He chuckled. “Spoken like a true Alpha Supreme.”The way those words made my heart soar had a smile growing on my face. I’d never pictured this life for myself, but damn if I didn’t want it with a fierceness now.I just wish I could know what, exactly, “this life” included.Was it asking Mark and Amy to stay here with me even after all this was over? Was it keeping this bond with Atlas like my initial thoughts wanted? Or was it rejecting him like I thought my Bear wanted?I hadn’t completely shut down the idea that I was possibly meant to do this on my own. Alone for the time being, showing the world who Elena was.Of course, I wouldn’t truly be alone finally belonging to a pack, but without a mate… Picturing that made my stomach churn, and, for the first time, there was a sense of longing from my Bear.Maybe she was finally seeing things from my perspective.Atlas chose that moment to walk inside the house. His dark eyes landed on me first while he closed the door with a soft click.
“Not really,” he answered. “I’d just like to know where my family originated from. Plus, I’ve yet to go to another realm. Really any of them would be interesting to visit.”I doubted that. I’d heard some hellish stories about the other realms and the conflicts within them. At least according to some of the gossiping witches. I was good staying right where I was.Amy smiled widely. “I’d want to go back in time. To the world pre-supernaturals. Maybe back in the 1800s without technology.”I shuddered at that thought. “You’re insane.”“Tell me something I don’t already know.” Her chuckle had my smile growing, then she nodded at me. “What about you?”“Uhhh.” I paused. “I never thought I’d leave Earth and Emerald, so I don’t really know.”“What’s the first thing that comes to mind, even if it makes absolutely no sense?” Mark asked.“Home.” The word left my lips so quickly that I didn’t even realize I’d said it until Amy frowned at me and Atlas cracked his knuckles under the table.Mark reac
I was supposed to be fighting a group of Bears in preparation for challenging the North faction leader named Ryan, but apparently, he’d disappeared. None of Jack’s Bears could find him, which had disappointed me more than I’d expected it to.I was never too sad about private trainings with Atlas, though.After pushing myself up from the ground that was covered in dying grass, I dusted myself off as well as I could. When I’d taken a deep breath, I held my hands up, ready for him to charge at me again.Except this time, he didn’t.Instead, Atlas snapped his fingers, and a ball of flames came racing toward my head.Every muscle in my body might have been screaming at me, but the idea of getting my face burned off sent a wave of adrenaline pulsing through me.I was on the ground in less than a half second with one leg out straight behind me, the other bent at the knee and my hands keeping me in place while my forehead nearly touched the dirt.Instinct kicked in, and instead of asking him
They were holding hands while they walked across the park, coming toward us. Mark had a folder in his grasp, and his eyes so similar to mine sparked with a happiness I’d never known, but I thought maybe I could with my grumpy demon Bear.“What’s going on?” I asked them when I moved around Atlas.Mark answered first. “I finally got my mom to give up the passwords for my dad’s personal computers.”The house where the last acting Alpha Supreme had been staying had been destroyed, and the only access to House records had been on Mathis’s private devices, but getting into them had been difficult. I wasn’t sure Mark would be able to do it after the first couple of failed attempts, but I couldn’t deny I was eager to know what he’d learned.“Did you find Jacob?” Atlas asked first.Mark handed him the file. “I found a Jacob who meets the profile of someone who would want vengeance on Fire and Fluorite, but I can’t be positive yet that he’s the one you’re looking for. This guy is a mangy, older
She crossed her arms, and a line formed between her eyes as she tried to fight against my innate abilities. “I liked you better before you started embracing your alpha side.” Then she looked up at Mark, who nodded and smiled encouragingly at her. “I’ll change if I need to, so I’m going with you.”I raised a brow and tilted my head. “Are you sure?”Last I’d heard her say, she was trying to stay hidden and since she hadn’t had any visions, I wouldn’t have thought anything would have changed in that regard.“I think denying who I am might be why I haven’t been able to see what I want,” she admitted sheepishly. “Something cracked inside me on our first day here when you were attacked. Instead of shifting to help protect you, I used my magic to put up the shield, which was helpful in the moment, but if Jack hadn’t called his Bears off, I would have soon been useless to you. I would have failed at protecting you all, because I was trying to keep my secret.”There was too much self-loathing
That, I wasn’t a fan of.Sure, I’d had no problems punching Elena and plotting her death when I’d thought she’d been a power-stealing, child-murdering witch, but the thought of truly hurting her or letting anyone else do so now…made every facet of me boil with the darkness I worked to keep tightly bound.“I’m going to get so drunk when we get to Riff-Raff.” Amy giggled, hanging on to Mark.I couldn’t tell whether or not she was putting on an act with the way she draped herself over the Bear shifter, pawing at his chest. Regardless, I looked away.Elena seemed to be ignoring them as well, which made me want her even more.She had no expectations about who I was supposed to be as her mate. She didn’t ask me to fawn over her or be someone I wasn’t. She accepted my gruffness as equally as she accepted my need to touch her when we were together at night.There wasn’t an inch of her body that I hadn’t worshiped with my mouth or fingers yet, but since I’d told her about sex solidifying our b
He kept his arms crossed, watching his wolves die, or at least go down, without doing a fucking thing about it.There was no way the asshole would have ever had a chance leading a territory like Fire and Fluorite. Even if Elena hadn’t shown up.One Bear bit my tail and scratched down my side, but it was only a surface hit that hardly made me flinch before I raked my paw across his face, taking out an eye.The whimper and moan that sounded from him grew quieter as he limped away, something I soon noticed the rest of the wolves were doing as well, except for the three who still flanked their leader.“Mark,” Ethan said first. “You’re trespassing in a House that banished you.”Mark shifted back to his human form, and I noticed that Amy had never transformed into her unicorn. So much for her no longer hiding.“I was banished by an Alpha Supreme who no longer lives, not by this House,” Mark replied confidently. “Unless you’re here to tell me you’ve successfully filled the Alpha Supreme posi
The moment Ethan realized what I’d done, he turned even more feral. Saliva dripped from his jowls, and his chest heaved with unnecessary force. He lowered himself, then leapt for me with canines and claws extended.Instead of moving out of the way like I easily could have done, I decided to quit playing with him. This bear couldn’t beat me. I knew that the moment he’d lost control of his emotions.This was my House, and he wasn’t going to take it from me.I let his claws scrape down the length of my spine the worst injury I’d yet to receive and when he landed on the other side of me, giving me his back, I used my larger bear size to jump on top of him.My right front paw tore out one of his eyes while the other cut clean through his throat just before my jaws locked around the back of his neck, keeping him somewhat still.The bubbling gurgle that sounded soon after made my stomach churn, but I didn’t release the hold I had on the stubborn bastard. This was the fate he’d chosen, and I