เข้าสู่ระบบMato“A moose ran out in front of me,” the guy says. “I’m telling you, it came out of nowhere.”There are no moose tracks anywhere near his car. There are, however, some very clear tire tracks showing exactly where he took the corner too fast and slid into the ditch.I don’t mention it. He’s been standing out here in a hockey jacket and sneakers for over an hour, and his pride’s had a rough enough night already.He hasn’t been drinking, either, or I’d smell it. He’s just bad at corners.“It happens,” I say, and lie down in the snow to get the chain around his axle.“Is it ruined? It’s my dad’s car. He’s going to kill me.”“The bumper’s cracked. The rest of it’s fine. Tell him about the moose.”“You think he’ll believe me?”“No.”I’m reaching for the hook when Cody’s thread lights up in the back of my head.For three years he’s been a faint hum somewhere on the far side of town. I’ve never let myself focus on it. Paying that much attention to a packmate’s feelings is rude, and in my ca
CodyOh my god. She’s threatening me.I’m about to angrily smash the block button when I realize it won’t accomplish anything useful.Blocking Sloane stops her messages, but it doesn’t send her home. She already told me what happens if I won’t talk to her.If a polite woman with a microphone knocked on Mom’s door, saying she wants to get to the truth of what happened to me, she’d gratefully make her a cup of tea and tell her my whole cover story.I built it for my mom, not for somebody who’s rabidly digging through the facts, looking for a story.My mom backed off every time I said I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. But I know it bothers her that the people responsible for my disappearance were never found.Sloane won’t care about upsetting me, she’ll keep pushing. Ignoring her won’t help.It takes me a few tries to write something that isn’t mean or begging. I really want to be mean, but alienating her right off the bat seems like a bad strategy.Please leave my mom alone. She’s
CodyI push myself up on one elbow and put the smile back on. It’s hard to purr with a clamp hanging off your nipple, but I’m a professional.“Sweet dreams, you.”I stop the recording before FullMoonBandit can say anything else, and that’s when I notice the music downstairs has stopped. I’ve got no idea when that happened.The right clamp’s still hanging on. I squeeze it open, and blood floods back into my nipple so hard my eyes water. It hurts way more coming off than it did going on, which feels like false advertising.I switch off the bullet and peel the mask off my face. Every breath smells like weed and spilled beer but the air still feels fantastic on my sweaty skin.On the screen there’s just me now. Bed hair, flushed cheeks, a pink dent across the bridge of my nose from the leather. Nobody would pay a cent to see this guy.Three hundred people regularly see me naked with my ankles by my ears. Not one of them would recognize me in line at Tim Hortons.That’s the whole point of
Cody“Hey, you,” I drawl flirtatiously at the phone. “Did you miss me?”FullMoonBandit’s voice is lower than mine and extremely sure of himself. He sounds like a late-night radio host who plays mostly smooth jazz.It works, though. They eat it up.‘Why are you talking like that?’ my wolf asks.This voice made the truck payment.‘Tell him Shania says thank you.’On the screen there’s a guy in a black mask with my mouth and my shoulders. Nothing bad has ever happened to that guy. Some nights I like him a lot better than I like me.I sit on the end of the bed with my legs spread, so the camera gets everything.The leather’s already warm on my face. I should have thought about that when I chose it. I’m too scared to switch to something more breathable now. Most people barely earn anything from OnlyFans, and I live in fear that the smallest thing could bring this whole house of cards tumbling down.Leather is sexy, I’ll just have to suffer through it. A bead of sweat crawls down underneath
Cody“Codes! You came back to us!”Tanner’s arm hooks around my neck the second I’m through the front door, and he drags me into the living room to show me off to people I’ve already met.The house is doing what it does most nights. Music I can feel in my fillings, a bowl of chips somebody’s been using as an ashtray, half the party piled together on a couch built for three.Somebody’s playing beer pong on the kitchen table, which is also where we eat.‘He smells like a gym sock that came to a party,’ my wolf says.I’m in no position to argue. My face is in his armpit.“Hey.”“Where were you, man? You missed Kyle and the fire extinguisher.”“I’m sure he’ll do it again.”“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Tanner lets go of my neck so he can grab my face with both hands instead.Tanner touches everybody like they’re a dog he’s really excited to meet. “You look good. You look like you were outside.”“Yeah. I literally just came through the front door. From outside.”“See? Love that for you.”
Hi allIt was recommended I start a second book for this, and I'm waiting for it to be approved or rejected. But I know you're all waiting anxiously, so I'm going to start publishing some chapters here. If the book does get approved, the first 5 chapters will be free to read as always, so if you'd rather wait for that, please do.Chapter 1 – PacedCodyThere’s a wolf in the trees on my left, keeping pace with us, and he isn’t one I know.My wolf noticed him first, because he’s the one driving and I’m the guy in the passenger seat who isn’t allowed to touch the radio.‘He’s been with us since the frozen creek,’ he says, like it’s a fun fact.The creek was ages ago. You didn’t think that was worth mentioning?‘I’m mentioning it now.’After spending so much time away from them the pack’s barely a hum at the back of my head, but I know none of them are close by. It’s a long drive to this park, and they have no reason to come out here when they have perfectly good woods to run in on their
DaxThe thing's in pieces at our feet and my body's still waiting for round two.I never come down off a kill clean. My blood's still up, ears still straining, every muscle still voting to hit something else.I don’t think it’s a werewolf thing. It’s an adrenaline thing.So when the wolf decides to
NoahThe wolf hits it like a truck, and the thing barely rocks.Wrong.Two hundred pounds of Alpha at a dead run should fold anything with a spine.This rotten thing takes the hit, slides back a boot-length in the dirt, and swings an arm the size of my leg.The wolf has to wrench sideways midair to
DaxFor the last hour I've been telling myself I'm only out here to keep the idiot from getting himself killed.It's a good lie.Responsible.Very Alpha.The kind of thing my father would've said with a straight face right before going off and doing exactly what he wanted.Truth is, I caught his tr
NoahThree miles from where you should be standing.The asshole could have at least given me a direction.Fortunately, I’ve learned to trust my instincts.Hunters don’t have any inherent magic, but our senses are more developed than those of ordinary humans.So here I am.Three miles out from the N







