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23
REID
“So that’s all of it,” I sigh, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees and scrubbing a hand over my face.
After Serena spilled her guts to me on the floor of my office, I asked the guys if we could meet up so I could disclose everything to them. I didn’t want to put her on the spot and make her rehash everything, so Brock offered up his place for us to gather and she stayed behind at my packhouse. Knowing I was dropping a bomb, I wanted to approach my friends with this before taking it to the six-pack council so we could get on the same page- and in the hopes that they’ll stand by me when I do have to break it to the council. As of right now, I’m still not sure how that’s going to go.
It’s not just the five of us tonight- all of my friends brought their mates along since they’re also close to this situation, and because we’ve been trying to bring Chase int
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Alpha Reid 24
SERENA I’m emotionally drained. Putting everything out there for Reid was a lot, and as cathartic as it was to get it off my chest, it was just as exhausting to rehash it all- I feel like I could sleep for a week straight. Now that everything’s out there in the open, it’s like I can think clearly for the first time in a long time. Clearly enough to realize that I should’ve done this sooner. I should’ve opened up and let myself trust Reid. As silly as it sounds, until that chat with Astrid, it never really occurred to me that I had the option of picking a side. That I had a choice. I had blinders on, conditioned to believe that there was only one way to save them. I’m still terrified that something could go wrong, but I believe Reid when he says he’ll do everything he can to get Olivia and my pack out alive. I hope he does, because if anything happens to my little sister, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. I’m not su
Alpha Reid 25
REID “Fuck,” I sputter as I hit the dirt, Serena’s forearm coming across my throat to hold me down. She leans her face in close to mine, a devilish smirk on her lips. “That’s twice in a row, tough guy,” she teases, waggling her eyebrows. All I can focus on at the moment is the way she’s straddling me, pinning me down with her lithe body resting on top of mine. The heat between her thighs is almost right where I want it- a few inches lower and she’d feel just how much. We’re both panting heavily from the exertion of sparring, but if it were my choice, we’d be doing something else to make us pant like this. I bring my hands to her legs, pressing my thumbs to her inner thighs as I run them all the way up to rest on her hips. “Guess you’re just that good,” I smirk. She leans in closer, her lips brushing mine as her long red hair drapes around our faces like a curtain. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say y
Alpha Reid 26
SERENA For some reason this feels like the calm before the storm. My lie bought us a little bit of time, but the monsters are still coming, and they’ll be here before we know it. Until then, I should try to embrace the good, right? Except every time I feel a little bit of happiness, it’s quickly followed by an overwhelming sense of guilt. Here I am, running free, suddenly living some semblance of a ‘normal’ life with friends and a mate, while my sister and pack suffer at the hands of a lunatic. What kind of person does that make me? It's so hard to sit back and do nothing. Reid says that we can’t show our hand before the big battle- that rather than go in and retrieve my people, we should wait to take out the shadow pack here, then carry out our rescue mission once the threat has been extinguished. He says that’s the best way to preserve the safety of the people I care about, but I can’t help but feel like I’m failing them by
Alpha Reid 27
REID I can’t even remember the last time I danced. I do recall the last time I came close- at Astrid’s Luna ceremony, the drinks were flowing, I was rolling on a solid buzz, and I almost joined the other guys when their mates dragged them to the dance floor. A few months before, back when I was seeing Arabella, she’d often pout and whine to try to get me to dance with her at the bar on Saturday nights. I always refused- dancing has just never really been my thing. At least I didn’t think it was my thing, until I see Serena out there shaking her ass and every guy in the vicinity eyeing her up. That ass is mine, and I suddenly want to gouge out the eyes of any man in this place that dares to cast a glance in her direction. The alcohol must be intensifying the possessive instinct I have toward my mate; my blood is boiling in my veins and my wolf is positively murderous. I can’t remember the last time I danced, and dancin
Alpha Reid 28
SERENA “Serena…” That rough, scratchy voice sends a wave of dread rushing through me. I grasp through the dark trying to find a way out of the cell, but my hands land on nothing but cold concrete walls. “You can’t run from me…” His voice again, hard and strained, like his throat is bleeding. Like he’s swallowed nails. I’m panting, frantically searching for a way out, but that voice just keeps getting closer. The voice of a monster. My fingernails scrape against the concrete walls as I desperately claw for an escape through the pitch black. “Serena…” I’m in full-blown panic mode when my hands land upon something fleshy. A figure pushes forward, dim light catching his face through the shadows. I see those eyes- so dark they’re almost black, completely devoid of any emotion, like they’re dead. The eyes of a monster. Hands wrap around my arms, pulling me with him into the darkness. “No
Alpha Reid 29
REIDNow that our Denver allies are here, it’s like someone pressed the fast-forward button. Time is moving way too fast; every minute that passes, we’re marching closer and closer to war. Most of the time, I like being a leader. I’m good at it. In war time, though, it’s the toughest position to be in. I’m constantly second-guessing every choice, every decision. When lives hang in the balance, every angle has to be examined. Even one life lost is too great a cost.Casualties are a cruel inevitability of war. No matter how meticulously we plan our battle strategy, it’s simply impossible to protect everyone. Soldiers will fall, and with each one, a little part of me will die, too. The bonds in our squad and our packs run deep. Each individual loss is crippling to the whole.There are so many frustrating ‘unknowns’ when it comes to developing battle strategy, all of which have t
Alpha Reid 30
SERENAI felt it when he held me in his arms and consoled me after my nightmare, and I felt it when he kissed me in front of his pack without hesitation. I felt it when he told that little boy that I was his Luna. I felt it when I watched the way he spoke to his pack and when I saw how they looked at him with so much admiration and respect.I can feel it- I’m falling for Reid.I shouldn’t be surprised. Not only does the mate bond make me biologically predisposed to fall for him, but the man is so damn easy to fall for. He’s smart, kind, courageous, devastatingly handsome, impossibly sexy… he’s perfect; I can’t find a single flaw. Me, on the other hand… how am I supposed to ever measure up to that level of perfection?I allow myself to dwell on my self-doubts all the way to the squad complex, each adoring thought of Reid countered by a self-sabotaging one of my own. It&rsqu
Alpha Reid 31
SERENA“Hey gorgeous,” Reid drawls, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe of my bedroom.I look up from my spot on the edge of the bed- I’ve got one leg pulled into my chest and I just finished applying a second coat of bright red toenail polish. Painting my toes may seem like a silly thing to do, given the fact that we’re on the eve of a war, but little menial tasks like this help to distract my anxious mind.“Hey handsome,” I breathe, a smile instantly coming to my lips as I look up at him.He’s wearing a simple white t-shirt and my favorite pair of grey sweatpants, his dark hair a little tousled and messy- and damnit if I’m not getting a little hot just looking at him. Don’t get me wrong, the man looks slick in his usual slacks and dress shirt, but there’s just something so sexy about him when he’s relaxed like this rather than all buttoned up a
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