Taylor POV The group is nothing but tense as we travel back toward the city Pleck. Chris and his daughter are staying close to one another and their members are flanking them tightly almost as if they expect an ambush. Dom and I are traveling behind them watching their behavior closely.Cora told us she would meet us at Pleck when we contacted her earlier which made me both excited and anxious. I missed her and my other friends so much, but the fact that Dom insisted she came worried me. Dom- Cora is an hour from their walls. We are about three. She will stop and rest so we meet one another at the same time.Taylor- Do you except violence? Chris and his pack are acting as it it is inevitable. Dom- I suspect this city is on the verge of refusing help from Lycans. It has happened in the past. But it never ends well for the humans.Taylor- history seems to repeat it's self.Dom- No one likes to feel controlled. We don't and humans don't. Freedom is something we all want.I nod in a
Sleep has once again alluded me. My mind won’t stop thinking about leaving the walls. With each birthday I have felt more and more drawn to the lush greenery just on the other side of our protective barrier. I have ached for the freedom to explore. Just knowing there is a big world out there that I am not allowed to see is torture.The sounds from the street below begin to get louder so I glance at the clock to see if it’s time to start yet another mundane day. Sure enough it’s 6:44 and my alarm is seconds from going off. I groan as I turn over and position my hand over the off button. When the blasted machine erupts my hand drops like a weight and Nathan groans like I did moments ago. “Morning,” I mumble and he rolls over to wrap his arms around my naked body. “Morning,” he replies groggily and I grin despite the mood I’m in. At least Nathan get it. He understands my dislike for the city and the routine we call life, but most importantly he agrees. Ever since we were kid
"Good night, sleep tight...," Nathan whisper sings, and the guard twitches. "Shhh," I hiss aggressively, and Nathan holds his hands up in surrender. He smiles at me, and I roll my eyes at his silly nature. I look back at the gate and watch the guard closely. He has been drifting in and out of sleep for the past five minutes, but he hasn't truly konked out enough for us to slip through the only gate not hooked up to the alarm system. A few more minutes pass, and my legs scream out in protest. We can't stay crouched here anymore. Someone is going to see us soon. It's now or never, and I refuse to let it be never. "Ready," I whisper as I look back at Nathan again. He nods, and we slowly creep forward. The guard doesn't move as we slip past him and lift the thick steel locking arm. Nathan pushes the door forward, and I squeeze past eagerly. He follows after a second, and the door clicks closed. "Did you place the stone," I ask, and Nathan nods. "Yeah. The arm won't
She carries me away from my savior swiftly and directly into a cave. I don't see much of the landscape around me before everything goes dark, but there isn't one tree in sight, just flat earth. I guess they are aware of the dangers from above, unlike we were. "Simple rules. You will never learn," she grumbles to herself as she walks in the dark. I tense up as I feel her annoyance being transferred through her grip. She is angry about my actions, just like he was. But we didn't ask for them to save us. We knew the rules...I knew them. Nathan wasn't saved, but he knew what could happen. They chose to save me. I didn't force them or even ask to be saved. They could have let me die with him. My heart wouldn't be shattered right now if they had. This crippling pain and grief wouldn't be twisting my stomach. "I knew what going outside meant. Your people didn't need to save me," I snap suddenly, and before I can react, she drops me on the floor. I cry out as my butt-bone rams the compac
"Human, come," Giulia says, and I follow behind her in silence. We haven't spoken since she left me in the room with the underground spring. I have been too upset to speak. Even when she handed me new clothes, I was silent. I didn't thank her for the clean clothes or even ask how they acquired them. I honestly don't care. I am too emotionally drained now.Being alone in that water only allowed me to think. I thought of nothing but Nathan and the leaders of our city. By the time I knew I had to get out of the water, my heart was in tatters. I follow behind her as she travels down the hall as best as I can, but the tunnel is dark. I am constantly tripping and bumping into her back to catch myself. She doesn't utter a word when I bump into her, and I don't, either. After about five minutes of blind torture, I walk straight into her side. For some reason, she stopped without even warning me. She quickly steadies me by placing her hand on my shoulder and turns me to face something. "Th
The Oracle...man, our teachers loved talking about that beast. The connection she supposedly has with their creator lets her do impossible things. Like foreseeing the future and causing enemies pain. She is supposed to be as old as the world, which isn't surprising since the Lycans are immortal. Nathan used to joke around and say the beasts like being heroes and that's why the Oracle hasn't gotten rid of the bloodsuckers herself. Oh, Nathan. What am I going to do without you? You kept me grounded in the world. You were the person I knew I could depend on after we lost our parents. You were my safe place. I am alone now, all alone in an underground Beast den. My chest begins to burn, and my eyes sting, but I fight back the emotions that threaten to unleash again. I have cried so much that I am exhausted, but I can't sleep. I know it is almost morning, but I still can't close my eyes. "Human," Giulia says softly, and I look over at her. She has been studying me the past few hours we
I shift uncomfortably as I get hotter and hotter. I feel like I am lying in a furnace. I am sweaty, and my pajamas are sticking to my drenched skin. We never let the house get this warm. Something must be wrong. "Nate, something is wrong with the air coolant. It's hot," I mutter as I roll over. When I open my eyes to see if Nathan heard me, I don't see my familiar bedroom or my awesome boyfriend. I see dirt and smoldering cinders where a fire was. "Get up," someone says frantically, and I lift my head to see the wild female I forgot about from last night. "You will burn yourself. Get up," she practically yells as my brain still can't catch up, and suddenly, I am in the air. Thick muscular arms are wrapped around my torso so tightly that I feel like I might snap. The grip doesn't last long because, within half a second, I am standing on the other side of the room with a massive naked sexy God in front of me. He doesn't even speak to me before lifting my arms and
My day has been so boring. Alessia and I spoke a bit, but for the most part, she has been interacting with other Lycans who come into the room. None of them paid me any attention, so I just watched them communicate while remaining silent. I figure there is a reason they aren't acknowledging me, and I don't want to make anyone upset.The Alpha hasn't come by, which is bothering me. Every time I hear someone come in, I look over in hopes that it is him, but it never is. I don't know why I want to see him again so badly. He hasn't been nice to me once since carrying me to this underground prison. Maybe I am just curious about the Lycan leader. When I am not searching for the Alpha, I daydream about Nathan and what I could have done differently to save him. But even in most of my fantasies, I fail to save him from his fate. There was just nothing I could do. I am only human, and the bloodsuckers are stronger than me.Leaving the walls was a terrible idea. I don't know why I had to see
Taylor POV The group is nothing but tense as we travel back toward the city Pleck. Chris and his daughter are staying close to one another and their members are flanking them tightly almost as if they expect an ambush. Dom and I are traveling behind them watching their behavior closely.Cora told us she would meet us at Pleck when we contacted her earlier which made me both excited and anxious. I missed her and my other friends so much, but the fact that Dom insisted she came worried me. Dom- Cora is an hour from their walls. We are about three. She will stop and rest so we meet one another at the same time.Taylor- Do you except violence? Chris and his pack are acting as it it is inevitable. Dom- I suspect this city is on the verge of refusing help from Lycans. It has happened in the past. But it never ends well for the humans.Taylor- history seems to repeat it's self.Dom- No one likes to feel controlled. We don't and humans don't. Freedom is something we all want.I nod in a
TAYLOR POV "Dom, this is pointless. We should stick with packs," I say quietly as we leave yet another tense situation. Dom only glances at me for a second before pulling his t-shirt off and slipping his worn denim down his muscular legs. He shifts and I sigh before undressing as well. The cities we have visited have all responded with open distrust and apprehension about our bond. Some of the communities have asked questions about our bond and asked me to demonstrate my shift, but then they act as if I were never human. They seem to believe the lycans are trying to trick them into something and that our story is a lie. We travel through a sparse forest for a few hours in silence before I catch a whiff of Lycan in the air. Dom slows and I can't help but smile since we have finally arrived at a pack instead of a city.Dom- Cora didn't visit hereTaylor- Good. I am excited to actually be welcomed somewhere.Dom- We might not be. Lihua didn't like the thought of human mates.
TAYLOR POV4 months later Time has never moved faster for me. When I lived with Nathan I constantly felt unmotivated and unfullfilled. I wanted more, but I didn't know what. I thought it was the forest calling to me or the sense of adventure, but I was wrong. Now I have everything I could want and time won't slow down long enough for me to enjoy it. I have a ton of friends. I have a group of people who respect me and an amazing mate who pampers me everyday. But at the end of every day I wish I had more time. I wish I had smiled more at someone's story or talked with someone longer. Dom keeps telling me it's because I am still on human time, but I just feel like my time is limited with all of these amazing people. "Taylor, we can't postpone. We have to visit the cities and packs. The Creator wanted us to spread the news of our bond," Dom says as he sets done a dinner plate. I sigh loudly and Guilia rolls her eyes as she helps set the table with my mate. "The pack will survive
TAYLOR POV RATED R "What did you think," Dom asks as I slip into a loose t-shirt. "It was amazing," I admit before a sound from downstairs pulls my attention.Smells and sounds from everywhere in the castle keep distracting me. On the pack run I couldn't focus on much because my senses were so overloaded. I was barely able to keep up with everyone, but not because the other lycans were faster. I would see or hear things so unbelievable I would slow down. "Don't worry. You will get used to everything," Dom suddenly whispers from beside me and I snap my head toward him. He grins at the surprised expression on my face before lightly kissing my lips. Everything else falls away immediately as the presence of my mate overwhelms me. Yearning like I have never felt before zips through my body and I press myself into him. I begin to kiss his lips feverishly and grope his large chest. But before I can slide my hands down his stomach he breaks our kiss and smiles down at me lovingly.
The gentle breeze ruffles the fur of the pack of Lycans watching Taylor. They all seem to be tittering between excited and anxious as twelve o'clock approaches. Dom and Taylor's closest friends keep sniffing the air and glancing toward the forest on the other side of the wall. Cora's scent is finally drawing closer to the castle and not a moment too soon. There is sweat already beginning to bead on Taylor's forehead and her naked skin feels itchy as she sits and waits with Domenico beside her in the grass. "She is almost here," Dom whispers as he brushes a strand of Taylor's long hair away from her face. Taylor gives her mate a tense smile, but nothing else. Her jaw is clenched as she fights back the need to cry. Her bones feel as if they are on fire and her tendons feel as if they are ripping. Things have already begun inside of her and the clock has yet to strike midnight. Taylor is terrified of the pain that is to come. Doubts of whether she will be strong enough to bear i
TAYLOR POV "Stop looking at it as if it will bite you. Eat," Giulia orders and I shake my head before eyeing the practically raw dish of meats. My stomach churns at the thought of placing one of the extremely rare chunks of animal on my tongue."I can't. It's too bloody. It needs to go back on for... five minutes at least. Come on Giulia don't make me eat it like that," I plead and she growls a little before looking toward Dom for help. "Alpha, tell her. She shifts tonight! She will need the energy that protein will give her," Giulia says and Dom shifts his eyes off my face long enough to glance at Giulia. She widens her eyes a little in frustration and jerks her head in my direction. I grin a little.It's obvious Dom wasn't actually hearing the words coming from around him. He was lost in thought while staring at me. Probably thinking about all the things that can go wrong tonight... Thoughts kept me up all last night. "Taylor. Eat. You will most likely enjoy the taste. Cl
DOMENICO POV Goosebumps travel over my skin as I watch the water droplets fall from Taylor's dark hair. Lust slithers its way down my spine straight to my loins and I almost growl.I shouldn't be lusting after my mate when we have grieving members. Besides her shift is days away. I have done an excellent job of waiting this long. I can control myself a little longer. Taylor dries her hair in a small towel and I swallow the lump in my throat. I detach myself from her allure by thinking of my members and the friendships I lost yesterday. Sadness quickly sweeps away my lust and I am able to look at her again."Now that we are clean I need to hunt for the family members grieving. I must provide for them while they can not do it themselves," I say too stiffly as Taylor tugs a dress over her mouth-watering body. "No problem. I will go find Giulia and Alessia. My shift is in a week. I need to get my strength up. We need it now more than ever," she says sounding unaffected by my tone.
TAYLOR POV "Morning," I whisper as I peel myself off of a disgusting-smelling Dom. Last night we were so tired we didn't talk to Cora and Dom didn't rinse off. We just climbed into the bed we have been platonically sharing and cuddled. "Morning, my heart," Dom whispers back and I manage to give him a small grin. "We stink," I say after a moment and he nods slightly before climbing to his feet. His eyes hold sorrow as he moves around the sparse room and I feel his sadness all the way to my bones. I don't know how to encourage him since I am feeling the same way. "We should get washed up and visit with your sister," I say softly, and Dom halts in his tracks. He looks even sadder before he sighs and looks at me. His face appears punched. Almost as if he is unwilling to disclose whatever is on his mind and I grow fearful. What could be worse than yesterday? "She left us last night. She is traveling to all the packs before us to ensure Luna Lihua didn't poison anyone else a
Taylor POV The sunset looks so peaceful as we wait for our pack members to show up and it makes me feel sad. How can such a pretty sky be missed by people who were smiling and laughing with us this morning?Giulia told me we had casualties. She didn't tell me who or how many. She seemed to be uncomfortable saying in front of the young lycans or she was uncomfortable because she thought the news might send me into another crying fit. I don't know which, but I could tell she was limiting the information she was sharing with me. Finally, silhouettes appear on the horizon and my heart shudders in my chest.As they grow closer I spot the dried blood clearly visible on the fur of everyone. Both from their injuries and the battle... But that wasn't the hardest thing to see. The limp bodies being carried homemade the Lycans around me erupt in emotional episodes identical to mine from an hour ago. Dom and three other males that are carrying our fallen lay them down gently in the gra