So this is Adelaide. What do you think of her? She going to be someone Alyssa can count on or another enemy?
Adelaide led me past most of the buildings I’ve seen, but stopped at the large one I was staying in until Kalen put me inside the room. “This is the communal building. Anyone without a place to stay can stay here until they decide to move on or get their own home.”“Move on?” I asked, confused.“Yeah, as in, they’re just passing through.”I gave her an incredulous look. “Are you saying the alpha just lets anyone come into his territory and pass through?”“Yes, I am,” Adelaide said with a light laugh. “Not everyone thrives with rules, Alyssa, and being a rogue means we accept everyone’s right to live life as they wish.”“But isn’t that dangerous? What about those wolves who’ve gone feral?”“We have precautions,” Adelaide said, and kept walking. We walked past the buildings I already had seen to what looked like a small town square. There were a few stores and even a restaurant or two. People waved and called out a greeting when they saw her. It all seemed very picturesque. “The building
I expected Kalen to take me back to the room he locked me in before, but he took me to the communal building, back to my old room. “Stay in here. Do not leave until the head servant comes to take you to your new room. She or me are the only ones who can let you out of your room. Is that understood? If you leave, I’ll break the necklace.”The threats against the necklace were getting old. Instead of arguing, I nodded. “Understood.”Kalen angrily closed the door, and I blew out a breath, sitting on the bed. Why was he so upset Adelaide took me out of the room, or was he upset about the man, James? Adelaide was afraid of him, though she tried to hide it. Kalen didn’t seem happy to see him either. I had to admit there was something not quite right with him. He was all friendly and smiling, but all his words and smiles seemed to have a hint of a threat in them.It was some time before I heard a knock and the door opened. The head servant stood there. “If you’ll follow me, miss,” she said, s
***Author's Note: If you read this story before Nov. 4th, please go back and reread as it has been heavily edited and events have changed. Thank you***It’s Chelsie. She stood by the bed with a ceramic jar in her hand.It took me a minute to stop coughing, but I glared right back at her. “I was told this was where I was going to be staying from now on,” I snapped at her once I stopped coughing. Pulling my soaked clothes from my body, I stood up from the bed. It was as soaked as much as my clothes were.“Liar,” she growled at me and before I could say a word, she pulled back her hand and slapped me hard across the face.The force of it threw me back on the wet bed and I held my cheek, tasting blood in my mouth. I looked up at her with a glare. “I’m not--”“Shut up. I don’t want to see you in this room again. Do you hear me? I am the future luna of this group. I won’t tolerate you sneaking around, trying to seduce the alpha. Now get up, you lying lazy bitch. I have work for you to do.”C
More people showed up. The servants finally got their asses in gear and did their jobs. After they all made fun of me, I decided I wouldn’t lift a finger to help them now. Instead, I walked over to Sarah. “This looks amazing. How did you do it?”The preteen grinned. “Thanks, I got my friends to help.” Her expression turned serious. “I heard what you did for my brother. You talked him down, then you stepped in and kept the alpha from being too hard with him. So really, the thanks go to you.”My guilt surged up in me. “It was my fault,” I admitted. “I accidentally triggered his flashback.”“You can’t blame yourself for what you didn’t know,” Sara replied with a shrug. “Thomas doesn’t like to talk about what happened too much.”“Even so, I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve realized what was going on and in the end, he got hurt.”“Alyssa, you have more bruises than he does,” she replied with a scoff. “And if that’s not good enough, you should know Thomas doesn’t blame you at all.”
The man smashed his lips against mine in a bruising kiss. Someone else grabbed my butt with the same punishing force, while another tried to rip off my shirt. Rage filled me and I grabbed a fist full of hair of the man kissing me, pulling him away from me. I kneed him in the groin before turning to punch another one of the men.Adrenaline pumped through my veins, making every inch of my body tingle with fight-or-flight energy. Another man lunged at me, his hands reaching out. “Come here you, bitch!”I sidestepped, twisting his arm and sending him stumbling off balance. I used the momentum to shove him hard, making him trip over his feet. The man I punched held his nose. “You said if we let the girl go…”“I’d show you everything? I will show you how I kick your ass,” I snapped, enjoying the surprise on their faces. They hadn’t expected me to fight back. I squared my stance, fists clenched, hoping maybe if I fought just enough, they’d figure I wasn’t worth the fight.One of them swore un
I couldn’t believe Sarah just asked me to marry Thomas, and that Kalen happened to walk into the room at that moment. I was really starting to think the goddess hated me.“Ah,” I said, not wanting to offend Sarah or give Kalen another reason to be angry with Thomas. “How about you leave the matchmaking to the adults, okay?”Sarah made a disgusted sound, then turned, noticing Kalen. “Oh, hi alpha,” she said, cheerfully and waving at him, then gave me a look like she was reminding me of my promise.“Oh, Alpha, you should know the one who decorated for the new moon party was none other than Sarah. She has a genuine talent for it. You should let her decorate more often,” I told him.Some of his anger diminished, replaced by some confusion, as Sarah beamed up at him. “Uhm, alright. I’ll see what I can do.”“Thanks,” she said, then raced up and gave me a hug.I sucked in a pained breath as a wave of pain raced through my side. “You’re welcome.” Sara started to leave, then she stopped. I saw
I sighed as I leaned against the back of the tub. The hot water did a lot for the aches and pains. Once the water grew cold, I got out. My ankle was still an ugly purple, black color, but I could walk on it without a limp now.I grabbed a change of clothes, smelling them to make sure they didn’t smell like the blonde idiot, before I put them on. In fact, they didn’t smell like anyone. These were new.I laid in the bed, feeling strange being in Kalen’s room, surrounded by his scent. What was he doing? Why the sudden kindness and how long was it going to last? I rolled over to my side and sighed. Only time will tell, I suppose. Exhaustion washed over me, and I fell asleep.I shot up, screaming out the name of my son. My chest rose and fell with my heavy breathing as the panic of seeing Carl hurting my son was still squeezing my heart. I blinked several times to recognize where I was. A nightmare… It was just another nightmare. Pulling the blankets aside, I noticed the other side wasn’t s
Nervous and hopeful energy flowed through me as we arrived at the lake-side resort that would serve as a neutral ground for the peace talks. I recognized several alphas, and some even recognized me. I tried not to duck my head, embarrassed, when they saw I was with Kalen. As much as I hated that this would make Carl’s claims against me seem more true, I cared more for peace than my reputation.Almost immediately after we went inside, I saw Carl and Lena. Rage filled me. My body shook. They saw me too. Lena laughed as they walked over to us. “Well, so the rogue didn’t kill you. Lucky you, I guess.”“Yes, lucky me, but not for you,” I said, taking a step towards them. It filled me with immense joy that Lena took a step back to stand behind Carl.Carl’s jaw clenched, and he glared at me. “Careful,” he sneered, his voice low. “You might want to watch that mouth of yours. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”I felt a smirk tug at the corner of my mouth. “Oh, I know exactly who I’m deali
EpilogueWith the death of James, there was enough evidence in his safe house to prove he was behind all the conflicts between pack and rogues, and the war officially was over. The lycan king spent the next several months majorly cleaning house. The king stripped most of the alphas of their positions with the choice of being incarcerated or going through a rehabilitation program. Not surprisingly, most were incarcerated or forced the king’s hand into killing them.He was also trying to repair his relationship with Danielle and the rogue king. The kings weren’t friends, but they stopped the petty back and forth they used to do. Danielle thinks there’s hope for them. Me… I am not so sure, but just glad to see their issues probably won’t cause any more wars.The lycan king offered the leadership of the Crimson Fang back to me, but I refused. There was too much bad blood between the pack and me. Besides, the rogue community felt like home to me now. I had friends and family here. Being th
The sun was warm against my skin as Caden and I sat on a blanket in the late morning. I tried to focus on him, and the joy of having him back in my life, instead of worrying about Kalen. Two days have passed since they left to find James, and I’ve not heard a single word about what was going on.“Hey,” Thomas said as he sat next to us, breaking me from my thoughts.“Hey,” I replied and unable to help myself, asked, “Heard anything yet?”He shook his head with a downfallen look. “No, but it doesn’t mean anything. Operations like this take time.”That would’ve made me feel better if he didn’t also look worried himself. He was trying to hide it, but I saw it all the same. Perhaps he wasn’t only trying to make me feel better, but himself, too. “Yeah. You’re probably right,” I said, deciding to play along.“So how are things with this little guy?” Thomas asked, looking down at Caden who had rolled over to his stomach now.“It’s been an adjustment,” I admitted. “You know, you hear about all
The Wolf's PoVI moved my neck to the side and shook off the painful little aftershocks of my shift. I lifted my massive snout and sniffed the air. Sweat, adrenaline, fear and anger. It was the smell of the most basic, primal of all instincts of any living creature. The fight for survival. It was an intoxicating mix. Working my jaw, the desire for blood filled me.I lowered my head and glared at the man before me. He looked equally excited as he did terrified. This man, James, didn’t understand the danger he was in if he was anything but afraid. I wasn’t Kalen. I didn’t care for him or the memories Kalen had of him. To me, he wasn’t family. He was a threat to my family. James separated my pup from his mother. He tried to take her away from me. For all of that, James needed to die. With a growl, I stepped towards him and allowed him to see his death in my eyes.“Why are we fighting, Kalen?” James said, shaking his head with a grin. “Look at the power you command. You could be the king
Kalen PoVI froze, unsure if I heard my uncle right. He was challenging Father? “You can’t be serious,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. James met my gaze, his smile growing. “I’ve never been more serious in my life.”Across the room, Father stood still, his hands clasped behind his back, the way he always stood when he was thinking, or more likely in this case, calculating. His eyes flickered toward me before returning to James. “Is this what you want, James? Have you become so seduced by power that you would fight me, kill me for it?”“You know nothing about me, Elijah,” James said, a growl in his voice. James took a step forward, his jaw tight, his fists clenching at his sides. “You built this all on weakness, nurturing that weakness, claiming it to be strength, but it’s all a lie and I’ve proved that. You haven’t been able to stop anything I’ve been doing.”Father tilted his head, considering him. “And what would you do instead? Be a tyrant? Ignoring those in need? Rule wi
Kalen’s PoVA still calmness washed over me as I prepared to leave. Father was waiting for me and I saw he wore a similar expression on his face. I couldn’t imagine how hard this had to be for him. James was his brother, after all. As the older brother, I had no doubt Dad looked after James, protected him from bullies and all of that. They’d been through everything together. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The villain was not supposed to be your family.“Ready?” he asked me when I reached him.“Could anyone be ready for something like this?” I replied.Father nodded and sighed. “No. No, I don’t think so, or at least, they shouldn’t be, but this is what we are given and we’re going to deal with it the best we can.”“That we are,” I said, and we started walking to the meeting point with the others coming with us.We were almost halfway there when Father stopped me. “There is something I have to say before we go.”“What is it? Something wrong?”Father shook his head. “No, just the op
KalenIt had been three days since Caden came back into our lives. Three days of the best chaos of my life. Never in my life had I seen myself in a domestic light. Yes, I’d often thought about building a life with Alyssa, but mostly because that’s what people did when they found their mate. They got together, had kids and built a family. I didn’t get excited about the idea, but I didn’t dread it either.Yet, now? Now, despite the crying mountains of diapers, Caden’s inability to stay still unless he’s sleeping. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. I can’t remember a time where I felt happier and more at peace with life than how I am now.Alyssa and I visited that woman who claimed to know all about Caden yesterday, when she wasn’t feeling so confident about her capabilities to be a good mother to Caden. No matter what I told her, Alyssa wasn’t convinced, so we went to see the woman. However, the woman didn’t know anything. After some pressure, she admitted she only cared fo
“There he is. There is my grandson,” the rogue king said as soon as he saw us. He walked over and kissed Caden on the top of the head as he took in his scent. “Nice to see our good looks continue for another generation,” he added with a grin. “What brings you both here?”“Basically to catch up,” I said, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Caden didn’t seem to be that heavy, but, after a while of holding him, it felt as if he’d doubled in weight. “I would like to know more about how Caden was found and where.”“And how the search for James is going as well,” Kalen said, sitting next to me.“The search is going,” Kalen’s father replied. “However, I suggest with Caden now back. You should both focus on him and settling in your new roles as his parents.”“And we will, but there are things I need to know,” I argued.“I understand, and I will pass the reports the search team leader made about the search into the building where they found Caden. Though, I don’t think you
Kalen walked up to me and wrapped his arms around the both of us. “No, this is real. We’ve got him back. You’ve got your son back, Alyssa.”I held Caden to me, unable to believe my eyes. “How? When?” I asked Kalen, then glanced up at him, anger trickling into my joy. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”“Because no one knew until they found him,” Kalen replied. “The location they found him, there weren’t any other children. It seemed to be nothing more than a supply depot. Also, this just happened this morning. The trackers told my dad who told me, and well, I thought I’d give you a surprise.”“Who was with him? How was he found?” I said and looked at Caden, searching for signs that they had mistreated or neglected him.“From what they told me there was a woman with him,” Kalen replied. “I don’t know any more than that. We can take him to the doctor now if you like. Though I have to say he looks fine.” Kalen reached out and held Caden’s hand as the baby looked at us with wide eyes, as if taki
Nearly a week passed after our visit with the lycan king. Danielle and I continued our training while I saw very little of Kalen or his father. There was a lot of movement in the camp. It seemed as if we were getting closer to finding James. I tried asking Danielle if she knew anything, but she just said I should focus on my training and trust that if there was news Kalen would tell her.That only made me annoyed, one because I hated not knowing what exactly was going on and second, because she was right. Kalen wouldn’t keep me in the dark about anything important. Yet, where was he? Until recently, he was practically at my side all the time. It seemed strange he wasn’t here.Suddenly, my feet knocked out from under me, but Danielle caught me before I hit the ground. “You’re not paying attention,” she lectured as she glared down at me.“Right,” I said, feeling a bit of whiplash. “Sorry.”“You should be,” Danielle said and pulled me up to my feet. “I’m not doing this for my health, you