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Alaric I’m pretty sure the fragile creature in my arms is going to be the death of me. And not just because we have rogues chasing us. She weighs next to nothing, not impacting my speed at all. It’s not her weight that’s the problem. It’s her proximity. She may be tiny but she’s naturally curvy and the way she’s clinging to me, her full tits pressed into my chest and her thick thighs wrapped around my waist, the warmth of her pussy against my abs, if I wasn’t turned on before by her sassy mouth, I certainly am now. My cock is like solid steel. Running is painful, my hard-on squeezed uncomfortably with every stride. But I keep going, knowing I’m all that stands between Sage and certain death. I see the river up ahead and making a split-second decision, I jump in. I dunk us completely, Sage coughing and spluttering when we come up for air. “W-, w-, why, w-, would y-, you d-, do that?” She struggles to talk, her teeth chattering from the cold. The water is freezing, and though I b
Sage The woman in the driver’s seat glares at me like I’m the dirt on her fancy shoes. I don’t know her but I can’t help but sulk over her judgmental sneer. I’d actually hoped things could be different in Alaric’s pack, that people wouldn’t treat me like an outcast. Apparently that was too much to wish for. “Eris, what are you doing here? I thought Garrett was meeting me.” Alaric’s tone is borderline frosty, showing no particular emotion toward the woman. Which oddly makes me feel a bit better. I’m not sure why I care. Between her snooty attitude and his bossy personality, they probably deserve each other. “I volunteered,” She beams at him, batting her eyelashes. “There’s been more reports of attacks and disappearances while you were gone. Garrett was busy training a new group of warriors and was happy to let me come instead.”I could swear I hear him mumble something along the lines of “going to murder him” as he climbs into the backseat but I can’t be sure. He reaches over to b
Hello Wonderful Readers,Thank you for joining me on Sage and Alaric's journey! As always with my books, there will be ups and downs, bumps in the road, mysteries to be solved, plenty of spice, and a guaranteed HEA. Sage is a bit different from my other characters in that she's lived a very sheltered life and, apart from the cruelties she's suffered, is completely innocent. For that reason, her story will be more of a slower burn, but I promise to turn up the heat with no looking back when the time is right!As for my updating schedule, I will make every effort to update daily, except for Sundays which I set apart for family time (although I've been known to post on a Sunday here and there). Due to my daytime schedule, I usually update in early evening. I live in Hawaii so I'm on HST. This book is part of the True Love Saves The Day contest so all comments, reviews, and gems are much appreciated. But contest aside, I truly love to hear from you so please don't hesitate to drop a line!
Sage “Welcome to the Silver Crown pack!” The girl who’s currently cutting off my air supply with her vice-like hold exclaims in my ear. “Iris, let her go!” Alaric barks gruffly. “She can’t breathe with you smothering her like that.” The girl, Iris, releases me and takes a step back, wearing a sheepish expression. “Sorry! It’s just, Ric told Garrett he was bringing a friend and my brother so rarely makes friends, I mean, you’ve met him, right? So you can see why. Anyway, I was excited to meet you. I’m Iris, by the way,” She talks so fast, I have trouble keeping up. She sticks out her hand to shake mine and I take it, but I’m glancing in Alaric’s direction, gauging his response to her insinuation that he’s difficult to get along with. He wears an exasperated expression and rolls his eyes at her but I can swear there’s some affection behind it. I can see why. I like Iris already. “It’s nice to meet you, iris. Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m-” “Sage!” She finishes for me. “I kn
Alaric “What the fuck, Garrett?” I hiss as soon as Sage and Iris are gone. But the fucker just chuckles and grins like my irritation amuses him. “What’s the matter Ric? Our great and powerful king can’t handle one little car ride with his ex-girlfriend and his new mate?” He taunts me. “How are we supposed to trust you with a whole kingdom when you can't handle two harmless women?” I roll my eyes at his childish behavior. “I have yet to understand what my baby sister sees in you. And that’s the last time I tell you my secrets. I can’t believe you told Iris about her. She’ll never let it go now.” “You know I tell Iris everything. Shouldn’t have told me if you didn’t want her to know.” He shrugs and I have to resist the urge to punch my Beta. “And don’t pretend you didn't love me long before your sister did. But seriously, Sage is gorgeous and seems really sweet. Have you thought anymore about telling her what she is to you?” I shake my head, wishing it was that simple. “I can’t. H
Sage “Hey, want some company?” Iris pokes her head in just as I’m slipping into some pajamas I found tucked into a drawer, a cami and short set she must have purchased for me. “Of course. Please come in.” Everyone was so prim and proper at dinner and I felt so out of place. I’m not sure how to address her after that. I guess she is technically a princess. Iris giggles. “You don’t have to speak so formally to me. No one does. Well, no one except Eris and I hate it. Come to think of it, I really kind of hate her.”A snort slips out before I can stop it and Iris laughs with me. “Sorry, it’s just, well dinner was a bit overwhelming.” I confess. “It’s not usually like that unless we have guests. Even with Eris, my brother usually doesn’t play along with her ‘Queen of the Castle’ attitude. I’m not sure what’s going on with him tonight. Seems like he has a giant stick up his ass about something.”“He did look kind of constipated.” I comment, and we both break down into full-belly laugh
Sage My heart hammers against my ribs as Alaric's powerful presence fills the pantry doorway. The familiar scent of pine and winter wind wraps around me, but there is something else there too—a dangerous edge that makes the air crackle with tension.Eris's perfectly painted lips curve into an innocent smile. "Alaric, I was just explaining to your... guest... that we have strict protocols about food distribution in the pack.""Is that what you call cornering a traumatized wolf in a confined space?" Alaric's voice is deceptively soft, but I can feel the fury radiating from him in waves. His steel-gray eyes have shifted to molten amber, fixed on Eris with predatory focus."I didn't—" Eris begins, but Alaric cuts her off with a low growl that makes us both flinch."Get out." The words carry the full weight of an Alpha command. Eris's face contorts in rage for a split second before she masks it, ducking her head in a show of submission before slinking past him.As soon as she’s gone, Alari
Alaric I can't stop watching her.Sage has fallen asleep halfway through the movie, her small frame gradually relaxing until her head rests against my shoulder. The sweet scent of honeysuckle and rain that clings to her skin is slowly driving me mad, but I don't dare move. She needs this rest, this moment of peace.My animal prowls restlessly beneath my skin, desperate to claim what we both know is ours. Our second chance mate. The truth sits heavy in my chest, unspoken. Every protective instinct I possess screams at me to tell her, to sweep her into my arms and never let go.But I remember the terror in her eyes in the pantry earlier. The way she'd pressed herself into that corner, expecting punishment for daring to seek food. The fresh wounds Cassius left on her soul are still bleeding, and I won't be another source of pain.Iris catches my eye from her end of the couch, where she's curled up against Garrett, who joined us an hour ago. My sister's knowing look makes me want to growl
Sage "Again," Iris instructs as I shift back to human form. "You're getting faster, but you need to be able to change instantly if threatened."My bones and muscles protest, but I welcome the physical discomfort. It's easier than the constant ache of the mate bond, the awareness of Alaric that I can't shut off no matter how hard I try.“He suffers too,” Aura reminds me. “I can feel it through the bond.”“Then he should have thought of that before lying to me,” I snap back, shifting again into my white wolf form.The sun rises fully as we practice, other wolves gathering to watch. My transformation has changed how they see me - some with awe, others with lingering suspicion. But at least they're open about it now, unlike some people."The Alpha's in another emergency meeting," I overhear one guard tell another. "More attacks reported from the eastern territories."Of course he is. There's always another meeting, another crisis, another reason to be anywhere but here.“He's doing his d
Alaric Memories torment me as I try to rest - every time she asked what she meant to me, every opportunity I had to tell her the truth. The night in the training room when she gave herself to me so trustingly. The mornings after when she looked at me like I hung the moon.All while I kept this secret from her.“She is OURS,” my beast rages. “Has always been ours. Why did we hide it?”"Because I'm a fool," I tell the empty room."Yes, you are." Garrett appears with reports about the attack. "But a fool who can still fix this.""How?" The word comes out more desperate than I intend. "You didn't see her face, Garrett. Didn't feel her pain through the bond.""No, but I saw her face every time you pulled away in public. Every time you maintained 'proper distance' while knowing exactly what she was to you."His words cut deep because they're true. I thought I was being noble, giving her freedom to choose. Instead, I made her feel unwanted. Unworthy.Just like Cassius did.Pain from my wou
Sage Power courses through me like liquid moonlight as I stand over Alaric's fallen form. Everything feels different - sharper, clearer, more alive. I am different. Where once there was emptiness, now my wolf fills me completely, as if she was merely sleeping all this time, waiting for this moment.My pure white fur gleams in the moonlight, and some deep instinct tells me my name - Aura. But I can't focus on the wonder of finally finding my wolf, not with Alaric still bleeding before me.The mutant wolves retreat, but their corrupted scent lingers, reminding me how close we came to losing everything. How close I came to losing him. The memory of his blood mixing with mine, of power exploding through me when I thought I'd lose him forever, still burns in my veins.“We need to shift back,” I think frantically, trying to figure out how to access my human form.“Breathe,” a voice inside me soothes - my wolf, Aura. “Feel the change in your bones. Let it flow naturally.”Her presence in my
Alaric "The healing pack abilities are a threat to pack stability," Lord Marcus declares. "History shows us the dangers of unchecked power. Already she gains followers, already she challenges our traditional ways—""By healing our wounded?" I counter, barely containing my beast's rage. "By saving lives when our usual methods fail? If that’s the trade off then I don’t give a fuck what history shows!""It's not just about healing," Victoria's father interjects. "These abilities... they're unnatural. The old texts speak of powers that could control wolves' very natures. What's to stop her from—"The howls that cut him off carry notes I haven't heard in years - pure terror mixed with desperate warning. My beast recognizes the threat before my human mind can process it. These aren't normal patrol signals. These are primal, urgent. A warrior bursts through the council doors, bleeding from multiple wounds. "Mutant wolves... breached the borders... attacking the gardens..." He manages the
Sage The pendant feels different now that I know its history. Not just a mysterious link to my past, but potentially a key to ancient healing knowledge. If only I knew how to access it."Focus," the head healer instructs as I examine a warrior's infected wound. "Don't think about healing. Feel it."I close my eyes, letting my hands hover over the injury. There's something there - a sense of wrongness I can't quite explain. "The infection spreads deeper than it looks," I murmur. "Like threads of darkness under the skin.""Exactly." She sounds pleased. "The healing packs could sense illness this way. Reading the body's patterns, understanding what it needs."We've been testing these abilities all morning. Not the dramatic soul-healing the ancient texts describe, but practical applications of what seems to come naturally to me. My mysterious talent for knowing which herbs to combine, for sensing where injuries run deepest."It's like..." I struggle to explain as I work. "Like the body t
Alaric The scouts kneel before my throne, exhaustion clear in their postures. Three weeks in the northern territories has left them gaunt but determined."We found it, my King." The lead scout places a weathered scroll case at my feet. "Hidden in the mountains where the healing packs once lived."My beast stirs at the scent clinging to the artifacts - ancient herbs and something that reminds me of Sage's unique fragrance."The settlement was destroyed," another scout reports. "But some records survived in underground chambers. Records that tell a very different story than the one the Blackthorn Beta Female presented."I unroll the first scroll carefully, its edges crumbling with age. Detailed accounts of the healing packs fill the brittle pages - their abilities, their bloodlines, their sacred duty to protect all wolves."There's more." The lead scout hesitates. "We found evidence of an attack. Not by their own pack as was claimed, but by outsiders who feared their power."Garrett e
Sage The training room feels different in early morning solitude. My muscles remember the moves now, body flowing through sequences Alaric has drilled into me night after night. I catch glimpses of myself in the mirrored walls - not the scared omega from Blackthorn anymore, but someone stronger. Someone who knows how to fight back."Your form is improving."I don't startle at Iris's voice. Another change - I'm more aware of my surroundings now, harder to sneak up on."Alaric's a good teacher." When he's not distracting me with other activities, I don't add."Speaking of my brother's... teaching." Her grin turns wicked. "Those marks on your neck are new."Before I can sputter a response, voices approach the training room. Eris enters with her usual entourage, including Victoria and three other noble wolves."Well, well." Eris's smile shows teeth. "The little poison-maker, practicing her... skills."I continue my exercises, remembering Alaric's lessons about staying calm. "Good morning
Sage Small changes ripple through the pack in the days following the poisoning incident. Wolves still whisper when I pass, but some nod respectfully now. The warriors I saved make a point of greeting me publicly. Their families send quiet thanks through Iris.But at night, when I'm alone with my thoughts, doubt creeps in like poison. I know who I am now - a healer, someone who saves lives. But what about then? What about the memories that stay locked behind that dark wall in my mind?"You're brooding again," Iris declares, finding me in the garden. "I can practically smell the self-doubt.""Wouldn't you doubt?" I touch a moonflower petal. "Everyone keeps talking about how well I know poisons, how easily I recognized them. What if...""Don't." She grabs my hands. "Don't let their accusations make you question yourself.""But that's just it - I don't know myself. Not really." The words that have been haunting me spill out. "I know who I am now, but what about before? What if I really
Alaric "The practice is unnatural," Elder Marcus declares, his face twisted with revulsion. "We honor our dead, not mutilate them.""Two warriors are dead," I growl, barely containing my beast's rage. "Dead under suspicious circumstances that some are using to condemn an innocent wolf. You'd deny us the chance to prove her innocence because of tradition?"The council chamber fills with uneasy murmurs. No Alpha has ever suggested examining our dead this way before. But no Alpha has ever had their mate falsely accused of murder either."My King," Lord Harrison speaks carefully. "While we understand your... personal interest in clearing the omega's name, there are centuries of custom to consider."Phantom snarls at their inability to say Sage's name, to acknowledge her as pack. But I force my voice to remain steady. "And what of justice? What of truth?""There are other ways to investigate," Victoria's father suggests smoothly. "Ways that don't desecrate our fallen warriors."Before I c