Elly The moment Dane’s teeth pierced Elly’s flesh there was a moment of numbness and disbelief. He marked her, claimed her. A bond with a werewolf was nothing like the bond that she had with Darren. Granted, she never completed the ritual with him. They joined on a spiritual level but they were supposed to join physically to feel the full effects. The tether pulled her to him, it wanted to be completed so her need for him would get stronger the longer she resisted. That feeling was what drove her into Rowan’s arms before. What she felt from Dane’s bite took her breath away. The flood of emotions was indecipherable. A searing pain radiated inside of her in places she couldn’t identify. It wasn’t physical pain but it surpassed any she had ever felt before. When Dane finally withdrew his teeth from her neck he let her fall to the ground. Tears streamed out of Elly’s half-open eyes. She was frozen in place. Unable to think or move, all she could do is feel. Somehow the bond with Darren
Elly By the time the car stopped moving the sky had already turned light blue. The soft morning light flooded through the windows reminding Elly of just how little sleep she had gotten in the last week. The feelings coming through her bonds were still overwhelming and exhausting to her. They pulled up onto the familiar property and Rowan wasted no time. “My wolves?” He hopped out of the car before it came to a full stop. “Nia, please show him the way,” Cecily called over her shoulder as she helped Elly out of the car. Moving her feet one after the other was about all Elly could do at that point. Ahead of them, Austin rushed inside with Amber. Cecily got her to her room and gently sat her in a chair. Elly tried to focus her gaze but everything kept slipping out of focus. “Elly, hon, I need you to focus.” She pushed her hair back off of her shoulder and gasped. A light knock at the door nearly made her jump out of her skin. “What?” She snapped, her calm demeanor cracking. “I need
Rowan “Is it true?” Rowans asked the second the door shut. “Were you going to use me as a sacrifice?” Elly’s silence put him on edge. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear. He mistrusted witches so much he would believe her no matter what she said. “Sort of.” His eyes glowed, it was clear he still did not have solid control over. His wolf again. Sweat dripped off her forehead and she was trembling in the chair. He knew he wasn’t the cause but he still chose to stay silent and wait for her to elaborate. “It was part of the agreement I made with him to save Amber’s life.” Rowan narrowed his eyes at her and searched her for any signs of deceit. Her heartbeat was uneven, he wasn’t sure how she was holding herself up at that point. Eris wanted to help but he was just as hurt and angry as Rowan was. She blinded him and endangered his pack in more than one way. He couldn’t forgive that. “Go on.” Eris pushed forward. He wanted to hear her full explanation. It didn’t matter, it couldn’t. The
Rowan Fox and Luke both went wide-eyed. Rowan’s mother was the pack’s mother. There wasn’t a single person that didn’t adore her. Rowan’s mind raced. If Kara had his mother’s phone then she knew that Rowan found a way to defy her. This was a worst-case scenario. “Kara, I should have called you as soon as I realized. I…I’m sorry. Are you okay? Did I hurt anyone?” She held the phone up to her face getting a better view of the screen. Rowan did his best to keep the fear off his face but was certain he was about to throw up. “You mean you don’t remember?” She narrowed her cold eyes at him. “Honestly, the last few days have been hazy. I’ve been lying to everyone and saying I’m fine but…I’ve been losing control of my wolf. Eris seems like he’s getting stronger the closer we get to the full moon. I’ve been doing my best to contain him but yesterday he took over completely. I was completely locked out. There are over 24 hours that I’ve completely lost. “ he took a deep breath and let his v
Elly Streams of hot water crashed against Elly’s bruised and battered body but she felt nothing. It could have been worse. It should have been worse. Her hand wandered up to her shoulder and thought of how much pain she was in. That wound was terrible. Rowan’s wolf tore her open yet there wasn’t even a scar. Her hand kept moving up her shoulder until she felt a shockwave of pain shoot through her body. What was it with random werewolves biting her? She didn’t know enough about them to know if that was normal. Rebekah thought educating her was important but it was obvious that education was limited. ‘Werewolves are dangerous, they killed her mother, and they want to kill her,’ was the extent of what she was taught. The bite on her neck was swollen. It made it hard for her to move her head. She was grateful to her aunt for teaching her how to block out the mark from Dane and the tether from Darren. Keeping the wall up in her mind took so much energy and she was so tired. Elly was begin
Elly When Elly opened her eyes again the bright morning sky had shifted to total darkness. She peeled herself from her damp sheets. The heat that tormented her as she was falling asleep was still roasting her from within. She stumbled toward the door and tried to call out for her aunt. The words stuck in her dry throat, each syllable felt like it left a cut as she tried to force it out. She fell to her knees in a coughing fit. Water, that’s what she needed. She pushed herself to her feet and used the wall to keep her balance as she made her way to the kitchen. It was the first time she had seen the place quiet. They said they were having celebrations every night until the full moon. Guilt gnawed at her. This moon was a big deal and she ruined their ritual. Because of her, they were attacked. Her cousin was injured. She looked out the window and saw there were no torches, no bonfire, no party. There was no one out and about. Just a somber moonless night. She turned the cold tap on and
Rowan There was a lot to think about and not enough time in the day for his brain to process it all. Rowan had been running on the bare minimum amount of sleep for weeks. Ever since the wolves of his pack started losing control and becoming violent. An out-of-control pack was a sign of an incompetent alpha. There was no way Rowan could sleep. The witches of Eternal Flame were very attentive. They checked on the progress of the injured wolves frequently while still giving them privacy to discuss pack matters. At one point they even checked on Rowan, Luke, and Fox. Since Rowan was an alpha they showed him back to the room they reserved for special guests in the main cabin. He wondered if that was their covenstead or if it was just Cecily and Austin’s house. The way it was located centrally to the coven and the way everyone came and went as they pleased showed it was the heart of the village. Yet it was nothing like the covenstead at Silver Moon. Theirs had a cold and unwelcoming envir
Rowan Whatever those kids gave him might not have been magic but it worked like it was. Rowan was thrust into a deep and dreamless sleep. It felt like hours past when his consciousness was yanked out of the void by screaming. He tried to pull his heavy lids apart with minimum success. The screaming continued. If someone wasn’t being murdered they were about to be. He slid out of bed and the room swayed around him. It took a few tries to get the door opened. When he finally managed to step foot into the hallway it seemed to stretch forever twisting into the distance. Rowan took one look at the spiraling hallway and turned to go back to bed. The screams started anew and he groaned. Stumbling toward the source he promised himself he would never let himself need a sleep aid again. “Selene, I swear if you get me through this without falling or puking I will do better. I dunno at what I’ll do better at but dammit I’ll try.” He mumbled a prayer to the moon goddess. It must have worked beca
Amber“What if he’s right?” Her father’s low calm voice asked.“I’m counting on him to be. She needs to go to her mates if the plan is going to work.” Her mother’s voice was calm as well. Too calm.“Sessy…” her father warned.“Oh stop. It’s a gamble sure. But this is what she was born to do. We just need to do our part. To do that, Elly needs to go to her mates.” Ice flooded Amber’s veins when her parents’ words. Her feet continued to carry her forward until she was standing in front of her parents. Their conversation died down when they noticed her and they each turned their smiling faces toward her.“Hey hon, are you not feeling well? You look pale.” Her mother got up and touched her palms to Amber’s forehead and cheeks. Amber grabbed her by the wrists and lowered her hands away from her. The struggle in her mind between telling her parents about her vision and calling them out for betraying her cousin had her speechless.“Maybe you should go lay back down.” Her father moved from th
AmberAfter everything that happened Amber’s parents treated her like she was made of glass. It was a non stop rotation of her parents and Luke hovering over her while she was in bed. There were even other members of the coven that popped in to check on her. It was heartwarming but unnecessary. She was fine, they had some of the best healers in the country.Despite all the rest and healing Amber she still felt worse than she had in her entire life. Seeing what happened to her cousin nearly broke her. Ellie felt more like a sister than a cousin. Their connection was instant and Amber wanted to protect it at all costs. Part of her even resented her parents for not finding her sooner. She replayed everything in her mind and realized there had to be more to it. There was no way someone as special as Ellie was just born to die. She needed to speak with her parents about it as soon as possible. Or at least she would if it weren’t for Luke. When he was near her it made her mind feel clouded,
LukeThe murderous gleam in his best friend’s eye was sobering. Seeing the blood of his pack mate dripping from his alpha’s mouth was terrifying. Eris was always a strong-willed wolf. It was a sign of truly strong alpha that their wolf had a mind of their own but the human counterpart could remained in control. It was madness for Luke to challenge him in the first place. Unsure if it was his rapidly approaching death or if whatever was clouding his mind had passed but Luke truly regretted the challenge. More than that he was confused by it. Even his wolf, Solis, was confused. They loved their alpha. He could tell them to jump off a cliff and Luke would happily oblige.“Alpha Rowan, please.” He croaked. The damage to his neck was substantial and healing slowly. The only thing that healed slower than an alpha bite was a wound made with silver. It was rare for him to use official titles with Rowan but he was desperate. “We need to go. There are vampires right there!” The chances of thes
Elly It was unclear if the injection of ice into Elly’s veins was from the clap of thunder that she felt in her bones more than she heard or the ear-shattering growl that somehow managed to be louder and more jarring. Her entire body locked up but she had to look. She needed to see. The massive white wolf that was once a welcome sight seemed off. Even from the distance they were at she could see its majestic fur was coated in blood and mud. It snapped and lunged at other wolves. This was a new fork in her path. Originally, she planned on going with the vampires to get away from her mates. “Planned” was a generous description. Elly was keenly aware that trusting vampires was more insane than trusting werewolves or other witches. The throbbing pain in her stomach was a good reminder that so far the vampires were the best option she had. Even now, with Rowan a scream away. If he hated her before he would despise her now that she was standing with a group of vampires. “How did we run i
“You better be worth the trouble.” Light danced in the vampire’s black eyes as he looked hungrily at Elly. She gulped back her panic not daring to ask what vampires wanted with her. The presence of one of her mates was drawing closer. Her eyes darted to the side where Dale was coming closer to her hiding place.The smile widened revealing the lethal glint of the razor-sharp teeth that were hidden beneath his full lips. He leaned in close to her exposed neck. Elly gulped back her fear.“I am.” Her voice was barely audible. It wasn’t a sentence she truly believed. The only thing that mattered what that everyone else seemed to believe it. The smile froze on the vampire’s face. “I am.” although she forced her voice out stronger, it was barely more than a whisper. He leaned closer and a splash of light fell across his chiseled face. His cold black eyes searched her face as she continued to look between him and her still-approaching mate.All she needed to do was call out and she would be r
Things escalated very quickly. Rain poured over them obscuring the light from the moon. There was no way the challenge could wait until they were back at the pack to do things right and from the look of the people around them, there would be more than one challenge. Just don’t kill them, Eris. Rowan told his wolf before receding to the back of his mind and giving him full control. By the end of his sentence, Lucas was already shifted and Solis was upfront and snarling. Rowan expected the fight of his life. He and Lucas had been training together their entire lives. No one knew his strengths and weaknesses better than his best friend.That’s exactly why Eris didn’t bother holding back. The second Lucas shifted and lunged for Rowan he easily dodged the attack and rounded on him. His attacks were relentless, grabbing him by the hind leg and slamming him into everything from the surrounding trees to the ground before slinging him toward the lake. He skipped across the water as easily as
RowanIt was getting late. Well, later. The full moon loomed over them making it hard to tell what time it was. Its fullness was a constant reminder that time was running out for Rowan to figure out how to save his pack. The thought that he had already failed so many of them, especially his mother, was what was keeping him from sleeping.Things were spiraling out of control and Rowan couldn’t figure out why. His mother had been training him to be Alpha his entire life. When his father died he had taken the mantle at such a young age. Strategizing was one of his strengths. He had to be strategic to avoid being challenged before he and his wolf fully were mature. Now, it’s as if he had never come up with a plan a day in his life. As the moon grew fuller his time to come up with something was running out and it did nothing to help him. Even Eris was completely silent. He was more than just the voice in Rowan’s head. He was his conscience and guide. They ran the pack together. Partners.
Elly“Another ward candle went out!” Rebekah came crashing in the door making Elly scream.“Listen…they can track us too. The three of us can’t hide together. Not with how powerful Elly already is…” It was clear he had a speech prepared, something he had been thinking about for a long time. It didn’t matter. Liv wasn’t hearing it. She pushed her palm against his mouth.“No. No. I’m not leaving my child. Ever. They’ll have to kill me first.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close.“Give me another option Liv. I won’t lose you two. I can’t.” His voice broke. There was an unimaginable hell on its way to their door step and he was powerless to protect his family. Rebekah cleared her throat.“If the problem is her power. Then it’s a problem you already know how to solve.” Liv choked on her tears. “What is she talking about.” Anthony held her back at arm’s length in an attempt to get a better look at her face. Elly held up one of her rubber duckies with a hole in the beak and squ
Elly“That must have been really painful.” A deep gentle voice cooed in Elly’s ear as strong hands lifted her from the ground. “We told you not to attempt this without us. You both could have seriously gotten hurt!.” Elly wiped at the tears in her eyes. Her sniffles drew in the thick smell of smoke. Was something burning? She blinked her irritated eyes at the bright kitchen. Darren was still in his mother’s arms bawling his eyes out as if he were the one that just had his powers siphoned.“What do you mean, Anthony? Someone did get hurt. My boy! His connection is torn worse than before thanks to your little princess!” Rebekah spits the words at them as she cradled her son tighter to her chest. His round face was cherry red from either the crying, the pressure of his mother’s grip, or both.“I think we both know that any fault for your son’s current condition does not lie with my three year old. Perhaps you should take your boy and calm him down while my wife and I take care of things