LOGINAlexa walked into their shared bedroom, where, as she had predicted, Aiden had been waiting for her. Standing by the large window like some Greek god illuminated by the fullness of the moon. And if it weren't for that expectant look in his eyes, her heart would have skipped a beat; instead, a knot made itself at home in her stomach. Her heart clenched painfully, and suddenly she felt all the anger, the hurt, the betrayal, and the fight left her all at once, leaving behind something both vulnerable and raw. Something she had wanted to avoid but couldn't when he looked at her like that, his emotions trickling in through their bond unchecked. ‘Not now, Aiden,’ her voice was so soft and raw with such emotion that it left a bitterness on her tongue. Alexa turned her back to the man, unable to look into his expressive eyes, too afraid that her walls would break and everything she was bottling up would flood out of her like a dam bursting. ‘Then when?’ He asked, moving closer to his mate
‘Alexa, please!’ Aiden called out, a new tentative tone filtered into his voice adding to the pleading and concern that had already been there as he followed her but this time he did not reach out to stop her, instead he followed at what he deemed a safe distance like he was tracking a predator, and in a way he supposed he was for she on the hunt.Alexa ignored him, her mind focused now on only one thing: to find and confront Jayden regarding her behavior the past six months. And she wasn't going to stop until she got herself some answers.Alexa tracked Griffon by his scent, allowing her wolf instincts to take over her more rational human mind, which was all too happy to step aside for the wolf. She knew he'd lead her straight to Jayden, under the impression Aiden would have been able to stop her or talk some sense into her, and for that, he would have been wrong.She found them near the building her mother used for her witchy business and school to teach Isaac and Jayden about witchc
That night, when the sun had set, and the moon hung high in the sky, leaving the world silent as the day and all its events bled way into the night, left Alexa to find herself sitting in their ridiculously large dining room, surrounded by so many faces but feeling more alone than she’d ever felt in her entire life.She sat there, this time not at the head of the table but rather to the side, Aiden taking up the seat to her left, leaving the seat to her right empty, a new development she was struggling to accept as its usual occupant sat farther down the table, avoiding her questioning glances. This left the redheaded werewolf contemplating her life and the way it had turned out these past six months whilst she sat pushing the food around on her plate almost absent-mindedly, her mouth tight and her brow furrowed as the room was filled with the dull hum of talking, accompanied by the occasional laugh from someone here and there. Her eyes drifted from person to person, taking in their
With a thunderous crash, Alexa found herself lying flat on her back, her lungs screaming in agony as the air left them like an escaped convict, both suddenly and silently. In comparison, the skin of her back throbbed almost loudly, stinging from the impact of her full body weight slamming against the barely padded flooring they had the audacity to call a sparring mat. Stars burst from behind eyelids she'd had no memory of closing, and she fought behind sharp, painful gasps in a desperate attempt to refill her lungs with much-needed oxygen. Her head still spinning from the way her opponent had unceremoniously flipped her feet over her head, leaving her sprawled across the floor like a corpse barely clinging to life, a look of utter bewilderment frozen on her face, and don’t even get her started on the state of her hair. ‘Again,’ came the authoritative command, and Alexa merely groaned, fingers clenching against the mat. The sound came out as more of a pathetic whine than the guttural
Griffon shot a look over his broad shoulders at the silent Jayden, who had yet to stand from her seat. Her shoulders were slumped forward, and a look of guilt was etched into her face, which had become thinner due to stress over the past six months. When she looked up to meet his gaze, something unspoken passed between them before he nodded and followed after the couple. His heart heavy with a secret they now shared between them. Jayden watched the man leave the room, following after her one and only friend and cousin, whom she had been unable to speak to in these past six months as they had before. Her heart sat heavy in her chest, and her stomach twisted with the secret she didn’t know how to share with one she used to share everything with. ‘You still haven’t told her, have you?’ Jean asked with a knowing look in her wise forest-colored eyes. ‘Is it that obvious?’ the young brunette asked, her voice small and full of worry. ‘You didn’t say a word, not once during the meeting. I
The stiff ambiance of the room was all but suffocating to the seven occupants, the tension so thick it could have been sliced in half with a sharp enough blade. Seven pairs of eyes glanced at one another, each one weighed down heavily by worry and something far more sinister, a sense of dread that left nothing but dry mouths unable to speak. To think this is where they found themselves when six months ago the world had been a much smaller place, there were far fewer worries to weigh down on the heart of the young, new Alpha. For whom would have ever thought a mere nineteen-year-old would have to worry about the livelihood and safety of an entire supernaturally gifted village that housed the pack she had inherited from her late father? A responsibility she had been wholly unprepared to shoulder on her own was now thrust at her with no word of warning or care that she had no idea what she was doing. She looked around the room at her companions, each one burdened by their own fears and







