Jane’s POVI forced myself to smile, trying desperately to stop my uncontrollable tears.“No, that’s not it.” Hunter frowned, seemingly overwhelmed. “My apology came from the heart, Jane, I promise.”“I need the antidote for your own good,” he went on. “Amy can’t die – at least not right now.”“Yeah, Amy is your Luna. I get it.” I sniffled. “She’s higher up the pack than me. Her life is worth so much more than mine. It’s me who should die!” I met his gaze unfalteringly, though tears carved my pain down my cheeks. “I’m sorry I’m not dead,” I spat.“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m doing this for you, not her. Amy’s death will bring you and your kids a lot of trouble.” He shifted in his seat, his eyes darting from me to the squeaky linoleum floor, as if he were uncomfortable with this conversation. Well – he’d been the one to start it; if he was uncomfortable, so be it.“I’m not afraid of trouble,” I said levelly, trying to hold his gaze, “I want her dead. She tried to strangle Ares.
Jane’s POV‘Oh my god,’ I breathed. ‘Ina?’A silver wolf had burst from within me. I stared down at her, completely dumbfounded. ‘What? Hang on – did you say Alpha? I’m an Omega. I’m Jane, and I already have a wolf. Her name is Nina, which is one more letter than yours…’ I shook my head. ‘Who are you?’‘What? You already have a wolf? Then how can I be here for you? The Moon Goddess sent me here – well, okay, actually, I just got attracted to the smell of pizza and went over to smell it… but I’m sure that’s what she wanted me to! Now I’ve found you, my Alpha, and as you can see,’ she fluttered her lashes, ‘I’m just a beautiful Alpha she-wolf.’ She lifted her head to the sky and howled.‘But I… I did have my wolf, on the night I turned eighteen.’ I stammered over the words, so dazed and confused that I felt numb all over. ‘Her name is – was? – Nina. I’m sure it wasn’t you…’I was struck with worry about Nina. She’d been gone for so long. Had she got the wrong person and end up being som
Jane’s POV‘No!’ I roared.Ina leapt down, trying to grab my boys, but she was too late.Reg was faster. He jumped, grabbed them in his front paws, and then rolled onto his back, cushioning their fall. Protected by his thick fur, Ares and Owen were fine.It didn’t slow the furious beating of my heart, though. I kept picturing them falling, kept imagining what would’ve happened if Reg hadn’t been quick enough to save them. I shuddered.A beat later, I realised that Ina was falling. She smashed into the ground beside Reg, whimpered, and scampered to her feet. Reg rolled over and put the two pups beside S’s wolf. The Shadows crowded around us, blocking out the daylight on all sides.‘Sorry, Jane!’ chirped Ina.My heart sank. ‘For what?’‘I’m going to leave!’ With that, she pounced away in the opposite direction to the hospital. She slammed into one of Hunter’s Shadows, knocking them to the ground, and then her paws struck the grass fast and she pounded away. ‘Without your babies.’Reg wa
Jane’s POV“So she is you!” Hunter stepped closer to me, his upper lip curling. “S, tell the Shadows they can stop searching.”Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? The second I saw him step out of my house, my anger burned white-hot; it blazed through me like an inferno. I just wanted one moment of peace. He was always around, always getting involved where he wasn’t needed or wanted. He’d poisoned our children – and now, what? Was he going to arrest me? Kill me? I bared my teeth at him.Ina shifted out again, my anger filling her veins. ‘What?’ she gasped. ‘Those are your children with him? You had them together?’ She struggled to get her mind round it. ‘How could he try to kill them?’She howled at him. It was no greeting; it was the bloodthirsty sound of vengeance.Hunter was so calm. Too calm. Ina gnashed her teeth, sizing him up; he looked right back at us, staring through Ina as if he was trying to use x-ray vision to see through her into me.He took another step towards us. I fel
Jane’s POV“Hunter, are you sure?” I looked up, holding his gaze as I worried my bottom lip. “Do we really have to do this?”He covered my eyes again. “Don’t look at me like that. Your eyes are cute, but I don’t want to trust them right now.” I felt his weight shift as he leant in, pressing his lips to mine gently. He didn’t bite or suck; he just kept them there, their pressure feather-light.I knew he was waiting for me to make the decision. Pushing up onto my tiptoes, I peeled his hands away from my eyes. “Okay,” I breathed, swallowing a lump in my throat. “I’ll give you what you want, and you’ll keep your promise.”As I wound my arms around his neck, I was hit again with how tall he was. I ran my fingertips over his broad shoulders, wetting my lips in anticipation; he grabbed me by the waist, tugging my body flush to his. My kisses followed the path of his arched neck – I left a blazing trail of tender kisses to the knot of his throat, scraping my teeth lightly over the sensitive
Hunter’s POVWhen I held Amy and saw Jane’s cold blue eyes, I knew she’d misunderstood. But it didn’t matter if she hated me – not if she was alive. That was all that mattered to me right now. I had to keep her safe.This was my fault. I never should have shown my interest in her so blatantly, especially not in front of Amy. That was why she’d ended up tangled in the knot of my mess.Jane was just an Omega. She wasn’t able to defend herself the way I could. Hell, Ivan’s silver spike could’ve killed her. He could’ve done it with less – even a bloody nail ripped from the fence. She had no idea what she was up against.I bit back a sigh. Reg, however, let out a loud sigh, uncaring who heard. My heart pinched at the sound. I’d never seen him look so sad. ‘What are you sighing for? Didn’t you want to try and make her hate me? Well, now she does.’He sighed again, even more dramatically this time. ‘Well, Hunter, I was trying to make her see flaws in you to more clearly show the good in me.
Hunter’s POVI went back to my apartment to wash the blood from my body. But even the soothing hot water of the shower couldn’t cleanse the stains from my memory. My blood mixed with Carl’s and Ivan’s, and I watched with an old ache in my heart as it swirled down the plughole.I hated to let myself bleed in the middle of a fight. It took me back to my nightmares, and I struggled to claw my way back out of them. Since I’d left home, my insomnia had only worsened. Memories, blurred at the edges but sharp where I least wanted them to be, plagued me in the quiet, lonely hours of the night.My reflection eyed me coldly in the gleaming metal of the shower. I stared at it listlessly, helplessly, wondering if I deserved to be haunted by the ghosts of my past.I’d never had the strength to avenge her and, with no way to kill my father, I’d allowed myself to take the coward’s way out, pretending he didn’t exist rather than facing him like the Alpha I was.But the things that Ivan had done remin
Hunter’s POVThousands of thoughts flashed through my mind. I tried to make sense of what I’d seen, tried to understand what it meant for me, but I kept circling back to my father. If I were him, why would I have done this? And what would I do now? My head pounded, the weight of my unanswered questions slamming full force against my skull.I was almost relieved when S spoke, his calm voice cutting through my inner turmoil. “Alpha, the doctor said Luna Amy is in a very bad state. Without the antidote, both she and her baby could die.”That was a problem I could solve. “Right,” I said, forcibly relaxing my tensed shoulders. I had to put Ivan and the butt-birthmark mystery aside. Amy and the baby needed me.And I needed that baby, too. He could be useful to me. Shameful though it was, I had to use him. I had to use him to find out who Ava’s kidnappers really were, and to work out what they wanted.“S, are Ava and the two boys okay?” I asked, heading to the stairs and away from the blood