Her sobs were ragged, but it was the screams that broke me. We crumpled to the floor as she screamed her pain, and all I could do was hold her and allow her to release it. She wouldn’t listen to me until she did. It wasn’t until I heard the door shut that I realized Rowan had left.I grabbed her around her shoulders, and under her legs and I picked her up. I carried her to my bedroom and laid her on my bed. And then I did the only thing I could. I pulled the phone out of the lockbox and I dialed my father. It was late, but I could only hope he would answer. I slid in behind my mother and I waited for the ringing to stop. I closed my eyes in defeat when the call went unanswered and his voice played in my ear. “Hi, you have reached Alpha Gavin Maclean. I’m currently busy, but I will get back to you.” My mothers screamed again as she heard my father’s voice. “He’s gone.” Her scream shook the sliding glass door. I hung up the phone and called back. “I told you he was gone, baby.” She g
I woke with a jolt. My mother was standing over me with slightly swollen eyes. “Baby?” I wiped my eyes.“Mom, is everything okay?” I grabbed for my phone on the table. It was six in the morning and I wanted to cry. I finally crawled under the covers at almost midnight, and I loved sleep. “It’s morning. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I’m heading out.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes again. “Are you sure?” I grabbed for her and pulled her down by my legs. “How are you doing?”“I’m okay, baby.” She leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I shouldn’t have come here.” She ran her hands down my hair. “Of course you can come here, mom. Any place I am you can come. Anytime.” I reached for her other hand. “I will never be too old to not need my mother.” I smiled at her. But she shook her head. “No, baby.” She closed her eyes and looked over my shoulder. She was thinking about something. “I was selfish.”“What do you mean?” I felt her hands convulse in mine. “If, goddess forbid, your father was ac
I stretched my neck as I walked into the caff. Sleeping on my couch was about as comfortable as you assume. I felt my neck pop, and I wanted to groan. I shook myself as I headed to the line to grab breakfast. I needed food and caffeine as soon as possible. I grabbed a tray and waited for my turn. I felt myself wobble on my feet. I was more tired than I thought. It’s also the emotional side of things that is weighing you down. Megan’s voice called from the darkness of the forest in my mind. Last night wiped you out. First it was Toya’s emotions, then your own, and you ended the night with your mother’s emotions pressing down on you. It takes a toll. Nix agreed, and I had to nod. They were right. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. If I could have missed today I would have, but I set this meeting up last night with everyone and we had a plan to make. “Excuse me.” A soft voice called from behind me. I turned to see an omega male. “Yes?”His eyes widened. “It’s your turn to g
The others were already sitting when I walked over. Toya was openly staring at me with a smirk. “Did you have a little fun in line there, Amy?” I chuckled, but I was still angry. “It’s like a rot in this fucking school.” I slammed into my seat as the others just stared at me. “No matter where I turn, someone is bullying someone. When did this become our status quo? We are not fucking humans.” I had to calm myself down, but this is kinda perfect. It shows that I’m not doing well. I allowed tears to come to my eyes and I shook my head. “I’m sorry.” I wiped at my face in frustration. “It’s okay.” Toya followed my lead and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. I heard her sniffle, and a tear hit my shoulder. “Look at how pathetic you two look.” Instantly, Nix was at the surface. Fur rippled down both of our arms. Black against her dark brown. We looked at each other and both of our eyes were shifted. We separated and looked behind us to find Nina and her band of idiots. And Nix ripped a
Vince closed his eyes and shook his head. “I will make an announcement later. No one should be stupid enough to rub that in any wolf’s face, but to do it to an Alpha is asking for death.” He huffed out a breath. “Are you okay now, Amy?”I made it look like I was fighting Nix for control. I started to shake, and she receded slowly, laughing the entire time. This is going to be fun. Nix chortled as she slunk back into the dark forest of my mind. The fur receded, and my eyes and fangs shifted back. I watched as Vince and Brandon both breathed out a sigh of relief. “I should say I am sorry for losing control, but I’m not. Nina deserved everything I did to her.” I scoffed. “She’s lucky I didn’t kill her.” I turned to Toya and Wendy. “Thank you.”“Always.” The two of them squeezed my sides and then sat back down in front of their food. I turned back to Vince. “Am I in trouble?”He stared at me, really stared at me as if he was trying to figure something out, but then he slowly shook his
The next few weeks passed in a whirlwind of class, training, and silence. I dragged myself through the door after yet another long day. I dropped my dinner onto my coffee table and face planted onto my couch, and groaned. I was exhausted. I wasn’t sleeping properly and in between classes and the double training; I was running on hopes and dreams at this point. I rolled over with a groan. “Fuck.”My phone gave a tiny ding, and I scrambled to pull it out of my pocket. It was a quick text from Wendy telling me she made it home. I tossed my phone with another groan. This time, I sat up and screamed. “I’m so fucking stupid.” I gripped my head in my hands and pulled at my hair. “Goddess, how could I be so stupid?” I stood and stalked my way to the bathroom connected to my bedroom and stripped off my clothes.You’re not stupid. Megan offered, but Nix stayed silent. I jumped under the hot spray and instantly crumpled to the floor. I leaned my head against my knees and for the first time si
I screamed and dropped into a fighting stance, only to find Rowan on my sofa staring at me. I tossed my head, dropping the towel that I had wrapped around my hair to the floor. I nearly growled when I found him sulking in the dark, but I just stood up and patted my naked chest. Calm down. I shook my head and chuckled at my stupidity.The feeling of soft skin on my fingertips had my hand freezing. Naked chest…I slowly looked down, as if I was a human in one of their horror movies. When my eyes met the pile of towels, my mouth dropped open. My eyes landed on my naked and prominent chest, currently on full display, and I screamed again. I snatched the towels and ran out of the room. Oh, my goddess. Kill me now. I crumpled on to the bed in disbelief. Did that actually just happen? “What the fuck am I supposed to do?” I dropped my head into my hands and groaned. “I would put on clothes if I were you.” Rowan’s voice sounded right outside my door. His voice was low, gravelly, and filled w
Rowan pulled back from my face and looked me in the eye. “Okay.”Nix receded, leaving me panting and confused. “What?”Rowan stood, and I nearly stumbled back from how fast he stood. “I said okay.” His smile was perfect. Everything about him was perfect. I shook my head to clear it. “I’m confused…what?”He laughed and then gripped me at my waist, pulling my body against his and he bent down, kissing my lips and making me nearly moan. His lips were soft, biteable, and I wanted to spend the rest of my night exploring them, but he pulled away. “You wolf has made a good point. If I want to earn her name, if I want anything from you, I need to prove it.” Rowan squeezed my hips, and I felt my eyes flutter from the slight pain. I was learning things about my likes, my needs, in this life I never explored in my last. I was a little lost in thought as Rowan stepped back.I tried to grab at him but my hands met air. I shook my head to refocus, and I bit my lip to stop myself from doing somethi
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