3rd PersonEric jogged the rest of the way up the hill and threw his arms around Jane, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around in circles. Jane laughed and hugged him back, but their reunion was punctuated by the unmistakable sound of jealous growls behind them. Hearing her former mate working himself up into a threatening lather, Jane whispered a warning in Ethan’s ear. “Careful, he’s right there.”“Mmm why do you think I’m holding you so tightly?” He teased, rubbing his hand up and down her back for good measure. The truth is that he also wanted to hold her this way as much as possible and was beyond grateful for the excuse to do so. Eric had been falling in love with Jane little by little for months now, though he hadn’t realized it at first. In fact, it wasn’t until she departed for the Nightfang pack and he felt as if his heart had disappeared with her, that he understood what was happening. Right on cue, three little voices cried, “Uncle Eric!” and the Dark Moon wo
JaneI’m almost as stunned as Ethan is that Eric just announced we’re engaged. We never discussed telling such a lie, but I have to admit it was certainly effective. Ethan looks downright furious. Beyond furious, he looks apoplectic with rage. “Excuse me?” He snarls. “You heard me.” Eric answers smoothly. “We’re engaged.”Ethan’s dark eyes leap to my ring finger, “I don’t see a ring.” He remarks shrewdly. “I have terrible taste in jewelry.” Eric explains, “I thought Jane would prefer to pick out her own ring rather than wear whatever hideous design I chose. We were going to go shopping as soon as she got home, but I missed her too much to stay away.”“That’s so sweet.” I pretend to swoon, “maybe we can go shopping here.”“That’s a great idea!” Eric exclaims, “Do you have any suggestions for jewelers, Alpha?” He asks, his icy blue eyes sharp as daggers, “you used to be married right? Who did you use?”“No one you could afford.” Ethan scowls.“Actually Eric is very successful.” I chi
Though Eve’s plans didn’t always turn out as she’d intended, she was certain they were well thought out. It was people that messed things up. With Petra, she’d always intended the elder she-wolf to survive. She needed her as an ally after Ethan divorced Jane; she needed Petra to love her unconditionally so she would help convince her son to marry Eve. The problem then was that Ethan turned out to be even more irrational than Eve could have dreamed. Instead of leaving Jane then and there, he simply punished her. All of her previous attempts on Paisley’s life had also been thoroughly researched and planned. The first time Jane’s other little brats turned up out of nowhere and ruined her scheme, and the second it simply turned out that the doctors were more competent than she gave them credit for. This time however, this time there was no way she could fail: She couldn’t stop the car, Paisley was perfectly aligned with the oncoming truck and completely unprotected without her seatbelt.
JaneI don’t think I can handle any more emergency phone calls notifying me that my pup is in grave danger. This is the second time it’s happened in a single week, and I already feel like my nerves are completely raw. I’m becoming afraid of hearing the phone ring, just one shrill chime is enough to send me jumping out of my skin. When I arrive at the scene of the accident, it takes me a moment to find Paisley. I see Ethan first, talking with a law enforcement officer and looking very grave indeed. I run up to him, asking, “What happened?” but almost as soon as the words are out of my mouth, I finally catch sight of Paisley. She’s sitting in the back of an ambulance, looking shaken but mostly unharmed as an EMT picked shards of glass from her clothing. I start to change directions, but Ethan catches me first.“Eve was taking her for ice cream and she says the brakes went out on her car.” He explains swiftly. “Eve?” I repeat, righteous indignation swelling in my chest, “You trusted Ev
EthanIn my time as Alpha, I’ve witnessed plenty of wild news stories, and even been at the center of a few. However nothing is as alarming as seeing Eve touted as my future Luna on every channel for 24 hours straight. Now that I know who she truly is and what she’s done to my daughter, the idea of even being in the same room with her makes me sick to my stomach. After Paisley was discharged from the hospital I took her to our country cabin to recuperate, not wanting her in the penthouse with reporters camped outside the front door waiting for a glimpse of us. At first I thought I’d let the story run its course and die down on its own, but then the calls started coming in. Everyone wanted my comment on whether I truly was planning to marry Eve, and when I began to do some investigating of my own, I discovered that all these stories had been paid for by a mysterious benefactor. Someone had bribed the news stations to cover the car accident and promote Eve this way, and I have a fairly
3rd PersonAfter almost a full month sharing a bedroom in Linda’s apartment, Jane was finally able to move herself and the pups into their own apartment. Of course, she had no idea that making this change would open the door for her children to hatch a new scheme with their sister.Little did any of the adults know that on their last visit to the hospital, they’d exchanged walkie talkies so they could stay in contact with one another. Of course, Linda’s apartment was much too far away from the Alpha’s penthouse for the devices to connect to one another, but Jane’s new apartment was only a block away. It hadn’t been her first choice, but it was the best she could get on such short notice. It took a few days of trying since Ethan initially took Paisley to his country house to avoid the media circus, but on the fifth day of trying to reach their long lost sister, Ryder, Parker and Riley finally made contact. “Paisley, come in, over.” Parker said into the speaker, holding down the talk
Only concern for his daughter could distract the Alpha from his line of questioning. He’d felt, at long last, like he was on the verge of understanding something which had eluded him for years, only to have it yanked out of reach at the last moment. Nonetheless, Ethan followed Jane’s line of sight, watching the pups race through the indoor playground with unrestrained glee. Despite Jane’s fears, he couldn’t recall seeing Paisley ever looking so healthy, and he nodded happily, “Look at her, she’s glowing.”Jane smiled, realizing Ethan was exactly right. Paisley did look better than she’d ever seen her, despite everything she’d been through these last few weeks. All the pups looked happier than she could recall seeing them in quite some time. Of course, what Ethan and Jane did not know was that Riley and Paisley had switched places at the very first opportunity available to them. Trading out clothes in the ball pit while the grown ups were distracted, the sisters seamlessly took up each
Truly crying now, Riley nodded. “Okay.” As Eve retreated, searching the apartment for her phone and cackling to herself over crushing a small child’s feelings, Riley couldn’t help but think she and her brothers couldn’t have planned this better if they’d tried. Riley wasn’t as talented with technology as Ryder, but she knew how to send a text message easily enough. Quickly copying every contact in Eve’s address book, she sent the voice memo off with a rush of triumph. The next part of the plan took on new meaning with Eve’s parting advice. Riley had always planned on returning home once her task was complete. She, Paisley and the boys would get to enjoy some quality time together and could relax knowing they were all safe. However once her conversation with Eve was received by Ethan, Jane, Petra, and all the various contacts Eve used to leverage her position in the pack, when Ethan came home to find Paisley missing he’d naturally assume the little girl had run away at Eve’s instructi