~Nikki~It’s been days since I’ve seen Paul, and my heart has been hurting since. I miss him, and that sounds so crazy to me. We weren’t together; I mean, we didn’t have a relationship. We didn’t go out on dates, and we didn’t have that togetherness, but I felt we melded together in a very short time. There’s a connection with Paul that I can’t explain; it literally doesn’t make any sense. I can feel this bond with him and feel like our bond is lost. It isn’t a broken bond, but it’s definitely not on the surface like it was before. I wish I could turn back the hands of time and not indulge in a relationship with Paul at all.At the time, indulging with Paul was innocent and fun. Now, it hurts; it hurts so badly. I want him to be happy; I want him to have everything. The problem is that, somewhere down the line, I decided, subconsciously, that I wanted him to have all of that with me. I wanted to be the one to make him happy and to see him smile each day. I genuinely believe I was sta
I hadn’t had dinner in the dining room at the packhouse since before Paul came back. I just couldn’t stomach being around all the happy people. That doesn’t even factor in the possibility that Paul and his mate would decide to eat at the packhouse. I don’t think I could stomach watching them together. I keep reliving the breakfast after Paul and I returned from the Lotus Pack. The way Paul looked at me across the table set my skin aflame. I was drawn to him, wanting nothing more than to reach across the table. He pulled his lips to mine. If there hadn’t been so many eyes, there’s no telling how things would have gone down that morning.I stand in the kitchen doorway, taking deep breaths, trying to get myself ready for this meal. I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to avoid. It isn’t like people knew that Paul and I were getting close. We hadn’t had enough time to inform anyone, so embarrassment is nonexistent. I just don’t want to see him. My heart still aches for him; my skin yearn
~Imogene~How very, very interesting. I knew something was between them, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. First, she was waiting for him on the porch of his house, then the little scene outside the clinic. The funny thing is that I dug deep into his mind and felt he was keeping something from me. This, these memories must be what it was. My puppets performed exceptionally well. If that bitch wasn’t sure before, it should be clear now that Paul is taken. She would do best by pretending they never had anything and moving on with her life. I will help her along if I have to. I stand up quickly and move through the kitchen. I want to catch her before she gets too far. I tune out the moans and groans of my fan club. Using a spell like this is helpful to make one look good to others, but it can be so annoying. Some people get obsessed with this spell, which never looks good.I ignore them and head after her. I look up the stairs and see her back go around a corner. I follow her as s
~Nikki~*RING**RING*“Hello? Doc?”“Hi, Lynn. I missed you at dinner.”“Yeah, I heard that Paul’s mate was going to be in attendance, and I just didn’t want to deal. How was it? How’s Tia doing?”“Remind me of something.” I stretch out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “What was the overall opinion that Tia had of Imogene?”“She felt that something was up with that chick. She has seen Paul and believes there’s something wrong with him. She doesn’t trust that woman and was hoping that the boys would see it too.”“That’s what I thought. Speaking to Tia tonight, I didn’t get that vibe at all. She was completely team Imogene tonight. She even….she even took some shots at me.”“What the fuck!” I sigh.“Language, Lynn, language.”“Sorry. It’s just….that doesn’t sound at all like Tia. She wouldn’t take any shots at you no matter what’s going on. She definitely wasn’t backing Imagine before, so I wonder what’s changed.”“It’s Imogene, and I have no idea.”“Before, I teased that she offered
~Paul~*BLINK**BLINK*FUCK! Darkness again!*BLINK**BLINK**BLINK*A bit of light starts to stream through my eyelids. I pry my eyes open further and try to move my head, but I’m locked out again. “Clearly, my spell was wearing off, but I fixed all that now. I’m not sure where you were planning to go, but I don’t have to worry about that now.” That dreadful woman comes into my view. “When I leave, you leave. When I sleep, you are unconscious. This is going to save me a lot of time having to track you down when you start to feel antsy.” FUCK!! I tried so hard to fight against whatever it was that she did to me. I tried so hard to make it out and get to Nikki. I need her to know that I’m trapped and that I care about her, and this woman is not my mate. She’s staring right into my eyes with a sick grin on her face. I wish I could slap the shit out of her, and I’m not even a man who would lay hands on a woman in a violent way. This woman makes me want to beat her ass like I would a ma
~Imogene~I knew I’d forgotten something the moment I left the house. I couldn’t figure it out until I got halfway to the packhouse and had to head back. I try not to ever travel without my talisman, but I forgot today. People may not know where I am, but I still need to stay vigilant. I place my hand on the knob, and it turned, already unlocked. I swear I locked the door when I left. I don’t tend to leave doors easily accessible. I look back at Paul, but he’s as spaced out as he should be, so that I won’t get any answers there. I slowly turn the knob, allowing the door to swing open on its own. I take a few steps inside and stop. The air is disturbed; someone has been here. I know I told those dogs never to enter this home. I don’t want any cleaning done or anything. I have a feeling that isn’t what I’m dealing with, though. I slowly walk through the house, looking around. Nothing looks disturbed, so that’s something. I head up the stairs, but there are no doors open or anything.
~Imogene~This is just what I wanted. I was hoping that Nikki would be my doctor. Who better to find out the news than the woman who wants Paul? I know she has feelings for him, and it kills her to see us together. I wonder if that she-wolf knows about these two. I can’t imagine she does, or she probably would have asked me to keep them apart. I will have to keep that feather in my cap. I may need to take her down a peg or two, and this is the perfect information to use to do that. Speaking of her, she’s been calling and texting even though I told her not to. I’ve ignored every attempt she made to reach out to me, but I know I can’t avoid her forever. Before approaching her, I need to see if this will work in my favor. My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. I’ve been sitting on the bed, waiting for the test results, and Paul sits in the chair. Doctor Franks walks into the room, and there is no emotion on her face. I give her a lot of credit for keeping her face neutral
~Stuart~It’s been several days now, but the pain is gone. I did what I needed to do, and life is getting better. I had to let Kimberly go; I had to reject her. She felt the pain but quickly accepted my rejection. I guess she never really cared for me, and that’s what I’ve been trying to come to terms with all this time. The first few days, my heart was heavy. I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision. So many times, I was tempted to return to Kimberly and beg her forgiveness. I would get up, put my shoes on, and walk to the door. Before I could turn that knob, I would walk away and sit back down. That wasn’t the way; it wasn’t what I needed to do.These days, I’ve been rethinking my choices. I made so many mistakes, and for what? I thought Kimberly was the person I needed in my life. I was ready to sacrifice everything and everyone for her. Looking back, I realize what a fool I’ve been. Nikki was an amazing mate, and I was lucky to have her. She may not have been my fated mate
6 Months Later~Paul~It’s been six long months, and Nikki still hasn’t woken up. Owlyn has been here and tried to get a response from her. Nothing has worked because she says it has nothing to do with magic. The doctors don’t have an answer, and I’m just lost without her.I knew she shouldn’t have volunteered. I felt in my heart that it wasn’t the right choice, but what could I do? I love her with everything I have, and I couldn’t tell her not to do what her heart said was the right thing.I run my hands through my hair and then over my face. I haven’t left her side in six months, and I’m beyond tired of seeing these walls. My sons have tried to get me to leave, and so has Tia. I refuse them because this is where I’m meant to be. As long as my heart is here, I will be here. Tia has been here often and has brought our grandchild, but besides those visits, it’s just been Nikki and me. I refuse to believe that I finally found my fated mate just to lose her so quickly.I put my head in m
~Devonte~The pain in my heart is all-consuming. I want the pain to stop, but I don’t know how to make that happen. I curl up tighter, hoping that the pressure will help with the pain. It’s all too much, and I don’t know what to do to make it better.Abe has gone silent, and I’m not surprised. He’s been struggling the most, and I have no words to soothe him. I wish I could wake up yesterday when things were what they were. I’d give anything to go back.“BROTHER?! BROTHER WHERE ARE YOU?!” I curl up tighter as if that’s going to keep me from being found. I don’t think I can handle the words and emotions that will surely follow my brother. I can’t take what that would mean.His thudding footsteps get closer and closer. I know I can’t hide myself; there’s no way to become invisible. I can’t keep this from happening. I hold my breath, waiting for the inevitable. “D, I found you. I’ve been looking everywhere. Our mate, she needs us. She needs you.” I’m trying to block out his words, but I’m
~Third Person~Everything seemed to happen all at once. Andricia is thrown against a tree trunk and curls up with a whimper. The pain is too much, causing Andricia to shift back into Tia. The twins witness this, and all restraint is lost. They shift and run at Imogene, who quickly wraps them up in blue light.Nikki hasn’t taken her eyes off Imogene, so she’s ready to interfere. As she shoots her light at Imogene, it strikes her in the stomach. Imogene is taken off guard and loses her grip on the twins. They fall to the ground and falter as they try to get on their feet. Eventually, they gain their footing and try to attack Imogene again.Imogene defends herself, reduced to hand-to-hand combat with the edge of magic. She repeatedly strikes the wolves as they throw themselves at her. They are taking a lot of punishment, but they refuse to stop. Their only goal is to defend their love, though they’d rather take the time to see about her.The group is joined by vampires and rogues alike.
~Jenna~I scramble backward, making sure my back is flush against the tree trunk. I try to quiet my breathing, but it's proving to be a task. I search around me, but there’s only darkness. The night air is still filled with the sounds of a battle, but I can’t see what’s going on.“Ughhhhh.” I slap my hand over my mouth in an attempt to stay quiet. I look down and see the bright red blood. I shut my eyes tight and try to think about anything else. If I freak out right now, I won’t be able to get back to safety.Every inch of my body hurts, but I can’t think about that now. I need to get out of here and make it back to the packhouse. I struggle to my feet, using only my right arm. My left just hangs against my body. Every twist and turn of my body brings a wave of excruciating pain, but I have to ignore it right now.I finally get to my feet and stand against the tree trunk. My breathing is erratic, and my chest is heaving up and down. “Where’d she go? I don’t see her.”“Sniff her out.”
~Aida~I’m applying pressure to my sister’s neck, and I feel her body giving in. This is so easy it’s pathetic. I would have thought that she would have trained during my absence. She had to know that I would return, and with my return would come the fight for her life. I guess having a brain doesn’t guarantee that you’ll use it.Portia’s body slumps to the ground, and her breathing gets heavier. I swear she’ll be dead in a minute. While part of me is rejoicing, the other part of me feels that she’d be getting off too easily. She’s the cause of all my problems, even the cause of Adela’s death. I may have administered the final blow, but it wouldn’t have come to that if she hadn’t disrupted our plans.Portia completely falls under, and I let her go with a thud on the ground. I get to my feet and walk around her limp body. Her breathing is shallow, so I know I can still play around with her before I kill her. I just need to figure out what games will be fun to engage in.I walk around h
~Ivan~One of the twins lunges at me, and I step out of the way. The other twin moves toward me, causing me to dodge slightly. This can’t be how they expect to beat me. If things continue this way, I’m going to win without breaking a sweat.I don’t want to spend a lot of time with these two. I need to go find Aida and so help anyone who has tried to put their hands on her. No one will hurt my love and live to tell the tale. I’d scorch the Earth before I let anyone hurt her.These imbeciles are staring at me but have stopped lunging. I guess they realize that it’s useless. It doesn’t matter what they do to me, they won’t win. I’m a vampire, so my natural state is on a different level. On top of that, I’ve been around for a long time. There isn’t much that I haven’t seen before, so they are hard-pressed to find something new to throw at me. “We’re wasting time, boys. I have more pressing matters.” I flip two fingers in the air back and forth. I hear reinforcements moving in. “Let me jus
~Lynn~I reach into the vampire’s chest and pull out its heart. My hand is covered in blood, but it’s as black as tar. There’s a stench to it; it smells like it’s rotting. I guess that makes sense because vampires aren't like the rest of us. They are the undead.I look to my left and can make out Abe in the distance. He’s ripping the head off of a vampire. Another vampire has climbed on his back, but he shakes him off. I look to my right, and Mace has the leg of a vampire in his mouth, and he shakes him like a rag doll. I duck quickly, missing the clothesline that was intended for me. I look behind myself and kick out, catching the perpetrator in the stomach. I wind the rope around my fist and throw a punch. The rope, mixed with the strength of my punch, causes my hand to literally push a chunk of her arm onto the ground. I follow up with a round kick and straddle her body as soon as it hits the ground. I rain a combination of punches on her body before ripping her throat out.I’m tir
~Jenna~I’m herding those who can’t fight into the safe rooms. We have entry points on both ends of the pack, but I’m only worried about those on this end where the packhouse is. Elderly pack members, as well as children, have been running here in droves. The sooner we get them to safety, the better off we will all be.I take one last look around and turn to the opening that will lead to the underground tunnels. It isn’t a long walk from the tunnels to the rooms; we wanted to make sure everyone would have a chance to get to safety. Once I get inside, the doors will be locked, and we will wait for word that everything is over.Crying sounds behind me, causing me to whip around. A pregnant woman with a toddler is running toward where I’m standing. A few warriors rushed out to her, working overtime to keep the vampires back.I watch the woman run forward with her baby’s hand in hers. She trips, and her knees hit the ground, causing her to lose her grip on her child. She cries out and cra
~Mark~I’ve been on alert all evening. I know tonight is the night, but I have no idea when. It’s just a guess, but we expect an attack on this pack. It isn’t that I’ve done anything to Aida, but her enemy is my best friend, and my mate has gone after her obsession. It seems they are trying to hurt Tia in any way they can, and that would include attacking this pack.I haven’t been Alpha that long, and I’ve only had my fated mate a bit longer than that. I have a baby coming and I like my life right now. I don’t want to lose anything right now, but this battle could have me lose it all.I clean off my desk and put files in the filing cabinet. I think the best thing right now is to have time with my mate. I want her to know how much she’s loved, just in case. I close the office door behind me and turn to head up the stairs. Alpha, we have a breach! My heart begins to thump in my chest as the seriousness of the situation grabs me. I take a deep breath and let it out. Hey, beautiful. Wher