Michael’s cum is thick and salty on my tongue. I fucking love it. He tastes amazing.Even though I can’t feel the sparks from our mate bond the way Michael can, I do feel more sensitive to his touch.When I’m sad, he comforts me.When I’m angry, his touch calms me.And when I’m horny, his touch drives me insane.Within seconds, Michael pulls out of my mouth and lifts me up by my armpits.“Enough!” he growls, his voice husky. “I need to be inside you.”I smirk before laying face down on the bed, arching my ass into the air, my feet still on the floor.“What are you waiting for?” I tease.“Fuuuck!”Michael steps between my legs, rubbing his cock against my soaked, aching core.“This pussy is going to be the death of me.”“It’ll be a happy death, though,” I murmur, my words ending on a moan as he pushes inside me.“Holy shit! How are you still so tight, baby?” His voice is rough, nearly a whine at the pleasure of stretching me open.I think it’s the pregnancy, but I don’t have the breath
One Month Later…Finally, the last group of wolves has arrived in our new territory—the Meteoric Rise territory.Fuck, I hate that name.I can’t wait to change it tonight.Tonight, at Slade’s ascension ceremony, we’ll also be renaming the pack. Slade and our leadership have kept a tight lid on the new name. Our pack knows it’s changing—but they don’t know what it will be.Too many opinions. Too much debate. Ain’t nobody got time for that shit.Tonight is going to be big.I will be officially recognized as Luna, with Slade as Alpha. We’ll be inducting a new Beta, Gamma, and Delta. Michael will be instated as our Oracle.And then—the name change.The pack mark on all of us will shift—a mark created by the Goddess herself.It’s going to be a long, involved ceremony.Because of that, we’ve decided to wait before introducing Nathan as the Alpha heir. He’s only five, and since returning to our old territory, he’s had a lot to deal with.We both have.Both Nathan and I have had to step up our
I stand in a grand amphitheater, surrounded by friends, family, and members of the combined packs.Many of the witches are here as well—Bella, Liv, and Marcus among them—all gathered to witness the ascension of Naomi, Slade, and their leadership.Since Naomi and Slade must also instate a new Oracle, I will be presiding over the ceremony tonight.And it will be a long one.With so many ranks and positions to induct, we decided to hold a meal beforehand.And because this is Texas, we had to have a barbecue.The omegas of Naomi’s pack outdid themselves—smoked brisket, ribs, cornbread, potato salad, collard greens, and more desserts than I could sample in a week.Glad I had time to change into my ceremonial gowns before the ceremony, or the smell of barbecue would have lured me back to the buffet table.The Ceremony BeginsAs the sun begins to set, I call the assembly to order.“My brethren, we have gathered here tonight for a truly momentous occasion: the birth of a new pack!”A wave of h
“Where are we supposed to meet them again?” Chloe asks me.My mates and I are sitting in the parking lot of a Walmart in some no-name town in the middle of Louisiana.The car is nondescript, registered to a straw man company Hakeem had set up—a dead-end trail leading to an account in the Caymans.We had already eaten Bella’s potion-steeped apple before leaving, rendering our DNA useless to the Riding Hoods’ location spells.“That diner across the road.” I glance at the dashboard clock. “We still have another hour.”My voice is tense with anxiety.Today, my mates and I are joining the hunt for the Riding Hoods.Two days ago—the morning after Naomi and Slade’s ascension—they pulled the three of us into their office.They asked us to keep the conversation private—even from Corinda.Then, they laid out their theory:Someone else is feeding information to the Riding Hoods.It wasn’t a new suspicion.Everyone had thought about it.But Naomi and Slade wanted to act on it.They needed eyes on
Luckily for us, the car we’re in has seats that fold down into an empty hatchback, giving us plenty of room to maneuver. Sev and I hurriedly push the seats down, leaving a flat surface to play on.I hear Joe take a deep breath and turn to see Chloe toeing off her pants and panties. I chuckle at him, running my palm across the flat of her stomach and up to cup her breast. “She is pretty fucking hot, isn’t she?”“Fucking hell, yeah, she is!” Joe agrees emphatically.Chloe pulls me into a kiss, Sev moving up behind her, trailing his lips along her neck.In a sultry, breathy voice, Chloe says, “Hop into the front seat, Joe. Enjoy the show.”“Happily,” Joe replies. He seems to be a man of few words. Honestly, I’m glad. The only reason we really want him around is for an audience, not to chit-chat.Sev and I quickly disrobe outside the car before climbing into the back seat.“Fuck!” Joe’s eyes are huge as he takes in our erect cocks. “You two are fucking huge.”All three of us smirk at him.
We roll up to the diner where we’re meeting Chloe, Casen, and Severn about five minutes before the scheduled time. Through the window, I spot them at a booth, a waitress setting down drinks.“Thank the Goddess they’re sitting down to eat. When was the last time we had cooked food that didn’t taste like a fucking tin can?” Gregory exhales in relief, already unbuckling his seatbelt and hopping out.I’d laugh at him if I didn’t feel the exact same way. Gregory and I are the ones meeting up with the newly formed trio, bringing them back to our group of trackers. We’re about ten in total, and once these three are settled, three of ours will finally get to head home—well, after a day or two of training and debriefing.We step into the diner, nodding at the waitress before heading toward CCS’s table.I extend my hand toward the only wolf I’ve actually met, Casen. “Hey, man. How was the trip?”He clasps my wrist in the old-world greeting, a smile spreading across his face. “Good, man. Good to
This morning, Chloe, Sev, and Case left to go meet up with some of the wolves to track down the Riding Hoods. All would have been good with that plan, except for two things: 1) it wasn’t their turn on the rotation to go out into the field and 2) I could tell that something was wrong.Slade and Chloe have never been able to keep anything from me. Ever. So, when they had trouble making eye contact with me and Slade started fiddling with his belt loop, I knew something was up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t mindlink them anymore, as Slade was a part of the Rising Crescent pack and I’m a part of the Mene pack after fully mating with Donavon. Chloe, Case, and Sev aren’t part of a pack yet. But that, weirdly, doesn’t seem to bother anyone around here. They are their own pack and that seems to be enough for now.After saying goodbye to my friends as they drive off toward Louisiana, I grab Slade’s arm. “We need to talk.”He looks into my eyes, and I know he knows exactly what I want to talk about.
This morning, Chloe, Sev, and Case left to go meet up with some of the wolves to track down the Riding Hoods. All would have been good with that plan, except for two things: 1) it wasn’t their turn on the rotation to go out into the field and 2) I could tell that something was wrong.Slade and Chloe have never been able to keep anything from me. Ever. So, when they had trouble making eye contact with me and Slade started fiddling with his belt loop, I knew something was up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t mindlink them anymore, as Slade was a part of the Rising Crescent pack and I’m a part of the Mene pack after fully mating with Donavon. Chloe, Case, and Sev aren’t part of a pack yet. But that, weirdly, doesn’t seem to bother anyone around here. They are their own pack and that seems to be enough for now.After saying goodbye to my friends as they drive off toward Louisiana, I grab Slade’s arm. “We need to talk.”He looks into my eyes, and I know he knows exactly what I want to talk about.
The tunnels twisted and turned in an endless labyrinth beneath the Hoia Baciu Forest. The scent of damp earth mixed with the faint metallic tang of blood and decay. The flickering torchlight cast eerie shadows along the stone walls as I strode through the corridor, my Thane, Sybil, walking briskly beside me.“How is she doing?” I asked without breaking my stride.“She is much more stubborn, much more resilient than we anticipated,” Sybil admitted. “But we believe we may have turned the corner, High Priestess.”“Oh?” I arched a brow, intrigued. Morgana’s torture had been… sluggish. Less satisfying than I had hoped.Torture, after all, is not simply about the body—it is about breaking the mind. True suffering comes when a victim loses their very sense of self, when they beg for death, only to have it denied over and over. And yet, Morgana had proven difficult to crack.Nine months. Nine months of relentless torment. We had shattered her bones and healed them daily, forced her to endure t
The ride from Texas to our packhouse should normally take 21 hours, but we’ve made it a one-week trip, sending our beta, Landry, ahead of us in our plane. He will help our people move in and settle while Brandon, our parents, and all of our pups take a little side trip for some downtime.Carl, Richard, and Lauren elected to move back to Artemis lands with us. It’s where they lived, where Carl and Richard grew up, and where they raised their older children. Now that they had a new set of pups, they wanted to come back. My mom and Charlie’s parents were also moving back with us. It was their way to see their grandpups grow but also to honor the lives of my father and Charlie.Carl, Richard, and Lauren were a little upset that Dev, Arya, Jakey, and the twins were remaining in Texas and that they wouldn’t be able to see them as much, but we’ve already got a couple of trips scheduled back and forth so that all the cousins could get together and we could see our best friends.Our side trip t
The past few months have been some of the most emotionally difficult of my life. Not only am I nearing the end of my pregnancy with our little boy, but we are also leaving Texas— all of us. Except for the old Diana pack and Arya and Dev’s pack, the rest of us will be gone by tomorrow.The last three months have been consumed with finalizing pack laws, succession rules, and building the new packhouses for each territory. We've been moving everything from our old homes, figuring out pack logistics, and ensuring every wolf is accounted for. It’s been exhausting, but necessary.We also had to choose our new betas, gammas, and deltas. In a twist of fate, Donavon asked to be our beta so that Kesha could stay close to Slade and Chloe. Rin made the same request to serve under Case, Chloe, and Sev, so their families could stay together. That means Mike and Seth will also be moving up north. But the tech squad doesn’t need to be in the same room to work together, so at least that transition will
"Reports have been consistent from all of our sources. Other than one of the fae discovering what was left of Locasta’s body in the bayou, there hasn’t been a single sighting of any Riding Hoods on American soil,” Hawk says.We’re in one of our combined council meetings, with all the alphas from every pack in the U.S., as well as the heads and representatives of the Maiden, Mother, and Crone covens for Hecate. There’s also a representative from the Seelie Fairy Court and an ambassador from the Unseelie Fairy Court. The sooner we can get all of us on the same side, the better we’ll be protected from groups like the Riding Hoods. We’re hoping to expand this into a global alliance—a kind of supernatural U.N.For now, the fae are willing to let the U.S. be the test subject. Convincing the other shifter groups, however, has been difficult. Many remain elusive or outright resistant to the idea. Zak’s presence would have helped—his Goddess gifts have a way of swaying even the most stubborn mi
After the ceremony, Gregory and I help Jamal back to our cabin. Every time I see him in that damn wheelchair, I get livid all over again. Those witches. I can’t believe Locasta and Morgana got the drop on him.He freely admits he was distracted—he had taken a call from Seth and Mike about incoming witches. It turned out to be nothing, just the Crone coven sweeping through like they promised. Apparently, no one had thought to inform our tech team of that part of the plan. And no one but Jamal had their phone turned on.Morgana had woken up just before the call. While Jamal was preoccupied, she directed Locasta to retrieve a knife from her boot—silver and coated in wolfsbane. They cut themselves free, then stabbed Jamal in the back of the neck, severing part of his spinal cord. He collapsed immediately. The wolfsbane knocked him out, and the silver cauterized the damage. For a time, he couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t even breathe on his own.Arya and Dev managed to purge the wolfsb
Zak and I have been in a fog since Charlie’s death yesterday. The one and only thing that has brought us any solace is our pups. It seems like, overnight, they began looking more and more like their mother. Though both of them have always had Charlie’s gray, raincloud eyes, their faces and bodies seem to have gotten leaner, their chins more pointed, their cheeks hollowing slightly to reveal high, sculpted cheekbones. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but others in the pack have noticed it, too.Our families are around us. Friends come in and out of our cabin. All of our mothers—Lauren, Danielle, and Clara—busy themselves with the pups, cooking, keeping things moving as if that will help. The house bustles with people, but I barely register them.The only things that ground me are Zak’s hand in mine, the weight of Christy’s sloppy kisses on my cheek, the warmth of Jerry’s small body as he curls into my chest.I know I eat. I shower. I dress. I might even respond to people. But it’s all
So many emotions. Thank the Goddess on High that I’ve been training on how to empty myself of other people’s feelings. If not, I’d be drowning in them, rocking in a corner with my thumb in my mouth. Despair. Pain. Rage. Dread. Determination. They flood over me like a tidal wave, crashing against my mental defenses. But using the techniques Meredith taught me, I let them wash over me and drain away, like waves receding from the shore.I have to keep my head on straight. My job is twofold. First, I need to help my friends process their grief without letting it consume them. Zak and Brandon’s pain is like a living thing, a force that threatens to unravel everything if I don’t keep it contained. I push their suffering to the back of their minds, tempering their anger to something useful. They don’t want this—but they need it.Then there’s Dev. His grief is just as raw, just as deep, but there’s a difference. Beneath his devastation, there’s acceptance. A flicker of hope. He knows that he’l
Zak and Brandon push through the door, Brandon almost immediately shoving Zak to the floor as a ball of lightning rushes through the air toward them. It slams into the door just above their heads before Gregory vaults over them, a shield of the same crackling energy covering us as we begin to move through the doorway.Gregory’s ability to mimic Morgana’s powers surprises her, giving Jamal the time to step into the room after his mate. His power fills the space, nullifying all the goddess gifts of those within a 100-foot radius (we checked). That includes all the witches’ powers. The only ones that won’t be affected by Jamal’s power are Arya and me. Our gifts aren’t Goddess-given but Goddess-like. He can’t take away what is part of the Goddess.The look on Morgana’s face as she drops like a fucking stone is almost enough to make me smile. Her scream echoes through the stairwell, the resounding thud as she lands and the breath whooshes out of her is immensely satisfying. Unfortunately, o
I don’t know what gave me the idea of the salt trail. Honestly, I haven’t been able to think of much since I’ve been here. The thought of us being so close to freedom seems unreal. I never thought that I would escape the Riding Hoods alive. It makes the frustration that Charlie is feeling about us going around in circles barely register to me. I’m still finding it hard to believe that we’re going to get out of here.But the salt sparks a memory of my favorite childhood fairytale. My mother hated it, the way that the witch was portrayed, but I loved the thought of children being able to outsmart an adult like that. I read every version I could find and acted it out with my toys all the time. I even made Mom, Dad, and Bella call me Gretel for about a year.So, I really shouldn’t be surprised that my old favorite story came to me in a time of need. The whole scenario was made better by the fact that Charlie called me Gretel. I feel like I’m getting some of me back. Like I’m starting to wa