*Maggie*
I stare at the growing puddle just outside the window of the rundown shack where we are stuck. It’s been seventeen days since I’ve seen Axel, seventeen days of an increasing tightness in my chest knowing I haven’t fulfilled his alpha command. The Freakshow continues to evade us at every step. I swear we are so close I can almost taste the sweet release of the command, and yet they are nowhere.
When the rain started, everyone let out an audible sigh of relief. Admittedly, I haven’t allowed them to rest as much as I should. But every time I am still, my wolf paces around in my mind in an anxious rage because we are stagnant. How hard can it be to find such large people? Apparently pretty damn hard.
“Agh!” I yell, throwing my metal mug to the floor in a fit of anger. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing!”
“Maggie, I know you want to find them. We are doing our best.” Jacob says walking over and picking up my cup.
The wolves growl from behind their alpha, inching forward as if ready to pounce. My pack responds in kind, growling and stepping closer to protect me. The woman covers her mouth as she bursts into a fit of giggles. Abraham glowers at his mate before releasing his nose. The rain slowly washes away the blood from his face as his jaw clenches in anger and he looks to meet my furious glower. “Is this your entire pack?” He asks, glancing over my shoulder. “This is everyone I have with me.” “Come. Let’s discuss things at the packhouse and not here in the middle of a storm.” “No, we don’t have the luxury of time,” I say “Don’t worry. The invitation goes away the moment this storm is done. But for now, you will come with us and we will have a discussion. You are better off following along in your wolf forms. It will be faster.” he says, turning his back to me and shifting. I look over my shoulders at everyone
“You know Alpha Angus?” I ask in shock. “I know of him. He was one of the few growing packs until he got sick. I assumed he died from whatever disease he had.” “Werewolves don’t get diseases,” Jacob scoffs. “We don’t get sick.” “And what would you know? You’ve been a wolf for all of five minutes,” Abraham says, brushing him off. “I was an omega. Born with human qualities in a werewolf world, nothing special but the genes I carry, but Axel fixed that. He made me what I was destined to be.” Jacob says, getting riled up. I reach out and touch his arm. He slides me a glance and bares his teeth before scowling at Abraham and backing off. “I didn’t know omegas could be transformed,” Madelyn says, joining the conversation. “Is there a rule book that states otherwise?” I snark at her. “Do you think the committee knows?” She whispers to Abraham. He tosses her a stern glare, and she rolls her eyes. “If they d
I sit with my back against the dirty cement wall and scowl at Billy, who still refuses to talk to me. Apparently being rude to the Alpha whose pack lands you are on is upsetting to said Alpha. Abraham decided it would be best for me to be taught a lesson so here I am. Three whole days later and the most frustrating thing isn’t the bars of silver, no, the most frustrating thing is the hillbilly grump across from me humming every time I try to speak. “Emal,” I call out, knowing if anyone will talk to me first, it will be him. “Don’t talk to him.” Billy sneers. “Then you talk to me.” “No.” he scoffs, his chains clinking with his frustrated movements. “Can you at least tell me how little Al is?” I ask. Only finally giving in to defeat when I’m met with startling silence. They don’t want my excuses or concern. I understand why and I think that is what makes it all the more frustrating. My days are fu
By the time we all make it out of the small tunnel, the howls sound alerting the entire pack of our escape. Freddie sprints ahead stripping down and taking flight high in the sky. I hurriedly collect the clothing he left behind and break into a sprint, following beneath Freddie as he flies above us, trying to help guide us away. I can feel the ground rumble behind me as Billy and Emal pick up the pace. Andrew catches up and runs beside me. He gives me a side glance and a smile before kicking into high gear, running up ahead of me. Freddie screeches from above us in a warning and I catch myself slowing my pace slightly to look up. A twig snaps to my left and I stop just in time for a blur to crash into my side. I grunt in surprise as I’m sent flying and into the trunk of a tree with a hard hollow thud. I gasp out in pain, trying to pull air into my battered lungs in a panic. A wolf growls at me angrily as I blink through the tears st
*Axel* The cool tiled ground is the only thing that can leeche the pain and aches from my body as I lie as still as I can. Adriana stopped keeping track of how long it has been, and I’ve stopped noticing the rising and the falling of the sun. Each one just brings more torture and suffering for not only me but Adriana, whom they have taken to using against me. She lies on her back, just out of reach of me, her chest rising and falling in the dim moonlight. I try to convince my arm to reach out and check on her, but they no longer respond to my commands. They have long been numb and useless. It took Angus’ science team a long time to stock up their stolen supply of the poison they used on me when I first arrived. Today was the second time they shot me up with dose after dose trying to force the Ultima out. I would explain to them they are wasting their efforts, that the Ultima only awakens on the blue moon, but they don’t seem
*Maggie* Billy grumbles next to me as he stokes the fire, trying to avoid the gaze of Beatrice. He is less than thrilled to have found himself mated not only to a wolf but one who is younger by several years and seemingly a little more clingy. Beatrice had stitched him up and cared for him for the past week, but he hilariously seems to be afraid of her. Billy forces her to maintain a certain distance from him at all times as he tries to decide what he wants to do about being mated when he was resolved to never mate at all. I can understand his reservations, though. When Axel explained the mate bond to me, it was frightening. From an outside view, it sounds like love if forced. I would say that is akin to an arranged marriage. You are destined to be with this person you do not know and know nothing about and you have no say in the matter. The only difference is that love almost always soon follows if it does not precede
It’s easy to forget just how stunning nature is when you are in it or lost in your head. When I am lost in thought, it’s like everything fades to gray and dulls so that my thoughts can take precedence. For weeks I have gone without smelling the forest while literally being in the middle of the forest. I was taking it for granted, just like I did with Axel. Why is it that knowledge always comes after a hard lesson? Life would be so much more manageable if we received it before we ventured out to do our own thing. Then again, it’s said that we learn our most valuable lessons from our mistakes. If that’s the case, I should be so full of knowledge by now that I could become someone’s advisor. The only problem is that I don’t seem to be a quick learner, no matter the subject. Liam walks ahead of me, looking back to ensure I’m following every now and again. Though I know he isn’t actually worried about me taking off. He trusts the mate bond tha
*Axel* The smell of the mushed meat makes my stomach churn. No longer does food look or sound good. My feedings that once were sporadic have become more frequent and better quality. Not that prison food ever tastes or smells good, but it’s better than the literal wet dog food they have been trying to force-feed me for days. They removed Adrianna from my cell over a week ago now, so long gone are the days of her sparing me the occasional roll. The torture stopped the day they started bringing me food. It should be enough to make me wonder what their plan is, but I’m no idiot. The blue moon is coming. I can feel it buzzing in the back of my mind. My strength wants to afford me comfort, but my lack of nourishing food keeps it tucked away. The ultima will need it to surface when it’s time for him to take over. The days and the nights blend as I spend most of my time asleep. My body needs to heal. With all the silver and wolfsbane in this room, it seem
Thank you all so much for reading my little Freakshow!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!Don't be sad about Adriana and Liam's unresolved story since they will have their OWN novel coming soon to GoodNovel! Look for it in the next month titled "The Alpha's Redeemer"This will be a much more emotionally charged book than you are used to reading from me but I promise it will be action-packed and full of sass! All of the characters from the "Guardian" standalone series will be in this one!If you haven't read The Alpha's Guardian yet you are missing out! it is the FIRST in the Guardian Standalone series and it has been my best-selling book by a long shot! so if you haven't checked it out - GO! I promise Ali and Wade's story is amazing!Keep up your reading!MiriG
Epilogue *Axel* ** Six Months later** I can hear Maggie laughing from my office, loud and boisterous. Exactly how she has been since we got our pack. She has been deep in the planning stages with Cora as they work on our newest Freakshow. Even though we have pack lands and I am helping Wade with his newest mission concerning omegas, we need a source of income. And we made damn good money with the original Freakshow. Billy and Bea have taken to traveling around looking for exiled, lonely, or abandoned shifters who need a home. We have quickly become the pack of misfits, but that is exactly what makes our pack so much more special than everyone else’s. We don’t want to travel anymore. It’s not something that makes sense when we all want to be near each ot
*Maggie* Ginger blushes as Emal drops a kiss on her cheek before running off after little Al, who is playing soccer in the field across the road. She and Emal may have mated weeks ago, but she still blushes when he shows affection around other people. Which I find amusing, considering she has never been a shy person before. That was always Emal. It’s almost like they have taken on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The elephant bond differs from the wolf bond. It’s a chosen bond, which almost makes it seem bigger. No pun intended. I am pretty sure that Emal loved Ginger from the moment he saw her, but being Emal, he lumbers around trying to decide the best options. Not that he was looking for someone better, no. I think he was looking for someone better FOR Ginger. I guess it takes almost losing someone to realize that you would rather give them everything you have than watch them struggle on their own. So that’s what he did.
*Axel* “How has everything been so far?” Wade asks as we enter my makeshift office. The room is basic, with bookshelves lining the walls behind the desk, a large window facing the pines to my right, and beige carpet that match the tan walls. It’s not anything special, but it’s enough for me. I’ve never in my life had a real office before. I had a small desk overrun with papers at all times in my large circus tent, but it hardly could be used for more than writing down expenses or searching places to go. I've never had formal meetings before meeting Wade, I never had a reason to. My Freakshow pack was intimate and we are a family. If we wanted something we spoke our mind and asked there was never a need until now. “Great,” I answer honestly. “We had a whole haul of construction equipment, workers and materials sho
*Maggie*It’s crazy to think that only three weeks ago we fought the largest fight in our entire lives. Axel had never gone up against such foes, nor had any of us. Alpha Wade had even made mention that this was easily the craziest scenario he had ever come across, and the man was plotted against and almost killed in his own home by a committee member. So we don’t take his words on the matter lightly.Just as Alpha Wade had promised, they provided us with our own pack lands. Thankfully, it already had some houses and lots of land to spare for the building of more and potentially a small city area if we wanted. Axel and I have learned so many lessons since finding each other. Ironically, the most important one for me was trusting. Axel likes to put up a front and pretend he is jaded, and he has every reason to be, but I know better. He is the quickest of us to trust. Though that could be because his ultima powers help him with discernm
*Axel* It has been way too long since I have had a good night’s sleep, and waking up next to Maggie is the icing on the cake. I could feel her tossing and turning for the first part of the night, but once she settled in, I was able to fall into a deep sleep. What Billy said about the man setting fire to the tents has to have bothered her. I don’t see how it couldn’t. That night had been a rollercoaster of emotions for the two of us. Her falling, combined with her injury, had been enough to set me over the edge until her tears came. The tears that completely unraveled me. I would have done anything to stop those tears and the ache I saw behind them. I loved her before that moment, but I fell for her right then. It was the most real she had ever been with me, and in turn, I told her my secret. The same night, we sealed our mate bond. I reach out and stroke her soft cheek with the back of my knuckle, memorizing every line of her stun
*Maggie*Axel sits motionless in front of me and Billy trying to wrap his head around our crazy stories. I started with the moment I left Axel’s side. Billy and Axel sat in awe while I told them how hard it was to leave him, explaining finding Jacob, Declan, Rosie, Abigail, Bea, and Jasper in the woods. And how willing they were to help and follow me. Axel was especially not happy about me trying to take on Abraham’s pack or that I had been in his old home.I explained how Madelyn had helped us and how I pissed Jacob off by storming the dungeon the moment I realized the Freakshow was down there. But in the stoic face, I could see the pride and I took it as a good sign. He had no questions for me as he just sat and listened. Billy tossed in a few things here and there as we regaled him on our heroic journey to save him. I explained how I went willingly with Liam, and that I was beaten up because we had no choice, so I sparred with Liam
Maggie stiffens, and I hold her tight to my chest, refusing to move from my place. I hold no fear for my brother. I have no desire to fight with him and no desire to kill him, though if he gives me a reason, I will do what I need to. A heavy sigh escapes my lips and I glance down at Maggie, who slowly moves from my grip and stands at my side. However, I decide to remain seated.“Abe. What brings you here? Coming to kill me again?” I raise a brow and bring my elbow to my knees, leaning forward slightly.Abe chuckles and steps out into the lamplight that illuminates the broken driveway.“Brother, if I wanted to kill you…”“I would already be dead?” I raise a brow and dawn a ghost of a grin. Still the same as Abe. Way too confident for his own good. “What more do you have to prove? You have the title you have always wanted. I stayed away. You came to me, you and your men shot my ma
Cora comes rounding the corner with Hans right beside her, Jacob trailing close behind. Her eyes are red and puffy, her hair a tousled mess, and her nose pink and raw from blowing her nose. Hans is looking no better. His once lively smile and tan skin are nowhere to be seen. He moves like a zombie with no light in his eyes, offering Cora a hand when she shudders, trying to shed the weight of another onslaught of tears. The excitement of showing them overwhelms me as I smile wide and stick my hands in my pockets, trying to keep my eyes glued to the ground. They step in front of me, stopping and looking at me with their blank stare. My stomach lurches. They both look so broken and vacant. “Cora just fell asleep, Axel.” Hans frowns “I know, and I’m sorry to have woken you up when you really need some sleep. I’m not sure this is the right way to do this. Hell, I’m not sure anyone would actually know what the right way is, but…”