Perrin
I had always wondered what it would be like to find your true mate. I had to admit to myself that I had been really curious about it when Kira had first mentioned it. But now...
Justin? Of all people. How could the Goddess have--
No. No questioning the Goddess. My father taught me that a long time ago.
But I admitted to myself that this felt like some kind of sick joke. How could Kira not accept what the Goddess had in store for her? It had been harder than I expected when I told her that she shouldn’t reject Justin. That was the type of decision my father would have made. Alpha’s could never dictate what pairings the Goddess would make, but rather, endorse them. An Alpha would never tell
Perrin “Have you talked to Jaz today?” Her words echoed in my brain. I had tried calling her twice this afternoon, just as an excuse to talk to her or make plans. I left her room and wandered down the hall to my own suite. It was so frustrating how Lo had to keep poking into my relationship. It was all so stupid. I had a missed call from Jaz and a voicemail. She rarely left voicemails, so I pressed the playback icon and listened. My stomach dropped. Her words cut hard, name-calling and profanity aside. Betrayal? Coward? Cheating? This wasn’t happening. I tried calling her back, but every single time it started to ring I got an automated voice m
PerrinI’m not honestly sure how I got home.I remember getting in a car. Leaving Jaz’s apartment. Tom opened the door for me I think.Charlie was there too, I think. I was in too much of a daze to really notice.I found myself strolling the grounds of the pack house, lost in my own thoughts.I had no idea what time it was.How could it really be over? Jaz and I… after more than two years together? No, this has to be a bad dream…How could she end it? My insides felt empty and dark. My whole body felt… hollow.I get that the news article was messed up. That’s why I tried to
Mark“It’s going fine.”“The other packs are really cooperating?” His voice held a tone of surprise.“We’ve had a few nights go cleanly so far. Gamma Janas is running things smoothly.”“What you mean is, apart from your daughter’s little adventure, everything’s fine?”I swallowed hard and held my gaze firm. His point had been made and he didn’t need to say more. Disciplining my daughter the other night together was one thing, but that didn’t mean that the Alpha didn’t get to make his disapproval clear, even to me. I was embarrassed beyond reason and still couldn’t believe that type of behavior Leila had exhibited. It was careless and stupid. How she was
Mark“Kyle was a Beta and that’s all that matters. And don’t you dare claim to know what he wanted for our children.”Her voice was molten anger but the words cut like ice. Unshed tears threatened to escape her eyes, full of fire. It was in moments like these where I admired the passion she had. It was what made her a good Luna. But it was also moments like these where I couldn’t fathom how different she had been from Sienna.I didn’t reply. As much as I hadn’t heard it spoken aloud in years, hearing it openly stated what we had all known for so long… it made me shudder. I looked away from both of them.Jason took Deirdre’s hand and pulled h
Twelve years earlier, at the burial ceremony in the Sanctuary grounds of the Aperture Pack. Mark “Thank you, everyone, for coming. May the Goddess be with us on this evening of mourning.” Jason’s voice was both firm and calm. Only those close to him would notice the nervous tick of his knee, bouncing as he stood behind the podium. Jason began his eulogy, speaking about the bond that Kyle and he had shared. The life they had built together as Alpha and Beta, the legacy of their friendship that would endure. He spoke of Kyle’s loyalty, his steadfast commitment to the pack, and his commitment to his friends. It was a beautiful speech; authentic, funny, moving, but raw, too. There wasn’t a dry eye on the podium. I wondered vaguely if I would ever mean that much to an Alpha. If I would ever have a bond that would mean so much to a
Mark Present Day, Alpha Jason’s office I recover from my memories and look at Deidre and Jason. They had both aged, Deidre more gracefully so, since the day of Kyle’s burial. Ghosts of those days haunted me whenever I let my thoughts drift too far. Silence had fallen for several minutes as we all were lost in the shadows of our own thoughts and memories. “So… what are we going to do?” My words felt strangely hoarse in my throat. Deidre looked at me, voice flat. “We can’t change his eye color, Mark.” “I know that. But how do we protect Ethan?” “I’m not sure that we can.” Jason admitted. His face looked troubled at the thought.
Eighteen years ago, Infirmary Deidre “True mates.” They were the first words Kyle had ever spoken to me, and the only ones that would ever matter. Eyes still locked on one another, I spoke to Irene. “Leave.” I heard her sharp inhale of breath as she scrambled from the room, slamming the door behind her. Even as the sound of the door echoed across the room, I didn’t flinch. He took a step closer to me, face inches from my own. He was tall, muscular and lean. His silvery tangle of blond hair framed his face, a few loose waves touching my skin. The touch was mundane but the sensation was elec
Eighteen years ago, Pack House Deidre “You have a wife!” He put his head in his hands, then raised it again, “I know. And we married with the understanding that we would never find our true mates.” “A WIFE!” I practically hissed. Kyle’s shoulders slumped. We were in his office. And also in an impossible situation. “You should have said something yesterday.” Kyle looked at me from behind his desk, lean
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