ROSE My head is pounding, and I taste blood in my mouth. I try to move but my hands aren’t moving properly. It’s like they’re tied together. I try to move my legs, but the pain is too much, I don’t want to move them. “Mama?” I hear my Maddie’s voice in the darkness. “Mama, are you awake?” She is so quiet; I can barely hear her. And I know my eyes are open, so it’s not like I’m hearing her from a sleep or an unconscious state. “Baby?” "Shhhh,” she says quietly. So, she’s whispering. “Mama, they took us. We’re in a car trunk. We’ve been driving a long time. Are you okay?” I think and assess my injuries. My head is definitely concussed, my lip is busted, I think my right wrist is broken or severely sprained, I have small cuts on my face, hands and arms, and my lower left leg feels really weird too. Very painful. It takes a minute, but I remember it being caught on something and it was bleeding pretty badly. “I’ll be okay, sweet pea. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” “I’m okay. My head wa
ROSEThe outside door to this makeshift warehouse building opens and in walks Kent Michaels. I begin breathing heavily but I don’t completely panic because Maddie is in my arms. His eyes assess us with a nasty sneer on his face. I’m not sure how I use to think he was handsome.“Hello again, lover,” he says, and I shiver in disgust.“I’m not your lover, Kent.” I try to sound tough, and my voice is semi-strong, but it comes out laced with fear. Maddie’s breathing picks up too and I know she’s trying to work out who this man is. She’s about to find out in the worst way imaginable how I got pregnant with her.“Well, not anymore, Rosie. It’s good to see you again though. You definitely look better than the last time I saw you.”“The last time you saw me, you thought I was dead, so I’m sure it doesn’t take much to be an improvement from that.” I roll my eyes at him, not sure where my bravado is coming from all of a sudden.“True. Now, enough with reminiscing about old times. Introduce me to
ROSE“Oh, yes. Any you’ve met him before. One of my good time pals, Darius Chambers. You remember him, right?” I pale. Yes, I remember him. He’s one of the four. “He’s another Alpha who hasn’t quite managed to sire an heir. Unlike me though, he hasn’t met his mate, so he doesn't have to contend with a wolf who won’t let him get it up with a female who isn’t his mate. He’ll have no problem impregnating you. I’d bet money that he fucks you, right here, before he takes you home. Now, Little Beast, it’s time to say goodbye.” Kent moves to lift my arms, but I squeeze Maddie to me as tightly as I can. Knowing it won’t do any good.“NO! You can’t have her!” I scream out as I struggle with Kent. He sighs in exasperation then backhands me across the face. My head whips to the side and I groan in pain. That combined with my earlier injuries, and I almost go out again. He now lifts my bound arms with ease and removes Maddie from my side. She is thrashing and clawing at him, and I hear something
TYSONI pace back and forth in Marshall’s hospital room. It is about 5am and I haven’t slept a wink. Marshall underwent surgery yesterday afternoon to have the bullets removed. Thank the Goddess that they weren’t silver, or he would have died too. We have all been waiting for him to wake up so we can get some intel on the kidnappers. Thomas is sitting in a chair across the room. Next to him is Adam who hasn’t left Marshall’s side. Wanting to stay close in case he is needed.“I’m going for breakfast. Tyson, you need to eat. I know sleeping is out of the question for you, but you need to keep your strength up. The girls will need you to be at your best.” I growl out at Thomas, but he doesn’t flinch. He’s right, of course, but I can’t control Zeus very well right now. Thomas kisses Adam and then leaves the room.“How much longer will he be out, Adam?” I ask again for the millionth time."He should be waking any minute, Alpha. Any word from the search team?”“Nothing new, unfortunately. T
TYSONAmanda uses her claw and removes the zip tie holding Rose’s hands together. Her wrists are severely bruised, and we can see that her right wrist might be sprained or broken. I pull out bottled water and a towel. I begin removing as much of that Alpha’s blood that I can, so we can see where Rose is actually injured while Amanda starts an IV line and begins a saline drip.I don’t see too much on her body until we turn her over. The chair she had been sitting on shattered when she went crashing into the wall; pieces are embedded into her soft skin. Amanda and I work diligently together to remove all the pieces and debris. I flush out the wounds with sterile saline while Amanda uses her claws to pull the wood from her skin. None of them went very deep but they all have to be sewn together with stitches. She has another head injury, probably from the car accident. Amanda cleans that and glues it together. We are almost done when a whiff of a strange aroma catches my attention.“Amand
TYSON“It looks like she was penetrated, but you didn’t feel her being raped. You definitely would have known what that was. My guess is fingers. It still did some damage, but nothing major. Again, just rest and she should heal up. The leg infection is the worst thing for her, I’m afraid. We will be cleaning it daily until it clears up, that means no showers or baths for a few days. She’s going to hate that but nothing I can do about it right now. Not until I can stitch it up, but I can’t do that until the infection is gone. Human healing being what it is, she will probably have a large scar on her leg.”“Thank you, Amanda.” I say and she leaves the room.*Mike, I need you to come to Luna’s hospital room for a debrief and a strategy meeting.**On my way, sir.* Mike replies. I sit at Rose’s bedside and hold her hand while I wait for Mike. It is only a minute, maybe two when Mike arrives at the door.“Well, that was fast.”“Lucy is just down the hall, sir. She’s still under observation.
TYSONThe drive isn’t very long, about an hour, but after all that’s happened in the last few days, I quietly slip into a light sleep. Getting a little rest before I have to deal with all the Blood Fang shenanigans. Thomas wakes me as we approach the border and there aren’t any border guards to stop us. That is not a good sign. As soon as we cross over the border, I feel the Alpha power of Blood Fang hit me. I’m sure the pack felt the rightful Alpha arrive on pack territory. I hope that is enough to stop any fighting that could be occurring.We make our way to the packhouse and out front is a makeshift ring where battles were already raging. I can see a small pile of bodies to the side, and I realize that these challenges most likely started as soon as the pack felt Darius die.When we pull up, the fighting has already stopped. I step out letting my Alpha aura pulse out. I see a few warriors that I’m familiar with bare their necks to me out of respect, but many try to fight the aura.
TYSON“Oh good. Alpha, I see you’ve met Mary. She is the superpower sleuth around here,” Ben says with a big smile just for her. Mary blushes at his complement.“What does that mean, Ben?” Thomas asks.“She is my eyes and ears here in the Alpha’s home. She is the one everyone comes to when they need something or hear of something that I need to know about. If everyone had come to me, then Alpha Darius would have figured out that I didn’t have his back like he thought. So, Mary fed me all the intel she had or came across. We made a good team, but I’m happy that the need for our dynamic duo is over. Things will be changing for the better, Mary. Tyson is a good male and a good Alpha.” Ben explains and I’m a little shocked to see Mary run into Ben’s arms and start crying.“Are you two mates?” I ask.“Not fated, no. Mary and I both lost our fated mates a few years ago. She’s known I’ve wanted her as my chosen for a while now, but Darius being the abusive asshole that he was, I knew if I too
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