Amora! I shout. Hard right. Now!She doesn’t reply, but her lupine form immediately cuts sharply to the right and darts into the thick copse of trees. Where was this blind obedience weeks ago?Fucking women.I don’t realize I’ve “spoken” that aloud until Malix snickers and replies, Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.You’re still on my shit list, I tell him with a growl. For having sex with her against my command.Despite the danger of the situation, Malix still manages to shoot me a tongue-lolling grin. Twice.Amora crashes into the undergrowth, and Frost follows after. His larger size lays waste to the trees and branches, opening up a hole large enough for me and Malix to pass through after them.The forest floor here is so overgrown that Amora has vanished into the shrubs, which was exactly what I was hoping for. Frost snarls and comes to a sliding halt, sticking his snout in the air to scent her.We take advantage of his distraction and leap on him.Malix slams into his s
AmoraKian stalks up the stairs,his footsteps so heavy I’m afraid he’s going to fall right through the thin wooden planks. I stare after him, a sick feeling churning in my stomach.Something clanks over by the benches. I swing my attention back to Malix as he draws a long length of rusted chain out of a wooden crate. He hefts it in his hands over the sound of Kian’s fading footsteps. Clearly, he’s not the least bit bothered or worried by the way his brother just stalked out.I glance up at the ceiling overhead as it creaks beneath Kian’s weight. A moment later, the front door slams shut so hard it almost shakes the entire house.Malix crosses to me, the chain dangling from one hand and a few pieces of hardware gripped in the other. He stops a foot away from me, shooting a glance up at the ceiling as he rolls a carabiner in between his thumb and forefinger.“He’s fucked up right now,” he says, his full lips pulling to one side in a grimace. “He gets like this sometimes. Nothing to do b
A twig cracks beneath my bare foot, and Kian shoves away from the tree, whirling on me with both fists clenched.He looks wild. Almost as wild as Frost looked in the throes of his vicious attack. Fear snakes up my spine, but I straighten my shoulders and stare him down, waiting for him to get ahold of himself. Frost had a reason to be feral, since he’s so full of shadow magic that it’s nearly bursting out of him. Kian doesn’t.After a moment, his fingers uncurl and his shoulders slump forward.We eye each other in a loaded silence. There’s a tightness around his eyes that tells me whatever emotions he’s dealing with are still crowding his mind.“Malix says Frost seems okay physically,” I tell him, careful to keep my voice calm and even, like I’m speaking to a wounded animal. “Just a bump on the head.”It’s an attempt to reassure him. To make that worry around his eyes go away. But the truth is, maybe Frost will be all right. Physically, anyway. Mentally, though? There’s a big differen
AmoraMaybe I should be usedto the way Kian kisses by now, but I’m not. I don’t think I ever will be, honestly.His lips move against mine with bruising intensity, his tongue swiping over my lower lip before pressing into my mouth, demanding entry. I open to him, and he angles his head to take it deeper, plunging his tongue into my mouth like he’s trying to lay some kind of claim on me.One large hand splays across my back, the other wandering down to palm at my ass as he presses me harder against the tree he was just punching. The rough bark scrapes against my skin, and I’m probably getting his blood smeared on my shoulder, but I don’t care about that.I don’t care about anything.I can’t think about anything except the whiskey and woodsmoke of Kian’s scent and the low growls he makes in his throat as he devours me.Kissing Kian has never been a gentle experience, but now it’s something else entirely. It’s like being swept up in a hurricane, my feet dragged off the ground and my body
This right here is Kian’s way. Something that could only ever exist between the two of us. A potent, overwhelming mix of anger and pain and love and hate that makes me want to tear him to pieces just so I can get closer to the heart of who he is. Just so I can dig out his soul and wrap myself in it like a blanket.Kian’s lips press together as he realizes I’m not going to speak, but rather than demanding an answer, he just uses his grip on me to rock me more forcefully against his thigh, grinding his cock against my stomach as he does.And finally, it hits.My legs tighten around his, my toes curling into the dirt as white heat bursts through my body like a supernova.“Oh god! Oh shit! Fuck. Fuck!”I lose my rhythm, but Kian takes over, guiding me up and down as my soaked pussy slides over his leg. The orgasm rolls through me in waves, making me shudder and shake with each new spasm of pleasure.My heartbeat seems to speed up and slow down all at once, thudding heavily in my chest as
The muscles in his neck stand out, straining under his tanned skin as he lets out a guttural cry. His cock thickens and swells, and I clamp down harder around him, the ripples of my own release milking him of his.“Fuck. So goddamn tight,” he grunts, thrusting into me again as another jet of hot cum fills my pussy. “So. Fucking. Good.”He thrusts two more times, forcing himself deeper inside me even as my core squeezes him like a vise. I cling to his shoulders as he finally goes still, breathing hard as we both come down from the rush of our climaxes.With his cock still buried inside me, Kian finally releases his grip on my hair. He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck, his arms tightening around my waist until our sweat-soaked bodies can’t possibly get any closer. I press feather-light kisses along his hairline and temple, my fingertips swirling over his upper back, over the clenched muscles in his shoulders. I caress every part of him that I can reach, a reminder that I’m sti
AmoraBack at the house,I slip into the bathroom to clean up a little bit, splashing water on my face and wiping up the mess between my legs with a wad of toilet paper.When Kian and I step into the kitchen, Malix is elbow deep in the pantry. Sunlight pours through the three picture windows at the back of the house, illuminating every dark corner of the room. A skillet already sits on the stove with something sizzling inside, and a coffee pot percolates on the counter.Malix glances over at us, and his nostrils flare. Despite my half-assed attempt at cleaning up, I know he can smell the sex on us, but he doesn’t mention it. He doesn’t really seem jealous or bothered at all, but normally, I’m sure he wouldn’t miss a chance to bust Kian’s balls. I can’t help but think that his muted reaction has a lot to do with his worry for Frost.None of us are at our best right now.Malix sets an unopened can of salsa on the counter, then closes the pantry door.“Whoever these people were, they left
Kian shrugs, his expression hard. “It means they have a sense of self-preservation. Like a virus in a host.”“They don’t do anything out of a sense of loyalty,” Malix adds, a muscle in his cheek jumping as he clenches his jaw. “They just hurt us. Constantly. In so many ways.”He doesn’t elaborate on that, but I don’t need him to. He’s probably thinking about the sister he lost, or his mother, who’s dead now just like Kian’s and Frost’s.These men have had so much good taken from them and so much pain forced upon them by their old alpha. He created them to fulfill a purpose none of them asked for; one they probably never would have actually wanted to begin with. And because they were born part shadow, part wolf, they’ve lived their lives in extended torment.The thought of Frost down in the basement, so full of shadows? Fuck, I hate it. I know it’s probably torture for him. Or at least it will be when he wakes again.I pick off a corner of my fourth Pop-Tart as I ask, “Do you think it
Fuck. Could Amora even survive what exists in the other realm? Unease prickles up my spine at how close we just came to losing her.We need to take those shadows out, I tell my brothers. As fast as we can.We’re yanked back into combat as several of Quinton’s wolves burst into our little circle, breaking up the party.I pounce on the nearest Blood Moon wolf, taking him down to the ground, while Malix and Frost tag team a shadow shifter. Picking up the wolf with my teeth, I fling him at two more advancing wolves, taking them down like pins in a bowling lane.When I glance back up, Malix and Frost are having trouble with their shadow shifter. The beast is big, and he must’ve been pumped full of more shadow magic than the rest, because he fights almost like a Berserker, wild and brutal. I leap over one of the fallen wolves and head toward them to help, only to stop cold as Amora screams my name.Kian!Whirling around, I find her darting over the uneven terrain in a mad zigzag pattern whi
KianJust like thenight when Quinton nearly executed our mate with a bullet to the head, I don’t hesitate.I’m in the air a split second after my old alpha’s paws have left the dirt. I intercept his leap and slam into him in mid-air, angling so that I hit his head with my chest. He’s so massive that it feels like a rock wall slamming into me, and I huff out a pained breath. If I were any smaller or weaker, I have no doubt his skull would have broken a few bones in my torso.Quinton flies away from me while I fall to the ground, winded. I barely manage to land on all fours as he skids away from me, kicking up dirt and stones and clumps of grass. All around me, chaos breaks loose as the Silver Crest wolves and Blood Moon pack launch into an all-out war.In the very short half second I have before Quinton stands, I glance around and consider our odds. We’re on Felicity’s turf now, and there are more of us physically than there are of them. Both will give us an advantage. Unfortunately, t
AmoraFuck. Not Quinton. Please, don’t let it be Quinton. We’re not fucking ready.I’m not sure who moves first, but within seconds of the piercing howl outside, the four of us are racing across the dark, silent cabin toward the front door.Kian reaches the door first and flings it open, launching himself out into the night with Malix and Frost right behind him. As I come even with the door and prepare to shift, I pause for a fraction of a second, mesmerized by the sight of them leaping from the small front stoop.They trail black smoke as they shift, morphing like shadows. It’s beautiful in a deadly sort of way, as if they’re more than limbs and torsos and heads, but something more metaphysical. More fluid. A macabre dance of shadows.Then they land on the dusty front lawn in full shadow wolf form and take off. I hurry to follow behind, letting my own shift take over my body in the split second after I leap off the porch stoop.Another howl lights up the night, and I put on a burst o
AmoraI surfacefrom a dreamless sleep to the deep, dark of night, cocooned by the warmth of the three men sleeping around me.I’m on my back, completely pinned in by them—something that, once upon a time, would have sent alarm bells clanging through my head. Instead, it’s peaceful and comforting, if a little too warm.The ceiling is barely visible in the blackness, small cracks in the paint standing out like spider webs made of ink. I take a couple of deep breaths, staring up at them as I try to figure out where I stand. How I feel.The past few weeks still weigh on my shoulders, although I imagine that’s not something that’s just going to go away. Things still aren’t good here. We lost against Quinton, and I’m not naïve enough to think he won’t retaliate. Felicity is dead, and that’s a pretty permanent problem that’s going to throw her whole pack into a state of flux for a while.On the other hand, for the first time in a while, I’m okay. Even if the external world is chaos, my inter
In this moment, it’s just me and my men.Finally, Malix lifts his head and drops a kiss to the tip of my nose. “God, I love fucking you,” he murmurs.“Good.” I chuckle. “Because I’ve got lots of plans for more of this.”He waggles his eyebrows. “Dirty girl. You really are my fated mate.”I breathe out another laugh at the idea that my dirty mind is the true proof that we’re a fated match, shaking my head and grinning at him as he draws back, his cock sliding out of me.Frost, Malix, and I all look toward Kian next.The final piece of the puzzle. My third mate.He’s kneeling on the bed beside me, and when I reach for him, he comes willingly. He settles between my legs, his cock hard and thick. But he doesn’t slide into me right away. Instead, he trails one hand down my stomach, and all four of us watch the path of his fingers as they move lower and lower. When he reaches my pussy, he dips two fingers inside. I moan at the feeling, and heat flashes in his eyes.“You look so stunning lik
His gold-rimmed eyes gleam darkly, as if he knows exactly what I’m doing—trying to get a rise out of him. But the heated possessiveness never wavers in his expression as he gives me an answer.“Because I want to look at you. I want my brothers to see what’s theirs. What’s ours.”Oh.Oh fuck.I didn’t expect his answer to turn me on so much, but after everything that just happened between us in the bathroom, every word he just spoke is loaded with meaning.So I don’t push back against his order, staying still just like he told me to and allowing the three men to stare down at me. Frost reaches down to grip his cock, and I wonder if he’s squeezing himself to get a little relief or to try to get his arousal under control. Maybe a bit of both.That thought makes me whimper softly, and although I make no move to reach for the feral shifters, I can’t resist reaching down to slide one hand between my legs.“Shit, kitty,” Malix chokes out as I use my fingertips to spread my pussy lips, giving
“Fuck prophecies,” I repeat as I swipe at the tears threatening to crest over my eyelashes. “I make my own fate. We’ll make our own fate. Together. And it won’t end in murder. Got it?” I jam my finger into Kian’s chest and cut a glare toward Frost. “We aren’t going to go down like that. Not like them. I couldn’t stand it. I can’t even stand the thought of… of hurting you or killing you. Jesus. I can’t believe I ever tried—”Suddenly, Frost’s arm snakes out and hooks around my waist. He yanks me to him, my arms crushed between us as my fingers still cling to my towel, and his lips cover mine, cutting off my rant.There’s a salty, spicy taste to his skin, and when his lips part in that tentative way of his, I’m surrounded by the familiar scent of his body. Warmth unfurls in my belly, heating my skin, and I tilt my face up to his, opening to his kiss.It’s soft at first, but then he catches my face in his hands and deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding against mine with deliberate possess
AmoraHeat risesin my eyes as I flip the water on in the shower and climb inside. I don’t even wait for the water to warm, and the shock of cold zings through me, giving me a rush of adrenaline to chase away the sheer exhaustion that’s settled over my bones. The cold quickly fades, replaced by lukewarm water. Another twist of the pipes gives me the scalding temperature I need to ease the emotional turmoil I feel.Weeks of grime slosh off my body beneath the shower head while my tears disappear into the water on my face. I dump shampoo on my hair and scrub vigorously with my fingernails, scratching harder than necessary. If I focus on the little pinpricks of pain, maybe I can get the sight of Quinton standing over Felicity’s body out of my head.If only for a moment.His mate.His mate.How could he do that?I turn, ducking my head under the water to rinse out the suds. I grab the bar of soap off the ledge beside me and lather my hands, then use my nails again to scrub at my face.How
So we travel quickly, digging deep into our energy reserves to race headlong across state lines. Micro-naps and brief pauses to eat or drink are the only breaks we allow, and surprisingly, nobody falls behind. I assume the weaker shifters are still running on pure adrenaline.Most of the adrenaline has faded by the time we cross the state line into Wyoming, but it doesn’t matter. We keep pushing anyway.When we finally reach the Silver Crest pack’s boundaries two days later, a heavy feeling falls over the group. Felicity’s shifters slow, as if dreading to bring the news of her death to those left back home.Many of the wolves limp or nurse wounds that have yet to fully heal, and it doesn’t take more than a glance to understand every one of them is completely demoralized by what happened. It’s late in the day, and although the last rays of the sun paint the buildings with a warm, glowing light, despair hangs around us like a weight in the air.When pack members begin to emerge from the