“Scream.”My body jerked, eyes snapping open. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” The arm around my waist tightened, pulling my body back against his. “We’re home.”I glanced around, taking everything in. We were back in my bedroom and it still looked the same as it had when I left. Swallowing, I raised a shaky hand to my neck and pressed it to the spot that was still throbbing. “I healed you,” Axel explained. “You bit me,” I whispered. He was silent for a few seconds. “Yes.”I scooted forward, making his arm slip away. Turning onto my back, I hesitated a moment more before I turned onto my side to face him. His eyes darted over my face and then dropped down to my neck where his eyes lingered for a few seconds and then snapped up to mine.“You fed from me.”“Yes,” he answered after a few seconds of hesitation. “I tried not to resist.”“Do you always find it hard to control yourself?” I asked him. Axel’s lips twitched. “No. I usually have better control.”My eyes dropped to his lips. Lips
A lot of packs had their own dynamics and I respected that, but I couldn’t understand how they would want someone like the boy in front of me as their alpha. He was pathetic. Dean and Rowan were a lot alike when it came to personalities. Both were pathetic, liars and too scared to stand up and take responsibility for their mistakes. “My father’s going to kill you,” he growled, flashing his canines at me. I tilted my head to the side as I watched him. The bars were made of metal mixed with a healthy amount of Wolfs-bane and the idiot had learned it the hard way. He should have been able to smell it but he either didn’t or he was too agitated to take in his surroundings. Didn’t blame him. Axel entered the room with the smell of Cora’s arousal still clinging to his skin. I wanted to know what they had done. If she had given her consent for things to go so far, but I didn’t want to ask questions with the bastard within hearing. “Let me go!” He made the mistake of gripping the bar
My Mom had been the one to home-school me. After everything Blue showed me and what we talked about, I realized how much my Mom hadn’t taught me when it came to sex-ed. She had explained the human version of how babies were made. Maybe she had been hoping that one day I would marry a human. I had been expecting that too, but it was clear that my life was meant to take a different path. A scoff fell from my lips. Who would have thought I would be blessed with three mates, or was it a curse?I touched the bruise on the side of my face and I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Blue had left a few minutes ago after promising to buy me some toys for my birthday. She had surprisingly not questioned me on the bruises which made me believe that the whole pack already knew what happened with Dean. Letting out a sigh, I finished tying my hair and then made my way out of my bedroom. The last thing I wanted was to see Keiran after what he walked in on, but I couldn’t hide in my room fo
It felt like the air had been knocked from my lungs. I never expected him to utter those words. If a mate was so rare, why would someone kill their own mate?Was she not what he wanted so he killed her? I shook the thought from my mind and focused my attention back on Keiran. “Laura was manipulative and selfish. She wanted things done her way or not at all,” Keiran said softly. “When we met…she was shy or so she pretended to be. The more I got to know her, the more her true colors started showing.”“So she lied about who she really was?” I questioned. Keiran nodded. He stared at me for a few seconds before he leaned down. There was the sound of keys jiggling, and a moment later, a drawer opened and then closed. Standing, he walked around the desk and took a seat opposite me again. He hesitated a few seconds before he held out a photo album. “I loved her,” he said softly. “But I had to make a choice. I tried talking to her, changing things. For a while, I even pretended to be some
“Wolves are surrounding us,” Lucas informed me. “They’re cutting off all exits and slowly moving in.”I nodded. “The women and children?”“All at the safe house.”Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to scent them. There was no doubt in my mind that Rowan was the one attacking. Somehow the kid must have gotten word out to him before reaching the pack. Ryder had kept a close eye on him while trailing him, but there could be a possibility that the boy might have sensed that he was being followed and decided to call Rowan and warn him. “Don’t attack unless he attacks first,” I warned my men. “Once they enter the center of town, you surround them to make sure that none of his men sneak off.”“Do you think it will break out in a fight?” one of my men asked. I frowned at him because he sounded excited. “I don’t know,” I told him honestly. Rowan was probably hoping for a fight. Anything to blackmail me into doing what he wanted me to do. But I was older and a lot wiser. I knew how he worked
I blinked up at Keiran as he hovered over me. I had been woken by him numerous times during the night as he came to check up on me. It was sweet of him to check up on me, but I was starting to get annoyed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he fixed the collar of my shirt. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay.” “I am okay and I was okay the other hundred times you checked on me,” I told him. Keiran cleared his throat and moved to stand, but I reached out and grabbed hold of his wrist. “Why?” I questioned. He swallowed loudly as he turned to face me. “I told you about Laura,” he said softly. “I didn’t tell you that I had marked her because I thought it was what she wanted.” “And she rejected your mark?” “Yes,” he muttered. “Within seconds after I marked her.” I sat up, and reached out to grip his hand. “If I wanted to reject your mark, I’m sure it would have already happened.” “I didn’t want to do it until I was sure that it was what you wanted,” Keiran said. “I wanted things
I frowned. My body was relaxed, my mind clear and my stomach full. I wasn’t hungry. I could sense the sun starting to rise so I should be sleeping. But something woke me and I wasn’t sure what. Sitting up, I glanced around the room. Nothing was out of place and there was no sign of anyone inside my room. Letting out a sigh, I got comfortable again. “Axel…”It was Cora’s voice, but she wasn’t inside my room. Jerking upright, I got to my feet and hurried towards the stairs. Pressing the button, I waited for the door to open. There was a soft click and then the door slowly started to open. I pushed it open faster and stepped out of my room slightly. I flinchedThe room was bathed in rays of the early morning sun. A low moan made my eyes snap towards Keiran’s desk. Cora was on the chair, her head resting on her arms on the desk. Another pained moan fell from her lips as her head rolled from side to side. “It hurts,” she cried. The fact that she was in my head should have shocked
I glanced at Keiran from the corner of my eyes. It would be very rude of me to answer my phone during a meeting with the council, but it was the third time it was ringing. Something had to have happened because the only person I could think of who would call was Axel. “She has accepted your mark, but that does not mean that she has accepted you as her mate,” one of the elders was saying. “Given your history with your previous mate, you understand why we need to look at things from every possible angle,” Demetrius muttered. “Your pack has grown considerably over the years and don’t get me wrong, you are a great alpha. But we need to make sure that your pack will be protected if the past gets repeated.”“Cora is nothing like Laura,” Keiran growled. “How can we be so sure?” someone asked. “We know nothing about her. Rowan has given us a report and based on that, she is a troublemaker.”“You all know that Rowan can’t be trusted,” I interjected. All eyes turned towards me. “Why exac
“I have her.”I gripped the edge of the table tightly. It was taking everything in me to keep the beast in check. If I could, I would have allowed him out to rip the council to shreds, but I couldn’t take that risk. I couldn’t risk losing my pack. Cora needed them. She needed protection and we wouldn’t be able to provide it alone. If we left pack territory it would paint a target on our back. The last thing I wanted to do was make things worse after all the shit she went through. “You lied to us,” Abigail’s mate growled. “You told us she was human but that’s not the truth. We had to find out from someone else that she’s a shifter.”I held my breath, waiting for him to tell everyone that she was a rare breed. “We should have been informed what she was the moment she stepped foot on this land.”“If I may…” Kelsey stepped forward. “The council was formed to advise our alpha. It wasn’t formed to control his every move. As alpha of our pack, he doesn’t have to report everything to you.
“Welcome home, sweetling.”My eyes fluttered open as the words flashed through my mind again. The bed dipped on either side of me, making my smile widen, but it faded the moment his lips brushed along the scars on my lower back. I tensed and clutched the pillow tighter. “Ryder ran you a bath,” he said softly. “We need to leave in ten minutes.”His body brushed along mine as he moved higher until his lips reached my shoulder. There, he paused to press a kiss to my skin and then turned his head to press his face against the back of my neck. “Are they going to punish you?” I asked. Keiran tensed, but he didn’t immediately answer. “I don’t know,” he finally answered. “They know exactly what happened.”“You make it sound like the council can’t be trusted.” “They can’t.” He swallowed loudly. “At least not everyone. Demetrius is always on our side, but I can’t say the same about the other elders. They weren’t happy when I challenged my father and won.” I swallowed. The happiness I felt
Ryder’s lips moved along my skin, pressing soft kisses here and there. We had moved to the bed, something that he had pointed out was a bit awkward because it was Axel’s bed. I reassured him that the sheets had been changed the night before and that we hadn’t had sex..in the bed. He still hadn’t looked convinced. But at least his mind was not occupied with other things. Like torturing me. I should have told him that I wanted him to fuck me hard and fast. Instead, he took it upon himself to torture me slowly. He was inside me, fucking me slowly while he peppered my skin with kisses. Every time I was close to orgasm, he would stop until I calmed down before moving again. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t love it. Shifting slightly, Ryder kissed a path up my neck. His lips lingered there and then slipped along my jaw to capture my lips in a slow kiss. I lost myself in him until my wolf rose to the surface. As if he could sense the change inside me, he raised his head to look a
I hovered in the doorway, staring at Cora. It's been three days since we found her. Three days since Xan and Keiran killed Rowan. Cora slept for most of the time. She only woke up to use the bathroom, to eat, or when Keiran or Axel cleaned her still-healing wounds. Some had already healed but they left ugly scars behind. We were still waiting for Dean to show up. It was why we decided that Axel's room was the safest place for Cora to sleep. Not that we left her alone for long. We knew that Dean was going to come for her. We just didn't know when. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"My eyes snapped over to Axel. He had been slumped in the chair next to the bed with his head tilted back and eyes closed. "I thought you were sleeping," I muttered as I stepped further into the room. He said nothing as he stood and quietly left the room. I kinda felt bad for kicking him out of his own room but I didn't stop him from leaving. Hovering next to the bed, I stared down at Cora. She sle
I used to think that losing my parents was the worst thing that could have happened to me. But nothing could be worse than being humiliated in front of your mate and your worst enemy. Dean touched me in ways I never wanted him to touch me. He did it to terrorize Axel because he knew that Axel couldn't do anything. Our plan hadn't worked out. They caught us off guard and managed to inject Axel before he could kill them. Kelsey was knocked out even before she could shift. And, I was left defenseless because Axel had already tied me up again. For some reason, I felt like they had everything planned and managed to fool us. Rowan was playing a game and I wasn't sure why. Axel was already hurting. I was humiliated. And I wasn't sure why Kelsey was locked up with us. Shivers raced down my spine when I heard the soft click of the lock on the door turning. Dread instantly flooded me when the door opened and Luther stepped inside. He smirked when his eyes locked with mine. "What a grea
“We found it at the north border. There was no note or scent around that we could trace.”I stared at the package on the table. It was wrapped in black tape, preventing us from seeing what was inside. Swallowing, I gripped the handle of the knife tighter as I took a step forward. We didn’t know what was inside. I was dreading opening it, but I knew I had to. It might be a clue on how to find Cora. “Do you want me to open it?” Lucas questioned from my right.I shook my head. To my left Ryder shifted nervously from foot to foot. I knew exactly what he was thinking because I was thinking the exact same thing. This package could be from whoever kidnapped Cora. It could be a part of her body they cut off. It could be her head. Our mate could already be dead. We had no leads to follow. Xan had disappeared from the face of the earth. There were no scents left behind or clues other than the empty syringes.“Just get it over with,” Ryder growled. I pressed the knife to the side of th
Waking up in one of my mate’s arms was the best. Waking up after a night of sex was even better. Until I remembered exactly what happened. I shot upright in bed, eyes wide and heart racing. Besides me, Axel stirred. “I need to talk to Ryder,” I told him as I struggled to free myself from the sheets. “Cora-”“I need to be the first to tell him,” I interrupted. “We just managed to talk things out, I don’t want to mess it up again.”He said nothing else. Finally managing to free myself from the sheets, I climbed out of bed and searched the ground for a shirt. Pulling it over my head, I hurried up the stairs. I was expecting bright light to blind me, but the office was surprisingly dark. Not dwelling on it, I hurried out of the room and up the stairs. The smell of frying bacon filled my nostrils and on any other day, the smell alone would have drawn me into the kitchen. My steps faltered when I reached Ryder’s door. It was slightly ajar but the room was dark and I could sense him i
“You know,” I whispered against Cora’s ear. “If we were in any other situation, this would make for some kinky sex.”She made a sound that sounded almost like a laugh. I sighed as I hooked my arm under her ass and hiked her a little higher to give her legs a rest. It was dark and hot. I had removed my cloak a while ago and wrapped it around Cora. She was starting to shake either from the cold or shock setting in, I wasn’t sure. After searching through the room I found a wire I thought I could use to pick the locks on the chains. It looked a lot easier in the movies.“Ready?” I questioned. Her legs tightened around my waist again. I waited to make sure that she was ready before I let her go and reached up again to try and open the lock. My head was getting hazy. Sweat dripped down my forehead and made my clothes stick to my skin. I was uncomfortable and hot. Cora’s wounds were starting to heal so she was no longer actively bleeding, but her blood still coated the floor. The scent
One day, twenty-four hours, and a few minutes. Whatever the bastard injected me with was still in my system. I couldn’t use any of my abilities to try to locate Cora. Keiran couldn’t sense her either. It scared me shitless. I might not know that much about werewolf mates, but I knew that if you couldn’t sense your mate, something was seriously wrong. I didn’t even want to consider that Cora might already be dead. Rowan’s territory was the first place Keiran searched. We all suspected Dean, but his name was cleared. Rowan even gave us permission to search through every house on his property and the surrounding territory. He thought allowing us to search his territory would take him off our suspect list. But it didn’t. Keiran was sure that he had Cora, we just couldn’t do anything until we had proof.The last thing we wanted was to start a war when Cora was still missing. I sighed softly, eyes darting over the assembled pack members. Keiran had called a pack meeting the moment h