“What are you doing? You are going to hurt yourself.” He warned when she delivered another blow to the trunk. It groaned dangerously but remained rooted in the ground. “Maggie!”“I am doing the exact thing you are doing, Asher.”“You don’t have to be foolish about it.”She stopped punching to stare at him incredulously. “Foolish?” She laughed. “So you agree that what you doing is foolish?”His nostrils flared and his amber eyes flashed at her but he didn’t respond.Maggie narrowed her eyes and rubbed her sore fists. “Communication.”“What?”“Communication, Asher that is your problem. You will rather scream and punch your way through things instead of talking about them.”He scowled. “Coming from the woman who thinks money buys everything, I don’t need a lecture.”Maggie raised her hands in surrender. “Fine, we both have our faults and we have skirted around them until now. Let’s behave like adults for once and talk.”He stared at her suspiciously. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to
Maggie moved closer and touched his face. His face was a lot furrier than it looked and her fingers easily sank into the softness. She scratched lightly and a small sound akin to a cat’s purr escaped him.“Tell me what happened, Asher.”His massive chest visibly heaved and his red eyes swirled. She thought he was going to avoid talking about it again but he sat on his hunches and gave her a droll stare with his red eyes.“I will only tell you because I know you won’t drop the subject.” Her smile encouraged him to go on. “For a long time after I became Alpha, I accepted my fate as a man without love. Our pack used to be much larger than this but when more Ptakkagaris kept attacking us just because we couldn’t defend ourselves, we kept dying and reducing in numbers. We couldn't protect ourselves and we could not strike a deal with the Ptakkagaris. The only way I could save my pack from dying out was to procreate. I finally decided to find a wife. Even if I couldn't find a wolf to marry
When they got back to the camp everyone else was waiting there. Leo, Ginny, Brigg, and Stark, a strange-looking girl of 12 with stark white hair that fell below her waist were waiting with them. Leo’s hands immediately came over Stark and Brigg’s eyes. Asher didn’t care about his nakedness, in fact, he didn’t even seem to notice. But Cathy noticed. And she also noticed Maggie’s hand in Asher’s which Maggie quickly snatched away.Cathy’s jaw tightened as she broke away from the group with a direct glare Asher’s way. “We need to talk,” she bit out and snatched his hand.Maggie watched them walk away to Asher’s apartment and jumped when the door was slammed shut. She looked away from the door at the others and was surprised to find that they were not judging her like she thought they would. Finding comfort in that she headed toward them, Carl in particular.“Thank you for taking care of Caleb.”Carl’s eyes widened in surprise then he frowned and looked away. “I don’t know what you are ta
“Everything okay?” Maggie asked as she opened Chase’s door to join Asher outside where he waited for her on the motorcycle. It was one of the new ones and he was testing the leather handle. She was tempted to smile.But it was the scowl on his face that worried her for some reason. One second he was smiling with her but as soon as she turned her back he was frowning again.She had a feeling it had something to do with Cathy coming out of his apartment wearing a scowl of her own. She glanced at Maggie’s direction.Asher’s voice cut through Maggie’s thoughts. “Everything’s alright. Hop on let’s get moving as fast as we can.”Maggie collected the helmet he held out to her and put it over her curls. Noah was standing a few feet away from the infirmary with a serious look on his face.“I will be fine, Noah,” she assured him. “Just watch over Caleb. We’ll be leaving here soon.”He nodded but still stood guard and watched until Asher started the engine and drove them off. Once again his mani
Asher saw red.Amid the chaos, another whimper cut through the air and dark red blood sputtered. Maggie fell silent.And so did the gray wolf. It stopped growling and took a single step back. Then another. Its huge jaws were parted and blood stained the fur, dripping to the floor. Asher opened his mouth to scream when he stopped.The blood dripping from the wolf’s mouth was not Maggie’s. It was the wolf’s. Its jaw had come slightly unhinged and a bone had pierced through its skin, breaking the surface. That was where the blood was coming from. Maggie on the other hand…if that was Maggie at all, lay on the ground. But gone was the small body of the woman who had laid on the ground just a few seconds ago, in its place was a wolf so large that even though it lay motionless on the ground it would stand 7 inches taller than the gray wolf that was by no means small for an Alpha. Asher’s eyes widened. He wasn’t the only one affected by this surprise transformation. Even the men holding him
For a long time, there was only silence. The clouds above cleared and the sun broke through again. The branches were still and the sand storm that had been so fierce a split second ago was now a memory all in the blink of an eye.Jennifer looked at the wreckage caused by the whirlwind. Metal was strewn everywhere, bits of bricks and the roofs lay on the floor. Even the motorbike lay askew on the floor but it was still intact except for one broken mirror. Muttering a spell under her breath Jennifer set the motorbike upright grunting and holding a hand to her bulging belly as she did so.“Are you alright?” Trevor’s croaked voice came from his naked body laying to one side. Around him were the groaning bodies of the other men of the Westies pack. The gray wolf that attacked Maggie had reverted to human form, the Alpha of the Westies pack, a tall man with a muscular build. Even in his weakened state, his back was ramrod straight as he held himself against the tree trunk and he looked read
Back at the camp, there was confusion. “You felt it too?” Cathy asked with shaky breath as she clutched her belly. She like everyone else was naked. The children had been ushered inside to dress. It had happened so spontaneously and with much vigor that they were all still shaken from it. The sky was clear now but the after-effect remained.Cathy clutched her belly at the strange sensation in her.In the infirmary, Caleb groaned and rolled to his side. Carl was by his side in a flash to assist him so that he wasn't laying on his open wound. Even though it was healing it was still so slow and the bones in his neck and side were still exposed.“Take it easy you idiot,” Carl admonished him.“What the hell just happened?” Caleb moaned. He could still feel the rush of powers in his veins. It had been so overwhelming with blinding pain that he almost went numb from it.“I don’t know, I felt it too,” Carl replied then turn to look behind him at the dazed faces of the others still recovering
“Who the hell is he?” Asher asked without lowering his voice fully aware that Lance was outside the room and was most likely hearing him. On the bed was Maggie with her head propped up against a large pile of pillows. Dark lashes framed her closed eyes and feathered her high cheekbones. Noah had contacted the doctor and he was supposed to be on his way.“Miss Maggie’s fiancé.”“He’s the one who killed her?”Before Noah could respond the door was thrown open and Lance barreled in. Asher moved to block his path.Lance pushed him but Asher would not budge. “Didn’t you hear me the last time? You are not coming anywhere close to her!”“And who are you to tell me what to do, Stray?”Asher laughed. “Stray? At least I am not a two-faced son of a bitch.”Lance raised his hand to hit him but Asher met his blow with the palm of his hand. He was Alpha, but Lance was still Beta since he hadn’t been promoted yet so he easily forced Lance’s hand back.“Stop this both of you!” Noah grunted. They both