The crowd starts a countdown to midnight like New Year’s Eve. I close my eyes and smile, holding Liam’s hand tightly. Everyone yells “ONE!” and cheers. I open my eyes and see the iridescent liquid light of the full moon pouring out of the giant orb flowing down over us. People around us ooh and ahh at the beautiful sight. When the first rays of moonlight cascade over my skin, I feel a heat inside me turn into a burning fire. I gasp and look up at Liam. He looks at me with wide, surprised eyes. “Mate,” he murmurs and squeezes my hand tighter. It isn’t a comforting feeling. There are no sparks like people describe when they touch their mate. Maybe it takes a few minutes to develop. I smile and try to admire Liam, but I don't want to say it back. Nothing feels different. I still love him, but he’s not the one. Liam is looking at me, but it isn’t a look of true love. It’s lustful and carnal. I feel a pit in my stomach. Liam isn’t my mate. How can this be? And how was he able to call me his mate if he’s not mine? “Zara,” a woman’s voice says in my head, “My name is Lavender. I’m your wolf and you’re in grave danger, my dear. You need to run. You need to run now. Your life depends on it.” “My… wolf?” With everything that happened the past couple of hours, I forgot she was waking up. “L-Lavender, what’s happening? What do you know?” Lavender repeats her order. “Zara, you need to run. I can explain later. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, sweet girl.”
View More“Zara, first, I want you to know that your parents loved you. They had no choice when they left you and they never stopped trying to find you and get you back.” Tyree’s tone differs from what I’ve heard from him before. It’s more apologetic and compassionate, like a father trying to make his child understand another point of view. “Tyree, how could I possibly believe that?” Zara holds her hand up to stop him. “They left me on the steps of the pack house. I wasn’t even a week old. They didn’t want me.” “It’s not true, Zara. I promise you it’s not true. Your father’s name is Scott Eklund. Your mother is Sondi. They came here because the Alpha from Emerald Mountain banished them. They were seeking asylum, and it was granted.” Tyree sits back and sighs. “From what I understand, your father attacked the pack’s Beta, trying to defend Sondi. Your mother said she never had a problem with the Beta and barely knew him. Your father had issues with mental illness. He was paranoid and refused to
“First and foremost, thank you all for being here today. I’m going to keep my portion short.” Jasper stands at the podium, now tenured in speaking in front of crowds, looking comfortable to address the room. He pulls out a notecard from his jacket pocket and glances down at it. “There is someone very special I would like to introduce you to. She’s not only the lead scientist for the Sigma Project, she is the mastermind behind the medication that has made this whole thing possible.” Jasper looks into the wings and gives Zara a thumbs up. I feel her take a deep breath under my hands. “This talented woman completed her undergraduate degree and masters in biochemistry, and she’s almost finished with her doctorate all in just over six years. On top of that, she is now the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate ever. In chemistry and in medicine. Friends, she’s the hardest worker in the room, by far the smartest person you will ever meet, an incredible mother, and one of my closest friends. Oh and
“Hey guys, your flight was okay?” Tyree meets us at the doors of the Blood River pack house and ushers us inside. “I know the ride from the airport can be a killer.” “It was great. Thanks, Tyree.” Jasper shakes his hand. “We are all looking forward to this afternoon.” “Uncle Tyree!” Orli runs up to her favorite person and hops to be picked up. “Dillon and I went to kindergarten! I got to show the teacher that I know my alphabet.” “I heard! Did you listen to your teacher?” He holds Orli in his massive arms and gives her a kiss on the cheek. She nods with a shy smile and leans back. “Look at my dress! Daddy says today is special, so I wanted to look pretty. And tomorrow I get to wear my flower girl dress. So I got two pretty dresses to wear.” “Oh, my Goddess.” He smooths down the front of her dusty blue dress. “You are always pretty, baby girl, but this dress makes your eyes look EXTRA blue.” Orli giggles and leans her head on his shoulder, perfectly content to stay with him as lon
The longer Zara takes the sigma serum, the more I notice differences. She isn’t taller or stronger, but some days it seems like it. She handles stress better and doesn’t shy away when she has to speak with people she’s not familiar with like she would have in the past. She almost never has a flight or fight response anymore. It’s refreshing to see her handle life with more confidence and less anxiety and fear. Katie is also doing much better with the new version of the serum than the first one. Instead of putting her on medications, they increase her therapy to once a week. Besides learning how to read with ease, Katie also observes things she never had before. Traffic patterns, the way birds fly together in the sky, the layout of the grocery store, things most people take for granted. She seems to see for the first time. As with all things, with the good comes the bad. Zara starts to have more bad days. A lot more bad days. Mom and Dad take shifts to monitor her while Estelle and
“You’re sure you feel okay?” Zara is already sitting on my lap, but I take her face in my hands and look her in the eye. I look her over and give her a quick peck on the cheek. “You don’t feel warm or anything?” “I feel fine, Keller. I just took the serum fifteen minutes ago.” She covers my hands with hers. “It takes a couple hours for it to get into my system. Right now I’m just exhausted. We intentionally added a light sedative to this version, and it was a later night than I was expecting. If I had known you planned to stay at a hotel instead of going home, I would have packed a bag.” “I’ll know better for next time.” I nuzzle her cheek and settle into the recliner. “You tell me if you feel weird at all. Even a little bit.” “I will, sweetheart.” She leans her head against my shoulder and places her hand on my chest. I slide my hand over hers and interlock our fingers. It makes me smile to feel the ring on her finger. I look at Jasper, who has Katie in his lap as well. He has
“Keller, it’s safe now. It’s taken a few months, but it’s perfect. Estelle and I are sure of it.” Zara hands Orli a piece of banana while she tries to convince me it’s time for her to take what she now calls the sigma serum one point one six. “Zara, I don’t know how many times I can tell you. I’m not okay with it.” I adjust the position of Dillon’s little fork and help him scoop macaroni and cheese onto it. I look up at Zara to see if she’s paying attention. She takes a sip from her glass of juice and sets it down, then places her hands on the counter and drums her fingers impatiently. “Keller-” “Zara.” I feel my mood darken as I glare at her. “Keller, I feel like a broken record. I would be a hypocrite if I said it’s fine for other sigmas, but too dangerous for me.” She wipes Orli’s mouth with a bib and hands her a sippy cup. “We know the women who have met their mates have different body chemistry now. We’ve made adjustments to the sigma serum accordingly. It’s just another leve
I thought it was going to be difficult to get Zara to pull out of the study, but it wasn’t. She was more worried about what could have happened to Orli and Dillon and everyone else she loves and cares about. Two days after the incident, she goes to the lab to speak to the other volunteers to let them know why she has pulled out, but promises them they will still get to see her all the time because she is going to be working directly with Estelle. Katie, on the other hand, won’t be deterred. Even after we explain that she and Zara could have died, she insists she wants to keep going. Jasper is miserable, but puts on a brave face for her. He spends lunch with her every day and comes home to mope. Zara and I try to cheer him up and even help him take care of Mister Happy and Midnight. Mom takes over nanny duty while Katie is away. “Zara, it’s only been a month. Are you sure taking all nine girls all the way to Cozy Up is a good idea?” Jasper stops her from leaving the lab to let the gi
My body feels heavy and Zara’s weight gets pulled off of me, forcing me awake. “What happened? Is she okay?” Someone drained the water out of the tub. Mom has Zara wrapped in a towel, holding her like a baby in her arms. Estelle is next to her, checking Zara’s temperature. “It’s fine, Honey. Her temperature has been normal for an hour. We’re going to put her in bed. I brought you a change of clothes. Come out when you’re dressed.” “Ace is on his way to check on our baby girl.” Estelle lets Mom take Zara out of the room and sits on the edge of the tub. She unfolds a towel and hands it to me. “Are you okay?” “I will be once I know she is.” I wipe my face and chest. “Before she passed out, she said more carrots and less love. Lavender was relaying the message.” Estelle purses her lips and nods. “Yeah. We had talked about that before the study but went with the more potent formulation. I’m going to get a batch of the other one started as soon as I get back to the lab.” “If she’s okay
“Keller will grab Zara. I’ll grab Katie’s top half, just grab her legs. Stop her from kicking if you can.” Les motions how Jasper should try to hold on to Katie. “We’ll take her to the nursery bathroom.” “How do we know who will come out first?” Jasper looks at me and back at Les. Les gives Jasper a sweet smile. “Oh, darling, so innocent. Wolf mentality.” “Wolf mentality?” He looks at me for help. “Wait, how do we know they didn’t turn into wolves? Shift. How do we know they haven’t shifted?” “Their wolves have an advantage to use their senses but stay in human form right now.” Les tugs at her braided ponytail. “They can open doors, push elevator buttons, call for help, things like that.” “Zara is freaking out because her pup is gone. Katie is going to protect Zara to give her a chance to find her baby.” I put my ear to the door. “Katie will make sure danger is out of the way.” “Katie sees Zara as more dominant than she is in the pecking order of your family dynamic. So yes, she
Zara’s POV “Mom doesn’t get home for another two hours and Dad won’t be back until tomorrow.” I giggle into the phone at my boyfriend Liam’s excitement. “What’s the surprise?” “If I tell you, it’s not a surprise, Z. I’ll be over in ten minutes.” He hangs up before I can press him further. I look at the phone for a second. My boyfriend will be here in nine minutes. I sprint upstairs, change my shirt, and pull my hair out of a ponytail, fluffing it out. I hastily apply my shiny lip gloss, then stand back and look at myself in the mirror. The doorbell chimes, making me smile. Why does he bother? He knows I don’t lock it. “Zara, it’s me!” Liam’s voice is like honey on a biscuit. I can never get enough. After the Mating Gathering tomorrow night, I’ll hear it as often as I want. “Coming!” I check the mirror one last time before I run downstairs, but he’s already halfway up. He’s two stairs below me, so we are the same
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