I staggered back from his blow. I shook my head slowly. “I don’t want to go back yet.” I grabbed for his hand but he crossed his arms. “Daddy, I’m not ready.”I watched closely as he closed his eyes, as if my words hurt, but I watched as he pulled himself together. “If it was my choice, pup, I wouldn’t make you go back. But your mother has been messaging these last few days. She says she needs you home. Sooner rather than later. It seems like something is going on and I need eyes there.” He wrapped his arms around my shivering body. “You are a strong, amazing alpha. You will make such a strong luna, Amy.”“I’m weak.”“No baby. You were never weak. Not even in your first life would I believe you were ever weak, but now, now you have your wolf. You have your power. You still have so much growing to do. You are still so young. But you are so strong.” I closed my eyes as I list
My father coughed. “Okay.” He called out, and we all turned back to the room.“Anyway, I hate a few thoughts.” Ronnie’s face fell into neutral lines. “Greyson and Cass take over as the lead Gamma pair, and if Lynn is okay with it, she travels back with Amy under the guise of finding her mate.”The room grew silent. I could tell Lynn was thinking about it. “Would I be able to come back with my mate?” Her question caught me off guard.“Would you want to come back?” My father’s voice was measured.She turned to look at Greyson and Cass. “I don’t want to insult you two. You both are amazing, and you have grown so much since we started training. But you two aren’t strong enough to be the main Gamma pair.” Cass smiled and looked up at Greyson.“We aren’t insulted. We know. We are both still very young and Cass just became ranked. We l
“Daddy…I don’t want to leave you like this.” I tried one last chance.“I know, pup. But your mom needs you.” He looked worried. “She wouldn’t have asked for you unless it wasn’t important. And she has been pretty insistent. In all the years she sent you here, she has never once acted like this. We always had this unspoken rule that we would never keep you from the other.”“I know.” I started to worry about my mother, too. “But I don’t like leaving you with this mess.”“I’ll be fine. I have Ronnie, and the rest.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs of the pack house. “But your mother is alone. So I need you to go back and take care of her for me, since I can’t.” I stumbled as we went and he stopped and picked me up.“Dad!”“Sorry pup. I know your tired. I am too.”“Then why don’t you
I woke with a start, jolted up from my bed, and clutched my heaving chest. What the heck was that? I searched my room, sure that I would find the black wolf with bright blue eyes there, but I was alone.“What was that?” I dropped back to my bed and huffed out a laugh. Just remembering his voice had my skin breaking out in goosebumps. I closed my eyes and his eyes flashed in my mind. “Who are you?”There was a knock at the door and I sat up again, pushing the mysterious wolf out of my brain. I got up and looked down at my ruined sheets. “The blood.” Ugh. I shuffled to the door, wiping my eyes. I cracked it open and Cass pushed in. “Wake up.”“Cass?” I wiped my face as I turned to face the irrate Cass sitting at the end of my tossed and ruined bed. “What are you doing here?” I looked at the clock on the bed-side table. “It’s six in the morning.”“Exactly.” Sh
“Let’s go eat.” I pulled her from my room and raced down the stairs.“Where are we going?”“I’m not telling you.” I looked back at her and grinned. “It’s a surprise, but you will love it. I promise.” I pulled her into the dining hall and we grabbed biog plates of food. I went and sat next to my exhausted father. “You okay?”“Yeah baby girl. I’m just tired. But I got it done.” He took a sip of his coffee and looked over at me. “You look excited. What’s up?”“Cass woke me up at the butt crack of dawn to get some quality time in.”“But she hijacked my plans and now I have now idea what we are doing.” Cass pointed out and I laughed.“You made the mistake of waking me up.” I leaned into the warmth of my father. “We are going to see MJ and Neil.” My dad looked over at Cass and laugh
Five hours later, we were walking out with giant grins. “Thank you for coming in so early for us.” I kissed MJ and Neil as we left. “It was our pleasure.” MJ called out as he shut the door, and locked it behind us. “They aren’t staying open?” Cass looked back to the dark door. “Nah. They are usually closed today. They just came in for us.” I hooked my arm in hers and we walked into the bustling mall. “Where to now?” I looked down. “I wanted to get some new clothes. Now I want to get some even more. I need to show this off.” She stared down at her right arm. It was covered in a black and white version of the moon goddess with a full moon behind her, and wolves hidden in the forest around her wrist. It was gorgeous and Neil did an amazing job drawing it up on the spot. I nodded, and she stared down at the fresh ink. “How does it feel?” “It stings.” She shook her arm and then smiled. “I didn’t realize what went into doing tattoos on wolves.”&nb
My father and Ronnie were waiting for me as I dropped in to the chair. “You okay pup?” My dad asked as my back hit the chair and I hissed again.“Yeah. Just keep forgetting it’s there.” I laughed it off, but my dad shook his head.“I meant, are you okay after saying goodbye to Cass?” I swallowed and then nodded. He watched my face closely and sighed. “Here.” He slid the book over to me, and I grabbed it and tucked it into my backpack.“It’s a good thing I don’t have to go through the airport with this. I would be called crazy for hauling a stone around with my electronics.” I shook my head as Ronnie laughed.“True. It is weird to see.” Ronnie settled back and then he and my dad shared a look.“So, are you going to show us?” My dad leaned back and quirked his head. I smiled and stood. Pulling my top over my back, but covering my front,
I stood at the door for a few seconds, debating between leaving him or going back in to plead to stay a little longer. But I knew once he decided he would stick to it. And right this second, his mind was made up because something was going on back home.I dropped my hand and turned away, feeling like garbage, but giving him the space he needed. He hated when I left back to the mom’s, so did I. I huffed out a breath and headed down the stairs.The pack house was eerily silent. I was so used to hearing someone run through the rooms, or the omega’s cleaning, that the silence was deafening. But I shook it off. I was being dramatic. I just didn’t want to leave. I reached the bottom floor, and I saw the two families I saved were waiting by the door with Ronnie. “What are you guys doing here?”The four little kids ran over to me and all hugged me. “We don’t want you to leave.” Ry’s voice broke out above the re
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