Dean didn’t seem at all surprised when I told him the alpha wanted to frame him. “I figured my uncle would try something,” he said, then his expression turned dark. Dean was so tense he looked like he might snap in two if he tried to move. “But why did Mike tell you that?”
My shoulders lifted in a shrug
MikeI looked at the sunlight filtering through the tree limbs. The numbness brought on by the Jack Daniels was gone. Now I was stiff with a damp ass. Damn, why didn’t I notice the wet ground when I sat down? Standing, I stretched all the kinks out. I wondered if Missy ever got out of the woods. I meant to tell her the w
I sat on my bed, legs bent and arms resting on my knees. Mom lectured me for nearly an hour before she let me go to my room. There was a moment I thought of telling her everything. Part of me wanted to, but I couldn’t. Despite all that had happened so far, it didn’t change the fact that Mom needed Harry. If she knew the truth, it would force her to choose between us.
After math, which was particularly horrible by the way, I hurried to my next class. As soon as I sat down, I took out my phone and texted Anna back.Don’t get too excited. It was nothing. I think he and Mike are planning something nasty.
I followed Ryder down near the shore. We sat down at a small picnic table some hundred feet from the shore. “Here,” he said, pushing a bag towards me, then looked hesitant. “You’re not a vegetarian, are you? Sorry, I should’ve asked before I left.”“Nah, you’re good,” I told him, taking out the burger a
When Ryder stopped in front of my house, I couldn’t help but give in to another kiss. Were all Ryder’s kisses going to be like this; so addicting? I wanted more and more of them. I can tell you Gerald’s kisses weren’t like this at all!Someone knocked on the window, causing me to jump so hard the
Mike recovered faster than I expected, and I had only run halfway down the hallway when he grabbed me. He snatched the back of my hoodie and swung me around, throwing me face first into the lockers. Pain exploded in my head and my vision went white. When color and shapes bled into the white, I realized I was on the ground. Something warm ran down the side of my face and when I wiped it away, blood covered my fingers. My heart stuttered, and I looked up at Mike. The look of fury on his face was like nothing I’d seen before. He was going to kill me! A scream ripped from my throat and I scrambled to get to my feet.I screamed again when his hand wrap around my arm.“Keep your hands off her,” Ryder demanded in a gruff growl.“Get lost, Deano! This has nothing to do with you. She’s mine, and I do what I want with her.”A growl rumbled through the hallway and I looked back towards Ryder. I sucked in a breath at the similarity in his and Mike’s expressions. “Brook isn’t yours,” he told Mike.
I glanced at Mom, then to Harry. Despite what I had seen today, I still believed Harry loved Mom and he wouldn’t ever hurt her. I gave the doctor my attention and, with a small dip of my head, nodded at him to continue.After pulling on a pair of white latex gloves from a small brown leather bag, I now
Driving slower than I’d like, I followed the directions coming from my phone. My head throbbed and a big part of me wanted to lie down and bury myself under blankets, but I couldn’t. I had to put as much distance between me and Mike. With that in mind, I kept on driving even after I left Black Mountain territory. The plan was to not stop, even as night fell, but after a few hours my head hurt so badly, I could hardly focus on the road. I was nauseous and feverish. I needed to stop and take a breather. Once I was feeling better, I’d get back on the road.
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