breathe much easier. She stepped into the Luna role and managed to fulfil each and ev
SILASHave you ever loved someone so much that it felt as if you would suffocate without them? Placed all your trust in them to have it broken as if it were some cheap brand of glass that could be bought in an ordinary store? Did someone ever give you the most precious gift anyone could ever pray for and then attempt to take away one of your other prized possessions all at once? Have you ever experienced true love, love with no boundaries, love with no strings, love that was limitless, love that could span across the age of time? And finally, have you experienced loss? A loss that could shatter the heart into pieces that didn't make sense anymore, love that robbed you of the smile that once graced your face, loss that demolished all the hope stirring in your body, a loss that completely and utterly guttered you?I fell in love with Grace the same way she fell in love with me but I still felt conflicted. No longer did I sympa
GRACE"So, what's it like being around so many werewolves?" Monica asked Ambrosia. We were sat in the living room of the pack house.After last night, I hadn't seen Silas. He arrived home late and left before I could wake. I knew the whole situation with Lucille bothered him. No matter how angry she could possibly make him, killing her would never cross his mind. I guess that was the price he had to pay since he still had feelings for her — even if the feelings weren't as strong as what he felt for me. I accepted that he probably wouldn't stop loving the mother of his child completely because I knew I wouldn't stop loving my ex-mate completely. A part of Carter lived within me.It made me feel better that Ambrosia and Tiana hadn't seen their mates either. They were probably with Silas. This morning Tiana decided to drag me to the pack house so she and Ambrosia could get to know me. Cassidy and Gino h
GRACESilas ushered me toward the stage, helping me up the steep steps so I wouldn't tumble down them. He positioned us in the middle, facing the massive crowd of onlookers. My social anxiety decided it would make itself known. I had never been in front of such a massive crowd before. I had never experienced having every single pair of eyes in a room on me before. Some looked at me with hope shining in their eyes, others with confusion riddling their features, and some looked between Lucille who stood at one corner and then at me with anger. They still believed that I was running after a mated wolf. A home-wrecker.Lucille's face contorted in anger, Sydney in her arms. They were inseparable from the moment they met and where Sydney went, Victor would follow. That calmed my raging emotions. Having Victor close to Sydney meant that if anything happened, he could deal with it. Silas was onto something when he decided to issue
GRACEI had gotten Sydney dressed in a beautiful royal blue ball gown. The entire dress shimmered when rays of light bounced of it, giving her an ethereal glow. She resembled a princess, a little silver crown sitting on her head full of luscious light brown curls. The radiant smile that graced her face had my heart swelling in my chest. I loved this little girl more than I loved life itself. It wasn't difficult to fall in love with someone as innocent and bubbly as her.When we were done, I made my way downstairs with her on my hip. I didn't care that she was creasing the delicate material of my dress or that my make-up would potentially smudge thanks to the shower of kisses Sydney pressed against my cheeks. Once Lucille got here I knew I had to let Sydney go and the thought alone was difficult for me to deal with. My stomach churned in anticipation of what would happen and deep down — an instinct I was trying my best to ign
GRACEI didn't expect the Luna ceremony to be so soon after my return but I guess we pushed it back for as long as we could. We needed to get it done and over with so I could officially take my place in the pack but I couldn't help but wonder what that meant for me. Being a Luna of a pack — even if it were the largest pack known — was something I could deal with. The idea of it had just began settling itself into my brain when the truth was unleashed. Now, completing the ceremony didn't only mean I would be ruling over one pack alongside my mate but every pack ever created under the moon.The Luna of Luna's, did I even deserve such a title?For the past couple of years my faith in the Moon Goddess swayed. I had questions that only she could answer and no way of getting those answers from her. So much bad had happened that I couldn't imagine a sliver of good seeping through to make itse
GRACEBy the time I had woken up half the day had already gone by. The spot beside me where Silas usually slept was both empty and cold — signifying he had left long ago and left me to sleep in. Sticking to his usual self, there was a pink sticky note stuck onto the lampshade on my bedside table. The bright color caught my eyes almost instantly as the the midday sun reflected off it. I grabbed the note and read the words written in his immaculate handwriting.'Had some work to take care off. Made you something to eat and kept it downstairs. Silas.'Leaving the bed, I leisurely strolled into the walk-in closet and sifted through Silas' shirts. I found a slate-gray graphic tee with a hammer on it and the words 'This is not a drill' printed beside it. I snickered at the use of the bad pun but decided to adorn the shirt nonetheless because his scent was strongest on tha
GRACEAfter killing Darius, all hell broke loose. I left the room, stumbling into two guards that I guessed patrolled the halls. I managed to kill one of them but in that time, the second guard somehow informed everyone else through a walkie-talkie. That left me little time to find Monica and get the hell out of here.I continued straight down the corridor until I reached another room with a metal door. The door was ajar, the two men that had escorted Monica struggling to subdue her and stick her into a cell. As much as Monica thought she was broken, this moment proved she still had plenty fight in her.A feral snarl that left my mouth caught the two men off guard. Monica used that to her advantage, claws extending from her fingers and slashing one of the men's throats. Blood sprayed from the wound, the man bringing his hands up to his neck in shock as he fell to the ground.I lunged