AmoraThe grass lookedsoft when I knelt down, but in actuality, itโs prickly as fuck against my bare legs. On the bright side, if I focus on the sandpaper-like roughness beneath me, I can somewhat ignore the way the rest of me feels right now.Sucking in a deep lungful of air, I uncurl and lean back against the trunk of the nearby tree, breathing through the tight ache in my chest. Pressing two fingers to the knot of anxiety that seems to sit just behind my sternum, I try to massage it away, but Iโm pretty sure itโs here to stay.Itโs not really pain. Not like how the shadow poison turned my body against me, giving me seizures and cramps and bone deep agony. The broken mate bond feels more like an absence of feeling. A void inside me, sharp and cold, where something was cut out that should still be there. Phantom pain from a lost limb.A limb you didnโt need, I remind myself darkly.Leaning my head back against the bark, I draw in another deep, calming breath and count to five. Then I
Even runningat my fastest pace, and only resting for the briefest naps, it takes me two days to reach Red River, the small ski resort town where we parked our bikes. Iโm not surprised to find the guysโ bikes gone. Their shadow wolf forms are annoyingly a lot faster than my normal wolf.Iโm even less surprised to find that my bike has been disabled. Someone took wire cutters to everything that could possibly be destroyed, just like I did to Kianโs Harley back in Oscura.โFucking asshole,โ I mutter, kicking the bikeโs back tire. Iโd bet every fucking penny I own that Kian was the one who did this.As if mutilating my soul to remove the mate bond wasnโt enough, he had to cut me another way.Itโs the off-season, so the town is fairly quiet. I find a rental place that specializes in motor sportsโmainly snowmobiles and dirt bikes meant for dicking around in the mountains. Lucky for me, theyโve also got a few motorcycles. I donโt go inside. I just walk by the facade of the store to check the
The woman flashes me a smile full of white teeth. โPerhaps I can help you there, too.โShe comes out from behind the register and walks to the front door, where she flips the Open sign to Closed and locks the deadbolt. Then she crooks a finger at me and leads me through a door in the back of the shop.A short circular table sits in a prominent place in the center of the room. I recognize many of the magical tools on its surface, not because Iโm familiar with witchy shit, but because I recently stayed in a witchโs house after we killed him.Iโd be sure to not mention that to this witch. As long as she doesnโt try to sell me into slavery to another witchโor try to kill meโI have no beef with her, unlike with Erik.โYou are packless,โ the witch observes, motioning for me to have a seat in a metal folding chair at the side of the room. Two chairs flank a small card table covered in a woven cloth. A velvet bag rests atop the table, about the right size to hold a pack of tarot cards.Sittin
FrostColorado is cold.So am I. Inside, as if the poison turned me to ice before it left my bloodstream.Three days have passed since we found the rift near the Devilโs Teeth. My paws beat against the ground in time with my brothersโ as we race toward another lead. Theyโre both positive this is the oneโthat this thin veil between realms is the one that will bring our real home to earth and ease our agony forever.The San Juan National Forest. One-point-eight million acres of mesas, mountains, and forested lands owned by the federal government. Weโve been here before. Many times. Good hunting. Fresh mountain water, the kind that feels like it can heal.But no viable rifts.Iโm a realist. I doubt this will be any different from the last. Or the half dozen before that one. We search and we search, finding thin places where we can feel the shadow realm. Just there, on the other side of a veil we canโt touch. Even if we canโt breach the portal, we can feel that energy. It buoys us, bolste
The tightness in my chest ices over, and a memory shoves its way to the front of my mind. The sight of Amora on her knees, staring at me with a mixture of horror, anger, and despair.Being around her eased my pain just as much as being near a shadow realm rift. Now that sheโs gone, everything seems much more acute. The pain. My senses. The loneliness.I swallow, then shove the rest of the rabbit away with my snout and shift back to human form.Leaving my brothers to their meals, I walk across the rocky shore and right into the water without looking back. I catch Kianโs irritated voice saying, Look what you did, dumbass, before I sink beneath the surface.The lake is frigid, but it chases away my overwhelming emotions. I keep walking. My toes sink into the loose lakebed as I descend further into the surprisingly clear water. My hair waves around my face, and the shadows on my arms move much too fast. Faster than Iโve ever seen them. I let my knees bend and sink gently into the water, h
AmoraA hot tongue trails slowly up my inner thigh.A moan escapes my lips, and a warm chuckle answers it.When I look down, Malix is settled between my legs. His dark skin is smooth and soft looking, and his violet eyes burn with heat and amusement as he holds my gaze. Without looking away, he drags his tongue even higher until he reaches the apex of my thighs.Iโm already wet for him.I can feel my arousal seeping from me, soaking my skin.When he laps at my clit, I let out a soft moan, reaching down to try to grab his head and hold him right where I want him. But large hands grip my wrists, pulling them away from him and pinning them to the mattress on either side of my body.I blink and look up, realizing for the first time that Kian and Frost are with us too. Theyโre kneeling on either side of me, each man holding down one of my arms. Frostโs blue irises glow like ice lit from within, a startling contrast to the burning embers of Kianโs brown and gold eyes.โUh uh, kitty,โ Malix
Some part of me likes thatโa lot.Likes having control over him, likes breaking him apart.As if determined not to give me too much control, Kian grasps my hips, his calloused fingers digging into my skin as he uses that grip to guide my motions. The head of his cock hits the perfect spot inside me, and I shudder, throwing my head back as my toes curl.His hands slide around to my ass, squeezing and massaging me before he grips both of my cheeks and spreads them apart.I yelp in surprise, but he keeps them spread open as Frost moves over the bed, settling behind me. Malix is still kneeling in front of me, his fist gripping his thick cock tightly as milky beads of precum leak from the tip.Kian watches me with his enigmatic eyes, taking in every detail of my expression as Frostโs cock slides between my ass cheeks.The blond man isnโt pressing against my back hole, just gliding through the channel created by my cheeks as my arousal and his precum slick the way. His breath ghosts over the
AmoraWhen I arrive,The Brujaโs Cauldron hasnโt opened yet. I stand in the too-bright sunshine and bang on the door until Rue appears from the back room. She catches sight of me through the glass door, and her thin, shapely eyebrows rise toward her hairline as she opens the door.โI thought the building was on fire,โ she drawls, stepping back to let me inside.โHow much longer will it take?โ I demand, halting just inside the door, my fists clamped around the straps on my backpack.Rue stares at me, her brows arched toward her widowโs peak hairline.My body is tense, and my mind is screaming at me that time is running out. Itโs probably not trueโthe three feral shifters have been searching for their rift for ages, so thereโs no reason to believe theyโre going to randomly find the right place now.But I canโt get past the sense of foreboding.Honestly though, that doesnโt excuse my being an asshole. So I try again, a little more politely this time. โSorry. Good morning, Rue. How much lo
Fuck. Could Amora even survive what exists in the other realm? Unease prickles up my spine at how close we just came to losing her.We need to take those shadows out, I tell my brothers. As fast as we can.Weโre yanked back into combat as several of Quintonโs wolves burst into our little circle, breaking up the party.I pounce on the nearest Blood Moon wolf, taking him down to the ground, while Malix and Frost tag team a shadow shifter. Picking up the wolf with my teeth, I fling him at two more advancing wolves, taking them down like pins in a bowling lane.When I glance back up, Malix and Frost are having trouble with their shadow shifter. The beast is big, and he mustโve been pumped full of more shadow magic than the rest, because he fights almost like a Berserker, wild and brutal. I leap over one of the fallen wolves and head toward them to help, only to stop cold as Amora screams my name.Kian!Whirling around, I find her darting over the uneven terrain in a mad zigzag pattern whi
KianJust like thenight when Quinton nearly executed our mate with a bullet to the head, I donโt hesitate.Iโm in the air a split second after my old alphaโs paws have left the dirt. I intercept his leap and slam into him in mid-air, angling so that I hit his head with my chest. Heโs so massive that it feels like a rock wall slamming into me, and I huff out a pained breath. If I were any smaller or weaker, I have no doubt his skull would have broken a few bones in my torso.Quinton flies away from me while I fall to the ground, winded. I barely manage to land on all fours as he skids away from me, kicking up dirt and stones and clumps of grass. All around me, chaos breaks loose as the Silver Crest wolves and Blood Moon pack launch into an all-out war.In the very short half second I have before Quinton stands, I glance around and consider our odds. Weโre on Felicityโs turf now, and there are more of us physically than there are of them. Both will give us an advantage. Unfortunately, t
AmoraFuck. Not Quinton. Please, donโt let it be Quinton. Weโre not fucking ready.Iโm not sure who moves first, but within seconds of the piercing howl outside, the four of us are racing across the dark, silent cabin toward the front door.Kian reaches the door first and flings it open, launching himself out into the night with Malix and Frost right behind him. As I come even with the door and prepare to shift, I pause for a fraction of a second, mesmerized by the sight of them leaping from the small front stoop.They trail black smoke as they shift, morphing like shadows. Itโs beautiful in a deadly sort of way, as if theyโre more than limbs and torsos and heads, but something more metaphysical. More fluid. A macabre dance of shadows.Then they land on the dusty front lawn in full shadow wolf form and take off. I hurry to follow behind, letting my own shift take over my body in the split second after I leap off the porch stoop.Another howl lights up the night, and I put on a burst o
AmoraI surfacefrom a dreamless sleep to the deep, dark of night, cocooned by the warmth of the three men sleeping around me.Iโm on my back, completely pinned in by themโsomething that, once upon a time, would have sent alarm bells clanging through my head. Instead, itโs peaceful and comforting, if a little too warm.The ceiling is barely visible in the blackness, small cracks in the paint standing out like spider webs made of ink. I take a couple of deep breaths, staring up at them as I try to figure out where I stand. How I feel.The past few weeks still weigh on my shoulders, although I imagine thatโs not something thatโs just going to go away. Things still arenโt good here. We lost against Quinton, and Iโm not naรฏve enough to think he wonโt retaliate. Felicity is dead, and thatโs a pretty permanent problem thatโs going to throw her whole pack into a state of flux for a while.On the other hand, for the first time in a while, Iโm okay. Even if the external world is chaos, my inter
In this moment, itโs just me and my men.Finally, Malix lifts his head and drops a kiss to the tip of my nose. โGod, I love fucking you,โ he murmurs.โGood.โ I chuckle. โBecause Iโve got lots of plans for more of this.โHe waggles his eyebrows. โDirty girl. You really are my fated mate.โI breathe out another laugh at the idea that my dirty mind is the true proof that weโre a fated match, shaking my head and grinning at him as he draws back, his cock sliding out of me.Frost, Malix, and I all look toward Kian next.The final piece of the puzzle. My third mate.Heโs kneeling on the bed beside me, and when I reach for him, he comes willingly. He settles between my legs, his cock hard and thick. But he doesnโt slide into me right away. Instead, he trails one hand down my stomach, and all four of us watch the path of his fingers as they move lower and lower. When he reaches my pussy, he dips two fingers inside. I moan at the feeling, and heat flashes in his eyes.โYou look so stunning lik
His gold-rimmed eyes gleam darkly, as if he knows exactly what Iโm doingโtrying to get a rise out of him. But the heated possessiveness never wavers in his expression as he gives me an answer.โBecause I want to look at you. I want my brothers to see whatโs theirs. Whatโs ours.โOh.Oh fuck.I didnโt expect his answer to turn me on so much, but after everything that just happened between us in the bathroom, every word he just spoke is loaded with meaning.So I donโt push back against his order, staying still just like he told me to and allowing the three men to stare down at me. Frost reaches down to grip his cock, and I wonder if heโs squeezing himself to get a little relief or to try to get his arousal under control. Maybe a bit of both.That thought makes me whimper softly, and although I make no move to reach for the feral shifters, I canโt resist reaching down to slide one hand between my legs.โShit, kitty,โ Malix chokes out as I use my fingertips to spread my pussy lips, giving
โFuck prophecies,โ I repeat as I swipe at the tears threatening to crest over my eyelashes. โI make my own fate. Weโll make our own fate. Together. And it wonโt end in murder. Got it?โ I jam my finger into Kianโs chest and cut a glare toward Frost. โWe arenโt going to go down like that. Not like them. I couldnโt stand it. I canโt even stand the thought ofโฆ of hurting you or killing you. Jesus. I canโt believe I ever triedโโSuddenly, Frostโs arm snakes out and hooks around my waist. He yanks me to him, my arms crushed between us as my fingers still cling to my towel, and his lips cover mine, cutting off my rant.Thereโs a salty, spicy taste to his skin, and when his lips part in that tentative way of his, Iโm surrounded by the familiar scent of his body. Warmth unfurls in my belly, heating my skin, and I tilt my face up to his, opening to his kiss.Itโs soft at first, but then he catches my face in his hands and deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding against mine with deliberate possess
AmoraHeat risesin my eyes as I flip the water on in the shower and climb inside. I donโt even wait for the water to warm, and the shock of cold zings through me, giving me a rush of adrenaline to chase away the sheer exhaustion thatโs settled over my bones. The cold quickly fades, replaced by lukewarm water. Another twist of the pipes gives me the scalding temperature I need to ease the emotional turmoil I feel.Weeks of grime slosh off my body beneath the shower head while my tears disappear into the water on my face. I dump shampoo on my hair and scrub vigorously with my fingernails, scratching harder than necessary. If I focus on the little pinpricks of pain, maybe I can get the sight of Quinton standing over Felicityโs body out of my head.If only for a moment.His mate.His mate.How could he do that?I turn, ducking my head under the water to rinse out the suds. I grab the bar of soap off the ledge beside me and lather my hands, then use my nails again to scrub at my face.How
So we travel quickly, digging deep into our energy reserves to race headlong across state lines. Micro-naps and brief pauses to eat or drink are the only breaks we allow, and surprisingly, nobody falls behind. I assume the weaker shifters are still running on pure adrenaline.Most of the adrenaline has faded by the time we cross the state line into Wyoming, but it doesnโt matter. We keep pushing anyway.When we finally reach the Silver Crest packโs boundaries two days later, a heavy feeling falls over the group. Felicityโs shifters slow, as if dreading to bring the news of her death to those left back home.Many of the wolves limp or nurse wounds that have yet to fully heal, and it doesnโt take more than a glance to understand every one of them is completely demoralized by what happened. Itโs late in the day, and although the last rays of the sun paint the buildings with a warm, glowing light, despair hangs around us like a weight in the air.When pack members begin to emerge from the