After training, I headed back to the pack house and up to my father’s office. I heard voices from the other side, so I leaned against the wall next to the door and settled in to wait for whoever was to be done. My ears perked up when I heard my name.“Are you really letting Amy run our pack?” A nasally voice called out sweetly.“Our pack?” My father’s voice was soft and confused. “Yes, my love. Our pack. You promised to make me luna at the next full moon, remember?”“I did?” I leaned against the door and pressed my ear against it. “Aurora, what are you doing?” My father’s angry question caught me off guard. Something was going on inside. Something that my father didn’t like but wasn’t stopping.“Bonding with you.” I heard a ruffling, but I reared back and kicked the door open to see Aurora leaning over my father with his head tilted back. She was pouring something into his mouth, and I tackled her to the ground. My mind linked to Ronnie and Beck. Get to my father’s office now!I bar
“Pup?” Loki’s voice was icy as he stared up at me. “What happened to your face? Who did that to you?”“You did.” I felt my face swell as blood trickled from my eye and nose. “What?” His voice flashed, and he shook his head. “What’s happening?”“I would also like to know what the hell is happening. Why was your dad attacking you for Aurora?” Ronnie dropped into a chair and I let my father up. “I came to see my dad about something I can’t even remember what now, but I heard him talking to someone.” I rubbed my healing face and wiped the blood off. “Then I heard him asking what she was doing, and she said bonding, and something inside me screamed. So I kicked in the door and she was pouring something into his mouth. Then I tackled her and attacked.” “And then?” Ronnie pointed to my dad, and I nodded. “He attacked you?” Loki asked.“Yes.” I nodded again.“What the hell is going on?”“Loki, I need the book of shadows.” “Okay. Give me a moment.” Loki got up and left the room. I looked
“Tell me.” She grabbed for my hands but remembered she couldn’t touch me, so she ended up hovering over where my hands were.“He attacked me.” And I watched her eyes widen.“Start from the beginning.”“When I got here, he was fine, at first. Then Aurora started to show up around him and whenever I said her name or she came around, his eyes would grow hazy.”“Hazy?” “Like he was confused or distracted. Not focused. And his voice became soft and confused. Aurora kept saying that she would be the next luna. No one was taking it seriously, but anytime she was around, he would seem to be considering it. Now today, I was waiting outside the office and I heard her say she was bonding with him.”“She said bonding with him? Exactly that.”“Yes.” “What happened next?”“I busted in the door and she was pouring something into his mouth and I attacked. But he ripped me off of her and screamed that she will be luna. He nearly strangled me to death.” I touched my throat and her eyes zeroed in on t
I sat in my father’s chair as Ronnie picked up the phone. “Amy, are you sure? You don’t have to do this.”“I am and I do. This can’t be allowed to go on. I’ll take the responsibility.”“Amy!” “Uncle Ronnie.” I cut my eyes to him and leaned back in the chair. “She has poisoned the Alpha of this pack. She has tried to brainwash him into making her kuna and betraying his true mate. She has gone against the Moon Goddess and everything we believe in by using magic to take over a pack as an unranked wolf. She has colluded with others to bully, demean, and abuse lower wolves.” I rubbed the pinch that formed between my eyebrows. “If it was just one, or maybe two, of the things I listed, then it would be easier to let her go. But it isn’t, and this is my father. She almost had him killing his pup. Even if that wasn’t me, which it is, it would be punishable by death. This is going to happen, whether or not you are behind me. I am saving this pack and if the council doesn’t agree, I will still
“What?” My brain froze for a moment. What the fuck did he mean he was the king?His chuckle was deep, and my body responded, clenching my lower body. “I am the king pup. Go save your father. Once it’s done, tell him I will head there soon.” His voice took a dark turn, and I felt there was an edge to it.“Okay… I will.”“Oh, and Amy?”“Yes?”“Tell Ronnie he should have called the regular number instead of my cell phone. There are channels that you usually have to go through for this normally. But I’ll let this one time slide because it’s an emergency.”“Will do, your majesty.”His laugh was loud and instant. “You don’t have to call me that little wolf. But have Ronnie give you my cell number. I like all my alphas having my number in case things like this happen.”“I’m not one of the alpha’s…”“You might not run a pack, but you are an alpha.” His voice still held a bit of amusement. “Okay.” I felt uncertain. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to call you.”“Rowan. You can call me Rowan.”“K
I walked into the room and dumped everything on to the table. I organized everything in a way I liked, insuring it is visible from the chair and then covered turned to Ronnie. “Is there anything I can use to cover this with?”“Here.” He walked around the corner and pressed a panel in, causing it to pop out. Hiden behind was a cabinet filled with cleaning supplies and towels. I raised my eyebrow, and he shrugged. “What? It gets messy here.”I laughed and grabbed the towel that he was handing over and covered my tools. “Have Beck meet you at her cell and bring her down here.” I walked with him out of the room. “I’ll wait out of sight until you mind-link me. Then I will come in.”“Why do it like that?” Ronnie closed the door behind me and I walked around another corner, leaning against the wall to wait.“Because. I want her to think she has a chance, and then to have it ripped from her.”“But why?” Ronnie kept pushing it until I gave an answer.“Because the faster she loses hope, the les
She shifted, fur sprouting on her arm with claws slashing through the binding on her hand. But I grabbed her hand and slammed in back down to the arm of the chair and tsked again. “And where do you think you are going?” “Let me go!” She screamed in my face, trying to shift completely. “Well, that isn’t going to work for me.” I stood and slammed her struggling arm back on to the arm and unraveled the rope in my hands. “I was trying to give you an out, Aurora. I really, truly hoped you would have been smart enough to take it. But I guess you want to see how long you will keep up the act.” I wrapped her in the silvered rope, her skin hissing and bubbling from the contact as I wound it around her arm and the chair. She started to scream, and I hushed her. “Stop. Goddess, stop. You can’t do this to me.”“Oh, but you are wrong there. You poisoned the alpha of this pack, and that made you a traitor. Once my father has a clear mind, you will be banished, and if he never recovers, then this
I jerked to face her and the glow was gone, but as soon as I turned my head and faced Ronnie, I could see a faint glow around a chain on her neck. I pulled the pliers, and she screamed and passed out. Ronnie rushed over, but I slapped a hand over my mouth. “What’s wrong?” Ronnie started to hover, and I doubled over and started howling in laughter. “What?”“Is she really insane?” Beck whispered to Ronnie, which just made me laugh harder. Tears were streaming down my face when I looked up at Ronnie, who was still hovering over me and Aurora. “Amy, talk to me.” Ronnie knelt and grabbed my face, but I was still trying to catch my breath. “She.” I started, but I coughed as more laughter bubbled up. “She fainted.”“We see that. Most she-wolves can’t stand torture Amy.” Ronnie grimaced.“She probably passed out because of the pain of you ripping out her nail.” Beck tossed out.“But I didn’t.” I raised the empty pliers and her untouched hand. “She just fainted. From fear.” Both men froze
I felt the world fall out from under my feet and I staggered back. Only Toya kept me upright. I knew he was going to do this. I just didn’t think it was going to happen so close. “You have got to be joking.” Wendy cried. Hanna and Micca both growled, and I saw Sterling wince. Not in submission, but just from the ferociousness of the two. They sounded like they would kill someone. “Tell us you are lying, Sterling.” Micca’s voice was low, and I didn’t have to glance to know her wolf, Muse, was very much present.Sterling looked away again. “I’m not sure. Jora just told me. But the King made a statement that there was going to be an announcement tomorrow. And I figured you should know.” I nodded. “Don’t let them up. I’ll come down in a minute.” Sterling nodded, grabbed his bag, and left. But I turned to my friends. “I have to go check my email and my phone.”Everyone nodded, but Toya followed me back into my room. “If there isn’t an email or text, or voicemail from that fucking man ab
Months later…“I can’t believe our first ‘year’ is done.” Wendy collapsed onto my sofa as we all shuffled into my living room. “I know. It’s been insane. But at least they are giving us a week of being class free before we start classes again.” Hanna stretched out onto the floor. She groaned as she rolled on my thick fur carpet. “Next time you nest, come to our place, please.” She laughed as Wendy threw a pillow at her. She tucked it under her head. “What?” She turned onto her side, staring at the rest of us. “You’re telling me you aren’t super jealous of her fur lined, super comfy everything?” She laughed as Micca curled up on the other half of the sofa and Toya lounged on the love seat. She pointed at my chair. “Look at that thing!”I smiled as I settled in, and the contented purring of my wolves came back to me. “It’s honestly great.”She huffed and crossed her arms. “See.” The rest of the girls laughed. I looked around, and it blew my mind, seeing the difference. All of them had
I laughed as I clutched her hand as a lifeline. My mind kept dragging me back to that day. I had spent so much of my time focused on my next move that I had pushed my last life to the back of my mind. Or I tried to.But when ever I was asleep, my mind would bring me back to that day. To my son’s softly staggered breathing, and his face pressed against my skin. I wake up with his scent in the air and I have to search my bed to remember that he is gone. Never even existed in this life. “Before I tell you, I need to explain this. In my last life, I knew nothing I do now. I didn’t even know about my second wolf. It had always just been Nix and me.”“Nix?”“My black wolf. My secret Lycan.” I snorted. “She is my alpha. Megan, my grey wolf, is a gamma. Still Luna rank, just not as strong.” I heard a snort in my mind. I sent back love, and she sent a wave back. “Your power?” Toya asked, but I shook my head slowly.“Because of who I am, I needed to balance my power and be able to control it
The longer she stared up at me, the more I felt the need to squirm under her gaze. “Toya…”“Holy fucking goddess.” Toya jumped to her feet. “Are you serious? This makes so much sense.” She turned in a circle, talking to herself. “The fact you are so powerful.” She started to list things off. “That I felt drawn to you. Instantly, we had a connection.” She whirled back to facer me. “You said wolves. Does that mean you have a wolf, and a Lycan…Do you have two forms? Do you have actual powers, or does it just bump up your aura and power level?” The questions poured out of her like vomit. She couldn’t stop.I held up my hand, and she froze. “Come sit back down.” She sat next to me and I concentrated on my hand. A wisp the size of a tennis ball appeared, and she gasped. Her eyes growing wide as she stared at me. “You have power?” I laughed and nodded.“Yes, I have power, actual power. That’s why we can always talk openly here and not have to worry about being overheard. I snap a shield in
I watched Toya settle. “Good.” Her answer startled me a bit. “Good?”She nodded. “I was worried you were going to say yes.”I laughed. “Why?”“I don’t trust her. Never have. But I thought she was already your friend when she came over with us, but when I saw you didn’t know her, I was thrown.” Toya picked at her nails. “My wolf doesn’t trust her.”I laughed. “Neither does mine.” I settled into my new couch and I felt a content filled purr work its way up from my chest. I had to shake my head and push up off the couch before I embarrassed myself even more. Toya stood with a groan. “Is there anything else coming today?” We both looked around the room and stared at the new couch and love seat. Both we a soft grey that was over plush. I knew as soon as I saw them with Sterling, I needed them. I shook my head. “The chair was on back order.” I smiled when I thought of my reading chair. It was a double wide seat with a soft plush cover. That one really made Nix want to purr. Just the ide
“Push.” I called out and I felt the sofa shift. “We almost have it.” I heard a groan, and then we were through the doorway. “Ugh.” I moaned. “Finally.”“Why did you have to change the fucking furniture?” Toya groaned as she placed the new piece down in my bare living room.I collapsed onto the last piece of the huge sectional we just moved in. I could feel the need to nest itching at my skin and I didn’t know why. “Has your nesting ever kicked in?” I turned to face her where she had sunk into the overly plush dark grey fabric my wolf craved as soon as she saw it in the store.I turned my mind inward and called out to my wolves…but other than the random needs she sends my way, Nix has been MIA since Rowan left and Megan has stayed away too.Hello? I called out, but nothing. I miss you both. I hoped I could see them, but I understood; she needed her space. I just wanted them to know how much I missed them. I was so absorbed with my wolves that when Toya finally answered me; I was surpr
“Punch Wendy.” I screamed as she tapped her hand against my glove, and I wanted to growl my frustration. Well, frustration was an understatement. I was pissed. Rowan’s words still ricochetted in my mind. ‘I’ll court these women and see what I can find.’ He was mine…the thought still bounced in my mind. He was mine. You are oddly territorial over a man that isn’t our mate. Megan pointed out but Nix stayed silent. She had been silent since Rowan left last night. Why are you so quiet? I asked as I focused on Wendy’s attempt at a combination. She was getting better. I cracked a smile when she landed the last punch.“Good job Wendy.” She panted as she grinned. “Thank you.” She panted as she caught her breath. “I’ve been practising at home.” “I can tell. Go grab a drink.” I pointed to the sideline and turned my attention back to Nix, but all I got was her tail disappearing into the trees.What is going on with her? I asked Megan, who got to her feet.I think she is trying to figure ever
We kissed for longer this time. Nix and Megan came to the edge of my mind. I know they were there to watch me, stop me from making a choice that would affect all of us. But they were letting me have this. I reluctantly pulled away from his face and the smile that lit his face made me want to kiss him again. “I’m sorry.” I completely let go of his face and I felt my face burn.“You are perfect.” He whispered, which made my face burn even more.“Why does my father want you to accept a chosen mate?” I turned the conversation back to what was important.“He doesn’t. He just wants me to pretend I have.” Rowan leaned back, but grabbed my hand in his and threaded our fingers together. “The council has been pushing Nina at me because she is the niece of one member, but there are a few other candidates. He wants me to fight against the council and then maybe next year or so, when you are ready, to court these women.”“Why?” I felt the telltale burn at my gums. My fangs wanted to descend again
His words were a soft balm on the pain I was feeling. But I needed to get a little space. So I slid off his lap, and I saw a flash of hurt flash in his eyes. “I like him too. But my wolf actually feels the same about another, so I understand.” I slid next to him and grabbed his hand. “But what did you mean about an opportunity?”Regret flashed in his eyes and then they faded to his normal brown. Rowan was back. “Hi.” He was struggling with something.“Hey.” I smiled and grabbed his hand. “What’s wrong?”He sighed. “What I’m about to say will make zero sense and I know already it isn’t fair, but it’s how I feel, okay?”I turned to face him. “Okay.”“I don’t like that your wolf likes this unknown male.” Hu huffed out a laugh. “And like I said, I know I’m a hypocrite. Okay, I do, but I wish you both just liked me…”I listened as he explained and smiled, but it was a little sad. “I feel exactly the same way. But we can’t change our wolf’s mind. They have to figure out their own feelings,