“Jessica, what happened?” I said, my eyes wide and alert as Jessica stood before us.There was a giant, nasty, purple bruise on the nape of her neck and she looked utterly and completely worn out. Her eyes had dark circles under them as though she hasn’t slept in weeks and her features were paler than usual and thinning out drastically since seeing her at the wedding.Looking around at everyone, they all seemed just as astonished to see her appearance. She looked sheepish and then at the ground; I could tell she was trying to cover up the bruise by applying some makeup to it, but it still looked horrible and obvious that it was there. I could hardly imagine what it must look like without the makeup.“Jessica?” I repeated, stepping closer to her.It seemed as though she recoiled backward slightly. I stopped moving toward her and frowned. Something was seriously wrong, and I had a feeling I knew who to blame. I could feel the anger coursing through my body as I stared at my best friend
The gem shop, located in Sabrebite, was a small light pink and wooden paneled shop. It was almost as small as the bakery. The inside of the shop was filled with everything from crystals to gemstones and so much more.Out of all the months I’ve lived in Sabrebite and all the years I’ve come to visit Sabrebite as a child, I have never been inside the shop before. However, I knew of Willa because she was part of the Sabrebite pack. She took over the gem shop from her late grandmother, who passed away a few years ago.Jade was a young woman in her mid-20s, with a petite figure who always wore the coolest clothing. She wore a lot of the clothing her grandmother owned, and that woman always had a certain style about her. She wore crystals along her arms and around her neck; she had her sleek dark hair pulled out of her face, but it fell down her back and landed around her waistline. Embroidered throughout her hair were different colored gems which highlighted her bright features and olive s
Ronnie paced back and forth; her nerves were beginning to get the best of her. Erick was by her side as he always was, and she was beyond thankful for him. When she got the call from Boris that Melissa wanted to speak with her, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She didn’t want to see her mother, but there was still a part of her that was curious as to what more she had to say.Initially, she had said no. She couldn’t imagine what Melissa had to say was important enough to disrupt her peace. But as the night went on, curiosity began to haunt her. She could hardly sleep and when she did sleep, she dreamt of her mother. She couldn’t help but remember all the good times she had with her mother growing up. Yes, her mother was manipulative and toxic, but she was still there to raise Ronnie.It’s because of Melissa that Ronnie grew to be who she is. It’s because of Melissa that Ronnie was there in the first place.“If you feel the need to see her, we can go in the morning,” Erick said, reading
I stood in Erick’s living room, the former living room of Rock, staring at Ronnie’s wrist. She wore a golden chain around her wrist with a deep blue pendant, outlined in black. The same pendant both Nikini and my mother wore.She was marked.Ronnie had just finished explaining to Jonathan and me that she went to Silverside to see her mother because Melissa requested to speak with her one last time. I couldn’t believe both Ronnie and Erick would go behind our backs and do that without informing us. They knew how Melissa and Rock were and they knew we needed to be wary of Silverside.What were they thinking? “Ronnie, that was incredibly dangerous,” I told her as I grabbed her wrist to take a better look at the pendant.It was exactly the same as the one in the book Jade showed us. Ronnie was marked by Willa, Naomi’s less than a nice sister.“She’s, my mother; I have every right to see her if I want,” Ronnie said, pulling her arm away from me so she could cross her chest.“That’s the th
Jessica counted the moments that things would start feeling normal again. She couldn’t remember the last time she was happy; maybe it was her wedding day. But she wasn’t even sure about that anymore. She wanted, so badly, to love Greggory and everything he had to offer. But so far, all he had to offer was a life of abuse and torment. She wanted to love him, but all she could do was hate him.It broke her heart knowing what a mistake she’s made. She wasn’t even sure who she was anymore. Arina didn’t want her to go back to Greggory after she saw the bruise he left on the nape of her neck, but Jessica felt she didn’t have a choice at that moment. Regardless of everything, he was still her husband, her Alpha. She was his luna. She made a vow to him, a promise to stand by him no matter what and love him. She couldn’t break that vow; the marking on her shoulder blade proved that she was his for a lifetime.She couldn’t go against that. Regardless of how badly she wanted to.Jessica had neve
Ronnie and Erick made themselves comfortable in the guest bedroom; I didn’t feel okay with them staying another moment in Ironclaw knowing that Ronnie has been marked by Willa. I wanted to keep Ronnie close to me at all costs.Now I just worried about Jessica; it’s been a day or so since she returned home to Moon-Valley to be with Greggory, and I haven’t heard from her. I figured I would hear from her by now; I even tried to reach her through the wolf link, but I haven’t been able to get through to her. Jonathan could read the worry on my face and wrapped me in his arms to hold me close to him.“I will go investigate in the morning,” Jonathan promised me. “I’m sure she’s fine.”But I wasn’t so sure about that; I had a wolf instinct that something was terribly wrong. I didn’t have too much time to dwell on it though because I could hear Emee crying from her bedroom. I rushed into her room, terrified about what I could possibly find in there.Thankfully, she was okay. She was just awak
Jonathan reached Moon-Valley within minutes of traveling in his wolf form. He could already smell Greggory everywhere and on every female. It was disgusting what he was doing to Jessica. That bruise on her neck was done by Greggory; there was no doubt in his mind about that. The fact that he’s an Alpha, and like Rock, uses his force to hurt his luna.Greggory was somebody that Jonathan had once trusted; he thought of Greggory as a friend at one point. Back when Arina resided in Moon-Valley and attended their art school, he befriended Greggory. He was just a young boy who wanted to have a good time but couldn’t because he had so many responsibilities. He couldn’t truly be a kid.Even after Jonathan’s 18th birthday, when he found out that his mate was Arina and he couldn’t hang around her anymore, he remained close to Greggory.He was always a flirt with the ladies around his pack, even the ladies outside of his pack, but he never thought of Greggory to be the violent type. He couldn’t
“What the hell happened?!” Jonathan asked as he stared at me.I could ask him the same thing, but I understood why he was worried and angry as soon as he saw me. I was covered in blood; it wasn’t my blood though. It was Dominic’s. I didn’t have the time to clean myself off and change before Jonathan came home. I just finished hiding Dominic’s body and my body was still trembling in fear of what had just happened.“He was trying to kidnap our daughter,” I shot back in my defense. I mean, what else was he expecting me to do? Allow for someone to take Emee and bring her back to Greggory. Over my dead body would I ever allow for that to happen. “Greggory sent him to take Emee for whatever reason.”Jonathan’s face fell.“So, you killed Dominic?” Jonathan asked.I rolled my eyes.“I had to do what I could to protect Emee,” I told him; I was aware I sounded aggravated.“We don’t kill other wolves, Arina,” Jonathan argued.“What about Graham?” I nearly hissed; it wasn’t fair that he was fight