ROSEThe back of my head is pounding. That incessant beeping is back again. Fuck, I’m back in the hospital. I think back on events, and I remember all that has happened in the last few, what… days?... weeks?... how long have I been down? I moan out from the pain, then I remember what happened with Darius and I go under again when the fear and shame overwhelm me.Once again, I try to come up and the pain holds me down. Why can’t I come up from the depths? Maddie… she’s been taken… she needs me! I need to clear my head of this fog. I try to open my eyes, but I fail and succumb to the darkness.The darkness lets up and I can finally open my eyes. The light in the room is blinding, and I wince in pain.“Hold on baby, I’ll get the lights,” I hear Patty say and I then hear a little click from the light switch. Patty. She’s here and I’m not dead. I’m safe.“Patty?” I try to say, but my throat is dry, and I cough out instead. The taste in my mouth is awful, like death and mud and metal. I fee
ROSE“I’ll start with a shifter world overview.” He states, but it seems more like a question. But that is good. I need a basis and an overall understanding of the shifter world in and of itself in order to comprehend the specifics of my now crazy life.I nod at Tyson in agreement, and he continues, “Wolf shifters have lived on Earth since the dawn of man. We were originally created by the moon goddess, Selene, to live as companions to humans. Able to blend with nature and communicate with both sides of the world, human and animal. Some shifters like to believe that we were originally humans that were cursed by the Goddess to live as part animal due to some unforgiveable sin we committed. But I believe, as most of my kind does, that we were meant to help humans and create a mutually beneficial living system within nature.We are much more social creatures than humans. We live in large groupings called packs. Most packs are like one super extra-large extended family. We love each other
ROSE“Yes Rose, you are.” Tyson answers with a soft smile. But I can’t return that smile. I take in a shaky breath and tears begin falling down my cheeks. Tyson looks panicky when he sees those, and it breaks me even more. I hold up my hand to Tyson when he starts to move toward me, indicating I don’t want him touching me yet.“Explain what ‘The Royal Mother’ is,” I tell him. He tilts his head in confusion.“I don’t understand, Rose,”“Kent called me that. Can you explain it?”“Oh, ummm… I can try. But, Rose, are you in a state that you can tell me what happened to you? About the kidnapping and everything afterward. Maybe if I have more information, more context, I can answer your question better.” He says.I dry my face of the tears and nod, taking in several shaky breaths until I am calm and composed. I can do this. I pull up my shield and revert into my detached voice that I reserve for reliving horrible memories. It is much harder to do this time. I guess I’ve gotten used to not u
TYSONSheila has a flower arrangement ready for me when I get back to pack lands. I grab it with a hasty ‘thank you’ and speed toward the hospital. Once I am there, I head to Rose’s room, eager to see her. But I am stopped by Ike.“Alpha sir, you should use the spare room where George is sleeping to shower. You are covered in blood.” He says with sincerity on his face. I look down and I am indeed covered in dried blood from our bunker/sex slave rescue mission. I hand him the bouquet and rush down the hallway to the spare room. I shower quickly, put on some spare lounge clothes that are there and come back to her room. When I approach, I can hear a banshee like sob coming from her from inside her room.*Patty? What the fuck is happening in there?* I ask.*Rose is crying. She hasn’t spoken much but she practically demanded a shower to, and I quote, “I want that vile demon’s blood and skin off of me.” Don’t come in yet. Let me get her clean and settled back in bed. She needs some mom tim
TYSONI knock on her hospital door and pause for a few seconds before I peek in.“May I come in?” I ask, hoping she won’t refuse. I see her in the bed and her leg is still sticking out with an open wound. But it looks quite a bit better today. “I brought you ladies breakfast.” I say with a smile. Rose gives me a smile in return, but then she frowns a bit. I can see her conflicting emotions and thoughts. I don’t wait for permission; I walk in and settle Rose’s food on her tray table and push it up to her. I hand Patty her food, then the guys standing guard theirs and then I settle into the other chair with mine. We all eat in relative silence. Once Patty is done though, she gathers the empty containers and then walks out the door, shutting it behind her. Giving us privacy once again to talk.“I heard from my surveillance team at Kent’s pack. He’s returned, but no signs of Maddie yet. We knew he’d have to return soon. His mate gave birth recently, so she will need him close.” I tell Rose
MADDIEI fight. I fight hard. With all of my might. But I am helpless against this giant neanderthal jerk Alpha, who is apparently my biological father, when he pulls me from my Mama’s arms. As I am contorting and wrenching myself within his grasp, I use a claw and cut the hello kitty watch from my wrist. Infinity says she can feel that Tyson is on his way, he is very close. But if I keep it on, they will follow me and not come to Mama’s rescue. She needs him more than I do right now. She is fully human and cannot heal like I can. So, I purposely leave it with her. I hope and pray that he gets here in time before she is hurt more.“Stop fighting me, Little Beast. It is pointless,” Alpha dummy grunts out when my elbow gets him in the gut unexpectedly. I smirk, knowing I am stronger than he thought I’d be. I hear a trunk opening and I groan. Perfect. Cold car trunk again. I get tossed in and it is slammed in my face before I can object to being in here. At least this one is clean and onl
MADDIE“What the hell is this, Alpha Kent?” A deep baritone voice asks, laced with irritation. “I’ve already told you that no matter how much money we owe, we will NEVER get involved with slavery. I won’t stand for it on my property, and I will NEVER let you use my members in such a disgusting way. Now, who is this child?” I hear a sniff and a low growl. “Who’s heir is this? She smells like an Alpha.”“This heir… is mine.” Kent says back smugly.“If she is yours, why is she tied up? And why are you bringing her here?”“Well, her mother kept her hidden from me. I just recently found her, and she was reluctant to come with me to learn her place.”“Reluctant?... meaning you kidnapped her from her mother.” He growls out. Good. Maybe I can get them to call Mama and Tyson.Kent laughs. I have no idea why he is laughing. And it sounds like a psychopathic laugh. It is the first thing he has done or said that has made me shiver. This laugh is scaring me. “Oh, Cain… semantics. I need a place to
MADDIE“Why are you doing this, Cain? We’ve always stayed away from Kent and his plans and slavery… why have you caved in now?” Rex asks in a hushed tone.“I have 342 pack members, Rex. All of them are barely hanging on. We get zero support from the council, and no one will treaty with me while I owe that fucker money. I saw an opportunity to end his hold over us with this one deal. I took it. The lives of the many for the one.”“You do know who she is, right?”“Yes! Of course, I know who she is! I’m not blind or stupid, not to mention I can still smell.”“What are we going to do about it?”“I’m going to keep my side of the contract. I will feed her, house her, keep her safe. When Kent comes back, I will give her to him, clearing the pack’s debt. However, I won’t be keeping it a secret that she’s been here.”“You know, that’ll probably start a war, right?”“If it means someone takes that douchebag out of power, I’m all for it. Our pack isn’t strong enough to do that. And she is the ri
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