Ethan
I knew I was tired when I got back on my motorcycle. If I was ever this whipped I rarely rode. I hated feeling like I couldn’t keep my balance--even if it was just a few short miles back to the pack house.
I wanted to sleep. I ached to see Justin. But I needed to talk to Kira.
I sent him a text.
ETHAN: I talked to Perrin and told him. It went better than expected. I also stopped by to talk to Jaz. I had a feeling she knew what was up last night so I went to ask her not to say anything until I’ve spoken to Kira. Going to see her now. See you later?
I sent the text before I could self-sabotage and second-guess the sign off. I didn’t need to play games, I reminded myself. This was it. Justin was the end-game.
Ethan“Kira? Did you hear me?”She burst out laughing, a hysterical sound, slightly unhinged. Doubling over, she slapped her hand on the coffee table, the echoing sound of wood reverberating around the living room.“Oh my Goddess, Ethan!” she howled. “How much is he paying you?”“What?” I asked bewildered.“Perrin? How much did he pay you?” She was hugging her sides now, fits of laughter bursting forth. “It’s gotta be at least fifty bucks. That was good.”“Kira, I’m not kidding.” I held my voice steady, but the nerves that had wracked me the last two times I had told someone about Justin today took root and
JustinI had made it back to the hotel, thankful for the elevator and my sore foot. It was fine, and I was cleared to return to the Lodge tomorrow, but my mind had been filled with nothing but Ethan since he left early this morning.Ethan, and the texts he had sent.Why had he gone to talk to Jesamine? Er, Jaz, I think that’s what she called herself here. Was I overthinking it? Maybe she had overheard and he was just covering his bases.Or maybe their friendship was stronger than our mating bond.Either way, I knew that I needed to talk to Kira, sooner rather than later. If Ethan really had spoken to her, and if she took it the way I expected, I would have a lot of explaining to do.As if the God
Justin“Neither can I,” said a voice from the doorway.My back was turned from the hallway, but I knew who it was. I felt my sister curl in upon herself, then her arms turned to steel an instant later, bracing for whatever he said next.“I’m so glad we’ve finally been able to have this little family reunion!” My father slid into the kitchen, eyeing the two of us. “It’s about time, don’t you think? Overdue really, after twelve years.”“I’m leaving,” Jesamine muttered to me, making for the counter to grab her bag. My father’s quick reflexes snatched it from the counter before she could reach it, and she froze in place.“Jesamine, please. Won’t you take a
Justin “Well done! Well done.” The blood was still pounding in my ears as I listened to Jesamine’s footsteps echo down the hallway and the slam of the door behind her. “Don’t talk to me,” I barked. I didn’t care what my father said next. This was as much his fault as it was Jesamine’s. I grabbed my jacket and walked to the door, slamming it with thunderous finality. ** The elevator took too long. Everything wasn’t moving fast enough. I needed to get out of this metal box and find Ethan. It was the only thing that made sense. He was the only thing that made sense ri
PerrinEthan was mated.Ethan was mated.Ethan was mated to Justin.I sat down on my bed as the door closed behind him, my hand coming to my forehead. What was going on?I needed to get out of this room, get fresh air to think. I looked out the window, the thoughts of the previous night with Jaz skimming through my mind. It had felt different with her somehow, last night. And I wasn’t sure what that meant.It was a Sunday. Technically
LoBefore I knew what was happening I had been pulled into his chest. My head fitting just beneath his chin, and I can smell his woody scent. Wood, and pine, and…And so unlike Ethan’s, that had been full of cinnamon and citrus. Or like campfire smoke.I tried to stifle the sob I had been holding in until I was out of earshot, but I couldn’t. I let it out, my chest heaving while embracing him. His arms didn’t move, but held steady and warm around me as my body wracked with pent up emotion.I was dimly aware of how warm his skin was, how hot it was. He had been working out. I had tried to shake my own hangover and had only come out in a pink sports bra. I stepped back out of his embr
Perrin My run hadn’t been successful. I was still agitated, still annoyed. Still frustrated that I didn’t know where Ethan and I stood. What his decision would be about the Sacred Call. About all of it. I got back to my room, having left Lo in the kitchen with Dina. PERRIN: Are we still on for later? ETHAN: Yea. How about 8pm? PERRIN: Meet you there? ETHAN: Yea. I threw my phone on the bed, stripped off my shorts and started the shower. I was mentally tired by physically wound up. I needed time to think, without the distraction of Lo and her own issues. But I stopped for a moment, le
JazHe was hot in my mouth, pulsing beneath my tongue. As I swirled around his girth, I could feel the warm drops escape his tip, one by one. I teased my tongue around the head of him, licking off each drop as it appeared, devouring him deep into my throat with each pass.I was going torturously slow, and if his moan of approval was any indication, he liked it. He liked the way my full lips pressed against his skin, how my mouth slid up and down the smoothness of him. As I felt him grow harder and harder with each pass, heat pounded between my own legs.I allowed the tip of my tongue to trace the veins along his cock, a maze that swept my mouth up and around him, driving him deep into my mouth and down to the base of him, then back up to the top, relinquishing touch almost entirely except for the tip, which had released yet another glist
EPILOGUEMarge shuffled through the archive, her shoes making the only sound in the quiet stone building, echoing all the same through the high vaulted ceiling of the church building above. She raised a gnarled hand to the shelf and deposited the book after two tries, her hands shaking slightly with the cold. There were only a few books to return tonight. Far fewer than there had been when Leila had been here.So why had she waited until this late in the evening to do it? She just shrugged and pushed on, the slow creaking of the cart’s wheels punctuating the silence, her old watch on her pale wrist noting the time; 1:45 a.m.She really had no business being there so late. But she had gotten caught up in one of her research projects, spread out across her circulation desk and totally lost in thought until the rumble of her empty sto
Perrin“How long is it going to take?”I sat on Lo’s bed as she shoved clothes into her suitcase. “Maybe a week? I’m not sure.”“Why don’t you just leave all of that stuff here?” I pointed at the suitcase. “It’s not like you’re not going to bring it back.”She heaved a heavy sigh, full of fake exasperation. “I still have to pack it to move it down the hall. It’s just easier if I do it all at once.”“Nah. Let’s just throw it all in some garbage bags and unpack later.”She laughed. “Hand me those shoes?”I strode over and picked a pair
Perrin “Because I never want to create a monster like my father.” Silence hung in the room. I digested each word, the implications of it. “But you’re not…” I said, more for myself than for her. “No, I’m not. He never got his hands on me. My little brother made sure of that.” And even though she spoke in a viscous, quipping way; there was a hint of something grateful in her tone. “So he won’t be anything like him!” I said, assuring myself more than anything. “Does it matter?” She snapped, regaining her typical composure. “If my father’s insane lust for power is hereditary, then it’s best that the blood line ends with me. At least my brother won’t be breeding any offspring considering he’s gay–” sh
Perrin I glanced at my phone, then at Lo. We had made love for several hours, refusing to stop until we had our fill of each other. But each time hadn’t felt like enough, leaving us drained and happy but wanting more. After one particularly hot session in the middle of my bed involving whipped cream, I pulled her close to me, blissfully peaceful with her cradled in my arms. I felt her stomach growl against my hands. And apparently hungry. I swept my mouth to her ear and felt her shiver against me, goosebumps appearing up and down her body. I fought the impulse to warm her with every inch of mine. “Do you want me to get you a snack?” I said, and waved the small can of whipped cream in front of her face so she could see. She hummed lazily in my
PerrinAnd it had happened like that.I recalled the broad strokes for my friends.“You what?” Ethan said, shocked and nearly angry. “You can’t make that kind of promise!”Justin shook his head sagely. “That’s free reign, Perrin. And a dangerous move, backing out of every challenge. It puts you at a huge disadvantage if anyone trespasses on your territory.”“Or attacks on your land,” Ethan said.“Or poses a border dispute,” said Kira.“How will you expand?” Ethan asked, c
PerrinI tried to cover the nail marks she had left on my shoulder with a spare set of scrubs from Deidre’s office. It was no use. The scrubs were too small, tugging comically at my shoulders and Lo’s pink cheeks and ruffled hair couldn’t be fixed.We had retreated long enough to ourselves, and I pulled us back into the world of the living and down the hall, walking hand in hand as we rejoined our friends.Ethan smirked when he saw us. “Nice.”Kira rolled her eyes, glancing at her imaginary watch. “Couldn’t you two wait?”“At least get a shirt,” Ethan added, eyeing my bare chest. I had ditched the scrubs, unable to get them over my chest.
PerrinWe didn’t talk as much, even though that had been the plan.I had taken one of the chairs opposite Deidre’s desk, hoping to keep my brain thinking platonically for as long as possible. But part of me was still in shock. I could smell the smell of her coconut shampoo. See the glimmer of her earrings in the desk lap. And I had felt the tips of her fingernails as I held her hand; the short ones that she chewed on when she was reading and lost in thought.But I knew it was definitely her the moment I felt my head slightly dizzy with the draft of warm honeysuckle, intoxicatingly perfect.I wasn’t shy, needing to have her by my side. I pulled her easily into my lap, and she didn’t protest, as if still quite unsure that all of this was really happening either. She swun
PerrinAs soon as Mark dismissed the crowd, the crowd had begun to descend from the stands in droves. It hadn’t taken long for Lo to find me, fighting the current and pushing her way against the flow of teaming bodies and up to the platform.I sensed her, long before she ran up the platform stairs, Justin hot on her heels. I dove past my father, darted behind Mark and ran to meet her, not caring for any protocol or public indecency. I needed her.Her scent hit me first. It made my blood sing and my heart beat so fast I thought it would stop.And then there she was. The sight of my home and my heart, running and slipping across the wet platform towards me.My weight almost buckled beneath me, the unexpected reality of seeing her here st
Justin The arena was packed. I could hear an excited roar from the crowd from behind the Lodge, drifting over the top of the massive building and floating through the chill evening air. Lo parked illegally in front of the entrance to the building. Now was not the time to point it out. A series of battered and limp-hanging banners and signs showed the way around to the back. It had rained today, apparently, and we made progress towards the arena as quickly as we could, sludging through mud and the trampled pathway. A stadium had been erected, filled to the brim with stands of onlookers, cheering and applauding in a range of darkened colors, soaked from the rain. Despite the bad weather, it hadn’t dampened their spirits. The crowd had been here all night, awaiting the results. Colored tents for each challenging pack were spaced ou