It is the day of Isaac’s Alpha ceremony, and after Amira finally explains everything that has happened between her and Isaac after their interrogation during dinner the other night, her mother goes above and beyond to make sure her daughter looks the best she can possibly look. Her mother loans her a pastel blue, floor-length gown that has a slit running up the right side of the dress to give more mobility, as the silk material hugs her waist and hips. Amira’s chest is a little larger than her mother’s was when she was younger, the material around her chest stretching to fit a little and the thin spaghetti straps sinking into her skin slightly. Other than that, it is a perfect fit and gives her mother a brief emotional throwback to her own days as a young woman, seeing herself in Amira as they share the same strawberry blonde hair that she wears down in soft curls for the night. After picking a simple pair of short tear-drop diamond earrings, she hears a honk
Everyone in the room has frozen on the spot and is watching the three of them, most gazing at Isaac, wondering what he is going to do next as he stomps up to Amira and Calix. He stops in front of Amira and grabs her arm roughly, bringing her closer and looking down at her neck – to the spot where Calix left a mark earlier. While she was enjoying herself, she forgot to cover her neck and her hair must have revealed the mark. “How were you able to see it from that far away?” Calix asks. It is then she realizes that he also has his hand on Isaac, gripping the forearm of the arm that is holding Amira. “I didn’t see it at first, I could smell it from all the way across the room. I’m the only person in this room who knows her unique smell and when someone else has tainted it,” Isaac growls. Calix throws him off of Amira and stands in front of her, everyone else around them now crowding in to see the fight. “What in the hell is
The car ride home is silent between Amira and Calix, the unspoken words of their kiss bouncing between them. Isaac threw yet another fit when he saw the scene and had to be held back by fellow pack members to keep from yet another fight breaking out between them, knowing how riled up they both were. He was taken to go for a run with the others while Calix helped Amira escape back to the car. He had left her for a few minutes to grab his shirt and jacket from the pack house before returning to the car, where they started their silent ride back to her place. He stops the car at the end of her driveway and keeps it on, telling her he doesn’t plan on staying long. “Thank you for tonight, I had a lot more fun than I expected,” she mutters into the dark silence. She nibbles on her bottom lip, unsure of what to say now. He gets out of the car and comes around to open the door and help her out, keeping a hold of her hand after he shuts the door. She expe
“Hey man, something we can help you with?” Evander breaks the tension. He is grinning at Calix despite the deep glare aimed back at him. “Nothing you can help me with,” Calix mutters and turns to Amira. “We have a study session. You’re late.” He grabs her arm and drags her out of her seat toward the front doors, ignoring her protests and attempts to pull away. She checks the hallway when they get out and sees no one is around before she starts to slap the side of Calix’s arm until he finally lets go halfway down the hallway. In a flash, he presses her against the wall and leans down to her ear, his hands trembling as they grip hers. “Are you aware of who you were sitting with?” She shakes her head. “He was just returning a photocopy of the school map I lent him this morning, that’s all. He’s just a new student.” “He is a werewolf, Amira. One with the scent of an Alpha.” The scent of an Alpha? She knows enough
Amira lounges on her bed with her laptop in place in front of her as she works tirelessly on the mountain of assignments she has from the week, briefly thinking back to the days when she spent her Saturdays playing at the park or going to the movies instead of being a shut-in hermit with work all around her. She hasn’t heard anything from Calix since Friday afternoon when leaving class and he mentioned to her that he will be returning to his pack for the weekend and won’t be close enough to know if something goes wrong. This means she was given a stern reminder to avoid Evander, though she doubts he will pop up at her house. She does wonder if she should mention the weird incident she had when driving home from school when a suspicious car looked like it followed her from around the college campus right into her home area. But when she had pulled over onto the side of the road, it passed right away and kept going until it disappeared. She had sat there and wai
As Calix pulls into the Highmoon Pack territory, Amira feels as if she has been transported to another world, like a hidden fantasy realm just beyond the dreary and grey city she has always lived in. She never knew there could be such a bountiful and beautiful place as the Highmoon territory, the grass as green as the fake grass on some of the richest places in Morrowfalls, but lush and real. The dense trees seem to help keep the fog of the swamp away but are still scattered enough to let in a rare view of sunlight as the clouds pass by. Pulling up to the pack house her tongue nearly falls out of her mouth as her jaw topples open, looking at the mass structure as if it just stepped out of the Viking era. “This is your pack house?” she whispers. Calix chuckles. “A lot better compared to that shabby ex-boyfriend's house.” He stops and peers at the front. “With the door wide open,” he mutters. He removes her off his lap and gets out of the car, expos
**WARNING - This chapter contains sexual content not suitable for readers under 18.** Amira is shocked to hear how desperate Calix sounds, not expecting him to react like this to her just asking for space, but she also can’t bear to see him look so broken, reminding her of a whimpering puppy being told to leave the bedroom. She holds back a snicker and caves. “Why exactly am I here, what is the great danger you’re keeping from me?” He lifts his head and his honey-brown eyes light up a little. “Because I feel this is the best place where I know I can keep you safe, but I promise you aren’t a prisoner here. You can come and go from this room as you please, I just advise telling me if you want to wander outside of the house, and you’ll be going to school on Monday and every other day, we can even grab your car for you to use.” “Why do you need to keep me safe?” Calix laughs and kisses her fingers, still gripping her hand. “Because I am a hated and feared man, sweetheart.
**WARNING - This chapter contains sexually suggestive content that isn't suitable for readers under 18. ** ~*~*~*~*~*~ Amira wakes up to the shock of seeing it is 6 a.m. – and it’s now Monday. She slept all of Sunday away after her activities in bed last night. Just the thought sends her stomach flip-flopping and squirming, remembering every last detail of what she did last night. She is almost still able to feel his fingers inside of her. Oh, dear god! She gets out of bed quietly and rushes into the bathroom, turning on the light to find the sink and splash some cold water on her face. Looking up at the mirror to check how streaked her make-up is, she gasps loudly instead of the multiple hickey marks covering her chest and neck. She also notices that she has been dressed in an oversized white t-shirt, her bra still missing but her panties back in place. “Oh, my god,” she mutters, thinking of Calix changing her and cleaning up their mess after
Calix wakes up to someone lightly rubbing his arm with something warm and damp, the smell of sanitizer and alcohol coating the air. Slowly coming to his senses, he suddenly jerks his hand toward the person next to him and grabs their hand, hearing a familiar shriek. He opens his eyes to see Amira crouching on the floor with gauze and bandages all around her. “You must have been really out of it, you didn’t even sense me walking in.” She grins. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you resting?” He panics and stands up, but everything in the room begins spinning and he sits right back down. “You overdid it during your fight and now that you’ve given yourself the proper time to relax, your body is going to feel all of that damage. I already asked one of the pack doctors to come by after you wake up, it’s almost morning anyway.” She finishes dressing one of the bandages on his arm. “Take off your shirt,” she says.
“She is here, Alpha,” Malachi speaks through the closed office door. “Bring her in.” The door opens and Amira’s mother steps through, her face rigid and body tense. “Please, have a seat. I just have a few questions, and I hope you will answer me honestly,” he says. “Or what? You’ll threaten me by using my daughter?” He chuckles, finishing up the reports on his desk, before looking up at her. “I can understand where your hatred toward our kind comes from, but you owe it to your daughter to tell her the truth. You knew this day would come, the responsibility is on you and no one else to handle this. If you would rather turn a blind eye, then I insist you tell me the truth and allow me to have her.” “Have her? She isn’t an object you can claim, she is my only child, and she deserves to live a peaceful and happy life. I made the choices of my past out of love for my family and the unsuspecting baby I had i
Calix tries multiple times to call out to Amira once more through a mind link, but it only seems to work one time, whatever she does she doesn’t do again. His mind is silent as he awaits the final flow, wondering what she is thinking at this moment if she is crying and fighting to get free, or if she thankfully can’t see the scene unfolding before her. Knowing how psychotic Evander is, he will have her watching until the end. He just hopes she doesn’t feel the pain of the mate bond breaking and his death, and he has given Omega Dunya and her team enough time to flank the people holding Amira hostage. He doesn’t trust Evander to kill her as soon as he kills Calix, but he has to do something to buy time. Neither Malachi nor Isaac have returned with their team, and the fact that Amira is still within Evander’s clutches means they failed to save her. Calix knows they at least found her, or they would have sent word somehow by now, but there has been nothing since t
Amira has no sense of time at this point, but she assumes at least a day has passed since she has gone missing and wonders if she is close enough for Calix to even sense her. There have been times where she believes she feels his presence slightly but isn’t sure if she is giving herself false hope that he will come and rescue her soon. “Still alive in here?” Evander calls out before entering the room. “The time has come, my dear sister.” “Don’t call me that, it’s weird, and what are you talking about?” “Does it bother you to think about being related to the likes of me?” “Do you have to ask? Of course, it does.” She sneers. His face darkens and he pulls out a knife, instantly making her regret her choice of words. “It’s time for the Alpha Challenge, a one-on-one duel to the death. I’ll need you front and center to lead your mate to his death and give him a front row seat to your own. I’m looking forward to quite t
It has been an entire 24 hours since Amira has disappeared from her hospital room, with her parents working with the authorities to find her, and Calix working with his pack. He has rented an apartment not far from the city outskirts, the closest he can get to feel the faintest hint of the mate bond, so he knows she is at least okay and no longer suffering pain. He is on his way back to the pack territory, crossing over the large bridge that cuts across the swamp surrounding his territory, when a silver car like a bullet comes out of nowhere and tries to run him off the road. He crashes into the side of the bridge instead, the entire corner of his car on the passenger side denting into the rocks. Calix stumbles out of the car, his right leg getting slightly crushed from the impact and the deployment of the airbags knocking the wind out of him a little. He sees a pair of shoes that look vaguely familiar walking toward him before he is lifted by the shirt and a f
Amira is forcefully woken up from her deep sleep by a searing hot pain in her neck as someone presses down into her wound through the bandage. Her eyes flash open and she cries out, trying to sit up with her wrists are tied to the bed, keeping her from sitting up completely. “You’re finally awake.” She stiffens at the familiar sounding voice, afraid to turn around and confirm his face, but Evander does her the honour and walks around with the same stupid grin he always has, except this time it looks a little more maniacal than before. “What in the hell are you doing? Where am I?” He scoffs. “Can you really say you’re that surprised to find out this much about me? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you’ve been uncomfortable with me from the start, it’s called intuition, and you clearly have a good one but ignore it. If you hadn’t, you might have saved yourself a lot of trouble in life.” “What do you know
It has been two days since Amira was hospitalized and for once Calix is able to feel a fleeting feeling of relief when the mate bond between them finally falls into place. But that relief was quickly taken away when the flood of pain she is suffering despite being unconscious hit him. He could feel every emotion and ounce of pain she experienced while her body healed and adjusted to the mate mark settling into her system. He is amazed she survived in the condition she is currently in, making it all the more agonizing knowing he will never see her again. Regardless of what her mother says, he can’t deny any longer that he is the one who has brought her all this unnecessary suffering. Myla would have never attacked her if he had dealt with her properly the first time, instead of trusting in their childhood bond and leaving her with a firm warning. It was clear who the culprit was after Calix came to his senses. Myla must have snuck back into the pack
**WARNING - This chapter contains sexual content not suitable for readers under 18. Reader discretion is advised.** ~*~*~*~ Calix has no memory of how he gets to Amira’s place until he is crawling through her bedroom window, his mind and vision completely distorted by the drug by now. He sees Amira speaking but can’t hear her voice, everything ringing around him and the only thought on his mind is to attack her. He listens to his impulse and grabs her by the back of the neck to pull her in for a deep, hungry kiss. He pushes her back against the bed despite her shoving against him, trying to ask through muffled gasps what has gotten into him. “Myla…” he manages to mutter. “Drugged…” Oh god, what the hell happened at the dinner? “You’ve been drugged?” Calix nods his head but attacks her lips again, pushing her down flat on the bed. For a split second, she allows herself to give in to him, her anticipation for this mome
Over the week of Amira’s freedom, she feels she has been transported back to her high school days of sneaking around the school and hooking up. Except she doesn’t remember any of those things involving the teachers, yet here she was stealing kisses after class and the occasional closet hook-up to energize the batteries with her college professor, always leaving her wanting much more. It’s been hard for Amira to come home and keep up the act that she is still upset over not seeing Calix when her cheeks are usually still flushed by the time her parents pick her up. After what feels like a surreal dream of a week, the long-awaited dinner with Evander has come, but rather than sitting alongside him probably eating delicious food, she is sitting at home under the watchful eyes of her parents and the boredom of her bedroom. This leaves her with nothing more to do than work on her weekly assignments and think back on her eventful week with Calix. She pop