RiverHis house was dark as River walked inside, dropping his car keys in a bowl by the door. He stood still for a moment, listening. He heard a faint, slow heartbeat coming from the kitchen and realized his mother was sitting in the dark in the other room. He headed that direction, crossing through the foyer, living area, and dining room before he saw her, sitting in the nook, staring out at the window, a cup of tea on the table in front of her. No steam rose from the cup, so he could only imagine how old it was. He doubted she'd finished it.She knew he was there, too. "You're finally home," she said, her tone melancholy. "I was getting worried.""Sorry, Mom," he said, not sure whether he should pull out a chair and talk to her or just run upstairs and bury himself beneath his blankets. "I didn't mean to worry you."Patricia turned to look at him, and even though it was dark in the room, only the moon and starlight filtering in through the window illuminating her face, he could tell
EllieHer hip ached. Ellie woke up, staring out the window, the sun pouring in on her face, and remembered that she'd been attacked the day before. That wasn't the worst of it, though. As much as her leg was hurting in the place where Blade's teeth had sunk into her flesh, her heart hurt even worse. River had walked out on her. He didn't want to marry her....Ellie brushed her hair back off of her forehead and stared up at the ceiling. The fact that the sun was streaming in her window told her that she'd slept longer than usual. Part of her wanted to go back to sleep, to bury her head under the pillow and pretend away the reality of what had happened the day before.But she couldn't do that. She had to face the facts. More importantly, she had to tend to her duties as the leader of her pack. She couldn't let her own personal problems interfere with her job.Reluctantly, Ellie pulled herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. She'd have to cover up the gauze
EllieRamming head first into an unexpected wall of muscle was jarring. Ellie stumbled backward, almost colliding with the door. Two strong hands took hold of her on either shoulder, straightening her out and making sure she was firm on her feet. "Sorry, Ellie! Are you okay?"She looked up into Ulysses's familiar, dark eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that it was him. As much as she wished River would come back and talk to her, she wasn't ready for that, not yet, anyway. "I'm fine, thanks," she said. "What are you doing here?""I came to check on you," he said. "How are you doing? I mean, after what Blade did yesterday, how could I not check on you?"Ellie gave him a small smile. She was so thankful for his friendship. "That's really sweet of you. Thank you. I'm fine. I just… need some time to think about what happened and decide how to proceed.""You can't let him get away with this," Ulysses warned. "He'll take it to the next level if he thinks he can get away with coming into you
RiverSleeping had been futile. River had tossed and turned all night, thinking about Ellie and how he'd run out on her without even telling her how he was feeling or making sure that she was actually more interested in Ulysses than she was in him. He'd gotten up early and decided to drive back to Ellie's pack to talk to her in person, especially since he'd heard that Blade had showed up. Even if Ellie wasn't his wife, she was still a woman that he cared about, and he'd be d*mned if he was going to stand by and let Blade put his dirty claws on her.So he'd made the drive back over to Ellie's house, spending the entire time thinking about whether or not it was a good idea. Perhaps he should have called first. Maybe she was still sleeping. He was afraid, though, that if he called first, she'd just tell him where he could go, and then he wouldn't have a chance to talk to her in person.When he arrived in her packlands, he'd slowed down, taking his time, trying to decide what he should s
EllieAll of the construction that had gone on for the tournament was coming down. Ellie was sitting in her office, trying not to pay any attention, but it was hard. Not only could she hear the tools being used to take down the bleachers her father had worked so hard to put up in the meadow south of the village, all of the trucks moving the lumber and other items drove right past her office, so she had to see it, too.Working was nearly impossible. She was trying to look over maps of Blade's territory, trying to come up with a plan for the attack she would most definitely be launching soon, but her eyes kept wandering to River's packlands instead, and thoughts of him continued to interrupt every other idea she tried to focus on.Finally, she gave up and went to fold up the map on her desk, sighing in frustration. It didn't quite fold right, so she straightened it out and tried again. One corner was still sticking up. "You've got to be kidding me!" she whispered, unfolding the map comp
RiverA map of Blade's packlands was spread on his desk. He might not be joining in with Ellie to fight against Crying Wolf, but that didn't mean he couldn't launch his own attack. He was still hurt and angry at Ellie and Ulysses, but Blade didn't have the right to touch anyone the way he had Ellie, let alone the leader of another pack. So, even though he'd be acting independently, he planned to make sure Blade knew in no uncertain terms what his stance was when it came to attacking unsuspecting wolves out on runs in their own packlands.Not to mention his own neck still ached from time to time where that b*stard had bitten him.Absently running a hand along his neck, River made some marks on the map, indicating where he thought the most vulnerable portions of Blade's border were when his phone rang.Normally, River would look at the caller ID and see who it was before he picked up the receiver. There weren't a lot of people he cared to speak to. But he was distracted and didn't think
EllieFocusing on getting back to normal was Ellie's objective now. She'd decided that morning when she got out of bed that she simply wasn't going to think about River anymore. She was still planning an attack on Crying Wolf, but she had to keep that separate in her mind. She was going after Blade because he'd tried to hurt her, and that had nothing to do with River.Even his name made a knot form in her stomach. All of her friends and family were doing their best not to mention him because they could see how upset it made her. Ellie appreciated that. She felt that time would heal everything, but for now, it was all so difficult."This is where we'll build the new cabins," Ross, one of her Omegas who happened to have a degree in engineering and often functioned as the village architect, was telling her as Ellie surveyed the area of the forest that had just been cleared. Most of it was already part of the meadow where the village proper set, but they had had to remove a few trees. Eve
Ellie"Why in the world would River think that I'm in love with you?" Ellie blurted, trying to control the anger rising up within her. Both hands were fisted at her sides. "And perhaps more importantly, why the h*ll were you talking to him about me anyway?""Well, in my defense," Ulysses began, both hands up between them as he slowly backed away, "I was just trying to help. And also in my defense, I don't know why he thinks that, but he said something about overhearing you say that you'd rather marry me than him. I don't know what in the Goddess's green earth makes him think that you'd say something like that, but--"Ellie gasped so loudly, Ulysses stopped talking. Both of her hands flew over her mouth, and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she tried to contain the shock that radiated through her. It was probably even more of a bolt of lightning than the one she'd experienced when Ulysses had told her what he was doing there to begin with. "It couldn't be...." she said,