Slate went upstairs with Maura, still wearing Jack’s face. So far, it seemed that the magic was working, and the girl was fooled into thinking he really was the Lichtwolf, her exboyfriend. The only problem was, he had no idea what they used to do. He didn’t know Jack well enough to even know what to talk about. He hated Jack, so it was difficult to even say anything that didn’t make him sound like a douchebag because he just wanted to say stupid things—that was all he ever heard when Jack was talking.
As Maura took his hand and led him up the stairs, her mother called, “Maura, is everything okay?”“Everything is fine, Mom,” Maura said. “Jack is just upset because this stupid girl broke up with him. But we’re going to go upstairs and talk about it, and he’ll be feeling fine in no time.” Maura winked at him in a way that seemed way too sexual for someone who was talking to her mother about taking a boy tEverly waited in Jack’s car as Alyson went over to check on Slate. He had only made it to the edge of town before he’d had to pull the motorcycle over and had crumpled on the ground like a wet bag, but at least he hadn’t actually wrecked.Jack hadn’t wanted to come looking for him, but when he’d been gone for so long, and none of them had heard anything, and Brock hadn’t been able to get a response through the mind-link, which might’ve been because he was too far away or because he was too preoccupied, Everly and Alyson had talked Jack into going to look for him.They’d been on their way into town when they’d heard Jack’s bike. Alyson signaled for them to come over, and Jack and Everly got out of the car.With another huff, Jack picked up his bike while Everly and Alyson got Slate off of the ground and into the back of Jack’s car.“I don’t see the book anywhere,” Everly noted.
“I have to kiss him?” Alyson asked, staring at Everly.“That’s what Lexi said,” Everly told her. “She thinks it’s a sleeping spell, and that’s the only way to wake him up.”Alyson’s expression didn’t change. “But what if she’s wrong, and that’s not what it is? What if I kiss him and nothing happens? Or what if I kiss him and something worse happens? Like I fall asleep? Or he turns into an… ogre or something?”“I think you might be reading too much into this, sis,” Will said. He seemed to be enjoying watching his older sister squirm over the possibility of having to kiss a Nachtwolf to wake him up from a sleeping spell. “Just plant one on him already and see what happens.”Alyson’s eyes traveled from the hallway where the three of them were standing back into the guest room where Slate had been taken when they’d carried him in. His parents were in the room with him, his mother wringing her hands with concern while her father rubbed her back and tried to keep her calm. The
Jack was with his parents and several members of the European Council standing in the yard when Everly came outside from watching Alyson revive Slate. Any jealousy she felt when she saw Slate and Alyson interacting in the bedroom vanished when she saw Jack standing there next to his father. His hands were in the pocket of his jeans, and his eyes were focused on the ground as he listened to whatever the others were talking about, and Everly stopped in her tracks for a moment as she was flooded with memories.From the moment that she’d run into him in the grocery store, until she’d seen him at school, looking at her with that scowl on his face that made her think that he hated her, until he’d showed up the night that Toby had been almost killed and whisked her away to make sure that they were okay, she’d had no idea how she was supposed to feel about him.But then… things had shifted, and she’d realized she’d been falling in love wi
“He was at the party?” Everly repeated what Su said. “Slate was at the party where you were turned into a werewolf?”Su’s head bobbed up and down again. “That’s right. He was with the guy that bit me.”“You’re sure it wasn’t him though, right?” Everly asked as she felt Jack tense up beside her.“Oh, yeah. I’m sure it wasn’t him. But still… it’s weird to see someone who knows about all of this. He was with the guy when he was telling me about what happened and telling me that I was in huge trouble and I was going to have to do something.”Everly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Slate had gone through this before. “Slate!” she shouted, and he looked up.His eyes flickered to Everly’s face, and then they went to Su’s, and they widened. Even from across the yard, Everly could read his lips, “Oh, shit.”
Running through the forest with Jack on one side and her mother on the other, Everly felt a nervous tension building inside of her. Knowing that Jack and her mother had vowed to protect her was one thing, but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t end up in a situation where she’d be forced to protect herself.And she was pretty sure she wasn’t capable of that.After all, she wasn’t exactly an athletic human to begin with. Now that she was a wolf, that hadn’t changed. These other shifters had been training for this their whole lives, so they knew exactly what to do while they were fighting. And the werewolves were so vicious, they instinctively knew exactly what to do to make sure that they could handle anyone who was stupid enough to challenge them.But Everly felt just about as vulnerable as her dad. At least he had brought a gun. He was riding on her mother’s back right now, and Everly made a point not to look directly into Jim
The black wolf Jack was fighting was strong, and though he had spent a lot of time training and sparing with other wolves in his pack… he’d never actually fought anyone with the intent to kill them.But… at the moment, he had no choice. If he didn’t try to kill the wolf that was scratching at him with his long claws, trying to knock Jack backward so that he could sink his long fangs into his neck, then that wolf would finish him off without a second thought, and Jack couldn’t let that happen.Next to him, Slate didn’t seem to have any problem whatsoever going in for a kill shot. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see Slate knock the smaller male he was fighting onto his backside and then chomp down on the sensitive area between his neck and shoulder. Within a few seconds, the wolf stopped moving, and Slate stood up, looking for the next wolf to take on.Jack didn’t have time to survey the area as he needed to pin this
Every inch of Everly’s body ached, but she knew she had to push herself up off of the ground and get out of there.If that wolf were to come back, he would kill her, and she’d fought too hard to die now.Pushing up off of the ground, Everly tried to get her feet beneath her. The ache in her back was blindingly painful. She thought she might pass out from the pain. Could she have injured her spine when she hit that tree trunk upon her descent?She didn’t know, but she had to ignore the pain and move.Everly took a few careful steps, trying to get her bearings. She knew that Jack and her mother were up on top of the hill. But it was so far away from where she was now, she couldn’t even hear them fighting.Climbing back up the steep ravine would be nearly impossible in her current state.Instead, she’d need to find another way to walk to get back to someone who could help her.If only she had her cell phone&
Hands would’ve been a great thing to have at the moment, but Everly only had paws. She looked around and saw that her dad had the backpack, so theoretically, she could go shift and get dressed quickly, but her back hurt so bad, she didn’t know if she could get all of that done.Jim was already trying to stop the blood that was flowing like a river out of Jack’s chest and back. “I’m so sorry,” he kept saying. “I was just trying to protect you, Everly.”She couldn’t respond to her father, what with him being a human and her being a wolf, but she knew it wasn’t on purpose.That wouldn’t matter if Jack died.Behind her, she heard the sound of rocks and tree branches sliding down the side of the ravine as Alyson and Slate came flying down behind them.“What happened?” Alyson asked, using the mind-link. “We thought we heard—” Her eyes landed on Jack and her countenance
Everly carefully made her way down the stairs toward Jack’s living room, holding on tight to the railing. The heels she was wearing were a lot higher than what she was used to, but Alyson insisted she should wear them because they looked perfect with the sapphire blue dress she was wearing. While Everly loved the tight, strapless, sequined dress, she wasn’t sure that the silver heels looked all that great.They’d look a lot worse if she fell down the stairs and broke her neck because of them…. But then, she was a shifter now, so her coordination should be better.That didn’t make her feel any less shaky on the shoes.When she got about three-fourths of the way down, she heard a loud exhale and managed to pull her eyes away from the next step long enough to look at Jack.Her heart skipped a beat, seeing him standing there by the front door with a pink corsage in his hand, wearing a perfectly-fitted suit with a tie that matched her dress. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly a
Pain radiated throughout Jack’s chest and back as he felt himself slowly being dragged back to reality. His thoughts were cloudy as he tried to remember exactly what had happened. The last thing he remembered, he was running through the forest toward the sounds of fighting, looking for Everly.The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground, blood everywhere, trying to breathe through the most unbelievable pain he’d ever experienced in his entire life.“Come on, Jack!” he heard a somewhat familiar voice telling him. “Go ahead and open your eyes, Jack. Let us know that you can hear us.”It was a struggle, but the realization that he didn’t know where Everly was or if she was okay made him will his eyes open. Blinking a few times, Jack looked at the concerned faces around him and tried to piece everything together.He was surrounded by people who looked like they were about to cry, except for Jamie, the healer. She was concerned, but not tearful.He’d seen Everly, though, so he force
Not long ago, watching Jack die wouldn’t have been that big of a deal to Slate. In fact, he probably would’ve just shrugged about it and made some remarks like, “Too bad. He was so young.” But now that he realized that Alyson was his fated mate, Slate felt compelled to find someone to help the guy he’d wanted to tear limb from limb all by himself only a few days ago.Tearing through the woods, he used his mind-link capability to reach out to anyone from his pack to see if they knew where any healers were. Unfortunately, everyone was either too far away to hear him or they were too busy to respond.He darted through a thick wooded area and came around a large pine tree to see a wide meadow full of velvety green grass glowing in the silvery moonlight.And on the other side of it, he saw a familiar wolf loping along, following his nose.It wasn’t one of the healers he was looking for, though.No, it was someone who shouldn&rs
The smile on Everly’s face was there despite the pain at seeing Lexi show up right behind Maura as she was in the process of tormenting her. Maura might’ve thought it was fun prolonging her death, but just like the villain in every James Bond movie, she was about to find out what happened when you didn’t kill your enemy right away.“What’s wrong with your face, Everly?” Maura had asked her, but Everly didn’t get a chance to answer before it was Maura’s face that was suddenly messed up.Lexi hit her from behind with a strong beam of magic. It was so powerful that Everly could actually see it glowing and lighting up the forest. When it hit the cheerleader in the back, Maura’s eyes bulged, and her body stiffened, her back arching as she tried to figure out exactly what was happening and how to make the pain stop.Immediately, the agony that had been coursing through Everly’s body faded as Maura was too dis
Hands would’ve been a great thing to have at the moment, but Everly only had paws. She looked around and saw that her dad had the backpack, so theoretically, she could go shift and get dressed quickly, but her back hurt so bad, she didn’t know if she could get all of that done.Jim was already trying to stop the blood that was flowing like a river out of Jack’s chest and back. “I’m so sorry,” he kept saying. “I was just trying to protect you, Everly.”She couldn’t respond to her father, what with him being a human and her being a wolf, but she knew it wasn’t on purpose.That wouldn’t matter if Jack died.Behind her, she heard the sound of rocks and tree branches sliding down the side of the ravine as Alyson and Slate came flying down behind them.“What happened?” Alyson asked, using the mind-link. “We thought we heard—” Her eyes landed on Jack and her countenance
Every inch of Everly’s body ached, but she knew she had to push herself up off of the ground and get out of there.If that wolf were to come back, he would kill her, and she’d fought too hard to die now.Pushing up off of the ground, Everly tried to get her feet beneath her. The ache in her back was blindingly painful. She thought she might pass out from the pain. Could she have injured her spine when she hit that tree trunk upon her descent?She didn’t know, but she had to ignore the pain and move.Everly took a few careful steps, trying to get her bearings. She knew that Jack and her mother were up on top of the hill. But it was so far away from where she was now, she couldn’t even hear them fighting.Climbing back up the steep ravine would be nearly impossible in her current state.Instead, she’d need to find another way to walk to get back to someone who could help her.If only she had her cell phone&
The black wolf Jack was fighting was strong, and though he had spent a lot of time training and sparing with other wolves in his pack… he’d never actually fought anyone with the intent to kill them.But… at the moment, he had no choice. If he didn’t try to kill the wolf that was scratching at him with his long claws, trying to knock Jack backward so that he could sink his long fangs into his neck, then that wolf would finish him off without a second thought, and Jack couldn’t let that happen.Next to him, Slate didn’t seem to have any problem whatsoever going in for a kill shot. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see Slate knock the smaller male he was fighting onto his backside and then chomp down on the sensitive area between his neck and shoulder. Within a few seconds, the wolf stopped moving, and Slate stood up, looking for the next wolf to take on.Jack didn’t have time to survey the area as he needed to pin this
Running through the forest with Jack on one side and her mother on the other, Everly felt a nervous tension building inside of her. Knowing that Jack and her mother had vowed to protect her was one thing, but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t end up in a situation where she’d be forced to protect herself.And she was pretty sure she wasn’t capable of that.After all, she wasn’t exactly an athletic human to begin with. Now that she was a wolf, that hadn’t changed. These other shifters had been training for this their whole lives, so they knew exactly what to do while they were fighting. And the werewolves were so vicious, they instinctively knew exactly what to do to make sure that they could handle anyone who was stupid enough to challenge them.But Everly felt just about as vulnerable as her dad. At least he had brought a gun. He was riding on her mother’s back right now, and Everly made a point not to look directly into Jim
“He was at the party?” Everly repeated what Su said. “Slate was at the party where you were turned into a werewolf?”Su’s head bobbed up and down again. “That’s right. He was with the guy that bit me.”“You’re sure it wasn’t him though, right?” Everly asked as she felt Jack tense up beside her.“Oh, yeah. I’m sure it wasn’t him. But still… it’s weird to see someone who knows about all of this. He was with the guy when he was telling me about what happened and telling me that I was in huge trouble and I was going to have to do something.”Everly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Slate had gone through this before. “Slate!” she shouted, and he looked up.His eyes flickered to Everly’s face, and then they went to Su’s, and they widened. Even from across the yard, Everly could read his lips, “Oh, shit.”