Severn and I don’t really talk much after I give him my advice. He seems lost in thought. Not pissed at me, like I’d thought he would be. More pensive and worried. He knows I’m right, I can see it in his eyes. He’s had to have felt it in his interactions with his mates, thought it after one of Corinda’s blow ups. Casen comes back about an hour after we finish eating. We’re standing at the sink, washing the dishes when Severn turns around, an indecipherable look on his face. He opens the barrier and Casen walks in. Severn smiles, relief plastered all over his face. But it flickers out when Corinda doesn’t follow behind Casen. “Where’s Rin?” Severn asks, looking at the open entryway. I take a deep breath and try to look out the doorway, attempting to find any clue as to where I am. I immediately start linking Zak and Charlie to tell them what I smell, see, and hear. I smell hemlock, mulberry, sweet gum. There’s a fox den nearby and I smell muskrat. It’s damp, swampy. T
Flames shoot from my hands, exploding against the skeet that is flying through the air. We have an automatic skeet trap that I’ve programmed to throw the little discs at various speeds and heights, giving me something to vent my anger and flames on.The ground is littered with ash and smoke rings the air around the treetops. The heat has caused sweat to drip between my shoulder blades and down my face. The sound of the flames eating the oxygen between my hands and my target roars in my ears.It’s the sound of my pain. The smell of my anger. The heat of my hate.My pups.I thought that after they were all dead that the pain would go away. I had my revenge. I had watched them die. Watched them suffer a
And there it is. The thing that has been swirling around our minds for months. No…years. Corinda has been so cut off from us. She doesn’t let us in. Not into her emotions. Not into her thoughts. Not into her mind via the mindlink, unless she has something that she wants to say. We don’t know anything about what she’s thinking. Corinda stares at Severn, her mouth gaping open in astonishment. “What?” It comes out in a whisper, barely heard in the stillness of the forest. Severn’s eyes are full, pain and grief dripping down his face. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that you still want to be with us. Tell me that you still love us and can put this behind us. Because if not, I’d rather that you reject me now. I’d rather us be done - “ his voice breaks and he has to swallow before he can continue. “I’d rather us be done than continue like this.” My heart is beating so hard I feel like Brandon has to hear it back in the cave. His mates have to know through their mindlink th
It’s the morning after Brandon was taken and I wake up with the rising of the sun through our windows. Arya and I have to train with the newer warriors today and we had decided to go for a run quickly before breakfast. I stretch, leaving my hands above my head before looking at Arya beside me. The oversized shirt that she wore to bed, one of Xander’s old shirts, has ridden up and shows the underside of her breasts. On display are her smooth skin, her lacy thong that barely covered her pussy, and the slight roundness of her pregnant belly. Immediately, my cock jumps to attention and my breathing increases. Fuck! She is the sexiest woman that I have ever seen and just looking at her turns me on. She rolls towards me, seeking my warmth even in her sleep. Her breasts press into my side and I hiss at the feeling of sparks that cover that side of my body. I look at her angelic face, peaceful and carefree in her sleep. With a shaky hand, I reach out and cup her cheek. In her sleep
His mind’s barrier comes crashing down and I feel it all. The pain. The grief. The hurt. The uncertainty in our bond. The certainty that he isn’t enough for me and our pups. I caused that. Not all of it. But there is a large part that is my fault. I held his face in my hands and poured all of my love for him into the matebond and my kiss. I love you, Devin. More than I could ever say. You are everything to me. You are more than enough for me. I link to him. He tries to pull away. Tries to reject what I’ve said, but I don’t let him. I devour his lips, nipping and sucking at them. He moans into my mouth, though I don’t know if it’s from his pain, or lust, or both. Tears run down his face and spread across both of our cheeks. I crawl into his lap, keeping my hands on his face. I hold him steady, keeping his lips pressed to mine. I can’t let him escape again. I can’t fuck this up. If I do, I might lose him forever. “I’m, uh…I’m gonna go,” Hakeem says quietly. We do
I’m on the way back, Hakeem links to me and Gael. How are they? I ask. They were…busy when I left. Hakeem responds. Busy? Or getting busy? Gael chuckles. I smack him lightly on the arm and roll my eyes. Yes to both. Hakeem says, a smile in his voice. I’ll see you both in about 10 minutes. Hakeem stops talking, though the link doesn’t cut out. We never turn it off, preferring to share everything. “So, when are you going to tell Zak and Charlie about what Mother Selene said?” Gael asks me. We’re sitting together at the kitchen table, having just finished ladling out lunch for all of us. Chili from the crock pot. One of my favorite meals for a cold day and, since this is the beginning of December, it’s starting to get that way. “I was going to call an Alpha Council when Devin and Arya got back. I think that we all need to hear this information, plus everything that Zak and Charlie have learned from Brandon,” I say. I sigh before dumping a handful of cheese into my bowl.
“DAMN IT!” I scream, throwing the closest object to me. It happens to be a large metal mixing bowl. It bounces off the wall and then the floor before rolling under the kitchen table. A week? A fucking week away from my mates and pups? I was going insane thinking that I’d be here for another two days and now I find out that it will AT LEAST be another six? I’m going to go fucking insane. Zak and Charlie aren’t fairing much better. The stress of being new parents and the lack of sleep that comes from having infant pups isn’t helping at all. I should be there! I should be with my family. Instead, I’m wasting away in this Goddess-forsaken cave with three fucking psychos. I can’t even leave if I wanted to. I’ve tried to get out of the barrier that Severn created. First off, there’s nothing sharp enough. There are a few kitchen knives, but they don’t even have a butcher’s knife in here. Must have gotten rid of everything sharp before they took me. Though, that doesn’t matte
Goddess, did I want to get drunk! Of course, that’s a bit hard as a werewolf. And we don’t have a ton of alcohol here. My best bet is to get a buzz going by drinking as quickly as I can. So I quickly grab another beer, pop the top, and chug. Brandon looks at me, surprise and…is that worry in his expression? “You might want to slow down there, Severn.” “Call me ‘Sev.’ I’ve always hated my name.” I quickly finish the beer and grab another. “Alright. Here, let me take that from you.” Brandon pulls the beer from my hand, quickly grabbing the six pack from me as well. “Hey, man. Not cool. I need something to help me forget.” I make a lame grab for the beer, but Brandon pulls it to his other side. “Talk to me, Sev. What’s going on?” I rub my hands down my face. I knew he was going to ask that. And, honestly? He’s the only one that I’m willing to talk to about this. Rin is…well, she’s the reason that I’m feeling like this. And Case has taken to caring for her, just lik
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