Daisuke is cruising for a bruising. And now, thanks to Pam, Hana knows about Aidan. Or at least what little Pam knows.
It made sense why Paxton looked like shit. I had only been in that cell for a few hours and felt drained. Even while weak, I was still smug when Scorcha came to fetch me. I knew by the annoyed look on her face why she was there. It wasn’t to try and mess with me. Isak and Albert had come, and for all their big talk, Azer and Eliezer knew they weren’t a match for my friends. I hadn’t been strong enough to gloat at Paxton or the trio of fuckwits. I was just relieved to see my friends. I knew they would come for me. I felt no shame in being rescued or leaning on them for support. That’s what friends, nay family is for. Isak and Albert are my true family—blood of the covenant and all that. I was too tired to care about where Isak took us. I faintly registered that we were at DKE. I know I saw Malcolm gently shooing Pam back into his room to help get me to a room. At some point, someone brought me food and water. That’s right, the fuckers didn’t even give me water while holding me priso
My morning was going great, or it would be great if I could get my mind off Aidan. I couldn’t get him out of my head since I read Pam’s text that he showed up in rough shape with the others. A million possibilities ran through my head, and all I wanted was to be in New Haven to see for myself that he and the others were okay. I was distracted enough that my friends noticed it. I thought I’d been doing a good job engaging in conversation, but it went downhill when we all ended up at the training center. I’d lost focus thinking about Aidan being hurt, and Dervila got in a pretty brutal hit that sent me flying. While I’ll never pretend to be physically stronger than any of my packmates, I’m human. That’s just the nature of things. I’m usually better at dodging an attack than this. “Fucking hell,” Shamus grunted, catching me before I would’ve hit the wall. “You okay, Hana?” Alisha growled, narrowing her green eyes at me or specifically at Shamus’ hands on me. I rolled my eyes and got
Is going to Portland a bad move? Maybe. Is going necessary? That depends on your perspective. To most people, probably not. To us, most definitely. Knowing this pup was a forgettable lay doesn’t make his presence near Hana more acceptable. I accept that going to Portland could draw the Order’s eye, but I’m out of fucks for anyone and anything that stands between us and Hana. Fuck the Order. Fuck the Kinsley family. Fuck this bet. We haven’t all voiced this, but I know my friends. We all feel the same way. We’ve told the Order we quit. If they don’t accept that, I’m prepared to not only burn bridges but blow them the fuck up. I don’t have any need or desire to be in the Order. I only joined it because Aidan and Isak were involved. Joining ensured they wouldn’t need to keep secrets from me. Aidan lost any reason to be involved when his tenuous relationship with his dad ended. Isak’s the only one with blood in the Order. I don’t know how Jerahameel will take Isak’s leave from the
While not having Shamus and Evan with us was a bit of a downer on our traditional holiday hangout, I was still having fun with Dervila and Iver. We were up to our usual antics of joking about some of the weird stuff people bring to the market and gushing over the stuff we loved. Plus, all the shopping. I brought gifts home for my family, including little mementos of New Haven, but those don’t count as Christmas presents. All was well and good until Daisuke showed up and said we needed to talk privately. I wasn’t thrilled about that or that he forced me away from my friends for this bullshit. I knew he was here to start trouble. He hadn’t found some Cinderella mate he was trying to track down. He was here to try and convince me to be his chosen mate. The boy was out of his damn mind. I was willing to let him walk away when he grabbed my arm, but then he called me a slut in Japanese, and all bets were off. I didn’t get a chance to take him down because Albert showed up. My heart leap
Aidan and Albert would have preferred just ripping the young wolf apart for disrespecting Hana. However, it was better that she had the power in this situation. Hana wasn’t the damsel in distress type. She may want a strong male, but that’s only because she wants and needs someone on her level. It’s not about having a male there to protect her. Though I’d happily smite anyone, she told me to. After Aidan released the pathetic creature, we shared a knowing look. Aidan only nodded subtly to confirm what I was silently asking. Hana isn’t the only one who knows some hunter tricks. We’ve worked with the Guild long enough to be trusted with minor, non-lethal tricks. One such trick is to place a tracking curse on a target. It’s a very simple thing—or simple if you’re a supernatural creature. For a hunter, it requires preparation and perfect timing to put the tracking curse on their target. Because we are supernatural beings, especially Aidan, whose gifts lean more toward pulling off such m
It was incredibly unfair of them to pass me around and kiss me breathless. Each kiss was passionate and extremely too short. After weeks of letters that only got deeper and hotter to be close to them, finally, those brief kisses weren’t nearly enough. I wanted more. Hell, I needed more. As embarrassed as I was by Albert’s reminder or perhaps offer to have them all at once, I admit I was turned on by it. Nonetheless, Isak was right. Business first, pleasure later. I subtly squeezed my thighs at the very thought of that pleasure yet to come. I had hoped they’d say they were staying in a hotel or possibly had property here. Instead, they were staying somewhere I’d rather never go. I was so little when it happened, but that didn’t change how I felt. I can’t even drive past that old mall without shuddering, knowing it’s where my mother was murdered. Okay, so it was likely not the exact location where she was murdered. However, it is where the pack failed her. It is where the betrayal happ
While I’d have preferred that we relocate somewhere, Logan couldn’t come looking for Hana. This would do. She may have told Alex no questions and not told her parents, but that doesn’t mean he’ll hold to it. And given I don’t know the man beyond what’s in his Guild file, I can’t help but be mistrustful. The only people I truly trust are the ones in this car. Okay, I also trust Malcolm and Harris. Pamela is ify. She doesn’t know the whole or even a fraction of the truth to understand when to talk and keep quiet. As we walked in, and removed our shoes, I wasn’t sure what to expect of Alex’s house. Sure, his holiday decorations at the front of the house were a bit much, but he has a young son, so that was an excuse. I didn’t expect it to carry over to the extreme I witnessed when we walked inside. I felt like I walked into one of those novelty steakhouses that leaned hard into the cowboy theme. I wouldn’t mind the leather living room set or the wood furniture if there weren’t so much fl
Being alone with the three of them was such a BAD idea. It’d been almost two months since this Order interfered with their lives, forcing us to stay distant. Two months where I at least had control over myself. What do I do when I see them after two months? Go somewhere private and nearly completely lose control. I blame Aidan. He’s the one that insisted on a strip search. He could’ve just asked me to remove my weapons. I would have complied to assure them. Plus, I’d only been wearing my blade, so taking it off is no big deal. Instead, I was asked to strip, and it slipped into the land of things you shouldn’t do in your uncle’s living room. This is another reason I blame Aidan. I know I have a scar that only Isak had seen before. However, things could have stayed somewhat rational and just in a gray area of acceptable behavior if Aidan had kept his hands to himself. But noooo… he couldn’t do that. Instead, he had to look closer, touching and kissing my scar. It was all downhill fro
Dear Readers, I will be taking the rest of September off from writing new stories to focus on getting The Reluctant Alpha ready for paperback. October will bring the return of Auðr in his short story The Hybrid's Vampire, where he takes a lead role with Sage. Their story will be added to the Bloodmoon and Incubi Anthology. Follow me on social media, look for Author Bryant, to stay up to date on everything I'm working on. See You In October! Bryant
I know they say that time flies when you’re having fun. I’ve never really thought about the passage of time and how fast it can go. I’ve always been an in-the-moment kind of guy. However, certain changes in my life have me contemplating that saying—not only considering it but also worrying about it. I don’t want time to fly. It’s been ten years since my life changed forever. It’s hard to imagine a decade of Pam in my life. I won’t say the years flew by, or they went at a snail’s pace. I savored every day I’ve had her in my life. From the day I met her on the rugby pitch to the day, I knew I couldn’t live without her to the day I proposed to her by Iris Pond, to the day we got married in a very intimate ceremony by Iris Pond, to today when our new house in an uproar of decorating for our baby shower party. Yes, you heard that right. A baby shower. That’s why I’m contemplating the passage of time in ways I never had. It still feels like it was just yesterday that I’d gotten on one kne
The further we got from the restaurant and my parents, the more relaxed I became. I am so glad they live far the fuck away from me. I don’t need that kind of pressure and negativity in my life. I wasn’t already super close to my family, to begin with, and now that I have this supernatural secret, it’s even less. Couldn’t they have just been happy for me? I graduated from a prestigious university. I have a well-paying job lined up for me in my field. I have a nice apartment lined up to move into. Best of all, I have a great and supportive boyfriend. These are things any parent should be over the moon about. I’m not the first kid in the family to graduate from college, but I’m the first who didn’t move home for a year or more after graduation to ‘get on my feet.’ “Pam, you know we didn’t need to rush out. I was perfectly prepared and ready to deal with your parents.” Malcolm said. “I know, but you shouldn’t have to. They’re my family, and I’ll handle them.” I shook my head. “That’
It’s been three and a half years since my world turned upside down. Things I thought were myths suddenly became real, and the world, which was already dangerous, became a thousand times worse. Sure, I’ve been in therapy to work through my abduction and this newfound knowledge of the supernatural. I still have sessions with Doctor Westbrook, but rather than weekly, it’s usually just a biannual check-in. Having Hana and especially Malcolm in my life has made dealing with this new reality easier. The guys at DKE were more relaxed around me once Malcolm not only told them we were dating but that I knew the truth. I thanked the ones who came to help save me. As for the ones that betrayed Hana and her stooges, my meddling wasn’t necessary. Malcolm and Harris had kicked all their asses, and when the frat president returned from break, they were formally expelled from the frat. I accepted that I could never tell my family about the supernatural. Not that they’d believe me if I did. However,
It was weird being around so many werewolves. Sure, we have our share of hybrid werewolves in DKE. Hell, Corin, Derek, and Edward are on the rugby team with me. So, I have no issues with wolves. It’s just different being around full-blooded ones. No one was outright rude or anything. I didn’t like all the eyes on me. I felt like they had a lot of questions they wanted to ask but didn’t know if they should ask them. “If no one’s going to ask it, I’m gonna.” One of the wolves spoke up. “Ask who what, Silvercloud?” Aidan asked, folding his arm as he leaned on the wall with me while we waited for Hana and Pam to finish their talk. I recognized the name Silvercloud—not as a person’s name but as a corporation. It was a tech company that I knew well as a mechanical engineering major. I’ve tried to get internships there but have yet to submit a presentation that was up to snuff. “Silvercloud? Like the tech company?” I asked. “Yes and no.” Aidan shrugged. “That…” He nodded his chin toward
“Where was I? Oh right. Albert, well, he’s a vampire. There are some dampires in DKE, meaning the children of a male vampire and a human woman. Dampires have potential powers, but they won’t be unlocked unless they are turned.” She explained. “McHickey is a vampire? Okay, that I can totally believe. No one ever sees him during the day. And I’ve bumped into him, and he’s cold, literally.” I nodded, which made the most sense of everything she’d told me. “How will that work? If you have to share a bed with him, it’ll be like a human-sized ice cube under the covers. Is his dick cold too?” Hana pinched the bridge of her nose. “I… wouldn’t know. I haven’t done anything like that with any of them.” “Fine, but after you do, you need to tell me. I’m curious.” I chuckled. “I’m willing to accept that these things are real. But how does that all add up to what happened to me?” “So Isak, Aidan, and Albert used to be part of the Order of the Jade Seal. The child vampire, Azer, and the African an
Waking up in a strange bed in a strange place was weird. I at least had Malcolm with me. If I kept my eyes closed, I could pretend we were still at Yale in his frat dorm room. That was normal. That made sense. No getting kidnapped off an airplane by a teacher. No being held prisoner by three crazy people. No fearing for my life. No seeing my new bestie shoot three people in the head. No washing brain chunks out of my hair. And no crazy conspiracy theories flooding my mind to try and explain it all away. Of course, I couldn’t stay in bed and pretend it was all just some nightmare. I’m Pamela Grace Batista. I’ve got a reputation to uphold. So, I put on my brave face. I tried to be upbeat. After finding Hana, I focused more on all the eye candy her hometown had to offer. Though not even the smorgasbord of chunks or finding out Malcolm had been calling me, his girlfriend could truly erase all the anxiety and trauma I was trying to bury. I was glad Hana didn’t plan for us to have brea
After I’d walked Pam to my room, I returned to the kitchen with my frat brothers. For those that were innocent, I understood and would apologize to them later. All this is blindsiding them. For those that are the rats, those fuckers should’ve seen this coming. Our frat motto is Kerothen Philoi Aei, which means Friends from the Heart, Forever. You don’t betray your friends. “You get all their phones?” I asked. “Right here. No one’s going to alert the enemy.” Harris nodded, holding up a grocery bag full of phones. “Why did you have Harris take our phones?” Sal asked. “And what is he talking about ‘enemy’?” Tomaso demanded. If either of them is involved in this, I don’t know how I’ll handle it. They are more than my frat brothers; they are my teammates. Also, if they are involved in this, I don’t know how I’d explain to Coach and the rest of the team why they’re at best on the injured list next semester or, at worst, dead. I didn’t want to think of that possibility, but I knew I had
After texting Hana, I took the initiative. Just call me Santa Pam. I played McFingers like a damn fiddle bringing up Dai-suk-it. He and his friends were already making their plans. I couldn’t hear what they said in that room, but I could imagine. The look on Aidan’s face was priceless when I told him Hana’s lackluster fling was sniffing around. I’ve never seen someone move as fast as he did to return to his room. I checked my flight status on my phone as I entered the frat’s kitchen. I knew there wouldn’t be many guys here over break, but there were close to twenty guys in the kitchen, and they all went silent when I walked in. I arched my eyebrow as everyone turned to look at me. “Um. Hi. Did I interrupt some super-secret frat meeting?” I joked. “Yes.” “No.” “This is bullshit.” “What’s she doing here?” “Get out.” “Are we done here?” It was a cacophony of different answers. Some contradicted each other, and others were just rude. Like fuck you very much. Who the fuck i