VIOLET
The accident, glass being crunched as someone walked over it, and the voice saying to take care of them were the last things that I remembered before everything went dark.
My body felt like it had been through hell, but I supposed that it had given everything that happened in such a short period of time.
I attempted to take stock of everything that I could before I opened my eyes, uncertain about what would be waiting for me.
My body was laying on something soft, surprising me because the assholes hadn’t seemed to care about my comfort when they manhandled me. It would appear to be a bed that I was laying on if the silkiness of its sheets was any indication. At least they were good quality. That right there was a plus.
Why would they care about placing me on a bed? I got the impression that they were elitest bastards that thrived off of the pain that they inflicted on those they deemed to be unworthy.
I was focusing on their glaring lack of personalities that could be at least stomached instead of what I had overheard about myself and Mom. Everything was making my head feel like it would combust at any point.
‘And you’re certain that she’s not human?’
Those words bounced around inside of my skull, but they refused to make any sense whatsoever. Of course, I was human. Those assholes were just delusional. That had to be it.
My fingers flexed as I remembered what happened when Greg and Ron both went flying. It had to be a coincidence, right? Sure, I didn’t believe in coincidences, but I might have to change my stance on it. Appearing insane was not on my bucket list of things to do before I died. Speaking of that list, I should add another bucket goal: don’t die.
The light was a bit bright, so my eyes immediately closed right back again. Ugh. This wasn’t helping the throbbing headache pounding away at my skull.
“No, she hasn’t woken up yet,” I heard a female say.
I did everything in my power to keep my breathing and heart rate under control so that she didn’t realize I was actually awake. There was no telling how long I could keep her in the dark, but I would do everything within my ability to stay off of other people’s radar for as long as possible. It was a damn good thing that she hadn’t seen my eyes open.
“It’ll take however long it takes.” There was a pause. “Yes, I understand. I’m going to go grab some things that’ll be necessary once she awakens.”
She must’ve been speaking on the phone. I heard her bid farewell to the other party.
The sound of a door opening and closing caught my attention. I waited for a count of ten before my eyes popped back open.
Not certain what I had expected, but this room looked nicer than anything I had ever been in before. Everything looked polished and expensive. Part of me worried that I would dirty it up.
Was this a tactic to psych out their captives? Give them a false sense of peace before ripping it away from their clutches and throwing them into a medieval torture chamber? Now, that would be true torture. Going from wonderfully silky sheets to a hard concrete floor. The inhumanity of that thought.
I shook my head to clear away the unnecessary thoughts. Then I forced my body up, knowing that I needed to disappear before the woman got back. There was no telling what she felt would be needed once I was awake, but I wasn’t going to be waiting around to find out.
At least I was clothed, making me wonder who changed me out of the other clothes. Now, I was wearing a plain black tee and a pair of sweatpants. A pleasant scent wafted up from the shirt. No idea what cologne it was, but it was nice. It wasn’t a focal point at the moment though.
My cheeks heated in embarrassment that someone saw me like that. A shudder went down my spine when I remembered how the guy had groped me. I had felt powerless, which was something that I never wanted to feel again. Somehow, I’d make sure that happened.
My heart clenched when I thought about Daphne. What would Ron tell her about me being gone? A tear rolled down my cheek at the thought of my sweet sister hurting.
I had to get it together if I wanted to make it back to her. No matter how long it took, no matter what it entailed, I would find Daphne again and we’d run the fuck away to some place where nobody would ever find us. Had I did that in the first place, we wouldn’t be where we were right now. Hindsight was a bitch.
I blew out my breath, needing to focus on the situation at hand.
Whose voice was the one that I heard before I blacked out? Who was he in relation to the assholes themselves? There just wasn’t enough information to go on.
My legs felt like jelly when I swung them over the bed and attempted to stand up. Thankfully, my arms caught me before I kissed the floor. It took another minute for me to feel stable enough to move slowly.
“You can do this, Vi,” I whispered, trying to pump myself up. “You’re not going down without a fight.”
It would be helpful if that pressure and power thing worked on command. Imagine an enemy coming at you just to be whacked upside the head with the power. Bam, instant bitch slap. Oh, I could get behind that.
My nails dug into my palms in an attempt to give me something to focus on instead of the way that my heart was pounding. Anticipation and fear wove throughout my system, threatening to drown me. That adrenaline needed to be regulated unless I wanted to end up crashing, which would get me nowhere good.
I peeled the corner of the curtain away from the window. The sun was in the process of setting, so it provided enough light for me to see outside. Based on that, I was out of it for at least a day.
It looked like I was currently on the third floor, so jumping out of the window wouldn’t be advisable. Damn.
There appeared to be thick woods surrounding this place. That would provide coverage and other places to hide if I could make it out there. It was not ideal but the best option at the moment.
The biggest issue that I could see was the people that I saw milling about. I would definitely stand out between the way that I was dressed and the injuries that I was certain were visible. It was too damn bad that I didn’t have an invisibility cloak to don.
I ran a shaky hand through my hair. Well, I wasn’t going to get anywhere by staying in this room. I’d rather go down fighting than wave a white flag. Fuck those assholes who thought that they could take me to wherever the hell they had planned to.
There were two great questions that were on my mind right now. One, where the hell was I? Two, was I in danger? Based on the events that happened since the diner, I would have to assume that I was.
I could totally go for a blue TARDIS showing up right about now. Either David Tennant or Matt Smith would do.
My eyes scanned the room, looking for a weapon. I wasn’t too picky about which one.
Aha! In one of the drawers was stationary. Papercuts hurt like a bitch, but it was the letter opener that caught my eye. It wasn’t overly sharp or anything, but it could be used as a weapon if need be. Anything was better than nothing.
Luck was on my side that there was nobody in the hallway. It was slow moving because I had to hold onto the wall, but it was better than nothing.
I heard footsteps approaching, so I ducked inside of an open room. Thankfully, it was empty. The door closed softly. I had my ear pressed up against it so that I could hear if anything was said.
“What are you going to do with her once she wakes up?” It was the same female from before.
“The same thing that we did with all of the others,” the gruff voice from the accident said.
Their voices faded, which was a good thing because my heart was pounding inside of my chest. What did they do with all of the others? What were they planning on doing with me?
Two deep breaths were taken before I opened the door and peeked out. Slipping outside, I made my way down the hallway. The cream-colored walls were lined with pictures as well as gold and bronze accents. It was objectively beautifully decorated.
“I don’t care! Find her.”
What were the chances that he meant someone else? One could hope at least.
I needed to do something, and I needed to do it quickly. I re-fucking-fused to be a prisoner and would do everything within my power to ensure that it never happened.
Violet and Enzo meet next.
ENZODad was just as wary as we assumed that he would be when it came to the situation surrounding Violet. It was filled with too many unknowns both about who she was and why they had her.Alpha Nico was known far and wide as a calculating bastard. He was feared by his enemies for a very good reason. He was a stickler for things being done a certain way. One such thing was assessing potential outside threats before they came into the pack. Normally, those seeking sanctuary were taken to temporary housing until they could be assessed properly. They were never just brought right into the packhouse like we did with her.What worked in Violet’s favor was the fact that she was saved from hunters.Dad held a small soft spot for those who have faced hunters ever since he rescued Mom after she was captured by them and kept for six long days. It had taken a long time for Mom to heal from the horrors that she faced there, but she did eventually heal.The only thing that Dad said was that we were
VIOLETGruff voice guy was a drop-dead sexy specimen of a male. So much so that it had temporarily caught me off-guard. Somehow, I had been able to hold an icy glare instead of drooling like an idiot.Things went downhill when other people showed up. I felt trapped, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to take them all on. Again, I had found myself wishing that the explosion bullshit would work on cue. Everything happened quickly but ended up with me agreeing to a talk. He did say that I could keep the letter opener, so I held onto it tightly.I smiled inwardly at the fact that I actually got a wound in on him. While it might not seem like a big accomplishment, seeing as it was just a superficial wound, it was a big deal for me. I was awfully proud of that fact. It felt great to fight back. I had no doubt that he could’ve mopped the floor with me, but he was just focused on evading my crappy moves.“Right in here, spitfire,” Niccolò said, holding the door open for me.I bared my teeth at hi
VIOLETHere went nothing…“You know how Yoda can use the Force? Well, that’s kind of what happened. Never had it happened before until the confrontation with my boss and then the one with Ron.”They didn’t seem to be freaking out or scoffing at the absurdity of it all. No, they looked intrigued. Did they actually believe me even without witnessing it?“Go on,” Niccolò encouraged me.Fuck it. I was just going to rip the Band-Aid off and tell them what Ron said and did. It’d be on them to decide whether or not they believed me.I told them what he had said about Mom and me. Enzo’s jaw clenched when I explained about him selling me off to the assholes. Niccolò smirked when he heard that I eluded them by sneaking out through my window. Yeah, I was proud of that bit too. Then I finished off with getting tossed into the SUV.It was silent for a couple of minutes while they took everything in. I saw their eyes go unfocused at the same time. It didn’t last longer than a minute, but it was real
VIOLETMy mind was officially blown wide open with the revelations that were shared with me.Looking outside gave me confirmation of the truth. I watched as a woman literally transformed into a wolf. There was absolutely denying it after witnessing that. I had told him to prove it because I truly thought that they were just messing around with me.I was a huge fan of books with supernatural origins. Fiction. That was its classification. It was amusing that werewolf fiction was my favorite genre to read. There were numerous times when I wished that worlds found amongst the turning pages were real.I almost wanted to laugh because of the direction that this discussion took.Nerves had taken a hold of me before we even began because I knew that our discussion would end in one of two ways. They’d either believe me or not. Therefore, they’d either help me or kick my ass to the curb. There had been no telling which one they’d choose, but I was thankful that they decided on the former option.
ENZOLooking at the interactions between my brother and Violet, one would think that they had been friends for a long time. Nobody would assume that they had just very recently met.Niccolò’s personality tended to draw people in, so I wasn’t the least bit surprised when it happened to Violet. Honestly, I hadn’t seen Niccolò open up so quickly and freely as he had with her.I agreed with him that there was just something different about her even if neither of us knew what it was.This situation wasn’t easy on her. She spent her entire life believing that she was human, and the supernatural world was just a fictional element. Then everything changed when the truth was metaphorically slapped her in the face.I had to hand it to her though. Her reaction to it all was fairly mellow. I wasn’t certain if it just hadn’t set in yet or if her mind was just more open to it. There was a variety of reactions that I’ve witnessed over the years when humans were exposed to the truth. Sometimes it went
ENZO“You stupid fucking bitch. I should’ve just killed you the day I figured out that your whore of a mother was a fucking monster,” he spat at her.If I hadn’t been looking at Violet, I never would’ve seen her eyes flash in response to his words. I made a mental note of that for later. Clues like that would help us to narrow down what she was. It didn’t matter what that ended up being. It was only important so that she could be trained properly.An easy example was someone who held magic within them. Think about it. If they were being trained as if the magic was a witch’s magic but was actually Fae magic then it could become problematic because those two types were vastly different. There were fundamental elements that could be triggered without someone realizing it.“Ah, but then you wouldn’t have made the big bucks that you demanded that I provide to you. God forbid that you actually worked for your own money. Instead of manning the fuck up and putting on your big girl panties, you
VIOLETSomeone knocking on the door temporarily distracted me from the shitstorm of thoughts in my head.Three days had passed since I found out that Daphne was handed over to the hunters.Guilt drowned me, refusing to let me surface. I was dying inside with worry for my beautiful sister. She was so damn sweet and innocent, a true light in this world.I was supposed to protect her. It was my job. I failed, and now she’d suffer the consequences. I should’ve just ran with her any of the times that I’d thought about it in the past.If only time travel was real…Niccolò was on the other side of the door when I opened it up.I’d been given a room here at their packhouse, which was what I’d come to learn that it was called. It was hilarious to compare this new reality of mine to the ones that were in some of my favorite books.Never once had I imagined that I’d find myself in a world that was similar to those created by my favorite authors. Oh, how much I used to wish that I was Alpha Gray’s
ENZOOur tech guys hadn’t been able to get anything of substance from Ron’s phone regarding the hunters because the number that he’d called had already been disconnected. There was no telling if it was because he had nothing more to offer them or if it was a precaution, seeing as we had already cockblocked them with Violet.I refused to let anyone else read what the deranged fucker had written about Violet, so that was being handled by me in hopes that he’d left any clue about this mystery woman. The answer, as of right now, was a big negative.Something that his disgusting journal showed me was how fucking strong Violet was to have endured it all in order to protect Daphne. I now understood how she could endure pain without much reaction. It was because of everything he had done to her. He was very vivid in detailing each injury he gave her and each way he would torture her emotionally.Sadly, there had only been time for me to have one torture session with him because I had a multi-b
ENZODamn that fucker for howling, alerting everyone to our presence. We’d be damned if we allowed Alpha Bradley to escape this time. Nope, we’d get our hands on him one way or another. He was like a damn cockroach, always surviving whatever situation was thrown at him and was slippery like a damn snake as he escaped each one.My senses, as well as Titan’s, were being pushed to their limits, not wanting to succumb to the potential danger all around us. We were also looking for any sign of Alpha Bradley.Thankfully, Sven was able to get us the blueprints for the place. There was no telling if the plantation had been updated at all, so we weren’t banking on everything being the same. We’d do our best to adapt to the circumstances as we went.The howl brought others outside. A couple of them shifted and came straight for us without skipping a beat, believing that they had the upper hand because wolf versus human often times ended with the wolf being the victor. They, however, hadn’t met
VIOLETSven came through for us once again, but I wasn’t surprised. He truly had a gift and could accomplish things that seemed like impossible tasks. It seemed that the word impossible wasn’t in his vocabulary at all.Alpha Bradley appeared to be hanging out at an old-school plantation. It hadn’t been modernized, so there weren’t any security feeds to break into. That’d just make it too easy. Sven was, however, able to locate the blueprints. This way, we weren’t flying blind.Daph and Eli were remaining behind to watch over everyone at the house. She wasn’t too ecstatic about that idea, but she was okay with it once Eli mentioned that Ava and everyone else needed people that would be able to protect them if the worst came to pass.There was no way in hell that Max was going to stay behind this time. He and Thorn were bloodthirsty, wanting to make Alpha Bradley pay for everything that he was responsible for and had a hand in.We had approximately two hundred people coming with us. Was
ALPHA BRADLEYI opened my eyes and roared, grabbing the nearest object to me and throwing it across the room. The lamp shattered, glass flying everywhere.HOW FUCKING DARE THAT PHOENIX BITCH INTERVENE!I was close, so fucking close to getting what I wanted. Every attempt at locating any of the prisoners failed. Every fucking attempt at locating my golden bitch had also failed. How could hundreds of people go missing like that? How was that even possible?Without having my position at the Council behind me, I’ve had to get creative about my pursuits. Sure, I still had a multitude of people that were under my command, but I couldn’t just wave my name around to get shit done. Nope. The bitch made sure that the Council turned their backs on me and labeled me as a traitor. The public now knew about me and Corey forsaking our positions at the Council. It pissed me the fuck off because it’d make it nearly impossible for me to follow through with my original plan of making the Council take th
ENZOI woke up with my arms wrapped around my mate. Her ass was firmly pressed up against my hard-on. I bit back a groan at how good the sparks felt on my cock. Oh, it was waking up alright.One arm was slung across her waist. The opposite hand was covering her tit. Sleeping naked had its own advantages, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I looked at the clock and realized that we had thirty minutes before the alarm went off. It was odd to have an uninterrupted night since Ava was with her aunt. We certainly took advantage of it until the early hours of the morning. Fucking hell. My draw to her just increased as time went on. I constantly craved her, thought about her, and wanted her. It had been amazing to watch her transformation into the Violet that she was today. The strong, fierce, confident, and loving woman who was a force of fucking nature. I carefully lifted her leg, settling it on top of mine and opening her up to me. My mate was still fast asleep, but she was about to ge
VIOLETI smiled as I looked around at the tables where everyone was eating dinner. Despite there not being tons of room for those we rescued from the hunters, they never once complained. They were just thankful to be somewhere safe. Also, they understood it wasn't safe for them to leave until Alpha Bradley was caught.There were many people who had nowhere to go and were taken aback by the offer to join the pack when the time came. At first, they felt like they wouldn’t belong there because many of them weren’t werewolves, but they felt more at ease with the idea of pack life when they learned about how diverse the pack was. Some of the pack’s previous hunter survivors that could be trusted to not disclose anything about what was going on here at the house had come over and spent plenty of time getting to know everyone and answered many questions about the pack.It was amazing to witness their healing journeys. Some people had faced far more trauma at the hunters' hands, but everyone
ELI It wasn't long ago when Dad sat me down and told me that I had a sister named Violet. Siblings was something that I’d always wanted but knew that it wouldn't happen. Not with the weird relationship that my parents had. Honestly, I was surprised that they even had me. I grew excited as he told me about her. It had been a while since he'd smiled that happy smile of his, the one that was unburdened by the pressures of the pack and everyday responsibilities. It still shocked me whenever I thought about everything that Layla had done. Yes, we were permanently on a first name basis because she didn't deserve the title of mother any longer. I was disgusted to know that I came from someone so completely evil. I didn't want to consider how I would've turned out if I hadn't been raised by Dad. He taught me all about the type of person and Alpha that I wanted to be. He showed me that having compassion for someone didn't make it a weakness. It was all about utilizing it in the right way.
VIOLETHis arms wrapped around me, causing me to lose the battle with my tears. My face was buried against his chest. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I cried. Enzo just held me to him, providing whatever strength that he could.I had no idea how long I cried, but my eyes eventually ran dry. Enzo tilted my chin up so that he could wipe my tears away. There was such gentleness in his eyes, but there was also fierce protectiveness. He didn’t know what caused me to cry, but I had no doubt that he would wish to destroy its origin. That’d be an absolute certainty with it being Alpha Bradley.“Do you want to talk about it, Amore Mio?” he asked me softly.Something that I’ve appreciated about my mate was the fact that he had always let me decide if I wanted to share something and didn’t push me if I were to say no. He respected my choices. I was a lucky bitch to be mated to him.I took a deep breath and opened up my mind so that he could see the memory, doubting that I’d be able to verbalize
VIOLETDarkness surrounded me when awareness came to me. There was a sense of wrongness all around me, chilling me to the bone. The darkness bore down, suffocating and oppressive in nature. I attempted to move but was restrained by something. There was a pounding in my chest as I tried to control my rising panic because it’d do nothing good or beneficial.“Listen to that racing heart,” a very distinct voice murmured into my ear. “Can’t move? Where is all of that strength? Perhaps you’re nothing more than a weak wannabe, pretending to be something that you aren’t,” he taunted me.I felt Reika stirring within me, her steady presence providing me with a sense of calm. It reminded me that I wasn’t alone.“Think what you wish, but we both know the truth,” I replied calmly, my lips turning up into a smirk. “Between the two of us, you’re the one that relies on others for your strength while I rely on nobody because I fight my own battles.”I wasn’t all that surprised when he lost his cool an
ENZOMy instincts were on high alert as we walked into the auditorium where the Sentinels were waiting for us. Titan and I were preparing for anything because we refused to allow anything else to happen to her. I felt like a fucking failure with how many times she had been harmed since she came into our lives. Circumstances weren’t always in our control, but that did nothing to change the guilt that Titan and I both felt. Hopefully, we’d be able to leave after this because we could feel her fatigue setting in – both physical and emotional in nature. Today didn’t go the way that we’d hoped for it to go, but there was no chance of getting a redo.The large auditorium was already filled with more bodies than I could even guestimate but at least in the thousands. There was no doubt in my mind that there were those loyal to Alpha Bradley, which had me nervous as fuck because they had no qualms in opening fire on us.The remaining Council members had us wait off-stage but said that they’d