Natalie I wake up disoriented and sore, but with no obvious wounds. I am assuming that I was out long enough for my wolf healing to take care of the injuries. Lifting my head, I look down to find my mother asleep on my legs.I don't want to wake her up because she looks so peaceful, but on the other hand, if she has been waiting days for me to wake up then I don't want to draw it out and make her wait. I need to put her mind at ease that I am okay.“Mom.”My voice cracks and my dry throat aches as I say the words, but with her supernatural hearing, she hears me and jumps to her feet. “Natalie Leann! God, you had me scared to death!” She throws her arms around me, squeezing me tightly to her. “Are you okay?” She asks me when she pulls away.“I'm okay, Mom. I'm just a little sore.” I tell her. I want to ask how many days I was out, but I don't. Nor do I ask about shifting back to human, because if she tells me that I shifted in front of a bunch of people, like my dad or brothers, then I
Katie After the girls have told the men in my family everything that they know, I take them into the kitchen to where my mother awaits with loads of food at the ready. They sit down at the table and look at the food as if they had never seen anything like it before. My mom made them fried chicken, salted ham, buttermilk biscuits, scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese, buttered toast, hashbrown potatoes, and pepper gravy. She pours tall glasses of various drinks, such as chocolate milk, white milk, water, and orange juice for them to grab what they want. She even pours a few mugs of coffee. “Here you go, ladies,” Mom says as she passes out plates and forks to them. “Please help yourselves to whatever you want. Just dig in.” “Thank you.” The one with the curly brown hair says to my mother. “Oh honey, it's no trouble. Just make yourselves at home.” Mama gives them a friendly smile and two out of four girls return it. The curly brown-haired one and the one with long blonde hair. Th
Ollie I lean back against the wall as I listen to all the different dialogues floating about the room. My father, my uncle Jack, my grandfather Jeremy and my uncle Zeke are speaking with a few alphas. They came together for a meeting at a packhouse just an hour or so south of us, but Dad felt like with everything going on here, he could not leave to meet them, so he opted to video call them. Luckily for him, there is a young alpha and beta down there that know how to work with technology. All the other alphas seem real old-school. “So, what is your plan? That is what I am asking because you surely do not mean to wage war without a solid plan.” Comes an angry voice, which I recognize as the youngest alpha there. Alpha Blaize. I only know his name and recognize his voice because of the other alphas. They will start spewing some bullshit about “let's wipe out all the damn rogues before they cause any more problems. I saw one outside of our territory a month or two back. I will hun
Zachary “Move-in day..” Trevor sing-songs and I roll my eyes. He has been in an insufferably good mood ever since he was attacked by rogues. At first, I thought it was because they had done something to him until I learned that it was not anything to do with that. Nope. It was my aunt. Nat is the reason that he is so happy. He is into her and has been for years. I've known that since we were eleven. But now though, he is finally getting his shot to prove it to her because he is her mate. Nature is kind of making her love him back. Which seems messed up, but both of them seem happy with it, so whatever. “Who are you?” I hear the female voice and I look up. Blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes are staring me down as I carry my bags in through the front door. I look her up and down before I give her my most charming smile. “Hey, cutie. What's your name.” “Who are you?” She repeats and I grin. “Zachary Vale, but you may call me Zach,” I tell her and she nods. “What are you doing
Trevor “Hey.” “Hey yourself.” She says, turning to look up at me with a smile of welcome. It is taking me some time to get used to this warm greeting. For the last few years, I have been met with eye rolls and snubs. These days she greets me with hugs or kisses. Like right now, as she wraps her arms around my waist and pushes up on the tips of her toes to kiss my lips. I wrap my arms around her and hold her closer to me. In all of my wildest dreams about her did I ever imagine that she would be in my arms like this and it is my reality. Yet here we are. And I am so happy that I don't know how to contain it. “Did you get moved in?” Nat asks me and I nod before I kiss her lips once more. I am addicted to her. One kiss is just not enough. “I am in the room just down the hall from yours, so should you need anything, all you have to do is call for me,” I tell her. “Oh-” “Or not. I mean, you are the wolf. Why would you need me?” I ramble, after seeing the way that she said 'oh'. S
Katie “I am not bitter. I am not bitter.” I listen to Trevor and Nat laugh together in the next room and I sigh. “Katherine Grace Vale, you are not bitter.” But as another girlish giggle hits my ears, my jaw clenches against my will. Fine. I am bitter. I can admit that to myself. I am jealous as hell. Nat found her mate in Trevor, who is such a great guy. One of only six single, age-appropriate guys in our pack that we are not related to. Then suddenly these girls appear in the woods and Zach finds his mate in Malia. My aunt and my cousin, who are both younger than me, even if just by a few months have found their mates before me. They weren't even looking for them. It just happened that they stumbled across them. Nat spent all her time in the opposite direction of Trevor when she should have been running toward him. They have found their mates. Their happily ever after. And I am so jealous that I can barely see straight. But I am happy for them, truly I am. I love them so much a
Ollie The girl, Sienna, is sitting up in her bed. Her white hair is floating around her and her eyes are wide open, but there are no pupils. Her eyes are solid white and milky, which even a brave enough guy like me would find creepy as hell. “What the fuck?” I say aloud. Her head bends backward and her whole body shakes as she opens her mouth to emit the loudest, most ear-burstingly shrill scream known to man. I clap my hands over my ears and fall backward as the lights overhead flicker and then blow out. The glass from the fixture rains down onto the plush carpet and glowing sparks fly for a moment but they burn out before they hit the ground. “Woah!” I use the wall to push myself to my feet, looking at the girl once more. Her eyes are still glowing but her body is no longer shaking. I wonder what the hell is going on with her? Is she possessed? Is this like some Amityville Horror/ Poltergeist shit? Cause I don't play with no demons. No, thank you. “Hey!” I shout at her, tryi
Bronwen “Oh, come here, sweetheart.” “Aw, mom!” He says, making a disgusted face at me, but that does not stop me from pulling him in for a hug anyway. I have missed my babies like crazy since they moved out of our home to move into the packhouse. Even though Ollie is still around all the time, he is busy working with his father, so I never really get to see him. And surprisingly Katie has not been back home since she left. I get that she is probably enjoying her independence and making new friends. Things like that. But it still sucks for me because I miss her so much. I do not think these children realize how you carry them for all those weeks and months inside of you, as close as you can get to another human being. Then you raise them for eighteen years, seeing them every day, seeing their faces, hearing their voices. I have not gotten to touch my baby in days upon days. Which is why I am holding on so tightly to Ollie, practically holding him hostage in my arms. “Mom..” He
Two years later...Ollie I look at my wife and mate as she sits by my side. We are sitting at the head of the table in our dining hall as everyone gathers around. As alpha and luna of the pack, Sienna and I are hosting a feast for the pack, our family, and our friends to show off the birth of our son, Malcolm Oliver Vale. Named after Sienna's father and after me. He is two weeks old and he is so beautiful. Just like me, he has one eye blue and one eye silver, rather than green like mine, but he has his mother's white hair. He is the perfect mixture of his mother and me. We are over the moon with joy and love for him. Sienna has spent the last two years growing into her power. When her howl killed the rogues that day, it terrified her. But much like her screams being a weapon, her howl is as well. Now that she has been turned into a vampire as well, she is a tribrid. She is so incredibly powerful and I am in awe of her. Zachary spent months researching the mark on her fur when she
Katie “You are going to make one hell of a luna!” Blaize shouts at me as he swings me up into his arms and kisses me soundly as the last rogue falls. The fifteen or so rogues left run off with their tails tucked between their legs. I do not figure that we will see them again. “Where is Jaxon?” I am frantically looking around for him but I do not see him anywhere. Dread fills me as I scream at the top of my lungs. “Jaxon!” “Don't shout, baby. I'm right here.” I turn to see him hobbling towards me, with bloody gashes all over his body. But it is the tired grin he flashes me that gets my attention and melts my insides. I jump from Blaize's arms into his. He stumbles backward with an 'oof' but stays on his feet, even when I kiss him with as much passion as Blaize just kissed me. “Do not ever scare me like that again” I shout at him when I pull back. “I won't, baby,” he promises, before he looks at Blaize. “You okay?” “Yeah. You?” Blaize asks him, checking him over. They embrace o
Ollie I never made it out of our territory. Dad and Grandpa went to get Katie and help Blaize's pack, with the help of a few family members. Haylee's husband, Austin, my great uncle Mason and Lucy's husband, Camden, as well as one or two pack members. Dad did not want to take too many people and let our guard down, so we are prepared for everything. All of our pack members have gathered in the packhouse dining hall. All the children have been taken to the basement of the packhouse, where Grace, Nat, Trevor, and Malia watch them. They will protect them, should the need arise. I didn't go with Dad because I had this odd feeling that I shouldn't. It was like my gut was telling me not to go. I hope nothing happens, but I really am expecting it to. So now is just a game of wait and see. We don't have to wait long though. We have barely been settled in the packhouse for twenty minutes when I get the call from the guards. Rogues have crossed the territory boundary and are on our land.
Deacon “Rogues!” The sounds of people screaming fills my ears and my heart sinks. What had started as a simple drive over to the Shadow Falls pack to reject my male mate turned into dinner, a night of passion that I am still not sure how I feel about, and now a rogue attack. Byrne is out of the bed in seconds and out the door in less than another second. “Byrne!” He does not listen to me, never slowing his steps. I pull on my pants and snap them at my waist before I run down the stairs. When I step outside of the house, I see men shoving off beasts that are attacking them. I see wolf on wolf, snarling and snapping at each other. But it is the blood everywhere, the screaming children, and the decapitated bodies that stop me in my tracks. I have never seen such carnage before. I have actually never seen any carnage before. In all my years, we have never had any sort of attack on our pack until the attack on Nat and Trev a few weeks ago. We have all lived a very sheltered life and n
Katie I open my eyes and immediately yawn. How is it that I am more tired waking up than I was before I fell asleep? But then again I had only been out for maybe two hours. Since I couldn't sleep through the raging storm last night, the guys woke up with me and decided to pass the time. The conversation got super deep and I learned a lot about both of them while simultaneously oversharing about myself. It got weird at times but it was great learning about Blaize and Jaxon. I really feel like I know them now, so I am not quite so self-conscious around them. Although I am a little nervous about facing them this morning, after what we did last night. About two this morning, we had exhausted the conversation and a silence had fallen. In that silence, I had snuggled into Jaxon, who had been holding me against his side. His hands wrapped around my waist, just beneath my chest and with every inhale my breasts brushed his arm. So I, of course, slowed my breathing. I was far too aware
Zach Something wakes me up from a sound sleep and I sit up quickly. I don't hear anything or see anything out of place so I am about to go back to bed when a huge clap of thunder roars and lightning flashes outside. It lights up my room just enough for me to make out the eyeballs peeking out at me from behind the footboard of my bed. She must have tried to wake me up and when I sat up so quickly, I scared her so she hid. I feel really bad about that. Opening my arms out wide, I ask her. “Is everything okay, Jezzie?” Shaking her head with her tiny lip quivering as tears threaten, she comes over and climbs up on the bed until she is in my lap. She pulls the blanket over her and snuggles into my chest. “It's scary tonight.” “Because of the storm?” I ask her, even though I already know the answer. I even know why. Her parents were attacked by rogues on a night like this and Sienna's father ushered them out through the storm. When a big clap of thunder had boomed, Malia dropped to the
Nat I can not find Trevor anywhere. The dinner is almost over and people are trickling out, but I have not seen him in well over an hour. I have asked a couple of people, including his father if they have seen him. “I think the last time that I saw him, he was heading outside for some fresh air. But if I do see him, I will tell him to come find you, Natalie.” He says, giving my arm a platonic pat before he walks off to join the crowd. I head towards the exit, hoping that I will find him outside. And I do. But he is not alone. Grace is with him. When Trevor found out that she is a human too, the two of them really bonded over how left out they feel. They hang out all of the time and they spend most of the days together. In the last few days, I have hardly gotten to see him, because I was busy with Bron helping Katie, and then busy with Bron cooking all of this food. My sister needed me and I wanted to help her. I invited him to tag along with me, but he declined. I try not to
Katie It is Friday night and I am sitting in the pack dining hall with my family, friends, and almost all of the pack. With everything going on and all the new alpha's rolling in, plus the attack on Nat and Trevor, the pack was getting restless with unease. Dad figured that they deserved some answers. Hence this dinner. They spent the week waiting for me to cool down because apparently, I was actually in heat. Like a dog. I was panting and whining.. it got weird. For four days I was locked in that room with a stranger, where we stayed naked and in bed together, but we didn't have sex. Even in the heat of it all, when I wanted him inside of me more than I wanted to breathe, I knew I would regret it later, so I asked him to wait and he respected that. He was content to hold my bare body to his. And to kiss me. A lot. We would kiss for hours until we got so fired up that we had to stop. We did a little bit of talking, but not much has been discovered about each other, which is why
Katie I finally found my mate (I think) and I have to admit that I am low-key terrified of him. He just threw Noah across the room and then growled 'mine' at everyone. Luckily my uncle Jack, Grandpa, and Dad know what to do. My grandpa Jeremy tells everyone to leave the room. Noah first. For some reason, the man holding on to me watches him with a predatory look in his eyes. As everyone follows suit, leaving just my grandpa, uncle Jack and Dad, the man in front of me begins to relax. “Katie.” My dad says softly to me and I think that he is calling me over to him, so I try to get out of the man's arms to move towards him, but my mate holds me closer, as his body begins to shift to his wolf form. Hair begins to grow on his arms and his eyes deepen into an even more luminous shade of gold. They glow like fire. “Stop, Katie,” My dad commands and I freeze. “We have to stop talking to her.” Uncle Jack says and I panic. “No!” I tell them, but Dad holds up a hand to silence me. “I r