Rune.“GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!” I’d heard that line before, and the moment it was uttered, it changed my life… for the worse. I couldn’t stop the burst of laughter at the irony. The arms around me tightened even harder and even though I couldn’t breathe well, it felt nice to be held like this. I looked up at the person holding me and saw deep black eyes and red hair. I blinked. I didn’t notice the lanky wolf had such an attractive face. Another giggle broke out of me. He smelled like mint on a cold night. I liked it.It must’ve been the alcohol in my system that made me reach out for his face and trace the line of his jaw. Red Hair’s eyes softened, and a little smile tugged at his strawberry-coloured lips. “Woah,“Fucking hell!” I heard another angry outburst before I pulled away from Red Hair and into the familiar musky scent. Angry green eyes stared down at me with tendrils of his black hair covering some of it. Another wolf and an even more attractive face. I smiled. “W
Kane.“MINE”Her possessive declaration filled my mind, replaying over and over like a broken record. I paced back and forth in my room letting the memory of her teeth in my skin take over. “I told you to call it off countless times but you wouldn’t listen to me. Maybe you’ll listen to our mate,” Ky’s mocking voice interrupted hers for a split second. “I can’t call it off just because she asked me to. There are more than a thousand things wrong with her. She can’t hunt, she doesn’t have one combat bone in her tiny body,” “I can tell you what she has though. She has a Luna bone!”“Ky!”“What? You heard her declaration!” My pulse quickened with forbidden longing. An animalistic hunger had coursed through me the moment she sank her teeth into my neck. I hated how helpless she rendered me at that moment with nothing but her hot breath fanning my neck. I would’ve offered her my heart on a platter if she asked for it, and the realization of how true that was forced me into staying the f
Rune.I thought I would feel a disconnect in my body when I stepped out of pack territory, but it felt the same way it felt yesterday when Soph and I snuck out for alcohol. There was nothing special about it. I hadn’t even realized we’d stepped out yet. I had to check to be sure we were out, and when it was confirmed, Kimi and I unconsciously let out breaths of relief.Our eyes met, and we chuckled. We hadn’t said a word to each other since we met at the pack house because I knew wolves. There was nothing that got past one wolf’s listening ear. Any talks about our movements would’ve been heard, and we would get caught and most likely be punished for trying to leave on the most important night the pack has had in decades. “We’ve overcome the hardest part,” I smiled down at Kimi, who nodded eagerly and looked up. “I feel the goddess is pissed at us for leaving tonight,” Kimi whispered and pointed to the sky. I looked up. Since I was born, I have witnessed all kinds of things that wer
Rune.I could not answer Alpha Kane’s question, and he didn’t seem like he cared for my answer anyway as he swooped me into his arms, slightly pressing my head against his chest. I was still shell-shocked from what had just happened and how I almost lost my life for the third time in less than a month. I let my body relax into the relief that flowed out of his body into mine—basking in the sweet, soft fabric of his coat that added to my comfort, although it smelled like him mixed with blood. The blood of the wolf he’d just killed.From the way his wicked eyes hardened when he looked at me a little over a minute ago, I knew he had a lot of things to say to me concerning my behaviour. I had disrespected his command to not leave the pack, and worse, I ended up in danger. But he showed up, once more like he’d been doing since our fates intertwined together on that one sunny morning. Zarah purred with a satisfied smile sitting on her face and dreamy eyes.Zarah’s behavior clicked a tiny f
Rune. My mouth hung open at the declaration as though it was my first time hearing about it, matching the shocked faces around me. Behind me stood the moon, clear and bright, announcing to the entire pack that I was exactly who they’d been waiting for: the Alpha’s mate.“That’s not possible,” a voice said from beside me. It belonged to one of the “chosen” females.“It can’t possibly be her. She’s a nobody,” she shook her head. I stared at her long black hair that framed her face, flowing loosely with the wind behind her. I had never seen her before; I didn’t even know her name, but she knew I couldn't be the Alpha’s fated mate. No doubt she had hoped it would be her, but then all the other females that stood beside me thought it would somehow be them. The other girls, Rachael included, made sounds of agreement, but all seemed to cease when Alpha Kane stepped down slowly from the altar, and his eyes glowed with a savage inner fire as he walked silently. I sucked in a breath and held
Rune.I found out days later that my training was by no means a punishment. The real punishment was Soph being so close and not speaking to me. I thought she was going through a rough time and needed some space on her own, but I found she was all smiles with Marian and even Kimi, who, by the way, was too excited to join me for the training. According to her, Alpha Kane had summoned her and told her that if she wanted to be by my side or live in the pack house at all, she had to do something about her weak bones. Soph was our trainer; she was strict and very strong. Those rumors about her started to feel true. She was rigorous and firm, barking out commands without a smile on her face, even when I cried out in pain. Marian and Kimi saved me that day. It was later revealed to me that the training had been to strengthen my body so I’d have enough stamina to perform a customary dance as an offering to Alpha Kane and the pack during the feast. It was right of Alpha Kane and Soph to arran
Rune.I told Zarah off after her absurd suggestion, but I couldn't help but think about it. I curled up in my bed, thinking about the possibility of succeeding at seducing him and birthing his heir. Would I really then be untouchable by him and everyone in the pack? Would I have the power to demand the release of my family? To be with them and make sure they live their lives as normally as possible? I sighed and turned.The problem was I couldn’t pull it off. Sure, there was a time or two we’d gotten close, and I felt aroused by him, his scent, his body. There was no way he felt the same. Asides from saving me– which I know he had only done out of duty to the bond we shared– there was no telling if he was affected by me in any way or form. His scowls were proof that he cared for me as much as Rachael cared for me. There was also the sickening feeling of deceiving him. I sighed and turned my neck to my open window, staring at the half-moon and stars-stained sky. There weren't as many
Rune.I woke up feeling well rested as though I had six hours of sleep when, in reality, I barely slept for an hour before the sun rose and it was time to head to the training room. The evidence of my lack of sleep sat in the bags under my eyes, which went unnoticed. It was the first thing Soph pointed out when we– Kimi included– gathered at the front door of the pack house as we’d been doing for the past days to go for training.Alpha Kane had been very opposed to Kimi sharing a room with me, so he assigned one of the lower rooms to her; it was on the same floor as the one I was locked up in and left to die a few weeks ago. Kimi loved it; she loved the idea of not sharing a room with anyone else, having a space of her own, and leaving at peace, where no bully could waltz in and give her a whacking she did not deserve. Her words, not mine. I waved off the questions and curious gazes, telling them my body hurt from all the workouts I had been doing. It didn't feel like the perfect t