Wind whistled, swirling inside the chimney, knocking against the bricks. Vanessa paid eeri attention to it. Anytime now, she'd drift off to sleep. Whatever had happened, she had not invited it. She used that sentence to remind herself that things happened. She wasn't always a train wreck. She wasn't always a problem-magnet. She had her good moments, maybe the unkindly events outshone them sometimes. But she still had good moments. Her faith tested her right after a session in self-efficacy. Someone pounded at her door. Not loud, definitely urgent. She focused her ability to smell on the stranger. Mikhail. Peony fields and gentle mint. That was him. She first had to wrangle her hands out of the tie, all the while he kept knocking."A minute Mikhail!" If he was in trouble. She didn't know what help she could be. She sensed another presence, but she could only smell his blood. Lot of it. First right, then left. She looked down at her feet to feel they were moving still. On autopilot, sh
She breathed in a deep lungful of cold air, back in the room, the three men had left her scarce of it. In order to avoid menial troubles, like money and debt, she planted herself into a big one. Joke’s on her. Literally. Other people had bullies growing up, some external force throwing their normal life into chaos. With her? She did it to herself. If her mum could see her right now, she’d be hanging a ‘I-told-you-so’ on her forehead, and Vanessa would be none the wiser for it. Mikhail sewed his brother’s skin with thin white absorbable suture, Evan grunted every time alcohol was poured to disinfect his skin. The sutures were the worst part. He shoved a couch pillow and bit it in half. After destroying three such cushions, his head lolled to the side. Noah kept an eye out on Vanessa. Her sudden disappearance made him irrationally angry. For some unbidden reason, he wanted her to see this. See, and realize, how ugly things get. How sheltered she and the rest of the pack members are, ev
Noah noticed the hide and seek of her tongue. It peeked out, like a tease. He was certain it wasn’t intentional but he could care less. He wanted to taste her. Cupping the back of her head, he tipped her chin, barely touching their noses together. Their lips skimmed. The barest hint of touch had her flexing her toes. She gripped the lapels of his coat for support. It only brought him closer. Their foreheads touched, because Noah had bent his head to keep staring into her eyes. What started out as gentle ministration of lips, hesitant in their approach turned to a full-fledged clash of want and passion. His hand fisted in her hair, while the other encased her neck. The threat was there, his hand covered her neck wholly and she waited with bated breath to feel a light squeeze. Given how his tongue molded to hers, moving the way hers moved, never leaving enough space to seek a moment’s reprieve. Noah outlined the blue vein pulsing in her neck, he knew she expected him to control her mo
The sun shone bright and early, and the traffic on the highway, rare for a city dwelling person, caused an undeniable headache to a restless wolf with sharpened senses and affinity to the quiet of the forest. Evan Ryder mumbled in his sleep, complaining mostly. The couch carried his weight under lengthy duress, but at least it was comfortable. Unlike his leg, which felt like it had endured laser burns and the treatment had been to peel off the skin. His stomach growled in hunger and he was thirsty. His memory said 'serves you right'. Maybe it did, he wanted to go guns blazing as a one-man show. No, one werewolf show, and this happened. Now he was grumpy and hungry. He noticed how his brother and Noah were still asleep. He had to raid the small fridge because he couldn't cook even if his life depended on it. Vanessa quickly showered and grabbed a white shirt reaching her mid-thighs. She didn't bother with decent clothes because she had mostly packed them up. She thought about making
Eerie silence of the villa haunted the gates when Noah and Mikhail arrived. The small animals littering the garden reclused their usual senseless chatter and preferred a hole or a leaf to lie in. Amair was waiting for them on the doorsteps. Noah need not ask him anything. He was talking before they stepped in. “This happened around one last night. I had gone to feed the horses. The rest of the staff was down in basement, collecting files, paperwork as you had requested. I think the silence would’ve given away intruders, but it didn’t. So their trick didn’t involve breaking and entering.” Noah preened at the plural implication. So there were a group of highly skilled creatures, whoever they were. And they were organzied. Their previous shenanigans that werewolves had not taken seriously were coming full circle.He shared a look with Mikhail. Mikhail nodded. He affirmed how right Noah was. He had caught on early, how this weren’t just other rogue creatures causing menace by poisonin
Evan groaned and stretched his arms up and above, revealing his stomach muscles. Those abs had seen better days. He was bruised, badly on one side. The purplish color raked and came off blue across his skin. He didn’t do it so Vanessa could stare but she was looking at him. Slightly nervous. Noah knew how to pick them didn’t he? Skittish. But she was brave.The first time Evan had seen blood as a kid, he had puked. Call it intuition, he knew she wasn’t sheltered. She had the roughness around her edges. She might be scared now, but she wasn’t afraid of them. “Querida, like what you see?” , only if he could keep his tongue stuck inside and his words to himself. Evan would be a better person, or so his brother said to him. But who cared about being better? If Noah had the reputation of playboy casanova, Evan was worst. Since Vanessa was his age, he probably didn’t know but they trained together in summers where all teenage wolves did. He didn’t unnerve her the way Noah did either. But
.“Thank you for bringing me here then.” She can’t be jovial about the reasons but she can appreciate the scenery all the same. “To drown something? Overnight, you went from goody two shoes to this, is it?” She rolled her eyes to that. “I am not a goody two shoes. I just keep away from trouble. Specially your kind.” “Ouch. Your conscience okay hurting a patient?” He playfully clutched his heart and pretended to fall over. She laughed then. A small tinker like quality, the spark in her eyes, and Evan had to not make this awkward by suddenly staring at her. He was no Noah Abel, staring and brooding until things came to him. He rather take them of his own free will. Vanessa wasn’t a thing, he knew. But he wanted her. Evan cleansed the seats and pushed the car down hill. It’d break on its way, the current would carry broken pieces upstream where villagers would re-use the junk for suitable purposes. She helped him with the whole process with no hesitation. He turned to her, sweatin
Vanessa sensed him come in. She wanted to ask him why he thought he had the right to be rude on a whim but all coherent thought flew out the window. Noah was staring at her lazily, arms folded across his chest, the bulk of his chest moved at a steady pace. Noah Abel clothed was a sight to behold, but Noah only with a towel wrapped around his hips was close to the annihilation of structured desire and descend into instinctive madness. He was the first to speak, “How did it feel? To drown a car.” Noah was relieved to see his Ms.Flynn in flesh. Present, slightly appalled, mostly fascinated by his lack of clothes. He had allowed her a few minutes to get comfortable with his state of skin display but he was done being kind. She hadn’t afforded the same comfort to him when Evan had took her for a joy ride in a bloody car. Literally, the car he had bled out in. Even if it was Evan’s idea, Vanessa had the brains and the brawn to say no to him. Vanessa opened and closed her mouth like a fis
'Love does find a way afterall. No matter what obstacles are laid before us, if our love is pure, it will win at the end, no matter what.' Vanessa thought as a smile lit her face up. She was sitting comfortably on a couch, in a large sweatshirt that belonged to Noah, now her husband.She thought back to their wedding ceremony, it was a wonderful affair filled with laughter, love and hope. All their friends had come, looking clean in their dresses and suits. Noah had left last night, in wolf form, hollering and calling loudly to the moon. A makeshift bachelor party- a wild run in the forest and then some chilled beer at a cliff with a nice view. That left Vanessa to sit back at home, thumbing through her favorite book and smiling now and then. It was midnight when she decided to call it a night and go to bed- her last night as a single lady. Just then, she caught sight of a rustling figure outside the window. It was Noah, his hair windswept and his cheeks red from being drunk. He was
She watched his face, less shy about its location on the map of her body. He was smiling to himself, mischievous, his eyes on his work. Small pool of sweat gathered at her lower back, at the dimples he liked so much. He was finger painting.She gasped, trying to twist away as he wrote more. But he didn't have to. "Noah...." Was she going to weep? She didn't want to weep. "Is that a yes or a no?" The wolf was relaxed this time around. Like it had gotten what it wanted for the time being, she knew the decision was equally human. "Yes! Yes, I'll marry you." "If you can stop snotting, maybe then..." She hit his shoulder. When he kissed her, on the psychic plane, his wolf appeared. Battered, strong, feral. And with him- a bond. It was a great shining thing, like a falling moon. An orb born of love tumbling in the creeks, in the meadows. She had only to catch it. And she did. With it came a smaller bond-Ian. Unafraid, she linked herself to it. The distance between them felt like sph
The last thing she remembered was his claws digging in her ass, and their pleasure sated bodies a tangle of limbs. Where was he now? Not next to her. But he had slept, the bed held his impressions. Coming to herself, she blushed. His smell was so strong on her, hers had nearly vanished. She had an inkling that these were the signs of mating bond completing itself. Even he would smell more like Vanessa than himself. The animal was playing for keeps, and it wanted to be kept as an equal. She found him sitting on the porch stairs. She grabbed his shirt, shivered at how sensitized her skin felt, trying desperately to keep herself from looking at the spot of blood on lavender sheets. Thankfully, they weren't white. His marks, teeth, hand, claws pulsed in her body. Her body held his secrets more tenderly than it did anything else. He sensed her approach, straightening his legs, making space for her between them. She went, hiding behind her hair. His content was contagious. Bare chested
The satisfaction coursing through him was so arrogant, so unfaltering in its ownership, her wolf quivered a little in fear. If he consumed her, would she live to see another day? Intrigued, he rubbed his jaw against the inside of her legs, her scent decadent, strong. He fumbled with his jeans before pulling them down. His wolf wanted to take. To turn her around on hands and knees, mount her, and when she'd arch her neck in pleasure, take a bite. It'll hurt but he'd share the pain. "Noah?" She was still here. Legs spread, waiting for him. He smiled. His mind was playing tricks on him, he won't take her like an animal. That'll have to wait. He suddenly dipped his head and she shoved a discarded pillow to her face. Which was a good thing. Because the scream that tore out of her was no human. Her eyes shifted, her wolf begging to have her equal measure of the sensations. His eyes still on her face, he licked her between her thighs. The tender bud begged for his attention, which in h
When he threw up his shields, she was back in front of him. Tonight, there was no leash. She wanted to play, he'll abide. The wolf bared its teeth.... She shot out with a grin. Adrenaline shot through her, she was nowhere near as fast as him. But she could read his thought clear as a bright sunny day. Apart from the high of the chase, she was humbled by the trust. He lowered his shields to nil and let her in. She had yet to do that.He was getting closer, the wolf didn't try to hide the heavy breathing, his massive lungs resounding in warning because he wanted her to know when he was near. Claws out, canines protruding, Noah was no longer human. Not a single part of him. Heart raising hard and fast, she sharpened her run into the direction of lower range, a steep one her much smaller body could maintain running at. Noah's much larger frame would tumble at this speed, so he pulled out an old trick. He laid down and rolled like a barrel. Laughter bubbled inside of her. 'Nice trick.'
"I am sorry I made you feel unwelcome. Consider this an apology." He kissed her knuckles, a small key pressed to her palm, the soft crinkle of paper-a note. She couldn't read his thoughts anymore. But he walked away with a purpose. Dusk clambered in the Nebraska, the summer of dragging afternoons fast learning to evade the gossamery warmth for autumn seeping in sycamore trees, yellow golden leaves ready to replace the greens. Beyond the moonbeam dancing stream, stood two peaks, protecting the land from the unknowns, so many unknowns. The peaks, they are not exultant, and they no longer believe themselves to be the instrument of some great intention. They are, but a shadow of those living beings looking up at them, creatures grasping at life with stained hands. Waiting. Hoping. Vanessa hid her gasp, swallowing the thick ball of emotion in her throat. A heavy weight ruffled the decidous low hanging branches in the trees but she didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Her soul
Home.The black villa doors opened to reveal the place she had thought would save her from the mountain of debt she had buried herself under. The debt was the answer she had been waiting for, and apparently so was Silas. Greggory Flynn, she had kept his ashes in a thurible, had never given her complete answers. They arrived, to find Mikhail, Beatrice and Rourke waiting for them in the foyer. Vanessa was searching for Mrs.Kemp and her cupcake smelling apron. Beatrice looked healthier but the awkward distance between her and Mikhail didn't go unnoticed by anyone. "This here, little heathen, has more body count than me, brother. What do you say to that?" Evan dragged Vanessa from under Noah's arm to his side, strangling her in a side hug. Vanessa was beyond grateful. She didn't know how to break ice with Mikhail. The last time he had her tied to a chair in the basement, he had his reasons but that didn't make it okay. She didn't know where to go with him from here. She loved Noah but
Vanessa shuffled inside her closet, her claustrophobia all but gone. She was done packing but not ready to head back home. Things felt so incomplete. In past two days, she had tried to access Calvin's mind but had failed. When all of them, Selene, Falkner, Silas, Noah, Evan and Jodie convene for finalizing border control policies she had to tell them. She wanted everyone to know there were others like her, the Communion will want a hard proof. "Come in." She knew it was Evan. "Hii. I am resigning. Consider this official." He had been in a jolly good mood, he always was when he worked on secret plans but this time, Vanessa knew it was about Jodie. His mind was a back to back movie night on weekends, filled with lewd imagery of things he'd like to do to her.The powers did have it's shortcomings. "Resigning?" His shields were up. "Yes." Evan folded his legs, sat on the newly purchased futon, which Noah had gifted Vanessa because she liked to sleep on the floor. Bed after thirty six
He begrudgingly admitted nudity was her last preserve right now. She shifted but did a very poor job of hiding herself, the swell of her ass, small and pert with tan lines- he groaned- held his attention. Until he moved it to her shoulder. Stripes, more stripes of red, white, yellow, blue. What the fuck was it? How did she get bruises this bad? Before he could ask, she begged for a clothing. Anything he might have. He stripped off his shirt and threw it to her. She scrambled into it like she was on fire. No more inadvertent strip show, his cat saddened by the perspectiveShe knew what he was going to ask. It was always there, in the manner people stood, slightly skewed, uncomfortable of her reaction even before she had reacted. Scars. He had seen them. And she knew he won't let it go. "You aren't going anywhere until you answer me." Lonely, she wanted to be with her own kind after being denied association for so long. Walter Desmond's death made her breath for the first time, free