ShaneAdea’s words were hurtful but I didn’t shy away. I held eye contact with her while I took every lashing her sweet red tongue dished out. The words tunneled deep, the bit of her words pierced my skin, forced itself deep into my chest, and refused to let go.The restraint it took to stop from taking her into my arms and holding her close would have surprised Max had he not been going mad. He was chomping at the bits and demanded I touch her, feel her, kiss her.We had been separated from her for too long. I refused to let the pain show on my face but I felt every word. When she was done with me, I stepped closer, needing to close the distance.I hoped he would try and step in and intervene but he didn’t. We both knew how this was going to end. I just needed to make sure she didn’t forget. She acted like she didn’t hear me and brushed past me as if I were nothing.When she brushed past me, I bit back a groan as her scent filled my senses. Adea was my personal favorite brand of wolf
ShaneWe’re on our way.This better not be a lie, Duke. She said her name was Adea. Do you know her, Alpha?What does she look like?She’s short, has long brown hair, and brown eyes. Is this who you’ve been looking for?I won’t know until I see her. Bring her to me.Yes, Alpha.And Duke?Yes, sir?Untouched. I need to confirm if it’s her.At this point, I’m hopeful as fuck that it’s her. If it isn’t, the bitch who used her name will wish for a quick death. Today is not the day to test me. I don’t like fruit to be dangled in front of me just to find out it’s a fucking rock. If it isn’t her, I’ll throw her to the dogs and watch as they tear her apart. If it is her…. Fuck. I’m already hard.The sound of the little clock on my desk tick-ticking fills the room. The only other sound is my slow and forced steady breathing. Wheeling around, I face my back to the door and look up at the sword placed above the fireplace.My left leg is the only telltale sign of my nervousness as it bounces up
AdeaIn the blink of an eye, Shane was around his desk. My fingers trembled as I held my head high defiantly. He made his way toward me purposefully and I fought the need to lower my eyes. The last time he’d raised his hand to me at the Crescent Moon Ball flashed through my mind. I was the Luna of the Desert Moon pack and I was not going to tip my chin. I would bow to no one, not even the monster before me.Sooner than I wanted, Shane was in my space and his scent in my nose. I couldn’t stop the way my body flinched but I prevented the recoil as I felt it start to happen. Shane has always been the villain in my fairy tales. The witch with the red apple, the troll under the bridge, the big bad wolf who wanted to eat me.In those stories, they’d been ugly, evil creatures, but those stories didn’t prepare me for the sex on two legs that stared down at me like he had a few placed in mind that he’d like to plunge his wet tongue.My heart beat a little faster at his proximity and my breath
AdeaDuke’s shoulders tense and his back straight as he raised his head to look at Shane while he answered his question. My belly flipped back and forth as I watched in horror as the scene in front of me play out.“You teach them a lesson, Alpha.”Duke didn’t have to go into detail but the meaning was clear. As his words sank beneath my skin, I held my breath as I waited for what would come next. Shane moved so suddenly, had I blinked I would have missed it.His touch disappeared from my skin and in a blur of speed, he was instantly in front of Shane. Veins popped out from his large hand as it wrapped around Pan’s face. Pan’s one eye was wide with fear as Shane squeezed tight. With a squeak from Pan, he was hoisted into the air and his feet dangled a couple of feet above the ground.“That I do. I teach them a painful lesson, Duke. One that others should take seriously,” Shane murmured in warning as he shot Duke an icy glare.Pan was a wisp of a man compared to the Alpha that had him l
AdeaHe walked over to his desk, pulled open a drawer, and grabbed a towel. He held my gaze as he wiped off the blood from his hands. His jaw ticked and I stood helpless as I watched the wheels churning in his head. What was he thinking? What was going to happen now? Duke made his way around the room, picking up pieces of Pan as he went before putting them under his arm.I kept my eyes on Shane as he finished cleaning the blood and dropped the towel on his desk. The only sound in the room is Pan’s body being dragged along the floor towards the exit.Shane’s gaze drops down my body and I fight the urge to squirm as he checks out the dip in my shirt, the denim shorts, and the flesh of my thighs. My breath is shaky as I try not to fidget and stay still. The door opens and Pan is dragged out of the room.When it shuts, I’m left alone with Shane. This is the part where I need to convince him I’m here for him. I need to make him believe that I’ve been holding a lit candle in my heart for hi
AdeaBeing this close to him, I could make out the metal that bulged through his shirt. I lifted my gaze back to his eyes and he smirked at me. My cheeks flushed, I’d been caught looking. I flinched when he reached out for me. If he saw it, he pretend not to notice and I gulped as his hand wrapped around my neck.Flashes of his hand on Pan flit through my mind and I tried not to tense up. It’ll look like I’m afraid of him and I don’t want him to think that, no, I don’t want him to know. Only a few minutes ago, this hand had torn through flesh and taken a life.I try to ignore the small voice that whispers. It tells me he may have just killed a man but his grip on my neck is gentle. His fingers stop on my mark, anger flashes there but it’s gone as quick as it came.“I’ve always loved your neck,” Shane murmured as his thumb ran up and down the sensitive flesh. I was sensitive and my eyes fluttered. I hated how easily my body bowed to him and his touch.“Once upon a time, I stopped Max f
AdeaWhen he opened his eyes again, they were still angry but cold and distant. Something in my gut twisted uncomfortably. Ignoring it, I focused on the danger here. I needed him to want me. I needed him to stop talking about wanting me in the past tense. His need for me was the only thing that would ensure my safety.“I was naive to think you would reject him, Ady but it didn’t stop me from wanting it,” Shane said, his voice low. “Goddess, I wanted it.”“Rejecting him wasn’t even on my mind,” I whispered. “What about everything you’d done to me, Shane?! What about all of those times you touched me or forced me to do something? Do you know how degrading it was to have alpha power used on you? Did my feelings not matter?!”It was the opposite of what I should have said. I had literally come here to take advantage of his obsession with me. I just told myself that I would do whatever it took to get him back on my side. I preferred to be five feet above the ground and not five feet under.
Adea“I’m sorry for yelling,” Shane said. My eyes went wide at his apology. Shane didn’t apologize. It went against everything he stood for. It went against everything he’d been raised. Not once had he ever said sorry to me. He was still angry but not as much as he had been.“Every night that we spent away from each other was another night I was plagued with images of the two of you together. It drove me mad and I did some really shitty things. I wasn’t myself.” Shane gave me an apologetic smile.“I may have been crazier than usual. I was in a dark space and I did things that I thought would bring me closer to you. That night in the woods, I came for you. When I realized I couldn’t get to you, I couldn’t leave empty-handed. I refused to retreat in defeat. I knew another opportunity wouldn’t present itself and I did things that hurt you. I was angry and plagued by the images of him with you. I won’t apologize for what I did because they got me to where I am now but… I’m sorry for the h
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