I frowned at him. “What do you mean?” Axel gripped the hem of my shirt and tugged it upwards. Struggling into a sitting position, I quickly helped him. Once my shirt was off, he pressed a hand to the middle of my chest and pushed until I fell back. Hooking his fingers into the band of my pants, he tugged them down my legs. A growl fell from his lips. “No underwear?”Colour flooded my cheeks. “I like it.” Axel crawled over me, hooked an arm around my waist, and hoisted me higher up the bed until my head rested on his pillow. “Did you finish reading Werewolf 101?” I shook my head. “One of the things it teaches you is the fact that a bond mark is very sensitive.” His head lowered. “Keiran feels everything you do.”Swallowing, I sucked in a shaky breath. “Everything?”“Everything,” he breathed. His lips captured mine but before the kiss could deepen, he pulled away and moved down my body. Axel gripped my hips as he wrapped his lips around a nipple. My back arched when he started
“Concentrate Cora!”The warning came too late. In the next second I found myself being thrown over Xan’s shoulder. I gasped when I hit the ground. When I opened my eyes, Xan was hovering over me with his brows dipped into a frown. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”I took his hand and allowed him to help me up. The moment I was on my feet, I dropped his hand and took a few steps back. “I can’t teach you anything if you’re not focused,” he growled. “Sorry.” I gave him an apologetic smile. It took some convincing but I finally got Xan to agree to teach me some self-defence without anyone’s knowledge. Axel quickly figured it out but only because he snuck up on me when I was showering and saw some bruises. Since then Xan had been careful not to leave bruises. “I’m just thinking about the rogues,” I lied. In truth my mind was on the surprise Ryder said he had planned for us later the night. Keiran received news that all the rogues surrounding the territory had disappeared. Af
The rogues suddenly reappeared near the north-east border. And it wasn’t to observe us. They attacked, managing to kill a few pack members before it was reported. They left destruction in their wake as they moved deeper into our territory. I thought that we would be able to take them out without having to alert the pack. When the call came through, they said there were only two rogues, but as soon as one was killed, more showed up. “Ring the alarm!” I growled through the pack link. “Make sure everyone is locked in the safe house.” It didn’t take long before the blare of the alarms could be heard. Snarling, I tackled a rogue before he could jump on one of my men already locked in a fight. Claws dug into my middle. I kicked at him and then rolled away. The rogue rolled and then ran at me. I was prepared for him. We’d been training for this. The only way to kill a rogue was to remove its head from its body. I gasped when the rogue got the upper and dug its claws into my hip. Skin
It felt like someone was hammering around in my head with a sledgehammer. It made me feel sick to the stomach. Groaning, I turned onto my side, or at least tried to. My eyes snapped open the moment I realized I couldn’t. I blinked and frowned at the man across from me. It didn’t take long for the memories to return. I swallowed, trying to fight the rising panic. He said that my mates weren’t going to find me. I still reached out through the bond. My hope soared only to deflate when I realized that I couldn’t sense Keiran or Axel. Tilting my head back, I stared at the chains wrapped around my wrist. A tug only resulted in the burning metal digging into my skin. Hissing, I turned my focus on the man across from me. Xan was tied in a similar position as me. He was shirtless and covered in blood and bruises. There was an ugly wound just above his right hipbone that was still bleeding. I frowned. “Xan?” I croaked. “Wake up!”He owed me answers. Xan was supposed to protect me yet he k
A sound made my body jerk and my eyes snapped open. I blinked rapidly to clear the sleep from my eyes and realized with a sinking heart that Xan was no longer tied to the wall across from me. Someone else was leaning against the wall, staring down at me. “Look who’s finally awake.” A shudder raced down my spine at the sound of his voice. I barely interacted with him, but the brief time he had talked to me, made me dislike him. Especially after he tried to kill me. “I wish Dad would have told me about you,” Dean muttered. “He’s keeping a lot of secrets these days. But I was at the right place at the right time. Heard he caught a wolf.” He slowly straightened and moved closer. I tensed when he reached out to grip my chin and tilt my head back. “Dad should have told me what you are. I wouldn’t have rejected you.” “Then I would have rejected you,” I croaked. “I’d rather die than be mated to someone like you.” His face twisted in rage. I bit back a whimper when his ho
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
“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
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
“Sweetling.”I frowned as Axel’s soft voice penetrated my dream. It wasn’t a nightmare like usual, it was a nice peaceful dream, one I didn’t want to wake up from. “Cora.”A groan slipped past my lips when he gently shook my shoulder. Forcing my eyes open, I blinked up at his face hovering close to mine. Axel gave me a gentle smile as he reached out to move the hair from my face. “You’re bleeding.”His words confused me even more. Axel pulled the sheets down and then gripped my arm and gently pulled me up. Frown deepening, I glanced around and then down at my body. Slipping his arm under my knees and the other around my back, he pulled me against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck but risked a glance back at the bed. Horror hit first and then embarrassment. Not only were my pajama bottoms covered in blood, but there was also blood on the bed sheets. I buried my face against Axel’s neck. “I’m a werewolf,” I mumbled. “I’m not supposed to get my period, am I?”“You are s
Ryder moved to my other side and slipped his hand in mine. Nothing was said between the three of us as we headed towards the stage that had been set up. Keiran was already there, making a joke about something. All the focus was on him which meant that nobody had seen Axel’s confrontation with his mother. We had arrived just in time to hear the end of their conversation. I glanced up at Axel. He was still mad, but at least he had managed to mask his expression. Although people were still wary of his crimson eyes. My heartbeat increased the closer we got to the stage. Axel’s hand slipped out of mine when we reached the stairs. He moved behind me as Ryder led the way up the steps. Keiran turned, eyes locking with mine. He smiled as he held his hand out towards me. “I would like to officially introduce Cora Marlin, our mate, and your new Luna.”I turned to smile at the people. “Tonight we’re not only celebrating Cora’s special day, but we will also be welcoming her to our pack.” He
Most of the pack was already gathered at the usual spot. Laughter and conversation filled the air. I sucked in a breath, trying my best to identify as many scents as I could. There was no sign of danger, but that didn’t make me feel any better. I knew how easily things could change. Cora’s hand tightened. My eyes snapped down to hers. She smiled at me, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her scent had changed the moment we stepped foot out of the house. I tried talking Keiran out of making it a big deal but he insisted. This was an important day for our pack. They needed to see Cora holding her head high and acting at Luna. These pack dynamics still confused me. It was so different than how things were done in the Vampire nests. A shudder raced down my spine as memories flooded my mind. Cora suddenly stumbled. My hands instantly shot out to steady her. Our eyes locked and held. I realized with a start that she had paled. She looked sick. “What happened?” I questioned. “Are you fee
“You can’t hide in there forever,” Blue called from the other side of the door. “Come out and let me see.”I ignored her as I studied myself in the mirror. Blue had chosen one of the new dresses Keiran brought me without my knowledge. I smiled as I remembered our day at the mall. It was scary at first, but the longer we walked from shop to shop, the more I relaxed. He didn’t give my fears a chance to get the better of me. And he certainly spoiled me. I now had a lot of clothes, more than I owned before. Keiran even offered to pay if I wanted to get my hair and nails done. I agreed to have my hair cut but declined the offer to do my nails. There was no use wasting money on something I didn’t need. The bathroom door opened, startling me. Blue peeked around the door and then pushed it open wider. Her eyes widened as they trailed over me. “Wow,” she breathed. “You look beautiful.”“T-thank you.” I brushed my hands over my middle. “I’m not sure about wearing it though.”“Why not?”“
Maybe we should have talked to Cora first. I glanced over at her. It was supposed to be a surprise trip. Something to get Cora away from the pack so everything could be set up for her party. Not only were we celebrating her birthday, we were going to officially welcome her into the pack. She was already ours and the pack knew about her so the introductions weren’t necessary. But Demetrius suggested that we keep doing things traditionally. So here I was driving Cora to the human town under the pretense that we needed a few things for the party. Cora was tense. I could sense her wolf hovering close to the surface and I understood why. This was a big step for both of them. It was also considered a test. “We need more of those plastic plates,” I said. “I was thinking of getting a few extra cups and cutlery just in case.”“Is the whole pack going to be there?” “Yeah. Some will probably only stop by for the introductions.”She looked at me then, but her attention was pulled away when
As expected, the moment I fell asleep, my dreams turned into nightmares. I found myself jerking awake only to be lulled back to sleep by Keiran’s purring and Axel’s reassurance that I was safe. My dreams were a mess. It was a mix of being locked in that room and being tortured to waking up in my old pack with Dean as my mate. Somewhere during the third nightmare, I woke up to Keiran gone. Before I could question it, Axel and Ryder took control, distracting me by undressing me and giving me multiple orgasms. The last time I fell asleep it was sandwiched between Ryder and Axel with the blissful waves of my orgasms slowly fading. There was no nightmare after that. I woke up near noon feeling exhausted. There was a faint pounding behind my temples and my body ached but I pushed the pain aside as I slipped out of bed and headed into the bathroom for a shower. With my hair wrapped in a towel, I pulled on one of Keiran’s shirts and then left the room to search for my mates. The smell of
It looked like he didn't want to answer me. Why were they so secretive about it? Letting out a sigh, Keiran settled more comfortably on his stomach. I turned onto my side and waited. "I needed some time away from the pack," he said softly. "I asked Lucas to keep an eye on things and declined his offer for extra security. I was going to a human town and I thought that it would be safe." "It wasn't?" "I stopped for a drink at a bar, I'm ashamed to admit that I had a little too much." He paused. "Werewolves need to drink a lot of alcohol before we feel the effect of it. I lost count and before I knew it I could barely walk. Decided it was best to get back to the hotel I was staying at before I did something stupid." I waited a little impatiently for him to continue. "I got lost and ended up in an alley." Keiran closed his eyes. "My mind was a mess and I wasn't aware that I was being followed until they jumped on me. I struggled to fight them off and I was pretty smug about it unt
Guilt flooded me when I approached our house and spotted Lucas slowly straightening from where he had been leaning against the tree. It was almost three am and I was sure that he was dead tired. "Axel hasn't returned yet," Lucas said softly. "There's been no other movement.""Thank you," I said through our packlink. He nodded. "Do you want me to stick around?""Just open the door for me." I followed him to the front door and slipped inside the moment he opened the door. With a nod of thanks, I waited until the door was closed again before I ran up the stairs. The house was silent. Cora was probably asleep already which was good because I wasn't sure if I could look her in the eye and lie about everything that happened. Axel said that he hadn't told Cora about the other videos Dean had made of her. The kid had been stalking her for years. I was going to make him bleed over and over again to make him pay for all the shit he put her through. Entering my bedroom, I headed towards
"Why is it taking so long?" Ryder tried to grab me when I passed him but I avoided his hands and moved further away from him. I didn't want to stay in that room any longer, but I regretted not staying. Now we had no clue what was happening. "Do you think Keiran attacked Dean?" I asked Ryder. "What if he did and they decided to make his punishment worse?""Cora." Ryder stood and made his way over to me. He gripped my hips, spinning me around to look at him. "As Kelsey pointed out, the council is only there to advise Keiran. They can't punish him for anything."I swallowed, glancing at the door again. "They're fine."Sucking in a shaky breath, I stepped into Ryder and wrapped my arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face against the crook of my neck. Calm washed through me from our bond, but it only lasted a few seconds before my anxiety started rising again. Ryder's lips parted and his tongue flicked out to lick my skin. I shuddered. "I can think of