An hour later, we’re no closer to answers regarding the Tree of Life, but we’re about halfway through the bottle of whiskey. We’re sprawled out on Erik’s couches, exhausted and frustrated at not having found any hints about where to find the damned Tree of Life.The whiskey helps though, I gotta say. So do the bags of chips and pretzels Malix rustled up from somewhere in the kitchen.“Weirdo had decent taste in liquor,” he observes, rotating the bottle so Kian can see the label.I lean over to catch a glimpse, since the bottle isn’t one I’m familiar with. “Tullamore Dew?”Malix nods and tosses back a chug straight from the glass rim. He smacks his lips, then lets out a satisfied noise. “Damn. That’s the good kind of burn.”Frost—who’s taken the cushion beside me on the couch—holds his hand out for the bottle. “Tullamore Dew is a top-shelf Irish whiskey. First introduced in eighteen twenty-nine. Forty percent alcohol.”Kian intercepts the bottle before it reaches Frost, then throws bac
All three men share a glance, communicating without words in that strange way they often seem to use.Kian snatches the bottle away from Malix. Before he presses the rim to his lips, he says, “No. The shadows are new.”Malix shrugs. “Felicity must’ve learned to control them to use against us. She can’t keep that shit up though. She isn’t strong enough.”I sigh. “Again, could anyone tell me who Felicity is?”Kian gives me a narrow-eyed look, and I think he isn’t going to respond. Until he does. “Felicity is our alpha’s mate.”Shock tingles up my spine. My alpha’s mate is Sable, andI just can’t… she’d never hurt her own people. I grab the bottle from Frost and take another sip. Smaller, this time, just to calm my nerves.“What the hell?” I say out loud, keeping my thoughts to myself. “Why would your alpha’s mate send shadows to attack you?”Malix leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. The easy smile he often wears fades away, and there’s a hard note in his voice when he speaks
I don’t know what they want from me. How they feel about this storm of need. They obviously don’t want me as a mate, but they’re just as attracted to me as I am to them. I can feel it.I can’t deny the heat between us.It’s suffocating.I back up against the stairway railing, which is as far as I can go to get away from them. Not far, unfortunately, and the combination of their scents is still stifling me.“This place is huge,” I mutter, looking out over the dark foyer so that I don’t have to look at them. “There are plenty of places we can sleep without having to share.”Malix grins when I turn back to face them, just a slash of white in the gloom. “We always share.”Oh Jesus.The double entendre has been noted.“Well I don’t,” I say with a shrug, struggling to keep my voice even. “I like my space.”Malix opens his mouth to speak again, but Frost hits him in the arm.Part of me is dying to know what he was going to say.Instead, they split off and head down the inky hallway, while I
My heart’s still hammering in my chest when I heave myself back through the living room window. The angle is awkward, and I manage to slip my upper body over the sash. But I’m still off-kilter, still breathless, still not really in my right mind after what I witnessed. So before I can get a leg over the edge to gracefully climb to the floor, I crash headfirst instead.I catch myself with my elbows instead of my face, which is better than nothing. Score one for Amora. My legs slide the rest of the way in, and I tumble forward in an approximation of a somersault, landing splayed on the living room floor.Right at Kian’s feet.He’s sitting on a large chair in the dark, a liquor bottle resting on one knee. Somewhere between the time he left me and now, he lost his shirt. Even the darkness can’t hide his chiseled torso or the almost metallic ring of gold in his eyes. His dark hair is sticking out everywhere, and the scruff on his face gives him a dark, deadly look that makes me weak.He lo
I clench my jaw rhythmically as I try to talk myself out of what I know I’m about to do, then I finally give in and let the hand that’s resting on my stomach slide lower. The space between my legs is wet and hot, and when I press two fingertips lightly against my clit, the sensation is so powerful that my back bows off the bed.Fuck.I haven’t let myself do this since Kian left me all those years ago. I mean, I’ve touched myself plenty of times—a girl’s gotta pass the time in lonely hotel rooms somehow—but I haven’t let myself think of him while I do it.Now that he’s back in my life, though, now that he’s in my space every day along with my other two mates, I can’t fucking take it anymore. If I don’t let myself have this one little moment of release, if I don’t take the edge off, there’s a chance I’ll break down and do something incredibly stupid. Something that will endanger my entire mission, risk my heart all over again, and complicate this already messy situation even more.So re
My boots pound down the wooden stairs in time with my heartbeat, laces trailing on the floor from where I didn’t bother to tie them. Kian, Frost, and Malix are already in the foyer when I arrive, circled up in conference next to the broken front door.A strong breeze and the sound of voices raised in anger and alarm drift through the crevice in the wood left from Kian’s assault last night.“It’s humans,” I say, my heart leaping into my throat. “Just humans.”All I can imagine is these men shifting to their shadow wolf forms and destroying every human life out there. Because that’s what I know they’re capable of.Malix rolls his shoulders and looks over at me, unamused. “‘Just humans with guns. They’re not here to play cops and robbers with us.”Kian nods his agreement. “Our best guess is they’re the humans who witnessed us battling the shadows in the motel parking lot. Humans aren’t accustomed to seeing the supernatural, and they’re reacting accordingly.”I gape at him. “By coming to
By the time we hit the interstate, dawn is rising over the mountains in the distance and casting the desert in shades of amber and purple. I’m not wearing a watch, though it’s not like that’s ever stopped me. I can tell it’s that purple time of day where late night is bleeding into early morning, and the birdsong answering somewhere in the distance only cements my certainty.Once we reach empty road, we open the throttle and fly. We make it three miles before I start to breathe easier—five miles before I look in my rearview mirror and assure myself no one followed us. Maybe they were all knocked out or they were just too terrified to chase us when they woke up, I don’t know. But they let us go.Which is what a person should do when they’re facing a threat they don’t understand. Like Kian said, something that could eat them. Historically, humans didn’t make the best decisions.I cling to the handlebars with adrenaline still pumping through my veins. As far as I know, we don’t have a pl
I hover on the edge of unconsciousness. There’s nothing but darkness around me, and the distinct feeling that I’ve detached from my body completely. Tires screech nearby, though I think the sound should be louder. It’s like it’s coming from the end of a long tunnel that I can’t access. Then, the muffled sound of pounding footsteps and raised voices.“She’s got a pulse,” someone says faintly. It almost sounds like Kian, but there’s no way he’d ever have that much concern in his voice over me.“Broken rib,” Frost says. “Her arm’s injured as well. Possibly a concussion.”Malix snarls. “Yes, thank you, captain obvious. I’m a little more concerned about the total body road rash.”Now I know I’m not imagining the worry in his tone.I claw my way back to consciousness, even though doing so tugs away the muted, muffled distortion of my senses. All the agony rolls right back over me, and sound returns much louder than it should be.I blink up at the circle of three faces hovering above me.“M
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