ANNA The night is still. A slight breeze blows my black fur as I sniff the air. My amber eyes shimmer in the dark. I stand at the edge of a clearing on the border of my pack's territory, Falcon Ridge. It's not huge, but it's not small either. On the other side of the imaginary line, I stand in front of, sits White Rock. An alliance pack, smaller numbers, but its members are tough. I scan the tree line with my wolf ears perked. Movement. A dark figure on four legs breaches the trees and trots toward me. As it gets closer, I recognize him. Michael. The border patroller for this area between our two towns. His large brown and grey wolf approaches and stands almost at attention. A wind gust blows and swirls around him as he shifts. His naked form now crouched and he rises. "Anna." Wind gusts blow and I shift. Rising to meet his face. We both stand on either side of the border. Our naked bodies dimly lit in the moonlight. I nod. "Michael." He
RIVER"Son. Calm down." My dad was seated at his desk. He just delivered, yet, another condition I had to pass to get the title that has been promised to me since the day I was born.I'm leaning on his desk. I slam my fist down. "Calm down?! Christ, dad. This is bullshit and you fucking know it! You were 5 years in before you met mom! Why the fuck do I have to be mated to get my fucking title?!"He shuffled papers. "Son. My situation was different. My father died. I had to take the pack. I wasn't ready. I should have had a Luna. You will have to go by the book. Just find your mate and you'll get your title. It's not the end of the world."I stand up and grab at my hair with my hands then scrub my face of my frustration. "Not the end.....! Fuck! Do you realize my mate could be dead? She might not even be fucking born y
ANNA"What's up, bitches?" I stroll into the station with my red motorcycle jacket slung over my shoulder, my other hand in the pocket of my red leather boot cuts and sporting a white t-shirt. I have a huge smile on my face. I love being me.The station is buzzing with day shift and night shift patrollers exchanging reports for shift change."Hey, Anna." Could be heard around the room.I walk down the aisle and park my ass on Greg's desk. Three desks from the back where Drake's office is.Greg side eyes me up and down then pulls back his chair, leaning back and folding his arms. "Damn, Anna. When are you going to let me make an honest woman out of you?"I lean in. "Not in this lifetime, sweetcheeks." I smile. "How was the border?""You covering for Dea tonight?" He raised a brow.I nod.He pulled out a report and handed it to me.&
ANNAMy left hook connects to the face of the one eyed rogue."TELL ME WHY YOU WERE AT THE BORDER!!" I grab his shirt and command him to answer me.I've been interrogating this guy for over an hour and was starting to lose my patience.He spits his blood on the floor. "I'm not telling you nothing, bitch." He grins an ugly, bloody grin. Glaring at me with his good eye."Fine." I stand up and stroll around him and the chair he's chained to. I run my fingers up his good arm, around to his back and down to his casted arm. He watched as I walked around, snapping his head to follow. I pause. The corner of my mouth ticks up as I grab the fingers of his broken arm and bend them backwards.He screams in agony."ANSWER ME!!""OKAY. OKAY." I let go. "Fuck...alright. some guy, okay. He comes into a bar I was at in Delwork. Says he'll pay me if
MICHAELOk. Can I start by saying, I know I'm being used. At first, I didn't care. I mean, who wouldn't want a hot, bad ass chick coming to you for the occasional hook up. If you're any kind of red blooded male wolf, you'd be crazy to say no.When I met Anna 5 years ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. She was sexy as hell, driven and has no problem saying what's on her mind. That in itself, drove me crazy.We agreed to keep it casual. No commitments. Just hook up when the need arises, but walk away when the deed was done.And for years, it worked.But, somewhere along the line, every time I woke up and she was gone. Every time she'd walk away with her 'See ya later, tiger.' My heart dropped. I didn't want her to leave. I want to hold her. Wake her up with kisses. Cook breakfast while I gaze at her in one of my shirts.
MICHAELIt's a little cooler tonight.I breach the treeline. My wolves eyes adjusting to the brightness of the moon. I trot into the clearing. Sniffing the air. I can smell her. I see her. She's shifted. Her naked frame sitting in the grass. Her knee up and her hair hung down in her face.My wolf let's out a tiny whine and licks his lips as the wind blows and I shift. He senses the same thing I do. I rise and walk over to her.I sit down. "Hey."She tosses a glance. "Hey." She goes back to playing with the blade of grass in her hand.With the invisible border between us, I try to see her face. "Anna. Is everything ok?"She blows a breath. "Yeah. I'm good." She doesn't look at me.I grow concerned. "Why are you just sitting here?"She tosses the blade of grass. "Thinking. Taking a bre
RIVER The look in Anna's eyes, as Karver jammed the barrel of his gun into my temple, told me that under her crass, rough exterior, there was a pain she kept well hidden. A wound so deep, you'd think it would impossible to fix. After I went to the hospital, she came by. Lectured me about being stupid and that I shouldn't have put myself in that position. I agree it was dumb, but I couldn't let her face Karver alone. Even as she lectured me, though, I felt she wasn't actually talking to me. It felt like she was talking to someone else. I had to find out who. When I went to her house, I wasn't expecting to have the conversation we had. Karver killed her lover. The same way he was going to kill me. I was shocked, but not surprised. It explained everything I saw in her face that night. After our emotional exchange on the swing, I felt I was delving into the real Anna. The
ANNAI walk into the station. "What's up, bitches?"The last few days have been a Rollercoaster of emotions, but today I decided to just push past and move on.I'm greeted with claps on the back and high fives for nailing Karver.I head for Drake's office. "Bossman. How's it going?" I walk in and sink into a chair at his desk across from him.He raises a brow. "You seem better." He turns to his computer.I adjust my seat. "Yeah. I had a lot of shit to work through, but I think I'm okay now."He folds his hands on his desk. "Anna. I know this Karver take down opened some wounds. We have some great people you can talk to if you need it."I smirk. "I don't need therapy, Drake."He sat back and folded his arms. "Not therapy, Anna. Just someone who can talk with you. In private. Just to make sure you're all sorted.""I'm fin
ANNA I swallow nervously as I look out on the crowd of thousands of heads staring at. Alpha Andrews is at the podium. He's talking about the victory and Torrents demise. Words of encouragement and celebration filled the air on the training field of the Falcon Ridge Security Unit. River is sitting beside me, in a chair on a stage. His fingers laced with mine. Like he can sense my nervousness, he looks to me and gives my hand a squeeze. He smiles warmly when my eyes meet his. I smile back. The ceremony was to honor those that made our victory over the Dragons possible. "Anna Riker. Can you stand over here please?" Alpha Andrews waves me over to him. I stand, straightening my uniform. I walk over and stand at attention facing him. He's holding a box. "For your unmeasured bravery, emmense courage and strength you had to kill the Alpha of Dragons, we would like to present to you the Medal of Honor. Wear it with pride." He takes the medal out of the box and pins it t
ANNA "River. Where are you taking me?" I giggle as he covers my eyes and leads me through the hallways of the pack house. "Almost there." I can tell he's smiling. We stop. He uncovers my eyes. I'm standing in front two large wooden doors. I look at River confused. "Open them." He says quietly. I grasp the doorknobs and swing the large doors open. I gasp. The dome shaped room is covered in soft white candles. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling in books and artifacts. Paintings of past Alphas grace it's walls. Picture windows show the forest outside. On the floor, is a white fur rug in front of a stone fireplace. Wood crackles and burns while flames dance in it. A beautifully set table for two wait with dinner. We just got back from the ball and River set up this surprise. I suck in a
RIVER "To good times and good mates!" Franco raises his glass to the group of men in the common room of the White Rock packhouse. We all clink our glasses and bottles. Blade walks in. He has his black hair pulled back, wearing a black tux. We're all in tuxes. We decided that since the ball is here in White Rock, we'd all get ready here at the packhouse and go to the ball together. Of course, we men are all waiting on the women. Michael comes in. "Looking good, guys." He's smiling in his own tux. His brown hair tossed but nicely done. I crane my neck to look at him behind me, then turn. Eying him up and down. "You clean up nice." I joke. He smirks. "I have my moments. I'm just glad your dad let me go. Though tomorrow I guess I face the music." His smile fades a bit. I put my hand on his shoulder. "I have
ANNAIt's been three days since the news of the ball being moved to White Rock.With most of the moles in Falcon Ridge Prison, we've been free to plan and talk about the battle.There's been a question about why it's taking so long to get a plan from the higher ups.Well, today, we hear it.They have us all outside. Two thousand strong. Even the new recruits are here. What a time to join the unit. It looks like some are now unsure of their decision. I don't blame them. Barely over two weeks into training and you're thrown to war. If we didn't need the bodies, they could sit this one out.There's a stage and a loud speaker set up. The higher ups are standing on the stage. Alpha Edwards and Alpha Eric are missing. I wonder if they were moles too.Alpha Andrews is addressing us."Good morning.&n
RIVER I kiss Anna bye as we separate for the morning. It's Monday, the place is a buzz of the Blue Moon Ball just a week away. I'm internally freaking out as I walk past all the happy faces. The few that know what's going on, shoot me looks as they pass. I cruze through the halls, heading to the trainers office to pick up my week's itinerary, when Zeke rounds the corner almost knocking me on my ass. He looks panicked. I stand. Pretending to look confused, though I know, he's most likely heard about the take down that's already started. "Hey, man." I smile. This time it's almost a smile filled with satisfaction to see him so scared. "What's up?" He looks around. "Uh, nothing. I...uh...have to go." He pushes past me and I grab his arm. "Why the hurry? What's going on?" I stare him down. He looks at my hand on his arm and shrugs it off.
MICHAEL"What time is it?" I send out a mindlink.I'm pacing back and forth across a dark alley way. The same alley way, Adrian threatened Anna in.I run my fingers through my hair with one hand while nervously shaking out the other as I walk.Anna answers. She's up the street, in an alley."It's only a few minutes since the last time you asked, Michael."River jumps in. He's in an alley across the street."Mike, stop fucking pacing."I shake my head."He's late. I don't like it. This doesn't feel right..."Anna links again."Michael relax.""Relax." I chuckle to myself. "The guys a raging lunatic and they want me to relax."River links."You didn't have a problem with him when you sold us out?""River!!" Anna scolds."That was different." I link"How? How was it different?" Ri
RIVER The shitshow of the last weekend has me on edge. Everyone's suspect. I'm trying so hard to hide it, but as I walk through the halls of the dorms, I can't help but question everyone I pass. Everyone's Dragon. I have to get it together. It doesn't help that I'm terrified that Anna has to be out of my sight for even a minute. My wolf hates the idea. He's been scrambling around in his cage since I dropped her off at her door. These next few weeks are going to be torture. Especially, where Zeke's involved. I just can't believe it. Zeke and me are best friends. We practically grew up together. I thought I knew everything about the guy. Turns out he's a fucking Dragon or at least a sell out. How can I be normal? How can I not lose my shit when he's around Anna? Throwing her that fake ass smile.
MICHAELI'm sweating fucking bullets. My hands are clammy. My mouth is dry.I can hear the voices inside. One's River's and one is deep, low, and downright scary. They're arguing about me.From the sounds of it, Alpha Blake wants to kill me right now. I don't blame him. If I wasn't such a coward, I probably would have done it myself. I'm the worst possible monster the shifter world could ever have. I sentenced my own people to death just to get laid. What kind if sick fuck does that? Me, that's who.I just hope I'll get the chance to make it right before they kill me. I need to make this right. Not for me. I'm not trying to clear my conscience, but for my people. For Anna and River. I need to save them before it's too late.As I'm led into the office, I'm met with cold, dark eyes. The guy looks like River, but he's fucking m
ANNAI run into the packhouse. Shaken, breathless"River!" I yell as I run up the stairs."River!!" I yell again. He pops out of the bedroom door. I skid to a stop. My eyes are full of fear. My breathing is fast.His face is full of confusion and concern. "Anna, what's wrong?""It's Michael. He's in trouble." I grab his arm.River ran his fingers through his hair. "Damn it, Anna. Did you go see him after I explicitly told you not to?"I shook my head. Swallowing trying to calm my breathing. "No. He came to me.""What?!" River's eyes changed to rage. "Did he hurt you? What did he do, Anna?!" He grabbed my arms, looking me over."No! River, he didn't touch me. Will you just listen?!" I shrugged his arms off.I told him everything Michael told me."He was t