~~~ Yesterday ~~~ Pierce hangs up the phone. He should be here already, but there he goes, demanding shit as if he doesn't have orders. There’s only ever been one other time when he’s used the friendship we have for personal gain, if you can even call it that. If Pierce wanted to leave, he'd be gone. Whoever needed to be dead, would be, and he'd be here by nightfall. That's how this works. Whatever my father wants, he does. Whatever my father asks of me, Pierce does out of loyalty. I took care of him. I presented my father with a cruel boy who has a blackened heart and nothing to his name… and he made him into his, my, biggest weapon. But no, 'WE still need a single distraction and transport,' he said, still clinging onto that girl. That girl is a pawn, one I need, and she’s making him sloppy. He may have fallen prey to her charms, but the Pierce I know wouldn’t have let that happen. It was impossible to make a counter-ability plan for an Iota when Pierce being put in ch
Heaviness is weighing down on me, the pressure of it feeling more solid than fluid. I’m not in the water. Opening my eyes feels just as impossible. Except, every flutter brings the pain of what feels like sand under my lash line before they draw back together like magnets, but the only thing to see is darkness. And not the kind of darkness I'm used to, that I wish I was seeing right now… this is just dead space darkness. That’s what I wish I was... dead.I don’t want to open them. I can’t face whatever lies on the other side of the darkness. Not when seeing him with her broke my heart. No. Broken isn't quite strong enough, not when it ripped savagely in half. It’s irreparable. Stupid… little… Devlin. ‘Of course she’s in there…’ Brixton’s voice had carried through the house softly, ‘...we’re home free now, love.’I tried to get up slowly, to go see what I didn’t want to believe my ears were hearing… but seeing it was so much worse. ‘You’ve got the money?’ His voice continued thr
A sudden burst of light wakes me, burning into my eyes and making it impossible to see through, when a small voice cuts through the silence. “I don’t understand what he sees in you.” I sit up quickly, trying desperately to see through the light, but no matter how much I try, the contrast between the darkness they kept me in and the light is too much right now. “Pathetic,” she continues, “I’ve been watching you for a while now… trying to figure it out… but it just continues to not add up.” The sounds of metal scraping on the floor has me tensing, my wrists screaming in response at where the restraints feel like they are slicing into my skin. “I wasn’t sure she would follow through with the trade,” her footsteps sound closer and closer to me, “everyone thinks you need fear… but money and favors can be a much better motivator.” Chocolate-covered-peanuts, eyes! The one time I need them to work and they suddenly don’t know how to function in light. “Do it then!” I scream as the
The tension on my wrists suddenly loosens, and even though I want to will my arms in front of me, the numbness in them only allows them to fall flat beside me. “In fact,” Trent’s mate walks around to where I can see her, “I’ve just helped you, fed, and watered you.” “You set this whole thing up,” I snap, “and when Trent finds me-” “He’s never going to find you,” she smiles, swinging the keys around one of her fingers as she speaks to me, “he won’t even look. Once he’s fully mine, I’ll let someone find you, and take you back to the Stones.” Both outcomes are things I don’t want. Trent will find me, of that I’m almost positive, but when he does, my life is over regardless. I’ll die by his hands, or he’ll lock me up until he needs to use me or bores of me again. “You’ll see,” I taunt her, smiling right back at her, wishing she’d rethink her stance on this. It could be so much simpler for both of us if she let me go now, and I would stay true to my word. “WE will, won’t we? Because
The light assaults my eyes as they fly open, blinking through the pain of it until I see her pacing at the far end of the room. She stops immediately as I sit up and rushes at the cage, colliding with it roughly, and making the metal bars shaking from the contact. “What the hell is so special about you? HUH?” She’s screaming at me, but her words aren’t reaching me. I’m not interested in what she has to say, just the way that she keeps grabbing onto the bars in between words. I watch the way her hair passes through them, angry with myself for how weak I feel, but then she rounds the cage. My fingers pass over the rough edge of the scar on my chest, and while I’m not sure when my hand got there, I am sure that if I’m strong enough to survive this long… I’m strong enough to survive her.Pain blasts across my skull as she reaches through and grabs a fistful of my hair, pulling the back of my head tight against the bars. My vision clouds as her fingers curl tight against my scalp and s
I'm not sure where I'm going, or what is out here under cover of the light, but every step coats my skin with the familiar heat of the sun, and every blink brings a little more clarity. Nothing but trees lie ahead of me, and with the full sunlight out, this is about to be the shortest hunt of her life. My feet dig into the dirt and moss below them, my legs carrying me through the open spaces as quickly as they can. I used to be fast. Faster than all the boys… faster than Donny… but not as fast as Brixton. His name echoing through my head brings a sense of freedom that has no place on this run. I was running for my life then too. I just didn't realize it, but now the stakes are higher. My chest rises and falls quickly as I beg for more oxygen to flood through me. With every step my knees threaten to give out, the exhaustion creeping in, and my hands ache from every rough branch I've gripped and propelled past. I’ve been running for what seems like an eternity when up ahead a small
The wolf tries to recover from its fall quickly but ends up limping its way back to solid ground. Every step it takes, it has to drag with it what looks like metal jaws. Sharp, metal teeth that are piercing into its hind leg, clasped around it and leaving behind a trail of blood. The longer Corbyn stands there casually looking at it, the more confused I grow. This should be ruining his plan… unless it’s not her… or unless him leaping over that exact spot was no accident. “Devlin,” he finally speaks in my direction, as if we're old friends who are casually passing each other by. "Did you set that?" I whisper so low that I’m not sure he’ll hear me, but an amused huff has my head swinging his way. His face gives nothing away as usual, and just as the corner of his mouth tips up, unnoticeable to anyone else, another three wolves descend from the tree line. Their heads are all low to the ground, growling with their teeth bared, as they approach with tentative steps until one looks
"She won't be fully healed in two days," Mary says cautiously. "She doesn't need to be," Corbyn lazily inputs from across the room as Trent licks at my shoulder more, "out." Mary leaves promptly, never so much as looking back at me, but she never did. "Two days?" Corbyn practically stares through me at my question. "Two days," Trent repeats, exchanging the robe I'm wearing for a dress, "until the full moon marks our marriage." My eyes lock into his, "But what about my birth-" "I'm not waiting another nine days," he brushes my hair over one shoulder, leaving his mark on display, "the pack won't stand for it." He presses a long slow kiss to my lips, seemingly over the roadblock that was his mate, "I have to tend to a few things, Corbyn will be with you." He turns to leave, but being left with Corbyn is a terrible idea. Trent hasn't left my side since he carried me from the forest yesterday, and it's a reaction I can't control when I reach out and grab his arm, pulling at him t