It's been seven months since we left Ekron and Merida's ceremony. My parents are not only refusing to believe she was working against us, but that she's dead altogether. It's gotten so bad that Amara has had to move out and into the packhouse. My mother is convinced she'll find Merida and has been searching every day for her. We took her to where it all happened, but instead of helping them accept it and move on, it just gave them a place to base their search. Coal is reluctant to separate the packs until Maloney is found, or so he says, there's something else going on in his head that he's not sharing with me and I'm letting it go for the time being, if he's not sharing it means he hasn't worked it out yet, so I won't push him until he's ready. It's at least giving me the opportunity to get to know the potential Alpha's a bit better and hopefully it will help maintain pack relations when the time comes. The would-be Alpha's aren't pushing the situation, I'm guessing they've realised
PrologueOnce upon a time, there were three kinds of people: male, descended from the sun; female, descended from the earth; and hermaphrodite, with both male and female parts, descended from the moon.These early people were completely round, each with four arms and four legs, two faces on opposite sides of a head with four ears.They were wild and unruly and threatened to scale the heavens. So Zeus, the father of the gods, cut each one of them in half and scattered them, separating the souls who belonged together.After that fateful day, people searched all over the world for their other half. When they finally found it, they wrapped themselves around it very tightly a
The sun beats down on us as we lay on the bank beside the river, our clothes drying on our bodies as we watch the wind blow the clouds across the sky. Our heads are close together, our hands intertwined on the grass between us and there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than with the raven haired boy by my side. "Bet you half your mum's chocolate cake I can make it to the top before you do." Coal shifts onto his stomach so he's looking down at me and nods towards the cliffs just ahead of us. His beautiful dark eyes hold a familiar glint, the one that I know will end in at least one of us getting hurt or in trouble, maybe both. I shouldn't agree, I should know better, but his heavy sigh and following words are proof of just how well he knows me.
I pace my room, bored and frustrated. My father has confined me to border control since Tegwen's murder since he feels I'm unstable, just because I want to find whoever did it and rip them to shreds. "Cain." His voice seeps around my head like black tar filling my brain. "My office." This isn't going to be good for me, he's only summoned me like this a handful of times since she was killed. The first was to tell me he was withholding the Alphaship from me after I may have gone on a little tiny angry rampage, but that was after seeing a girl wearing Tegwen's favourite boots and finding out he'd ordered her parents to give her stuff to the less fortunate members of our pack. But I think, since I'm her mate, retrieving what was hers so I could decide what to do with it, is perfectly justifiable and if a few houses were destroyed in the process, well that's on him since he should have known I'd never allow anyone to touch her things. Her parents have left her room alone ever since and
"I love you." The deep voice fits well with the strong arms around me, hugging me tight to a hard, muscular chest. I'm nervous, his presence calming me somewhat, but still my body is taught with anxiety. "I love you too." My voice whispers into the night. I can't hide the wobble in my voice anymore than I can stop myself fidgeting and fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I don't know why you're worried, we're meant to be, we've always known that." He chuckles against my ear, pressing a gentle kiss to the skin of my neck and I twist towards him, meeting his lips with mine in desperate kisses. Distracting myself from the deep ache of terror that after tonight, Coal will no longer be mine. After a while, he pulls away, pressing his forehead to mine and smiling.
I was summoned to my father's office early this morning to meet with a visiting Alpha from a nearby pack. He's given me the lecture about being polite and respectful, as if I'm five years old again and likely to embarrass him by saying something stupid. A knock comes at the door, and Gene bows to my father before showing in a man around my father's age and a blonde girl who shares his almost translucent blue eyes. "Get out, now." Kade, my wolf growls angrily in my head when the girl smiles shyly at me. I've got a terrible feeling about this and am about to get up when my father's hand clamps down on my arm. "Sit down boy." His voice bellows in my mind, clearly feeling conf
I grip my mum's hand as she walks me into the classroom on the first day of school."Don't go Mummy." I whisper as she pulls her hand from mine."I love you sweet pea and I'll be back soon." She kisses my forehead and smiles down at me. My eyes burn with tears when the teacher, who's name I can't remember, puts her hand on my shoulder and guides me towards a group of girls playing with dolls.I don't like dolls, but I don't tell her this. Instead, I sink down on the carpet, hugging the one she gave me to my chest and hoping my mum will come and get me soon.A boy trips over my foot while racing against another one and lands in front of me. His golden brown eyes are filled with such mischief that I knew instantly I wanted him
"Flame, move your ass, my dead grandma could be up here faster than you." I turn around from the top of the wooden wall and grin at her.Her beautiful green eyes twinkle as I reach down to help her up.Never one to be beaten, she jumps at a rope just off to one side and swings herself up and over, tapping my head as she sails past me before landing on the other side."Come on, don't want to get beaten by a little girl, do you?" She cackles as she sprints away to the next obstacle and I jump down, landing with a grunt as I push myself to chase after her.At seventeen, I've grown bulky from endless training, whereas Flame is muscular and lean, making her faster than me initially, but my stamina is greater and it doesn't take me