JASMINE After checking out the cars they had on the lot, I fell in love with a bright blue Jeep Wrangler Sport that was eleven years old with just under a hundred thousand miles on it. The salesman sat in the backseat while I took it out for a spin. As we turned out of the dealership and onto the main road, I couldn't stop the giddy feelings that reverberated in my fingers as I turned the steering wheel to navigate. Suddenly, I could taste the freedom I'd been longing for. I pulled down the windows and the summer air filled the car, blowing through my hair and caressing my cheeks. I was already imagining everywhere I'd go with my new car--beautiful wooded dirt roads, sandy beaches, rocky terrain, and along rivers and waterfalls. I would be living in a Jeep commercial. I'd never traveled much before, but I could already envision my new life, where I actually took road trips and went to places I'd only ever seen on TV. I could imagine a new version of myself that wasn't always confine
BLAKE I returned home around five thirty after spending the day with Jasmine. My father stopped me as soon as I walked through the door. “And where the hell have you been all day?” His face was red, brows furrowed. “Out,” I replied, not wanting to give any additional information. “In case you forgot, you’re going to be the alpha of this pack soon, which means you have a lot of responsibilities around here.” “And it also means I don’t need to answer to anyone.” “I’m still the fucking alpha, so you will answer to me! Where the fuck were you?” he bellowed, using his alpha aura, something he hadn’t used with me in years, probably since I was still in high school. I felt my neck maneuvering to bare itself in submission, feeling forced to reply to his question. But, for the first time, I found I was easily able to override the command. I could tell that I had grown much stronger than my father and would easily be able to overpower him if it ever came down to it. I replied, “None of you
JASMINE On the next day off from work we had together, I took Lucy for a ride in my new car. It was now nearing the end of August and Lucy’s youngest brother, Neil, would be turning sixteen in a couple days. We stopped at a shopping center so Lucy could buy him a present. We were browsing different colognes at a cosmetic store when a question I’d been wondering for two years suddenly came to me. “Lucy, what cologne does Luke wear? I hope this isn’t weird, but it smells really nice and I’d never smelled it before.” Lucy tilted her head, considering me. Finally, she replied, “Luke doesn’t wear cologne.” “Oh, weird, maybe it was someone else’s cologne I smelled. It’s been a long time since I last saw him anyway, so I’m probably just misremembering.” But that didn’t sit right with me. I only ever smelled it when he was around, and I couldn’t forget how divine and sensual it smelled. I sniffed a few of the samples, and nothing came close to how wonderful that scent had been. We continu
LUCY After working a full-day shift at the end of August, I went home and spent the next few hours baking dozens of cupcakes, cookies, and brownies. I was now the designated family baker. Any time someone had a celebration, I was assigned to make all the desserts. At first, I enjoyed this appointment, feeling like I finally had a place in my family. It would bring me joy to watch as everyone ate my pastries and showered me with compliments. But, before long, it became more of an obligation than anything, my efforts forgotten just as quickly as the devoured cookies. The next day, my mom helped me package everything up, loading it into the car so we could go to my cousins’ house for a birthday party. I had dozens of cousins, all tall, blonde, and athletic. Everyone in the pack knew of the Owens—mostly positive things, but we also weren’t known for being as devout and religious as others, something that could be alienating. While I was grateful that my parents weren’t as strict and over
JASMINE Before I knew it, it was halfway through September. I had found myself preoccupied with school and work, and temple choir had started up again. We were now rehearsing every night of the week as we would be performing during the alpha ceremony. At work, Lucy and Valerie were busy prepping for all of the desserts and the huge cake they’d have to prepare for the occasion. The whole pack was alive with excitement for something that hadn’t occurred for over forty years—the transition from one alpha to the next. I had given up on checking my text thread with Blake. He had never responded. I was disappointed and wondered if it was something I did—was it the revelation about my panic attacks or the finality of our decision to just remain friends? Perhaps he had no desire to see me if our relationship would no longer be physical. But, I reminded myself, he did cosign a loan for me, and that isn’t something that someone who wants you out of their life would do. Deciding it was for the
BLAKE After weeks of shoving Jasmine from my mind, she had hurled herself back into it. I hadn’t expected to be so excited to see her at the gym. Seeing her made me realize how much I had missed her. And, damn. I knew she was fit, but I had no idea that she could squat so much weight. Thinking about it made my cock rock-hard. I loved a tough woman. And now that I knew she could pump iron like a warrior, I was a goner. I wanted to stay longer and had an overwhelming desire to kiss her again. Hell, I’d love to have stayed and worked out with her. But there was just too much going on. The alpha ceremony was less than a week away, and Luke was due back home later today. I had just exited the gym and was striding toward my car when someone stopped me. “Blake!” she yelled, forcing me to turn my head. I felt a blistering pain in my chest as the person calling my name approached me. My hands turned into fists, digging what little nails I had into my palms, staving off the impulse to run th
LUKE After I returned home, I was thrown right back into pack life and training. Blake and I followed the same training schedule as the warriors. Most warriors had to train ten to thirty-two hours and patrol eight to forty hours a week, depending on their seniority and rank. Because we were to become the alpha and beta, Blake and I were exempt from patrol duty. However, that didn’t mean a single day off for either of us. We were forced to sit with our fathers in the packhouse office, getting the last bit of wisdom crammed into us before the alpha ceremony took place in just days. Alpha James was eager to retire and move out of the packhouse—thank Goddess for that. He had always been a brute and showed no sign of changing in his old age. It would be nice to finally be able to work or eat dinner without listening to his appalling and vulgar opinions. I have no idea how my dad put up with him all those years. My dad was a nice, decent guy. When I’d asked him about it in the past, he had
JASMINE On Sunday night, my parents and I were seated farther back than usual at the temple service, having gotten there later than normal that day. Partway through, the priest welcomed Luke back to the pack and invited Luke and Blake to join him at the front where they helped him lead a chant. It had been two years since I’d seen Luke in person. He had filled out and was much more muscular now than I had remembered. However, he still had that pretty boy, movie star handsome face, contrasted to Blake’s much more mature appearance. I looked between the two of them, wondering which one I preferred. They were both good-looking in their own ways. However, thinking about Luke made my chest ache. I was still very attracted to him and felt something drawing me to him, as if I should go stand beside him. While I had a steady, ceaseless longing throughout the years, it was somehow more powerful now that I was seeing him in person. My heart raced in my chest while my stomach did somersaults. I
ALEXANDER Well, that was an interesting way to meet my mate, to say the least. It almost wasn’t surprising when it happened. Okay, it was very unexpected and shocking, but I’m also one of those people who attracts drama and crazy situations. Needless to say, it is never a dull day in my life, and I never run out of stories to tell at parties. So, it was almost expected that I wouldn’t meet my mate the normal way. Most people meet their mates at a party or a café, they lock eyes from across a room, they go to the same park one day. You get the picture—there are hundreds of normal ways to meet a mate. Of course, I’m the one that meets my mate at my father’s murder scene, my mate being the number one and only suspect. If it weren’t so disturbing, I’d laugh about it. The Moon Goddess clearly has a sick sense of humor. Granted, my father was not exactly in the running for father or, heck, person of the year. But I’m not quite sure what crime he committed that deserved murder. Okay, okay,
BLAKE One afternoon, well into September, a mindlink for Luke and me came in while we were in the office together. “I smell a rogue in my patrol area.” Jack’s voice said in our minds. Luke and I both looked up at each other and instantly got to our feet. “Be right there,” I mindlinked Jack back. We both rushed outside, quickly shifted into our wolf forms, and sprinted over. When we got to him, Jack led the group in tracking the scent, inhaling the unpleasant aroma that had clung to the dirt and ferns just outside our territory. Rogues usually weren’t a big problem. It was just a matter of making it clear to them that this was pack land and that they should move away from the area. Every once in a while, we’d encounter a problematic rogue, one that had spent so much time in its wolf form that it became feral and refused to shift, occasionally attacking us. Those rogues were dealt with differently. But hopefully, this would just be the standard, run-of-the-mill, confused rogue. We fo
TALIA Upon finally succeeding in taking every last penny from me, Madam Coco came through and handed me a box with four darts inside. I’d deliberated on it for a while but eventually concluded that the darts were a much more efficient tool for infiltration and worth the extra cost. I didn’t even bother thanking her or saying goodbye, relieved that I’d never have to smell the disgusting mix of old lady perfume and cigarettes, or hear her raspy smoker’s voice, again. A few days later, on a warm Thursday in mid-August, Hugo drove me to his pack. We stopped at the entrance and exited the car, then we were brought to a small room. The werewolves who escorted us there wrinkled their noses at the sight of me, and I realized it must be my rogue smell. I let out a deep sigh. When we were waiting alone, I asked Hugo, “Is the smell really that bad?” He rubbed the back of his neck and said, “No, they’re exaggerating. It’s just a little unpleasant.” I nodded and wondered if he was just being po
TALIA The following day, Madam Coco summoned me to her office. As soon as I entered, I was met with the familiar scent of old lady perfume and cigarettes, the smell now more nauseating than it ever had been in the past. I tried not to breathe it in too much, becoming enraged with each breath. I forced myself to stay calm, digging my nails into my palms, barely able to look at her. She was a tiny woman, petite and always sporing a tan—her skin taking on a leathery appearance from spending so much time in tanning beds over the years. I wasn't sure of her exact age. If I had to guess—I'd say late fifties or early sixties. She gestured to a chair in front of her desk, barely looking up at me, flipping her long, platinum blonde hair behind her shoulders as I entered. I took a seat. She casually played with thick rings on her fingers. She loved jewelry and was always draped in it. Bought using my mom’s body and desperation. After dragging the silence out for far too long, she said, “Tali
Thank you for reading Wolfbane. This now begins book 2 of the series, Wolfblood, which introduces some new characters and also continues Jasmine and Blake's story. Please note that this book is quite a bit darker than the first one, and contains some triggers, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway! Happy reading!*** TALIA Dead. Killed in cold blood. The only person in the world I loved was taken from me, her heart ripped from her chest, leaving a gaping hole behind. The red splatter staining the wall of the bedroom indicated it had subsequently been thrown as if it were nothing more than a rotten fruit. Even through the acrid smell of blood, I could still smell him. He was the one who did it. He came almost every week, sometimes several times a week, going back years. In fact, I could not recall a time when he did not exist in my consciousness. He had always been obsessed with my mother. Now his smell invaded her bedroom; he couldn’t have left long ago as his rancid stench lingered,
JASMINE After getting home Saturday morning, I rushed to take a shower and change into new clothes. I was extremely late for work, having completely forgotten about my shift that day. I checked my phone as soon as I walked through the door of my house to find frantic messages from Valerie. I was supposed to be there at seven thirty and I ended up walking in at eleven to come face-to-face with Lucy. “Looks like Perfect Jasmine finally decided to grace us with her presence,” Lucy taunted me as I walked past her to drop my stuff off in the back and throw on an apron. “Where have you been?” Valerie asked, coming over to me. “Sorry. Late night,” I replied. “Got stuck far away because of the blizzard.” “Far away?” Valerie raised her eyebrow at me. “Never mind, you can tell me later. We have a line of customers. Get to work.” I went up front, taking my place to prepare orders as they came in, trying my best to avoid interaction with Lucy. I noted that she now had a proper baby bump, ver
BLAKE It was an amazing night. We had round two and round three after the first round, barely sleeping. Then, the next morning, after we woke, we had round four. I was practically singing as I drove Jasmine home and dropped her at her parents' house. I snuck into the packhouse and quickly showered and got dressed. Then I made my way downstairs to the office where Luke was already at his desk, concentrated on his laptop. "What's up, what's up!" I said as I walked in, a big smile on my face. "You're in an oddly good mood this morning," Luke looked up at me. "Too much coffee. Maybe I should get some more," I said, getting up and heading to the kitchen. I quickly poured myself a mug. "Good morning, Connie!" I shouted, looking over at her preparing some food. "Good morning, Alpha," she looked at me oddly. "Would you like me to make you some breakfast?" "Yes, that would be great!" I smiled, taking my mug and heading back to
JASMINE After Blake paid and signed the check, he took my hand and led me to a bank of elevators. I was surprised we managed not to break into a run as we made our way to our destination. As soon as we stepped inside the empty elevator and the door shut behind us, his mouth crashed against mine, kissing me urgently, nibbling on my lip, taking my tongue into his mouth. His large hands slid down my back until they found and cupped my ass. He swallowed the needy whimper that escaped my lips and I jumped into his arms. My thighs instantly found his hips, and he easily supported me when I wrapped my legs around him. My back collided with the wall as he pressed his whole body against mine. We were both desperate to be as close to each other as possible. I lost myself in the kiss, aroused with anticipation, fireworks exploding behind my eyes. My thighs were burning, my panties so wet I was sure Blake could feel it through my dress as his erection throbbed against me. The apex of my inner th
JASMINE Blake’s scent entered my nose. I turned to see him sitting down next to me. “Hey,” he said. “Hey,” I replied, looking at him. “Nice speech.” “Thanks.” “Sorry again about your dad,” I said, feeling emotional, touching his leg. “Thanks.” He looked down at his hands. “I see you recovered finally.” “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to text you, but I got caught up in pack duty stuff. I had to visit all the families of the fallen warriors and meet with the priest. It’s honestly been a lot.” He sighed. We sat silently together for a bit and then he spoke again. “Do you want to do something tonight?” “Like what?” “Just hang out. I’ve missed you. I’d like to spend some time with you.” “You know how my parents are.” “One second,” he said, getting up and walking toward my parents. I stood up, shocked by him approaching them so suddenly. I watched as he shook my father’s hand and spoke with him. After about a minute, he returned. “You’re a free woman. Let’s go!” “What did you say to h