I stared at her for what felt like minutes, but it was probably only seconds. “Mom…”
She shook her head, and a new tear fell. “I knew then I could never mate Vince. So I left. And I spoke with my father, as you spoke with me, and he said he would never make me mate with a wolf that held females so low. Low enough to use them while they were at their weakest and then kill them when he was finished with them. So when ever Vince had come looking for his mate, my father would always send me back home.”“How did you meet daddy?”My mom blushed at her thoughts, but a more frantic howl ripped through the air and I watched him deflate. “We should go.” She put out the fire and quickly put everything away. “Morgan will go berserk if we don’t show up soon.” She lifted her lip in disgust.“Can you handle the next four years?”“Yeah. Baby, I have to.” She waved me to the fronMorgan backed up a little as he raised his hands up in surrender. “I was worried about you.”“Bullshit.” My mother spit back. “You wanted to control our run, or come with us, but you are not Amy’s father. You don’t get that right. You are her stepfather, and after today, that is even up in the air.”“Hey.” Morgan tried to push back, but my mother was having none of it.“Hey nothing. When Shannon shifted, what did you say to me?”“I can’t remember it was so long ago.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes, but I saw the anger there.“Don’t lie to me. It was less than three months ago. You were so proud, don’t you remember? You rubbed it in that Shannon shifted earlier than Amy. ‘Look at how fast and strong my daughter is. I wonder when Amy will get here.’ Yeah, that BS like we all don’t know that stronger wolves take longer to shift. Amy sur
“Say it.” I growled out one last time, already losing my patience.“You did this.” He crumpled to his knees, heaving. “It would have been perfect if you weren’t here.” He cried into his hands, and if he would have stopped there, I wouldn’t have suspected him. But he is Morgan, and he is an idiot. “Why couldn’t you have just died in the fucking attack?”I froze.How did he know about the attack? He continued to cry and scream, but I was focused on the words that seemed to flow like lava from his mouth. It was pure hatred. Hatred of my father and me. “If you would have just died when your dad was attacked years ago, I wouldn’t have had to raise you. Money that your mother would have inherited would have been mine, or Vinces. We would have been set. But no, you both survived. It wasn’t until you father was stupid enough to cheat on her that she moved here.” His voice tailed of
I closed the door and turned back to my mom. She was leaning against the door frame with a look on her face that I couldn’t read. We went back to the bathroom, and she leaned in. “How am I supposed to stay here for four years and deal with that man after finding everything out?”“I don’t know. But at least you have a good reason to be mad. You can hold this against him for a while.”She nodded and then shut the water off. “I have to go downstairs and clean up.”I grabbed her arm. “That can wait until tomorrow. Today has been a very long day.” I looked out the window, and the sun was starting to come up. “A very long day.” She nodded, and I noticed the bags under her eyes. “Lets catch some sleep on my brand new bed, and we can try to figure everything out later today.” We crawled into the new bed, and I am thankful it was delivered and we made it up with fresh sheets last night before t
“How dare you come here with your demon spawn? Look at what they did to my son. Just look at him.” The woman stood over her son and screamed at the goddess followed by wolves. The three faced goddess moved to the woman and held open her arms. The woman dove into them and started to sob. “Please save him, Mother. I have dedicated my life to you and I have never asked you for a boon. This is my ask. Save him. Please.” She pulled back and looked at the goddess, but her face was grim. “I’m sorry, my daughter, I can not.” The three faced goddess held the woman in her arms as she broke. Her legs failed her, and she crumpled down to her knees. “I will do anything, give anything, just save my son.” She wailed as the goddess held her. The goddess with the wolves moved closer to the young man, boy really, and she crouched over him. The wolves all moved closer and closer until they, too, were crouched over the boy. “Get away from him. Look at what you
I woke up with my grandmother’s words in the air. “The first werewolf and witch created the same night. The fates intertwined our lines, and both goddess blessing run through our veins.”I woke up groggy, as if what I dreamt of was something I actually did, instead of a dream I had. I rolled over and the bed was empty.I got off my bed and checked my phone. It was seven in the morning the next day. I slept over twenty-four hours. I stood and stretched. Then I went into my bathroom and took an actual shower.I walked to my closet and realized my clothes were clean and hung up. The descenting spray lingered in the air, and it was like the room was a vacuum of smells. Or lack of smells.I grabbed some clothes and got dressed. I did my morning routine and then walked down the stairs, not sure what to expect.I walked into the dining room to find Shannon and Morgan waiting at the table, but my mother was nowhere to be found. I looked
He sat there frozen as I stared at him. I could see the anger in his eyes, but I just stared at him. “That isn’t fair.” I turned to face Shannon. “What isn’t fair? How you treated my mother like an omega? Or that she refuses to bow down to your pathetic demands any longer?” She glared at me but I just tilted my head. “Neither one of you can give me a reason why I should step in and ask her to move on. So no. I refuse to help the two of you.” I picked up my phone and my coffee. I took another sip and went back to my scrolling as Shannon fumed next to me. “Then fucking leave.” Shannon slammed back into her chair, toppling it to the floor. Her chest was heaving as she panted in her anger. “Take your whore mother and fucking get out of our house.” Shannon glared at me and I put down my coffee again, then turned to Morgan. I smiled, and I saw him pale. “Now why would I leave the home I own?” Shannon screeched. “This is my house! My father w
I walked through the front door of the university and to the admissions office. I pushed in through the door and waited at the desk. “Hi can I help you?” The lady behind the desk was a tiny old woman with curly hair. She walked over, surprisingly spry in her old age.“I hope so.” I smiled over at her as my mom pushed through the door.“There you are.” She smiled over the counter at the woman. “Hi. I hope you can help us. We are here to get my daughter registered for her classes this semester.”“Oh my. She is starting a little late. Hopefully, the course she wants is still open.” She hustled over to the swinging half door and pushed it open. “Come here, you two. We will get you settled.” We followed her back to her desk, and she pointed to the two chairs and settled behind her computer. “Now. Why the late start?”I sat in the chair and my mom settled next to me. “
“Usually you would get your key when you were assigned, but since you’re late, I’ll just give it to you now.” She pulled a key on a wristlet and handed it to me. “The dorms are open to move into this weekend and class starts on Monday morning.” I looked at my mom, and she shook her head. “You waited to the last minute, didn’t you, baby?” I just grinned. “I informed the university I was spending the summer at another pack out of their territory.”“That you did. I saw your note on the file. You were actually the next thing on my to do list. So you saved me the hassle.”“Next on your to do list?” I laughed. “Why?”“The dean wanted me to follow up on all alphas that have registered this year to ensure that each got the classes they wanted.”I nodded along, but my mom frowned. “What happens if a beta or gamma wolf picked their classes before the alphas and were accepted into the program, only for an alpha to ask for the same spot?”Mrs. Sandlewood frowned. “Unfortunately, with the newest
I wanted to vomit. Smile. Megan pushed closer. Smile and accept his kind stupid offer, so we can get close.I turned my focus from the letter in my hands and focused on my wolf, who was becoming more aggressive by the moment. What the hell does he mean you rejected him? I screamed at her. I thought we waited. When did this happen? I looked for Nix. Megan glared back at me, still defiant. It was one time Nina came over to mess with us. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. I just left you out of it so that you could focus on more important things.Like, what about Megan? What could be more important that my wolf rejecting her mate?Nix came running out of the trees and skidded to a stop between us. You lied to us. She sounded hurt, as hurt as I felt. We could have been there for you. We should have been, but you kept this from us. And you kept it a secret until now…why? We have come so far this past year together, and you still kept us out. I felt like the wind had been knocked out o
“None of this.” Toya pulled back. “No tears.” She wiped her own face. “We won’t be stuck on our pack lands. We can visit. And there will be video chats, and movie nights, and-”“And we will make sure we make time for each other.” Wendy finished. I was still in awe of her transformation through the years. She had become so strong. “Yes. Yes, we will.” Hanna beamed. It was my turn to look at her, and I was shot back to the very first time I met her. A tiny little thing terrified in the bathroom. I chuckled as I looked around. “We have come so far these years.” I wiped my eyes. “You all have become so strong. Completely different people. Micca, you have completely flourished into your rank, you have become a very strong beta, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you became a Luna for some pack. Same with you, Toya. You have grown so strong these last few years.” The two beamed. “It’s all because of you.” Toya bumped into me.I shook my head. “You guys didn’t have to train. You wanted to and
We walked out of my apartment together, and I glanced at the next door. Rowan had disappeared after my heat, and I left him be. We both had things to focus on and I think we both realized that we were just distracting each other from what was important.Toya caught my eye. She glanced at his door and then looked back at me with sad eyes. “Do you regret it?”I snapped to her and lifted my brow. “Regret what?”Toya bobbed her head to the sides. “Rowan…the bullshit…”“Staying an extra year just to graduate with us.” Wendy cut in and Touya pointed to her. “That too.”I shook my head. “No.” I waved my hands and gave a tiny chuckle. “I didn’t have time for the bullshit, and Rowan and I…well, we both had more important things to focus on.”“You could have graduated early.” Hanna pointed out. “But you stayed.”“We are supposed to graduate together, plus the extra courses were amazing.” I smiled and put my arm around her. “How could I leave you alone?”Micca laughed. “You’re not our mom.” “I
Almost one and a half years later…“Are you ready?” Wendy bounced on her toes. Her long hair shining in the curls that we painstakingly styled this morning. She looked gorgeous in her pale pink dress. The black grad dress hung open around her shoulders as she finished her makeup. I looked around at everyone in my living room and I couldn’t stop the smile. “You guys look amazing.” And they did. Micca’s red hair was braided over her shoulder, her graduation dress a dark canvas to her stunning beauty. Hanna’s black textured bob was such a drastic change since our first year. She had let it grow out these two years, and then showed up this morning like this. “Hanna, your hair is stunning.”“I liked the long hair, but this feels like me.” She smiled and ruffled her hair. She slipped her graduation dress over her white sundress. “Can you believe it’s been almost three years? They said they would fast track us, but I didn’t actually think they would.”Toya came out of my room with her stunn
The silence that fell was charged. “That fucking douche canoe.” Toya and Wendy snapped to me and snorted. “You’re watching too much human reality TV again, Amy.” I flipped them off. “So you’re telling me that not only was he trying to get me to mate with him, he was trying to get me pregnant?”Wendy winced. “Well, we can’t make that jump.”Toya growled. “Why not?”Wendy slid her phone back into her pants. “Because while Brandon is a douche canoe, as Amy has pointed out, he wasn’t the one that grabbed the kudzu to beguin with. Morgan got it for your mom, Amy. He was trying to get your mom pregnant, so that is why he chose kudzu over another herb that can kick in a heat. But Brandon is…well he’s stupid. He is in my course and let’s say, if it wasn’t for his dad running the school, he would have failed business already.” Tina chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me. Last time he pretended to know what he was doing, but I was the one investing the pack’s money to make sure we didn’t go ban
I looked up at Toya in the doorway, confused. “What?”She pointed to my leg. “You’re bleeding, and it hasn’t healed yet. Why aren’t you healing?” I looked down at my leg and saw the blood pouring from a minor cut. I furrowed my brow. “I don’t know.” I looked back at her and shrugged. “I was talking to my wolves and got distracted.” Now it was her turn to furrow her brow. “Get out so I can stop the bleeding.”I waved her off. “Give me a few minutes to finish and then I will come out.”“Amy, just come out now.”“Okay mom.” I rolled my eyes. “Out.” I pointed, and she shook her head as she closed the door. Pushy woman.I finished my shower, including finishing my shaving, and I got out. It was bleeding faster than I thought possible and I didn’t know why. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my leg and walked out, leaving a bloody footprint with every step.At least you have wood floors in here. Could you imagine the damage if it was carpet? Megan sighed as Nix choked out a laugh.“D
Seventy-two. The floor fell out from under my feet. “How could you face that alone for seventy-two times?”She sighed. “I didn’t have a choice.”“That doesn’t make sense.” I was grasping at straws. “That’s like…”“Once a month from your eighteenth birthday, when you met Brandon, until we became pregnant. It would have been more, but we made our pup on your birthday. So that year I only have the one.” She answered softly. “We were almost twenty-five when we died.”The truth hit me like a punch in the gut. She survived so many times, all alone in the forest. “I am so, so sorry.”She took a deep breath and stood. “They get easier. And I had my mates touch to temper the burn. You both just went through you first without any help other than me. I took the heat, so you had those few breaks to collect yourself.”I wrapped my arms around her. “You are the strongest wolf I have ever met.”She laughed. “You’re only saying that because I’m your wolf.”“No.” Nix came over and sat next to her. “Sh
The world stopped for a minute, and then my wolves were lunging for each other. I slipped on the tub, slicing my leg as I struggled to reach for them. I turned inwards, sending myself into my mind, chasing after my wolves. “Stop.” I called as I reached the carrier, but they were fighting each other, and they were vicious. I pushed through the separation and ran to my clearing, diving between the two, earning myself a few bites in the process before they realized I was there. “I said stop!” I screamed as both latched onto me, and then jumped back. “Amy!” both of them called as they realized, and I dropped to my knees. Blood poured from my shoulder and my hip where they bit. Nix circled. “You are so fricken stupid.” She licked the wound at my shoulder, the one higher up where she got me. The blood slowed and Megan stepped up, cleaning the wound on my hip. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you jumped in.” Megan went back to cleaning the wound. “Don’t apologize.” Nix hissed. “She knows better
“Yeah, I think it’s time we do.” I grabbed the shampoo and start on my hair. “Obviously, this last week has been hell.” Both of her wolves agreed. Nix and Megan stumbled over to the clearing where my magic lived. Once they were close, they laid down, as if drawing strength from her center. We are tired. Megan sighed. This has been hell. Nix snorted and rolled her eyes. “Say what you need to say.” I rinse my hair and focused on my Lycan. “I know you have something to say.”She sighed. I like Rowan, we both do. She started and I could feel it. She was holding back. “Come on Nix. Just say what’s on your mind.”She took a deep breath. Okay. Fine. When we woke up after dying, we swore we would never allow another man to make us beg. We agreed we would push men to the side and focus on what matters. Nix stop. Megan shook her head. “No. It’s fine.” I shook my head. I took a giant glob on conditioner and threaded it through my curls. “We need to be open and honest with each other. Otherw