Kenna
Night falls, and Evander and I haven’t said a word to each other. In fact, he’s been pretty much unseen for most of the dozen or so miles we hiked today, all of which were done with me blanketed in my shadow and him running somewhere in his fox form.
Or wolf form. I honestly have no idea. All I know is that whatever happened between us last night has made us both unwilling or unable to even look at each other.
I know better, which is the worst part. I know better than to kiss a friend and think everything will go back to the way it was before. That’s like, a cardinal rule in friendship between opposite sexes, right?
Maybe it did go back to the way it was before, actually, because now we’re not speaking, and I have no idea where he is or what he’s up to.
I let my shadow fade and huff out a breath as I come to a full stop in a moon-soaked clearing, my legs aching and feet blistered a
EvanderFlynn and Connor found us right in time. I feel like I’m hanging on to the only shred of self control I have left, and the guilt of keeping the truth of what’s building between me and Kenna is eating me alive.Flynn, thankfully, has taken over entertaining Kenna. For the past day, we’ve been traveling as wolves with Kenna riding on my back, but we’re closing in on the border between the Highlands and the Roguelands now, and we paused to take a break, and Kenna demanded to walk.So, we’re walking, and I’m watching Kenna and Flynn tease each other, and I’ve been purposefully slowing my pace to give them more space.They get along, and while his obvious flirting grates at every single one of my nerves, she’s smiling. She’s also giggling and blushing as Connor, and I walk a few yards behind them down a rough trail leading out of the heavily wooded mountains.&
KennaI just killed someone. I watch the unfamiliar man twitch on the ground as foam bubbles from his mouth. His eyes glaze over–eyes I wonder if he inherited from his mom… or dad. I wonder if someone who loves him is waiting on him to come home. If he has a mate and children. Brothers, sisters….I tear my gaze from the dead man and look out over the dark forest at the shadows creeping toward me. There’s more of them. More men. More Rebels. We’re being attacked. My body acts on instinct as my mind tries to catch up to what just happened, and I whirl to where I saw Evander get stabbed repeatedly while he just–he just stood there and took it. He stood there, screaming my name as I got carried away and didn’t even blink when he was being brutalized because I…“You’re distracting in every way….”His words from the night we kissed in Tiscoln rush through my head as I take a single step in his direction but pause. He’s not moving. His chest isn’t moving. Oh, my Goddess. No. No. No,
Kenna“You’re not jumping like this,” Dad says sharply as he slams the door shut in the room he just booked for me in an inn in Opal Hill.I tuck my trembling hands behind my back and squeeze my fingers to stop them from shaking. He spirited us here, thank the Goddess. If I had to spend another second in Evander’s company, I would have lost control of my already exhausted powers, but I’m still on the verge of dropping into my shadow, and Dad knows something is wrong.His silver eyes–the same shape and shade as mine–hold my gaze with an intensity that makes me want to look away and submit, but I stand my ground.“I want to go home.”“To
EvanderI have the urge to yank Kenna into a sitting room, or a closet, or a fucking darkened hallway the second my feet hit the ground in Moonrise.I can’t, though. Not when our mothers are barreling toward us, and their faces are drawn with so much worry that it could easily break my heart, if I still had a heart to break.I let go of Kenna’s hand and feel the absence of her touch like another blade in my side.But my mom throws herself against me and sobs.I slowly wrap my arms around her, resting my chin on the top of her head. The throne room takes shape all around me–the soft cream curtains, the murals on the walls and the ceiling, the windows overlooking the lake.
Kenna“Don’t say anything else,” Evander growls. The sanctuary of the willow tree darkens to the point I can barely see his eyes gleaming in the faint moonlight filtering through the leaves. He takes a step toward me, trying to close the distance between us again. “We have to. You don’t want this.”“You have no idea what I want.”“Then tell me,” I cut in, my breath catching. “Because I can’t–I can’t pretend like everything is okay anymore. What do you want? If it’s not me, then we need to reject each other!”“I want you. I want you more than anything, Kenna. You are all I think about. You are on my mind every second of every day–the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep and dream about you. I can’t get you out of my head.”“That’s what the mate bond is, isn’t it? An all consuming, wholly encompassing–”“The way I feel about you has nothing to do with the mate bond.”My mind goes blank. All I can see is him, and all I can hear are his
EvanderI’d walk off a cliff if there was one nearby. I’m sure if I ran deep enough into what was once called the Deadlands–the old home of creatures like rogues–I’d find the swift death I’m looking for. Instead, I’m drunk in an inn somewhere in the Roguelands… but not nearly drunk enough to wash the taste of every word I said to Kenna out of my mouth.The inn is full of warriors from all three major kingdoms. The Tarsian warriors are notable by their sandy colored leathers and desert sun-tanned skin. It’s interesting to watch them confer with the Rogueland warriors, of course. The allyship between the Tarsian and the Roguelands is precarious, based wholly on how Alpha King Ryatt and Alpha King Jaxon feel about each other at the moment. Queen Ella split Eastonia in two during the first years of her reign, giving Jaxon full authority of the lands past the river that once walled the Roguelands off from the lost city of Rifthold. I’ve heard Alpha Jaxon likes to hold the fact Alpha K
KennaI’m not sure how two weeks have already passed since Evander and I fought in the shelter of the willow tree. Two entire weeks. I haven’t heard from him or seen him since that night, and maybe that’s for the best.I let my heartache turn to a dull chill that’s carried me on a wave of numbness. I walk the golden halls of the castle. I walk the gardens and city streets. I meet with friends for brunch along the shore of the lake and work at the midwifery clinic any chance I can get.I keep my hands busy with babies and preparations for the Rite.I keep my mind hollow and honed on maps and the paperwork covering my mom’s desk.I keep a smile on my face anytime I stand in front of my parents' magic mirror, listening to my dad fill my mom in on the movements of the allied armies now gathering in the Roguelands with him at the helm.In the past week, thousands of warrior
EvanderI think I might want to kill Sydney.For someone so stoic and all business, he’s also extremely sarcastic and has found every opportunity to push my buttons the last twenty-four hours or so.Thank the gods we can’t mind-link because I’m sure he’d be rattling off insults and jests in my ear every waking hour we spend traveling back to Moonrise.We’re close to the sacred valley now. Close enough I can sense the wards Ryatt put up around the city to keep it hidden.I pull on a shirt as I look out over the mountainous horizon. Summer is in full swing, and the rolling mountains are nothing but emerald green trees.There’s a lake in the distance that sparkles like diamonds over a sheet of the purest turquoise, but no sprawling, golden city in sight.“We’re here,” I grumble, stooping to tie my boots.Sydn
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