~Kimberly~I wonder how long it will take before one or both of my sons go for Jenna. I hated to resort to such actions, but I really had no other choice. If I continue to wait for the Colby twins to take care of things, I may be waiting forever. There are too many people against the Colby twins, and I have to have a sure thing. A knock on my door interrupts my thoughts. “Enter.” The door opens, and Stuart walks into the room. I guess I should have expected this visit. The minute I spoke with Adela, it was inevitable for Stuart to come to me about all of this. “We need to talk.” I nod slightly, and Stuart sits across from me at my desk. Neither of us says anything at first; we just sit and start at each other. I clear my throat in an effort to get things going, but Stuart still doesn’t speak. “What can I do for you, Stuart?”“You can cut the shit.” Well, this is a slightly different side of Stuart. We have known each other forever, and I have never been the recipient of his harshne
~Tia~Each punch I deliver is harder than the last. The bag sways with the contact. I didn’t bother to wrap my hands or put any gloves on. I came down here and just got started beating the bag as if it were someone I wanted to hurt. I beat the bag as if it were Jenna, Adela, Aida, Luna Kimberly, my dad……The gym emptied out pretty quickly once I got started, and I’d imagine that was out of safety. I know I look like a maniac, a killer, and no one wants to get involved with that. I knew it would be a challenge to be back home, but I never considered it would be this hard. I know that I can’t give up and walk away, but I’m not sure how much more I can take.I hate that Landon’s time with me got interrupted, especially since Lincoln was able to have his time. I just want to be with my mates and figure out how to be what I need to be for them. It seems that no matter what I do, there is always someone or something in the way. I know these things are out of my hands, but I wish I could jus
~Tia~“Here we are,” Neal states as we stop in front of the clinic. We took a nice, leisurely walk to the clinic, chatting and laughing on the way. “I suggest you get that hand looked at, just to be sure that everything is okay.” Neal reaches out and runs his hand down my arm before griping above my elbow and giving it a squeeze. As Neal walks away, my mom walks out of the clinic.“Uh, what’s that all about?” My smile falters a bit.“What do you mean? That was Neal; he walked me down here.” My mom walks up to me, stopping right in front.“Yeah, I got that part. I was more wondering why that would be.” Mom gives me a quick hug and steps back. “Where are your mates?” I sigh and shrug my shoulders. I really didn’t want to revisit all of that right now. I finally got my anger under control. “I came to get my hands checked. I’m sure they’re fine, though. I spent some time with the punching bag without any barrier.” Mom grabs my hands and starts to inspect them while making eye contact wit
~Jenna~Going after Landon first probably wasn’t the best idea, but the opportunity presented itself. I really just didn’t want Landon and Portia to mate. I figure that if I delay that, I should be able to come up with some way to get one or both of the twins to fall in line. Landon has always been the stronger of the two, whereas Lincoln is a bit more impulsive. I can say that I was able to flirt a bit with Lincoln when they first got to the pack. I took that as an indication that I had a clear path to get to him. If you want to have a chance, oopsie, encounter, then Lincoln is the one you want to go after. I watched him go into the office and heard him speaking to Landon. I’m not quite sure what they were talking about, but I’d imagine it has to do with me. There is no way Landon wouldn’t inform his brother about what happened earlier. I do hope that is the case, though; I’d rather get a fresh run at Lincoln. It felt like I had to wait forever for Lincoln to leave the office, but
~Tia~As badly as I need a shower, I don’t want to return to the packhouse to take one. Luckily for me, Lynn and her family don’t live in the packhouse. I head over there, and after promising to tell her everything, Lynn lets me take a shower and gives me clothes to wear.The shower is refreshing and allows me a lot of time to think. My situation isn’t going to get any better, so I need to be proactive. I need to put everyone in their places so they understand that I’m not one to play with. I just don’t know how to go about doing that. My mom was right; I have always just run and avoided. That is the wrong strategy here. I’m not a kid anymore, and this will impact more than just me. The pack needs a Luna and the Moon Goddess meant for her to be me. I have to step up to the plate and do what I have to do. Once I finish showering, I put on the clothes Lynn gave me and head downstairs to find her. She is sitting at the table with her brother. Lynn and Mark have been my best friends sinc
~Landon~Yeah, I had a breakdown. I couldn’t help the emotions that have been building up inside of me. I tore the office up, wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last. Lincoln, as always, was able to help me through. We helped a few Omegas get things cleaned up after our run-ins with Jenna. Now we are waiting for Mark to show up so we can have a meeting. We will be officially taking over in no time, and we need to get some things straight between us. We also need to figure out what we will do about a Gamma, but I kind of have an idea about that. Lincoln and I are sitting in the office with the door open for Mark. Neither of us has said anything for a while, but I’m sure that we are thinking the same thing; what are we going to do about Jenna? We need to figure out how we will survive her visit without causing our mate any more pain. Mark slowly walks into the room, looking a bit confused, and his scent is mixed with Tia’s. I should have known that Tia would end up with her best
~Mark~MATE! MATE! MATE! MATE!Stop, Cato! You have to stop.I want mate. Go to mate. I throw a wall up to block my wolf. He is going to give me a splitting headache, and I have to think. I have to figure out what to do because this is crazy. So the apples and cinnamon sent that I detected earlier belong to my mate, and my mate is Jenna. Oh, my fucking Goddess! What type of horrible turn of events is this? This woman doesn’t want me. She is out to replace my best friend. How can she be mated to me? Why would the Moon Goddess think it’s a good idea for her and me to be together? I know I don’t know her personally, but just looking at her actions tells me more than I need to know. “MARK?!” I whip my head toward Lincoln, who is shaking a hand in my face. Landon is looking at me with concern and sympathy. “Are you okay, man? What’s going on with you?”“Isn’t it obvious, Linc? Mark has found his mate.”“Yeah, he said that. So what?” Landon runs his hand down his face in exasperation. “T
~Tia~It turned out to be a better day for me. Hanging out with Lynn was exactly what I needed, and it gave me time to think. I have a lot of things that I need to do and points I need to make, but there is one thing that has to be done before all of that. Hey, what are you and Landon doing?Hey, beautiful. We are just getting some work finished up. What's up? Is everything okay?Uh, yeah. Everything is fine, but I have a favor. What's up?I need some time with Landon……alone. Can you send him up in 10 minutes? Lincoln chuckles in the mindlink.I got you, boo.I wasn't sure what to do because I really didn't want this to be cheesy. I mean, this is real life and all, but I also want to make Landon's first time special. I decided to keep it simple; hopefully, it's enough for him.I set up candles in the bedroom so that the mood will be set when he walks in. The real action will happen in the bathroom, though. I want to show him how much I care, and I want the intimacy to be next level.
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