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14. Falling
Last Updated:
2025-01-23 02:00:48
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Winter 15. Keeping Pace
The feeling of running as a wolf was something that I loved more than anything. It was a freedom that you could never replicate as a human. With everything heightened, it was an entirely different experience than just running with two legs.How the grass and moss felt brushing against your paws. How the earth sank in as you pushed off to continue a stride. How the air felt flowing through your fur, just barely kissing the skin. How the smell of the forest, particularly as the sun was going down, differed to the morning mist-covered scent. All of it was so overpowering and yet empowering at the same time.Running hard, I passed a few of the slower pods before finding my usual pace. Since we started on the West side of the pack, we would go close to the river before swinging around to the north of the territory. I decided to swing wider than the pack would go to the West.The forest gave way to the pebbled riverbank that could easily be called a beach with how wide the river was at this
Last Updated : 2025-01-24Winter 16. Secrets Are a Heavy Burden
I froze, my body going stiff as I looked up at my dad. Not that I really wanted to go with him. It would be nice since the walk was a long way but hope was not something that I held when it came to my dad.He frowned again before he shook his head. “She exerted herself too much.”Translation for that meant that I was too sweaty and I would have gotten his seats dirty. The front door slammed shut behind him and I winced. Luna Ember pulled me close, her arms wrapping around my shoulders.“I’m fine, Luna. I wasn’t expecting…”I nearly jumped out of my skin when Alpha Damian turned and threw a bottle at the door. The metal bottle didn’t break but there would be a dent in it for sure. My eyes widened as I stared at the door and then at Alpha Damian. It was rare that I saw any outbursts from Alpha but that was way more than normal.“Honey…” Luna Ember sighed.“Go get your backpack, Winter. I’ll drive you back.”My mouth nearly fell open. “Alpha, you don’t need to…”“Now, Winter.”He didn’t n
Last Updated : 2025-01-25Winter 17. Best Wing-Woman
“You saved my ass on Friday.”Krista was lying on the grass in the empty park close to the school. We decided to meet up here on Sunday. Usually she was busy on Sunday with her family but her mom had taken her dad to a work function. Of course her brother was in the dojo but she wanted to get out.“You probably would have been fine. It’s not like you were doing anything bad. You just went to a party.”“Well, I was about to get down with my bad self.”I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t say that.”She laughed, rolling on her side to face me. “I heard Rebecca got torn a part. Not just by Gamma either.”“Oh, I’m pretty sure you could hear my dad yelling from the pack house. She comes in, getting dragged in by Gamma, drunk, smelling like sex and smoke, and I’m pretty sure she took something hard. Her pupils were blown out like crazy.”“Oh my goddess. I would have loved to hear that. Finally, they catch her doing when she has been doing for years.”Leaning my head back, I frowned. “I just don’t
Last Updated : 2025-01-26Winter 18. A Little Sabotage
I looked over at my dad. He looked agitated. His back was straight as his hands thrummed on the steering wheel. Not just that but his leg was bouncing as well. It was odd seeing him like this. “Winter, I need you to remember. It’s really important.” “We didn’t talk about you or Hannah. The only thing we talked about was that Krista had seen Rebecca at the party. It wasn’t…” He growled, glaring at me. “I need you to tell me what he said!” I did jump this time as he raised his voice. “Nothing. Really. He didn’t say anything! It’s not like he would talk about that kind of stuff. He knows I can’t do anything or that you think I’m worth telling anything.” “That’s right. That’s right.” The second time he said it, he let out a sigh. “Why would Damian talk to you about anything?” He chuckled to himself. “How silly of me.” I looked out the window, keeping my hands in my lap. After that, I expected him to just kick me out of the car and make me walk home. However, he seemed like he w
Last Updated : 2025-02-12Winter 19. Trespassing
One thing I didn’t expect was Mr. Penn waiting outside of Statistics. Krista elbowed me and waggled her eyebrows as he motioned me to follow him. I gave a quick wave to Krista and I followed a few steps behind. Usually Krista and I would part anyways, since I had my Study Period and she had her Pottery class. Mr. Penn lead me to the front office and held the door open for me. Principal Miles seemed to be surprised and immediately frowned. He stepped up the counter and tapped his fingers on the wood. “Is everything okay, Caspian? Winter?” I shrugged and Mr. Penn must have realized then that this looked like I had done something wrong. He waved his hands before reaching into his back pocket for a folded piece of paper. “Miss Winter expressed the interest in learning German. I thought during her Study Period, she could take German from me. However, I wanted to make sure she could get the credit for it.” Principal Miles let off a sigh of relief. “Is that so.” “Principal Miles,
Last Updated : 2025-02-12Winter 20. Irritatingly Correct
I nodded again. “We did. My Great-Grandmother was a full-blooded witch that found refuge in Dawn Claw. At the time, my Great-Grandfather had lost his mate a few years back. He had been the current Gamma of the pack. They two of them didn’t have an…instant…connection. At least not from the stories my mother told me. But they did end up marrying and having my Grandmother and a Great Uncle.” “A witch line is passed down through the eldest female? Correct?” “Yeah. It’s why I have the last name Cyprus and Rebecca doesn’t. Hannah never had the last name Cyprus either. She took after my Grandfather, Gregory Tank. She changed her last name when she moved in with Dad.” Mr. Penn cocked his head to the side. “I remember Linny doing spells, or always having a potion on hand.” He looked down and smiled to himself. “She always smelled like herbs. Like mint and rosemary.” “That’s what I remember as well.” It was weird. I didn’t talk about my mother with Luna Ember much because I knew it was
Last Updated : 2025-02-13Winter 21. Thorn In My Side
“Winter!”I jumped when I heard my name being yelled. Looking past Mr. Penn, I saw my dad storming into the library. Blinking, I tried to think of a reason why he would be here. Better yet, what I would have done for him to come all the way here for me.“Dad, I…”Dad looked from me, down to Mr. Penn, who was frowning now as he sat across from me. “What is going on here?”“I…needed some extra tutoring.” I slammed my books shut. “Mr. Penn was willing to help me so I didn’t fail.”My dad scoffed. “Of course you need help.” He shook his head though. “Where is Rebecca?”Furrowing my brow, I shook my head. “I…don’t know. Mr. Penn was tutoring me through my study period. I don’t have the same schedule as Rebecca. So I don’t know…”“Give me your phone.”I scrambling to remove the video app that was up for the German, I handed it to my dad. He frowned as he looked down at it.“You don’t have Rebecca’s number in your phone.”It was so hard not to scoff. “I know it by heart. I don’t need to have
Last Updated : 2025-02-14Winter 22. All Fun and Games
*** Caspian’s POV ***I shouldn’t have gotten as much of a kick out of Winter pouting as I did. If anything, talking about Linny today just made me see more of her in Winter. They had very similar mannerisms and it was funny to watch. Winter was a bit more reserved unless she lets the fire out.‘You are mean. Let the poor she-wolf be.’ Onan was surprisingly against the whole charade.‘I’m not mean. She needs a ride home, and I could give her one.’He huffed. ‘You didn’t need to force her to go with you.’‘I didn’t. I just…give her the option of Damian.’‘And you knew she wouldn’t take that because you know her personality now. She doesn’t want to inconvenience others. You are being mean, Caspian. I at least have the excuse of being a grumpy old wolf. Why are you being mean to the she-wolf?’I let out a huff myself. ‘You are no older than I am, Onan. You just act like an old man. That’s different. I’m just giving her a ride home.’‘Sure, Caspian. Sure.’Glancing at Winter in my passenge
Last Updated : 2025-02-15
Latest chapter
Winter 80. Standing Down
“What…what is going on?” Winter looked between her Alpha and her father.Onan was sitting just behind my consciousness. He was ready to take over and fight both of these wolves. The fact that one of them was our brother didn’t matter at this point. None of that mattered. These two were trying to take our mate away. I didn’t think they would try to go this far. It didn’t even register that this was an option.“No.”It was a single word from me. However, between Onan and I, the growl and the power that came with it, it might as well have been a right hook to the face of both of them. I was still holding Winter against me, her hand holding my arm. What’s worse is that I could feel her shaking.“You want to break an alliance, Caspian? We need to keep our alliances if we are going to survive. We break this, and we lose their support. Support we count on often.” Damian was struggling still under my anger. “We need this.”“Not. Winter.” I struggled not to shift, the only thing keeping me grou
Winter 79. What Have You Done?
Standing up from my lean, I cocked my head to the side. “I mean, it wouldn’t be a great travel time but I could do it. Probably not every day.”Winter frowned as she stopped, looking up at some of the books. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to move to the city? You wouldn’t need to commute as much. It would be less stressful.”Now I could see where she was going with this. Walking over to her, taking her hand in mine and kissing the back of her hand, I shook my head.“I’m not here to work, Winter. If I wanted to solely work, if I wanted to focus on this side, I wouldn’t have left England.” Her eyes widened but I smiled. “I’m here now for my mate. For my other half. I could move here. I could move back to England. I could do all these things to make it easier to do something that I love. I’m not here for that.”“But…this is your job.”I shook my head again. “This is something that I enjoy. A hobby. I could turn it into my full time job if I wanted. Not at the cost of losing my mate. I came
Winter 78. A Taste
I couldn’t help the smile that filled my face as Winter looked up in awe. We had gone through the entrance and I was speaking with the front desk for a moment to get our badges. I’d contacted Carrie to get some strings pulled. Under the guise checking out their research facilities for my work, I wanted to show Winter more than just the museum exhibits. However, looking at the awe on her face, she might have been okay with that.“I remember it being big when I was little, but I didn’t realize they were this big even as I grew up. It almost seems impossibly big.”“It is, isn’t it? Sometimes we forget that there are things bigger than us. Especially being wolves. We are strong and it can seem like we are at the top of the food chain. Except in the face of something like a dinosaur.” I was waiting for the director to come out and confirm my identity. “You said you came here before though?”Winter nodded. “We were supposed to go to the water park. It started to pour and the school had to ch
Winter 77. Flower Girl Energy
I wondered how long I could get away with ignoring Damian’s shouting in my head. We had another half hour or so to the end of the pack territory. If I could make it that long, then I would be fine.‘ANSWER ME! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?’This time I winced. Onan growled, it echoing just as loud for him. Winter must have caught my flinch since she looked over at me. I gave her smile, but winced again when Damian mind linked me again.‘YOU DID NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE HER! DO NOT MAKE ME REPORT YOU FOR KIDNAPPING, CASPIAN!’“Alpha, I’m assuming?” She looked back to see if the car was still following us.Nodding, I looked in the mirror as well. They hadn’t stopped, but they had backed off quite a bit. I wondered what Damian was thinking. It didn’t make sense to pull them only to yell at me. Not to mention that his accusation of kidnapping would be on shaky ground. At least within the pack laws.“I’m wondering if I can just ignore him until we get to the border. His mind
Winter 76. Loosely Considered Kidnapping
‘Just go in, Caspian. No one is going to think it’s weird you’re there.’ Onan was at his limit with me and I could feel his irritation at my hesitation.“I can’t just…go in. One, I’m not a teacher anymore. Two, I’d be picking up Winter. Which would end up raising flags.”He let off an annoyed sigh. ‘Outside the fact that she is our mate and it’s not weird. You are now Caspian Herne. The wolfs out of the bag. You can’t hide anymore that you are the Alpha’s brother. Both good and bad.’Rubbing my face, I let out a more exasperated sigh. Damian and Ember had been using that to their advantage. Every time I went into town, went shopping, or even at home, they had a wolf watching me. I didn’t know what they expected me to do, but apparently, it was something.Whether or not I wanted to let them be at the mercy of the Council, I worried that Winter would end up in the crosshairs. I worried that I would lose her simply because I wanted to spite my brother and didn’t wait to think about how I
Winter 75. Anger
The kitchen was quiet for a moment. My brother and I stared at each other. Ember was looking at me as well, but she turned to her mate. He didn’t look at her. His focus was on me and I wondered if it was because he was still deciding if giving me the truth was worth it. My hand curled into a fist.“Yes, we made the decision to lock Winter’s wolf away!” Ember was the one who answered, the words tumbling out of her mouth.My eyes continued to watch my brother as he sighed and rubbed his eyes, his back falling against the wall. He pulled his leg up and frowned. Damian looked exhausted, but not from the blooming bruise on the side of his face.“We…we made the decision. A choice. To protect her and the pack. Especially after Linny passed…” Ember sat back on her knees, looking up at me. “Yes, we made the choice. I’m sorry, Cas.”“Why? Why would you do that? What could a young wolf do to pose such a threat that you brought in magic, forbidden magic I might add, to seal away her wolf? You can’
Winter 74. Rolling Up Your Sleeves
*** Caspian’s POV ***I tried to be as normal as possible for Winter. She was already nervous going with Maddox and I to the diner. It was funny because we definitely turned a few heads. However, once we sat down, she relaxed a little. Not as much as I wished though.This had broken her. She spoke about not having her wolf but the fact that it had been taken from her. Not that she wasn’t supposed to have one, didn’t just devastate her. I was gutted. It wouldn’t change how I felt about having her as a mate. My acceptance of her wouldn’t change. This just felt so raw.I’d had Onan with me years before most wolves did. We were a team. Albeit a weird team. We didn’t think or work together like other wolves but he was the other part of my soul. My grouchy old man part of my soul.‘Hey.’I chortled. “Tell me I’m wrong.”Onan huffed. ‘Whatever.&
Winter 73. Who You Are
I curled up tighter, not wanting to hear whatever was going on downstairs. There was yelling, that was for sure. It got louder for a second before I realized it was because someone was opening my door. The yelling mellowed down to a murmur again. Someone touched my shoulder and I jumped.“Winter…”Tears that I thought were done filled my eyes and I curled up tighter, trying to get away from the voice. I knew it. It was the voice I wanted to avoid like the plague. Who would want a wolf-less mate? Who would accept anyone like that? And an Alpha at that?“Talk to me, Winter. Please.” His hand brushed my arm, but I tried to scoot as far away as I could. “Look at me at least.”Squeezing my eyes shut, I lifted my head. Slowly, I peeled them open. Caspian was sitting on the bench in front of me. His face reflected the worry I heard in his tone. My tears fell and I started to shake my head.“Oh, little wolf.
Winter 72. What It Means to Lose
Caleb slammed the door behind him as he got out of the car. He didn’t wait for me or even help me. He just walked into the house. Stepping out gingerly to the driveway, I slung my bag over my shoulder before slowly making my way into the house.Closing the door behind me, I was surprised to find Caleb with a beer in hand, leaning against the kitchen counter. I didn’t even know we had beer, let alone that Caleb drank it. He shook his head as he looked up at me.“You ruined years of mentoring and work.”I frowned. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”“Galen Rue, you stupid girl. I have been mentoring him and pushing him to take over for Alpha Damian. It’s time that Damian step down. He has no children and I don’t think he ever will. Galen was the obvious choice and only needed a little help.”For a moment, I stared at Caleb. I hoped he was joking. It didn’t look like h
