TYSON“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” I say to Zeus as I relax in the bed while Rose is in the shower. I think back to having her on my lap and the magical moans, gasps and whimpers that came out of her mouth while I played with her. She is truly an enchantress, and I can’t wait to be able to bury myself completely within her. I know it’ll take some time and building more trust, but we’re almost there.“I don’t understand why you didn’t just mate with her. She was more than willing,” Zeus growls in frustration.I sigh and run my hands over my face in my own frustration with him. Zeus is ready. He’s been ready since we first laid eyes on Rose. He wants to complete the mate bond. He wants his mate, claimed with our mark on her neck and our scent imbedded forever into her skin. I can’t blame him, I do too, but he isn’t doing a very good job of being patient with our human mate. He is the full animal side of a werewolf and they run off of instinct and instinct alone. Lea
TYSONWalking into the school, Rose squats down to Maddie’s level. “Okay sweet pea. Have a good day today. Absorb all the knowledge they’re giving you. I love you, bigger than Pi is infinite!” Then she kisses Maddie on the cheek several times, making Maddie giggle in the process.“I love you Mama, bigger than Pi is infinite! Bye Tyson. I’ll see you after school.” With that, Maddie trots off to the cafeteria.I see Melinda behind the front desk giving us a smile, so we walk over to say hi. They talk about how Rose is feeling, how she’s healing. As I just listen to them talk. I realize that Rose may be on the mend and healing well, but she’s still in pain when I’m not with her or touching her. I guess that is to be expected since she’s human. For us wolves, as long as the bone is set or the skin is held closed, we heal completely within a few minutes for minor injuries, hours for broken bones. Humans are so much more fragile. I’ll need to be sure she’s taking her pain meds and getting p
ROSE I watch Tyson leave the apartment and it’s like a switch is flipped inside of me, in regards to my pain levels. How can touching him, even just being within his presence stave off the pain like it does? I walk to my room and take a half dose of meds; I know these are a narcotic and I don’t want to get addicted. That is a headache that I don't need, so I want to take as few as possible. I look around my room, trying to think of what I could do today. I feel like I’m wasting time here. Part of me wants to be working and being productive. But I also know, I still need a little more healing time before I can return to my job at The Tower. I’ll have to be completely healed up to return to the diner. Currently, I cannot carry the heavy loads that are required of me at the diner. I hear my phone ding from the kitchen, indicating I have a text message. It is weird having a phone now, but I like that I can communicate with anyone I want to, right at my fingertips. I read the message; it
ROSE I head back to my bedroom and take a dose of pain meds. I settle back into my bed and turn on my TV. I surf the apps for a few minutes. I finally pick a show under the comedy genre called “How I Met Your Mother”. It is ridiculous, zany and over the top, but it is funny and enjoyable. Watching it lets me forget about my troubles for a while. I fall asleep with the TV on. I wake up to someone knocking heavily on my bedroom door. “Miss Rose, are you okay? Mr. Evans has been texting you and he’s worried because you haven’t answered.” It sounds like Benton. “Benton?” “Yes ma’am, it’s me. May I come in?” “Oh, yes. Come in.” I reply, still out of it. Benton opens the door and looks around my room as I sit up in bed. I’m sure my hair looks like a rat’s nest. “What time is it?” I ask Benton as he walks into my bathroom. No idea what he’s looking for. “Past time for us to go get Miss Maddie from school. Don’t panic, Marshall and Ike are bringing her home now.” “And people wonder why
ROSE We all don our coats and make our way to one of the SUVs. Maddie sits in her booster seat in the back with Tyson and I, Marshall drives and Ike rides shotgun. I am blown away by our destination when we pull up to the Natural History Museum. “I thought you’d like to see it. It’s full of amazing things to learn about. Have y’all been here before?” Tyson asks. “No. The tickets are too pricy, even during the discounted off-season. I think Maddie came with a school field trip though. That was the first year she was at Zeus Academy.” “Oooooh, ooooh, ooh, Mama!! They have dinosaurs!” Maddie exclaims, not being able to contain her glee. She begins clapping her hands and I hear Marshall groan at all the noise. “Hey, you’re the one who took her for ice cream, dummy. You can deal with it too.” I tell him in my mom-tone. “Yes, ma’am,” he says with defeat. Ike and Tyson just laugh. We spend hours walking around the museum. The first exhibit we visit is the dinosaurs. Maddie loves it, li
ROSE ****TRIGGER WARNING!**** “You don’t have to. Just know, when you are ready, if you ever want to, I’m ready to listen.” Very quickly before I have a chance to change my mind, “My parents died when I was 3. Drunk driver on their anniversary date night. We had no other family, both of them were single kids, their parents on both sides were dead already. I have no memories of my bio parents.” I start my life story without looking at Tyson. I turn and put my back to him. I don’t want to see the disgust or hate that will most likely mar his beautiful face by the time I am done. But he continues to hold me and rub soothing circles on my skin. “I was placed in foster care. I was with a wonderful couple for two years, they wanted to adopt me. Them, I actually remember a little bit of. The woman, Susan, had bright red hair and so many freckle you couldn’t count them. Her husband, Nolan, was bald with comforting brown eyes and he smelled like cedarwood. I don’t remember much else about t
TYSON Rose begins her life’s story and all of the instincts that reside within me are telling me to stop her. Stop her from talking by kissing her and letting her know she is treasured. But I don’t. I need to know what happened to her. What made her into who she is today. She has told me she didn’t have siblings or living parents. I didn’t know that she had been an orphan as a child. That is hard for anyone so young. I had a feeling she was sexually assaulted, it made logical sense. No one has a panic attack like she did, mid hot and heavy make out session that would have definitely led to sex, if it wasn’t something along those lines, right? Nothing could have prepared me for the story she tells though. She was literally told she was a throw away person, just before she was raped, sliced open and left to die. She was thrown away like garbage. Who does something like that? Who sets out to ruin a life like that? A psychopath, that’s who. And by all accounts, he thinks he got away wit
TYSON“I love you, Tyson.” My eyes widen at her declaration. My breathing picks up, hoping I didn’t mishear her. How could I have? She said it clearly and strongly.“Do you really mean that?” I close my eyes just in case she decides to take it back. “Please don’t say that and not really mean it, or you’re only saying it because you think I want to hear it. Please… please mean it when you say that to me.” I beg her quietly, letting all of my emotions color my words.Rose leans forward and gently kisses my lips. When she breaks our kiss, I open my eyes and stare into hers, knowing that what she says next will forever imprint itself onto my soul.“I mean it, Tyson. I love you. I’ve felt it for a while now, I just wasn’t sure love was what I was feeling. I tried to reason myself out of it, but that didn’t work. My emotions for you are so incredibly strong, even from the very beginning. The moment I saw you in the hospital with me, I have felt pulled to you. To be near you. To touch you. T
MADDIE—EPILOGUE THREE10 YEARS LATERI stand in the master bedroom of the newly renovated Alpha suite of Blue Meadow’s packhouse. Today is my 18th birthday and also the day I take my place as Alpha of my pack. I stare at myself in the full-length mirror and think about everything that has happened in the last decade to prepare me for this moment and the life I have ahead of me.I graduated from Zeus Academy at the age of 10. I attended college classes online through the University of Arizona. It wasn’t the Ivy League like everyone expected from me; those didn’t offer a self-paced program or enough online courses for me to get my degrees. I didn’t want to separate myself from my family to attend university, so I chose a less prestigious route that worked the best for me. I have zero regrets with my choice in schools.In eight years of education post-high school, I’ve earned four bachelor’s degrees, two master’s and one PhD. I’ve also studied diligently with Tyson on how to run a pack an
ROSE—EPILOGUE TWOIt’s been 6 months since I delivered Nolan into this world. He has grown like a damn weed and has become the center of our little universe. None of us can get enough of him and his baby scent.Both Tyson and I have retrofitted our offices to accommodate an infant including changing tables, swings, refrigerators, diapers, wipes, spit up rags and pacifiers galore. All the necessities for having an infant. And I can say, without a doubt, Nolan is the easiest going baby I’ve ever experienced. He rarely cries and he’s always happy, as long as he’s being held. He loves skin to skin contact, so much that he rarely wears any clothes. Mads and I always wear spaghetti strap shirts when we’re holding him, and Tyson just takes his own shirt off.It was hilarious when we first figured out that he likes skin so much, Tyson walking around the packhouse shirtless. Granted no one said anything to him about it, but I had the hardest time not whisking him away for sexy time. I mean, all
TYSON – EPILOGUE ONEThe last three months, post war, have been absolute hell! Yeah, I said it. Hell. Getting Blue Meadow back on its feet has been a huge challenge in and of itself. Much worse than most of the other territories I’ve taken over throughout the years. I honestly kept so much from both Maddie and Rose. Neither of them needed to know the intricate details of the rebuild. They were both getting over the trauma and horrors of the battle itself. I didn’t want to worry them.Kent, that worthless piece of crap, really did a number on this pack, it’s health and its finances. I had to pay over three million dollars to a mob pack in Las Vegas, for both Blue Meadow and Pine Woods’ debts. The last thing I wanted was for the mob to demand parts of the pack or worse, them going to the council for payment. I want to keep the council out of any and all of my affairs, as much as possible. They have proved, repeatedly, that they can’t be trusted to do their jobs.I made that trip to Vegas
ROSE“I thought I was going to lose you yesterday, Rose. Don’t do that to me again. You are my whole world.” He says as he slows his thrusts, showing me how much he loves me. I open my eyes and see Zeus shining out with him. I cup their cheeks and bring their mouth to mine. I kiss them with all the love I have within me. We continue slowly but with passion until we both explode in delicious orgasm.“I hope our sex continues to be this amazing in the years to come.” I tell him as we separate from each other.“Rose, from what I understand from other mated couples, it just gets better and better.”“I’m not sure how it can get better, but I look forward to learning.” I say with a sassy smirk over my shoulder as I step into the water. Tyson joins me in the water and does what he always does. He washes me and kisses the scars I have left. Apparently, they are much smaller than they once were.When I get out of the shower, I turn to look at my back and I gasp at what I see. The main lines are
ROSEWatching Tyson battling Kent is one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to witness. Kent looks awful and I feel horrible for his wolf, being saddled with such an atrocious human spirit. I know Tyson will take him down, but I’m still scared that something will happen to him that he can’t heal from. Tyson is my everything. My other half. I know I will live on should he perish during this battle, but it would be for Maddie and our baby only. My soul would be shattered, never to live like I did before. He has to pull through. He just has to.George holds me close, giving me comfort as we watch Tyson fighting Kent. As it progresses, my worry lessens somewhat. Kent isn’t fighting well, and he’s not healing from his minor injuries. I hope this speeds up because I hate seeing him suffer. Despite all the shit he’s put me through, I know his wolf doesn’t deserve anything long and drawn out.I breathe a sigh of relief when Tyson pulls Kent’s heart out of his chest, thankful that the man re
TYSONThe moment I see Maddie jump toward Rachel; I know it's Infinity up front and in control. Her eyes are glowing a bright green-gold-yellow and the angry expression is one I don’t think I’ve ever seen on Maddie’s face before. Plus, I can’t smell her on the wind like I can my Rose. I launch forward when I see Rachel’s eyes unfocus in that split second when Infinity lands on her back, knowing I’ll only have a moment to attack with Infinity’s distraction. What I’m not expecting is Infinity to kill Rachel in that moment. I know Infinity is an ancient wolf spirit, she’s fast on her feet and I know she’s killed in her past lives, but to see the blood of a kill on my sweet, baby Maddie’s hands, is beyond shocking.Rose, however, doesn’t even flinch at seeing Infinity toss Rachel’s heart to the ground or her splattered in Rachel’s blood. Nor does she pause with the gravity of meeting Infinity. Rose has really embraced the wolf shifter world completely and totally. I couldn’t be prouder of
INFINITYMaddie and Kevin step out of the dungeon into a warzone. Both of their eyes blow wide at the scene, and I can feel Maddie’s panic. We knew this was coming, but I don’t think she anticipated how ugly it was going to be. I lift my head and I smell the rotting garbage scent of rogues. It seems Maddie’s father knows no bounds. Humans, most likely hunters, for kidnapping, rogues as mercenaries, slavery, killing his mate and sexual deviancy. He really does need to be put down.The panic coming from Maddie hasn’t lessened as we look around on where to go and not be noticed. I have been saving up my strength the last few days, so I pull Maddie back and take full control. She doesn’t fight me on it and that tells me she is very overwhelmed right now. She puts on a good show, but the constant state of alertness and feeling the danger around her, she is slowly breaking. After this morning, seeing Odette killed, and then staying neutral to save Kevin, she’s at her max for today.“Rest Mad
ROSEI am flying across the roads and highways trying to get to Blue Meadow as quickly as I can. George and Ike are holding on for dear life and I think I can hear George whispering a prayer to Selene when my car catapults into the air. I’ve maintained my 110mph through most of the drive which has kept the guys in high anxiety mode. We don’t get too far off the pavement with that larger bump, but the way down is rough, and we bounce several times on the landing.“Luna, please slow down. The rest of the team can’t keep up. Plus, it feels like you’re trying to kill us.” Ike pleads with me, looking a little green.“Then they should drive faster. And I am not trying to kill you.”“Their SUV isn’t designed to drive that fast, plus they can’t take turns like this car doeeeeeees!” His voice goes higher pitched as I take a curve much faster than he’s comfortable with.“Well, you’re getting your wish. Wolves directly ahead and they’re fighting. I’m going to have to slow down. Do you know which
TYSONI cut the link to Rose as soon as Zeus and I tell her that we love her. I know she is worried about all of this, and it is her first experience with a shifter battle, but I know I’ll be fine. Zeus is a powerful, ancient wolf. He will decimate dozens before we hit a real challenge to our strength. Although, the biggest challenge will be to try to minimize the lives lost. These warriors we are going up against will be Maddie’s pack members one day in the future. I don’t want to kill any of them indiscriminately.It takes a few hours to run to Blue Meadow. We stopped running miles ahead of their territory and proceeded with stealth. My first warriors took out their border patrol silently, with darts laced with a mixture of wolfsbane and water hemlock. Again, we’re trying to not take anyone out needlessly. Most pack members of trash Alphas are only following orders. They don’t necessarily believe in the orders. Killing people that are just doing their jobs is what crap Alphas do.On