~Lynn~How is it that I got through this meeting without everyone being able to smell me? I spent the entire time fighting my arousal and my wolf. Roxie was ready to break free and claim her mates immediately. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have two mates. Who would have thunk it?I plop back in the armchair and throw my head back. This is such a mess, and I have no idea what to do. “HELLO?! Lynn?! What is going on with you?” I shake my head a bit and look at Tia.“I, uh, I……” I turn my head to the side before turning back. “What’s it like?”“What do you mean?”“You have two mates. Wha…..what’s it like?” Tia looks at me like I’m from another planet. Slowly, a smile starts to grow on her face, and she starts to chuckle.“Oh, shit! Are those two juicy men your mates?!” I roll my eyes but don’t answer. “They are, aren’t they? You have twin mates!” As giddy as Tia is, I’m sullen. “Uh, why am I the only one ecstatic about this? I know you always wanted to find your
~Third Person~Lynn grabs the back of Vonte’s neck, pushing her tongue further into his mouth. She uses her tongue to explore every inch, causing Vonte to moan. His hands travel from her behind, up her back, then around the front to frame her face.Vonte walks Lynn backward until the back of her knees hit the edge of the bed. Lynn quickly spins them around and pushes Vonte onto the bed. Vonte sits up higher on the bed, leaning on his elbows. “I hope that wasn’t too rough for you,” Vonte smirks at her.“I can take anything you can dish out, believe that.” Lynn smiles and lifts her t-shirt over her head, tossing it on the floor. She lets her hands glide down her body, caressing her breasts. Vonte licks his lips, watching how her hands move. When Lynn’s hands reach the waistband of her jeans, she slowly unbuttons them. Lynn pushes her jeans down her hips slowly, causing Vonte to groan.He sits up on the bed and reaches out in an attempt to touch her, but Lynn slaps his hands down, and he
~Lynn~Is this what afterglow is? I really didn’t think it was a thing. I feel beyond content being in my mate’s arms, but something is missing. I feel like my heart isn’t completely full, and I know why that is. Uh, I hate to interrupt anything, but we are waiting for you. And have you, maybe, seen Vonte? Tia giggles as she cuts the mindlink.I turn to face Vonte. His eyes are closed, but he looks at peace. I pull my head back slightly so I can really take a look at him. He has his right eyebrow pierced, and I can see that he may have had a nose ring at one point in life. Both of his ears are pierced, and he wears diamond studs in each ear. He has a very masculine face, a strong, blocked jaw, and very rough features. He has a light scruff on his face, making me wonder what a full beard would look like on him. He has shoulder-length dreads, which I helped remove from their perfect braid. The tips are dyed a blonde color. He has full, thick lips and long eyelashes. I can feel my body h
~Devonte~I’m sure we were released so we could talk. I guess I must have been more obvious than I wanted to be. I was trying to keep my disgust to myself with the plan to lay into my brother privately.I hurry downstairs and make a beeline for the front door. As I walk through, I see she-wolves looking at me. Some whisper to their friends, and others look at me seductively. I have no time for any of them.The closer I get to the door, the more angry I feel. I yank the door open, hearing it crash against the wall. I walk outside and step down the porch steps. I start to pace back and forth on the grass. I can feel my brother getting closer to me. He was walking behind me, and I wasn’t sure he would follow me.The minute I feel his presence behind me, I turn and slam my fist into his face. Vonte stumbles back and holds the palace where my fist made contact. Vonte drops his hand and growls toward me. I get in a fighting stance, silently begging him to come for me. “What the fuck, ‘Te?!
I jump up, breathing heavily. I look around my surroundings for anything that would be a danger to me. I swear the dream was so real. I thought those looking for me had entered the cave and taken me captive. I could feel the silver cuffs on my wrists and a knee in my back. I fully expected to be locked up when I opened my eyes.The cave is still pretty dark, with a slight shine from a tiny opening at the top of the cave. The water is still moving, and it’s enticing me. My mouth is extremely dry, so I jump into the water and swim to the other side, where the small waterfall is. I drink my fill and paddle back to the other end.Maybe I should just leave right now. I should go out there and try my luck with those looking for me. It may do me better to just be captured. I won’t have to live like an animal anymore. I can go where I can lay my head on something soft rather than a dirt floor.The more I think about it, the more getting captured appeals to me. If I can surrender without being
~Devonte~My head is throbbing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt pain like this before, and I swear I never want to again. I move my body and can hear beeping in the distance. That’s a really annoying sound, and I need to try to turn it off.I crack an eye open and see white. I close my eye and try to remember where I was last. I swear I had gone outside and was running in the woods. I open my eye, fully this time and look around. White walls. White walls are all around me. I open my other eye and take in the bright ass lights. I look to the side and see the machine the beeping belongs to. “D? Baby?”I turn to the voice and suck my breath in. “Sonya? Where am I?” She smiles and leans closer to me. She strokes the side of my head, running the pad of her thumb across my lips. My stomach twists at her touch, but I swallow that down.“You’re in the clinic at this, uh, shabby pack……Emerald Lake, I guess.” I close my eyes and think back. Yeah, that tracks. We brought a prisoner here and are sup
~Lynn~I sneak out of bed, careful not to wake Vonte. He’s been so sweet to me since Devonte was hospitalized. I didn’t expect to be as affected by his illness as I was. I can’t function when my mate’s future is in limbo. I don’t even know why I care since he hasn’t accepted me.I’ve already tried to come to terms with the fact that Devonte will never accept me. The thought of that brings me to tears, and I just can’t take it. When I get to that point, I take a step back and distract myself. I’m sure I don’t need to say how much that doesn’t work.I slink down the stairs and into the kitchen. It’s the middle of the night, and not many people are up. It’s so dark outside, making it darker inside with dim or no lights on. As I walk into the kitchen, I notice a refrigerator door open. There are three big refrigerators in the kitchen. We have a good-sized pack, so we need the space to keep the food.I try not to make a noise; then it hits me who’s in the fridge. I sit at the island and la
~Adela~I’ve been free for a few days, though I don’t know if that’s an accurate description. I’ve been without chains or cuffs, and I’ve been out of the cells. I was given a small cottage away from everyone else at the edge of the forest. I have two guards on me at all times, and I’ve been encouraged to stay out of the packhouse. Yeah, I’m not sure how accurate ‘free’ is.I don’t really care about that at this point. I hate the fact that I’m back in this pack, and I’m freaking out about my sister. Where the hell is Aida? It feels like her link, our twin bond, is blocked. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to block her from me. I can feel a loss, not being able to tap into our bond. I worry that something has happened to her, but I’m pretty sure I would have felt that loss if that were the case. I worry that she’s hurt somewhere or scared. The last time I saw her, she wasn’t that aware of her surroundings. Aida’s much too vulnerable to be out in the world alone. I have no idea ho
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