DamonI move like a phantom through the trees, my senses locked onto the faint scent trail I found near the border. It’s fresh, leading deeper into the forest, winding toward something old. Something my instincts are warning me is something very wrong.My lip curls, but I keep following. The girl doesn’t even know she’s being tracked. Sloppy and amateurish. Hard to believe she got away with murder.I’d gone back to where the boy’s body was left, circling the perimeter, looking for any trace of the killer. What I found was her scent. Faint at first, but unmistakable. And now I’ve followed it here, to the ruins of something ancient that reeks of magic.She emerges just as I crouch behind the thick brush, watching. Her expression is tight, her breathing uneven, like she’s been doing something she shouldn’t have. Her eyes are distant and unfocused.She hesitates before taking a step away from the ruins, like something inside is calling to her and she wants to run away.She’s clearly a wit
HildaSomething isn’t right. I feel it before I’m even fully awake, a prickling at the back of my neck, a weight pressing down on my chest.The bond between me and Arlo hums low and steady, but there’s an unease threading through me, a whisper of danger that I can’t ignore. My hand slides beneath the pillow where I keep my knife when I’m sleeping, fingers curling around the hilt.Keeping my eyes shut I take a deep breath. The cabin smells almost the same as usual. Wood smoke, fresh pine, the lingering scent of Arlo on the sheets, the sharp, delicious tang of our fluids perfuming the air, but there’s something else. It’s faint, but it doesn’t belong.Then I hear it. A footstep. Too quiet for most to notice, but I’m not most. I bolt upright just as the door creaks open, and there he is, Damon, daring to come into my fucking home.A slow, cruel smile spreads across his face. “Morning, princess.” My grip tightens around the knife. He looks worse than the last time I saw him. “I’m your Lun
HildaArlo keeps running his hands over me, looking for wounds. I’m bruised, but mostly whole and I know the baby is fine.He never leaves my side, but he’s barely spoken since he stormed in to find me kneeling over Damon’s corpse, covered in blood.He immediately dropped to his knees, cupping my face with hands that trembled, his eyes scanning every inch of me as if he needed proof I was whole. He wrapped me in a blanket and carried me to the communal bath house, ordering everyone out before carefully bathing me, while others cleaned the mess I left behind.Now, back in our cabin, he paces, his muscles wound tight, his jaw clenched so hard I swear I can hear his teeth grinding. The bond between us hums, thick with his emotions. Relief, rage, something darker and desperate that coils beneath the surface, begging to be let out.I move toward him, placing a hand on his chest. “Arlo, I’m fine-” He spins so fast I barely have time to react before his hands are on me, rough and needy.“You
HildaI’m not entirely surprised when Cerelia arrives. She knocks once before opening the door and walking in, her sharp blue eyes scanning me where I sit curled up in an armchair by the fire, nursing a cup of tea.“You’re really not hurt?” she asks, her relief evident. “I’m fine,” I say carefully, not sure how she feels about me murdering her brother.She looks tired. Dark smudges linger beneath her eyes, and her posture is stiff, like she’s holding something back. I set my mug down and nod toward the chair across from me. “Please, sit.”She does, but she doesn’t relax. Instead, she studies me like she’s trying to solve a puzzle. “How are you?” she finally asks. I huff out a laugh, “I’ve been better. How about you?”She pauses before responding, “I don’t know what to say to you.” I raise a brow, “That’s a first. How about you just tell me what you’re really feeling?”“I keep running through different possibilities in my head. Should I apologize? Should I thank you? Should I just pret
HildaTara’s cottage is on the outskirts of the pack lands, a modest, weathered place half-swallowed by the creeping forest. My boots crunch over the frost-stiffened ground as I approach, the sense of unease that’s been gnawing at me sharpening with every step.I knock, then push the door open when I hear a quiet, “Come in.” Tara is sitting at her kitchen table, her hands curled around a steaming mug that smells of peppermint and ginger. She must have a headache.She looks up as I enter, her grey eyes guttering with something. Surprise? Apprehension? It’s gone too fast to tell. I close the door behind me, grateful to be out of the cold. “Tara, how are you?”“Hilda,” she replies, her voice careful, controlled, “This is an unexpected surprise. You look well.” I smile, unable to return the compliment.I take a seat across from her, studying her. She looks thinner than I remember, her sharp features more pronounced, eyes blazing far too brightly, and there’s a tightness around her mouth t
NixieI find Hilda sitting on the porch of her cabin, a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The bruises from her fight with Damon are already fading, but the exhaustion lingers in the set of her shoulders. Even so, she looks up as I approach, her lips curving into a welcoming smile."Daily visits now, you’re checking up on me," she accuses before I can even speak. I snort, stepping onto the porch. "I like to think of it as an unannounced wellness inspection. Making sure my Luna stays out of trouble."Hilda chuckles, scooting over to make room for me. "I’m fine, just bored out of my skull. Arlo’s being very overbearing and forcing me to rest."I sit beside her, stretching my legs out. "You almost died. Humor him." She shrugs nonchalantly, "I’ve almost died plenty of times before. It’s all part of being a warrior.”"So is knowing when to take it easy," I counter. Hilda looks at me shrewdly, “So you’d be fine staying in bed for a week after one little fight?” I roll my eyes, “I’m
HildaThe first thing I feel is the cold. A sharp, creeping chill that seeps into my bones, settling beneath my skin like frost in the dead of winter. It’s wrong. Unnatural. The kind of cold that isn’t caused by wind or lack of warmth, but by something evil spearing you with its gaze.I force my eyes open, but the darkness is suffocating, thick and impenetrable. The kind of black that exists only in nightmares, where light doesn’t dare to reach. My pulse quickens as I shift under the blankets, reaching instinctively for Arlo, but his side of the bed is empty, the sheets still warm.The sensation of being watched tightens around me like a noose. I hold my breath, listening, my fingers curling around the dagger I still keep stashed under my pillow. I know better than to ignore instincts like these.The room is silent. There’s no wind rattling the windows, no rustling of leaves outside, not even the distant howls of patrolling wolves. Just an absolute, unnatural stillness. And then, the
TaraThe first thing I notice is the cold. It seeps into my bones and curls around my limbs. My breath comes in quick, sharp gasps, fogging in the frigid air. I don’t remember leaving my room. But I’m sure as hell not there anymore.The stone beneath my bare feet is smooth, from years of being walked across. The air is thick, charged, humming with something ancient and evil.The temple looms around me, its high, crumbling walls stretching into darkness, the massive stone pillars casting jagged shadows in the moonlight streaming through broken shards of glass.I swallow hard, my pulse pounding against my ribs. I have to get out of here right away. But once again my body isn’t my own. My hands twitch, fingers curling, tracing patterns in the dust that I don’t recognize, yet my mind echoes with familiarity.My heart stutters when I hear the voice commanding, Deeper. It’s silk and shadow, curling into the hollow spaces of my mind. Morgana. Her presence is a phantom touch at the edges of m
AshTara won’t look at me. It must sicken her to see me in such a dishevelled state with Isadora. I tried to convince her we should bathe and get dressed first, but I suspect she wants Tara to know what we’ve been up to.I’ve never had any trouble sexually pleasing my partners. I’m an inventive, attentive and insatiable lover under normal circumstances. Last night was the first time since becoming human that I had to close my eyes and pretend.I imagined Tara was the one in bed with me. The one I kissed. The one who sucked my cock with such exuberance. The one I fucked until she was exhausted and passed out in my arms.I didn’t offer Isadora pleasure with my tongue this time. Exceptionally talented as I am at cunnilingus, I know she was hoping I would. I haven’t had the pleasure of tasting Tara, but I know she would burst on my tongue like some exotic fruit. Intoxicating my senses. I couldn’t suckle Isadora’s clit and keep lying to myself about who I was with.“Tell me how to break th
TaraI feel violated and ill when I wake up the following morning. Ash certainly doesn’t have human stamina, based on the information gleaned from the books I’ve read. Human males apparently require a period of recovery between one bout of mating and the next.“Thank you for the books,” I tell the serving girl when she brings my breakfast. She glances at the bedside table and her eyes briefly meet mine before darting to the floor again. “That one’s good, but the other one is better,” she says quietly.So these aren’t from Redgrave at all. “I’ll make sure to hide them when I have visitors,” I promise her quietly. She lowers her head, “I don’t think she’ll know. She doesn’t pay much attention to the house. You can just say you found them in a drawer.”“My name is Tara,” I tell her gently. She looks at me again with a faint smile, “I know. The mistress cursed your name repeatedly when you took Sir Ash from her before.” Right. I wonder how Redgrave believes I managed that. It’s all to t
TaraAsh seems to have accelerated healing abilities like we do. He told me he’s never been sick and he doesn’t think he ages, but he has no idea if that’s pure luck or if he’s not as human as he seems.The black eye took a bit longer to heal than the lacerations from the whipping, but it was still much faster than a human would have mended.I wish I could see him. Just for a minute. Just to be sure he’s in the same shape physically that I am. Logically I know he has to be, but I need to see with my own eyes that he’s fine. Or at least as fine as it’s possible to be while pretending to be enchanted by a completely delusional woman.If Isadora Redgrave hadn’t shown up when she did, I know exactly what would have happened to me next in that cage and I despise having to feel grateful to her, but I can’t deny that I am. I’d rather be beaten for hours on end than sexually violated by Malcolm.I know the only reason I’m being kept in this beautiful room and fed like royalty is because
RedgraveAs much as I despise Tara, seeing her spread-eagled, bloody and whimpering in pain doesn’t bring me any pleasure. I’m not a cat, who needs to play with my food before I deal the final blow.“Do you no longer need her to get you across the border?” I ask with a raised brow. Malcolm frowns as though the question makes no sense. “I do. She’s not dead,” he responds sullenly.“I gather she attacked you?” His jaw clenches, “What are you getting at, Isadora?” he asks irritably. “I’m trying to understand why you’re torturing her. What’s the point?”“She came here to spy on us before. My men only caught her this time because she was chasing down your precious Ash. She may have important information that could impact the mission,” he informs me dryly. Like I’m a silly child asking stupid questions. I wonder whether he knows that the thin layer of ice that he’s standing on has already started to crack.“Have you asked her?” I enquire. I can hear his teeth grinding together before he
MalcolmEither I was incredibly unlucky with the first werewolf I captured, or this one is very weak for some reason. Maybe because she’s linked to the human.I need to know whether most of them are more like Arlo, or like her. It’s going to make a huge difference in the size of the force I need. Arlo bent steel bars and wouldn’t go down until he was peppered with tranquillizer darts.I wouldn’t have stepped into Arlo’s cage for all the money in the world. Not even when he’d just been knocked out. This little female is completely different. One shot puts her down and she hasn’t attempted to shift once.Maybe I don’t even need to keep putting up with Redgrave. I’ve acquired an arsenal of weapons because Arlo refused to bloody die. Something tells me if I shoot this one in the head, she’ll expire immediately.As tempted as I am to test out my theory, I need her to get me into the werewolves’ territory. Her screams are like the most beautiful symphony. Ringing out loudly with each e
TaraArlo’s advice definitely helped. I’ve been drifting in and out of consciousness from the one dart that hit me, but I never fully went under. I’m abruptly pulled from my dreamy state when pain explodes in my head and my left eye starts throbbing.Ash. What are they doing to him? I want to hurl myself at the bars of the cage surrounding me and demand that they set him free, but we have to maintain our cover.“What the hell are you yipping about?” one of the guards stationed around my prison asks. I hadn’t realized I was making small sounds of distress.Based on the sheer volume of armed guards surrounding me, it’s clear King Arlo gave them a lot of trouble. Pride swells in my chest. He truly is a worthy leader for our pack.“Did she just hit herself?” one of the others asked, gaping at what must be significant bruising around my eye.“Crazy bitch,” the first guy mutters. “I’ve been watching her, she didn’t do it to herself. Her head rocked back and then the bruise was there.
AshFuck. This is not supposed to be happening. What the hell do I do now? I’ve never met Malcolm, but by all accounts he’s the scum of the earth and has no conscience. And he knows I’m not a mythical hero. He planted the bullshit that made Redgrave believe I was some kind of Messiah.He may just decide to kill us for the hell of it. No. I can’t think like that. He needs Tara to get across the border. That doesn’t mean he won’t hurt her though. Or kill me, if he doesn’t believe we’re linked. The problem is, we actually are.Cerelia cast a spell before we left, binding our life forces together. I’ll suffer any harm done to Tara, and she’ll die if they kill me.It was meant to keep Tara safe from Redgrave, and provide further proof that she controls me. I would happily offer my own life if it would save Tara, but it’s currently impossible.The men who grabbed me pulled a thick burlap sack over my head. I can’t see anything and even hearing is problematic. I know they put Tara in
TaraAsh is being extremely huffy as we walk toward the border. “I could have done this on my own. There’s absolutely no reason for you to be putting yourself in danger.”“Aside from the multitude of reasons already discussed in the war council?” I ask, matching his level of peevishness without any trouble. “And don’t suggest again that you could have steered them towards a specific area to cross the border, because it would have been too suspicious and risky.”He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, like I’m the one giving him a headache, instead of the other way around.“Look, I know you want to leave the forest and get back to Raventon as soon as possible. This is the best way for us to speed up the timeline of Malcolm’s attack and control the outcome. I’m sure this is why Scarlett called you here and you can leave as soon as the threat is neutralized.”“Dammit, Tara! This isn’t about me getting back to my life in the city, it’s about your safety. I don’t want you to be hurt. I
Arlo“I don’t like it,” I say, shaking my head.“For once we agree on something,” Ash huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re not going out there like some lamb to the slaughter,” he tells Tara with finality.“I don’t remember asking for your permission,” Tara tells him softly and Ash’s head jerks back like she just slapped him.“Nobody likes it, but we have to act first,” she continues in her quiet, but determined tone. “We have no idea what Malcolm is up to. If we can control when they cross the border, Cerelia can do her thing. Humans don’t know about our ability to mind link.”“We weren’t able to use the mind link while you were in the city,” I point out grimly. Tara nods, “I know. I’ve spoken to Cerelia and she agrees that it’s probably because of the magical barrier at the border. The moment we come across, I can warn you, so you’ll have at least a 30 minute headstart.”“I could communicate with Arlo when Malcolm had him,” Hilda says, a shiver of distaste running down