“I wish you would let me go with you,” I puffed, staring up at Jonathan. He leaned down to brush his lips across mine. He was leaving to investigate my mother’s death without me, and I felt uncomfortable knowing he was going to be gone.“I’ll only be gone for a week. I’d rather you stay under the protection of Sabrebite,” he told me. “Plus, you have to work.”He was right. We just got back from our honeymoon a couple of weeks ago; there’s no way Marian would allow me to take another week off, regardless of who I was with. She has a business to run, and I need to respect that. I also needed to trust that Jonathan knew what he was doing and that he would report any findings.“I’m just going to miss you,” I told him, burying my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and held me in an embrace.“And I’ll miss you,” he whispered back.I waited for him to leave before heading to work myself.Marion was already in her office when I arrived. Both Mallory and Lucille were standing outs
Jonathan hated having to leave Arina at home, but he knew she couldn’t come with him. Where he was going was dangerous and he didn’t want to subject her to it. He told her that he was going to be talking to some mutual friends about Emlin and what they knew about her. But that wasn’t entirely true. He was actually going to see some friends about Rock and find out more information about his origin. He needed to know what kind of life Rock had for him to grow into an awful and greedy werewolf.Jonathan entered the pack that Rock was born into, Dawnguard, before he married Emlin and moved to Ironclaw. According to Arina, she’s never even met Rock’s side of the family. She always assumed they were dead. However, he instinctively remembers a run-in with a woman and her small daughter at Emlin’s funeral.The woman was a bit older it seemed to Jonathan at the time, probably old enough to be his mother. She had short brown hair and her eyes were dark like Rock’s. The small girl resembled her g
“We need to talk.” Rocks voice sounded strained on the other side of the phone. I was clutching onto my cellphone; my knuckles were going white. I bit onto my bottom lip, vigorously. I shouldn’t have even answered the phone but part of me wanted to know why the hell he was calling me.My first instinct was to hang up almost immediately, but what he said next kept me from doing that.“I have a letter from your mother,” he said, keeping his voice low.Part of me didn’t believe him. Why would he be telling me this now? After all this time? All these years of her being gone and he was just bringing this up now. It didn’t make sense to me. But was it worth ignoring? What if he was telling me the truth and I never find out what was in that letter.“What does it say?” I asked, my voice sounding unfamiliar.“You need to return home to receive it,” he informed me.I knew it was just a ploy to get me home. He kicked me out of Ironclaw and now that I’m married, he’s trying to get in with my newfo
Ronnie grew up under the influence of her mother, Melissa, and father Rock. For years, she’s watched the abuse happening under her nose, but she was too young to do anything about it.Arina and Ronnie never had a good relationship, but secretly, Ronnie admired Arina for everything that she was. Ronnie was only a couple of years younger, but she somehow looked up to Arina like an older sister. Not that Arina ever cared to be a sister to Ronnie. To Arina, Ronnie was nothing but a nuisance, an intruder in her home.It wasn’t her fault that her mother and Arina’s father had an affair and conceived her. How could she be of blame?After Melissa and Ronnie moved into Rock’s home, Arina never made herself known. She would stay locked up in her room, much like her mother used to, and dissociate from the rest of the family. When she did make appearances, it would only be to fight with her father. They would get into such heated arguments, but he never once laid his hands on her.Ronnie could tel
“Oh my god!! You’re what?” Jessica cooed on the other end of the phone.“Pregnant…” I told her, my voice sounding hollow. “I haven’t been feeling well lately. I thought it was something I ate. But then this morning, I couldn’t transform.”“Arina! That’s huge news!!” Jessica screamed happily. My fingers were trembling as I gripped the phone, and I was trying to hold back the tears that wanted so desperately to fall from my eyes.“I haven’t even told Jonathan yet,” I breathed.“What? Why not? He’s going to be thrilled,” she assured me.“But what if he’s not? It’s too soon. I don’t think either of us is ready yet,” I told her.With the way things are going currently, with Rock and my job, adding a baby to the mix seems like a lot. But Jessica seems so happy and so sure that Jonathan would be thrilled. So maybe she was right.“I think you’re wrong. I think a baby is exactly what you both need! You love each other and you want to make a happy home. What better way than with a baby.”She had
Marian had the art show set up beautifully. She cleared out the entire art hall in the foyer of her studio and put all the newest art pieces out for display. A long table with a white tablecloth was placed against the wall where she placed the beverages and food for the guests.On the other side of the room was another white-clothed table where the cash register sat upon. It was Lucille’s job to man the register; typically, it would be my job, but Marian needed me considering the most important guests were there because of me.Mallory spent time mingling with the guests and explaining her art pieces to them, trying to make some sales. She was the most persuasive out of the three of us.Marian had my photos placed on a singular wall, as though it was its own exhibit. The backdrop of the wall was a light orange which reminded me of a sunset. The lighting highlighted my photos and made them the most noticeable.Most of the photos were from the time I went to Onyxfang. They were photos of
The Conway manor overlooked the city of Silverside; the same city Boris took an oath to protect when he was just a teenager. He was one of the youngest werewolves, only 16 years old at the time, to become an Alpha. He had to admit that he had no idea what he was doing at such a young age, but he was determined to become one of the best Alpha’s and follow in his father’s footsteps. Boris had known Nikini for years before they got married, but once they turned 18, they married and began having a family. He remembered Nikini as a vibrant young girl with dreams and wishes for her future. Money was never a factor for her; they both grew up in families that came from money, so receiving and keeping money was never an issue.What Nikini craved most was power, and once they had all the power, it started eating away at Nikini’s mind. Boris on the other hand only wanted one thing, and that was to protect his city. He became one of the country’s best detectives and by doing so other towns around
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jonathan asked as we stood outside my childhood home. Erick and Anderson were also nearby. It felt good knowing I was being protected.“No,” I admitted. “But I have to. If there is a letter here that my mom wrote for me, I owe it to her to read it.”Jonathan didn’t argue with me; I knew he was just as nervous as I was. Since finding out I was pregnant, he’s been more adamant about protecting me. Not that I minded, there’s no telling what Rock was capable of.Melissa stood at the doorway with a plastered smile upon her face. It seemed she had another bruise on her upper cheekbone that she poorly tried to cover with a concealer that didn’t even match her skin tone. She still reeked of my mother’s lavender perfume and wore my mother’s jewelry. One was a charm bracelet, with a couple of the charms I got for my mother on her birthday. One was a little silver charm that had the word “mom” engraved on it with a small sapphire gem in the center. The other wa