Everything is fucking ruined.I slam my bedroom door shut behind me, ignoring the sounds of the cracking wood. I didn't care if I broke the whole goddamn house.After I ended that pathetic excuse for a Beta, Cleo's panther went bat shit.I stood in my bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I had deep claw marks across my face. I could feel my blood pressure rising again at the thought of how badly Cleo had hurt me and my men. She killed thirteen of the twenty that had been guarding us today."Fuck!" I smash my already bloody and bruised fist into the glass, clenching my teeth when I feel shards entering my skin.I'd had to hurt Cleo. My fists were bruised because I had to put her down. She was unconscious now, still in her panther form, sleeping her beating off in the panic room under my study. She just wouldn't stop, and despite being shot with aconitum serum three times, she continued to tear into the throats of my men, one by one.Still. As I pulled off my shirt, I finally sa
Despite the fact the journey to Charlie's pack took longer than expected, it was worth the pain to gain the reward we had veered off course to obtain.Levi had approached me eight hours into our journey, saying the man he had contacted about weapons had gotten back to him, but was currently refusing to leave his home because his mate was with child."Does that mean we are heading in without weapons?" I had asked, panic filling my every pore. We wouldn't be able to beat Charlie and his pack with just our fists, I knew that much.But Levi had assured me we could still get what we needed; we would just have to take a small detour to personally pick up the supplies."How far?" I had asked."It'll take us a day and a half to get there and back." He had replied. I didn't debate for long, because I already knew we needed these weapons. I hated making Cleo wait even longer. I also couldn't get ahold of Matt, and it was making me worry something had happened. But I just couldn't cut corners wi
"We're approaching." I call to the group. We were finally back; I could see the other group through the trees up ahead. The trees all around us were rustling as though it were a windy day, but I suspected it was panthers keeping tabs on the area around the group of shifters. I was glad they weren't relaxing too much in my absence."About time..."I hear Nate mumbling dryly from behind me.We were close enough now I could see Zane and his mates at the front of the group watching us approach.My eyes fell on Quinn, and now I was the one smirking.She looked irritated.Was it because of the ninety other shifters that had shown up over the two days it had taken us to retrieve the weapons? Or was it because of the members around me that were currently wearing knives on their belts and brass knuckles on their hands?Was it because she had given someone some bad information?"Everything went well?" Zane asks as our groups finally merge. I nod, swinging the backpack I had been carrying around
Unlike the other times I'd led my people into a fight, my heart was racing in my chest as I walked through the trees with my group members beside and behind me. I was used to going into fights with nothing to lose and no qualms about if I was the stronger wolf. This time, I still wasn't one hundred percent sure we were going to win, even with all the preparation and planning I'd done.I could hear yelling coming from up ahead, and assumed the pack knew we were here. I hoped they didn't know how many of us were here, because the element of surprise was a big part of my plan."Assume formation!" I hear being yelled from ahead. Yeah, they were definitely preparing for our attack.We break through the trees, standing on top of the hill we had first snuck in on to survey the pack. I glare down at the line of wolves and men standing outside the gate that surrounded the Alpha's mansion. I slid down the hill, Nate following close behind and the rest of the group jumping to the ground below in
"You good?" I ask carefully as I come up slowly behind Nate. He's dropped the body and is just staring down at it while collecting his breath."I feel much better now." He spits on the body and looks towards the gate. "We need to get through or over that now." He glances at the knife in his shoulder for a moment, grunting and yanking it out. I guess he was fine? I found myself wondering what this guy's body count was with a reaction that small to committing a small massacre."Think it's electric?" My ears prickle at the louder sounds of yelling now. I wonder what was happening with my pack. I didn't want to distract them, so I would just have to keep wondering for now."Most likely. Here. Let's do this." He looks around for a moment and his eyes finally settle on one of the panthers lingering in the back. It shrinks a little when it realizes he's looking at it. Nate has definitely gained some street cred after that fight. "You, stand a few feet away from the fence. We'll use you as a
My mind was absolutely blank as I ran up the stairs and through the wall ways of the mansion where Cleo was held.I wasn't thinking about the multiple lives I had just taken.I wasn't thinking about the aching in my fists, or the racing of my heart, or the pounding in my ears.I was hyper focused on reaching my mate.Ike and I were stopped in the hallway now, chests heaving, both looking for a way to the roof. I wasn't seeing a clear way up."Any ideas?" I hear Ike ask. I kiss my teeth and walk down to the end of the hallway, where there's an open window blowing the wispy curtains surrounding it around."A good enough one." I rip the curtains off once I reach the window and throw them to the floor. Sure enough, there was a good sized ledge on the outside, and when I leaned out and looked up, I could see the lip of the roof jutting out, just waiting to be swung up onto. I step out, my eyes drifting to the scene below for a moment.There are both men and women fighting, some in wolf or
"I worry what will happen to her if she grows up away from us.""Well, I'm worried what will happen to her if she grows up around us.""Do you not think I am a good mother?"Pain."You are an excellent mother; you know I know that to be true. But that is why I also know you will see that her growing up around us, this life, this place, will do her no good. She'll likely never be able to find her mates while constricted to these walls.""But is that reason enough to send our daughter away?!"More pain. What's happening? My entire body feels like it's being beaten.It is.Why?"I have a friend in a pack up north, they're small and off the grid, so they shouldn't get involved in any major pack politics that would mean involving The Circle. She'll be able to grow up fairly normal there, and after a while, we'll meet her again. Once she's found her mates. We can explain everything to her, and maybe she'll understand why we did what we did and come back to us.""What if she can't forgive us
Willow is dead. "Get the fuck off me!" I can feel Charlie's hands roughly pushing at my panther's body, but it doesn't stop the coppery taste flowing into my panther's mouth. My panther must have gone for the kill. I can hear his bones crunching as she squeezed her razor-sharp teeth against his windpipe. He spits up a mouthful of blood, then stops moving after a little bit of twitching. My panther drops him in disgust, and immediately turns her attention to our fallen friend.Willow. My panther approaches her body and pushes her so she can face the sky. Why did this happen? My panther lays her head on Willow's chest. Let me hold her, please. I can feel my panther retracting inside of me at my request.It was my turn to feel now. As soon as I'm a person again, I feel someone draping a shirt over my back. I flinch a little at the feel of fabric on my definitely battered body. I had never been hurt bad enough that my wounds as a panther appeared on my human body. Charlie must have r
"You little shit, get your ass back here." I laugh from my spot on the kitchen counter, watching Nate chase our naked child, Liam around the living room with a yellow bath towel clutched in his hand. Liam stops then, turning around to grin at his dad. He was only three, but was already extremely mobile, and had a smile just like his dad's. "Are you going to help me?" Nate sighs, glaring up at me as Liam yells and resumes running around like a mad man with his arms up in the air. I shake my head a little, pointing to where Liam is now standing on the couch. He grins at his dad, who finally swoops in and grabs him in his arms, wrapping the towel around him tightly as he does so. "Ha! Got you!" Nate declares as he wrestles Liam so he's upside down in his arms. He squeals with delight as Nate carries him like that back towards his room to put clothes on, calling him a weakling the entire time. But Liam loves it. He loves his dad, and he loves playing and "fighting" with him.I smile a
Why is it so often when I'm waking up in the morning, I'm in pain? I groan, stretching my arms above my head and blinking away sleep. I wince as harsh daylight assaults my eyes. My head pounds, and I bring a hand up to rub at my temple."Fuck." I groan, sitting up and leaning against the bed's headboard. I look down at where Ike is facing away from me, towards the wall, hugging himself and with no blanket. Nate is on the other side, also facing away, burrioted up in the entire blanket. I fall forward and start to crawl between them to get out of the bed. I stop when I feel a hand grabbing my ankle. Nate's green eyes are already staring at me. He's rolled over and untucked himself from his blanket tomb. "You're not going to make me chase you again, are you?" I furrow my brow, sitting in a crawling position, trying to think why I would run away. "Oh." I say when I finally realize what Ike had done to Nate last night. I didn't actually see anything, but I remember one of Ike's hands
I leave Ike at the bottom of the stairs, taking Cleo into my bedroom first and laying her down gently. She starts wiggling around, smiling and rubbing all over the sheets. Weirdo. I go back for Ike, who is pulling himself up the stairs, or trying to. He's got one hand on the second step, his other on the first. "Can I help you?" I ask, bending down to wrap one of his arms around my shoulder and putting my arm around his middle. "Here we go." He mumbles as I half drag him to my bed.I let him fall onto it, barely avoiding Cleo, who has taken her leggings off finally and is laying like a starfish on the bed. I sigh. I turn and flip the light off, kicking my shoes off as I do. Off come my pants and shirt. "Move." I huff, closing Cleo's legs and scooting her to one side of the bed. "You too." Ike listens for once, but only because he wants to be Cleo's big spoon. I roll my eyes and fall into the empty space beside them.I lay on one arm, staring at the ceiling for a moment before clo
"You know what her parents told me earlier?" Ike tilts his head to stare at me. I shake my head. "They told me, that this is the last time they'll be seeing Cleo." I freeze at his words. My eyes dart around to try and find the two in question. "Don't bother looking for them. They went back to their place and are leaving first thing in the morning. They aren't even planning on saying goodbye." He shakes his head at me. "I mean, why come in the first place?" He scoffs, finishing off his drink. "Just to rub it in her face that you exist?" He's staring at Cleo, muttering to himself now really more than talking to me. "Did they say why?" I nudge him to try and get his drunk ass to focus. He kind of blinks and shakes his head before looking back to me again. "They said they couldn't stay or come visit her because of the rules of being part of The Circle," He scoffs at their title. "And that she couldn't visit them because if anyone knew they had a daughter out there they'd try and make he
My peace with Cleo is ripped away by that fuck head Thomas, who snatches Cleo away over his shoulder and yells something about loving tequila. Had he just been waiting for the perfect chance to steal her away again? "Oh my god." I rub the bridge of my nose and make eye contact with Cleo as she sits up on Thomas to grin at me like a child. I lean back and cross my arms as I watch him take her to a group of guards. "I got her!" He yells in victory. The guards cheer and whoop in excitement. "Your mates have had enough of your time!" Zach proclaims as Thomas sets Cleo down. "And besides, it's your turn to chug something!" I groan, and I'm about to rush over and stop her, but I halt when Ike and Parker walk up to me from their spot in the crowd. "I wanted to introduce you two." Ike says, stopping in front of me. I'm half sitting, half standing, midway to snatching Cleo away from the frat boys. I glance at her for a second and see her snapping the neck off a bottle of tequila. I sigh,
"Why do you people insist on doing this to me?" She complains as I carry her away from her group of fans. "It's just easier than arguing with you." I reply. She makes an offended noise, struggles to sit up for a moment, and then flicks me on the back of the head. I roll my eyes, hiking my shoulder up a little into her gut and smiling at the noise she makes. I approach a table that's empty on one end and set Cleo down in a chair. "Wait here." I look her in the eye to make sure she's paying attention, and then turn to track down some water.I spot coolers near one of the tables closest to the fire and make my way through chatting and drinking people. I didn't realize how many people were a part of Ike's pack now a days until they were all converged together like this.I finally make it to the line of eight coolers and start opening them to find one not filled to the brim with liquor. Finally, I get my hands on a cold bottle of water. There was only a single cooler with them in it; ty
Fuck that guy. Fuck him. I fucking hated him. He was fucking dick. I wanted to shove his face into the ground and rub it in. I ran through the trees, pine needles whipping at my panther's face as we escaped, past the pack's borders, further and further into the forest. My rage drives me to run for almost three hours before my panther finally stops, gasping for air and muscles aching. He finds a stream nearby and hunches over to take a long drink before we head back. What did I think was going to happen? I mean, I knew who this guy was, or at least what other's told me about him. And no one had anything good to say, not so far. They all said he was mean, and petty, and demanding as hell. He abandoned me in the woods to fend for myself when I so small, I couldn't even remember it happening. But the way he looked at me, pissed me off. Like I was scum. Like I was the one who should be begging for forgiveness. He was the asshole.But as we start running back to our pack, I can't st
I look away from the lively party scene after a moment, back to the table behind me. "Ooo." I snatch an unopened bottle of tiny blue vodka someone had left behind. Hoped they hadn't planned on coming back for it. "Excuse you." I make a whining noise when Nate is snatching the bottle from my lips before I can chug it. "Drink this instead." I sigh at the cold bottle of water he's put in my hand. "If I must." I crack the top. "You must." He plops in a chair beside me, sighing heavily and watching me drink. "Where have you been?" I ask once I've twisted the top back on the now half empty bottle. "You've been gone a really long time." I raise by brows at him, and the corner of his lip lifts up a little."And that drove you to drink?" I laugh loudly. "No, I just felt like it was time to get drunk." "Right." He nods, eyeing me. I blink innocently at him. "Can I say something?" I blurt out as he watches me. He ticks his eyebrow. "I think your dad is a fucking chode." He shakes his hea
"You better chug that shit!" "Come on bitch!" I jump in the air, yelling with Noah and Thomas at Zach, who was halfway through chugging an entire bottle of peach flavored vodka. "Don't be a pussy!" I punch him in the arm, a grin spread across my face. He pushes me off a little, flipping me off and continuing to guzzle the artificially flavored rubbing alcohol. "Let's go!" Thomas yells, throwing his half full beer on the ground in overly excited celebration at his friend finally reaching the neck of the bottle. Zach holds his hand up, and we all stare at him silently in eager anticipation for a moment, until he finally pulls the empty bottle away and makes a loud "ah" noise like it was a refreshing drink on a hot day. "Suck it, sluts." He slurs, grinning at us and throwing the bottle on the ground. I laugh, clapping my hands and stumbling back a little. "You thought I couldn't do it." He points his finger towards me, wiggling it a little in my face. I grin and clap him on the shou