A ring startled me awake. I jolted up. The clock said it was five in the morning. It wasn’t much later than when Bodey and I had fallen asleep.Samuel? I linked as I reached for my phone. Is everything okay?Yeah. Did something happen there? he replied instantly.Her phone is ringing, Bodey replied as an unknown phone number scrolled across my screen.“Who is it?” Bodey propped himself up, glancing at the phone.“I don’t know.” I didn’t want to answer it, but who knew what this could be about? “But I’d better answer.”Bodey nodded, and I swiped the phone and put it to my ear. “Hello?”“Is this Queen Caroline?” an unfamiliar, deep voice asked.I winced, not used to that name, and pulled the covers up to my throat. “Uh, yes. Who is this?”“King Sutton.” He paused. “We need to talk.”CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEBodey bolted upright in bed, his eyes locked on my face.My blood rushed through my veins, and I gripped the phone. I’d never expected to hear from Russell again, let alone his king, so t
“I felt the same about your family. That conversation has always stuck with me. Over the years, I saw what he’d noticed back then. No matter what happened, Kel isolated herself from the other territories. We didn’t hear a damn thing from her until three years ago.”It was a whole lot of information to take in, and I wasn’t sure if I was awake enough to have this conversation. I yawned and covered my mouth, trying not to let King Sutton hear. I wasn’t bored, just exhausted.Bodey snickered. Let me go get you a cup of coffee.I grabbed his arm, and he stilled. I don’t want you to go. I want you to hear the entire conversation.He tapped my forehead gently and winked, Then open up our connection. I’ll be able to hear everything. I’ll be back in a few minutes. He kissed my nose and crawled out of our bed.All brain cells misfired as I stared at his naked ass, and when he bent down and snatched his pajama bottoms off the floor, a bit of drool puddled in the corner of my mouth. I wasn’t sur
I tapped my foot to let out some nervous energy. With the way my decisions had been backfiring lately, I feared having them here would make things worse for us.We’re going to be careful, Bodey assured me, reaching over the center console to take my hand. If either one of us feels uncomfortable taking them back to the neighborhood, we won’t. We have credit cards, and we can book rooms at a hotel.He was right. I was letting my nerves get the best of me, but Lynerd’s betrayal had been a huge hit to my confidence.With each minute we waited, more sweat pooled in my armpits. I wasn’t a patient person to begin with, and this uncertainty was stressing me out even more.When the clock struck nine thirty, a horrible thought hit me. What if King Sutton had never planned to come? What if this was all a plan to get Bodey and me to the airport alone? He’d know that either we or Jasmine would come here to greet him. Either way, it would get Bodey and me exactly where he wanted us.That was when a
Kissing her forehead, King Sutton rolled his eyes. “And don’t worry. She did just that.”Edward yawned. “I hate to rush the introduction, but I’d love to get settled in. We’ve been traveling nonstop.”I didn’t miss Bodey’s jaw tightening, and he didn’t miss a beat as he opened the front passenger door and waved me inside.As I slid into my spot, Edward opened the back seat and crawled into the back row, where he stretched out. His lackadaisical demeanor settled my nerves. If I were planning to betray someone, I might be able to sit back and relax, but I wouldn’t be able to lie down and take a nap.Brittany moved into the seat behind me as King Sutton and Bodey opened their doors at the same time.As Bodey drove off, I took a deep breath. They’d arrived, and we’d gotten out of there with no issue. It was promising, but that could change at any time.Merging onto the main road, Bodey glanced into the rearview mirror. “We were getting worried that something might have happened.”I faced
When we pulled up to our white, modern, colonial-style house, all the lights were on. Bodey parked the Navigator in our driveway and opened the garage.By the time the five of us climbed out of the vehicle, the four royal advisors, Stella and Stevie, had come through the garage door to meet us.King Sutton’s eyebrows rose. “How many people live with you?”“Oh, we were just getting the place ready for you all.” Stella smiled, looking welcoming in her trendy long-sleeve, belted black dress. “The royal advisors wanted to greet you before we left.”“Your dress.” Brittany’s mouth dropped open. “I love it.”Stella chuckled. “Finally, someone here with fashion sense. Callie’d rather go barefoot than wear heels, and Stevie mostly sticks with cotton clothing.”I huffed. “The one time I wore heels, they prevented me from fighting and getting away from Kel’s wolves.” I glanced at King Sutton. “And I go by Callie.”Not even listening, Brittany pointed to the Navigator. “Oh, you should see what I
He stopped and smiled, his irises lightening to a milky brown. Of course. I’ll make sure to keep some of our strongest back too, since we’ll want to take them with us. He hugged me then continued around the front of the house.“That’s a pleasant surprise,” King Sutton murmured when Samuel was far enough away that he wouldn’t hear the low words.Unsure what he meant, I turned my attention to him. “What?”“You and your brother.” King Sutton picked up the heavy luggage. “I feared there would be animosity between you two, but your relationship doesn’t seem strained at all—either that or you two are very good at pretending.”“Oh.” That was a fair assessment, and I could tell by the way the three of them were studying me that they were curious. I shrugged. “He didn’t want to rule. It’s been an adjustment since he expected to have this role, but he’s now a royal advisor and the alpha of Idaho. It works well, and Bodey and I listen to his opinions.”Edward yawned.“Let’s get some rest.” I smi
“It’s all about appearances.” My throat ached, the few bites of breakfast I’d eaten heavy in my stomach. “A queen needs protection, and she wants to ensure no one questions her claim to the title.” I hated that I was beginning to understand her.Chelsea sat taller, the white priestess dress looking different on her, especially with Dina on the other side of her, dressed in black.“Were there any signs of witches?” Chelsea held a cup of tea in both hands.King Sutton winced. “We didn’t send any witches with them, but they saw five women working in a garden in the backyard. They wore dresses similar to yours.”“From what I remember, Kel’s royal coven consists of twenty witches.” Dina held her head high, but her dull-looking skin made her appear like a different person. “I’d estimate at least twenty there with her, just to be safe.”“Seventy is what we need to account for.” Bodey nodded. “Fifty shifters and twenty witches. We should bring at least double.”That sounded reasonable, but wh
Dina winced as though the next words were torture.“What is it?” The words scraped out of my throat as I forced myself to speak gently instead of allowing my impatience to show.Dina turned to Chelsea and nodded.“Oh. Right.” Chelsea straightened her shoulders. “We’re pretty sure the wolves had the witches coat the tips of their claws in nightshade, which is what killed the shifter.”Bodey’s anger swirled into me, heating my blood. He growled, “Of course. Why not add poison to her ever-growing list of ways to harm others? The bitch wouldn’t know a fair fight if it slapped her in the face.”“How the hell did they think to use that?” King Sutton rubbed his forehead.“Witches.” Dina frowned. “This coven has no trouble ignoring the whole do no harm to others promise. But why would they still help after losing so many of their coven members?”The room descended into tension-filled silence, every one of us absorbing the news.We were wasting time.Time we didn’t have.A delay would only aff
Four months laterI wiped my palms against my jeans for the thousandth time. Bodey took my hand as he drove the Jeep, a huge U-Haul trailer attached to the trailer hitch.Everything is going to be fine. He squeezed my hand lovingly. You took down a queen and got all the wolf territories to share resources and work together, and you’re just nervous about us moving into our new house.I didn’t do any of it alone. I arched a brow. We involved everyone.Just like we are now. He tilted his head behind us, where the royal advisors followed us in Jack’s and Lynerd’s cars, along with Samuel, Katelin, Theo, Jasmine, Stevie, Stella, and Mom.Pearl had decided to stay in Oxbow with Charles. Surprisingly, he’d stopped being as much of a dick, but the bridge between Pearl and me was too large to bridge.Bodey was right. We weren’t doing this alone either, but renovating my parents’ mansion so Bodey and I could move back into it had my nerves on edge. All my memories of my parents had happened ther
That was what I’d been missing during my time as queen. I’d relied on the judgment of human Callie more than my wolf. Maybe if I started listening to her and not fighting her, we’d make a great team.I relaxed and allowed her to take over.Our consciousnesses merged.Attack on my command, I linked to the former advisors. I couldn’t relay the message to Dina, but I counted on her to spring into action as soon as we made our move.I had to pretend to consider submitting to get close enough for the attack.Taking a deep breath, I prepared to argue with my wolf, keeping my head lowered slightly, but the merge we’d done had stopped her from fighting me, both sides now working together.Kel laughed. “That’s what I thought.”“No,” Bodey growled. He tried to jerk away from Lynerd, and the blade cut deeper into his skin. More blood trickled down his neck. Don’t do this. You have to protect our people. I need you to be safe.You matter more. The words were simple and true, and he felt the same
Bodey appeared at my side as the royal advisors launched their attacks. I gripped the hilt of my dagger, ignoring the way my hand still screamed from my injury.I leaned toward the guard fisting my hair, sending him off balance since I wasn’t fighting him anymore. Bodey punched him in the face, and his grip loosened. The guard’s head snapped to the side as Bodey swiped his blade across his throat. Blood squirted from the cut, hitting Bodey in the face, but my mate didn’t flinch.An arm clenched around my waist and pulled me back against a hard chest. A guard with a mustache ran through the middle of the fighters, heading toward me with handcuffs. Kel still wanted to take me prisoner, but I’d rather die than allow that to happen.I snapped myself forward, and the guard behind me grunted as I flipped him over my body into Mustache Guard.Bodey fought two guards beside me while the others were engaged in their own battles. One smaller guard crept around the circle, and my wolf surged for
On instinct, I threw a punch with my right hand. I hit the wolf in the side of its head, and pain exploded in my hand again. The reprieve the aloe had given me disappeared, and a fresh wave of sharp, stabbing soreness stole my breath.The wolf landed on the cement floor and swiped at my legs. I jumped, and its claws hit the rubber soles of my boots. When I landed, Bodey flashed past me and stabbed the wolf through the back of its head with his dagger.There was no holding back the vomit now. I turned to my left and emptied my stomach. That was a death like I’d never seen before, and I was certain it would haunt me.Something behind me clicked, and I knew the moment Bodey retrieved the dagger because the suctioning sound had my tummy roiling again.I’m sorry, but I couldn’t reach its heart or throat, he linked, his concern flowing through to me. I should’ve gotten to you faster.He’d just saved me, and he was apologizing because I’d vomited. Add ungrateful to my ever-growing list. You
The smell of piss and feces hit my nose, and vomit lodged in my throat. It burned like hell, but I swallowed, not wanting to add to the horrendous stench.The garage had cement walls, and two barred cells stood across from us with a solid wall between them. One was vacant, but the other one held someone. A figure crouched in the corner, hiding its face. The only evidence that it was human was the clothes I could see and the lack of hair on the arms.Bodey gasped and gagged. “This is where they held me.”The cells’ floors were covered in straw, but it was soiled and, from what I could tell, had been for a while.White-hot rage boiled in my veins. This was where she’d kept Bodey the entire time he was away from me. I had a hard time believing Kel ever set foot in this place. I’m going to kill her.Dina straightened and stepped back outside as she placed a shaky hand over her nose as if that would filter the air. “Witches spelled this place so tightly that no one could’ve breached it.”“
The nine of us moved efficiently. To Dina’s credit, she kept up.The woods opened up, revealing a small garden.Bodey stopped, lifting his hand, and pointed to the left, where the mansion peeked through the thinning trees. Let’s head straight there.Dina shook her head and pointed at the garden. She murmured, barely louder than a breath, “That’s all herbs, so it likely belongs to the coven. I can see an aloe plant, which would help your wounds. I’ll get some while you all scope out the house.”The garden was fifty feet away, but there was no one close by. All sounds of movement indicated that people were outside the house or heading toward the wolves we’d left behind.Why weren’t any wolves looking for us here?“Hurry,” Bodey muttered. We need to watch for a minute to see if we can figure out who’s here.I moved to the edge of the tree line and hunkered down behind some brush. Queen Kel’s mansion was huge and gorgeous, fronted by a rolling green lawn and a pond with stones around it.
At my feet, the darker wolf shook its head like it was trying to kill my boot or take it off. It growled, reminding me of a puppy with a stuffed animal, but this was not cute. This was my foot, and I was damn lucky he hadn’t pierced through the shoe.With my free foot, I kicked the darker wolf in the snout, and a dark-beige wolf bounded toward me. The dark wolf jerked back, releasing the boot and dodging my second blow at his nose.Something had to give. We hadn’t even made it to Kel’s mansion, and Bodey and I were already injured.More wolves are coming, Reggie linked. Behind us.I tensed. Reinforcements were here. We should’ve known Kel was paranoid as fuck. Do you need us? I sure hoped they didn’t, but I refused to let my people and King Sutton’s be slaughtered.We’re fine, Reggie replied. Just wanted to let you know to watch your back.Another time, his choice of words might have been funny, but not with the dark-beige wolf breathing down my neck.Holstering my gun, I tried to rem
The world moved in slow motion, and my wolf howled as I launched into action. I crashed into Bodey. As we went down, a sharp sting pierced the back of my shoulder.I’d been shot.Bodey’s panic flooded through me, his intensity dulling the pain.Gunfire from our group went off behind me, and Bodey rolled me over, his body covering mine.Dammit, Callie, he whimpered as he tried to cover every inch of my body. That was meant for me, not you.Snarls sounded as yet another fight broke out, but between my chest constricting in fear and Bodey, who lay on top of me, oxygen couldn’t fill my lungs.I need you to move, I grunted, trying to push him off me.He didn’t budge. No way in hell are you taking another bullet. You’re staying right where you are.Pain sliced through Bodey, strangling me as more weight pressed on my body as if a wolf was standing on top of my mate. Bodey tensed, and he groaned faintly, but he remained on top.Bodey! A scream strangled me, but I couldn’t release it since my
Come on, Bodey linked, placing my dagger back into my hand and taking my other hand in his. We need to catch up.Your shoulder. I reached out to look at it, noting the blood coating his sleeve.I’ll heal. We need to focus. He cupped my cheek and kissed my lips.Miles appeared beside me. Let’s hurry before they get into trouble. Or we do.He was right. We were separated from everyone else.Tapping into my wolf, I took off, following the scent of our friends. A breeze picked up as we raced through the woods, the sounds of fighting echoing around us. We soon caught up with our group since they’d been running slower for the witches, and we settled back into a rhythm with them.We were getting worried, Samuel linked. Jack and Lucas were about to turn around.We’re fine, I assured him, not wanting to talk long. We dealt with the three wolves chasing us.Something cold tingled down my spine, and I turned to the right. The edge of a black dress caught my attention before it vanished behind a