Ryder POVI can't sleep.It's three in the morning, and I'm standing guard outside the guest room where she's sleeping. This is insane. I haven't played protector for anyone since Aria died five years ago.But every time I try to walk away, my wolf snarls and plants himself firmly in place."Mine," he keeps saying in the back of my mind. "Protect what's ours."The problem is, I don't understand why he's so convinced. Jolie Rys is nothing like Aria. Where Aria was fierce and strong, Jolie is small and broken. Where Aria could hold her own in any fight, Jolie flinches at loud noises.She's weak. Everyone can see it.So why does my wolf go crazy every time someone looks at her wrong?I run a hand through my hair and pace the narrow hallway. The compound is quiet now, most of the pack asleep or passed out from too much beer. Only the night guards are still awake, patrolling the perimeter.My contacts in the Nightshade Pack filled me in on Jolie's history after we got back. The family reje
Jolie POVThe motorcycle roars beneath us as we speed through the darkness. Rain starts falling, cold drops stinging my face and mixing with the blood from my forehead cut. I press closer to Ryder's back, feeling the solid warmth of him through the leather jacket."Where are we going?" I shout over the engine noise."Home," he calls back without turning around.Home. The word hits me like a punch to the chest. I haven't had a real home in years. Maybe ever.The other bikes follow us, their headlights cutting through the storm. I count at least six riders, all massive men who smell like wolves. They move in perfect formation around us, protecting us from threats I can't even see.After twenty minutes, we turn off the main highway onto a narrow mountain road. Pine trees close in on both sides, their branches reaching over the asphalt. The air smells cleaner here."Almost there," Ryder says, his voice carrying despite the wind.The road curves sharply, and suddenly we're pulling up to a
Jolie POV I nod, my voice barely there. “Well, you’re here now,” she says softly, rubbing my back in slow circles. “You don’t have to earn anything. You don’t have to prove your worth, you just have to be you.” You just have to be you. Maybe Mom was right about one thing maybe I am mistaken. But here, surrounded by kindness I never knew I deserved, I can almost believe some mistakes are worth keeping. “Thank you,” I whisper, my voice shaking but sincere. “Nothing to thank me for,” Helen replies kindly. “That’s just what decent people do.” If only more people were decent. If only my own mother had remembered how to be.That's when the front door explodes inward.Three men in black tactical gear storm through the entrance, moving with military authority. Nightshade Pack enforcers. I recognize the wolf scent even through their human forms."Jolie Rys, by order of Alpha Dominic, you're coming home."Helen shrieks and drops her soup bowl. It shatters on the kitchen floor, send
Jolie POV Through the haze of pain, I hear the trucker's boots pounding across the parking lot as he runs. Car doors slam as the engine starts. Everyone is fleeing from the crazy girl having some kind of seizure behind the dumpster.The shift reverses itself slowly, my claws retracting with wet popping sounds that make me gag. When it's finally over, I lie shaking in a puddle of rainwater and my own tears.My wolf retreats deep inside, whimpering with exhaustion. Whatever just happened drained what little strength I had left.I try to sit up and immediately throw up the few berries I managed to keep down this morning. The bile burns my throat and adds another layer of stench to the dumpster area.A car engine approaches, tires crunching on gravel. I panic, thinking the trucker came back with friends, but it's just an old Honda with a Jesus fish bumper sticker.The driver's door opens and a woman gets out. Maybe fifty years old, gray hair in a practical ponytail, wearing a waitress un
Jolie POV "It's settled then. Tomorrow night, she becomes Thorne's problem."The rain pounds against my skin as I back away from the window. My wolf isn't whimpering anymore. She's growling, low and dangerous.Run, she says again. Run now, or die trying.I run.I stare at the forest edge fifty yards away. Beyond those trees lies wilderness for miles. No roads, no shelter, no food. I can barely survive a five-minute shift without collapsing. How could I possibly make it alone in the wild?But staying means Thorne Blackwater's hands on me. His teeth in my throat. His twisted games until there's nothing left of Jolie Rys but screaming."She's probably upstairs crying into her pillow right now," Gio says, his laughter carrying through the storm. "The pathetic little ash wolf can't even hold her form long enough to hunt mice."Something inside my chest snaps like a dry branch. My wolf surges forward, with desperate strength i let go of the wall and walked toward the tree line.My feet hit
Jolie POVThe window glass bites cold against my cheek as I crouch beneath Dad's office window. Rain spatters the pane above my head, but I don't move. "Twenty thousand and mining rights to the eastern territory." Gio's voice drifts through the crack. "She's weak, but she's pure Nightshade bloodline. Thorne can do whatever he wants with her."My heart stops beating as the words slam into me like a punch, knocking the breath from my lungs."The eastern territory is a prime land, Gio." Dad's voice carries that cold edge he uses when pack business gets serious.I press my palm against my mouth to muffle the sob threatening to escape. My wolf whimpers deep in my chest, a pathetic sound that matches exactly how I feel right now."It's worth it to get rid of her permanently." Gio laughs, and the sound makes my stomach turn. "She's twenty years old and still can barely shift without collapsing for days. The pack whispers she's cursed every time she tries."Thunder rolls overhead, shaking th