LOGINLucas’s POVHer mouth forms an ‘O’ of surprise. “But…”“He’s male?” I say, forcing my smile to stay in place. “Yes, I’m aware.”Her brow furrows. “I see that,” she says slowly. “What I was trying to say was, but you’ve only been gone for a week or so.”“Ollie and I are fated mates,” I say, nonplussed. “So, you don’t have a problem with the fact my mate’s a guy?”Linda blinks at me. “Why would I?”“He’s expecting torches and pitchforks,” says Nancy in a dry voice.Linda frowns. “Some of the older pack members might grumble about it, but the rest of the pack—myself included—won’t care as long as you’re happy. I know Randy and his ilk would have taken an issue with your mating a male, but you’re our Alpha now.”“But I’m not Randy’s biological son,” I blurt out, slightly panicked for a reason I don’t understand.Beside me Nancy face palms and lets out a long sigh.Linda reaches toward me, hesitates for a second, then places her hand on my shoulder. “I already know that. I’m pretty sure ha
Lucas’s POVThings move quickly after that, or at least it seems that way with everyone rushing around and the triumvirate finally showing up—in force.Yang requested immediate backup once she received the distress signal from the satellite messenger and the triumvirate did not disappoint, a unit of fifty praetorians jumping into action as soon as they arrive.First, the bodies are taken care of, including Earl’s which Wanda had buried in a shallow grave near the building where the humans picked me up. Then, the praetorians call the entire pack together to create a list of pack members, get statements from any witnesses, and generally explain what’s going to happen from here on out.I did not become the Rockcastle Alpha by killing Wanda. Or at least that’s the story I’m going with. I’m more than happy to pass that responsibility off to the triumvirate. I’m not sure who they’re going to appoint as the new Alpha, but I also don’t really care.Not my circus, not my monkeys.That sounds a
Ollie’s POVClay lifts his head and scowls. He appears to debate for a second, then he gets to his feet and starts walking toward the doorway. As soon as his back is turned, Taylor peeks through the doggie door again, and I nod.Taylor climbs the rest of the way through the doggie door. He jumps to his feet, quickly opening the kennel he arrived in and rushing to mine. He eyes the padlock, then glances at the doorway before darting across the room to the metal cabinet where he lifts a set of keys from a hook in the corner. Returning to me, he takes care of the padlock and swings the kennel door open.The two of us jog outside. Clay and Wanda are nowhere to be seen, but Nancy is still leaning up against the side of the building. I crouch next to Nancy, gesturing Taylor over.“Help me get her inside,” I say.Nancy coughs into her hand, her palm coming away wet with blood. “I’ll be fine. Lucas’s here somewhere, but now it’s two against one. Help him.”“Stay with her,” I tell Taylor. “I’m
Ollie’s POVClay pulls me over to one of the kennels and tosses me inside, slamming the door shut. He grabs a padlock to slide into the latch, then walks over to join Wanda in front of a large metal cabinet sitting against the wall.She crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes at her son.“You could have screwed everything up.”“I did exactly what you told me to,” he says. “I secured—”“You didn’t secure shit,” she snaps, gesturing first to me and then toward the door. “If we’d been two minutes later, they both would have been gone and then where would we be?”“Why does it matter anymore? Aren’t you Alpha now?”“Yeah, but just because Earl’s dead, that don’t mean there doesn’t have to be an heir.”Earl’s dead? I stare at the two of them, eyes widening. Does that mean Wanda expects me to give Clay an alpha child? Does it even work that way between betas and omegas?Clay rolls his eyes. “But we have time now. Can’t we wait till I’m not stuck with my brother’s leftovers? I’d
Lucas’s POVI perk up, lifting my nose to scent the air. The dust makes it difficult, but I catch a faint smell hidden underneath—shifters. Two of them. The scent is too muddled for me to definitively identify them as Smith and Yang, but if I were human right now, I’d be grinning.A twig cracks somewhere next to the truck and from the other side, there’s a sharp bark.“Go see what that was,” says the woman in the cab.“Given where we are, it’s probably a fucking wolf,” says the second man.“Yes, and…?”“And you aren’t paying me enough to deal with this bullshit,” he mutters.“It’s probably our captive’s little friend. He’s no threat,” she says. “We already grabbed him once when we took his brother and it was almost too easy. Just grab one of the dart guns from the back and get in position.”What they don’t know, is that wasn’t Ollie’s bark. Not only would I have recognized it if it were, the connection between Ollie and I still stretches into the distance behind us.But the man does a
Lucas’s POVEither I’m developing a resistance to being drugged, or whatever the woman injected me with wasn’t very strong because I wake up much earlier than I think they intended. My situation hasn’t exactly improved, but at least I’m alert.The uneven road jostles the whole vehicle and has me slamming back and forth between the sides of the cage, sending painful jolts through my shoulders as they ram into the metal. I grit my teeth and curl into a ball, trying to get my center of balance—as useless as it currently is—low enough that I can minimize the number of impacts I have to suffer.There’s no way to tell where we are since I can’t see anything from back here, but the jerky, lurching movement of the truck and the dust filtering in through the gaps in the canvas leads me to believe we’re on a dirt road.Could it be the fire road Smith and Yang mentioned?I can only hope, right?If we’re on the fire road, then Smith and Yang will be somewhere along its length, hopefully in a pos
Keiran’s POV4 years later…I’m in Hell and this is definitely not where I belong. No really, I’m in the lower level of Heaven & Hell, a gay club in downtown Chicago, which is absolutely not where I’m supposed to be working tonight.“Jerry, look at me,” I say to the bartender as I gesture at my out
Keiran's POV Even as I register the flare of Lucas’ nostrils when I pass him, another wolf’s teeth clamp down on my tail and drag me backward, my paws scrabbling at the ground. A high-pitched whine of terror is the only sound I can make as Alpha Randy uses his grip on my tail to slam me onto my
Keiran’s POVTonight is shaping up to be a disaster of epic proportions, nothing at all like how I pictured the day I’d become an official pack member.A pack welcoming ceremony is supposed to be a celebration, but any celebratory feeling is lost in the shadow of last night’s violence and bloodshed
Keiran’s POVThe ground drops out from beneath my feet—well, figuratively at least—as the stability and hope I just fucking got myself to accept is destroyed by a cold wash of betrayal, taking that tiny bit of rebuilt self confidence with it.Was it all bullshit? Of course it was.The frantic touch







