Lo
“Did they just say ‘murder’?”
Deidre was pulling my hand quickly through the throngs of people getting ready to take their seats.
“I’ll explain in a few minutes.”
“No!” I pulled my arm from her grasp. “What is going on?”
Alpha Jason didn’t stop moving, plunging forward through the throngs of people. It was as though they didn’t even recognize him, distracted between the excitement of the pending challenge and whatever news had blown up over the phone.
“Is Jesamine pregnant?”
“QUIET!” Deidre hissed, but it came out as more of a shout to be heard. Several
Alpha JasonI swear I’m coming.The applause had died down. The thousands of expectant eyes upon me. I glanced down at my notes; a useless formality. I had known what I was going to say for weeks, had it memorized for days.I’m coming.Deidre coughed lightly. Too much silence.“It is one of the greatest honors of my life to stand before you today as Master of Ceremony and carry out the Aperture Pack’s 67th Sacred Call.”More applause, though it was softer. Less enthusiastic. Soft chatter rippled through the crowd.“And it is now upon us to determine which of today’s competitors contains what
PerrinMark presided over my round of pool play, Seth the other. Whether or not Seth knew, I didn’t know. I had one just right now, and that was to focus.My mind raced. Ryan was a wildcard. He wasn’t a good fighter; Jesamine could take him. but Ricardo and Seamus knew what to do.I looked at Thomas, Peter, and Ivan. Thomas and Peter were up first.“Take your marks!” Mark called, his voice enhanced through the boom of the stereo system.I stood at the side of the arena beside Ivan. There was no talking between us. We only had eyes for the two in the ring before us. Thomas and Peter took their places on opposite sides of the ring.A series of three marks counted down, blaring ove
PerrinThe next round was Ivan and Thomas. It was brutal. And I took the extended time of the fight to study Ivan. He was an outlier. I had barely seen him train at the gym. And if he fought like he did with Peter, then it was going to be dirty. He was one challenger Mark didn’t have much to go on. Ivan was a fan of weights, but did little sparring in front of others. His bulk was proof enough of that. Perhaps he was slower than he let on?No. Not slow.Ivan and Thomas were evenly matched. Their set went for minutes, teeth and nails drawing blood and ripping uniforms. Thomas was a fighter, that much was for sure. I admired his form. His technique was something that would have made Seth proud.Ivan fought hard. He was more bulk, each punch packing more weight and force behind it th
PerrinI couldn’t say that I had fought someone like Ivan before. His build was nothing like anyone we had in the Aperture pack. Seth had always been aware of not overtraining with the weights. If you were too bulky–not flexible enough, you’d be overtaken by speed. Mark had always been of the mindset that you could have all the speed in the world, but if your punch cut through an opponent's block, then you weren’t strong enough. As a result, my training with Ethan had always been a balance between the two.Ivan and I circled each other, sizing each other up. He had recovered given Thomas’ medical attention, regaining his breath and taking what little rest he could. And I wasn’t about to let what happened to Thomas happen to me.Balance. Find the balance.
PerrinMake him move himself? Find the balance?Ivan wasted no time. He began with a series of perrying moves that put him on the offensive to start. That was new. That was different. I could work with that.But how would Lo and I work? After all of this was over? When I was exiled and Jesamine was–I felt a crunch of my toes. Ivan had advanced so close to my body that he used his excellent footwork to cut me off. In the process he had intentionally crushed my foot. I’m sure my left foot was fractured. Shit.I backpedaled, giving myself some space. I tested my weight on my foot. Yes, definitely fractured. But I could fight through the pain. But could Lo? Living without me? She probably thought that–
PerrinAnd then I let him go.I allowed the cacophony of sound to rush in; a tidal wave of cheers and sound blaring into my senses that had been so quieted and so focused that my head now practically rang with the clatter of noise, nearly drowning out the thunder.I raised my eyes to the platform. Mark had sounded the words but they were drowned out by the rain and the cheers and the thunder. I watched his mouth move like the world had slowed down.I did it.I had beaten Ivan.My father appeared out of nowhere, his fine suit covered in wet sand, shaking my hand and throwing a towel over my shoulders. He was speaking but I could barely hear him, numb despite the victory, despite envying and imagining wh
PerrinThe virgin arena lay disturbed with pockets of rain and puddles. I walked slowly, the sheets of rain thick around me and wrapping me in the silence of my thoughts, forming a barrier to the screaming chants around me.The covered podium from the beginning now had canvas sides strapped down to protect it from the rain.. I couldn’t look at them, but I was aware that Mark, my father, and Deidre had taken their places.She was there, a blurred outline through the blurring wind. I could sense the chill in the air, the rain frigid and hard. But I felt nothing on my bare chest. I was impervious to all of it.I heard the blare of the speakers, but it was muddled in the rising storm. I knew what Mark had said anyway. We were taking our places. And so I advanced, my once-light feet now drag
Ethan“Mind link with him!”Lo huddled at the edge of the Chiyad tent, as close to the canvas as she could get without rippling the tarp and drawing attention to the guards. She nodded.Watching Lo mind link was like watching a silent movie. Her face reflected every feeling, every tone of her exchange. But she had gotten through, judging by the look on her face. Her brows furrowed.“What is it?” I hissed, hopping from one foot to the other. It was no use. My shoes were soaked.“Go,” she said, her face drawn in concentration. “He’s not making much sense. I’ll come find you.”PerrinI opened the door,
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