EdelineHer honey-colored eyes, flecked with a hint of green, locked onto Conor as she leaned in close, flashing him a smile that made her pouty red lips curve just right. She whispered something into his ear, and he grinned in response—an easy, familiar grin that stung more than it should have. I lingered by the doorway, watching them with a knot forming in my chest. They looked... comfortable together. Too comfortable. The other wolves at the table stole glances at them, whispering quietly among themselves. I could feel the weight of their curiosity, their silent judgments hanging in the air like smoke. Shae—or whoever she was—leaned in even closer, her red lips brushing against Conor’s ear as he chuckled. I dug my nails deeper into my palms, the sting grounding me for a moment. But it didn’t stop the jealousy from washing over me in a sharp, bitter wave. There I was, standing awkwardly in the doorway, feeling like I’d just been hit by a truck, while she looked... perfect. R
EdelineTears threatened to spill from my eyes. This could not be how the moon dealt with a she-wolf like her.“Come on, Tatiana. Fight!” I urged, giving her another round of breaths, my heart racing in desperation.Then, out of nowhere, she coughed up cold water, sputtering as she rolled onto her side. Her hands gripped my arm tightly as she choked, and relief washed over me. But it quickly morphed into anger as I shook her shoulders, our eyes locking. She groaned, looking utterly defeated.“Why, Edeline!? Why do I always get saved!? Why could you not just let me die!” she cried, her voice rough, raw from the cold water. “I am so tired. Like, really tired…”“No!” Frustration bubbled over, and I released one of her shoulders to slap her across the face, then grabbed her, shaking her hard. Her eyes widened in fear. “Tatiana, come on! Chill out! You cannot be this selfish right now! Your dad just got you back, and he is really struggling with everything that has happened! Do not even th
EdelineHe is the first wolf I have really connected with, the first I have clicked with—just a friendship, but it felt so genuine. And now he just dumps me. I could feel those feelings of rejection buzzing around inside me, making me feel exposed.Standing there in the hallway, staring at Conor’s bedroom door, something clicked.I always thought I was pretty tough, you know? I thought I had come a long way. Conor made me stronger. He was the one who gave my shoulders a little shake, telling me to step it up and improve myself.So, I did it.Totally, I did it for myself, but also because it filled him with pride.But I have not really been looking out for myself this whole time. I have been depending on guys, counting on them to help me out.First up was Darius. I never even realized he had feelings for me, but he helped me shake off the funk I was in about Percival.Then there was my brother. I relied on him for a bit—keeping it short.And then we had Percival. I grabbed onto him rig
EdelineHis words hit hard, breaking my already shattered resolve. He knew I relied on him; he had kind of made me rely on him, thinking I’d fall for him in return. He relied on me too.Tears rushed back to my eyes. “Why’d you let me deal with that?”He shook his head, letting go of my hand. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have messed with your feelings. I shouldn’t have let you depend on me so much. At first, it just hurt to see you down, so I thought if I toughened you up on the outside, it would help. But I got too involved in your life, and that was wrong of me, Edeline. Can you forgive me… please?” The sadness in his eyes was palpable.I couldn’t fault him for that. It was my mistake for using him as a way to escape from Percival.“I forgive you,” I whispered, looking up at him. “But you know, I’ve come to see that I was never really independent, and it stings a bit. Once I started relying on you for support, I found myself fighting. I was just going along with what you said to av
PercivalI wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I didn’t feel that same power radiating from his wolf as I used to. It seemed like I was the one in charge now. “Hey Dad, so about—”He cut me off, shaking his head. “I deserved it. I don’t blame you, son. You deserve this title. You earned it.” A watery smile tugged at his lips. “I might not agree with some of your rules, but they’re yours to make. You’ve done better with this pack in a week than I have in years. I’m not angry. I’m sorry… for everything I put you through. I hope you can forgive me. I deserve the moon’s punishment… and you really are stronger than your brother.” A proud look filled his glassy eyes, lifting my shoulders a bit. It felt like a weight had been lifted off me.He smirked. “But you know you don’t have to look so annoyed all the time. The pack knows better than to mess with you.” He chuckled.Whoa, I had no idea I looked so annoyed.Must be my chillin’ vibe! Ugh, whatever...I looked deep into his eyes, needing to
EdelineShe squinted, “Don’t be rude!” Then her expression softened as she looked back at me. “We haven’t heard from Edeline either. I just… I want to know she’s okay. It’s been weeks since I last heard from her, and she won’t answer her phone.” A wave of sadness washed over her, and I felt a pang of concern. Why hadn’t Edeline even called her parents?I rubbed her back gently, trying to reassure her. “I’m sure she’s okay. I’ll try to sort something out. I really need her with me.”Mirabelle gave me a sad smile and nodded, her gratitude clear in her eyes before I excused myself and cruised around the party.I made sure to keep a frown off my face as I brushed past wolves who didn’t seem too intimidated by my presence. A couple of accidental snarls slipped out, but I managed to soften my demeanor, offering compliments to the girls about their hair and makeup and giving shoutouts to some guys for those new muscles I had noticed. “Looking good!” I followed Maxim’s advice, and with each c
EdelineSo, I have come to realize that I have been a total stage five clinger when it comes to emotions. I have been keeping my distance this past week. I bounced back from the battle scars of losing, like, the very next day. Instead of wallowing, I just went out there and asked for more. I have been training day and night, throwing down, just trying to show myself that I really earned this tattoo on my arm. I can totally handle my emotions on my own now. I have been keeping my distance from Conor, from Alexa, from Damon—anyone I have connected with here. I just needed to break away and remind myself that I can do this on my own.Conor and I are still cool with each other. He gets that I am working on depending on myself, and he is fine with it. We have chatted a bit, but I do not wake him up anymore to train with me in the mornings. Nope, I have been handling it solo.He mentioned that Dark Moon is pretty different. If I thought his pack was more wolf-like, I honestly would not kno
EdelineAs I ran my fingers over it, I saw the engraving: “Even if you are miles apart, you will connect with a lot of hearts along the way. Always remember how tough you really are. You will always have wolves that care about you.” Tati.My eyes watered as I looked up at this girl who had been through so much. She had been off track, messed up, but now she was on her way to doing amazing things, and it made me happy that she had made this for me.I pulled her in for a hug, breathing in her soothing scent. “Thanks, Tatiana!”She let out a little sob as she pulled away. “It is a friendship bracelet. I thought… maybe we could be friends?”“Sure thing.” I smiled at her, gently brushing my cheek against hers.“Hey, just keep in touch when you can.” Her big brown eyes sparkled with hope.I gave a little nod. “You will hear from me, just not super soon. I need to figure some stuff out.” Tatiana nodded, sniffled, and wiped her eyes as she stepped back.“Ready?” Conor’s deep voice cut throug
Percival Edeline’s eyes were locked on me as she marched over, grabbing my forearm and pulling me along with her. The contact felt like fire igniting on my skin. She was fired up—angry, for sure.She dragged me into the equipment shed, out of sight, and then—wham!—she whacked me right in the eye.I let out a low growl and slowly turned my face back to hers. Anger radiated off her as she raised her other hand, ready to swing at me again. I managed to grab her wrist before she could land another hit, squeezing gently around her slim wrist. “What the heck, Edeline?!” I exclaimed, my lip curling to reveal my fang. Low warning growls rumbled from my chest. The wolf inside me was not thrilled, but at least she appreciated that this wasn’t happening in front of the pack. Don’t mess with my authority.“Hey! Did you give that girl false hope or what? I know you have not hooked up with her because I would have sensed it!” Her nose wrinkled, eyes blazing with fury. Then, I caught a scent from
Percival Promoting her to lead female warrior might not have been the best decision after all. She was my top fighter, having trained hard before I stepped in, but now I was left questioning my judgment. We didn’t have an expert on board yet, and Jazz’s ambition made me wary.She tucked a loose, curly strand behind her ear, looking up at me with her big green eyes, her skin a lovely shade of creamed coffee. She was undeniably pretty, but just not my type. “Hey, Percival... what if we tried something different with the ladies?” She edged closer, taking a deep breath as if to check out my scent.It might sound wild, but the night before last, after showering and snuggling up in bed with Edeline, I had rubbed against her, soaking in her scent. Waking up without her made me skip a shower yesterday—or maybe even today. I just wanted to hold onto that connection a little longer. Jazz caught a whiff of Edeline’s scent, and her eyebrows shot up.“Hey, is Edeline back?” she asked, her voice
Edeline“I totally get it, Nixx. It is something else. Really special. I see what you mean.” My gaze drifted to his cuffs, curiosity piquing as I furrowed my brow. “Have you been a bit risky? What does your world do to people?” I tilted my head, observing the way he passed the bracelet back to me, unable to take his eyes off it.“My wolf is stronger, you know? Sometimes I just cannot control him and end up lashing out at people who get on my nerves. Percival dealt with the same stuff. He wants to help me train like Gaspar did for him, but all I can think about is Tatiana and the pup I lost. It is tough.” A wave of sadness washed over him, dimming the light in his eyes.“Nixx,” I sighed, “why are you still hung up on losing the pup? Mirabelle was only a few months along, right? You never even met him, and you can have pups with your real mate. You could not have had both. Tatiana would have been jealous of you and him. Trust me, I get it. Tatiana is a beta, and her wolf would have want
EdelineHe really needed his not-so-little sister. I would hit him up first, and then maybe I would finally have the guts to talk to Percival about everything. After some tough training, of course. It had been a few days since I had a solid training session. Muscle disappears faster than it builds up, and I really hoped that did not happen. If I wanted to keep being the warrior I had turned into, I had to stay on top of my stamina. But I was not sure my buddy would let me train, especially since my heat was just around the corner, and my scent was driving everyone wild. I had to remember to grab my tea after I hopped out of the shower. As I walked in the front door of my parents’ place, the cozy scent of clove hit me, pulling me back into sweet memories. I could not help but think about what might happen during this heat. The last one just did not do it for me. Did I even want him to help me out this time? Or would I just prefer to be out of it for that? I figured the latter was
EdelineI stared down at our hands, chewing on his words. He might have a point. When I left and went to Conrad’s place, I told myself I was moving on. I threw myself into letting it all go—this life, these people, everything. But once I got some space, the wolves around me nudged me toward the truth. They made me confront my feelings about Percival, especially after I caught myself feeling jealous over him. He was just my friend, nothing more, but still... I had to deal with that. But Darius? I buried that pain deep and left it to rot. Never talked about him, never thought about him for too long. I got stronger, yeah. But I didn’t heal. Not really. And that’s why I’m still stuck. I turned my head toward William, blinking back the sting in my eyes. “How am I supposed to feel about him?” My voice cracked, and I felt my throat tighten again. “Look at what he did.” I swallowed hard, trying to keep it together, but the words dragged me down, making my chest feel heavy. “How am I s
EdelineI never really hated Percival before that. He had done some stuff, sure—but it never made me hate him. Not until that night. That night, I hated him more than anything. My wolf hated him too. My skin side—yeah, she wanted revenge just as bad. But then the truth hit me. Darius was the monster. Not Percival. I spent all of yesterday lying around, trying to make sense of everything. Today, I thought maybe a walk would help me clear my head, so I came here. To the waterfall—the spot I loved the most. And now, here I am. Staring at his grave. Why here? Why did they bury him here of all places? Not in the pack’s graveyard, where the rest of them are. No—right here, beneath the tree that used to be ours. Our spot. My throat tightened, and the tears started before I could stop them. My heart felt like someone had tied a rope around it and was pulling it tighter and tighter. I reached out, tracing his name on the headstone with shaky fingers, as if touching the letters wo
PercivalI hoped I didn’t annoy her. I understood she was strong, but my Alpha side just wanted to look out for my mate. I was trying to communicate my feelings through the mate bond, to reassure her I was here for her.The corner of her mouth lifted in a quick smile. "It's all good."Shaking my head, I did what I felt compelled to do. I walked over, scooping her up in my arms. She gasped in surprise as I carried her across the room to the salvaged bed. Her eyes widened, taking in the effort I had made to clean up for her."I’ll grab you something to wear. Your clothes are wrecked." I stifled a laugh as I laid her down on the bed. I missed the feel of her skin against mine, even from that brief moment before I had to let her go to find her a t-shirt and some clean boxers.I had both boxers and boxer briefs, but lately, I definitely preferred the briefs. Guess it was just part of growing up!As I returned to her, Edeline’s gaze was fixed on my bare torso. She looked up at me with that
EdelineI would not run anymore.“Hey, let me wash your back, my little warrior.” His breath brushed against my warm skin, and a rush of desire coursed through me as his deep voice stirred something inside. My breath caught in my throat as I locked eyes with him.“I got this.” I really could not let him get close. It would only make the cramps worse, and the desire was already doing a number on me.He nodded, totally understanding what I was thinking through our connection.As he stood up, I could not help but let my eyes wander over him, pausing at his chiseled abs and then down to his pelvis. Right there in the middle was a thick, four-inch tattoo of an infinity symbol.Mated wolves have this thing where they let anyone who catches a glimpse of their skin below the waist know they have a mate. This tattoo meant a lot. A lump formed in my throat as my eyes began to water. How long had he been dealing with this?It was like he could read my mind—probably because he could. He looked
EdelineHis eyes were no longer filled with wonder; they carried pain and knowledge. Yet, despite it all, those piercing blue eyes had remained the same, shining even brighter against his sun-kissed skin. His hair was longer on top and shorter on the sides, giving him a more polished look.He looked even more handsome now, completely in charge of himself. The way he moved, the way he held himself—it all made me wonder about the changes in him and what had shaped him during our time apart.“You hungry?” His deep voice pulled me back to reality, his eyes locking onto mine.I was still feeling shy, and I wondered why that was.“I’m fine,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady.He nodded and made his way to the door. “I’ll give you some space. I can tell you’re not really feeling it with me around. Just hit me up when you’re ready, and I’ll help you get to bed since you’re not feeling great.” He flashed a sad smile and reached for the doorknob.My heart raced a bit. I really did not