Everest As I crawled into bed that night, I went over the day’s events in my head. So many unanswerable questions filled my mind. Who was that alpha? Maybe he was here for the ceremony? Would I see him again? Why was there a part of me that wanted too? That thought had little butterflies dancing in my stomach. I drifted off to sleep that night and dreamt of the deep blue ocean. The strong riptide and the brilliant dapples of blue light when the sun shone through the water dazzled my vision. The blue turned into a pair of eyes, and I was looking into the face of a dark blue-grey wolf. I ran my hands through his fur and mused at what his human form would look like. He seemed to radiate power and dominance. The scent and the aura emanating from him made my knees weak. Before I could go any further my alarm blared rousing me from my dream that had seemed like it was about to get very good... I opened my eyes to the sun shining through the curtains. I showered and dressed and headed
FinnFrankly, I was pissed off after that training session. The only wolf who had really impressed me was that smart-ass little golden-eyed she-wolf. She was the quickest wolf I’d ever seen, and she improvised well. Her mouth-watering vanilla and roses scent was all over the training field and it had made it annoyingly difficult for me to focus. I couldn’t help myself when I had gone to talk to her. Her snappy replies had defintely caught me off guard. She was a challenging little thing… and I felt like I might be intrigued by a little challenge.I showered and went to go chat with my beta Caleb about what he thought about the warriors. I caught up to him outside the arena talking up some little she-wolves. As I walked closer, they sensed my aura and turned.Caleb rolled his eyes knowing what was coming. “Hi Alpha Finn, you looked great today! You guys were the strongest wolves out there!” one of the girls cooed. “Leave.” I snapped without looking down. Caleb shook his head and the gir
FinnI walked away from her wanting to break something. I ripped a branch off the tree nearest to me and threw it as far as I could. As good as she smelled I had very nearly lost my temper with her. I despised others thinking they could talk back to me without consequences…and punishing that little wolf made my dick twitch. I’ll admit, there was something I liked about her back talk. The challenge to tame her was getting more enticing each time I saw her.I strolled around the pack city, not wanting to go back to the pack house until I’d calmed down. Caleb and I had stayed in a hotel nearby last night but were moving into rooms in the pack house to be closer in case any other attacks happened. Alpha Jack had wanted us there as fast as possible next time so we could potentially hunt this fucking rogue down and end it. The fact that I was going to be in the same house as Everest didn’t escape me. I was worried she may still try to escape the boundary again being young and naïve. Being cl
Finn That hadn’t gone exactly as I’d imagined. I’d planned on seducing her, but she’d just pissed me off and I’d overreacted. I walked back in the house running my fingers through my hair and headed upstairs to my room. It was on the third floor and looked out over the gardens. The furnishings were navy blue, and the cream-coloured king size bed was against the far wall between 2 large windows with black-out curtains that overlooked the rose bushes. The walls were a deep blue and the ensuite bathroom was all white marble and gold. It was definitely luxurious, rivalling even the Onyx packhouse. I could see Everest sitting on the bench that I’d been laying on and it made the icy grip in my chest tighten. Fuck, what was this girl doing to me? I pulled the blinds down and tried to shake her from my mind under a hot shower. I laid down in the soft sheets and rubbed my eyes in frustration. The evening had left me with a pit in my stomach. The look of terror in her eyes when I’d grazed my ha
Finn The sunset bathed her in a golden aura making her skin glow. She had pinned her long hair up exposing the nape of her neck. A delicate gold chain hung around her neck and slipped in between her breasts drawing the eyes down. Her light blue, flowy dress had ridden up around her hips and I could see the tops of her thighs peeking out. She was mouth-watering. Her vanilla and rose scent was amplified by the flowers around her. She sat in the lush green grass basking in the pink and gold sunset from the hot day. I had managed to avoid her all day after the night before. There was this intensity between us that I couldn’t deny any longer. It had caught me completely by surprise and I had been dreading the possibilities behind it. I had apologized to her for my behaviour, and she seemed to understand. I had told her she looked nice, trying to put her at ease. It was also the truth. She looked like an absolute goddess sitting there. The hues of the sunset were making her eyes look like
Everest The day of the ceremony had arrived. I was exhausted. I had tossed and turned all night, with the memories of earlier playing through my mind. Training had been cancelled for the day to focus on the ceremony tonight, so I had nothing to distract me from my thoughts. I laid in my bed with the blankets over my head, trying to pretend the world didn’t exist. I knew I needed to get up and shower, but I didn’t want to leave the safety of my room. The sooner I left, the sooner I’d have to start actively avoiding Finn until he left. I finally pulled myself up with a groan and hoped into the shower, washing my hair and the remainder of Finn’s scent off of me. I dried my hair and let it fall in natural waves down my back. I’d have to style it later for the ceremony anyways. I picked out light denim shorts and a white t-shirt with a pair of cute sandals and headed down to the kitchen on full alert. I sniffed the air before rounding the corner. The coast was clear, his scent wasn’t aroun
EverestI sank to my knees in the dewy grass, the mate bonds power still radiating around me. My heart was shattered. I felt like a shell full of pain and hurt. My mate had left me, and I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again. He hadn’t even formally rejected me, he’d simply shifted and ran, leaving me caught in a stalemate of anguish. I sat in the grass crying for hours. I’d hoped he would come back to me here. I’d hoped he’d feel the pain I was feeling and return to me and make it right. One way or another…I curled up and must have drifted off at some point. I woke up to voices laughing. It was still dark out, but it must have been near three in the morning. I sat up and a fresh wave of misery rolled over me. I just had to make it to my bed. I pulled myself upright and somehow found the strength to get upstairs. But I didn’t go to my room. I followed the scent to Finn’s room. The smell of sandalwood and cedar comforted me and broke my heart at the same time. I was so unprepared for
Everest I won’t lie, it had been rough. Finn’s dismissal of the mate bond had crushed me. I had barely begun to feel the bond when it was ripped away from me. I’d questioned everything with him before, for sure…but when I felt that bond snap into place... Seeing him walk away had been agony of the deepest level. I’d spent a week curled up in bed, too “sick” to go to training. My parents knew something was up, but they didn’t question it. They had no idea. Kali and Cas on the other hand had been by my side throughout the whole ordeal. They had searched for me the morning after to wish me a happy birthday and found me buried in the guest bed that Finn had stayed in, tear stained and exhausted. I didn’t have to say what happened, they both knew, and they didn’t make me re-live it. They’d taken turns bringing me food and water, keeping me company, bringing over movies…real sister stuff. After a week of mourning, I was tired of it. I was tired of missing him and I was tired of being tired.
EverestPain. It radiated through every part of me, sharp and unrelenting, dragging me into a cold, suffocating reality. I had a long gash down my forearm that dripped blood steadily. My wrists burned where the ropes dug into my skin, tied so tightly behind me that I could barely feel my fingers. I was no longer in my wolf form…He must’ve soaked the ropes in wolfsbane. My body trembled, human and vulnerable now, as I hung limply from the tree they’d tied me to.Iza’s voice slithered through the air, soft but venomous.“You look so fragile like this,” he purred, crouching in front of me. His black eyes glinted with cruel amusement, the shadows of his magic flickering around him like living things. “Where is your precious glow now, hmm? Where is Selene’s power?”I lifted my head weakly, my glare cutting through the pain. “Go to hell,” I spat, my voice hoarse.Iza chuckled darkly, his pointed teeth gleaming in the dim light of the clearing. “Oh, my dear, I’ve been living in hell for cent
EverestThe forest swallowed me whole, the sounds of the battle fading into muffled chaos behind me. My heart thundered, every step driving me closer to the witches who had orchestrated this nightmare. The bond screamed for me to stop, to turn back and find Finn, but I pushed forward. This ended tonight—no matter the cost.Their energy pulsed like a beacon, sickly and dark, guiding me deeper into the woods. The gifts Selene had given me flared stronger the closer I got to their foul magic. On a night without a moon, my glow was all the light the forest needed. A soft silvery haze bathed the trees, the shadows twisting and curling unnaturally as though they feared my presence. My paws hit the ground in rhythmic thuds, quiet and deliberate as I honed in on my prey.Twax and Iza were close.A few more minutes of running and I saw them. Twax hunched near a crude altar, his single arm fumbling with a vial of dark yellow liquid. A low growl rumbled in my chest as I spotted his maimed should
EverestFinn had barely acknowledged me in days. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff, the bond between us stretched so taut it might snap at any moment. Every glance, every word exchanged felt sharp, strained, and deliberate—like we were both trying to avoid spilling over into an argument we couldn’t come back from.He ate, slept, and lived battle preparations. He didn’t ask if I’d eaten, or if I’d rested, or if I needed anything. He didn’t linger when we crossed paths, didn’t hold my gaze longer than absolutely necessary. Didn't ask to talk, or attempt to mend things. It hurt more than I wanted to admit.It wasn’t anger I felt from him. Not really. It was something quieter, deeper. A kind of grief that twisted and coiled in his aura, pressing against the bond like a thick fog. It seeped into me every time I felt his presence, and I hated it.Ten days passed in a blur of preparation and tension until the new moon had cloaked the world in impenetrable darkness. The pack sat in
EverestThe air still smelled of smoke, the acrid scent clinging to the ruins of the village. The distant crackle of burning wood had long since faded, replaced by an oppressive silence that settled over the devastation. Onyx Moon felt like a ghost town—its spirit gutted by the chaos of last night.I picked my way through the streets, boots crunching over glass and debris. Broken walls leaned precariously, the remains of homes and businesses crumbled in on themselves like fragile bones. The east wing of the hospital was little more than a charred skeleton, its shattered windows framing a scene of ruin. The bodies—too many bodies—had already been shrouded in cloth. But the weight of their loss lingered, heavier than the wreckage. Bill and Annie. Gone.One of the forsaken had survived, though just barely—the one who had killed Annie. It was subdued now, locked away in a secure cell with wolfsbane coursing through its veins, but I couldn’t help wondering if there was even a sliver of the
**this chapter contains themes of graphic violence and death**FinnThe mindlink hit like a blade slicing into my skull, Duncan’s voice frantic and cracking with terror."Alpha—monsters—hospital—carnage everywhere—"The connection snapped, leaving nothing but the echo of his panic. I shot out of bed, my wolf snarling in the back of my mind, claws already scraping for control.“What is it?” Everest asked, sitting up, her voice groggy.I didn’t answer. I was already moving for the door. My pulse roared in my ears. Something was wrong—deeply, violently wrong. I could feel it like a storm crawling under my skin.“Finn?” she pushed, her tone sharper now.“Stay here.” The words came out like a growl, harsher than I intended.Everest bristled, but I didn’t wait for an argument. I slammed the door behind me, praying she would listen this once, sprinting down the stairs, my senses locking onto the scent of blood hanging in the night air.Blood. Soaking the air square in its copper tang. Smoke
EverestTheo sat upright in the hospital bed. The sheets had been changed to get rid of the gore that had come off him. He looked straight ahead, not at Kali or I who sat either side of him, his brown eyes vacant and dissociated. He’d awoken a few hours ago but hadn’t said anything. His leg, ribs and arm had all healed nicely. His black hair was still gory, and he needed a shower, but he was alive, thank the gods. The doctors had assessed him and maintained that he was perfectly healthy, that perhaps he just needed time to recover from the trauma within his mind. Sienna had curled up on the sofa on the opposite wall when she’d heard he was okay. Poor thing had barely slept for days and had experienced some gruesome trauma of her own. Kali and I had shown Theo photos of the three of us when we were younger to try and jog his memory, but he had barely looked at them. It was like he was in some sort of daze, and he only seemed to know one word. “Sienna”. He would rasp it anytime his eyes
FinnThe hospital’s fluorescent lights buzzed faintly, a stark contrast to the stillness of the room. Theo lay motionless on the cot, his chest rising and falling in uneven intervals. Sienna sat rigid beside him; her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles were white. She hadn’t moved since they’d brought him in, her eyes darting to the door every time it creaked open, as if expecting someone—or something—to come for them.Finn lingered near the window, his arms crossed, his wolf pacing beneath his skin. He didn’t trust her yet, not fully, but something in the way she held herself, the broken desperation carved into her expression, told him her story was far from over. Kali and Everest sat on a small sofa against the far wall, holding one anothers hands. Everests head rested on Kali’s shoulder, but her eyes were gazing out the window, distant, as though she was listening to voices on the wind. Caleb had gone to sure up the border defences and prepare the arial weapon strike we had plann
FinnThe stench of blood and rot reached me before I saw them. It clawed at my senses, setting my wolf on edge. Caleb and I burst through the trees at the border, my paws digging into the earth as I skidded to a halt.Sienna.She staggered into view, barely upright, her arms wrapped around a man’s half-conscious form. His head lolled against her shoulder, and his legs dragged uselessly behind her. She looked like death warmed over—clothes shredded, face streaked with blood and grime, her movements unsteady as though the ground beneath her feet was giving way.My wolf snarled in my chest. I didn’t trust her. Couldn’t trust her. Not after what she’d done to Everest.But something in her eyes stopped me cold. Panic. Desperation. I shifted, giving her the opportunity to speak.“Sienna,” I growled, standing upright. Caleb stayed in his wolf behind me, his hackles raised as his eyes darted to the shadows of the forest. He was thinking what I was: this could be a trap.She collapsed at the so
EverestThe sharp taste of bile still lingered in the back of my throat as I splashed cold water on my face. My hands trembled against the porcelain sink. Morning sickness had always seemed like a minor inconvenience in the stories I’d heard growing up—a small price to pay for the miracle of life. No one warned me how it would leave me feeling like my body was no longer entirely in my control.Finn’s footsteps echoed outside the door. He was pacing again, no doubt trying to decide whether to knock or give me the space I’d asked for. My chest tightened at the thought of the worry etched across his face.I reached for the glass bottle tucked into the top drawer. The tonic Rowena had given me sat cold and still in its glass. Its promise was simple: delay the inevitable. Buy time. Time to prepare, time to fight, time to heal.I held it up to the light, the golden liquid catching the faint glow of the lamp. Was this what a good mother would do? Was this what my child needed?Finn tapped on