Lechandray got up from her hunched position under the table. We only used it when my family visited. There wasn’t much space in the Caravan for the family. We were a tall bunch. Curt took most of the double seater anyway.
But Lechandray was the ideal definition of a Sentinel. Her lean muscles flexing as she stretched out her tall form. Her keen slanted eyes and long neck were genetic makeups of her fathers family. Her grey wolf were ours. “We can’t wait for your fat ass to join us sweet cuz. The Sentinels are going to enjoy breaking you in.” Her words were a promise as the small smile twisted her mouth in an almost wistful grin as she stared eagerly at Curt. “That’s nasty Chan,” Keiral accused as she walked closer to Curt. “Says the girl who can’t cross a finish line without Papa growling in the background.” Lechandray's wolf wouldn’t be kind enough to let Keiral one up her. I knew it. Don’t do it Keiral. DON’T TAKE THE BAIT. My wolf screamed in my head. Her voice annoyed and hopeful. She’s going to get us in a fight if she doesn’t shut her yap. My wolf warned me with a groan. She didn’t like fighting Keiral’s battles but we were the biggest wolf and the only black wolf apart from Ouma Wells and the black wolf in a family was primarily the leader. What’s new? I answered back. Keiral’s doughy brown eyes narrowed, her lips curling into a pout that promised trouble. “Oh, please, Chan,” Keiral tsked, flailing her hands. Why must she do that with her hands? Can’t she just plant her hands on her hips like a normal person? Her gold hair catching the sunlight like a halo she was not as her frown deepened. Oh boy. “You talk big for someone whose wolf trips over her own paws half the time. What’s next, you gonna challenge a squirrel to a nut cracking competition? Or start chasing voles?” Lechandray’s grin vanished, her slanted eyes flashing with a dangerous glint. “Keep yapping, little bunny. My wolf’s got more bite in one fang than your whole fluffball self.” She stepped closer, her lean frame towering over Keiral, muscles flexing under her fitted shirt. The air crackled with tension, the kind that always followed Keiral’s big mouth and Chan’s egotistical nature. Fuck, I thought I’m supposed to be resting. My wolf agreed with me. I groaned, my wolf stirring inside me, already annoyed. She’s gonna get us in another mess, Ash. Rein her in. I’m tired. Keiral wasn’t done. She puffed out her chest, which barely made a difference, and jabbed a finger at Lechandray. “At least I don’t strut around telling everyone I’m a Sentinel so they can like me. You’re all bark, Chan. Bet you shift and still can’t catch me.” That did it. Lechandray’s eyes glowed amber, her lips peeled back to show teeth sharpening into points. “You asked for it, cuz.” With a low growl, her body shimmered, bones snapping and reforming in a fluid blur. In seconds, her grey wolf stood tall, fur bristling, ears pinned back. She was sleek, powerful, and pissed. Her tail flicking like a whip. Keiral squeaked but didn’t back down, because of course she didn’t. “Oh, big scary wolf! What now, you gonna drool on me?” Her bravado was all hot air, and everyone knew it. Curt snorted from the table, pie crumbs on his shirt, but I felt my wolf surge, hackles rising. Not again, Keiral. My wolf growl through my human throat. I didn’t think twice. My skin burned, my vision sharpening as I let the shift take over. Fur erupted, black as midnight, and my bones stretched until I loomed over them all, my big black wolf filling the space under the oak tree. I planted myself between Keiral and Lechandray, my growl low. “Back off, Chan. She’s family, but I’ll still pin you.” Lechandray’s wolf snapped her jaws, more playful than serious, but her eyes locked on Keiral, who was now half-hiding behind me. “Lyn, tell her to chill!” Keiral yelped, clutching my fur like I was her personal shield. “She’s just jealous I’ve got more charm in one claw than she’s got in her whole tail!” Lechandray lunged, but it was a feint, her paws kicking up dirt as she circled us. I swatted at her with a massive paw, keeping it light, my tail wagging just enough to show I wasn’t really mad. She dodged, yipping, and nipped at my flank, her grey fur a blur. Keiral squealed, darting behind the table, still mouthing off. “See? Even Lyn’s got my back! You’re outnumbered, Chan!” I huffed, my wolf’s version of an eye-roll, and tackled Lechandray gently, pinning her to the grass. Her wolf wriggled, snapping playfully at my ears, but I held her down, careful not to crush her. Keiral peeked out, grinning like she’d won the lottery. “That’s right, cuz. Show her who’s boss.” Curt was doubled over now, laughing so hard his belly shook the table. “Y’all gonna break the damn tree. Calm your furry asses down.” Before I could nudge Lechandray back to her senses, a sharp voice cut through the chaos. “What in the name of Questorian’s moons is this nonsense?” Elder Amer stood at the edge of the clearing, her wiry frame radiating disapproval, her nose twitching like it was personally offended. Lechandray and I froze, her wolf still half-pinned under me. Keiral yelped, ducking behind Curt. In a blink, I shifted back, my black fur melting away until I was just Lyn again, brushing grass off my butt. Lechandray followed, her grey wolf shrinking into her human form, her smirk barely hidden. We both stood there, looking like kids caught stealing pie.I was loving Keiral and Lechandrays antics. But things are about to get messy so stay tuned. and please like, follow and comment. Reviews and comments keep the story flowing.
AshlynThe road home wound through the trees, long and empty. The air was cool, heavy with rain that hadn’t fallen yet. I had the windows half open, one hand on the wheel, the other tapping against the console.Krav stayed behind in Panther City with Keiral to test the seams.I told myself it was fine. We needed to divide focus, cover ground, all that logical shit we said when we didn’t want to admit that leaving someone behind hurt.The Den wasn’t far now — half an hour at most. The familiar scent of pine and soil crept through the open window. It should’ve felt like peace.It didn’t.Sheetal had been quiet since Panther City. Too quiet.When the Honshu slept, it was like being alone in your own head again.When she woke, it was like sharing it with a storm.Lately, she’d been flickering, restless under my skin.I was halfway past the second ridge when the temperature dropped. The air went thin. My vision blurred for a blink, like the road ahead was bending.“Sheetal,” I said under m
Krav The pressure pushed again, harder. Not an attack. An instruction. Get up. Move. Remember. Claim. The same way I would tell a young dragon to ride a crosswind instead of fighting it until he tumbled. “Not yours,” I said. “Not this life.” I felt it smile. Not warm. Not cruel. Certain. Then my vision shifted a last time and locked into something that made my stomach drop. I was looking through eyes that were mine and not mine at a battlefield that wasn’t a field. A grid suspended in air. Bodies moved across it in lines. Wolves. Dragons. Something older. I moved my hand and the grid answered. A door opened in the middle and he walked through. Me. Not me. He carried blue in his bones the way I carried it in my blood. He carried heat in his wings that matched the heat in my throat. He looked at me like I was late. Then he said my name in a voice that had never needed a mouth. “Korrin.” My body flinched. No one had called me that in years. Not as a name. As a title. The old wo
Krav Flight always cleared my head. Not tonight.The city dropped away under me into a clean grid of dark roofs and blue ward lines. The tower spires cut the clouds. My wings drove hard. Air burned through my lungs clean and hot. I pushed higher until the hum of the lower nets faded and only the high lanes held me.Catan wanted the cold and the height. My panther wanted ground and walls. I ignored both. I needed the sky.Three days since Ashlyn’s vision. Three days since Keiral said the name none of us should have said. Three days of sleep broken into pieces. Every time I closed my eyes, the seams moved. Every time I landed, the ground felt wrong, like it wanted to tilt.I banked east and cut for the ridge. The mountains held steady in the dark, black lines against a washed moon. I rolled, locked my wings, and let my body fall until the wind screamed in my ears. At the last second I snapped open, flared, and climbed again. Muscle. Bone. Heat. Simple.Then my vision blurred.It hit fa
Hey guys. I noticed chapter reads have slowed down on How to catch a mate. Please read it, and share it with your friends as the books success will dwindle and I will have to complete the story sooner rather than later. I want to write but I also want to write things people want to read or else what's the purpose? so show your support.
Keiral For many moments we stood in silence, contemplative of what this all meant.Ashlyn. Me. Mira. The deaths. The god. It was hard to come up with anything worth saying.The lab around us hummed — the steady pulse of tech, the low thrum of the generators under the floor. The overhead lights buzzed faintly, and the air felt too still, too tight.Ashlyn stood with her arms crossed, eyes distant, as if she was somewhere else entirely. I sat on the edge of the counter, legs dangling, trying to make sense of the puzzle pieces that refused to fit. Mira sat near the door, her head low, fingers fidgeting with the charm Ashlyn had given her weeks ago.It wasn’t just fear that hung between us. It was confusion — a thick, heavy kind that doesn’t let thoughts form straight.“I keep thinking maybe it’s all connected,” I said finally. “The deaths. The dreams. The god.”Ashlyn didn’t look at me. “They are.”Her voice was quiet, but final.Mira lifted her head. “Then why us?”That was the questio
Ashlyn In all my years, I knew someday death would find me like a calling card, waiting to show me its face.It came that night.Krav’s apartment was quiet except for the hum of the city through the windows. My skin still burned from where his hands had been, slick with sweat, the room thick with the scent of us, saalt, musk, heat, and something electric that always came after we touched. My hair clung to my neck. His heartbeat pressed steady against my back as I lay half across his chest, eyes half closed, lungs trying to remember what calm felt like.We didn’t talk. We never did right after. It wasn’t awkwar, just silent. The kind of silence that said everything we didn’t have to.Krav’s fingers traced along my shoulder, lazy. His breath warmed my ear. “You’re quiet,” he murmured.“I’m thinking.”“About what?”“Whether the gods still remember who they made us to be.”He gave a quiet laugh, more breath than sound. “If they ever did.”I smiled faintly, but it faded almost as quick. S