Lana's P.O.V. Aspen tensed as I wrapped my arms around her, trying not to be emotional as I held her tightly. I hadn't known her for long, but she was one of my only true friends here, and she was about to go to the front line. "Don't make this a thing. You're being weird." She muttered, but I smiled when she returned the gesture with a loose wrap of her arms around me. When I pulled away, I discretely wiped the tear from my cheek before looking back up at her. I wasn't ready for them to leave. As soon as they did, the war would start, and I didn't know when or if I would see them again. "I expect you to kick some ass," Aspen said sternly as she stared at me. "I worked hard to train you. Don't make me look bad." I choked out a laugh as I nodded. The look in her eye told me that that was her way of saying goodbye as well, and I accepted it with a smile. "You got it. I'll make you proud." The goal was not to let the rogu
Oliver's P.O.V. I waited until I heard the collection of locks slide into place before I forced my eyes away from the barrier between me and my family. The trees and houses around me were mostly abandoned, leaving only the assigned guards around the outside of the pack house and the handful of guards inside the house with the children as the last line of defense. The rest of the pack were either in the forest waiting at our second and third line or were already in battle at the border. I could hear yips and yowls of pain even though they were around two miles away. The sound of my brothers and sisters being injured made my hackles rise as soon as I transformed into my fur. The dirt shifted slightly under each paw as I walked further from the house. It took everything in me not to turn back and look for Lana in the windows. I could feel her eyes on my back as I took my place and held my stance, waiting for someone to be fast enough to make it past our other wolves, but stupid enough
Lana's P.O.V.My fingers dug in further as I searched. The man laying beneath me shouted in pain as his blood spilled over the edge of the wound."There's not anything in there! You need to let it close, so I can get back outside! Where is Doc?" The wolf growled, irritated that I still had my hand shoved inside his thigh when the skin was trying to stitch itself back together."I know it's in here. I saw it!" I grunted back as I twisted my hand, feeling along the line of the muscle in his thigh. It was barely noticeable, but the slight lift and hardness of the coil of muscles had me letting out a cheer of victory. "Ah hah! Now, this is going to hurt for a moment."His jaw dropped open to protest, but I didn't let him get a word out as I extended my claw and sliced through the already-healed muscle. He let out a growl, his hands gripping the table and splitting the wood as I used my nails like tweezers and pulled out the foreign object.
Lana's P.O.V.With each step I took forward, I was forced two steps back. Back toward the house, further away from my mate.One after another, rogues were racing through the tree line, past the homes that they had set alight, and straight for the pack house.Bodies surrounded me as I fought with everything in me to protect my pack, my daughter. There wasn't a single rogue I was going to let in that house. It was bad enough that the house was filling with the injured, who were seeking help from the pack doctor.But I needed to be in two places at once.Maddie was with guards on her way to safety. But she also had enemies breathing down her neck, trying to get passed me to the innocent children so they could eliminate the pack in its entirety. I knew the chances of the rogues getting to Maddie were slim. Only those that knew of the passageway could find it, and the rogues didn't know where the tunnel let out.On the other hand
Oliver's P.O.V.I could feel her. Her determination and anger.But I could also feel her pain. My Lana was in pain. It was both a relief and disturbing. I had vowed to protect her, but I was also grateful because it meant that she was still alive.My head rolled to the side as my limp body was shoved down to my knees, held up only by my biceps. I could hear the metal chains being adjusted only a second before they were wrapped around my neck, wrists, and ankles all at once. The burning of the silver startled me back to consciousness, and I growled in annoyance that I was back in this position.I had been chained up before, but the dread that came from the way the metal weakened me and the sizzling of my flesh from the direct contact was new. I hadn't been expecting to feel this way, but now I had more to lose. I had a daughter and a mate waiting for me.To top it off, I had made a promise to the Goddess that I would rid the Earth o
Lana's P.O.V.My body had begun healing as I moved naked through the forest, tracking the paw prints and mixed scents. The only hope I had that I was trailing after the right set of rogues was the faint lingering distinction of my mate's scent.Where they had initially surrounded him, a large rock had been broken in half and left on the ground, covered in my mate's blood.I had been able to follow it until he had healed enough for the bleeding to stop, but when his scent had been thinned by the breeze, I had resorted to tracking him by the scuffs and paw prints on the ground.My nose twitched as another scent crossed my path and that of my mate. It was familiar, poisonous almost, and I wrinkled my nose."What the Hell is that stench? Just when I thought rogues couldn't get any more disgusting." Scarlett lifted her hand, covering her nose and mouth as she walked next to me. It would not take much longer before I could shift. I could
Lana's P.O.V"You smell really bad now." Scarlett groaned, and I rolled my eyes at her. Of course, I did. I was covered in Nyla's infected blood. "You're going to have to rinse off before we reach Oliver, or your smell is going to give us away."I paused mid-step, realizing that she was right."Where is the closest stream?" She asked as she lifted her head to point her nose up and took a deep inhale. "I don't smell anything close by. You may just have to roll around in some mud.""I don't know where water would be. I've been restricted to staying close to the pack house since I was turned. The rogues wanted to kill me and Oliver, so we weren't allowed to go very far." I said, bending down to wipe some of the blood from my hands onto the dirt.Scarlett froze mid-step and turned with her eyes sharply pinned on me. "I swear to the Goddess, if you are about to get me in trouble with Parker for letting you come out here, I am going to h
Oliver's P.O.V. The feeling in my back had all but vanished. My body was no longer my own. It was shutting down slowly but surely with each lashing, each punishment. I wanted to close my eyes and speak to the Goddess. I needed to know what I had done in this or my previous life to deserve such pain and torment, but she didn't answer. I knew she was real. She was out there. She was just watching with a sick sense of amusement as I was tortured. I had honored Her my entire life. I prayed to Her and respected Her and her creations. I had done everything to be worthy of Her, yet She continued to punish me for something that I did not understand. I wasn't sure that I ever would. Had I taken too long? When I had vowed upon my reincarnation that I would rid the world of the rogues who were poisoning Her name, had I taken too long? The whip sliced the skin on my back, the tip reaching over my collar and cutting a portion of my chest that had remained untouched until now. "Ah!" I groaned
Oliver's P.O.V - 14 years later There wasn't a single person who knew where I was. I had snuck away in the middle of the night and left. I needed to get to her, and that desperate need caused me to chase her over a hundred miles away. I had been lying in bed next to my beautiful mate, and yet all I could think about was her. There was a desperate need to see her. My wolf was on edge and sad with her so far away. I hated that she left me. So, we went after her. The sun was beginning to rise, and I sat in the tree line impatiently, waiting for her to leave for the day. The door to her building was just barely visible, but I knew that as soon as she stepped out, I would be able to see her. She hadn't been responding to any of my messages, and it was driving me insane. A simple 'hello' or 'I'm okay' wouldn't be that hard. I would even accept a, 'please stop messaging me'. One of the last things she said to me had broken my heart, but I would never stop
Lana's P.O.V. The pack had been over the moon when we announced our pregnancy. Having a baby who had been directly blessed by the Goddess was huge to our people, and I could only hope that they wouldn't put too much pressure on him. It had only been a few days, but I had already given up arguing with Oliver over the possibility that it could be a girl. He was so positive we would have a son, that he convinced me. We had picked out several names, prematurely as we hadn't even made it past the first trimester yet, but the excitement was driving us to do all the things they say you shouldn't. We told everyone, picked names, and started thinking about how we were going to design the nursery. The news that our house was next on the list to be worked on made me giddy. Everything was falling into place. The front door to the pack house slammed open, and I watched as several members of our pack split in different directions. The party was still in full swing, but no
Lana's P.O.V.For the past several months, I couldn't help but feel like I was failing Oliver. He was so calm and collected, yet each month when I took that test and received only one pink line in response, it broke me. He knew that it did.Oliver would come to find me, and he would hold me until the tears stopped, whispering that it would happen and that it just wasn't our time yet. But I wanted it to be. More than anything in the world, I wanted two pink lines to look back at me and tell me that our next child was growing inside me.Maddie was more impatient than I was, and her disappointment hurt me even worse. Her smile would fall when she would ask when her sibling would get here. We would tell her that we were still working on it, and she would get really quiet for the rest of the day. It was heartbreaking.But Oliver continued to insist. He would tell me that he knew for a fact it would happen when it was the right time and that we would have a whole litter of children by the t
I hope you enjoyed Oliver and Lana's story!Don't forget to follow me for updates on my new releases! Also, as I'm sure you know by now, any votes comments and positive book reviews are much appreciated! I'm feeling really good about the hard work I put into this book, and I am so grateful for the positive feedback! This was part of The Cards of Fate writing contest, and whether I rank or not, I want to thank you all for your support! Results are to come out in January, so please vote, comment, leave a review and share with your friends if you enjoyed it!I am still loving seeing the comments and votes on these. So, Im going to ask again. Whose story do you like best so far?Olivia and GabrielParker and KayleeOliver and LanaWith every book, I am doing my best to have it be better than the last. I read every comment for feedback! Stay tuned for bonus chapters!You are the best!
Maddie's P.O.V. Twenty Years Later My fingers pulled at the hem of my dress as I sat sipping my champagne. I had thought attending my college roommate's wedding would be fun, but it was pretty boring. While I had imagined, men and women our age drinking, dancing, and flirting, it was the complete opposite. The best part about it was the food. They had invited their entire families but only a few friends. I grabbed another roll of bread from the basket on the table, ripping it up before popping small pieces into my mouth. I had learned my lesson before, getting caught stuffing my mouth at functions that had a lot of cameras. Those photos would haunt me for the rest of my life. But this, this was not a wedding to remember for anyone other than the couple. Which was as it should be. This was their night and money. The guests didn't matter to them in the couple's blissful bubble. But as one of their attendees, I could vouch that their guests sure were bored. The couple was swaying ba
Oliver's P.O.V. As much as I loved Aspen, I had to get out of there. We had grown up together, almost as siblings since her dad was the Beta and mine, the Alpha. But even as a kid, I could only take so much of her dramatics or lack of a filter. Things moved through her brain and out of her mouth without considering whether it was appropriate or hurtful. As a teenager, I heard way more about her sex life than I wanted to, and the last thing I wanted was to get suckered into sitting down and having to listen to her go on about her lack of sexual freedom while I was trying to eat my breakfast. Instead, I packed up the majority of the pancakes into a Tupperware as soon as they left the frying pan, much to Hudson's annoyance, and stole the bottle of syrup before dashing after Maddie. She screamed with joy as I threw her over my shoulder and carried her away from that clingy little pup, Nicholas. He really wasn't so bad, but I resented him for the idea that he could one day take her from
Lana's P.O.V.There was still tension between Adeline and Oliver as we made our way to the kitchen at the insistence of my very pushy daughter, but Mr. Blake looked over the moon. Getting a second chance with his son seemed to be just what he needed during this hard time, and I knew Oliver needed it too.I don't think Oliver would have been able to live with himself if he went back to shunning his father. Especially after the man sacrificed himself for Oliver and lost his arm in the process.The guilt would have driven him mad.Kaylee and Parker were sitting at the kitchen island with Olivia, eating heaping piles of eggs, sausage, and several pieces of toast. They smiled widely at me as I entered with Maddie right behind me. But their excitement seemed to rise as Oliver entered, being dragged by Maddie's hold on his hand."Liv! I'm glad you're still here!" Oliver exclaimed as he lifted Maddie and placed her on the empty barstool ne
Oliver's P.O.V."I don't want to leave," Lana mumbled, her lips rubbing against my chest as she pressed her warm, naked body firmly against mine beneath the blanket. The morning sun beamed in through the edges of the curtain, reminding us that it was time for us to get up and get to work.I hated that while I had been sleeping for the past two weeks, my pack had been busting their ass to restore our homes and way of life. Even though I was injured and in a coma, I wanted to make up for it and contribute.I was disappointed when we entered our room yesterday evening to find it was occupied by multiple other people. Their mats and blankets spread out across the floor. But when I got out of the shower, Lana was standing in the middle of our newly vacant room with a wide smile.I didn't waste another second in swooping her up into my arms and taking her to bed. We had been apart for too long, and all I wanted was to be close to her. What star
Lana's P.O.V. There was a collection of us, at least a hundred, who were going from house to house, tearing out all of the damaged sections and rebuilding them back up as quickly as possible. A few homes would have to be completely demolished, but we would have to come back to them. For now, we needed to get as many as we could into livable conditions, and as soon as possible, so our people could have a roof over their heads. It was bad enough that I had multiple strangers sleeping on my bedroom floor. Maddie was having a blast sleeping in the room with the other kids. It was like a giant slumber party every night. But even if I wanted to rest for a minute during the day, my bed was out of the question. Having strangers in my space, in mine and Oliver's personal bedroom, made it feel compromised. It was no longer my safe space. They were diluting his scent, and coming in and out at random times throughout the day. I had tried to close my eyes once for a quick nap, and as soon as t