“So what car did you get?”
I shrugged, putting the mug back on the desk where it had been sitting. “Mazda…something. It has three rows. Kirk said I should get a large family car just in case.”
He didn’t but it was worth saying because not only did Zayle drop the papers in his hands but his foot slipped and his knee crashed down onto the floor. Covering my mouth, I tried not to laugh but my eyes watered until I sucked in a breath that turned into a squeak.
“Rye, that’s not funny.”
“It is a little.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So which car did you actually get?”
I blinked at him, and then cackled. Patting his chest, I headed to the door. Just because it was funny didn’t mean it was a joke. This was something I could joke about later with him now.
“Is the house okay? I was going to try and make dinner but…”
The state of the
*** Zayle’s POV ***I felt Oliver open up a mind link with me and I groaned. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sat back in my chair. His chuckle came over the link.‘Amelia this time.’Grumbling, I rubbed my face. Of course it was. That would make six out of the seven councilors storming into my office this week. This would be the last of them at least. Dean already leaned his lesson what happens when you storm into my office.Riley, to his credit, only took a week with Oliver to settle into the Luna office. My mother’s old office. There was a lot of time spent talking and discussing simple pack concepts that I didn’t realize needed to be said after growing up in a pack. All of it seemed completely foreign and ridiculous to Riley.On that Wednesday, Oliver was ready to throw in the towel. I swapped him out for Kirk but Kirk stormed out within a couple hours of Riley’s questions. I wasn’t able to take over but Oliver did eventually suck it up and come back. By Friday, Oliver was singin
My anger was still filling the room when Riley opened the door quietly. My shock overrode my anger for a moment. I’d left before him this morning, but apparently, he’d cut his hair ridiculously short. It was shaved along the sides with the center a little longer falling to the side but not even touching his ears.He looked so different. I didn’t think it was possible but he looked younger. I’d have thought that having longer hair would make you look younger but Riley managed it. Kirk and Sam also looked slightly surprised. Riley’s face reflected that he knew he was in trouble but I couldn’t get over how he looked as he stepped in.We’d gone shopping again to fill out our wardrobe. He did a lot better this time but he still struggled with the sticker price of clothes. Now he was in a dark blue button up and black slacks, still wearing his converse. It was like a teenager dressing up for his first date.“Zayle, I can explain. I know it wasn’t something we talked about putting out there
I pulled into the garage after finishing off my work. Riley’s car was already parked in the driveway and I figured he’d gone home since Oliver told me that he’d left early. Getting out, I walked into the hallway but the house was quiet. It was too quiet and I turned on the lights.“Rye?” I called out but didn’t get an answer.Sighing, I pulled off my shoes. He’d been really good lately about not smoking but the conversation probably pushed him to smoke outside on the porch roof. Climbing the stairs, I walked down to the end of the hall and opened up the window. I peaked out but there was no one on the roof. The side table had the bowl and unopened box of cigarettes on it.“Rye?” I called out again, looking in the bedrooms.Still there was no reply. Taking a breath, I searched through the bond. There was a simmering anger that I felt from him but as for direction it was far. Incredibly far north. My eyes widened and I took the steps two at a time down the stairs. Flinging the back door
I’d left Oliver sleeping the car. Pulling over on the road near the territory line, I stripped down and shifted. It felt so much easier to follow his location now. He was close. Riley was close and Helios was pushing me to go faster. He still hadn’t moved but that could change at any second.We were on the edge of one of the many lakes and I burst through the trees, skidding to a halt on the pebble beach. Riley was still further north but it had to be along the beach. Racing down the side of the lake, I watched the light start shift the dark night sky.As I ran, I noticed a person perched on a large rock that was jutting out from the lake. Shifting back to my human form, I walked slower up to the edge of lake. My heart hammered as I knew right where Riley was sitting. If he jumped forward off the boulder and into the water, he would be off my territory.“Riley…”He turned to look at me, but the look on his face was blank. It
Throwing the pan across the room, I screamed at nothing. I’d burnt another fucking dish. This was my third attempt at cooking. Not just tonight. Fuck the past three nights. The casserole, along with the dish, was splattered and broken on the hall floor. Unfortunately, the front door opened at the moment and I turned away from the entry.“Zayle, you okay?”I looked up at my dad and gestured to the absolute mess everything was. “Do I look okay, Dad? I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing!”“With cooking? Or…with Riley?”My lips pursed and grabbed the kettle off the over, throwing it against the wall. “He hasn’t shifted! Three days, Dad! He’s been in his wolf form for three days! He won’t eat. He won’t come into the house. He won’t shift! He won’t even let me touch him!”Grabbing my hair with my hands, I pulled it, trying to get myself u
“They probably had the entire family, everyone who needed a strong heir, fuck him. They might have been looking to get into the leadership of our pack that way.” Haley closed the back door again. “Probably locked him up and forced his heat over and over again to get the best results.”Haley’s bluntness hurt. It reminded me so much of Riley. Just coming from a teenage girl made it a bit worse. I wondered where she got it from but I had to chastise myself. Haley, Jake, and Curtis were growing up. I’d held them when they were babies but they were growing up. Especially Haley with everything that was going on around her.“Hay! You’re not serious!” Jake stood up, looking at her, horrified.She shook her head. “They sold him again because of that too. The notes I think say they were unable to find a use for him and sold him for about a quarter of a million when he was sixteen to the Green Mountain pack.&rdquo
We lapsed into a silence for a long time, both taking on a second smoke before either of us spoke again.“Zayle?”I hummed.“You really didn’t know?”Shaking my head, I looked down. “I really didn’t know. My father didn’t know either. He didn’t go through my mother’s journals after she died. He closed up that office and didn’t open it again. Ever. We only opened it recently for you.”Riley nodded before he leaned against my arm. “I didn’t know I was here. I don’t think I was on territory. I don’t remember feeling like I was on a territory after the pack before. Not that I could feel much of anything but I usually could.”“Apparently, I needed to wait seven more years for you.”He chuckled. “Bad luck for you.”I hummed. “I don’t know. Meeting you has been the best thing that ever happened to m
I felt better. Not to mention my office was always a whirlwind of activity to keep me busy. We’d done the sweep of as many residences as we could. Much to the protest of the councilors. Still, it was both eye opening and nauseating.In total across all the councilors, eighteen slaves were found. Three of which were pregnant from someone within the family. Records of information being sold. Activity from years with buying and selling territory under the last four generation of Alphas. I didn’t even know where technically my territory line was anymore.Everyone was in an uproar. Including the pack members. They felt betrayed by the council. Not just them but me as well. A little less so because a lot of them understood that I didn’t know this was happening. But there was some serious mistrust going on with leadership right now.One thing that remained constant was that Riley was the person they trusted the most. He was the person they wanted to s
I leaned back in the lounge chair, trying to take the doctor’s advice to rest. It was going to rain soon. Everyone was outside playing, dressed up for the occasion. Their rain coats and rain hats in different colors made it easy to tell them apart.Nero and Fabian were leading their two other siblings through the grass in search of anything interesting. That included an acorn, a snail, some leftover streamers from the twin’s seventh birthday party yesterday, and a peculiarly colorful rock. Each one of them were set out on the deck stairs, though Mr. Snail was trying to make a very slow escape.I smiled as Lily slipped and as she stood, her face was covered in mud. Nero got down on one knee and wiped off her face with the edge of his shirt. The twins were the perfect mix between Zayle and I. Not quite identical though. Nero was just a little larger than his brother, but to the untrained eye, you might easily mistake them for each other. Lily was Zayle’s clone and our youngest for the mo
Leaning forward in my chair, I had my head in my hands. I’d never felt so exhausted. Currently, I was only taking a break for moment before I needed to go back and help. Downstairs, Oliver and Kirk were trying to corral everyone into a more organized way. It wasn’t great, but it was something for now.Cesar was also helping now, since he informed the ministers of what had happened. They would take a few days to get here and for the moment, he could also direct the knights to help where they were needed too. We had to deal with the damaged windows too which Vincent had picked up immediately.We’d put Zayle in my office, since I had a loveseat put in to take naps when I needed it. Oliver basically ordered me to take a break and it wasn’t helping that while Selene, with her last bit of power closed my wounds, they still were fresh and raw. I couldn’t relax but it was nice to have a little peace.There was a knock on my door and Belle opened it up, a mug in her hand. “Luna, I thought some
I couldn’t stop staring at Cesar. He was worried about what just happened but I had no words to describe what I was looking at right now. The fact that I had to then tell Zayle ‘Hey, your dad is like thirty now again because he’s taking over as Alpha King’ had all my words caught in my throat.The only thing that tore my eyes away from him was when Jasper started to whimper. Selene was leaning over him, hands made of ice griping his chin.‘You have kept your fears hidden for a long time, wolf. You have acted as though all wolves are equal in your eyes. Made them love you with your lies. But I see past that, Nightfang. I see past all of the facades you hold so dear.’He openly wept as the goddess’ anger crackled and lightening struck the ground.“Will you take his wolf?” I asked, not sure if I could bear another cry like Yara’s.‘No, my little rain wolf. Despite the poison and ugliness, this one will be useful to you in the future. He has already burned his path and I will ensure when h
Part of me wanted Selene to kill him. I wanted to watch the life leave his eyes with a look of utter regret on his face. That was personal though. A hatred that was my own and something I needed to work through on my own. Especially after Selene passed her judgement. It was final and I would not dare go against it. Whether or not I felt he was worthy of it.There was a few moments of Selene standing in front of Kane before she moved. His face was still completely blank, in the daze like everyone else. Her hand pressed against his chest and when she pulled away, a white ball of light burned brightly in it. Closing her fingers around the light, it disappeared.She continued through the group, doing it to every single person on their knees. Selene did leave Jasper and Yara in the corner as they watched the display of our goddess’ raw power. Turning her back, she walked back to stand next to me.‘I am done passing judgement on these ones.’I nodded and started to order them off the platfo
I took a single breath before rain poured from the sky like a bucket had been tipped onto us. Lightening flashed bright and screams from the pack sounded as the thunder tore through the center of town. Glass shattered and I felt my breath get stolen away from me for a moment. Opening my eyes, I wanted to cry out in relief.Selene, silhouetted by the rain, stood between Jasper and I. His sword had turned black and was crumbling at his feet. He was holding his hand which turned a fire red.“Selene…” My voice was hoarse but her name came out more as a prayer than anything.‘I’m here, my little rain wolf. I’m here.’My body slumped forward and I let the post hold up my weight. “My pack…”She chortled, the thunder following but were flashes of lightening streaking across the sky. ‘I know, little one. However, I must deal with these strays.’I smiled and nodded. Jasper stumbled back a couple steps, looking at the figure made of the rain before him. Fear consumed his face and even his knight
“Where is the whip? Why aren’t we whipping him? Why aren’t you shutting him up?” Jasper was manic as he ordered his own knights around.I felt bad for them. This must be so jarring for them. No one was comfortable with what was happening right now. Not even the Councilors, their faces marred with conflicting emotions. They weren’t about to stick their neck out against an angry Alpha King though. The only one who looked absolutely pleased was Yara. She had Kian blood running through her so I didn’t doubt how much that poisoned her.“Alpha King…we…we are ready.”Lifting my head off the pole, I braced myself against the wood. It wouldn’t do me any good to jerk and hit my head. I kept my eyes closed, trying to keep my body from tensing up. That also would do more harm than good right now. If I could focus on my back getting hit, it would protect our pups better.‘Zayle?’ I tentatively reached out to him through the mind link.‘My love…my love…my sweet mate…stop this. Please stop this. Tel
My eyes widened as I saw a group of high school students, including Jake, Curtis, Haley, and Franny coming forward. All of them were running together and I felt fear course through me. Not only should they not be here but they should be safe up north out of reach of the council.“No! You guys! Go home! You shouldn’t be here!” I called out to them.Jake smiled at me and shook his head. “We can help.”One of the girls stepped forward, a folder in her hand. “I am Anastasia Hansen. Councilor Constantine is my father, Alpha King.” She bowed her head. “I work part time at the clinic under Dr. June. She is our town’s OBGYN.”The sound of silence felt heavy as all attention moved to her. However, Councilor Constantine looked livid at his daughter. She stepped forward with Curtis and another one of the boys flanking her.“I was working the day Luna Riley and Alpha Zayle came in. This is their chart. I can confirm that Luna Riley is pregnant. The blood tests and even the photos are all here.” S
With how the center of town looked last night, it was almost like we were transported into a completely different place. They set up a huge platform in front of the statues of the wolves and I snorted. Zayle sucked in a breath seeing the post coming out of it. I’d seen one and been tied to something like it plenty of times of times. I wondered if this was the first time he saw one in person.From around the area, I watched as more and more of our pack started to meander into the area. They kept to the edges and I was happy to see none of the younger kids were present. Oliver and Kirk came forward but the knights kept them from reaching us.“It’s okay.” I smiled and nodded to them.Zayle was focused ahead, looking for the one person who was about to decide our fate. He wasn’t there on time, of course. The clock tower tolled one and we continued to wait. The skies were growing darker and I let myself lean against Zayle. He was standing tall like a statue and I closed my eyes.“Rye, don’
*** Riley’s POV ***When I woke up, I was alone. It was quiet but it was different than normal. The air was heavy and it felt harder to breathe. Sitting up, I buried my head in my hands. I’d fucked up yesterday. I’d been so good but I’d snapped. It was one thing to snap at a Councilor or one of their kids, but the Luna Queen?I was so fucking stupid. Oliver was giving me a play by play of what happened after I left. Everything was my fault. I’d ruined our chances of doing actual good. Worse, I may have gotten Zayle removed as Alpha. He didn’t deserve that. Not because of me.My eyes slipped to the window. It was dark, the clouds threatening rain, but I wanted it to be raining. I needed to speak with Selene. She might know something…anything that I could do that would fix this. As it stood, there wasn’t many options that we had left.The bed next to me and Zayle’s scent meant that he had been up for at least an hour. It was still early in the morning though. Getting up, I padded downst