I cracked my back and winced from the ache I felt there. I had spent too long hunched over last night. Why was I hunched over half the night, you ask? Devil Denise. That’s why. She spent an extra long time lecturing me last night and as punishment, she made me scrub the grout on the tiles in the whole entire kitchen. Her reasoning was that not only did she catch me spending more time with Carter, but I had stayed out extremely late without telling her beforehand. Did I mention to her that Paisley was an adult?No, because then I would have had to clean the grout in the upstairs bathrooms as well. How on earth did Paisley even deal with that woman? Or better yet, how did Phil? He married her.But hey, at least I got some great grout cleaning tips out of it. The keyword: Toilet Bowl Cleaner.I walked down the hallway of the packhouse on my way to the cafeteria for my lunch break. We got free lunches as part of being a childcare worker. Apparently it was taco tuesday, and you won’t
The office was unrecognizable to how I left it barely an hour ago. The desk was pushed further back, one of the chairs was flipped over, there were papers all over the floor, cabinets were strewn open and there were tootsie roll wrappers everywhere. At first, I was so shocked by the state of the room that I didn’t notice Carter anywhere. “Carter?” I called as I walked over the loose papers and desk items strewn about the floor. As I rounded the desk, I realized why I hadn’t seen Carter when I first came in. He was resting against the corner by the shaded window, so still that I would have thought he was a piece of furniture because of all the chaos throughout the room. Carter was a wreck. His hair looked run through numerous times, his clothes were haphazardly untucked and pulled, even one of the top buttons of his dress shirt was undone. But what startled me most of all- was his face.The once brilliantly shining man whose smile could stop a crowd, looked ashen and hollow. His ey
I pressed my face into the pillow of my bed and screamed all my frustration into it. Emotional frustration, sexual frustration- you name it. Why was I in Paisley’s bedroom and not continuing the hottest intimate session with the world’s sexiest man, you ask?Well, you see…“Perhaps it’s because you know you’re all talk.” I snickered breathlessly. Carter grinned up at me devilishly and without breaking eye-contact, he unbuttoned my pants.“I’m going to punish that dirty mouth of yours.” Carter’s deep voice growled. In the blink of an eye, Carter managed to get my pants down to my ankles and thrust across the floor. The cold air nipped my thighs, making goose bumps rise in attention.Carter dragged his hands up my legs agonizingly slowly, feeling the tender flesh there. His gaze was burning me, burning my soul and setting it aflame with desire.I felt powerful with my head above him. His face was resting between my thighs and his hungry lips were taking in all of me.Finally- his hands
“That old bitch still has you on the leash, doesn’t she?” I looked around to find the source of the crude voice. When I realized it came from Abby, I stared in shock. Abby smirked at me and nodded for me to follow. Abby flashed the lights of her black mini-cooper but I stopped halfway down the gravel drive. “I need to grab some clothes.” I uttered, still dumbfounded at the flip in character Abby showed me. “You act like I haven’t hooked you up with my clothes for years, Pays.” Abby rolled her eyes and opened her trunk. “Hmm… it’s been forever since you’ve been able to get out so let’s go with something flashy tonight.” I made my way over to see what she was messing with and saw bags full of articles of clothing, accessories, and shoes. They weren’t just regular street clothes either- these were all clubbing outfits. Tube tops, six inch stilettos, chokers, you name it. “Are we going to a club?” I asked, shocked. I had never gone clubbing before. I never had the money for clubbing o
The inside of the club smelled like sweaty bodies, rancid piss, and cheap marujuana. I’d never been to a club but this would definitely not have been my first pick for a place to go to. The loud bass music vibrated in my ears and that mixed with the sound of loud cheering and laughter made it hard to hear Abby as she chatted away about something to do with a guy named Isaac, but I didn’t know for sure.Abby led me over to a large group in a circular booth in the corner of the low lit club. There were several patches of white powder on the table and one didn’t have to be a genius to know what it was. The table was filled to the brim with large muscled men and a few women besides them in club outfits as well. Several were too busy sticking their tongues down each other’s throats to notice our entrance, however there was one familiar face.“Jules, baby!” Abby faked sincerity as Jules pouted next to the largest man at the table. This man had hair dark as night with stubble to match, and
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the beast lover.”A blonde haired man with dark hooded eyes smirked at me, and I recognized him as one of the men who was seated at the booth with T.J. earlier. My intrusive thoughts took over and I immediately turned on my heel and walked away. I wasn’t dealing with this kind of bull shit again. I wanted to have some fun.I smacked straight into the firm chest of yet another one of the men who was at the table.“Where are you headed off to so eagerly? It looked like you needed to use the bathroom.” The second one with black hair smirked at me. “Want us to show you where it is?” What was the saying, ‘trouble comes in a pair’? It seemed to apply to these bone-heads.“No thanks, I’ve been here before.” I shrugged and dodged the grabbing hands of the man who tried to block me and practically ran into the crowd of dancers on the floor.Women laughed as they danced with their friends or grinded against someone. Men danced with sweat dripping down some of th
Beta Carter:My wolf was growling at me- once again. I could feel him there, pacing in my mind. He wanted Paisley and he wanted her now. It was getting harder to control him every day but being summoned away by Damien just as we were about to taste her for the first time- that was his final straw. He was snarling at the mental barriers I put him behind, digging his sharp claws at my mind, making me wince. Keep it together Carter. Control your wolf.I’d always had a harder time controlling my wolf more than others excluding Damien. However, he seemed to embrace his out of control nature more than I which led to his ruthless nature. Something I had admired when I was young but lately…I knocked on the door to Damein’s office and waited for permission to enter. Damien was always a professional person and didn’t tolerate disrespect- no matter who it came from.I heard him mutter an ‘enter’ and let myself in. He was exactly where I left him a few hours ago. He was slumped over his desk wh
Beta Carter:I was a ball of boiling pure rage. My wolf had taken over my body as we listened to the phone call of two men disrespecting our mate. He was shaking with the desire for blood as we continued listening as we swerved through the streets, breaking all speed limits and barely avoiding accidents. All as we continued to search for Paisley.There was something that all wolves knew deep in their soul. It wasn’t spoken much but it was acknowledged as truth no matter how often others- humans especially, seemed skeptical of it. The phenomena was- that no matter where in the world a wolf was, no matter how far away they were from their mate, if they were in danger- their mate would always be able to find them. Some said it was because of the mate bond, others said it was because of the tying between their souls that brought them together- even if they were worlds apart. There was a pull in my soul, guiding me towards her- towards Paisley. Her soul was calling out to mine in ways that
They say that when your body is under extreme distress, it triggers one of two reactions: Fight, and attack your opponent with either physical or intellectual strength; or Flight, and flee your opponent with terrifying speed fueled by adrenaline. What people don’t realize is that there is a third reaction when your body is under extreme distress, one that is not acknowledged as heavily as the others, and that is Freeze. Freeze locks your body into place or perhaps takes away your power to move your limbs. Everything is frozen in your entire body- except your mind. Your mind is racing with unparalleled thoughts far too fast to place any action in them. You’re simply helpless to the orchestrations of your mind and imprisoned by your body. You cannot move, speak, or even blink, yet your mind is screaming for you to do so and punishes you with thousands of synaptic thoughts pulsating your brain, frying it from the inside.I unfortunately belonged to this group.“What did you say?” Carte
My body was utterly exhausted, yet I had never felt better. It was a long night of passion, more than I had ever experienced in my life, yet he never penetrated me. Carter spent hours thoroughly ‘taking care of me’ as he called it, with half of it being on his kitchen table. Every time I tried to reciprocate his touches, his passion- he would simply grab my wrist and start kissing my palm and scold me with the mention of how I was too eager. “I just want to touch you. Don’t take away my pleasure tonight, beautiful,” he had said after my second orgasm when I had tried to grab his length. To punish me for going against him, he made the next session last twice as long before he allowed me to come. I had been in tears by the time he finally gave in. Even now, just the thought of all that we did last night sent heat straight to my core, along with the exhaustion from how tightly wound my body was last night.I felt a soft shift of a weight underneath me and a seductive rumble carry through
Carter Lockwood’s home was not as I expected it to be. Typically, significant characters in werewolf novels had such grand mansion-like houses with manicured lawns and a beauty to be envied by all who entered.Carter’s house- or should I say cabin, reeked of humble naturalness. It was a small cottage with natural foot pathways and wild plants growing all around, protecting the secluded little house from outsiders. Wildflowers peeked out in bloom in various areas and trees surrounded the house on the sides, tucking it nice and neat for an adventurous hiker who wanted a natural environment. For some reason, it seemed to fit exactly what I already knew about Carter and his soul. He wasn’t one to brag, and definitely wasn’t the one who liked the spotlight naturally, but rather had it forced on him from duty.I fell in love just looking at the beautiful little home. I don’t know how Carter knew what I was thinking but his wolf rumbled in approval at my satisfaction and pressed his nose de
“I told you to come to me when you need something, didn’t I?”I whipped my head around to see a familiar dark silhouette hiding in the shadows of the street. The figure took a step closer to light themselves under the pale yellow light of the nearby street lamp. Carter looked disheveled. His hair looked unkempt, like his hands ran through it over and over again. His tense muscles clenched as he slowly walked over to me, putting me in shadow as the back of him lit up like he was covered in heavenly glow.When my eyes finally traveled to his face, he was furious. Considering how much was going on tonight, I didn’t even want to try to analyze what was going through that mind of his. Not tonight. I was so tired.Carter held out his hand for me to grab. I simply stared at it.“Damn it, Paisley, just take my hand.” He sighed in frustration.Trying to put a halt in my tears, I eased my hand into his warm one. Without a second of hesitation, he pulled me to my fight and wrapped his arms aroun
“There you are! We were worried sick about you!” Denise and Phil ran out of the house. A look of genuine concern was on Phil’s face but Denise’s was obviously a burning fury disguised as concern. She assessed Carter for a moment before throwing her arm around my shoulders and trying to brisk me inside.“Thank you, Beta Carter.” She smiled tensely. “I’m sure my daughter put you through so much trouble tonight. We appreciate you taking her home.” Denise’s tight grip on my shoulders practically pushed me up the porch steps. I glanced over my shoulder to see Phil shaking Carter’s hand and thanking him earnestly for his help. Carter nodded respectfully but it was clear he was still filled with rage from what happened. He couldn’t take his eyes off mine as I was ushered over the threshold and into the house.Phil came in a moment later and shut the door just as Denise shoved me away from her.“How dare you!” She yelled, pointing her wrinkled finger at me. “All you’ve ever done is give me tr
“Are you really that clueless?” He stared at me. I blinked and backed up, the sexual tension melting away to a cold icy river between us. “Excuse me?” I raised my brow, feeling so cold suddenly. Goose bumps raised on the back of my neck.“You could have been killed going to a place like that! Why on earth would you go to a club- and a well known RIH club at that! Don’t you realize that just being mated to me makes you an enemy to them?!” Carter yelled, talking angrily with his hands. I stared straight ahead and merely folded my arms, the cold seeming into my bones. “You act like I had a choice.” I murmured.“Well, didn’t you?” He scoffed. “Your father told me tonight that you were having a sleepover at a friend's house. So you can imagine my surprise when I found you in a club when not only are you underage but the club is in the heart of the RIH community?”“You didn’t tell my father where I was, did you?” I whipped my head in his direction, fear creeping through me. “When I real
It was absolute chaos all around me. I couldn’t hear anything except the dull ringing in my ears from the gun that fired next to me but I could see the massive wolves ambushing the human men with guns. Guns fired from the men in a panic, lighting up the dark side of the alley for brief moments like lightning. I was shoved to the ground for a moment as T.J. screamed something in my ears, saliva spitting as he shouted something with pure rage directed right at me. Out the the corner of my eye I saw T.J. raise his gun once more and aim it at me but before he could fire, a large wolf tackled him to the ground, clamping his jaws around T.J.’s firing hand.The ringing turned to a small dull noise as shouting and screaming were starting to be heard in my ears. I sat up to watch the same wolf decimating T.J.’s arm and shoulder.It was Carter. I hadn’t had a chance to take in his appearance before because of the gun trained on me, but now that I was out of immediate harm's way- I gasped from
Beta Carter:I was a ball of boiling pure rage. My wolf had taken over my body as we listened to the phone call of two men disrespecting our mate. He was shaking with the desire for blood as we continued listening as we swerved through the streets, breaking all speed limits and barely avoiding accidents. All as we continued to search for Paisley.There was something that all wolves knew deep in their soul. It wasn’t spoken much but it was acknowledged as truth no matter how often others- humans especially, seemed skeptical of it. The phenomena was- that no matter where in the world a wolf was, no matter how far away they were from their mate, if they were in danger- their mate would always be able to find them. Some said it was because of the mate bond, others said it was because of the tying between their souls that brought them together- even if they were worlds apart. There was a pull in my soul, guiding me towards her- towards Paisley. Her soul was calling out to mine in ways that
Beta Carter:My wolf was growling at me- once again. I could feel him there, pacing in my mind. He wanted Paisley and he wanted her now. It was getting harder to control him every day but being summoned away by Damien just as we were about to taste her for the first time- that was his final straw. He was snarling at the mental barriers I put him behind, digging his sharp claws at my mind, making me wince. Keep it together Carter. Control your wolf.I’d always had a harder time controlling my wolf more than others excluding Damien. However, he seemed to embrace his out of control nature more than I which led to his ruthless nature. Something I had admired when I was young but lately…I knocked on the door to Damein’s office and waited for permission to enter. Damien was always a professional person and didn’t tolerate disrespect- no matter who it came from.I heard him mutter an ‘enter’ and let myself in. He was exactly where I left him a few hours ago. He was slumped over his desk wh