VICTORHaving her hand in mine was a euphoria I never thought I would receive so soon. I took full advantage of it and enjoyed the softness of her skin beneath my thumb as I longingly stroked small circles at the back of her hand. She felt the sparks, felt every pull of the bond I initiated and felt the comfort and solace I blanketed her with to sit calmly in the seat beside me. I took the dirt road we had made to the sanctuary, driving slowly and steadily so I wouldn't alarm her. The deeper we retreated into the darkness of the forest, the more anxious she became, and the more I sent soothing energy down the bond like a balm over a gaping wound. Only, I wondered how long I could ease her like this. When she found out everything and the truth as she knew it fractured and broke before her very eyes, would I be able to keep her as calm as I was right now?I had to focus on my main goal and the strategy I had in mind. In order for it to work, everything had to go to shit before I could
DEAI peeled my crusted eyelids open with some effort, finding myself tucked in bed. Confusion riddled my thoughts as I couldn't remember bringing myself into my bedroom or changing into the fleece pajamas I found myself in when I threw my blanket off my body. I did, however, remember the weird dream I had about the silent man I was meant to meet last night. By the looks of it, I had opted not to meet him. In the dream, he had taken me to a remote location in the middle of a dense forest where he had stripped down from his clothes and morphed into a beast straight out of someone's nightmares—my nightmares. It was weird enough that this man I barely knew infiltrated my dreams, but to see and hear his bones break within a blink of an eye and then remold into something massive and furry, a gigantic wolf that could use my head as a chew toy, was disconcerting. It fractured my understanding of logic. It shattered the stained glass of sense which was the axis of my world, sending a blindi
VICTORThe reservation was protected land. The wolves which roamed upon those lands weren't generally welcoming to visitors, especially the uninvited kind. For that reason, I restlessly paced around the distance of their borders, hoping to catch even a glimpse of the girl I had followed here. I told her I would give her space but that didn't mean I was willing to leave her alone, unprotected. She now knew of the dangers around her but it hadn't set in how much danger she was in, especially because she was mated to me. Huxley had made plenty of enemies and, in the process of taking his place as Alpha of the rogues, those enemies had become my own. They thought I was like him, that I committed the atrocities he had at his side. They had yet to figure out how different I was from that scum that plagued the Earth. It would take time to prove to them how vastly different of a man I was compared to that piece of shit. Time I didn't have. Not now that Dea was in the picture. I had to find
DEAMy fingers were curled firmly around the handle of the baseball bat I kept in my room. I hadn't played any baseball growing up but I knew my dad had and this one of his bats. It was something I kept to feel close to him but when I left, I wanted to leave this whole life behind me, so it remained in my childhood home where my brother now stayed. Another loud clank echoed in the kitchen, forcing me to raise the bat higher. The reservation was safe from what I could remember. Not once did we ever have a problem with a break in but I guess things changed since I left. My heart leaped in my throat, beating furiously when another loud clatter echoed through the dark, empty house. My brother wasn't home so it left me on edge. What if it was that handsome, shape-shifting, silent stranger? What if he found me and decided he wanted to take me away because he felt he had some sort of sordid claim on me?I was aware that the bat wouldn't cause him much harm but maybe it would distract him f
VICTOR "My sister is going to murder you when she finds out where you've brought me," Sinclair drawled as he let out a long, low whistle. I glared through the windscreen of my SUV, analyzing the house I was parked in front of. There was no correct way to approach a witch but caution was always needed. If I had it my way, I would have scouted out the area for a few days until I could gather my bearings and figure out a way to approach the situation in a better manner. However, time wasn't in my favor and I needed to return to Seattle in the next few days, preferably before Sinclair's first shift. I could tell it was coming upon him quickly. He had these random bursts of energy which generally captured him in moments of happiness. His body was burning up, getting accustomed to running at a higher temperature and getting him internally ready to shift. Most of his nights were spent tossing and turning due to the constant pain. I remembered when I had faced nights like those. It felt li
DEAI leaned my weight against the thick, scaly trunk of a nearby tree as I attempted to catch my breath—I was basically heaving and gaping for air like a fish out of water. For some reason, I thought going for a walk through the woods this morning would be an excellent idea. So, I grabbed a backpack, added a first aid kit, a few bottles of water, and some snacks inside, and got myself ready for a hike. When we were younger, mom would take Sam and me on hikes through the woods. But then she got sick and couldn't do things we once used to so it all just faded away. I hadn't been on a hike since and this was a clear sign that I needed to get myself a gym membership because I was severely out of shape. Shrugging off the bag, I pulled out my last bottle of water. It had been three hours since I left and if Sam had gotten home in that time he must have been worried about me. I did leave a vague note saying I'd be out but I knew he wouldn't have agreed to let me wander the woods on my own.
VICTOR"Don't turn your back on me," Saint all but shouted at me like a mother chastising her pup, "I'm not even mad that you dragged Sin with you, I'm mad because you gave up a part of yourself and you're behaving as if it's not even a big deal. Well, news flash, big man, it is a big deal and even Dea thought so."I growled at her for using Dea's name against me. We were standing toe-to-toe in the living room with her shoving a finger continuously in my chest since she wouldn't let me walk away, "I gave away a part of me to get another part back."She shook her head in disappointment, "We all accepted you the way you were, Victor. We loved you for it. You realize that it was those memories that made you the person you were. Without them, do you even know who you are anymore?"I wrapped my arms around Saint when the first tear rolled down her cheek. Resting my chin on her head and smoothing out her sandy blonde hair with one of my palms, I whispered, "I'm not going to turn into him, S
DEAI dropped the duffle I had clasped in my hands and silently stalked into the kitchen. It was then I truly understood the meaning of the phrase 'ignorance is bliss' to its full extent. When I left the reservation this morning, I expected Jason to already be at work. I wasn't sure why I hadn't informed him that I was on my way home. Maybe fate deemed it was time I found out the truth about Jason—that was if I believed in fate to begin with. It was just a coincidence. A case of the wrong place, and the wrong time for him and it was the opposite for me. The puzzle pieces were snapping into place with every footfall. It made sense why he was so eager to let me go back home. It made sense why he hadn't called or texted and why it didn't seem like he missed me. And for the glaringly obvious, it made sense why he was so evasive when it came to marrying me, why he sometimes downright refused it. Jason followed me from the bedroom, wrapping a sheet around his waist as he begged, "Dea wait