Hunter’s POVI promised Liberty I would think about my future.I honestly don’t know where to even start.Esme.Everything makes more sense when I’m with Esme. I was going to go to her for advice before, but knowing she has a history and friendship with Imelda, put me off. Not knowing exactly what is on the line is only making it harder. I should ask Imelda directly, but I’m not ready for that. I won’t go into a volatile situation unprepared. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. That is the one of the first things Thoran taught me when he began training me to join the Old Guard.I thought it was strange that he didn’t put me with the Elite Warriors, but he said I have a raw , untapped energy that is better matched to the old guys. I see now that it was meant as a compliment, but it didn’t feel like it at the time. Frankly I wouldn’t fit in anywhere, so it didn’t really matter who he grouped me with.I lucked out with Gerald. He never pushed or questioned. He accepted me for what I
Lottie’s POV Gabe’s arms cage me, one thick, veined bicep bulges either side of my head. His forearms depress the plump feather pillow as he holds my head in his hands, and his eyes stare into mine with a longing I feel in my heart. I have heard stories about sealing the bond, how mates mark each other, it’s all any of my friends talked about last year, in the lead up to our sacred days. They shared tales they had heard from older siblings or the she-wolves in the pack with lose morals or unsheltered history. There are only a few girls born into the pack in each generation, so naturally we are all quite close, and every one of us had hope that we would find our fated mates. We knew chances were slim. The pack protects us girls more fiercely than anything, especially after girls from packs close to Pine Lake started going missing. Gabe is sweet and tender and takes his time. I know about him too, and what the men get up to when they are off pack land. I’m not as blind to everything t
Liberty’s POVMy legs are numb. Not from my injury, which is already mostly healed, but from being stuck in this bed. Marcel and Doc Wood both expected my recovery to take longer and Christian and Zander both insist that I rest so I don’t set myself back, it’s lovely that they care and want to look after me, but I think I might go crazy if I’m stuck in here much longer.Doc Wood has been in and out taking blood samples. I hope he can isolate and synthesise whatever it is that has allowed me to heal so quickly but he can take blood from me in my office just as well as here in this bed. Obviously, it’s something to do with the blood Marcel gave me, but knowing why and how it works could save so many people of all races, if anything good comes of all this, I hope that is it.I had been getting bored. I’ve had visitors and Arly has been keeping my mind off of everything, but I want to be in my office, working, putting everything in motion for Lottie’s plan. My mates are not going to like
Lottie’s POVI don’t mind being in a cave with no idea how I got here. I don’t even care that the floor is littered with bones and animal horns. The thing that bothers me most right now, is that I am one hundred percent butt naked.The only way this could have happened, that I know of, is if I misted. But that can’t be the case, my dragon is bound, and I’m not strong enough to use my magic to mist. Fire is easy because my mother was a Pyro. Controlling fire is in my magical genes, and that gave me a massive advantage when it came to learning how to summon Fire.‘I was bound, but no longer am.’ A feminine voice speaks.“Who’s there?” I spin on the spot, my eyes searching every crevice of the dark, rocky dome. The ceiling must be at least fifty feet high and it sends my voice bouncing back to me.‘I’m in here, not out there.’ The woman sounds amused but possibly a little crazy. I’m looking in here, and I see no one.‘Not the room Lottie. You. I’m inside you. My name is Naivleen, I have
Hunter’s POVIt has become normal around here, for everything to go to shit at the drop of the hat. Tonight is no exception, only now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.When Liberty showed me her visions, it was the most surreal experience. Like dreaming but not. I can’t explain it, I don’t have the words to do it justice. It was exactly what I needed though. I have been on the fence about my future, my magic, my Alpha gift, but seeing what I did has pushed me firmly to the side in favour of being unbound.If my destiny is to lead Shadow Ridge out of the darkness and into the light, who am I to decide otherwise? I know Liberty said there were many futures, and that it is not my burden to carry if I don’t want it, but if I don’t do this, I feel like I would be no better than the very person we are trying to stop. I don’t want to wake up every day for the rest of my life with regrets.I’m scared. I’m not afraid to admit it. Taking on Shadow Ridge is going to be a fight, one tha
Liberty’s POV ‘Trust your gut Liberty.’ Justice repeats the same words she always tells me when I start to doubt myself. I was hoping she would tell me it’s all in my imagination, or have an example of why my theory is way off base.“I’m trying, but if I’m right… the danger to the pack doesn’t bear thinking about.” My body quivers at the thought. The rebellion would foam at the mouth if they knew about Lottie and Arly, and if I’m right about this, the target over Pine Lake will only grow.‘She has been here for years, undetected and unharmed, there is no reason that would change just because you know.’ Justice, ever the voice of reason, tries to put my mind at rest. I have had my suspicions about the pack as whole, ever since we met Marcel. When the Old guard and Elite warriors shifted to follow me into the woods, there was something about them, their wolves had auras that were similar but different. I know, it doesn’t make any sense, I couldn’t wrap my head around it at first. Hones
Lottie’s POVThe mysterious figure entering the cave with a confident stride could only be Vitandi - the oldest dragon, and possibly my father. The fact that he knows my name is a shock, but the sight of him shakes me to my core. This is not how I planned to meet him, I’m not ready for this. I don't think I'll ever be ready for it.‘Look at his marks and runes, they are so similar to ours. I know it means something, I just cant figure it out.’ Naivleen sounds more curious and frustrated than concerned about the towering mass of muscle and magic that now blocks our only exit.His body glows with dozens of ancient runes, and his eyes burn with a fierce intensity and recognition, as if he has been expecting me, despite his statement to the contrary. He isn't what I imagined, he looks young for a start. Well, not young young, but for a centuries old being, he only looks maybe mid forties. He is tall, probably at least as tall as my brothers, and they push the boundary between man and gian
Wendy’s POVI could keep Liberty out of my head if I wanted to. Heaven knows I’ve had plenty of practice since being here. I tell myself those days are far behind me, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. I feel the pain of my past from the second I open my eyes in the morning to the moment I close them at night. Every day I’m haunted by the ghosts of my past. They walk around in front of me, not knowing who they are and what they represent.The memory I brought to mind when I felt her slip into my subconscious, is over eighteen years in the past. Two days before I became a member of Pine Lake pack, I almost died in my birthing bed, but fate intervened and sent me a most unlikely saviour. Gerald and I had been running from the rebellion for months, but the bigger my belly grew, the harder it was to keep any distance between us and the trackers.I couldn’t mist for the sake of the baby, my magic had gone haywire, and as far as I knew, Vitandi had disappeared from the face of the e