JaxShe was cowering in the mud again, her father’s body dead at her feet. Water poured over her head and lightning struck as she stared at me. “What are you waiting for?” She whispered.“Kill me.”“I can’t,” I told her. “You’re not the same woman, and I’m not the same man.”“But you’re not a man at all, wolf. You’re a wolf. A shifter. An alpha. A pack to guide and protect. What am I? You’re the only one who is going to miss me when I’m gone. I’m barely a wolf. I’m a freak of nature.”Still, I couldn’t kill her. Not to save my pack. Not to save the mountain. “You’re mine. That’s all that matters.”“Then you’re not the hero I thought you were.” Her eyes turned dark, like ink spilling from the pupils. Slowly, she rose to her feet, but she didn’t stop there. Shadows appeared at her wrists, and they lifted her into the sky. As she hovered, she smiled sadly down at me. “I wonder if that makes you the villain.”“What are you doing, Anna? What’s happening?”“You know what’s happening. You kn
“Amaya. I never met her,” Lunessa mused. “But the mother did mention not long after my initiation that Amaya was missing. I started my studies not long after that, and I never heard the name again. I’ll need to reach out to the coven for more information.”When she scowled, I chuckled. “Not ready to face your family’s wrath?”“Neither would you, in my position,” she muttered.“We’re having a hard time explaining how we found her. No tracks. No scent trail. She didn’t defend herself.”“That’s easy. She was probably killed in one place and then magically teleported to a spot at the time of her death.”Immediately, I grew rigid. “Witches can teleport in and out of my territory whenever they fucking want?”“Calm yourself, alpha. It takes an immense amount of magic to teleport, and it requires contact on both ends. Something had to have been placed in that spot. A lock of hair or… yes, a spot of blood would do it. Then she was spelled for her body to connect. That kind of magic is draining
Anna“Someone has already been here,” Saul said with a frown as he sniffed the air. “I don’t suppose you know anything about that.”Lunessa was not as good at covering her tracks as she needed to be. “Do they smell familiar?”“No.” So none of the other wolves. Just Lunessa. “And is anything amiss?”Glowering at me, Saul picked up a scalpel. “This may not be one of our pack, but I assumed responsibility of them when they came into my infirmary. I do not like to know that someone else was here.”“If it helps, it was not my idea.”“It does not help. Why, exactly, are you here watching me? Do you have some medical degree that I don’t know about?”“Not exactly. I’m here to report back to Jax,” I lied.“Not only would Jax not send someone to look over my shoulder while I worked, but he would trust me to make my own report. For someone who has lied for most of her life, you did that poorly,” Saul admonished. “But I assume your reason for being here is important, so I’ll stop questioning it.”
JaxIt was just before dawn when I saw the figure sneaking from my house toward the wooded backyard, although sneaking was probably not the right word for it. Maeve would never stoop so low as to sneak somewhere, but she was alone, and that was suspicious.Since Anna had only left a few moments ago to observe the autopsy, my hackles immediately went up. Maeve was following the same path she took.Following her scent.I waited a few more moments to make certain that no one was meant to be following her, and then I headed in after her. She was doing nothing to hide her trail, but she seemed to be walking straight toward the infirmary.Straight toward Anna.Before she could breach the other side of the woods, I picked up the pace and easily caught up to her. Before I could touch her, she whirled, closed her hands around my throat and tried to pin me to a tree.I was bigger than her, but Maeve’s power was still impressive. When she realized it was me, she released me and growled. “Why are
Anna“Why?” Finn said hoarsely.“You’re not ready now. I can see that. Maybe one day you will be.” Maeve turned back to Jax. “Do I need an escort back to your house? I believe there is a breakfast we’re both expected to attend?”“Go ahead. I need a word with Anna.”As Maeve walked away, it was all I could do not to scream. Maeve was Finn’s mother. There was no other way to interpret that conversation.What the actual fuck?Not only had Maeve chosen not to raise Finn as her own, but she’d used him as some sort of pawn between her and his father. Had Finn’s father even betrayed their pack or had Maeve just wanted a reason to punish him?I had so many questions, but from the way Finn was weaving back on his feet, I knew this was not the time to ask them. “I think we can all agree that what we just heard does not leave this circle,” I said quietly.Finn cleared his voice. “Thank you.”I looked at Jax. “Having said that, I think it’s possible we can do some investigating and see what we ca
AnnaHow dare he? Had he asked me instead of ordered me, I might have considered it. Had he asked me yesterday, I would have certainly said yes since I would have had time to prep. My wolf was doing better. Even now, when I reached out to her, she came to me happily and willingly. She was so happy whenever we were with Jax.But the idea of facing all those wolves of power? And Emerson? Her fear spread through me until I wanted to vomit.“You’re stronger than I thought.”Head jerking up, I turned around, but it was just Lunessa walking toward me. The look on her face wasn’t happy. “My wolf? She’s getting stronger.”“I’m not talking about your wolf. There was a lot of magic on Amaya. I removed it before your healer could get to her.”“I didn’t see any.”“Then I did my job well. She was coated in a transportation spell. A very powerful one.”Lunessa smiled faintly. “Even I couldn’t pull that kind of magic off.”“You seem to transport wherever you want.”“Transporting myself is much diffe
When it was done, I turned back toward the house. Whatever Emerson had planned, I wasn’t going to sit out here and hide.I’d retraced my steps before I realized that I wasn’t alone. Freezing, I watched as Emerson slowly walked toward me. “Anna. What a lovely surprise.”Lovely surprise my ass. “Emerson. I was just coming to join you, but I expected you to be in meetings all day.”“Jax is in a foul mood. We decided it was in everyone’s best interests to take a little break.I wanted to stretch my legs.”And find me when I was completely alone. How convenient. “I’m on my way to see Jax. I bet I can bring him out of his bad mood.”His eyes narrowed just a little, but then he smiled. “No doubt. Mates are like that. I was surprised you haven’t been in the meetings. Your opinions are invaluable.”“You didn’t think that when my father was alive.”“Anna, I can only imagine how the experiences with your father have clouded your memories. I’ve done some things that I am not proud of, but I never
JaxAnna was nowhere to be found. Even though I knew for a fact that it wasn’t Anna screaming, that was all that I could think about. She was not here by my side.My fault. I was so worried about her that I’d crossed a line and pushed her away. Again.When would I learn my fucking lesson?The scream sounded again, and I was on my feet and racing from my house. Maeve, London, and Emerson were all gone since we’d taken a break. My wolves were appearing from buildings and trees, following the sounds of the screams. They led me along a familiar path.The path that would lead me straight to Irene’s cottage.The witches.“Cam!” Maeve’s voice rose above the trees followed closely by her roar. Filled with fear, I ran faster. Irene. I’d brought her back and promised that I would protect her. Now, all I’d done was surround her with people who could hurt her.I broke through the trees toward the house. Maeve was crouching near her witch who was struggling to a standing position. Blood poured dow
Knowing she was pregnant would only make that target on her back even bigger.Tess frowned at her. “Are you okay?”Mica struggled to reign in the anxiety that was no doubt leaking into her expression. “Disappointed. A baby would be a welcome beacon of light in these dark times.”She hoped the strange lilt to her voice could be mistaken for sadness. She didn’t have the mental energy to explain everything to Tess, nor did she want to. Not only were these raging emotions making her feel hollowed out inside, but Tess shouldn’t be the first one to find out. Hayden should.Once Hayden knew and they had a plan for moving forward, she could tell Tess the truth. Hopefully, she’d understand.Right now, though, there was so much tension in the splintered pack that if it was known she was pregnant, it might push the pack to no longer wait for the challenge… which was meant to be tomorrow afternoon.“I’m going to rest,” Mica told Tess, managing a small smile. “And you should as well. We’ve been th
MicaMica didn’t know how she did it, but Tess managed to smuggle in a pregnancy test. Now, Mica sat in the bathroom, staring at the positive result. Her stomach was queasy, and now that she thought about it, she’d been feeling that quite a lot lately. Her body hurt, she always felt tired, and she had chalked it all up to stress.Pregnant.Even though she and Hayden had been having a lot of sex, and she had made the deliberate choice not to use condoms, she still could hardly believe it. Her period had always been all over the place. It wasn’t unusual for her to skip three or four months. She’d always been told it would make getting pregnant more difficult.Counting back, it had been, what, five months? Time passed so quickly that she hadn’t bothered to think about her last period. Before Hayden and the special ops team had returned to the Bluebell Valley pack, at least. So what did that mean? How far along was she?She peeled up her shirt and studied her stomach, looking at it from a
Hayden“I’m just saying that maybe this ritual is worth the risk,” Maverick said. His arms were folded over his chest, and there was a doubtful look on his face. “What will it hurt to try?”Hayden shook his head. “We can’t risk a demon getting free. We don’t know what will happen. For all we know, this ritual is something the demons put into the world to—”He cut off as Finn shuddered. His eyes widened, and his head snapped around, toward the house. “Something’s happening.”Mica.With a curse, Hayden wheeled around and raced for the house. The team fell in step behind him. The pack looked up from their tasks, startled, but Hayden didn’t give any orders. He threw open the front door and took the stairs two at a time. He kicked open the door leading to the room where Echo was kept.Mica, Tess, and Elin were all inside. Tess rang an old brass bell manically, the clanging echoing through the room. Elin held a lighter in hand, racing back and forth to light candles as Echo spun around in h
Mica squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Her stomach churned. It was exactly what she thought—they weren’t even going to try to save Echo, too certain in their own knowledge.“It has to happen soon, Hayden,” Ryder said, his voice low, urgent, and… sorrowful. “I can’t keep holding my tongue. You are my Alpha, and I’ve tried to respect your decisions, but the situation is becoming untenable. This is my mother and my sister we’re talking about. I will tell Mica, if that’s what you would prefer.”“No,” Hayden answered.Why? Why did he not want Ryder to tell her? Tears filled Mica’s eyes and she crept away, not wanting to hear any more. Was Hayden afraid she’d let Echo go? Did he think it was up to him as her mate to tell her that he was going to kill her mother?He doesn’t consider it killing Mom, though. He considers it a mercy, freeing her from the demon.It didn’t make Mica feel any better. She carefully opened the kitchen door, slipped through, and softly closed it. Her heart pounded in h
MicaMica stared at the page. She’d been reading for so long that the words were starting to blur, but if she was right in her interpretations here… She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and focused again. As she reread the section, her heart started to beat faster.“And the demon was taken from its host and trapped in the stone,” she whispered. “Where it was trapped for all eternity.”She scanned the rest of the page. Hope swelled through her, even though she fought against it. It had been so long since this started, she wasn’t sure she could take it if this didn’t work. But there was the ritual all laid out. The way to force an aura-demon from the person it was possessing, and trapping it into an inanimate object. Once in the object, the demon would be trapped until said object was destroyed.Her mind whirled as to what they could use to trap the demon inside of Echo. There was a size limit to work with. A rock would be the best; then she’d put it in a plastic, air-tight box and bury it as
Monroe laughed. “Spoken like a true female. Completely wrong.”Spencer and the rest of his people burst into laughter as well. They all stalked away, taking their torches with them. A flash of lightning flickered soundlessly in the distance. Hayden turned to his pack. They watched with uncertain gazes.“Two days,” he said loudly. “And then you will know you put your faith in the right Alpha. We will have Bluebell Valley, and things will get better.”He smiled at them reassuringly. As they dispersed, Finn and Blayke sidled over to him. Finn spoke in a low voice.“Spencer is the only one not showing signs of possession,” he said under his voice. “Everyone else is either claimed or at least influenced. It’s spreading.”Hayden nodded once. Finn would prefer they take more decisive, more immediate action. Hayden couldn’t blame him, knowing his history. He had a particular reason to hate demons, seeing how they robbed him of any chance he might have had to have a normal family, a normal lif
Hayden“Stay here. I’ll be back shortly,” Hayden ordered as he stalked back to the bedroom. As he threw on his clothes, he frowned. Mica was dressing as well. “I said—”“I’m your mate. I’ll stand with you,” she said shortly.Hayden shook his head. “You’ll stay within the property bounds.”Mica huffed at him but didn’t respond. The two of them were ready quickly. Mica swept her hair into a bun as they headed downstairs. Torches lit the night, dozens of Monroe’s pack carrying them as the flames flickered and glowed. Hayden’s wolf snarled at the sight of Monroe, standing with his toes against the PCP piping at the gate.“Ah, decided to join us, did you?” Monroe drawled. “I was starting to think that your little challenge was all talk and no action.”His people laughed. Hayden ignored the low-hanging fruit and stopped just inside the protective barrier. “Are you finally going to accept my challenge, or will you continue to be a coward?”Monroe smirked. “What do you think I’m here for? It’
“Brother coming through,” Ryder called from outside, then he stepped into the entrance. He grabbed a pair of shorts and yanked them on, carefully not watching Mica and Hayden. Mica kissed Hayden’s cheek. “I’ll be up in a bit.” He nodded, and Mica slipped back outside. It was utterly dark now, and she had to use a flashlight to navigate the camp. Everyone else could simply see in the dark but with her weak human eyes… But nobody brought it up, not like they wouldhave in other circumstances. She headed upstairs once she was satisfied everyone was set for the night. Hayden waited for her in bed, scrolling through the most recent demon research on the laptop. He closed it and set the laptop on the nightstand as he grinned at her. His hair was damp from the shower, the smell of soap mingling with his manly scent. Mica grabbed a nightgown from her dresser and changed. “I don’t like that nightgown,” Hayden told her. “It’s old and worn.” “And comfortable,” Mica snarked. “Yes. Whi
MicaThe beast-demon stalked along the boundary's edge, snorting as it tested the protections. With Hayden and the rest of the special ops in the forest, Mica had ordered that they let the demon wander and not engage. Hayden had taken all the best fighters with him, meaning her order was gladly obeyed. Nobody wanted to tangle with the beast.Unfortunately, such a sight was getting more common. Even the children who used to scream and hide now ignored it, snuffling around the edges of the property. Its twisted horns glowed in the rapidly oncoming darkness. Clouds shrouded the sky, making it even darker.“Hayden will be back soon,” Mica told Tess as she nervously looked at the beast.“I know.” She shook her head. “Let’s go back into the house. I don’t trust the sources that say the beast-demons are dumb. I don’t want it to report back to Monroe about what we talk about.”Mica nodded. That was the smarter idea. The two headed into the house and went up to Mica and Hayden’s room. With all