~Lincoln~The morning light shines through the curtains, and I try to cover my face. I really don’t want to get up right now. My mate’s scent surrounds me, and it is the best cocoon anyone could ask for. GGGEEEETTTTTT UUUUUUPPPPP!!!! I growl and throw a pillow across my mate, listening as it bounces off the wall. You know you missed me, right? Landon chuckles in the mindlink, and I silently roll my eyes. I throw the cover back and rise from the bed.Of course, Landon is already dressed for training, lacing up his shoes. I jump into the closet and get some shorts along with a T-shirt. I step out of the room, throwing my socks and shoes on while Landon kisses our mate. I stride over to do the same as Landon points to his wrist impatiently.I shake my head and follow my brother out of our room. Morning training, ugh! I like to sleep, and I love to sleep next to my mate. I hate getting up and leaving her in bed, but it’s what a leader does. Landon and I take turns leading training and d
“WHAT!? What do you mean?” I’m stunned, just stunned. I always thought they were fated; there was never a reason to think otherwise. I swallow the lump in my throat.“What happened, Dad?” He sighs again and runs a hand down his face.“When I was around 17, I went to a different territory and visited a friend of mine. At his pack, I was drawn to this beautiful girl. Her name was Naomi, and she was gorgeous. She was funny and fierce. I was able to get to know her a bit while I was visiting, and I had planned to return when I turned 18 to see if we were mates. About a week after the visit, I got a call from my friend’s father. Their school was attacked by a rogue. My friend and Naomi were killed, along with other students. I never went back to the pack, and I never felt a pull toward anyone else.”I can feel the pain in the link from Landon, and my feelings mirror his. That has to be painful, and the fact is that my dad never really knew if she was his mate or not. “I will say I did feel
~Adela~I swear they are too predictable. I, honestly, expected that to take more convincing, but no…..not for those two. Just the idea that I planned to meet with my sister was enough to set them off. I’m both parts glad and disgusted. I will no longer have to see her and pretend to care, yet they are so quick to save their precious mate.I sigh and pull my phone out, for probably the millionth time, just to be met with silence. Of course, there is no message. I’m not sure exactly what I’m waiting for, but I have nothing either way. It would be nice to hear from Neal, just so I knew that things were going how they should be. If Neal listened to me even a little, he should have made a move by now, and possibly it has been reciprocated. Maybe they catch them having sex or maybe just kissing. Is it wrong for me to hope for the sex? Ah, it doesn’t really matter, just as long as Neal has followed through as I told him to. It was so time-consuming to hold his hand last night and talk him
~Landon~I know…..I know…..I’m usually the level-headed one, but in this case……this instance……. I can’t believe that Tia would betray us like this. She never struck me as that person. I could have never thought that she would be someone I’d have to watch out for. And the fact that my brother wants to ‘talk to Tia’.....WTF?! I block my brother out of my mind as well as Tia. I just can’t deal with either of them right now. I take the traitor Neal and the car they came in back to the packhouse. I just want to have some time to myself before she comes with all her lies and excuses. The car ride is quiet, though I can’t say that I’m surprised. Neal says nothing, but he does sniffle here and there. A part of me was hoping that he would say something, declare his love, try to ask forgiveness…..anything! At this point, it wouldn’t take much for Goliath and me to rip his throat out. Of course, he did none of those things; he just stayed quiet in the backseat.We finally arrive at the packho
~Tia~I wanted so badly to comfort Lincoln, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I know that the situation at the dress store looks horrible at best, and he is fighting his urge to toss me aside. I’m amazed that I could convince him to just listen to me before making a decision. He is the impulsive one, yet it was Landon who lashed out without hearing my side. The walk to the room is agonizing. I don’t know what to say or what to do. My only plan is to tell the truth, but that doesn’t mean I will be believed. The truth sounds fishy at best, but it’s the only truth I have. I would never cheat on my mates for any reason, and I don’t even have an interest in Neal like that. I’m more interested in finding out what happened to make Neal think I wanted him.I walk into our room and stand in the middle. I don’t really want to sit down because I’m too anxious. Honestly, I may need to run; if I sit down, it would be hard to do. If anyone had asked me before, I would have said that my mates w
~Mark~*TAP**TAP**TAP**TAP*This is so damn annoying. Jenna has been sitting in the back of the office, staring at me since I’ve been here. When the twins left, I figured the door opening was the first meeting they wanted me to handle in their place after putting me in charge. I was very wrong; it was Jenna. She walked into the office, didn’t say a word, and sat in the back of the room. Jenna has been sitting there through 3 meetings, saying nothing. The tapping just started about 20 minutes ago. Jenna is tapping her nail on the back of her phone. It’s a bit annoying, but I’m more interested in what Jenna will do next. I continue to work, not looking or speaking to her. I make sure the patrol schedules are taken care of and factor in the specifics from my earlier meetings. I want to make sure the twins are set up with everything when they get back. A throat clears, causing me to look up. Jenna’s eyes are burning into me, but she says nothing. I look at her for a bit before retur
Landon’s lips are still on mine; our tongues are wrestling with each other’s. I can feel his hands along my back, sparks igniting everywhere he touches me. I feel hot breath on my neck before a tongue sweeps over it. A shiver goes up my spine. Lincoln has come up behind me and is teasing my neck with his tongue and lips. Landon breaks our kiss and starts to attack the other side of my neck. My nipples are hardening, and I can feel the wetness between my legs. My arousal is in the air, and I know my mates can smell it. I lean back into Lincoln to give Landon more access to my neck. Lincoln’s hands snake around and tug at my shirt, causing buttons to fly everywhere. Once open, Lincoln grabs my breasts, squeezing and kneading. I throw my head back and moan loudly. Landon kisses me down my neck to my right breast. He sucks on my nipple through my bra, and my eyes roll back into my head. I can feel his hands unbuttoning and unzipping my pants. I barely register fabric ripping over the so
~Landon~We, somehow, made it to the bed. We aren’t sleeping, just trying to catch our breaths. That was amazing and tiring at the same time. Marking can take a lot out of you. Marked……we are marked.Can you believe it, Goliath? She marked us. Goliath huffs, laying on his back, trying to rest. I can’t help but chuckle at the sight. I’m a marked wolf. Not only am I marked, but I was able to mark her.Wait….I’m marked. Tia marked me. After everything that happened today, Tia marked me. Why? Why the hell did she do that? I can hear all of us breathing, and I know that no one is asleep. “Why?” “Uh….L, is everything okay?”“Why, Tia?”“What do you mean?” Her soft voice is a bit raspy and sounds like she may have let sleep take over at any minute.“After everything that happened today, why did you mark me? There is no way that I’m deserving of that honor. Why did you mark me? Why did you forgive me?” My heart is pounding in my chest. Goliath is growling in my mind, hating that I’m ruining
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