A few stragglers race toward me, and the shadows give chase, bounding across the ground with preternatural speed. I watch in horror as one creature takes down a mother holding her toddler. Her scream cuts off abruptly, and her baby cries.Then I’m flying backward. The ground moves away from me, and the big picture becomes clearer. I keep going, further and further, until I can see the whole country, the whole continent, then the earth itself.Everything has been taken..Conquered.Decimated.I close my eyes and try to scream, but nothing comes out. When I open them again, I’m back in Ridge’s backyard.The witch, Gwen, stands on the lush green grass, her face pale and grave and framed by waves of bright auburn hair.“Go,” she says.I jerk awake, shooting up from the cold desert dirt. I clutch at the ground beneath me, struggling to breathe through the panic that stays with me in the moments after waking. My heart pounds painfully in my chest, and I swallow against the beating, trying t
I finally doze off around the time dawn begins to paint the sky red, though I feel like I’m barely under before I wake again. What little sleep I managed to get was fitful and full of shadows.When I awake, Kian, Malix, and Frost are already up and loading their bikes. The moment my eyes open, they stop talking and all three glance my way like they’re one goddamn person.Not suspicious at all.Malix grins. “Sleep well, kitty?”I bare my teeth at him and briefly consider throwing my knife at his face for funsies. It would only cut him a little. Add a little extra pizazz to that stupid smile.“Yeah,” I snarl. “How ‘bout you? Did the bed bugs bite?”Malix’s grin widens, and I wasn’t even aware that was possible.“Time to go.” Kian speaks up as he closes his under-seat storage compartment. He turns a dark, unreadable gaze on me. “We’ve got another few hours on the road.”I get to my feet and roll my shoulders, working the tension out of my muscles. While I load my gear back into my bike,
His house is small and cramped. I pass into the front foyer, bowing my head beneath a chandelier too large for the space. Herbs dangle from wire hangers lining the ceilings, and they brush like finger bones along my hairline as we follow Erik through the hallway and into the living room.The television is on, playing an old nineties cartoon I only recognize from pop culture. There’s an open beer can on the table, condensing in the hot room. The air is heavy with incense, something strong and earthy that makes my head swim.Erik picks up his beer. “I’d offer you one, but I’m broke and you’re strangers.”Malix and Frost exchange amused looks, but Kian forges ahead, undeterred and gruff as ever. “We need an antidote to shadow venom.”Erik laughs, clutching his beer can to his t-shirt. “Shadow venom? First time I’ve ever met someone who needed that. Why do you need it?”“Does it matter?” Malix asks, his tone more serious than his usual amusement.Erik shrugs nonchalantly and sits down on
After a few moments, Erik’s hands fall away and his magic fades.Kian’s shoulder is no longer bleeding, but the wound has barely closed. It still looks angry and raw, like the damage done goes much deeper than the surface. More than the witch could heal.“All right,” Erik says pleasantly. “Pleasure doing business with you.”Kian yanks his t-shirt back over his head. The blood on his skin soaks into the fabric as he turns to face the witch. “And the antidote?”“I’ll get started on the potion,” Erik assures him. The lanky man strolls to a large wooden cabinet beside his altar and opens both doors, revealing a plethora of glass jars filled with all manner of things. Dried herbs, crystals, sand, limbs from a variety of animals, even what looks like a jar of human eyeballs.I grimace. Somehow I don’t think Erik obtained those eyeballs legally.We remain standing where we are, scattered about the room, while Erik starts shifting jars around and muttering to himself. He pulls down a large ja
“Three years ago?” Malix says, his tone low and angry.He hovers on the other side of the bed, framed by the fading sunlight streaming through the gauzy curtains. Frost stands behind him a few feet away, still near his chair at the table and also highlighted by the light. They both look eerily beautiful… and deadly. Frost as pale and unearthly as an iceberg in the fading twilight, and Malix as darkly magnificent as a mountain at sunset.The sight of them, and the tingle of their fury on the air, quickens my breath and makes my heart race. There’s a kind of savageness hanging between us that reminds me of the wilds, of the hunt, the chase, the kill.My fingers itch to reach for the dagger in my holster, but I wait. As of right now, I don’t think their anger is pointed at me.I glance at Kian and swallow. I know I’m about to be read the riot act for revealing something I knew was a secret. But he’s not even looking at me; he’s looking at his brothers. A muscle ticks in his jaw, and a th
I return to my burrito and shove the last of it in my mouth as something shatters in the sink area. My things are still in my backpack, so thankfully, I know it’s nothing I own. The tortilla’s gone as cold as the half-frozen beef, but I just chase it down with my water.Behind me, the bed shudders as all three men roll into the frame.I grew up in a pack. You get used to posturing, especially in the teenage years when all your friends are coming into puberty and gaining more strength as wolves. Pack men fight like little bitches, both in human form and in wolf form. So this doesn’t bother me. I figure, either they’re going to wear each other out and come to an eventual truce, or they’re going to kill each other.I’m honestly hoping for the latter. Would save me so much trouble.They’re on their feet now, trading blows and snide comments. I slide up on the tabletop and cross my legs to finish my drink, ready to wait out the testosterone.I’ve got my head tilted back as I finish off my
I leap aside and, thankfully, land on the mattress instead of the ground. The shadow narrowly misses me, and the air around my head displaces from its passage, whipping my hair around my face. I bounce precariously on the edge of the bed and nearly fall off onto the floor, though I manage to catch myself on the blankets.All three men shout in surprise, but I’m too busy trying to get my limbs back in the proper order to see what’s happening.Finally, I manage to lever up onto my hands and knees and glance wildly around for the shadow, ready to leap into action if it comes for me. Then I freeze.Fuck.There’s not just one shadow this time. There are several.Kian’s on his knees next to the fallen television, reaching into his pack. He brandishes a long dagger, slicing out at the shadow that narrowly missed me. Across the room, Frost calls out his name, and Kian throws the knife to him. The blade twists and flashes silver in the dim light, but Frost catches it easily by the hilt and tur
Moving almost like a single unit, all three of us lunge across the room to his aid. The shadows swirl around us like storm clouds, and I duck and twist away from them while the men fight. Without the light illuminating the room, it’s harder to see them, and even harder to keep from being brained by one of them as they dodge and attack.In the midst of the chaos, I take a blow to the head that knocks me off my feet.Lights flicker in my vision, and I sail backward, hitting the table. The wobbly piece of shit slips out from beneath me, and I fall, banging my head on the edge before slumping blearily to the floor.A shadow looms over me, blocking out the ambient streetlights coming in through the window overhead. I struggle to see it, blinking rapidly as I try to make the world come into focus again. I can’t even seem to pull enough air in my lungs to yell for help.Suddenly, over the grunting and cursing from the guys, I hear a new voice.A soft, intensely creepy whisper.A whisper that
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