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 was too hot. Biting back a whimper, I shifted slightly. My eyes fluttered open but I immediately squeezed them closed again. The bright light made sharp pains shoot through my already aching head. Every inch of my body ached. It felt like I had spent hours at the gym. The last thing I remembered was the pain and Axel’s soothing words. I shifted. Jerking upright, I glanced around. Axel was on the bed to my left and Keiran to my right. A wolf was resting at the end of the bed. “Oh.”“Don’t be scared.” A hand was pressed to the small of my back. “It’s Ryder.”His fur was the same colour as his hair. The wolf stirred and slowly opened its eyes. They were one and the same. Just like I had been with my wolf. I looked at Keiran to find him already studying me. He reached out and pressed his palm to my forehead. “You still have a fever.”“I changed,” I whispered. “I was a wolf.”Keiran smiled. “You did. Do you remember?”I flinched. How could I not? My bones had literally snappe
A Golden Wolf.Our Cora was one of the rarest wolves on earth. I knew she was special, but I didn’t know to what extent. When Axel told me that Cora wasn’t human, I knew expected her to be like us. Her parents believed that she was human unless they were lying about it. Or they didn’t know. My frown deepened as I thought back to all the times Nate and I met. He only ever talked about his family, and sometimes he would mention the troubles the back were facing. Whenever I asked him about Cora’s past and her real parents, he shut down. Maybe Cora wasn’t found at the side of the road like they claimed. Maybe her parents had handed Cora over to them in hopes of saving her from a terrible death. The Golden Wolves had been hunted, not only for their fur colour but because of the powers they possessed. That was something I didn’t know a lot about, but finding more information on it was claiming to be harder than expected. I made a mental note to arrange a date to go to Crawford and che
Hey all your lovely readers.I want to apologize for the long wait for updates. I hate leaving you hanging and waiting for updates. I've been struggling with a very bad cold that I just can't seem to shake off.My mind is too hazy to focus on writing. I want to give you guys my best. Once again I'm truly sorry for the long waits. I'll get back to updating as soon as I feel better. Thank you so much for your support and patience with me.
Had they known about it?Letting out a groan, I dropped my forehead on my arm. I had been puking my guts out for the last few minutes. I hated being sick. The medicine Ryder gave me wasn’t helping at all. I was starting to feel worse than I had hours ago. “Maybe we should call the doctor,” Axel suggested. *Keiran clearly said that we shouldn’t tell anybody about Cora’s shift,* Ryder growled. I frowned because I was pretty sure that he hadn’t said those words out loud. A hand slipped down my back as someone knelt next to me. I should be chasing them out of the bathroom. It was disgusting. They shouldn’t be inside the bathroom with me while I was puking my guts out. Raising my head, I blinked at Axel.He wiped my mouth with the tip of a wet cloth as he gave me a gentle smile. Once he was done, he straightened and then walked over to the basin to wash the cloth out. I struggled to my feet, trying my best to avoid looking down at the vomit in the toilet. With a shaky hand, I flushed
I wanted to punch him so badly. He didn’t have to point out what I already knew. Everything was supposed to be Cora’s decision but that was taken away from her when Rowan forced me to mark her just so he could be sure that she was our mate. My eyes locked on my mark. It was an ugly red colour. I needed to nurse it to heal faster, but that would be a big mistake. My beast was already clawing at the surface. He wanted our mate to mark us, he wanted our skin to be branded by her mark.That would only lead to more complications that we couldn’t afford. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time,” Axel said softly, making my eyes snap to his. “Yeah like the fact that you fed from her,” Ryder growled. Axel just glanced at him. “Cora still has a fever.”“And a headache,” she added softly. I frowned. She just shifted and although some aches and pains were common after a first shift, a fever wasn’t. The doctor had given me a first-aid kit with human medicine, but it was clear that Cora wasn’t
It was almost like I could feel his blood traveling through my body, which was stupid because I had swallowed it so it was in my stomach. A stomach that was still a little unsettled despite the two slices of toast Axel had made me eat.Axel took a seat next to me on the couch.I waited until he was comfortable and then scooted closer to him. He instantly tensed when I laid my head on his thigh. I turned onto my back and blinked up at him.His eyes locked with mine and a few seconds later his body slowly relaxed. Smiling, he pressed his hand to my forehead.“Your fever’s going down,” he said softly.“I feel better,” I told him. “Except for my stomach that’s still a little unsettled.”Axel placed his hand on my stomach, making me freeze. I held my breath as he slowly pushed my shirt higher up my stomach. Once it was resting under my breast, his hand moved down to rest on my lower stomach.The heat of his skin slowly seeped into mine.I blew out a breath, my body relaxing.A movie was pla
“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