Novel-novel oleh DLORD

Bella's POVTwo days since Cade handed me that socket and I'd been living in the garage ever since.Dawn to last light, oil on my hands before I'd had coffee, leaving when the crew left and sometimes after.It had taken me those two days to find the real problem.Cade's crew moved around me without much conversation but without obstruction either, which was about as good as I was going to get and I'd take it. We had gone from barely tolerating each other to something closer to a working arrangement and that was enough for now.The bike itself was well maintained. Better than I'd expected from a rogue pack that focused more on use than speed. If the bike could run then everyone was fine with it.Cade's team was good at that — someone had been taking care of Draven's bike specifically. Clean oil, solid brake lines.Whoever had been doing the maintenance knew what they were doing even if they weren't doing it systematically.But the suspension was set wrong, for a rider sitting further b

Bella's POVThe mess hall was warm and smelled like coffee and something frying in the kitchen at the back.I found a seat at the end of the counter, away from the clusters of pack members eating in groups, and pointed at the coffee when the server looked at me.She poured it without asking questions which I appreciated and slid the mug across the counter toward me. I wrapped both hands around it and looked at the list on my arm.Around me the mess hall moved the way communal spaces do in the morning — chairs scraping, low conversations, the sound of cutlery. There was the occasional staring, some curious pup or his parents watching me like I was something that needed figuring out. I kept my eyes on my arm and let it wash over me.I'd spent four years being the thing people talked about in rooms. I'd learned to stop hearing it without stopping listening.The murmuring didn't bother me.Then it stopped.All at once, like someone of importance had walked through the room. The only perso

Draven’s POVI came back through the eastern tree line at dawn, pushing hard on the last mile.The burst of power from my hind legs had me springing forward.I loved running, in my shifted form, the wind in my fur rippling across my face.It had been a while since I did this, ran around for the fun of it.Most times I just did my stroll around the border and strolled right back in, today however I needed the extra burst of energy.My wolf needed it, needed to burn off my discomfort before I had to be human again and make decisions with logic instead of instinct.I shifted at the edge of the clearing, my fur shrinking back into my skin, claws receding, knuckles relaxing.Thor was already there, my clothes folded over his arm, holding them out like he always did. Most times I lost him so I could have some peace but today it didn't work.I pulled on the shirt first, then the jeans, running a hand through my hair that was still damp from the shift."Anything on the northern stretch?" I as

Bella's POVI found myself at the garage by six.The sun was still hidden under the clouds, the grey light washing over the tree line.I was freezing cold.But I needed to make a good impression and I wanted to see what I was working with.Once upon a time early mornings in a garage had been my way of life. My father used to call me a grease monkey and I had never once minded. I had forgotten that about myself somewhere along the way.I was done forgetting.I pushed open the side door and stepped inside, coming to a stop.Three men were already inside. One tucked under a bike on a hydraulic lift, two more at the workbench along the far wall. A rock song blared from somewhere, low and scratchy. The smell of grease, exhaust and burnt rubber that nobody had bothered to clean up."Hello," I called out, striding forward.None of them looked up.I crossed to the main tool wall to see how the tools were arranged. The layout was different from what I'd expected — the wrenches weren't grouped

Ronan's POVThe letter arrived at noon.My father's secretary placed it on the desk without a word, the council seal pressed into the wax at the fold,“ What's this?” I asked, and he sighed“Just as you see it, a letter from the council showing Alpha Draven conditions”He said walking out before I could ask him anything.I already knew what it was. I'd been waiting for it since the moment I filed the petition.I broke the seal.I read it once.I read through it once, blinking rapidly at the sentences on the page, heat of rage filling my gut at once. I picked up the nearest thing on my desk— a glass decanter, crystal, a gift from the eastern pack elders three winters ago — tossing it across the room.It crashed into the window, shards of glass falling to the floor. The sound of it shattering against the stone outside did nothing to ease my rage.Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the paper from off the desk reading it again.The Alpha of the Rogue Kingdom, Draven Voss, has formally accept

Bella's POVI nodded, fully processing what was said and what it meant."Fine," I said, my voice steadier than I felt."We'll meet the council. We'll convince them it's a misunderstanding, something we can easily solve."It sounded easy enough when I said it like that.I almost believed myself.Draven shifted slightly at the table, he wasn't hissing with pain at every movement anymore.The sheets rustled under him, and his jaw flexed as he evened out his breathing."You don't have to be there," he said."It's a pack matter."There was no insistence in his tone and somehow that made it worse, almost like he was giving me an exit he didn't actually want me to take."I said I'm coming," I replied, waving him off."Bella—""I'm fine," I cut in, softer this time but final."You're the one stitched together. Focus on that."He huffed in amusement."Stitched together and still doing better than you," he muttered.That almost made me smile.Almost.His eyes stayed on me a second longer than n