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
CANDICEMy mind ran through all of the potential possibilities of what Violet’s vision might have entailed.She called me an hour ago and told me that she had a vision about Zaxyn and needed to have a meeting with all of us. Whatever she had seen was enough to shake her. I could hear it in her voice as she spoke.“Can you get Daph so that we can head downstairs,” I asked Eli.“Sure thing, Mom,” he said before freezing, cheeks pinkening with a blush.I could tell that it hadn’t been intention and just slipped out. Honestly, it made my heart swell to think that there was a part of him that saw me as a mother figure. He had accepted me immediately and had mentioned how happy he was about the bond between Max and me.Embarrassment and hope warred inside of him for dominance – embarrassment because of his slip, and hope because he secretly wanted me to be okay with it. Layla had done the basics to appear as though she loved him, but it was clear that love wasn’t the case once she sent peopl
VIOLETReaching my hand out, I turned off the hot water before wrapping a towel around my body and one around my head.The steamed mirror hid my reflection until I wiped a spot off. Looking back was a woman who was still odd to see.I looked the same but not at the same time. My features were more defined. More mature. Amber eyes held a happiness that I had never experienced before he came into my life. I had just gotten by day to day, but he showed me how important it was to also live for me.There were currently dark circles under my eyes that I had been covering up with magic known as makeup. Each day that passed by brought us one step closer to dealing with the Appersons.Sleep never came easy to me unless my mate wore me out in the best possible way. I would be so tired that I wouldn’t be fully conscious of Ava waking up in the middle of the night. Enzo would get up to take care of her each time. He was always quick to reassure me that he loved to have that one-on-one with her, se
ENZOThere were gasps and laughs heard throughout the crowd.I barely contained my snarl. The only reason that I suppressed it at all was because there were humans who worked here too. Otherwise, I’d show everyone what happened when you crossed an Alpha-born to this extent.Embarrassment, pain, and sadness flowed down the bond. She couldn’t honestly believe that I’d say any of those things, could she?“WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” I shouted as loudly as I could since I couldn’t really snarl.‘Kill them. Kill them all,’ Titan raged within me, seething that someone dared to hurt our mate like this.As much as I wanted to side with him on this, I couldn’t just up and kill them.‘Sven, find out everything that you can about the pictures and video that’s being displayed in the cafeteria please.’‘Right away, boss.’Niccolò rushed into the cafeteria with Lilac in two. They had clearly gotten interrupted, but I was glad that they were both here right now. He looked murderous as he saw what
ENZOThere was a storm on the horizon. As the days passed, we prepared to face off against the Appersons.Violet’s idea for the video was the perfect opening move. It turned out even better than we had thought it would. Sven, being the mastermind that he was, had been able to push the video to specific people.The problem was that Fae had no centralized governing body to rule over their people. That was what gave the foothold that the Appersons used to climb to the top of the totem pole.It was important to have someone that everyone had to answer. Pushing aside the recent Werewolf Council’s fuckery, it was easy to see the importance of having a hierarchy within a species. Everyone was held accountable for their own actions or inactions. It also provided structure, stability, and protected its people. We had to get creative with how we put the truth out there. Anastasia, Darrel, Candice, and Kaia worked really well together. Specific families and clans received video and subsequent pr
VIOLETIt was amazing to witness these family members reuniting with each other.Enzo held me from behind, chin resting on my shoulder. I leaned against his body, loving the way that I could feel his heart beating against my back. It mirrored my own.Darrel Steele’s parents also showed up. They fell to their knees when they saw him for the very first time after all of these years. He rushed over and wrapped his arms around them. His cries broke my heart. He had lost the innocence that he had as a teenager when his life was ripped away from him.It renewed the fury that I had felt steadily growing ever since I had learned just an outline of what the Appersons were responsible for doing.Nobody should ever have to feel the pain that these beautiful people have dealt with all of these years. I could not even begin to imagine the toll that it took on them. All of the uncertainty, hopelessness, and helplessness.Tears rolled down my cheeks as their emotions rushed into me. It felt like I wa
VIOLETThe days passed by in a flurry of activity. Some of it was overwhelming, but some of it was incredibly beautiful as well.Our home was almost too silent after weeks of having hundreds of people living here. I wasn’t complaining though.Enzo and I grew even closer than we’d been before. It was long overdue, but the entire house was finally christened. Talk about fun! I couldn’t get my fill of him because it was never enough. My body, and our bond, always demanded more. Titan and Reika, likewise, couldn’t get enough of each other either.Our bond with Ava also continued to grow and strengthen. It was amazing to see the fatherly side of my mate. God, was there something that he didn’t excel at? She had him wrapped around her little pinky and didn’t even realize it yet. He made a fantastic father just like he made a fantastic mate.Niccolò, Lilac, and Raelynn moved into the guesthouse so that they could still be close enough to fulfill their duty as my Dreatirs. However, they’d have
MAXWELLMy mate’s life had never been easy. I wasn’t surprised that she turned out to be such a strong warrior.Goddess, I’ve heard many examples of fucked-up families over the years, but I was certain that the Apperson family ranked up there in the top. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it had to have been for her over the years. She always had to look over her shoulder and make sure that she covered her tracks.One’s family should be the biggest source of support. The same people who should’ve loved her unconditionally brought her nothing but pain and heartache. I was just thankful that she’d been able to get away from them.Worry churned in my gut, knowing who they’d been in contact with. They also knew that Reika was a Golden wolf. I couldn’t imagine them being willing to give up that level of power, leaving me wondering if they’d just been placating Alpha Bradley.‘Bradley,’ Thorn corrected me. ‘He doesn’t deserve the respect that his title provides.’He made a great point. It had
VIOLETI couldn’t wait for the Apperson family to get what was coming to them. They’d destroyed far too fucking much and would pay dearly for it.It broke my heart to hear about Mom’s friends just like I knew that it still broke her heart. Time didn’t heal all wounds. This would be one that she’d carry for the rest of her life. I just prayed that she could carry it a little bit easier, knowing that her friends would be protected one way or another.They lived in a single-family home inside of a gated community. It was supposedly a perk of the jobs that Mom had arranged for them all of those years ago. In reality, Mom had purchased the house and had their boss give it to them as a perk. Mom had also ensured that it was retrofitted with plenty of security to keep them protected.Mom, Dad, Enzo, and I would go to see them. Marco would remain outside while being invisible. Lilac and Kaia would use their glamours to keep some of our warriors hidden from view as well but would be further out
CANDICEZaxyn. It was a name that I could live the rest of my life without hearing.Learning that your family was evil incarnate would do serious damage to anyone who didn’t share their same beliefs. I was seventeen when I found out the truth, and it broke me even more than I’d ever thought was possible.There’d been whispers along the wind about missing Fae. The community that I was raised in had a multitude of Fae clans that lived together in harmony, or so I thought. I never believed that the threat was so close to home until some of my friends disappeared. It was all thanks to overhearing Nahilak that the truth was finally known.[Flashback]“Report,” Father barked.I was hiding out in a room on the second floor that shared a vent with my father’s office. I wasn’t sure what led me here, but I knew that it was important. My gut told me that everything was about to change.“The three targets were successfully acquired, stripped of their magic, and placed into the Warden’s custody. Th