I apologize for the hit and miss uploading of chapters. I had surgery this week and I am healing. I will be more focused on uploading in the coming days. Thank you for the support!
This was the first time I was seeing it myself. I looked dead. My eyes were half open, and my mouth was bloodied. My neck looks ravaged, jagged teeth marks still circle my throat, with bits missing. My arm was snapped and laying the wrong way and my leg had a bone sticking out of it. I heard just one giant inhale of breath before everyone turned to look at me but I focused on the screen. This is what I had, we had, survived. We are stronger than you think. Nix’s voice was firm as she stroked her side against the wall between us. Megan did the same. They were trying to calm my racing heart. I was so close to death.But the goddess saved us. Megan’s sweet voice seemed to calm me down. Yes, the goddess has need of us. Nix and Megan settled against each other and I smiled. “How?” I was snapped back to reality. I turned to face Hanna.“What?” I furrowed my brow, and she clutched at my hand. “How did you survive that?”“Luck.” Was the only answer I could give. “Fuck off, this is fake.
Everyone froze, including Nina. “My king, please.” Another council member stepped forward. “We haven’t finished our selection process.”Rowan turned to face the others. “This will be addressed later. But I will say this now. I am not selecting a mate until this war is handled. You can pick whoever you want, but no one will become queen until everyone is safe.” The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.“My king, you need an heir.” The man, Thinius, stammered. “I have already selected an alpha to be the heir apparent in a decree that is in my personal safe.” Another gasp went out. This was the first time a wolf would be in line to be the King.“My king, we haven’t discussed this.” “It is not your choice.” Rowan screamed. Obviously losing his hold on his wolf. “I am the king.” He closed his eye and pushed off the wolf under him and strode back to the podium. He clicked a few buttons and everything disappeared. “This is not why I am here, and you all do not need to listen to the
Everyone walked out of the auditorium in silence. Everyone was worried that there was going to be the dreaded knock on their door. But thankfully, my father never listened to others. I checked my phone to see I have over twenty messages from my dad, mom, and Cass. I was sending back replies when I turned onto my floor and made my way to my room. I unlocked the door, still staring at my phone and kicked off my shoes. I turned towards my bed, and I bumped into a chest.I froze. This was my room, and no one else should be in here. I slowly raised my head from my phone and I stepped back. “What are you doing in here and how the heck did you get in?”Roman smiled. “I’m the benefactor for the school. I have a key that’s a universal key for a hidden lock under the knob.”“What?” I went back out my door and slid the metal cover over and there it was, the universal lock. I shook my head as I came back in. “Sneaky. So why are you here?” I slid past him and I felt him vibrate. I looked at him
“I still don’t understand why?”“Because we need them to think you are alone.” Rowan continued to rub my feet. It felt amazing, but I needed to focus, so I pulled my feet back and leaned closer to him. I grabbed his face with my hands, and I squeezed. “I need you to stop being so mysterious and explain it to me. Why do I have to pretend my father is dead?” I swore Rowan stopped breathing as I leaned in. “Because we want them to think that you are alone other than your mother. Your mother has spent these last years convincing Vince and Morgan that she is weak. Which plays well in to our plan.”“Are you going to tell me the plan?” I was getting frustrated.“Are you going to hold my face the entire time I tell you?” His voice was soft and his eyes were flicking between my eyes and my nose. I puled my hands back as if they were on fire and sat back. “Sorry.” I felt my face flush, and he chuckled.“I don’t mind, but I would prefer having a mint if you’re going to be that close.” He wink
I wanted to stay in bed, but the fact someone else was in here made me get up from the bed and pull out my bags. I packed up my stuff. As soon as I was done, I pulled it down to my truck and packed it into the back. I was starving by the time I was done, but I pushed myself to keep going. The truck was full, and I needed to grab food to fill the apartment. So I was going to head to the caff, but Rowan’s words stopped me. I needed to be weak, hurt, isolated. So I slid into my truck and rubbed my eyes. I sat there, and I remembered my first like. My death. And the anger came, but so did my loss. My baby was gone and there was nothing I could do. I placed my hand on my belly and I remembered the feeling of his first kicks, his butterfly like movement in my stomach. And then I remembered the feeling of having him ripped from me. The only time I got to hold his tiny body. And then the tears came. Once I had cried for my lost child, I sent a prayer to the moon goddess to tell my boy how
The silence that followed was deafening. And I waited until the girls standing with Nina and her sister all fled. “If you don’t move, I will scar you so badly that no one will mate with you.” Toya’s voice was deadly. She meant every word.“What’s going on here?” Vince’s voice was like nails on the chalk board right this second. I could not deal with his bullshit right now. I felt Toya tremble, and I looked at her. She faced me and I could see a little fear in her eyes. But I just squeezed her side, and she straightened her back. We would face this together.“Alpha Vince, these two threatened my sister and I.” Nina’s sister was toeing a line she wasn’t ready to face. I felt my face harden, and I turned to face Vince. Even he flinched back from me. “What do you mean?” He hedged his bet, hoping not to get involved.“What do I mean? Exactly that. They threatened us.” She nudged Nina, and she jumped in with a smirk. “Nadine is telling the truth. I was just coming here to give them both
Nina wrapped her arms around her sister and looked between Vince and Rowan. “Are you going to let her threaten us?”I laughed as I let go of Toya for a moment and crouched down to be level with them. “You have it very confused.”Nadine looked at Nina and then back at me. “What are you talking about?”“They aren’t letting me do anything. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a very strong alpha, stronger than any female alive today and most men. Vince and the king do not let me do anything. I do it, and then I deal with the repercussions. And let me be frank. The way you two lord over everyone, when let’s be honest, you are actually pretty weak for alphas. Toya is stronger than you.”“No, she isn’t.” Nina shot back and glared at us. “She couldn’t measure up to me and Nadine is stronger than me.”“See, that is where you got it wrong.” I looked back at Toya and she straightened her shoulders. But I could feel I was right.. Her wolf, even being an alpha, was like Cass’s. She would rather put her str
“Where are we going?” Toya looked at me from the passenger side of my truck.“To the apartments. I’ve been moved already.”“How is that even possible?”“I’ll explain everything once we get inside my new place.”Toya nodded. But I could see her biting her lips and the tears trembling at the corners of her eyes. “I can’t believe they are all gone.”I wanted to tell her, but we needed to be safe. We needed to play this properly. “I know.” My voice was soft. I looked around. “Do you know where you are going?”“Not a clue.” I looked at her as she burst into laughter. Toya laughed so hard the tears fell. She pointed off to the left as she continued laughing. “Turn left at the next stop sign. You will go through a couple more parking lots and turn right. It’s hidden by the trees, but it’s really hard to miss once you know where to look.” She wiped her face, and she smiled. “I didn’t think I’d be laughing today.”I just nodded, unable to say anything to make her feel better right now. I fol
Carl looked up at her. “Leeway? How?”“What’s leeway?” Carly sat up against Carl, still clinging to him, but grasping on to the tiny thread of hope she was being handed. “Leeway, my girl, means the goddess looks away when I nip down here to see my girl here.” She leaned over and I felt the ghost of her lips on my forehead. “When something like this happens, Carl. The goddess looks the other way when, say, someone calls for you.” “How is this possible?” Hanna looked at me, and then back at my grandmother. She smiled up at my friends. “You know of her magic.” The girls nodded, but Erubus stayed still. I saw the tiny smile that sprang to her lips as her eyes landed on him. “Well, Amy sacrifices a tiny amount of magic to call for me, and another to help me come to this plane.” She waved her hands at me. “When she needs me, I come. Do you know what that means, little one?” Carly shook her head as my grand mother dropped to her knees beside me. She raised her hands to hold Carly’s face.
I turned back to Carl, but he still shook his head. “It’s too late.” I begged him with my eyes, but I saw the decision on his face. He was set on this outcome, but I wasn’t.I pushed. “I healed from the brink, so can you.” I tried to pull back my hand, but he shook his head again. His face was turning gray, and the light was fading from his eyes. But he took a deep breath and rallied.“Daddy, let Amy help us.” Carly’s little voice was heart wrenching. “Please.” She tried to pull away from his chest, but he started coughing, and his eyes widened a little as blood poured from his lips. “Daddy!” She screamed as she tried to pull away again. Blood coated her back, as Carl lost his grip on her as he choked on his life’s blood. He finally caught his breath, and he stared into Carly’s eyes. I watched as his defeated eyes filled with all of his love for his daughter. “Baby girl. What is the first rule of our kind?” His laboured breathing was starting to gurgle, fluid building in his chest. H
I watched his eyes widen. “Did you just command me?” I got into his face, our whiskers bending against each other’s face. “You don’t get to give up in a fight. Not now, not ever, and if that takes me commanding you to do so, then so be it.” I growled, but then a soft cough had me whirling. “Amy.” Carl’s soft gasp had me sprinting to his side. I shifted, my graduation gown a stark contrast to the bloody field.“Carl.” I grabbed him around his waist and tried to pull him to his feet, but the scream he let out stopped me. “Come on. You’re fine.” I tried to convince myself. I dropped next to him, cupping his face. “Get up.”“Amy.” His eyes filled. "“No, none of that.” I leaned in. “It’s too soon. She isn’t ready to live without you.”“She’s been trained.”I shook my head. “No. Carl, I’m telling you, it’s too soon.”He gave a sad smile. “It’s always going to be toon soon.” I felt my lips tremble. “Please.” I begged. I knew this was going to shatter his little girl. He shook his head a
I headed straight for the man on his knees with a vicious growl. As soon as I got close, I dove for the first rogue I was near. Everyone else joined the fight, I knew, but I was focused on saving Carl. It was too soon. I wasn’t ready. And I knew Carly wasn’t ready either. The rogues were pretty big, and as soon as we breeched the trees, they all squared up with us. We were the incoming threat. But what we hadn’t planned on, were there being so many. Even with Erubus, we were outnumbered five to one. The rouge was quick; he dove away from every attack and countered. Toya and the girls were fighting tooth and claw as well, but from the corner of my eye, I could see Carl trying to get up. Trying to help. “Stay down Carl.” I called to him and I could see the thought in his mind. “We were fine. Stay alive. You have better things to worry about.” I called again while nearly avoiding a second rogue diving for my back. That got through to him and he sagged onto his hands, the pain becoming
I stared up at my grandmother as she pushed me back down to the ground. “How do I find her? How do I find your cabin from here? Are we even close?” My questions fly out of my mouth and she smiled as she settled next to me. She grabbed my hands. “Calm my girl. Focus on me.” She breathed through her nose and out of her mouth. “Follow my lead. Match me, and once you’re settled, we can find your girl.” My girl. The words seemed so foreign, but as I thought about it again, it settled in soul, and she was right. She was mine, almost as much as she was Carls. I focused on her eyes, matching my breathing with hers. She nodded. “Good. Now close your eyes. And picture that little girl.”Once again I closed my eyes and remembered the bright giggling little girl I first met at Carl’s store. So little, yet so bright. Her blonde curls danced in the light. Carl’s protectiveness, her innocence, all came rushing back. And so did the panic I felt as I found her on the ground, white wide eyes and cold
Nix ran past everyone on campus and headed for the trees. I pulled back enough that I was hovering over our magic, pulling from it to feed power into my body, into the girls’ bodies. “How is this possible?” Toya called to me and I laughed. “Magic.” Nix called back and a few of the girls howled. We ran past the edge line of the trees and starting weaving through the trunks. “Nix?” Thistle called Hanna’s wolf. “Yeah?”“Where are we going?” She called as she picked up her pace. I thought of Carly. She was at most seven, but she sounded younger on the phone, closer to five or six. I knew where she was, my grandmother’s cabin, but from here, I had no idea. But I trusted the goddess, and I trusted my wolves. “The goddess will show us the way.” Nix called back and I nodded. Megan pushed closer to the barrier. “Megan? What are you doing?”She looked at me, then back to Nix. “You are wasting magic, feeding Nix. Focus on the girls, I will send my strength to Nix. This way we will have you
I felt my aura, which for the last year I have kept securely under wraps, because it was still growing, unfurl. I was still so young when everything started. Even then, I was too strong for anyone of them to really challenge me. But now? Now I was something never seen before. Still, I kept most of it hidden. My power fell in waves, everyone felt it. There were gasps from the crowd and Vince and this woman stepped back. I smiled, and I knew it was predatory. I pulled my power back in, clenching my fists as it fought. It wanted free rein. It craved relief. But I was stronger, so I tucked it away and turned back to the crowd. “I started this day with such hope. Hope for our future. Hope for our packs. This was the very beginning of our lives. I got ready with my friends.” I turned as stared at the man that had rushed to the side of the stage. My rage burning in my eyes. “I celebrated my twenty-first birthday.” I watched him wince. “And I came here for my graduation with my speech prepar
I turned my attention to Vince, who had come up next to me. “I think this is the place.” My eyes flashed and Vince took a step back. I redirected my attention back to the crowd and the reporters. “My father, Gavin Maclean, was an outstanding man. He did a lot of this community, and I refuse to allow anyone to speak ill of him. He was as far from a traitor as one wolf could actually get.” I met eyes of a few people in the crowd, and I saw their doubt, or confusion. So I pushed on. “He donated billions of dollars to the council annually. Way above the allotted amount so that smaller packs could stay in the alliance, but reinvest their fees into their own packs. When I asked him why he did it, supported people we didn’t even know. His only answer was that people deserved the chance to thrive. He wanted them to grow, to become stronger, to build up our community. My father donated millions to this school annually, to support the students here, and giving them more opportunity by designati
I walked past all the reporters and made our way inside to our seats. We sat down with the rest of the students, saying hi, and settling in before one guy turned to me with a sad look. “I don’t agree with what they are doing to you Amy.” I looked, really looked, at Chad and raised an eyebrow. “Look, I know we aren’t really friends, and we have just had class together, but I know everything you and your dad have done for all of us. I may not like you personally, but your family doesn’t deserve this bullshit.” He shook his head. “We all talked about it, and all of us agree. They are painting a target on your back. This is happening today for a reason. I just wanted to warn you. And to let you know, we all stand beside you.” I stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was serious. We had never been close. Sometimes I thought he even hated me. I think my face conveyed that when he smiled again. “Like I said, I don’t like you, but you helped me. And my family. We won’t stand