I didn't want to return to the pack.However, Lucas told me to trust him which is what I did.I don't know what Valerie and Hunter are planning but a few days later, they arrive, to bring me back to the back and this time by force if need be. As Lucas had predicted, he had been sent on a mission and he wasn't home. But the surprise really came with my entire family showed up to escort me back, my father at the forefront. I had seen Hunter’s anger at being out maneuvered and Valerie’s dismay but they had had no choice but to let my family escort me. Whatever, while holding their gaze, I had crouched to the ground and told my wolves to run which they did.The fury in Hunter’s eyes had been satisfying.However, I wasn’t welcome back to the pack with open arms, just as I had expected.It’s been four days since I returned and the hostility is suffocating. Pack mates who had once been so close to me, now give me cold glances or simply pretend I don’t exist. This is
“I have nothing to say to you,” I walk over to the armchair and sit down, refusing to let him see my fear at being alone with him. Hunter ignores me, “How long has this thing being going on between you and Lucas? He was obviously courting you while we were together. Why else would he mate you so quickly?”His voice is hard and I narrow my eyes at him, “Why do you care? You banished me, remember? You and Valerie had made that perfect little plan of yours.”I can see the anger in his eyes and he hisses, “There was no plan! You’ve been harassing Valerie for a long time now! I saw the marks on her body where you hit her! Despite everything, she still protected you-““Marks?” I echo, a mocking laugh on my lips. “She’s a wolf, Hunter! You of all people know about our healing abilities. What marks are you talking about? And I never touched that girl!”I see his face falter but I ignore it.I get to my feet, “I don’t even care. I just want to leave this hell hole. I don’t wa
I don’t have a plan but I know I need to get out and figure out something. When I open my door, there are no guards there. I don't know why I expected Hunter to put somebody to watch me. Despite everything, he's very confident in his plan.But if I leave right now, in the middle of the day, he will hear about it.So I decide to wait till dinner time when everybody would be in the common room. So I pack up a few essentials and wait. I can't look like I'm leaving. It has to seem like I'm just going for a walk to stretch my legs.Not surprising since shifters do need to run. Now, I may not be able to shift, but I still have the desire to feel the earth between my feet and just run.I time my escape very carefully.I’m counting on the fact that the spell Lucas has had put on me to prevent my scent from being tracked is still working. When dinner time arrives, I slip out, quietly, without my shoes. I have them in the small backpack slung over my shoulder. It takes me
“Blood - What?” I’m so dazed right now and tension goes back to the pack mates standing just a few feet away from me and I scramble back, “T-They can’t see me?” “No.”“We should leave,” One of them, John, says, looking uncomfortable. “Why does Hunter even want us to bring Sarah back? Didn’t he just banish her? What is he doing bringing her back?”His companion, Ralph, frowns, “I don’t get it. He’s acting strange. And Sarah just stays in her room. Poor kid.”“Why are you sympathising with her?” John barks. “After what she did-“Ralph shrugs, “It seems a little off to me, the whole situation. I mean kicking her out without even a witness to back up Valerie’s claims and then making Valerie his intended almost immediately. Sarah was smart. She would have made a good mate to him. The whole thing feels a little fishy to me. Sarah isn’t like that. She’s always been helpful and kind. From he way Hunter and Valerie are describing her, she sounds one step up from crazy. So why brin
The wolves come pouring out of the trees, their teeth bared as they rush towards the shifters, members of my own pack who had been chasing after Lucas.I stand tall and firm, hatred in my eyes as I watch the wolves go after them.My pack mates look stunned at first as they look at me and after fending themselves off. They realise that they’re not going to win so they turn around and flee. “Stop,” I say, quietly and all the wolves freeze, turning to look back at me and I continue. “Let them escape.”I know who they are. I glimpsed the scars on their paws.They are Hunter’s private soldiers. Alphas don’t usually have a private army but it Hunter’s father had created one. It was a small force of ten very deadly shifters. Hunter had once revealed their existence to me when we were young. He had boasted about how they would serve him when he became Alpha. All ten members bore rigid scars on their wrists. It was their identifying mark.So that’s what Hunter meant when
I rush into the cottage but before I can reach the bedroom, the door opens and a bare chested Lucas walks out.He looks like hell and the minute he lays eyes on me, I’m within his arms before I can so much as blink, “Thank heavens you’re okay!”I have never seen him sound so desperate since I’ve known him and as I stand there pressed against him, my eyes brim my tears and I take in his scent, “Do you know how worried I’ve been?”I make a sobbing sound, “You blocked me out! I couldn’t feel you - I thought -““I’m sorry,”He murmurs, hoarsely, into my hair. “I’m sorry but I was left with no choice. You would have felt everything - l had to protect you.”“What happened?” I ask, pulling away from him to look at his handsome face. “Why were you gone for so long and what happened to bring you to this state?” “You’re awake,” Aliya’s voice floats from the stairs. “But not completely healed. Get back to bed. Why are you always bringing trouble to my doorstep, Lucas?” Lucas
Despite my pain, I scowl, “You’re supposed to be resting. Go back.”But the wolf pads over, nudging me with his nose and licking at my tears. I push him away, “Just go. Leave me alone.”But Lucas seems to have no intentions of leaving. He stands by my side, towering over me and I look the other way, the wounds far too raw for me to deal with him.However, when nothing he does gets my attention, he plops down on the ground, resting his head on my lap.I push it off, “No.” He puts it back on and when I bring my hand closer to push him away, he licks them shamelessly, making me scowl.His head alone is too heavy for me to get up and the more I try, the more adamant he is on not letting me leave.“Do what you want,” I mutter, bitterly. “In fact, why don't you hurl a few more accusations at me? Maybe tell me I deserved everything that happened to me? That -“The wolf in my lap transforms into an angry looking man who pushes me back onto the ground, holding me down, “I
“Go back?” My injured feelings forgotten, I turn around to give Lucas an astounded look. “Have you lost your mind?! I'm not letting you go back there! Hunter tried to kill you and the moment I stepped back into the den, they’ll lock me up!”“You think I’m going to let then do anything to you?” Lucas pushes my hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck and his mouth lowers to the vulnerable skin.I shiver as an unexplained emotion passes through me at the contact, “W-What do you mean?”“First of all,” He murmurs, his breath hot against my skin. “I’m going to take the weeks of vacation days I have piled up.”My eyes flutter shut as all I can think and feel is Lucas and his mouth hovering over my neck. His tongue darts out to give a small lick and I press my lips together, not trusting my voice.“You and I will walk in there, as a mated couple. We’ll stay together. Newly mated couples aren’t expected to part from each other anyway so if Hunter tries to separate us, the pac