LOGINIan“That was better.” Fraser huffs a breath and shrugs back into his shirt. He winces, closing his eyes for a moment. Bruises fan across his shoulders and chest–large, deep paw prints. My clothes are shockingly intact, but I’m still in my fae form as the first glimpses of morning light turn the distant mountains a vibrant violet. Fraser carefully tucks in his shirt but moves like every step across the open air landing area high atop his mountain is painful. “Once you’re calmed down, I’ll meet you in the dining hall.”“I’m not hungry.”“I did not ask if you were,” he says bluntly, and he leaves me alone to ride out the last waves of the transformation I’ve been battling for the past two nights. Shifting isn’t even the worst of it. It’s everything else, everything that follows rejecting Oakley. I don’t go to the dining hall right away. It’s not like Fraser is waiting for me with a feast laid out. He normally just sits nearby and reads while I force myself to eat, and so far, I have
NaomiMy hand is the size of a cantaloupe but burns a bright, furious red. Little splotches of the deepest blue fan across my knuckles, and even the slightest twitch of my fingers sends a sharp, blinding pain ricocheting all the way up to my shoulder. Fraser adjusts his glasses, pressing them high against his straight, regal nose. Somewhat straight, I realize, since this is the closest I’ve been to the man so far. A faint scar stretches across the bridge of his nose, highlighting a kink from a very old break. The three deep gashes on his face are new and bold, even in the dim, fiery lantern light, but already skillfully tended and pitched together by bandages, like he’s had this happen to him before. We’re in his kitchen, I believe. It is a kitchen, but dated by several hundred, if not thousands, of years. There’s no refrigerator or dishwasher. A large wash basin and water pump serves as a sink, and the fireplace stretching from wall to wall is stained a deep blackish-gray from cent
IanFraser paces along a stretch of tile in a room I can only describe as some kind of landing area. It’s mostly open to the elements, but it's a clear, blue day, not a single cloud in the sky as far as the eye can see. The last hints of summer warmth pick up dust as a breeze skitters through the room at large, which is domed and wide, large enough to fit six or more creatures like Fraser in their dragon forms, which I’m still trying to wrap my head around. I’ll have time to convince myself that what I saw last night when he shifted was real because the decision has been made. I am staying here. With him. Fennec and Wren are talking in low tones in the corner of the room. My cousin is dressed for a long journey. New supplies and gear hang from his shoulders, and his weapon belt is full of freshly sharpened blades. The women are upstairs preparing to leave. Even Oakley–and that hurts more than I can describe. Fraser has been more than generous with everyone, my wife included. Bu
Oakley“Hi there. No, you’re all right.” Juliette presses against my chest. I ease back against cushions that smell and feel unfamiliar. I have no idea where I am or why she’s here. “Everything’s fine.” A cool rag presses against my forehead, biting through heat so fierce I wonder if my skin is still attached to my body or has melted off entirely. Somewhere in my hazy vision, a door opens and shuts with a gentle click, and a shadow crosses the room to stand at Juliette’s side. “It’s over. Ian will be on his way shortly, I think.” Fennec gripping Juliette’s shoulder comes into view while my vision slowly focuses. I’m in a luxurious four-poster bed with a canopy of thick, creamy white velvet. Now, I remember coming here. I remember being so exhausted that Ian had to help me into a large copper bathtub. I remember him massaging my stiff fingers, so careful of the burns that are still healing. I remember a nightgown falling over my skin and being laid in soft, clean sheets. Then, ever
IanFraser appears in the throne room carrying a large armchair like it weighs nothing. He spots me, nods like this is a casual encounter, and sets the chair on the ground, where he proceeds to drag it several dozen meters into the center of the room. The scraping grinds my gears. My ears ring, but I think that was the point. The dragon sits and splays out in a very relaxed manner, propping his ankle on his opposite knee. He looks me up and down from a safe distance away. “Remove your shirt and pants.”I grit my teeth. “Normally, I’d like to get to know you a bit better first.”“Now, shifter. This is not a game. I have very little men’s clothing that would fit someone your size.”I shrug out of my shirt. It falls in a heap, which I kick away. My pants are next. Standing in nothing but boxers against the cold bite funneling through every open-air archway exposed to the elements, I keep my eyes locked on Fraser’s face, and his smirk digs deep into my subconscious, making me feel more e
NaomiOakley fainted again. I can’t say I’m surprised. It didn’t take much to have her lay prostrate in Ian’s lap after just the mention of cutting her afflicted arm off, which is not happening. Not if I have anything to do with it. That marked the end of the conversation. Fraser, to his credit, simply pursed his lips while the rest of us dove head first into a rather righteous argument about our next steps, and then he put us in our places by offering warmth and food. None of us could argue against the fact that we’ve all spent several days cold and wet in the woods and were slowly losing our minds. Ian took Oakley to some room in what I’m now realizing is Fraser’s private wing of this place. His home. His lair. Fennec couldn’t convince Wren to come with him, to do what, I didn’t ask, but instead disappeared into the corridors and adjoining rooms and hasn’t been seen since we shared a quiet, exhausted supper of vegetable soup, cooked by Juliette because Fraser doesn’t eat. Or, at
KennaA sharp scraping sound pulls my attention from the book in my lap. I blink then whirl in the chair I’ve been lounging in for the better part of three hours to find my cousin Ryan dragging a massive grill across his back patio. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask. “Dinner.” He grins then picks
EvanderI’ll give credit where credit is due and admit that Kenna is fast. She darts across the grassy expanse of wide open farmland at a speed I hadn’t expected, and I find myself jogging to try to catch up to her.She cuts between two barns and disappe
*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 protrudin
*Isla*Maddox gives the signal for the condemned prisoners to be killed, and someone in the back of the crowd watching shouts, “Now!”Immediately, chaos erupts in front of the gallows as dozens of shifters leap up and change into their wolf forms. Women, children, and some men scream and try to get ou







