*Isla*I am not alone….I know that as I continue to run through the woods. My pace has slowed dramatically, though, because it’s clear to me that there are wolves all around me in the darkness, and in front of me, too.Why am I continuing to run from the man who has already done everything he can to save my life into what could potentially be a death trap?I can’t help but think that I am the stupidest woman alive….Slowing my rate significantly, I peer off into the distance, looking for movement. I think I see a pair of glowing eyes up ahead. With that knowledge, I change my course, heading to my right. I wonder if I could potentially circle back to the castle and get away from these wolves. They could be castle guards that King Maddox or Beta Seth has sent after me.But in my gut, I have a feeling that’s not who they are at all….The idea that it would probably be a good idea to call for help also comes to mind, but I can’t do that, not now, not when I’ve screwed up so royally alre
*Maddox*I walk ahead of the stretcher carrying Isla and try not to pull my fur out. If I had thumbs, I might’ve already pulled out enough fur around my forehead that I’d look bald.Images of a wolf with a receding hairline come to mind, and I almost laugh. But nothing is that funny right now.What the actual fuck was she thinking?I already know the answer to that question.As much as I want to blame Isla for all of this, it’s my fault. She left because I was rude and dismissive. She left because she was upset with me. What else could it possibly be? She hasn’t been feeling well, and I didn’t even check on her today while I was gone to look for the missing kidnappers.The castle comes into view ahead of me, and I’m glad to see it. I’m not as energetic as I was before, so I don’t leap over the fence in a single bound. Instead, I call ahead, and the side gates are open when we get there. Using the mind-link, I call for a servant to open the door for me as well, and I trot down the hall
*Maddox*I stare at Isla in bewilderment, not sure what to say to her. I should probably be down in the dungeon trying to break Alpha Jordan, trying to figure out where the hell his fucking daughter is hiding, but I came here because I wanted to talk to Isla to make sure she was all right.Apparently, she is not.Sighing I walk over to her bed and sit down next to her, my hip near her knee. “What do you mean?” I ask her. “Replaced… by who?”She runs a hand through her hair, blonde curls tangling around her fingers, before she grimaces and untangles herself. She likely forgot about the cut on her head. “I don’t think I need to tell you,” she says, folding her hand in her lap. Her eyes are wide as she looks up at me.Puzzled, I stare at her for a long time, trying to figure out what the hell she is talking about. Why is she mad at me exactly? I expected her to shout at me for being cross with her about the office. I don’t think I’ve done anything else.“What?” I shake my head. “Replaced
*Isla*I’m underwater again.This time isn’t like the last time, though. I know immediately that things are different.This time, I’m more angry than I am afraid, but I don’t feel the same pressure that I did last time either. I feel like I am storming off, running away, riding my white horse off into the sunset….But I also feel like it probably shouldn’t be a white horse. I know I’ve done awful things, and I know that I’ve screwed everything up. I’m not the hero in this story….I’m the villain.Normally, I’m okay with that. I don’t mind being the one who stirs up all of the trouble. But in the back of my mind, I can’t help thinking about what might’ve happened if my plans hadn’t gone awry. Perhaps I should’ve listened to my father and not messed with the situation so entirely.None of that matters now. Dad drowned. Mom fled the moment she found out what I was up to. I am pretty sure that Wylie is pulverized, and I have no fucking idea where the driver is.It’s just me now.Me… and m
*Maddox*Isla’s scent permeates every breath as I gain my bearings, doing my best to wake my sleeping mind. I have a vague recollection of talking to her earlier this morning, before I was fully awake.She’d given me some startling information, something I needed to look into today, though I’m not exactly sure what it was now….It’ll come back to me later.For now, my hand is resting on her soft, warm breast, and with her intoxicating scent rolling around me, I can’t help but keep the hardness I’ve awoken with growing in length.The recollection that she is injured comes to my mind, and I know I should leave her be. She hit her hard pretty hard yesterday, and she has a wounded shoulder, but her nipple is hardening beneath my palm, and I can’t seem to pull my hand away.Groggily, she says, “Maddox? What are you doing?” But her voice is sultry, not at all perturbed that I’ve awoken her by massaging her breast.“I’m kissing your neck,” I tell her as I do just that. My mouth sinks into th
*Isla*When I awake again, after Maddox left to go do whatever he was going to do to check to see if my dream was real, it’s to the sound of someone moving in my room. It seems like whoever it is is trying to be quiet, but when something makes a loud clatter, and I hear Beta Seth swear under his breath, it’s obvious who it is.“What’s going on?” I ask, groggily. I roll over, pulling the blanket up around me, and look at him.“Oh, I’m so sorry, Isla. I am just… King Maddox wanted me to put a phone in your room so that you can call your parents and they can call you whenever you want. But the phone jack is behind the bed, and getting to it is being a pain in the a–butt.” He stops himself short of swearing in front of me, like I am some sort of a delicate flower.“Thanks, Beta Seth,” I say to him, smiling at his kindness. “Is there anything that I can do to help?”“No, no, I’ve got it.” He grunts a little as he strains and stretches behind the bed for a second and then sighs with a succ
*Isla*“Can I come in?”I stare at the girl, not quite sure what to say. I’m taken aback that she’s even here. What in the world could she possibly have to say to me?And yet, it’s very difficult for me to tell her to leave. She looks so sad, standing there in the doorway, her bulging stomach protruding in front of her.“Of course,” I say, gesturing for her to come over to the sitting area where I have a couple of comfortable chairs in front of the window.We both sit, and I readjust my skirt several times, not sure what to say or do. Part of me wants Poppy to come in and say she has my breakfast, so I can at least have an excuse not to be able to talk. If my mouth is full of eggs, I won’t have to say anything to this doe-eyed girl who is looking at me like she thinks I have all of the answers to whatever ails her.“I’m… Isla,” I say to her, and she nods. I have to assume she already knows that, but since no one is saying anything, I thought it might be a good way to start the convers
*Maddox*Blood coats the floor in the entryway. I could see it before I even kicked in the door. My warriors, still in their human form, join me as I walk into the house.The body of a young maid, legs prone, arms over her face, is positioned off to the side of the door. This blood is hers. She has bite marks and deep scratches from claws on her chest, neck, and face. I can see that from here, but when I step closer to her and roll her over, I notice that the blood is coagulated. She has been laying here for a while. I’m no medical expert, but I’m guessing it’s been a few hours.I have seen my fair share of bodies on the battlefield from warriors who have died early in the fight, ones we gathered much later, and the blood is similar.Her cold, empty, green eyes stare up at me. I close them for her, careful not to step in the blood as I walk away.“Be careful,” I tell the men with me. “This is a crime scene.”A whiff of the air tells me that this isn’t the only body we are going to fin
Misty“Aviva, stop!” I shout as she begins to turn toward the woods, her bow raised and arrow primed and ready. My powers ignite, stronger than they’ve ever been, and explode through the clearing in bright, blue light that sizzles into the ground. I swear, somewhere deep in the swirling, blue ether, I hear what sounds like a lock clicking–like I’ve just jammed a key into a padlock and wrenched on it until it turned–and then the ground shakes violently, a crushing, grinding sound beginning to echo through the clearing. Red eyes appear near the tree line–three sets–barreling toward us. Aviva roars as she pulls back on her arrow again, but then she… disappears with a surprised scream. “Aviva?!” I shout, then choke on her name as the ground beneath me falls away. My powers burn out. I’m falling through the darkness, reaching blindly for anything to grab onto. Something beneath me hits the ground with a crunch, and then I’m landing on top of the object, which turns out to be Aviva. We
MistyLogan is quite gaunt. That’s the first thing I notice as I linger in the doorway of the healer’s cottage, watching Cole check Logan’s ears. Cole is amazing with kids, and it shows, because Logan cracks a smile at something Cole says and Aviva interprets. But Cole’s eyes are heavy with concern when he turns away from the boy, his eyes scanning his notes before closing his notebook and setting it on the counter. Aviva, wearing Lexa on her back, takes Logan’s hand and leads him out of the healer’s cottage, closing the door behind her. I watch through the window as they walk away, into the rolling, morning fog. It’s a chilly late summer morning–the first truly cold morning since we arrived last week. It’s been four days since almost everyone fell ill, but thankfully that’s over. And, Kyra isn’t here right now. She’s off doing something in Endova, according to Cole and Ryan. I feel immediately more relaxed in her absence. “So? Is he going to live?” I try to tease to break the t
Aviva“What’s your name?” I ask in the old tongue as I lead the boy through one of the pastures, shoving chest-height strands of wheat to the side to give us a path.He doesn’t speak for a while. I don’t press him for information, either. The fact that he’s following me is enough.“Logan,” he says after a moment, his voice calm and cool like the breeze coming off the rolling hills in the distance.“How old are you?”“Twelve.”“I thought so.” I look at him over my shoulder, smiling, but he doesn’t return the gesture. Dark circles line his eyes, and he’s incredibly thin, even for a boy his age, who all seem to be gangly and lanky. His dark, nearly black hair is pin straight and sticks up at all angles, rustling in the breeze, and he’s pale with freckles across the bridge of his nose.A scar wraps fr
AvivaI wake from a dead sleep that leaves me in an absolute panic. I roll off the bed with a crash, and then Ryan’s voice cuts through the air in alarm over the sound of him ripping the sheets from the mattress in his haste to follow me out of bed. “Aviva–Goddess–” he grumbles, scooping me up right by my armpits and tossing me back in bed just as a wail echoes through the house. “Where’s Lexa?” I croak, my throat throbbing painfully like I’ve swallowed glass. I clutch my neck in alarm, swallowing hard past a massive lump nearly blocking my airway. I’ve never felt so terrible in my life. Ryan disappears and returns a few moments later with an incredibly fussy Lexa and a giant glass of water for me. Then, he fusses over us, propping me up against the headboard with several pillows and whisking Lexa away when she’s done nursing, all while I sit there in a haze, my head pounding and my joints aching so badly it nearly brings me to tears. It’s early morning. I don’t even remember goi
MistyNight falls on Silverhide against a chorus of coughing and sneezing. I’m not sure how else to describe it, but I’ve also never been sick before, so seeing half of Ryan’s pack under the weather is absolutely alarming. Everyone seems to be doing okay, however. Aviva snapped out of what ended up being a very short-lived fever, and Lexa is back to her usual self, but they’re both exhausted. Freya, Andrew, and their son, Sam, were somehow spared by the worst of the illness and have taken over care of Aviva and Lexa tonight so Ryan can take me on a run. I stare at the sleeping forms of Cole and Addy before closing the bedroom door and slipping out of the cabin to meet my brother on the road leading out of Silverhide. The dress I borrowed from Aviva feels strange against my skin as the warm night air wafts over me, lifting my hair from my shoulders in a soft breeze. It’s one of those Endovian dresses designed for shifting, of course, which means I’m practically exposed, but when I ca
MistyIt’s early afternoon when I finally leave our cabin in search of Cole. Aviva–who stayed up all night hunting, and then the entire morning caring for Lexa–is asleep on the couch with both babies as the moment. The tension in the village is palpable as I walk through the village square, which is quiet… borderline empty. A few people mill around going about their chores, but the square isn’t filled with conversation, children playing, or food being cooked and shared. It’s a bright, sunny day, which is being wasted. I sigh heavily and hike the bag I packed with a few sandwiches and treats for Cole over my shoulder and lower my head as I pass a group of men then turn toward the healer’s cottage. In the few days we’ve been in Silverhide, I haven’t had a chance to meet the pack's healer–some witch sent down from Moonrise a few weeks ago to serve in his pack. That’s the norm across Eastonia. Witches trained in Moonrise spread out, taking up residence in packs from Veiled Valley, thro
AvivaHot water rolls over my skin as I press my forehead against the tile. The shower is a new addition to our house, built along with the second story and unused bedrooms in the upper level. For me, the shower is absolutely massive–unreasonably so. For Ryan, it was a much needed upgrade from our copper tub downstairs. He stretches his arms over his head and groans as the scent of lavender soap fills the air, mingling with the steam. The window cut into the tile fogs up, blocking our view of the woods, but the first inklings of morning sunlight are trying to stretch toward Silverhide. “So,” he says behind me, gently tugging twigs from my curls and tossing them out of the shower. “This hellhound you found… what did it look like?”“A wolf,” I say, closing my eyes as his large hands drift to my shoulders, working out the knots from being in my wolf form practically the entire night. My breasts begin to ache with fullness but it’s a sensation I’m eager to ignore, especially as his touc
AvivaThe packhouse is always full to the brim. Four impossibly long tables and benches rest in the center of the wide, wood-lined space in rows where not a single seat is unaccounted for. Children dart from group to group, finding friends to play with while their parents dine. I’m at my usual spot at the head of the left-most table, surrounded by the other young, mated, new mothers while our mates move from group to group of men, chatting over pints of home-brewed ale. I bounce Lexa in my lap as I fork another piece of meat into my mouth, glancing down the table where Misty and Cole are seated together, unaccustomed to the noisy, damn near riotess shared evening meal. Misty seems especially affected, which strikes me as odd, given that she spent two weeks here last year before she went back to school… but that was before everything happened. Her eyes are empty, which worries me. I thought I was the only one having an existential crisis, but apparently… I’m not. Freya leans over,
Ryan“Come on, girl. You liked me yesterday.” I hike Lexa up and set her on my shoulder so her legs are around the back of my neck, my arm bent and extended so I press my hand against her back. She immediately fists my hair and stops wailing, her sad sniffling turning to quiet excitement. A small giggle leaves her lips as we pass one of the ceiling height windows in the hallway I’ve been walking her up and down for the past thirty minutes.Aviva would tell me this is dangerous to do with her at only four months old, but I can’t help it. Tossing this baby around is getting her ready to wrestle, which is what I often tell my wife before she stops my fun, but right now, we’re completely alone.I turn a corner, find another hallway, and walk down it with no plan nor destination in sight. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be doing right now other than keeping Lexa happy, and current