Aviva
Alpha Ryan is the largest wolf I’ve ever seen by a longshot. While his overall mass is incredibly shocking, if not a little intimidating, he’s much slower than me.
I can hear him lumbering through the woods behind me as I dart around trees and fly over creek beds, sprinting deeper and deeper into the outer ring of the ever dark, ever untamed forest that sits on the outskirts of Endovian territory.
The spring hunt is technically taking place in the sacred hunting grounds our tribe guards year round, but I’ve had my fill of deer. Plus, Alpha Ryan already snagged a golden elk, which up until two nights ago, had been my ultimate prize. Now that pelt is hanging in the meeting hall–a trophy–and a constant reminder of how my bride price was paid.
I shake the thought out of my head and pick my way down a sharp decline into a shadowed valley where the trees rather suddenly drop off, revealing noth
AvivaAlpha Ryan shifts back to his human form, cloaked in shadows. He’s breathing heavily as he lumbers through the camp, crouching to rip into a clothing cache.I watch his shadow in silence, my heart beating out of rhythm. I only look away when the wind parts the treetops and allows moonlight to spread over the clearing again, illuminating the hellhound lying broken and in pieces at the very edge of the tree line.It takes two shallow breaths before it starts to fall in on itself, turning to ash that’s carried away by the wind.I slowly turn my gaze back to Alpha Ryan who is standing now, wearing a pair of pants that don’t fit him at all, the button holding them in place undone. Moonlight ghosts over his frame. Instead of tight, wiry muscles, he’s just… huge. There’s nothing lean about him. I can see the outline of his abdominals as he turns slightly to face me. The muscles in his che
AvivaRyan and I walked in our wolf forms back to the village by sunset, each of us dragging makeshift sleds fashioned from items we found at the abandoned camp to carry the meat and pelt from the goat.While I wondered if we could mind-link somehow after I’d heard him call my name when I’d fallen, neither of us spoke. We arrived at the village shortly before the sun set when the sky was painted gold, and the moon had just started to rise again. We weren’t even the last hunters to arrive. The entire village was alight with music and dancing to celebrate a very successful hunt.But I didn’t partake in the celebration. I left the pelt with Ryan and immediately shifted back to my human form and walked out of the village again, to the creek, where I splashed frigid water over my dirty, aching skin until I was clean. I then returned home and sank into the hottest bath I could handle, brushing out my braids, picking ou
RyanThe entire village is quiet and dark, which is strange. All of the lights and fires have been put out in the individual homes, and even the main fire in the large, open pit at the center of the village has burned down to embers that glow like stars. Andrew, Jacob, and I walk side by side into the village after taking the afternoon to rest and prepare for tonight, unsure of what’s to come. I only managed to lie on my sleeping bag for a while staring at the roof of my tent, my mind whirling. Married. I’m getting married. And it doesn’t mean anything but unity between my pack and my bride’s people.I have a lot of business to take care of tonight other than bind myself to a woman I barely know. I was able to talk to Jerrod briefly this morning while showing him Aviva’s goat hide, but he’s a busy man and promised he’d find me after the ceremony before he walked off with Mercy to discuss the feast and
AvivaRyan moves like a large, lumbering animal, but I knew that. He’s not light on his feet whatsoever, but I can’t fault him for not knowing any of the steps to numerous dances passed down from generation to generation as I tug him around the fire, spinning in dizzying circles while my right hand throbs as it heals from being sliced open and slapped against his, our blood mingling.It was, admittedly, a very odd sensation I still can’t put into words. Even now, two hours later, my hand feels all tingly, and those tingles have worked their way up my arm and deep into my chest, blooming into something new, heavy, and strange.I’ve never danced so much in my life, but eventually Ryan and I were parted by other celebrators who joined the dancing. I lost him in the crowd an hour ago, but maybe that’s for the best. I need this veil of delusion to lift so I can think clearly and come to terms with what has to ha
RyanJerrod stands beside me in the glare of early morning. Both of us are pretending like we’re watching the dark, angry storm clouds barreling toward us, directly in the path I’m supposed to be traveling today, and not the heart wrenching scene taking place only a few feet away.Aviva is doing her best to explain to a fitful Lora that they’ll see each other again. Lora is shaking her head and shoving her teddy bear against a desperate Aviva’s chest, telling her to take it to keep her safe at night. What's worse is that Shosanna is nowhere to be found. She didn’t come here, to the edge of the village, to say goodbye to Aviva, and I can tell by the forlorn look on Aviva’s face that this is one of the most painful things she’s ever had to do.I’m gutted. Absolutely gutted. This feels so incredibly unfair.Jerrod sighs beside me, cursing under his breath. I glance at him, notici
AvivaThe camp is quiet when I return. I’m soaking wet, but thankfully clean of rogue blood, because of the rain. Everyone gave up on sleeping outside in their wolf forms, choosing to sleep in tents instead in their human forms. Everything is soaked. Tarps cover the supply carts, nailed to the ground to prevent any sudden gusts of wind from ripping the tarps off completely and soaking everything my village traded for Ryan’s wares. I walk by each tent and find Freya curled inside one of them, fast asleep. I start to kneel to crawl inside when Ryan’s voice cuts toward me, emotionlessly rasping, “Get over here.”I rise and turn to him. He pitched a tent several yards away from the rest of the camp, further into the forest. Its entrance faces the forest, in fact, and I think he means to stay up all night under the shelter of the canvas to make sure none of the beasts within make any moves on his people. I chew my lower lip as I follow him. He holds the tent flap open for me. I don’t arg
AvivaThe moment Ryan stirs again, I launch into motion. I’m out of the tent the second he begins to stretch like he’s the only one on the sleeping mat. I run at a full sprint through the center of the camp, wearing nothing but his shirt. I jump into Freya’s tent and land with a crunch on top of her. She squeals, swatting me as she tries to untangle herself from the quilt she bundled herself up in last night. “What the hell are you doing, Aviva?”I grab her cheeks. She blinks sleepily up at me, her eyes cloudy with confusion. “I need you to tell me everything about men. Everything.”***“Look at those idiots,” Freya giggles as she pops another perfect, sweet strawberry into her mouth. I lick strawberry juice from my fingers and turn to look over my shoulder at the group of men on opposite sides of the creek below, yelling and arguing with each other as they try to get the two heavy, overladen carts across the swollen creek. I smirk down at them. I doubt they’ve even noticed us watch
AvivaRage and worry fight for control as Shosanna stares at us, glancing from face to face. Her mouth and fingers are stained red from feasting from a basket of berries sitting next to her in the cart, but one quick scan of her body in whole shows me she’s dry and uninjured.I think of crossing the creek only a few hours ago, how easily the current could have swept the cart away with her in it, and my chest convulses.I open my mouth to say something, anything, but a muffled groan comes out instead.Freya is the first to act. She brushes past me, her face twisted in confusion, and storms up to Shosh, picking her up and throwing her over her shoulder like a sack of grain. Freya turns to James and Dhalia, who are watching the scene play out in shocked silence, Freya’s blonde hair is wild and coming loose from the long braid down her back as Shosh thrashes and kicks. “Where will I be staying?” she asks
MistyTwo white wolves in a clearing.Their bodies made of mist and aether, standing side by side.Mates. A marvel of second chances and extraordinary fate.Two white wolves turn toward the sunrise knowing what they must leave behind; what he sacrificed for those he loved and her refusal to let him go into death alone.Two white wolves stand over their earthly bodies. He, battered and still.She, going into death with eyes open, cupping her mate's face between her graceful hands, her eyes locked on his at the moment of her dying breath.Their last words had been simple. I love you.They always had.They’d promised this instance in stolen moments, in private corners, when there was nothing but the stars to light their way.I will not stay here without you.I will not leave you behind.And so, it was.Two
AvivaThe first flakes of snow fall from the sky as I watch Ryan trying to herd everyone in position. Bundled against the cold in a wool coat Freya and I worked tirelessly on for the last three weeks, I step to the side, finding myself in the center of the crowd standing in the middle of the village of Silverhide. I watch my mate and his Beta, James, nudge families together and run back and forth toward a tripod where Ryan’s camera rests, facing us, to gauge whether all one-hundred and fifty people are in view of the lens.Ryan stands behind the camera with his hands up, his hair dusted with snow. “Okay. Nobody move!”A few excited giggles whisper through the front of the crowd where the numerous children are arranged. I glance around, watching as James joins Dahlia’s side, their baby on her hip. The baby girl finally has a name. Cosette, named after a friend of Dahlia, but they call her Cossie for short. Other babies
Two months later…RyanThe Harvest Festival has been held at the festival grounds between Endova, Teshka, and Navvan for centuries. When we arrived two days ago, leaving only a few people behind in Silverhide to make sure the animals are tended to in our absence, the wide, open space had been nothing but rolling plains.Now, it’s a city of canvas tents and twinkling lights, the air spiced with smoke and the smells of meals being cooked at each fire. Songs mingle as I walk through the festival with Aviva on my arm. I’m wearing a normal outfit. Well, not normal, actually. Mom forced me into a suit and tie with the Crescent Falls royal banner and all of my metals from my years as a warrior draped over my shoulders. Aviva is wearing that white, fur-lined dress again and a pair of new sheep-skin boots Freya and Mercy made for her, but instead of freshwater clam shells and pearls decorating her hair, her curls are w
RyanAn hour earlier…I can’t scrub the image of Aviva dead in my arms out of my head. It’s been several days since the battle, since the moment I put her in my uncle's arms and turned back to the ravaged scene, not knowing whether or not she survived the journey all the way to Maatua.Three days. It was three entire days before Sydney arrived in Silverhide with news about my mate. I’d just arrived back at my territory, exhausted and in tatters, when he clapped a hand on my shoulder and used his powers to spirit us to Moonrise, then to Veiled Valley, then to Maatua. He’s not as strong as Ryatt. Jumping took a toll on us both, and when we finally arrived at my grandparents’ beach house, I collapsed before I even made it up their driveway.Everything since the battle is a blur. Navvan is just… gone. The few survivors were mostly women and children who’d left the villag
AvivaI wake with a start to bright, warm sunshine and the smell of salty air. I grope white sheets, blinking several times to clear my vision as an unfamiliar bedroom fades to life around me. Warm white walls. Pale wood finishes and sleek furniture in soft browns and creams. White curtains drift in a salty breeze coming through several open windows, and a glass door opens to a deck with a view of… a view of the ocean.I’ve never seen the ocean before. From where I lie, I can hear the waves crashing on a white sand beach. Music I don’t recognize drifts toward me, carrying two voices with it, one male, and one female.“Your parents worry about you endlessly, Misty.”“They have nothing to worry about. It’s not like I’m ten anymore, Grandpa. I can make my own way in the world now. Plus, where was their worry when they shipped me here four years ago, huh?”“You
RyanI’ve been dreaming about tying Aviva to my bed, but I’m going to make it a reality for entirely different reasons. Now, I’ll be tying her to keep her there, forever. No more hunting. No more fighting. No more killing rogues barefoot in the woods.No more putting herself in situations like this. I will do her dirty work. I will gladly do it. I roll with Hardan in his… hellhound form? Whatever the fuck he is now. I wish, Goddess, I wish I could have faced him man to man instead of beast to beast. I would have loved to see the look on his face when I ripped out his heart for even thinking for a second he had some kind of claim to my mate, even before I found her. We roll down a decline. I sink my talons into his belly, ripping hard, but I already know hellhounds aren’t that easy to kill. We crash into an oak tree. Leaves shower over us as he tries to claw free of my grasp. He’s calling out, bellowing strange, high-pitched howls. The forest floor rumbles as I sink my claws into hi
AvivaI’m having the time of my life.I zigzag through the woods in my wolf form after three rogues who’ve decided they want nothing to do with me. In fact, the rogues have stopped hunting me over the past several hours and instead are trying to get as far away from me as possible. Their prey has become their biggest predator.I did my best to lead the horde away from Endova. That was my goal–the reason I made the snap decision to leave my mate behind and race into the jaws of death itself. Now, I have the horde moving away from the tribal packlands all together, herding them back into the open plains like a shepherd, and they’re my sheep–if a shepherd killed their sheep, that is.I’ve lost count of how many there are. My red fur is completely black with their blood. I catch my reflection in another small, burbling creek as I leap, seeing only my eyes shining like polished amber against a
Ryan“She’s not here, Ryan,” Mercy hisses as I run through the village. She’s hot on my heels, grabbing my fur to try to pull me to a stop but I’m not in my right mind.It’s been five hours since I last saw Aviva. Andrew and I have been scouring the forest and plains for any sign of her, but I lost her scent, and my desperate attempts to mind-link with her have come up empty and silent.I shift into my human form the second I cross into the pack house and immediately crash into one of the tables, tripping over the bench and landing on my side with a crunch. I’ve been in my wolf form since last night. Exhaustion sings through my bones as my vision spins. I hear Andrew similarly falling to the ground with a choked groan before hurried footsteps reach the pack house. Someone throws a blanket over me with a scoff, followed by Mercy’s sharp, soprano voice ripping through the air as she starts s
RyanIt’s barely dawn. Four hours ago, I was taking a deep breath as I tucked my mate into our bed, and now we’re here, lying low in the grasslands ten miles from Silver, with twenty of my best warriors scattered behind me. Stars still fill the sky, shining under a blanket of deep navy and vibrant violet. It's kind of hard to stay focused when the sunrise looks like this, the first echoes of gold casting Aviva, in wolf form, in a halo of light. She’s crouched in the swaying grass just a few feet below where the rest of us are lying, hiding in the scant brush and scorched trees. I watch her edge forward a few inches, her body covered in weapons and leather–one of her special dresses from Endova. A half dozen whispers ghost through my head, mingling with the thundering of my heartbeat in my ears as we watch, and watch, the dozen or so rogues passing by, moving in a lazy formation toward the forests we, and the tribal packs, call home. ‘What are they doing?’ Andrew lies on my left sid