Beneath Lilly's eyes looked heavy and dark, like she hadn't had a good night's rest in a while. I hated everything about not being able to protect her. That was my job. One of my only jobs as her mate besides pleasing her, was protecting her. And I was failing miserably. Jason was using Hex to get into Lilly's dreams. What could I do? Force her to stay awake? They had our witch doctor that helped us with the supernatural that we didn't understand. They had our weapon and were using him against us. Luther had put me in charge, and I refused to bother him while he tried to heal. It was my chance to prove to him that I could be trusted for this if the situation ever happened again and I was needed in the future. Lilly hung tightly to me as I carried her toward Heather's room. I figured Scotty was inside, but I didn't care enough to stop. I needed to understand the dreams, and why The Dragon King was in them. I'd thank him if he ever did come back, he saved Lilly, but I didn't want h
The dragon kissed the top of my head when Marcus picked me up to carry me back to bed. I smiled at him, noticing his kind eyes, a true gentle giant. It was the middle of the night, and the moon looked so delicately placed above the castle. If the circumstances weren't so raw, and heavy, I would have asked to stay outside to admire it. But the aftermath of my dream felt like nails against my skin. Knowing Alaric was there soothed me a little, but I knew Jason was conniving and savvy. What if Alaric didn't stop him next time? He didn't care when Zane Cavil took me. What if Marcus couldn’t wake me? Resting my head on his shoulder, I watched Heather give me a small wave and walk back toward her chambers. Where she would spend a normal night with her boyfriend. Not me, because mine was afraid to break me after marking me. The wolf's bane looked better than before, but not healed all the way. My thigh still ached, but not as bad as my need for Marcus. My need for normality. He carried
The look of joy on her face made my wolf happy. She nearly ran toward the infirmary to see Susan. After she expressed her feelings to me the night before, I had no option but to make her happy. It was part of my duty as a mate. To please her. Make her feel wanted, loved, and understood. I did understand her need to kill Jason. Her need to hurt him made sense, but my wolf didn't want to hear that. My wolf wanted to hurt Jason. To make him pay for taking my mate, and hurting her. However, he'd made a greater impact on her, because she'd been stuck there with him. Promised to him like some prized trophy. Rolling my neck, I jogged over toward Scotty and Heather. Blaire stood to the side of the courtyard, staring after me. I wanted Lilly to tell me what she said, but I also didn't want to press her. Lilly was fragile, but she seemed to be sweet, and innocent. If Blaire asked her not to do something, she wouldn't do it. "About time. You're worse than Luther and Blaire," Scotty said unde
The dragon in front of me was huge, his wings tucked tightly against his back, and his long black hair tied at the nape of his neck. If I hadn't known him, I would be intimidated. But his kind smile always pushed any fear I had about him away."This was my daughter's sword when she was a child," he chuckled, a playful look in his eye. "Believe it or not, dragons are small when they are children."I smiled and eyed the shiny blade. "It's beautiful. Did you carve the handle?"He nodded. "I do woodwork in my spare time.""Have you always been in this coven?" I asked, taking the blade from his strong grip, and admiring it up close."No. My mate was from this coven. When her parents grew old, we moved here to join this coven. When she passed, I stayed because my daughter grew up here. Now she's mated and found a new coven.""Do you miss her?" I asked."Very much so, but she comes to visit a few times a year. She would love that I'm teaching you a few moves with her sword."I ran my finger
Lilly's warm body stirred beside me, but my wolf was too exhausted from alpha duty to pay it much attention. Moments dragged by when her leg jerked again, this time, shoving the covers away from her. Turning on my side, I glanced into the darkness to see someone standing over Lilly's body. I'd never moved so quickly in my life. I jolted upward, coming in contact with a cool gust of wind. Spinning, I watched Lilly begin to thrash around in her sleep, obviously in a dream with Jason. I turned on the lights, brightening the room to see Alaric's shadow dancing in the corner. "What do what?" I barked, desperately shaking Lilly's shoulders to wake her. His chuckle hit the back of my neck. I swirled around to see his silhouette perked in the corner of the room. "Stupid wolves think they can defeat anyone—," "What do you want?" I screamed, my insides melting into a batch of hatred. Alaric's gaze turned to Lilly. "Are you interested in saving Lilly, Marcus?" My jaw clenched into a jaw kn
Marcus let the bedroom door shut behind him once the guards made it into the hallway. My gut felt like rocks lined the insides. My heartbeat was still out of control from my dream—nightmare—with Jason. He'd pulled me through the courtyard by my hair, and I found little relief in massaging my scalp. The bastard had kicked me, taunted me, laughed at me, and when he shoved me down onto the ground, I knew he planned to rape me. The look of outrage on his face caused panic to knot in my throat. I'd never felt so helpless pressed against his body and the ground before. It was worse than the wolf's bane. It was worse than my leg. It hurt my pride, and my dignity to think he would take that from me. There was gravel beneath me, but no rocks big enough to do any damage. Jason's fingers tightened around my throat, and I gasped for breath. Kicking my legs wildly, I heard the sound of wings above me. I'd never prayed for another man to show up and save me as I did Alaric. But I couldn't see h
The wind blew into my wolf’s fur, making his journey to the kingdom the calm before the storm. It’d been many moons since we’d went on a run, and I hated the reason behind it. Leaving Lilly, my brother, and the others behind with the potential ghost of the castle, didn’t sit right with me, but I had no other choice. I knew Alaric would protect Blaire, and Blaire would make sure he protected everyone else, as well. But it stung to do it either way. My wolf’s paws slid into the dirt as we neared the kingdom and came to a stop. The other wolves following, slid in around me, and then the dragons landed with a giant thump. Heather’s wings shook the drizzle of rain from her, and she stopped in front of me. “We’re all here. Where to first?” I glanced around the giant brick wall guarding the grounds, and the tall front gates. The woods gave us enough coverage to hide from the lycans, but it wouldn’t be long before the wind from the thunderstorm carried our scent to them. All eyes o
The flight over had been a close second to a night in Hell. Probably not, but it put the fear of dying in me. Alaric seemed unfazed by his tight turns and uncanny speed, while I prayed he didn’t let me go. The wind sucked the breath from me, and I became still, praying that we made it over in one piece. When Alaric dropped me in front of Marcus, and I scurried over, I’d been hopeful that Jason finding his mate—and it affecting him the way it did—would deter him from everything. Wishful thinking. Mindless dreaming. Standing to the side of Marcus, I held him closely as Jason convulsed and fought to stay in control. “Jason found his mate when we were younger, I thought, he said it was his mate,” I whispered. “Some wolves have more than one. Seeing he’s a Lycan King, and not around his first one, it's not uncommon that he has another one.” My gaze shifted around the yard, wondering who had drawn such an unlucky card. Jason screamed, looking up with red eyes, his wolf began to cra
Freedom never tasted so sweet. It’d been three weeks since the last fight with the lycans, and not a thought of Jason. I knew he was being detained in the dungeon at the pack house but I didn’t give one damn about it. I was safe in Marcus’ arms, and my parents knew I was alive. We’d drove for two days to get to them after the fight. Marcus looked more nervous that I had walking hand-in-hand up the small driveway toward my parents humble two-bedroom house in Georgia. We hadn’t called first, because I wanted it to be a surprise. At first, I didn’t think they realized who I was. Then my mother reached forward and touched my cheek, drawing me into a hug that lasted longer than any other hug in my life. They both looked older. More older than I expected, but I sensed it was from the stress of their daughter going missing in the woods. Dad didn’t like Marcus. Well, not that I sensed, anyway. He thought Marcus had something to do with my disappearance, which I didn’t bla
All the vampires are here, Luther’s wolf said through their mind link. I’d spent the entire morning regretting not taking Lilly to her parents’ house the night before. I would have missed this if I had, but I wouldn’t have been sad about it. Though they deserved my help. I’d broken the plan and slipped into the kingdom that night. I hadn’t started it, but I’d helped fan the fire. My wolf skimmed the surface, stirring awake, and longing to be set free. The flashes of white zoomed by, a blur of speed that a werewolf didn’t have, and I’d be the first to admit it. My wolf shredded my clothes and landed on all fours in a giant thump. The gnashing of teeth and tearing of flesh fed his desire to join the fight. The dragons landed throughout the courtyard, while several wolves guarded the cells. They were here for Jason. To release him. And I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let them release him. One because he wanted Lilly. And two because he wanted Selene. My wolf p
I scrubbed the filth from my skin and remembered the last time I’d been in the shower with Marcus. His rough hands were on me, doing things I’d only ever wanted to do with him. But as badly as those memories drove me up the wall, I couldn’t get Selene out of my mind. She looked horrified that Jason was her mate, and I felt the same way. Jason’s kingdom didn’t treat their mates with respect, hence his first mate meant nothing to him. But he was stubborn and would go after Selene just to spite Axel and Luther. After finishing my shower, I stepped out and dried myself off. I changed into some sweats and braided my wet hair down my shoulder. I felt sore from the rough flight over with Alaric. He hadn’t given two cents about me. The only reason he took me along with them was because of Blaire. He was the perfect anti-hero. He’d sacrifice the world to save his mate. I opened the bathroom door and yelped. Barbie, Selene, and Jessica all sat around my room, looking worried. “He
This wasn’t happening. As if we didn’t have enough problems, now we had a mate issue. And I didn’t mean the dirty threesome, Alaric, Blaire, and Luther. This was the bastard fighting over my mate that was now mated to my sister. For a brief second, I thought I’d fallen and hurt my head while fighting with Jason. But that would have been too good to be true. Alaric’s deep chuckle broke the brief silence between the group of us until Axel jumped forward and lashed his claws across Jason’s face. Lilly jumped, and I nudged her to stand behind me. I noticed a sword hanging on her side, and I was pretty sure she didn’t have it before. I’d ask later. Now I needed to come up with a plan on how to get us all out of there before the vampires woke up. It wasn’t as if we couldn’t fight them, but our wolves were tired enough, and adding blood-suckers to the agenda would only cause more problems. We could lose more warriors. It wasn’t worth it. Jason flipped Axel off him, and they squa
The flight over had been a close second to a night in Hell. Probably not, but it put the fear of dying in me. Alaric seemed unfazed by his tight turns and uncanny speed, while I prayed he didn’t let me go. The wind sucked the breath from me, and I became still, praying that we made it over in one piece. When Alaric dropped me in front of Marcus, and I scurried over, I’d been hopeful that Jason finding his mate—and it affecting him the way it did—would deter him from everything. Wishful thinking. Mindless dreaming. Standing to the side of Marcus, I held him closely as Jason convulsed and fought to stay in control. “Jason found his mate when we were younger, I thought, he said it was his mate,” I whispered. “Some wolves have more than one. Seeing he’s a Lycan King, and not around his first one, it's not uncommon that he has another one.” My gaze shifted around the yard, wondering who had drawn such an unlucky card. Jason screamed, looking up with red eyes, his wolf began to cra
The wind blew into my wolf’s fur, making his journey to the kingdom the calm before the storm. It’d been many moons since we’d went on a run, and I hated the reason behind it. Leaving Lilly, my brother, and the others behind with the potential ghost of the castle, didn’t sit right with me, but I had no other choice. I knew Alaric would protect Blaire, and Blaire would make sure he protected everyone else, as well. But it stung to do it either way. My wolf’s paws slid into the dirt as we neared the kingdom and came to a stop. The other wolves following, slid in around me, and then the dragons landed with a giant thump. Heather’s wings shook the drizzle of rain from her, and she stopped in front of me. “We’re all here. Where to first?” I glanced around the giant brick wall guarding the grounds, and the tall front gates. The woods gave us enough coverage to hide from the lycans, but it wouldn’t be long before the wind from the thunderstorm carried our scent to them. All eyes o
Marcus let the bedroom door shut behind him once the guards made it into the hallway. My gut felt like rocks lined the insides. My heartbeat was still out of control from my dream—nightmare—with Jason. He'd pulled me through the courtyard by my hair, and I found little relief in massaging my scalp. The bastard had kicked me, taunted me, laughed at me, and when he shoved me down onto the ground, I knew he planned to rape me. The look of outrage on his face caused panic to knot in my throat. I'd never felt so helpless pressed against his body and the ground before. It was worse than the wolf's bane. It was worse than my leg. It hurt my pride, and my dignity to think he would take that from me. There was gravel beneath me, but no rocks big enough to do any damage. Jason's fingers tightened around my throat, and I gasped for breath. Kicking my legs wildly, I heard the sound of wings above me. I'd never prayed for another man to show up and save me as I did Alaric. But I couldn't see h
Lilly's warm body stirred beside me, but my wolf was too exhausted from alpha duty to pay it much attention. Moments dragged by when her leg jerked again, this time, shoving the covers away from her. Turning on my side, I glanced into the darkness to see someone standing over Lilly's body. I'd never moved so quickly in my life. I jolted upward, coming in contact with a cool gust of wind. Spinning, I watched Lilly begin to thrash around in her sleep, obviously in a dream with Jason. I turned on the lights, brightening the room to see Alaric's shadow dancing in the corner. "What do what?" I barked, desperately shaking Lilly's shoulders to wake her. His chuckle hit the back of my neck. I swirled around to see his silhouette perked in the corner of the room. "Stupid wolves think they can defeat anyone—," "What do you want?" I screamed, my insides melting into a batch of hatred. Alaric's gaze turned to Lilly. "Are you interested in saving Lilly, Marcus?" My jaw clenched into a jaw kn
The dragon in front of me was huge, his wings tucked tightly against his back, and his long black hair tied at the nape of his neck. If I hadn't known him, I would be intimidated. But his kind smile always pushed any fear I had about him away."This was my daughter's sword when she was a child," he chuckled, a playful look in his eye. "Believe it or not, dragons are small when they are children."I smiled and eyed the shiny blade. "It's beautiful. Did you carve the handle?"He nodded. "I do woodwork in my spare time.""Have you always been in this coven?" I asked, taking the blade from his strong grip, and admiring it up close."No. My mate was from this coven. When her parents grew old, we moved here to join this coven. When she passed, I stayed because my daughter grew up here. Now she's mated and found a new coven.""Do you miss her?" I asked."Very much so, but she comes to visit a few times a year. She would love that I'm teaching you a few moves with her sword."I ran my finger