I close my eyes and bite my lip as I try to wiggle out of his hold, but that only seems to make him louder. Something has got to do the trick.. My brain is twisted and turned in every direction before I even think to kiss him. Maybe I should kiss him? It could work, right? I mean, I’d wake up if someone kissed me… I think.
My tongue brushes over my lips slowly, and I look up at the troubled-looking boy in bed with me. He looks like he’s in physical pain, and I have to do something about it. Right now, preferably. I stretch my neck and wait until he’s closed his mouth again before I press my lips softly to his. His next growl transitions slowly into a moan as I feel his lips start to move against mine, and one of his hands moves up from the tight hold he had around me, to cup my face. I can tell he’s awake when he gently bites on my lower lip, and his canines are gone. He pulls on it, before he chuckles a little, and pulls away from
“We’ll walk for a minute or two, just in case there’s a car coming past us, or someone stopping to use the bathroom,” he says, before taking a deep breath.I can tell he’s missed the smell of the woods, and I have too, in a way. I mean, I smell it on him all the time, but there’s something different about the real forest. Everything’s alive around you, even the trees and the pine needles, the moss on the ground and the running water from the small streams here and there. It’s a nice contrast to the big city of Dalen, where all the dead concrete and chopped down trees make up most of the infrastructure.“Okay, are you ready, my little fire?” Azaire says, and pats my head lovingly.“I’m not that little,” I protest, and take a deep breath, “but yeah, I guess I’m ready. Will it hurt?”I look up into his bright
After a few hours of silence, Aiden turns around and nods at us, the signal we agreed to use when we were close. I’m almost there, now, almost where my parents lived, almost where I was born. The thought was making my heart race with excitement, but the atmosphere was eerie. I could see black charcoal-like flakes in the air, dancing around with the wind, and they became more frequent the more steps I took towards the village. Almost twenty years later, and the ashes are still floating around us. The first thing I noticed was the unusual smell. It didn’t smell like something was burning, that smell had probably been long gone, but I did catch the faintest scent of gasoline, maybe even gas? I looked around our small group and noticed they, too, were flaring their nostrils as if they had caught a whiff of something in the air.I wish I could mindlink with them right now. I’m one hundred percent sure that Aiden and Azaire are communicating through
I hold onto Azaire’s hand as we walk back through the woods, towards where we parked our cars.We haven’t gotten far yet, since we have to be quiet, but Azaire suddenly stops and sniffs the air. He then sniffs me, and frowns. Oh, shit… I think I know what he just discovered, because his scent suddenly fills my nose, too. The two others also seems to have realized that the cloaking potion Juan gave us has worn off, and if there are any Rogues nearby, they can easily smell us now.The Rogues can smell us here.A part of me is happy it didn’t happen while we were still in the village. Then they could have figured out what we were doing here and figured out at least one of us are from here, but now we can pretend to be lost on our way to find a nice place to camp for the night.I have no idea what a Rogue is, or what they’re like, other than the obvious. In my mind they’re feral do
“I mean, if you tell us who you are, where you come from and your business, I’m sure we can let you leave. Unless we don’t like your answers,” the rogue answers, raising an eyebrow at us all, before crossing his arms.The wolves around us all take a step closer, surrounding us completely in the thick forest. I gently kiss the inside of Azaire’s hand, to try my best to offer him comfort as I feel his whole body stiffen against me. I peer to my side to see how the other two are doing, but they look unfazed. Alexander looks like he’s battle ready, while Aiden looks kind of bored, honestly. I’m sure they’re just acting. I know Aiden and Azaire are good fighters, they trained with their dads, but I don’t know about Alexander or myself. I playfully beat Azaire the other night, but when it counts, I’m not sure my malnourished body could take these Rogues.“We’re from the Kaios
There’s an awkward, yet somehow comfortable silence in the car as we drive through our country. Mountains and fjords surrounds us, and the multicolored leaves follow us on our trip back south. I know Azaire is talking to Aiden, which is making me kind of jealous, since I can’t talk to Alexander the same way. I’ve tried, but the roadblock between us is still up. I even tried opening up the one I made for Jean and the rest of whoever she might be with, but there’s been silence there, too.Azaire hasn’t said a word since his muttered “yeah” outside the car, but I can’t think it will last very long. We will have to stop soon, to get some food at least, and then find the best place to sleep for the night. I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the car to save some money and time, but the others didn’t like that idea.I rip my eyes from the beautiful scenery to look at him, and he looks troubled. I
I never thought I’d apologize either, but he brings out something in me I’m not sure I ever had before as a spoiled rich kid with money coming out of my parents’ asses, or as a loner who only thought about herself and her own survival. I used to think life was like a thing only the fittest people would survive, and I was not one of those, so I was more or less ready for my demise already.“When we get back, I’m going to ask my dad more about your pack,” he says a little louder now, as he looks into my eyes and pulls my hair away from my face, towards my ear. “And we’re going to find them, so that no matter what you decide with me, you’ll have someone by your side.”I blink a few times, and look at him.“What do you mean?” I ask, well aware of the smooching sounds Alexander is making at us, while Aiden is struggling to keep his laughter in.&nb
“Me too,” he says, and scrunches his nose up, again. “I’ve heard them for a few days, but I thought I was going crazy, but then I heard your voice, and I tried to talk to the voices, and you responded to me! And I… I was told mindlinking takes much more skill than that, so I just assumed I was going crazy.”“I thought I was too, until I managed to put two and two together,” I say, smiling a little at the fact that we’re on the same page, finally.“You mentioned your birthmark that day we met,” he says, clearing his throat a little, “uh, can I see it?”I nod at him, and get up from my seat. I pull Azaire’s jacket and t-shirt up, and pull the hem of my pajama pants down a little, before turning around to show him the incomplete circle on the side of my hip. I see his hands ball into fists, and he reaches up to pull the collar of his black
I run my hands through my uneven, red hair, and take a few deep breaths. As much as I wanted to reconnect with my family, and get to know my pack, this doesn’t feel completely right. It’s like I’ve betrayed someone, but I don’t know who. Juan isn’t my Alpha, so it can’t be him I’ve betrayed. Maybe Azaire? But he’s asleep, and has no way of knowing about this at all.“It’s too late now, anyway,” Alexander sighs, and puts his arms around me in a hug. “Either way, we’re in this together, and we have Ty and Azaire’s pack, too. I’m sure they’ll all have our backs.”“Not everyone,” I whisper, and put my arms around him to return the comforting hug. “Alessandro wouldn’t hesitate to throw me under the bus.”Alexander lets out some air between his lips, and waves an arm into the air, before hugging m
“How’s Alba?” I ask, attempting to change the subject, at least for a couple of minutes.“Oh! She’s great, they’re all great!” she gushes. I can tell by the way her eyes light up that she is really happy for them. “Marco was wonderful, as expected, and their little girl is doing so well! I think they agreed to call her Anna.”She continues to tell me about the baby’s weight, height, who she resembles most and everything in between as we both empty our cups, and she looks so happy, I don’t have it in me to ask if she thinks Azaire and I will end up with burning hearts over this. I can handle my own, but the thought of him suffering because of me, is killing me. Which is why I believe we’ll end up like that in the first place.Despite my wish to get to know my brother and my own pack, I do want to try to work things out with my soulmate. As crazy as it
I stare at Azaire. Did he really just say that he wants me to stay with him? As in… he won’t even consider going with me? If mate-relationships are going to be like this, with the man deciding everything, I don’t think I want to be his mate. Or anyone’s mate, for that matter.“I didn’t even say I was going,” I explain calmly, “I said I wanted to, but I want to talk about it first.”“Then talk,” Azaire demands, as he lifts his ice cold stare to look me in the eye.I cross my arms and scoff at him. He has managed to go from worried, to vulnerable and now to angry, or maybe even distant. It’s like he’s pushing himself away from me, to make it easier for him if I want to leave him. He’s a stupid jackass who should really try to control his feelings a little more.“We’ll go home to talk for a bit,” Aiden
“I don’t think Azaire will let Yohanna go that easily,” Juan says with a slight smile, “he’s become quite attached to her in this short period of time.”“But they’re not mated, or marked?” Tristan asks, and Juan shakes his head in confirmation. “Then it’s not a big deal to take her with me. She belongs with us, we’re her family.”“What if I don’t want to leave this place?” I ask before I can let my brain process that I’ve even opened my mouth at all.As soon as my Alpha turns around to look at me with his terrifying glare, my stomach drops and I feel like I should just drop down to my knees to let him know I acknowledge his power and authority. It’s ridiculous.“You don’t?” he asks, tilting his head and taking a threatening step towards me. “You don’t want to know
“No,” I say, “I have been a lot of places.”Tristan looks at me, and his expression turns back into the serious one he had before.“Like where?” he asks, crossing his arms.“I grew up in Dalen,” I tell him, and grip Azaire’s arms as he holds me. I’m not sure how my angry Alpha slash brother will react when I share with him where I’ve been, and why, so for now I’ll choose to trust Azaire a little bit more than my pack. “I was adopted by a human couple, and lived with them ‘till I was fifteen, and then I shifted for the first time, and made the mistake of confiding in them, so they kicked me out. I’ve been on my own since then.”“You’ve been alone for five years?” Tristan asks, the growl in his voice is back already, and I fight the urge to let my spine chill.“Ye
My feet carry me to the nearest window, where I can see the cars come up one by one, parking in front of the big house we’re in. The first one is a midnight blue sports car, different from the other two, who are also fast-looking cars, but they’re painted a bright yellow, and bright green. Once the cars stop, the music stops, too, and I see Paul exiting the house. He stands looking at the cars, with his arms crossed, without a doubt ordered to do so by Juan while he tends to his daughter.Azaire puts an arm protectively around me, and leans closer to the window to listen, as I feel the warmth radiating off of Alexander and Aiden, when they approach us to see, too. The blue door opens up, and a tall, broad guy with hair as black as night exits the car. His face looks narrow, but chiseled, with a five o’clock shadow barely visible under his dark locks. The door of the bright yellow car opens up, too, and a guy with matching yellow hair steps out,
“This just adds to what I’ve been saying all along,” he says, and turns to his father. “Yohanna should never have left that basement on her first day, she can’t be trusted. She is clearly not mate material, for anyone, especially not my little bro-““Alessandro,” Juan growls loudly, staring angrily at his son. “That’s enough. You are entitled to have your own opinion, but you’re not the Alpha yet, I am. And I decide that Yohanna and Alexander are both under our protection, until we know their pack has good intentions.”“Dad, she forced him to go into Rogue territory, they were found, and let go. Rogues never let anyone go, one of them must have a foot on the other side,” Alessandro protests, shaking his hands in front of him as if he’s showing us all some kind of evidence.He has a point. After what I heard, and how we prepared for
“We fight. Usually with our fists, but sometimes we go outside and shift,” he explains with a heavy sigh. “It’s a lot less frequent now that I found you, though. It used to be once a day, at least.”“And he lets you do this? How come I never see a scratch on either of you?” I ask, turning over to my side, too.“We heal up quickly,” he says, with a small smile. He then reaches over to stroke my cheek, and runs his fingers through my hair. “Small injuries like that can heal in a few minutes, maybe even seconds. But, enough of that. Who is your Alpha?”“I don’t know,” I mutter, grateful for the brief subject change, and the small amount I learned about Azaire from it. I knew he had a temper, but that they’re beating each other up on a regular basis was new to me.. And still Aiden treats him like a brother. I’ll never get how he c
I run my hands through my uneven, red hair, and take a few deep breaths. As much as I wanted to reconnect with my family, and get to know my pack, this doesn’t feel completely right. It’s like I’ve betrayed someone, but I don’t know who. Juan isn’t my Alpha, so it can’t be him I’ve betrayed. Maybe Azaire? But he’s asleep, and has no way of knowing about this at all.“It’s too late now, anyway,” Alexander sighs, and puts his arms around me in a hug. “Either way, we’re in this together, and we have Ty and Azaire’s pack, too. I’m sure they’ll all have our backs.”“Not everyone,” I whisper, and put my arms around him to return the comforting hug. “Alessandro wouldn’t hesitate to throw me under the bus.”Alexander lets out some air between his lips, and waves an arm into the air, before hugging m
“Me too,” he says, and scrunches his nose up, again. “I’ve heard them for a few days, but I thought I was going crazy, but then I heard your voice, and I tried to talk to the voices, and you responded to me! And I… I was told mindlinking takes much more skill than that, so I just assumed I was going crazy.”“I thought I was too, until I managed to put two and two together,” I say, smiling a little at the fact that we’re on the same page, finally.“You mentioned your birthmark that day we met,” he says, clearing his throat a little, “uh, can I see it?”I nod at him, and get up from my seat. I pull Azaire’s jacket and t-shirt up, and pull the hem of my pajama pants down a little, before turning around to show him the incomplete circle on the side of my hip. I see his hands ball into fists, and he reaches up to pull the collar of his black