Are you #teamethan or #teamshane ??? I NEED TO KNOW.
It was all too easy to fall into step behind Shane. Living this fantasy was becoming a second skin and I could feel myself slipping into it eagerly. This reality was more fun than it should be. Letting him do the things he did to me should have been harder. His firm grip on my hips was too warm, too comforting, too consuming.I held onto him tightly and I wondered if it was so that I wouldn’t fall or if it was because I wanted to hold onto him? My feet still hadn’t returned to the ground from what he’d done to me in the pizzeria. My heart twisted but also soared. I didn’t know whether I should be this happy or if I should be wracked with guilt.I didn’t let myself question, wonder, or spiral. I pushed the guilt aside and swallowed down my conscience. Tonight was not the night to wallow. I was going to be wild and reckless. Was this the place to let loose? No, probably not. Was this the best time? Absolutely not.Shane sat in front of me, his broad shoulders and firm back were all too
I nodded. My mind raced as he reached for the door. Goosebumps broke out down my arms. Who could be in the dungeon? The only person I could think of was was Duke, the warrior from the wall. Shane had punished Pan while Duke remained untouched. He had said a surprise but I guess a day without killing would be too much to ask for. It’s not how I pictured how the night would end. A flashback of our past life flashes through my mind and I’m reminded of the beatings Shane had taken for me. Yes, he’d been dark and his love sometimes hurt but he’d never had a chance to be taught the right way. Sometimes you love the person and not the crimes they’ve committed. He did everything he could to protect me. I knew, I just knew that whoever was in there had done something bad and deserved the punishment they were getting. Whoever was on the other side of this door had not only offended Shane but had hurt me. If it was Duke, I couldn’t see him being sentenced to death. He didn’t do anything to me.
We had a good day and I realized after a day with him that I had started to like him. The Shane I spent the day with and the Shane that I saw now… wasn’t the same. The Shane I was looking at was the Shane from before, from when I lived here at Half Moon. I feared this Shane. “Enough,” Shane breathed. With one command, Liam’s hand dropped to his side. The metal clanged against the floor as it dropped. The silence in the room was eery as I held my breath and waited for what was to come. Liam took a few steps back as the prisoner as he came into view. I forgot how to breathe as my gaze landed on the prisoner. He was familiar, all too familiar. His arms hung above his head, his hands were chained, and he slumped forward from the torso up. My chest tightened as my gaze traveled over his body. Bruises littered his body and I choked down the sob. He couldn’t heal if Liam kept hitting him. Wolves healed quickly but wouldn’t if the blows were consistent. It wouldn’t give him the chance to r
I know how I felt today and I knew I had been unfaithful. I didn’t sleep with Shane but I had been unfaithful with my body and my heart. Even so, I still chose Ethan. I don’t know if he would still choose me but I would continue to choose him. I still loved Ethan but I would not let Shane see this, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t give him a reason to be suspicious of me. Ethan was broken physically and I don’t know where he was mentally but tonight, I’d have to break his heart. I was playing an angle, playing a role, playing Shane and I was too deep, too involved to turn back now. I had hoped to keep my mate out of this, away from here but that wasn’t going to happen and I needed to accept that. I couldn’t let myself be swayed by Ethan’s presence. I said this yesterday while I drove away from Desert Moon and I’m going to repeat it today. A brokenhearted Ethan is a very much alive Ethan. Was he going to hate me? Yes. Was I going to hurt him? Yes, I was going to hurt him but he would be alive.
Shane didn’t move and for a moment, I thought he was unfazed by his attitude. That or he was really freaking pissed. Damn it, why was Ethan being so stubborn? This isn’t how you were supposed to act when you were at the mercy of someone as vicious and cruel as Shane. My mate had never been captured before and I worried for him. I’d never seen him so hurt, so weak.At Shane’s question, I hoped to hear that he wasn’t alone. I hoped that he would admit the others were nearby, just out of sight and that they were ready to fight to get him back. Shane lifted his knee and the bottom of his shoe connected with Ethan’s face. Ethan cursed and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.Shane dropped his head ever so slightly and lifted his arms. His fingers slid through his hair. He straightened his back and dropped his head back as he stared at the ceiling. A habit I came to understand was Shane trying to calm himself because he was close to the edge.“Is that the best you’ve got? That was a
The path in front of me had blurred but I knew where I needed to go, I knew what I needed to do. It would hurt him, it would hurt me but I didn’t want him to be here for this. I never wanted him to see this. I closed my eyes to block Ethan out. I didn’t want to look at him, I didn’t want him to see my reaction to Shane, his hands on me, and I didn’t want him to see that I liked it. Goddess, I liked it. “What’s punishable by death, is killing warriors guarding their pack. Why are you here? I’m not doing anything she doesn’t want. Just look at her, can you tell me who she belongs to?” Shane asked. “She bears my mark. She’s mine,” Ethan spat as he fought to keep his head up. “Mm… let’s ask her, why don’t we? Ady, who do you belong to?” Shane asked. Shane’s fingers lifted my chin until my gaze locked with his. There’s anger, irritation, and a pinch of hope. He wants to believe I’ll pass this test, he wants to believe that I want him, he wants to believe that unlike the time at the Cres
“I chose him. I’m choosing him.”“We can work through this. We can figure it out. Can’t we baby? We can fix this.”“No, we can’t,” I almost choked on the words.“I don’t believe you! I don’t know where this is coming from. Just the other day, we were making love and talking about pups. You couldn’t, no, you can’t change. This doesn’t make sense,” his voice was hoarse. “Just… just give me a chance. Whatever you’ve done, whatever I’ve done, I can- we can fix it. Baby, please.”“How can I make this make any more sense? I don’t want to fix it. I don’t want to be with you. I made a decision, my decision. I don’t need to explain anything to you. You knew already, didn’t you? Isn’t that why you came here? Isn’t that why you didn’t link me when you came near the border? Isn’t that why you haven’t tried to talk to me all day?” I yelled.I took the anger from how I felt about him not reaching out to me and pushed it into my voice. Goddess, this was killing me. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t
I don’t know how much Ethan knows of the past, but the recent dream shed a lot of light on things. If he does know, he should have told me, he would have, wouldn’t he? If he knows, does that make him bad? Does it change anything? Would it mean that he’s the same person as the one from the dream? Mentally, I shake my head.Everything that I’ve seen of him and every moment that we’ve shared together shows and tells me that he isn’t the same. Is that because he’s had life after life of happiness to mold him into this new person?Another pang of guilt hits me as I think of Shane. He’s there, always there it seems in the back of my mind. He’s had life after life, century after century alone in the darkness. Unloved and mateless.Before I had the dream, I had wondered if things could have been different between the two of us. And now that I’ve seen our first life together, I know that it can be, which makes it so hard because it could have been. It could have been if not for…It’s pointless
The first month back at Desert Moon had been hard. Not a day went by without us fighting. Ethan rejected Mavy as his mate before we came home. A part of me knew he was hurt about it, missed her like I missed Shane. I felt like he was only with me because I was his Luna, because of obligation and duty. I didn’t know why he wanted to be with me. He didn’t know why I was with him when I loved Shane. We were at our lowest. We were ugly, we were at our rawest. It wasn’t until month two that we finally talked about everything. We talked bout what happened and we talked about the past. The one that I remembered and by this time, the one that he remembered. It was hard, facing the man I loved in this life and the man I hated in the past. He wasn’t him anymore, he hadn’t been him for a long time. We dug into the past and were completely honest with each other. He fell to his knees and apologized for what he’d done even though I told him it wasn’t him, that wasn’t him anymore. He asked me if I
Mavy fell back as if she’d been physically struck. She collapsed on the couch, her eyes watering. She didn’t look back at me, she kept her gaze focused on Ethan. I watched as her world crashed around her again for the second time in five minutes.“Where does that leave me?” Mavy asked. “I’m… your…” she shook her head and turned to look back at Ethan. “That’s not possible. I’m… I can smell it. I can feel it. Can’t you?” Mavy whispered. I heard the desperation in her voice.“I don’t care what you think or how you feel. I am already mated and my mate, my partner, my love, MY QUEEN sits in this room. Don’t disrespect her again.” The emotion in his voice caused me to choke up. Mavy bit into her lower lip and tears streamed down her cheeks. She dropped her head.“Yes, Alpha,” she said submissively.“I killed your Alpha,” Ethan said. “I’ve killed your brother.”“Yes,” she murmured.“Will you fight me on this?” Ethan asked.“As the next in line, I submit to you,” Mavy whispered.Ethan dismiss
The voices were getting louder, my head was hurting. I wanted to roll up into a ball and disappear from the world. Instead, I closed my eyes and tried to drown it all out, trying to ignore everyone. I wasn’t ready to deal with it.“She’s in shock…”“She’s confused…”“Enough!”A door slammed and footsteps paddled quickly towards me. Soft frail arms wrapped around me. Tears soaked my cheeks and my neck as Mavy cried. Did she know? She had to know.“Are you okay?” Mavy sobbed.I wrapped my arms around her and nodded. The tears started up again and streamed down my cheeks. Her t-shirt bunched in my fingers as I held her close. We cried and held each other.She inhaled deeply and froze. Slowly, she lifted her nose into the air and took another deep breath. Turning from me, she tried to follow the scent. She stopped, her gaze locked on someone, I turned and followed her gaze.I should have known, expected it but I’d been so caught up in my feelings that I didn’t think. I don’t know how it w
I didn’t have an answer for him and I don’t think he would have liked what I would have said. Hell, I didn’t know if I liked what I thought or how I felt. Instead of hurting him and cutting myself open for him, I didn’t say anything. I remained quiet. My world was crashing around me and my ears were ringing. I lowered my head and the tears flowed of their own volition.Ethan leaned down and I flinched as his arms wrapped around me. They were strong and broad. His embrace was warm and promised I could lean on him. I attempted to get to my feet only to fall. My face twisted from the pain and I wanted to cry and wallow in my own self-pity. Standing, he pulled me up and held me as my body gave up. I collapsed against him.I wanted to get to Shane, needed to. As if on cue, the weak mate bond snapped, and just like in my dream, it was gone. Only, this time, the pain I was feeling was because of Shane and not because of Ethan. The world was cold, the warmth I’d been able to feel from Shane f
Did what I do to him last night not bother him? I betrayed him. Did he not care that I came here to hurt him? Did he not care that I chose Ethan? I wanted to cry and scream. I wanted to run into his arms. I wanted this to stop. I wanted them to stop fighting. I wanted it all to stop. I screamed, it was painful and gut-wrenching but I screamed. I cursed the Goddess, damn her, she was useless in all of this. She sat up there above the clouds and did nothing to help us. Did she enjoy watching us suffer? When I couldn’t scream anymore, I inhaled deep breaths of air. I looked up and froze as Shane stared back at me. The way he looked at me told me he knew he was going to die. The look in his eye told me he knew he lost but for me, there was a small spark as if he wouldn’t just lay down and take it. I watched Ethan punch him. It was as if he was moving in slow motion. He hit his jaw and Shane’s head snapped back hard against the ground. Shane’s body tensed and he punched Ethan in the gut.
For a moment in time, they stood glaring at each other. The sun was blaring down on us. My gaze darted back and forth between the two. Shane’s eyes wandered away from Ethan and landed on me. “Look at me, mutt. You don’t get to look at her after what you’ve done,” Ethan spat. “I’m not so weak that you can look away from me in the middle of a fight.” “What have I done?” Shane taunted. “You’ve touched what’s mine,” Ethan growled. “I haven’t done anything other than touch what is mine. I haven’t done anything but make love to what is mine. I’ve claimed her. She may not wear my mark, thief but she is mine. Don’t claim her as yours. She was mine, she was always mine. She doesn’t belong to you, she never did.” A look came over Ethan’s face as if he knew as if this was confirmation as if he was reminded of something he’d forgotten. “You’re the one who touched someone who wasn’t yours. You are the one who took what was mine. Don’t try to play the victim. Don’t pretend to be something you’re
No.Not Odis.“Devin,” I gasped.Devin heard me but didn’t stop. He didn’t look up at me, didn’t even hesitate as he continued to stomp Odis into the ground. Blood spurt from Odis’ mouth and I think I heard his ribs crack. I took a step closer to stop it, to stop him. In a flash, someone was on top of Devin. Strong arms held Devin’s prisoner in a headlock and his legs wrapped around Devin’s abdomen.I wanted to scream but it quickly died in my throat as Odis and I realized the man in front of me was Gabe. Gabe. It was Gabe and he was on top of Devin. Well, he was wrapped around him like a python ready to suffocate his prey. Gabe grunted as he continued to squeeze Devin’s head, blocking his airflow.I wanted to cry out happily but I couldn’t. Gabe was here. Why was he here? He wasn’t supposed to be here. Things were going differently since he was alive. He was standing, breathing, his head was still attached to his body. Maybe things were turning out differently.Maybe Gabe was safe, ma
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Odis asked. I couldn’t find the words to speak, so I nodded. “Good,” Odis said as his grip on me loosened. “Why don’t you let her go?” A voice called out to us. Looking up, I searched for the source of the voice. My eyes widened as I found Devin watching up. His gaze locked around Odis’ arms that were still wrapped around me to his hands that gripped my arms. “I promise I’m more fun,” Devin teased. I know what it looked like. It looked like I was being held back from moving. It looked like Odis was stopping me from helping Shane. It looked like I was stuck between two packs, two men. The situation I found myself in was precarious. I was now stuck between two Betas who were supposed to protect me, despite their conflicting thoughts regarding me. I hadn’t had much time with Devin since I’d been back. He hadn’t been the nicest, shit, I don’t think he even liked me. That didn’t change the fact that Devin was Beta of Half Moon pack. Shane was his
I didn’t have an answer and I prayed I didn’t have to make the choice. Not only had everyone stopped moving but it had gone deathly silent. For a moment, everyone and everything froze. There wasn’t a whisper of wind in the air, the trees stood still, and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It was the calm before the storm. It felt like someone had pushed the pause button and all at once the play button was pressed and all hell broke loose. As if planned, the two of them ran toward each other. I looked past Ethan and my gaze landed on Shane’s chest. The sword had been taken out, a gaping hole was left in its place right next to his heart. Now that it was gone, I could see I had barely missed his heart. If I’d been one inch to the right, he would have died. How had I missed that? I didn’t kill him. Was I not paying attention? Why hadn’t I looked at his heart? I had aimed, hadn’t I? Had I meant to miss it? No, I had meant it, or else I wouldn’t have stabbed him at all. I tried to