**Logan POV**8:45 am. Like clockwork. I heard the howl emanating from my father before listening to his retreating footsteps as he ran toward his love. In about 15 minutes, breakfast would be all but thrown at me by one of his more sadistic warriors (he always chose the meaner ones to look after me when he was gone, his way of trying to discourage any “funny business” on my part), and after that, the coast would be clear to begin my exit.I stuffed my face with the near-inedible breakfast food I was given. My father was hesitant to give me anything of more than mediocre nutritious value. He wasn’t as oblivious as I gave him credit for, he knew our bloodline, and he knew I wasn’t the type to just submit without some serious beating down. Combine that with the fact he already knew I was a better fighter than I let on and the only conclusion he could draw was that any hope he had in keeping me prisoner for long enough to execute his plan was to keep me hungry and thus in a slightly weak
**Cleo POV**We’d had an eventful few hours. Vera had thrown a few scenarios at the girls, who had taken it all in stride. Jade seemed to have a natural hosting ability just like rumor has it her own mother did, but it was beginning to seem kind of obvious to me that Emma was of some sort of high-ranking descent. Maybe not an alpha, but she could easily be a gamma or maybe even a beta. She seemed to not only catch on to the more tedious aspects of her role quickly, but she also seemed to enjoy learning what was expected of her.Both girls were taking notes so quickly and diligently that I could swear I could almost see steam coming from their pens, Jade writing little notes next to her notes on occasion and Emma looking like she wished she had some sort of recording device. I made a mental note to ask Vera if we should record lessons or even make flashcards to quiz them later on.I knew the expectations of a ranked female could be daunting. When I’d realized that becoming Jasper’s mat
**Jade POV**Cleo pulled away suddenly and I could see a very confused and slightly alarmed look on her face. “That was Cameron. Evidently there’s some sort of emergency and we all need to go into Elliott’s office and wait for them.”“Is Elliott okay?!” I asked, wondering why he didn’t link me himself.“I’m not sure.” Cleo bit her lip. Her eyes clouded over, and I wondered if she was mindlinking back to ask.“I just linked Jasper. He said Cam asked him to come too, but if Elliott were hurt Jasper would be one of the first people to be linked,” she seemed to be trying to calm me, but my eyes got a bit wider wondering why the beta would be told before Elliott’s mate. Why was Jasper more important? And why was I so upset about it? “You’ll be the first to know as soon as you’re able to be linked!” Cleo patted my arm, trying to explain it to me and I felt a bit of relief.We made our way into the hallway, and I saw Cameron and Sebastian naked and rushing toward us. Being wolves, nudity was
Before I could spin out too much, the door swung open. My breath hitched and I sprinted toward my mate, jumping into his arms, and inhaling deeply into his hair. “Are you okay?!” I realized I was crying.“Yes, love. I’m just fine, and I think we may have made a major breakthrough about your old pack. Mystic Moon, I mean.” Elliott’s voice was the greatest sound I’d ever heard. I was barely processing what he was saying and just wept into his shoulder. I knew he was fine now, but I realized the thought that he’d been hurt—or maybe even worse—had frightened me more than anything ever had in my life.I finally realized what Elliott had just said to me when I heard someone clearing their throat. The sound was coming from behind Elliott, so this must’ve been the ‘them’ they were talking about.I slid slowly down from my mate’s grasp before looking behind him. There stood a man with dirty blonde hair falling in messy-looking curls down past his shoulders. His hair was even longer than Elliot
**Elliott POV**So strange. One moment, Jade was reaching out for a handshake and then next, she was gasping, and her eyes clouded over as if in a private link. When they came back into focus, she looked blankly and wordlessly at our guest for at least 15 seconds.“You’re Logan.” She almost whispered. How could she know that? He’d only just told me his first name on our way up to my office so I would know how to introduce him.“Do you trust me?” He asked my mate, looking almost as if he could see into her very core.I saw Jade nod stoically in response. “But I don’t know why.” She admitted in a whisper.I saw him reach out as if to hug MY mate, and I couldn’t stop Aries from interfering. I liked to think of myself as more evolved than my wolf, but he had a point. Why was this stranger touching our mate knowing she bore our mark?A growl came from deep inside me, a carnal and possessive one. I could see the fear on Logan’s face, and I didn’t care. It wasn’t until I looked at Jade and s
“I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought. I should probably start from the beginning of what I know, that’s why I’m here.” He smiled sheepishly at me, almost as if he were trying to read my face to see if I’d lumped him in with his father or if there was any level of trust. I decided to be open-minded and give him a chance to explain himself.Elliott gestured for Logan to come and sit in the sitting area Emma and I had just been in the day before talking about her strange dream. I wondered why he wouldn’t want this meeting to be more formal and at his desk, but I didn’t question him. Jasper pushed one of the larger chairs in front of the desk over to the area, and Logan gratefully took it. As he plopped into the chair, he closed his eyes almost as if he hadn’t sat anywhere remotely as comfortable in a long time. I began to look him over. The scars on his face were nothing compared to the rest of his body. Though he did appear to be wearing Elliott’s clothes as they were a bit too large,
**Cameron POV**I took Emma with me down the hall and we got onto the elevator. I snuck a glance at her to see how she was handling all of this, and she definitely looked shell-shocked. “I sent Sebastian to tell William and Vera what’s going on, so they can communicate our regrets to Juliet that we’ll all more than likely miss brunch and have to meet her at dinner.” I tried to ease her into the nitty-grity of the situation.To my surprise, Emma nodded and turned to me. “Okay, what’s happened and what do you need me to do?” she asked, all business. My heart swelled with pride at the seriousness with which she took the situation before she even knew what it was. A true leader.I’d told her about our search of Mystic Moon’s grounds and our run-in with some warriors and the stranger who appeared to be escaping. I’d confessed I’d only gotten the abridged secondhand version from Elliott about what was going on there because the most important thing for me to focus on was the prisoner. I tol
**Jade POV**“What do you mean? She was the beta’s daughter?” I asked Logan as more of a question than a statement, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was telling the truth. It was like it had all hit me at once.Chasing each other through the hallways of the packhouse, making flower crowns with our mothers in the forests, playing princesses, sleepovers, hide and go seek when Elliott and his family would visit, her having a silly crush on my older cousin when he moved to the—I looked to Elliott whose eyes looked almost the size of golf balls. What was he thinking? Was he remembering things too?“I think he’s telling the truth.” Elliott linked me and I nodded slowly, trying to refocus.“Well, let’s move past that part for now.” Elliott offered diplomatically. “We’ll circle back at the end of the story.”“Okay,” Logan sniffed, looking positively bereaved as if he were the one who’d done all of this and not his father. “Well, I looked for Emma and her parents, but all I saw was—wa
**Emma POV**I had to get out of there. I didn’t know what else to do besides bolt. Taking a moment to silently thank Elliott for giving me my own space just down the hall, I crashed through the door and locked it. What had just happened? My heart was racing; I didn’t know how to make it slow or calm down. I’d looked into a pair of striking green eyes and now everything was somehow different.“He’s our mate, you dumb bitch!” Leona, my wolf who had even less qualms about telling it like it was than I did, purred in my mind.“I don’t think he’s out mate, he’s too hot,” I confessed out loud. It was just her and I, why have a silent conversation? Especially when I was getting the sense that I’d need to vent my frustration through yelling.“We’re hot!” Leona retorted, offended I didn’t agree.“Not as hot as him, or as Jade or Cleo!” I yelled back. “He met them first, he’s probably so disappointed he didn’t get one of them! He’s going to reject us.”“I think you’re wrong. You didn’t even gi
**Jade POV**Jasper nodded slowly; his eyes still illuminated in an eerie way. “We hid you and ran to help Mom and dad. We thought we’d be able to get back to you. We thought wrong. Jasper didn’t know what to do, he was so afraid. I was still dormant, but I managed to find the strength to take over and carry him through.” He was looking stoically only at me as if we were the only two people in the world. I could sense Cleo’s eyes on me, could hear her sobs, but somehow, I couldn’t break this eye contact.“We were on our way up to the alpha floor when we saw Laurel. We grabbed her and told her exactly where to find you. She tried to make us leave with her, but we ran away before she could catch us. We had to help mom and dad. We couldn’t just leave them to die.” He sounded robotic, devoid of emotion, but I knew Axel had come forward to protect Jasper from having to speak through this new memory. While Axel seemed calm and in control, I could only conclude that Jasper was everything but
**Jade POV**“What do you mean? She was the beta’s daughter?” I asked Logan as more of a question than a statement, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was telling the truth. It was like it had all hit me at once.Chasing each other through the hallways of the packhouse, making flower crowns with our mothers in the forests, playing princesses, sleepovers, hide and go seek when Elliott and his family would visit, her having a silly crush on my older cousin when he moved to the—I looked to Elliott whose eyes looked almost the size of golf balls. What was he thinking? Was he remembering things too?“I think he’s telling the truth.” Elliott linked me and I nodded slowly, trying to refocus.“Well, let’s move past that part for now.” Elliott offered diplomatically. “We’ll circle back at the end of the story.”“Okay,” Logan sniffed, looking positively bereaved as if he were the one who’d done all of this and not his father. “Well, I looked for Emma and her parents, but all I saw was—wa
**Cameron POV**I took Emma with me down the hall and we got onto the elevator. I snuck a glance at her to see how she was handling all of this, and she definitely looked shell-shocked. “I sent Sebastian to tell William and Vera what’s going on, so they can communicate our regrets to Juliet that we’ll all more than likely miss brunch and have to meet her at dinner.” I tried to ease her into the nitty-grity of the situation.To my surprise, Emma nodded and turned to me. “Okay, what’s happened and what do you need me to do?” she asked, all business. My heart swelled with pride at the seriousness with which she took the situation before she even knew what it was. A true leader.I’d told her about our search of Mystic Moon’s grounds and our run-in with some warriors and the stranger who appeared to be escaping. I’d confessed I’d only gotten the abridged secondhand version from Elliott about what was going on there because the most important thing for me to focus on was the prisoner. I tol
“I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought. I should probably start from the beginning of what I know, that’s why I’m here.” He smiled sheepishly at me, almost as if he were trying to read my face to see if I’d lumped him in with his father or if there was any level of trust. I decided to be open-minded and give him a chance to explain himself.Elliott gestured for Logan to come and sit in the sitting area Emma and I had just been in the day before talking about her strange dream. I wondered why he wouldn’t want this meeting to be more formal and at his desk, but I didn’t question him. Jasper pushed one of the larger chairs in front of the desk over to the area, and Logan gratefully took it. As he plopped into the chair, he closed his eyes almost as if he hadn’t sat anywhere remotely as comfortable in a long time. I began to look him over. The scars on his face were nothing compared to the rest of his body. Though he did appear to be wearing Elliott’s clothes as they were a bit too large,
**Elliott POV**So strange. One moment, Jade was reaching out for a handshake and then next, she was gasping, and her eyes clouded over as if in a private link. When they came back into focus, she looked blankly and wordlessly at our guest for at least 15 seconds.“You’re Logan.” She almost whispered. How could she know that? He’d only just told me his first name on our way up to my office so I would know how to introduce him.“Do you trust me?” He asked my mate, looking almost as if he could see into her very core.I saw Jade nod stoically in response. “But I don’t know why.” She admitted in a whisper.I saw him reach out as if to hug MY mate, and I couldn’t stop Aries from interfering. I liked to think of myself as more evolved than my wolf, but he had a point. Why was this stranger touching our mate knowing she bore our mark?A growl came from deep inside me, a carnal and possessive one. I could see the fear on Logan’s face, and I didn’t care. It wasn’t until I looked at Jade and s
Before I could spin out too much, the door swung open. My breath hitched and I sprinted toward my mate, jumping into his arms, and inhaling deeply into his hair. “Are you okay?!” I realized I was crying.“Yes, love. I’m just fine, and I think we may have made a major breakthrough about your old pack. Mystic Moon, I mean.” Elliott’s voice was the greatest sound I’d ever heard. I was barely processing what he was saying and just wept into his shoulder. I knew he was fine now, but I realized the thought that he’d been hurt—or maybe even worse—had frightened me more than anything ever had in my life.I finally realized what Elliott had just said to me when I heard someone clearing their throat. The sound was coming from behind Elliott, so this must’ve been the ‘them’ they were talking about.I slid slowly down from my mate’s grasp before looking behind him. There stood a man with dirty blonde hair falling in messy-looking curls down past his shoulders. His hair was even longer than Elliot
**Jade POV**Cleo pulled away suddenly and I could see a very confused and slightly alarmed look on her face. “That was Cameron. Evidently there’s some sort of emergency and we all need to go into Elliott’s office and wait for them.”“Is Elliott okay?!” I asked, wondering why he didn’t link me himself.“I’m not sure.” Cleo bit her lip. Her eyes clouded over, and I wondered if she was mindlinking back to ask.“I just linked Jasper. He said Cam asked him to come too, but if Elliott were hurt Jasper would be one of the first people to be linked,” she seemed to be trying to calm me, but my eyes got a bit wider wondering why the beta would be told before Elliott’s mate. Why was Jasper more important? And why was I so upset about it? “You’ll be the first to know as soon as you’re able to be linked!” Cleo patted my arm, trying to explain it to me and I felt a bit of relief.We made our way into the hallway, and I saw Cameron and Sebastian naked and rushing toward us. Being wolves, nudity was
**Cleo POV**We’d had an eventful few hours. Vera had thrown a few scenarios at the girls, who had taken it all in stride. Jade seemed to have a natural hosting ability just like rumor has it her own mother did, but it was beginning to seem kind of obvious to me that Emma was of some sort of high-ranking descent. Maybe not an alpha, but she could easily be a gamma or maybe even a beta. She seemed to not only catch on to the more tedious aspects of her role quickly, but she also seemed to enjoy learning what was expected of her.Both girls were taking notes so quickly and diligently that I could swear I could almost see steam coming from their pens, Jade writing little notes next to her notes on occasion and Emma looking like she wished she had some sort of recording device. I made a mental note to ask Vera if we should record lessons or even make flashcards to quiz them later on.I knew the expectations of a ranked female could be daunting. When I’d realized that becoming Jasper’s mat