IrinaThings seemed to return to normal around town, but with these small towns you never really knew what was brewing behind closed doors. Our wolves followed the hunter everywhere he went and when he disappeared, we all knew exactly what he was up to. There was no denying it. The only reason he would leave town so suddenly was to meet up with more hunters.A couple of months of peace went by and we planned Ingrind’s birthday party. Only this time around would it be a lot more official than our original plan. She was going to be named the new alpha on her eighteenth birthday. Technically, we were living without an alpha after Archer was killed, but everyone still obeyed Hunter.Everyone was just so extremely grateful that we had a second child who could take over! Ingrid had become a new person in the months that passed by and I hardly recognized my rebellious teenager those days. She had mostly taken over the responsibilities and I would never admit it out loud, but she was better t
IrinaIngrid looked so beautiful as she stepped out of the pack house and into the moonlight. It was such a bittersweet moment to watch her walk past the warriors and into the middle of the circle where she would soon be named alpha of the pack. Only a couple of months ago, we were standing here named Archer alpha and now he was gone.My heart was racing and I appreciated Hunter squeezing my hand a little tighter to let me know he was right there with me. I could see the sadness in Ingrid's eyes as she turned to look at us. I wasn’t feeling the bittersweet moment alone. As I scanned our pack who gathered around Ingrid, I could see it on every single face.We were all proud of Ingrid. We were all happy for her, but nobody could stand there tonight and not think about Archer. Hunter made his announcement and we both pledged our loyalty to our new alpha before, one by one, the pack did the same. The festivities felt a little less festive since there would be no run afterward, but I felt
IrinaHunter informed Ingrid of what was going on through the pack link and she took care to let the entire pack know that the hunter was trying to call us out. We needed all of our people to stay calm should they run into him. Nobody, not one single wolf, could lose their calm around him. It was clear that he wasn’t someone who would take us on in a fight.First, he hid behind the humans when he sent those human hunters after us and now, he is trying to get us to shift in front of the town’s people. Either this hunter was new to the game or he was playing a very dirty game! Getting humans to do what they either couldn’t or wouldn’t do themselves. There was no use in trying to figure out why he was doing things the way he did.All we had to do was figure out how the hell to get rid of the man.IngridTAKING OVER AS ALPHA was not part of my plan. I wanted to go out and see the world and once I was done, maybe then I would come back home and settle down. Then this hunter came into our l
Ingrid“I’m so sorry, honey.” My mother took my hand when I calmed down a little and we sat down on the couch.“She has to reject him. If she doesn’t, the pack will not accept him and they sure as hell won’t accept her as their alpha anymore.” My father paced back and forth in front of us holding onto his head like he always did when he was trying to figure out a problem.“There is no question about it. I am going to reject him, dad.” I couldn’t believe that he actually thought I would accept that bastard as my mate.“Okay, you two. Exactly how do you suggest that happens, huh?” As usual, my mother was the voice of reason. It wasn’t like I could just walk up to him and reject him. Or could I? Maybe it was that easy? Maybe I could just walk straight up to him and tell him to go fuck himself and rip out his heart while I was at it?! My parents looked at each other and then at me.“You will have to face him, Ingrid. You will have to reject him face to face. He might not even understand w
IngridAs that one moment in time kept playing through my mind over and over, things around me, however, started to happen really fast. My father appeared with two warriors who would set the stage to make it look like he had tripped and fallen, while my father took me home. My body twisted in pain while he carried me back.My mother appeared the second my father carried me inside. I had killed my mate. The monster who came here to kill all of us. I killed him! My wolf was crying and howling so loudly that I couldn’t even think straight.IrinaWe were all running on autopilot. Nobody could believe that Ingrid had actually gone through with it. I was just grateful that things worked out the way they did. If Ingrid had ripped out his heart … It would have been much harder to cover up. Hunter told me everything on his way in and I have to admit that I was relieved. It was over. We could actually move on with our lives and live without any fear!The doctor rushed in and sedated Ingrid and
IrinaI felt as though I could raise the damn hunter from the dead and kill him myself! I had not only lost my son, but my daughter as well! I couldn’t order Ingrid to be happy. I couldn’t force happiness on her. She had to find that herself. She had to work through what she was feeling after she killed her mate. She had to find herself again.If I really wanted to, I could, but it would just make matters worse if I did. When things seemed to only get worse after a couple of weeks, I had to make one suggestion I really didn’t want to make.“What if we let her go?” I was sitting on the couch in Hunter’s office and he tilted his head to one side as he looked up from his paperwork.“She’s dangerous right now. What if she shifts in front of a human?” We discussed letting Ingrid go on her trip she originally planned before Archer was killed, but Hunter didn’t want her to go anymore.“I could order her not to.” I shrugged. “Hunter, she needs to get out of here. She needs time to find hersel
IrinaWatching our daughter leave and not running after her was most probably the hardest thing I had ever had to do. I kept seeing the fear in her eyes when I gave her the order not to shift and not to kill anyone. She was going out into the cruel world defenseless.We waved as the car pulled out of the driveway and I swallowed my tears. If human kids of her age could do it, so could our daughter. I just needed to keep that thought in my mind and we would all be able to get through it. We wouldn’t be hearing from her for at least a day and that was kind of driving me a little insane, but I had to keep my cool.For myself, for Hunter and for the pack. I had to breathe and life had to carry on as normal.IngridThe car pulled up outside of the airport and I took a deep breath before getting out. From here on out, I was going to be all on my own. As soon as I got out of the car, it hit me and I almost climbed right back and told them to take me home! The guards wished me well as they sa
IngridI couldn’t help but hope that I would find my second chance mate while I was on my trip. As I opened the beautiful French doors of my apartment and walked out onto the small veranda, I breathed in the stifling air and a huge smile broke out all over my face. My heart was still shattered, and I couldn’t believe that I was already thinking of finding someone else, but just being here was already healing the terrible wounds.After all our family had been through when my brother died, I never imagined I would be able to do what I was doing right now. I took a long bath to soak the stiffness of the flight out of my muscles and got into bed to finally catch some sleep right after calling my parents to let them know I was safe.I had to tell myself I was actually really here a couple of times, since it was still so incredible that I felt as though I was in a dream. I woke up a couple of hours later feeling refreshed. Still wearing my pajamas, I grabbed a cup of coffee and walked out o