Mikhail paced inside the office at Right Vices. The club downstairs boomed and quaked, vibrating the floor. His last lead didn't pan out, his current ambush so carefully crafted broke apart at the last minute. When Tourke had been poisoned here, it might have looked like a prank to everyone, because really the man was fine. The idea of pulling this on someone from a different pack, especially if there were disputes between two clans, wasn't newly invented. Quite the opposite. Mikhail had hated his mother's brother, the Beta of Erais Clan. And got into all sorts of trouble for annoying his father and his uncle. Never had he crossed the limits. Noah had figured out something was wrong the moment Tourke had insisted on meeting outside the clan territory. One of the unspoken protocols among them was, wolves were better protected in territories. Why would then Tembrook choose to meet here on that day when he had been officially sent on a visit by his Alpha Rudiger? Alpha Rudiger of Lunar
Wind whistled, swirling inside the chimney, knocking against the bricks. Vanessa paid eeri attention to it. Anytime now, she'd drift off to sleep. Whatever had happened, she had not invited it. She used that sentence to remind herself that things happened. She wasn't always a train wreck. She wasn't always a problem-magnet. She had her good moments, maybe the unkindly events outshone them sometimes. But she still had good moments. Her faith tested her right after a session in self-efficacy. Someone pounded at her door. Not loud, definitely urgent. She focused her ability to smell on the stranger. Mikhail. Peony fields and gentle mint. That was him. She first had to wrangle her hands out of the tie, all the while he kept knocking."A minute Mikhail!" If he was in trouble. She didn't know what help she could be. She sensed another presence, but she could only smell his blood. Lot of it. First right, then left. She looked down at her feet to feel they were moving still. On autopilot, sh
She breathed in a deep lungful of cold air, back in the room, the three men had left her scarce of it. In order to avoid menial troubles, like money and debt, she planted herself into a big one. Joke’s on her. Literally. Other people had bullies growing up, some external force throwing their normal life into chaos. With her? She did it to herself. If her mum could see her right now, she’d be hanging a ‘I-told-you-so’ on her forehead, and Vanessa would be none the wiser for it. Mikhail sewed his brother’s skin with thin white absorbable suture, Evan grunted every time alcohol was poured to disinfect his skin. The sutures were the worst part. He shoved a couch pillow and bit it in half. After destroying three such cushions, his head lolled to the side. Noah kept an eye out on Vanessa. Her sudden disappearance made him irrationally angry. For some unbidden reason, he wanted her to see this. See, and realize, how ugly things get. How sheltered she and the rest of the pack members are, ev
Noah noticed the hide and seek of her tongue. It peeked out, like a tease. He was certain it wasn’t intentional but he could care less. He wanted to taste her. Cupping the back of her head, he tipped her chin, barely touching their noses together. Their lips skimmed. The barest hint of touch had her flexing her toes. She gripped the lapels of his coat for support. It only brought him closer. Their foreheads touched, because Noah had bent his head to keep staring into her eyes. What started out as gentle ministration of lips, hesitant in their approach turned to a full-fledged clash of want and passion. His hand fisted in her hair, while the other encased her neck. The threat was there, his hand covered her neck wholly and she waited with bated breath to feel a light squeeze. Given how his tongue molded to hers, moving the way hers moved, never leaving enough space to seek a moment’s reprieve. Noah outlined the blue vein pulsing in her neck, he knew she expected him to control her mo
The sun shone bright and early, and the traffic on the highway, rare for a city dwelling person, caused an undeniable headache to a restless wolf with sharpened senses and affinity to the quiet of the forest. Evan Ryder mumbled in his sleep, complaining mostly. The couch carried his weight under lengthy duress, but at least it was comfortable. Unlike his leg, which felt like it had endured laser burns and the treatment had been to peel off the skin. His stomach growled in hunger and he was thirsty. His memory said 'serves you right'. Maybe it did, he wanted to go guns blazing as a one-man show. No, one werewolf show, and this happened. Now he was grumpy and hungry. He noticed how his brother and Noah were still asleep. He had to raid the small fridge because he couldn't cook even if his life depended on it. Vanessa quickly showered and grabbed a white shirt reaching her mid-thighs. She didn't bother with decent clothes because she had mostly packed them up. She thought about making
Eerie silence of the villa haunted the gates when Noah and Mikhail arrived. The small animals littering the garden reclused their usual senseless chatter and preferred a hole or a leaf to lie in. Amair was waiting for them on the doorsteps. Noah need not ask him anything. He was talking before they stepped in. “This happened around one last night. I had gone to feed the horses. The rest of the staff was down in basement, collecting files, paperwork as you had requested. I think the silence would’ve given away intruders, but it didn’t. So their trick didn’t involve breaking and entering.” Noah preened at the plural implication. So there were a group of highly skilled creatures, whoever they were. And they were organzied. Their previous shenanigans that werewolves had not taken seriously were coming full circle.He shared a look with Mikhail. Mikhail nodded. He affirmed how right Noah was. He had caught on early, how this weren’t just other rogue creatures causing menace by poisonin
Evan groaned and stretched his arms up and above, revealing his stomach muscles. Those abs had seen better days. He was bruised, badly on one side. The purplish color raked and came off blue across his skin. He didn’t do it so Vanessa could stare but she was looking at him. Slightly nervous. Noah knew how to pick them didn’t he? Skittish. But she was brave.The first time Evan had seen blood as a kid, he had puked. Call it intuition, he knew she wasn’t sheltered. She had the roughness around her edges. She might be scared now, but she wasn’t afraid of them. “Querida, like what you see?” , only if he could keep his tongue stuck inside and his words to himself. Evan would be a better person, or so his brother said to him. But who cared about being better? If Noah had the reputation of playboy casanova, Evan was worst. Since Vanessa was his age, he probably didn’t know but they trained together in summers where all teenage wolves did. He didn’t unnerve her the way Noah did either. But
.“Thank you for bringing me here then.” She can’t be jovial about the reasons but she can appreciate the scenery all the same. “To drown something? Overnight, you went from goody two shoes to this, is it?” She rolled her eyes to that. “I am not a goody two shoes. I just keep away from trouble. Specially your kind.” “Ouch. Your conscience okay hurting a patient?” He playfully clutched his heart and pretended to fall over. She laughed then. A small tinker like quality, the spark in her eyes, and Evan had to not make this awkward by suddenly staring at her. He was no Noah Abel, staring and brooding until things came to him. He rather take them of his own free will. Vanessa wasn’t a thing, he knew. But he wanted her. Evan cleansed the seats and pushed the car down hill. It’d break on its way, the current would carry broken pieces upstream where villagers would re-use the junk for suitable purposes. She helped him with the whole process with no hesitation. He turned to her, sweatin