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FORTY-FIVE | RABBIT
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2021-10-26 04:59:50Atticus
Decorations lay in tatters across the grounds. Children huddled in groups beneath wide, leafy trees – as though they would offer some measure of protection.Atticus tried miserably to smile at them. He had to be strong for his pack, even as panic choked him. Whispers filled the air around him, and he tried to shut his ears to the words “Impulsive” and “Brutal”; that was not what he’d meant to be. He’d only ever wanted to do his best for the Blood Moon pack.
Mint that had been strung in vials from tree to tree now lay upon the grass, the shattered remains of the glass cracking beneath his boots. Rabbits – a sign of family, of protection – scurried into patches of undergrowth, freed from their enchantments when their magical cages had been broken. Their wide, innocent eyes mocked and haunted him. Bunting in the colour o
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LilyClutching a wicker basket brimming with baked goods, Lily strolled home in the late afternoon sun. The trees came alive in the sunlight, their boughs gleaming, appearing to bend inwards in a series of arches, leading her to Elijah’s – to her – cabin.And it was hers, now. She’d made it her own: Lily picked wildflowers and filled vases with them, until the entire cabin was teeming with seasonal flowers and foliage. She’d adorned the door with a handmade wreath, which she’d then made more of and sold at the market. The wreaths had been followed by pressings of dried flowers, framed in hand-carved wood, and suddenly Lily had found herself quite at home in the pine forests and meadows that made up the Sea Pine pack’s territory.Her first month with Elijah, here, in his home, had been magical. She’d unravelled him, lying o
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LilyLily felt as though her bones were rattling. With shaking fingers she removed the crumpled letter from the crumpled envelope, smoothing it out on the desk as she lowered herself into the chair behind it.She lit a much-used candle that had dripped and oozed wax down itself onto the tabletop. Shards of moonlight cut through the hastily-closed curtains, peering through the gaps as though it was as interested as she was by the contents of the letter that her mate had gone to such lengths to keep from her.Her breaths felt too quick, too shallow. Elijah gave her everything she’d ever needed but never known how to ask for. Though the sting of Atticus’s rejection had long since been soothed, the gut-clenching fear that this was all a fallacy, ever intimate moment they’d ever shared, made the pain of not being good enough wash over her anew.
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AtticusAtticus had a lot to thank the Red Ripper pack for. Their ingenuity, for one. He liked a lot of their ideas, and their bravery, and their boldness. He hated them for it too, of course – but he couldn’t help but admire them either.Compared to the White Oak pack, their evil paled. His father had to physically restrain him when they’d come to gloat, saying they should never have fought them over a bit of woodland. He would have killed them all, one by one, their thick-skulled Alpha first, had it not been for his dad.He’d had to begrudgingly thank him for his foresight when White Oak had laid down the real reason behind their visit: to offer them enough basic crop to survive. They hadn’t wanted to hurt them; just to make a point. Atticus had nearly refused them on principle, but it was a windfall he knew wouldn’t land in his lap again.
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Lily“There’s something I need to discuss with you.”Elijah propped himself up on his elbow. His hair was dishevelled from intermittent sleep, and his eyes were drowsy. Scrubbing a hand over his scarred face, he waited for Lily to rouse herself enough to answer.Lily blinked blearily back at him. She was drooped over the kitchen table, her hand numb around a now-cold cup of coffee. The ink of her notes had smeared across her palm and up her wrist like spilled blood.She managed to keep her gaze fixed on him for just long enough to ask, “What?”They’d spent the last week in a haze of plans and notes and maps, sending out scouts to get information and runners to relay it back to them. Lily had hardly had time to think in the wake of Atticus’s letter, and the deadly consequences she was sure it held
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LilyHeat scorched Lily’s skin. She held her hands up, palms facing forward, as she edged closer.“Elijah!” she screamed. Panic engulfed her, swelling like the tidal wave of fire filling the kitchen. “Elijah!”A wooden beam groaned and creaked above. Moving deftly to the side, Lily dodged it as it fell. Her breath came in short gasps, fear strangling her.Choking and coughing, Lily yanked her top off and wrapped it around her nose and mouth. Tears streamed down her soot-stained cheeks, snaking paths and dripping from her chin.The only relief afforded to her was the steady pull of the bond. Elijah couldn’t be dead; he couldn’t be, not when she could still feel the tug of it towing her towards the kitchen. The kitchen, where the flames were coming from…“Elijah!&r
Last Updated : 2021-11-04The Broken Alpha FIFTY-TWO | DAUGHTER OF SUNLIGHT
LilyRunning was easier the second time.With their home on the cusp of the densest part of the pine forest, Lily turned tail and ducked out of the cabin. Memories of Atticus swarmed unbidden through her mind, blurring with images so fresh they felt unstable, not yet fully formed; Elijah’s face hardened, his grey eyes turning green. It was not the truth that hurt her so – it was the lies he had told along the way.Lily raced into the undergrowth, hardly feeling the harsh scrapes of writhing thorns as they dug into her exposed skin. Blood pounded in her temples. The pines swallowed the evening sunlight, casting her into dappled shadow.Elijah was half faelen.Chest heaving, Lily shuddered to a halt and vomited. She fell to her knees, wicked branches scratching her face. New scars to add to the ones she had collected in Blood M
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ElijahGrey eyes hardened, turning dark as they surveyed the damage to his warm, familiar kitchen. He focused on the blackened counters, on the charred table. He focused on anything he could to keep the pain at bay.Just like Leahne, Lily had seen him for what he truly was and left.Without thinking, Elijah swept from his cabin. He couldn’t stand seeing what he had done. The evening sun heated his back and shoulders as he marched across his territory. He did not deserve such gentle caresses as afforded to him by the sun. He was a creature of fire; to revel in it after today made tears spring to his eyes. He could barely see by the time he reached the one place he knew he would find solace.Elijah had been here twice before.“No one will ever love you as I did,” Leahne swore in his ear, beckoning him down towards the riv
Last Updated : 2021-11-08
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The Broken Alpha 109 | EPILOGUE
LilyLily stared down at the letter, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. There had been something nagging at her, ever since the battle, and at last she understood what it was.Lily,Or I suppose I should refer to you by your proper title. Luna Lily,I always knew you would grow to be a completely insufferable pack leader. We last met at the Great Battle, as it is already being termed – and, really, should we not wait until longer than a few months have passed before we name things with such grandiose titles? – but you did not seem to recognise me. If I were another, I may have been hurt by that. Then again, you never were very good at seeing through my disguises.Therefore, I have decided to be blunt. I have lost everything. My home and my people are gone. I took that Alpha wolf you had a soft spot for, Atticus, to bargain with Blood Moon. To no avail, might I add. He was more irksome than he was useful, so he has been deposited back in his rightful home. The issue is this: I have no
The Broken Alpha 108 | HEARTFELT
ElijahElijah stared up into Lily’s beautiful face. “Elijah?” she breathed. He gazed at her, feeling like he was staring straight into the sun. Her warmth enveloped him, bringing heat into his frozen limbs. Elijah flexed his fingers and toes, waiting for the dark to swallow him once more.But it did not. He waited and waited, his heart in his throat, but nothing happened. He took a breath, then another. And life went on. His life went on.“I’m alive?” he whispered, raising his bloodied hands to the morning sun. “I think so?” Lily laughed; it broke, becoming a sob. Gently, he was lowered to the ground. They fell into each other, their hands clutching desperately, their bodies pressed flush. Elijah dropped his forehead against Lily’s, just breathing for a moment, relishing in the way his chest hollowed and filled with air. “You’re alive,” she whispered, pulling back to stare at him with wonder swimming in her eyes. “How? I saw you. I,” a hiccup cut her off, and more tears filled h
The Broken Alpha 107 | SUNRISE
Lily“Lily?” her dad murmured, his strong hand settling on her trembling shoulder. “Lils, we can’t stay here. We need to go home.”Sunlight fell in slanted beams through the trees, casting everything in a strange, gold-green light. Elijah looked more faelen than he ever had before, his skin pallid, his pointed ears sticking out of his long hair. She swallowed hard. Her face was dry and stiff with tears and her throat ached from screaming. And her heart lay in tatters on the ground beside him.“I won’t leave him,” she rasped, bowing over his too-still body and clutching at his torn clothes. “I can’t.”He sighed, the sound twisted and broken. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s all right. You don’t have to leave him. I won’t either.”She turned to look at her father with fresh tears beading along the dark sweep of her lashes. “You won’t leave me?”“Never again,” he swore. The lump in her throat grew too large for her to speak, but she nodded, her lips quivering. Silent sobs overcame her for
The Broken Alpha 106 | AUBURN
AtticusNeither Ralphin nor Trove spoke to Atticus as they went to face the Blood Moon pack. They kept sharing long glances, only looking away when Atticus tried to catch their eyes.The battle was already diminishing as they joined it. With the magic of Red Ripper gone, the wolves were shifting back into their human forms as the moon set. They had no leaders, no plan, and the Blood Moon pack were fresh and uninjured. Atticus barely had to think as he fell into the easy routine of fighting, punching and scraping and kicking. This part had always come to him with ease. It was other things he struggled with. Other things – like Lily. He slammed his fist into the jaw of a weedy, speckled wolf. Huh, he thought, it was no wonder that one had wanted to join Red Ripper and use their magical hoo-hah to get ahead. It didn’t stand a chance against a real wolf like him. He gripped its throat, squeezed, and something snapped deep within it. He dropped it to the ground, a sneer tugging at his mo
The Broken Alpha 105 | EMPTY
LilyNo.Lily could not think beyond that single word. This couldn’t be happening. She’d waited so long to see Elijah again, and now…No.She shoved out of Atticus’s arms, rage burning through her. “You,” she snarled, slamming her fists into his chest. His unharmed chest, which had been healed by Elijah. “You did this.”He looked at her blankly. “Of course I did. I did it for us, Lily. You would never have been truly happy with me while Alpha – Alpha Elijah lived. He was basically dead already.” He inspected his nails, wrinkling his nose as he picked out a sliver of dried blood.A sob built in her throat. She tore away from him and fell to her knees beside Elijah, gripping his ripped shirt in her fists and bowing her head over his. Her tears fell onto his face, blurring her vision so she couldn’t even see the man she loved. “Come back to me,” she rasped again, her whole body shaking with need.Warm hands pressed in on her. She recognised the touch of Elijah’s Beta, Ithia, and her own
The Broken Alpha 104 | IN DEATH
ElijahElijah fought through the darkness, every step excruciating. His burns seared his flesh, but he was alive. For now.His heart thrashed. The sounds of battle raged ahead, howls and choked off screams and the dull thumps of bodies smacking the ground. It was messy, undignified, and Elijah had never longed to be a part of something so badly.Because Lily had to be there. Everything in him was screaming that she was, even though the thick, pulsating magic cloying the air was throwing off the power of their mate bond. He could not pin her down – but still he knew.At last he reached the clearing. The remnants of magic hung heavy in the cool night air, sparking at his touch as he stepped through the boundary they’d made and through the ring of trees. He paused, sucking in heavy breaths, leaning heavily on a trunk as he tried to pick out Lily amongst the mass of wolves.Bile rose in his throat. Bodies were piled up everywhere, ringing the clearing, bloody and mutilated. He realised wi
The Broken Alpha 103 | KING
AtticusAtticus relished every racing beat of his heart. He was alive, more alive than he had ever felt, and each solid pound of it meant that he was still there. Still fighting.Still fighting for her.When he’d seen that arrogant, too-pretty-for-his-own-good, so-called Alpha kiss Lily, he’d seen red. He’d let that bright, burning red edging his vision become a prediction of the future: Apollo would bleed for all that he’d done. But this fight was no normal fight. Atticus was strong, brutally so, but Apollo never seemed to tire or lag. He had no weaknesses that Atticus could take advantage of, no faltering glances or too-slow reactions. He was on top form, all of the time, and Atticus’s energy was starting to wane.He whipped his head around, searching through the crowd for his Beta or Gamma. They were lost to the writhing sea of bodies, part of the blur of dark fur and bloody teeth surrounding him, packed tight in all directions. His pride kept him from asking them for help. Apoll
The Broken Alpha 102 | CEREMONIAL
LilyA howl shattered the clearing. It tore apart the chants, reverberating through each of the elements swirling through the darkness.The blade froze a hair’s breadth above Lily’s chest. She let out a ragged breath, though her eyes remained fixed on the glint of the blade. It shimmered in the moonlight, trembling in Peverton’s shaky grip.“Potentia grym,” he muttered, shaking his head. Then, again, louder, he said: “Potentia grym!” and raised the blade anew. Before he could slam it down into her chest, though, a huge black wolf smashed into him. Lily gasped, twitching away from the blade as it fell. It caught her foreleg, slicing down towards her paw, her blood dripping down onto the earth before she could tear away.The wolf towered over her on her altar, its fur alight with all four elements. The ends of its black fur were tinged red by the flames; air made its hair sway; ivy coiled up its legs; water slicked down its back. A loud sizzling noise drew her attention away. Her bloo
The Broken Alpha 101 | WARDS
ElijahThe brush of the magic skittering over the veil was cool to the touch. Elijah dipped his fingertips into it, a shiver running down his spine and raising the tiny hairs prickling down his forearms. A sense of foreboding washed over him as he stepped through, his foot landing solidly in Red Ripper’s territory.The entry point of this veil was different to the last one he’d come through. Darkness ebbed and flowed like a river in the far wood, but Elijah turned away from it. He had one goal to focus on: find the cells. Once he’d managed that unnoticed, he could worry about the incessant scratching at the back of his mind and the oppressive weight of magic hanging thick in the night air.Ducking low, Elijah picked his way towards a flickering light in the distance. He’d drawn out a scribbled map of the territory, as it was in his memory, but whether that was accurate to the reality he’d witnessed or if the Red Ripper wolves had changed the pack’s layout since then, he had no idea. I
