I paced from my cot to as far as the chain would let me go, then back again. With no windows, I had no way of telling how long I’d been down there, but any time was too long for me. The sound of the door opening sent me hurrying back to the cot. I pressed myself into the corner as the heavy footsteps came down the wooden stairs. Mike’s mom stepped out of the way when she reached the bottom, allowing room for Doctor Samson to come off the stairs. “Here she is, doctor,” Mike’s mom said as if having someone chained in the basement was normal. Maybe for her, it was. The doc, at least, had the good sense to appear horrified by my situation. He walked over to me; his expression somber. “What seems to be the problem?” “Besides the obvious?” I said, moving my leg so the chain would rattle.
The drive was quicker this time. I still continued to pray when the van stopped. Mike’s dad pushed open the door and pulled me out. Again, he didn’t even let me have the chance to gain my footing. As I looked around, I realized I had no idea where I was. We stood in a field of wild grass with a cliff to the right of me. I heard water, so at the base had to be a lake or a river of some sort. Mike and three of the alpha’s men came with us. They all seemed to wait for someone and as I heard an approaching car, again dread filled me. Please let it not be Ryder’s dad. A black SUV stopped not too far from the red van and I slumped in despair as I saw Blue Crescent’s alpha step out of the passenger side. Ryder wasn’t with him, but four others came with him. Some I recognized but didn’t have names for. They walked up to us until there were perhaps five feet between u
Ryder ~~~ “What time is it?” I demanded. “You know full well what time it is,” Andy said flatly. “You’re supposed to be making me feel better, not the other way around. If you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of paralyzed!” He smacked the wheels of the wheelchair as if I might miss the fact he was sitting in it. I gave him an apologetic grimace. “Sorry man, it’s just Brook,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “We get it, but asking us every five minutes what time it is or how long it’s been isn’t going to help anything,” Kara told me. “Now how about we figure out what we want to do when she gets back.” “Not a lot I can do,” Andy complained, crossing his arms o
Ryder~~~I laid on the bed next to Brook. Mom had put her in a coma. Apparently, it would help her heal better. “You would not believe how Dean is pampering me. I swear it’s hilarious,” I told her. “Ever since you came back and I could be ‘okay’ again, he has been asking about my health and even brought me my lunch today. The guy is terrified with the idea of something happening to me and that he’ll have to be the alpha.”I continued to rattle on, hoping to distract myself when all I wanted was Brook to open her eyes to tell me she was going to be okay. When Harry and Brook’s mom came in, I sat up. It was awkward lying next to her with her mom in the room. “Hi,” I said, rubbing a kink out of my shoulder. Man, I hated these beds.
Ryder~~~Hours seemed to pass. Sweat drenched Brook’s clothing and blanket. I kept continuing to whine and whimper, sending her my encouragement as best as I could.Mom watched the machines like any predator, not willing to miss even the smallest movement. She was silent most of the time, which drove me insane with worry. I had no idea what was going on. Was Brook doing okay or did things look bleak? Suddenly, the machines started making a bunch of noise. All the nurses and my mother jumped into action, pressing buttons here and pushing them there.Brook convulsed on the bed, and I jumped to my feet, unsure what to do. I didn’t know if I should lie on her to keep her from falling or stay back. A whine of indecision escaped me and I looked at my
Imagine being hit by a semi-truck then having said truck back over your broken body, only to run over it again. That’s me right now. My whole body ached and my mouth dry. I thought when you died, all that stuff didn’t happen anymore. Unless I wasn’t dead, but that was impossible. I fell off a freaking cliff. I opened my eyes slowly, looking at the surrounding room.No angels or heavenly trumpets and it was too cold and stank too much of disinfectant to be hell. So alive - right now, I might have preferred dying. It hurt less. The door opened, and Emily walked in, smiling as if she’d just won a million dollars. “Hello, Brook. It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?”“Confused. I am pretty sure I should be dead right now.”Emily laughed, pulling one of tho
“Hey, you okay?” Ryder asked when he found me sitting on the patio of the back porch with concern plastered all over his face.“Yeah, I’m okay,” I replied and when it was obvious, he didn’t believe me I added, “Look, I get everyone means well, but I’m not used to all of this... attention.” Ryder laughed, and I glared at him. “Dude, I am serious. Today I had six people come up to me, ask how I was, and tell me if I needed anything. They were here for me. Six people, Ryder, six people who I have never seen in my life! It’s weird and makes me claustrophobic just a tad.”Though, he still had a smile on his Ryder as he sat next to me. “Okay, yeah, I guess that would be weird.”“That’s werewolves for ya,” I said, returnin
So there you have my failed attempt to get out alive. The council was sore for it for a while, but when a year passed, and there were no tales of the cruel, revenge-obsessed Mike, they got over it. I’m expecting a little brother in a few months. Mom surprised me with that bit of news. I think Dean is the most excited; no clue why. I wish guy would get his mate already! Beth found hers half a year after her brother left. Some up-and-coming enforcer from Louisiana, I heard.All I know is she almost fell down the stairs when she first met him. I’d call her idiotic, but now I can feel the bond. I get how it makes you do some stupid stuff. Andy recovered fine and as good as new, but Dean and Ryder call him Disandy from time to time to piss him off. Now, as for Ryder and me, we’re doing great. Despite my instincts, we’re taking it slow.I won&
It’s been five months since Antoine took over the pack back while Harry agreed to let me be the alpha of his better packs project. After a few days of arguing, we settled on the name Genesis pack. It’s not a large pack. We only have thirty members. I, Dean, Harry, Jon, Andy, and a woman named Ambria serve as the ruling council. As Alpha, I deal with the physical threats to the pack from the outside. Harry manages our finances, Jon, and Andy work on our security. Kara deals with intelligence with Ambria, who does public relations.Dean serves as the voice of the pack. If anyone is unhappy with what we’re doing, they can contact him about it, all the while remaining anonymous to the council. This way, they will never have to fear retribution from us. He also helps resolve internal conflicts between members and I’m not being biased when I say he does it well. He’s very good with
“Thanks, Dean,” I said as we left the infirmary.He grinned. “You need to stop thanking me for doing normal, decent stuff, Beautiful.”I rolled my eyes and hugged him as a red-faced Marquice marched up to us. “Where have you been? Do you realize what’s going on?”I stiffened, narrowing my eyes at him. “Yes, my father was attacked. I was with him now.”“I’m not talking about that,” he said. “That… that pretender. He’s been taking over, acting like he’s alpha. Do you know he’s been organizing the enforcers to search and track Brandon?”“And? Marquice, did you forget he is the alpha now?”
“Come with me,” Wesley said, eyeing Antoine and Beth with obvious distrust. He tried to herd me away from them.I stepped away from him. We didn’t have time for these stupid games. We should be over that by now. “Tell me whose blood that is now!”Giving me a look that told me he didn’t approve of my reaction, Wes blew out a breath. “Your father’s.”“What happened?” I demanded, and waved for Antoine and Beth to follow. Wes licked his lips, glancing at the others. “Stop being an idiot, Wes. These are the new alphas. They may hear whatever you say.”“I was heading back when I saw it,” he began, grief washing over his face. “I didn’t realize what was happening at first. Your
The next two days, I spent training hard, preparing myself for what was going to be an awesome fight. What wasn’t so awesome was the amount of ‘helpful’ tips everyone thought they were entitled to give. I appreciated most of them, especially those given to me by Wes, Jon, and above all, Dean, but the ones from my old pack members or my father were, honestly, unwelcome. I finished listening to anything my father had to say, just about anything. If it wasn’t for Dean running interference, I’m not sure what might have happened.I couldn’t be more thankful to Dean. He had been just what I needed since I came. Thanks to him, I knew no matter what happened in the challenge fight, Father and my old pack were safe. My instincts told me his intentions were honest. He only wanted to protect his growing family. I don’t think he’d do any kind of ‘cleansing’ w
Dean~~~“Antoine Bell is our challenger,” the man, Marquice, said as we sat around a large oval table. The name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it. “He’s been in the country for ten years, and we’re not sure what exactly brought him to this country. He’s been living down in Louisiana—”Louisiana. It hit me. I knew who Antoine Bell was, and that he was challenging Nic’s father couldn’t be an accident. “Did he come with someone?”Everyone turned to look at me, confused. “What does that matter?” Marquice demanded.“Answer the question,” Nic said, though I could tell she was as co
“This is crazy,” Marquice demanded, and to ensure it was very clear, he gave me the look of bewildered horror. “Your father will never agree to this.”“Then that’s his choice, but if he wants my help, he is going to agree to those terms. I will not save his ass, just to have it all fall apart at the next turn. What happened to Father’s dignity?”He scowled at me, but took out his cell and tapped the screen. “Alpha,” Marquice said with a much softer voice when the call connected. “She’s agreed to help, but with conditions. Yes, Sir, I told her the pack was at risk. Yes, she still insisted.” Marquice glared at me for good measure, and I replied with a grin. “The first condition is Brandon may never become alpha, no matter what happens in the future, and second—”
Brent allowed me the use of one of his larger offices. Whatever Marquice had to say, I wanted all of my people to hear it. Dean joined us as well. Brent and his mate — Emily, were there as well.“I appreciate your help, Alpha Brent. However, this is a Golden Plains matter to be discussed,” Marquice told him.Before I said it, Brent did. “None of the people here present are members of the Golden Plains pack per your new alpha’s orders.” I appreciated the icy edge to his voice as he spoke.Marquice looked from the alpha to me. “Nic, this is a pack matter, and I’m under orders to tell you what I have to say, and only you.”“As the alpha said, I’m not pack. I am a guest here and in no position to ask the alpha
“So,” Dean said as we sat down on one of the couches in the small room. “What is it you want to talk about?” He sounded almost nervous.I chuckled to myself. He was nervous? Dean had nothing to be nervous about. “Well, I told you I appreciate what you’ve been doing for me since I arrived and well, I wanted to let you know that I, uh, am ready to accept you as my mate,” I told him then added, “And, I understand if you aren’t. We know little about each other, so it’s okay if you’re not sure or if you’re not ready.”When he said nothing for a moment, my nerves ratcheted up, and I ran a hand through my hair. Perhaps I was doing this wrong? Perhaps I misread things. When he asked, “You’re kidding right?” I stared back at him, not sure what he meant. He scooted over closer
“Relax,” Sadie said as I paced the room.Relax? How could I relax when I was waiting for Dean to come here to ask him on a date? An actual date. Me and him. On a date. “This was a bad idea. What was I even thinking?”“It’s a fine idea. You only have to relax,” she insisted.Easy for her to say. She wasn’t going on a date. My stomach tightened, and I was pretty sure I was going to get sick soon. The knock on the door nearly made me jump right out of my skin. Sadie chuckled as she opened the door.“Hey, Sadie, right? I heard Nic was looking for me,” Dean said.“She’s right here,” Sadie replied, opening the door as I contemplated jumping out the window