ANNA
"River. Where are you taking me?" I giggle as he covers my eyes and leads me through the hallways of the pack house.
"Almost there." I can tell he's smiling.
We stop. He uncovers my eyes. I'm standing in front two large wooden doors. I look at River confused.
"Open them." He says quietly.
I grasp the doorknobs and swing the large doors open.
I gasp. The dome shaped room is covered in soft white candles. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling in books and artifacts. Paintings of past Alphas grace it's walls. Picture windows show the forest outside.
On the floor, is a white fur rug in front of a stone fireplace. Wood crackles and burns while flames dance in it.
A beautifully set table for two wait with dinner.
We just got back from the ball and River set up this surprise.
I suck in a
ANNA I swallow nervously as I look out on the crowd of thousands of heads staring at. Alpha Andrews is at the podium. He's talking about the victory and Torrents demise. Words of encouragement and celebration filled the air on the training field of the Falcon Ridge Security Unit. River is sitting beside me, in a chair on a stage. His fingers laced with mine. Like he can sense my nervousness, he looks to me and gives my hand a squeeze. He smiles warmly when my eyes meet his. I smile back. The ceremony was to honor those that made our victory over the Dragons possible. "Anna Riker. Can you stand over here please?" Alpha Andrews waves me over to him. I stand, straightening my uniform. I walk over and stand at attention facing him. He's holding a box. "For your unmeasured bravery, emmense courage and strength you had to kill the Alpha of Dragons, we would like to present to you the Medal of Honor. Wear it with pride." He takes the medal out of the box and pins it t
ANNA The night is still. A slight breeze blows my black fur as I sniff the air. My amber eyes shimmer in the dark. I stand at the edge of a clearing on the border of my pack's territory, Falcon Ridge. It's not huge, but it's not small either. On the other side of the imaginary line, I stand in front of, sits White Rock. An alliance pack, smaller numbers, but its members are tough. I scan the tree line with my wolf ears perked. Movement. A dark figure on four legs breaches the trees and trots toward me. As it gets closer, I recognize him. Michael. The border patroller for this area between our two towns. His large brown and grey wolf approaches and stands almost at attention. A wind gust blows and swirls around him as he shifts. His naked form now crouched and he rises. "Anna." Wind gusts blow and I shift. Rising to meet his face. We both stand on either side of the border. Our naked bodies dimly lit in the moonlight. I nod. "Michael." He
RIVER"Son. Calm down." My dad was seated at his desk. He just delivered, yet, another condition I had to pass to get the title that has been promised to me since the day I was born.I'm leaning on his desk. I slam my fist down. "Calm down?! Christ, dad. This is bullshit and you fucking know it! You were 5 years in before you met mom! Why the fuck do I have to be mated to get my fucking title?!"He shuffled papers. "Son. My situation was different. My father died. I had to take the pack. I wasn't ready. I should have had a Luna. You will have to go by the book. Just find your mate and you'll get your title. It's not the end of the world."I stand up and grab at my hair with my hands then scrub my face of my frustration. "Not the end.....! Fuck! Do you realize my mate could be dead? She might not even be fucking born y
ANNA"What's up, bitches?" I stroll into the station with my red motorcycle jacket slung over my shoulder, my other hand in the pocket of my red leather boot cuts and sporting a white t-shirt. I have a huge smile on my face. I love being me.The station is buzzing with day shift and night shift patrollers exchanging reports for shift change."Hey, Anna." Could be heard around the room.I walk down the aisle and park my ass on Greg's desk. Three desks from the back where Drake's office is.Greg side eyes me up and down then pulls back his chair, leaning back and folding his arms. "Damn, Anna. When are you going to let me make an honest woman out of you?"I lean in. "Not in this lifetime, sweetcheeks." I smile. "How was the border?""You covering for Dea tonight?" He raised a brow.I nod.He pulled out a report and handed it to me.&
ANNAMy left hook connects to the face of the one eyed rogue."TELL ME WHY YOU WERE AT THE BORDER!!" I grab his shirt and command him to answer me.I've been interrogating this guy for over an hour and was starting to lose my patience.He spits his blood on the floor. "I'm not telling you nothing, bitch." He grins an ugly, bloody grin. Glaring at me with his good eye."Fine." I stand up and stroll around him and the chair he's chained to. I run my fingers up his good arm, around to his back and down to his casted arm. He watched as I walked around, snapping his head to follow. I pause. The corner of my mouth ticks up as I grab the fingers of his broken arm and bend them backwards.He screams in agony."ANSWER ME!!""OKAY. OKAY." I let go. "Fuck...alright. some guy, okay. He comes into a bar I was at in Delwork. Says he'll pay me if
MICHAELOk. Can I start by saying, I know I'm being used. At first, I didn't care. I mean, who wouldn't want a hot, bad ass chick coming to you for the occasional hook up. If you're any kind of red blooded male wolf, you'd be crazy to say no.When I met Anna 5 years ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. She was sexy as hell, driven and has no problem saying what's on her mind. That in itself, drove me crazy.We agreed to keep it casual. No commitments. Just hook up when the need arises, but walk away when the deed was done.And for years, it worked.But, somewhere along the line, every time I woke up and she was gone. Every time she'd walk away with her 'See ya later, tiger.' My heart dropped. I didn't want her to leave. I want to hold her. Wake her up with kisses. Cook breakfast while I gaze at her in one of my shirts.
MICHAELIt's a little cooler tonight.I breach the treeline. My wolves eyes adjusting to the brightness of the moon. I trot into the clearing. Sniffing the air. I can smell her. I see her. She's shifted. Her naked frame sitting in the grass. Her knee up and her hair hung down in her face.My wolf let's out a tiny whine and licks his lips as the wind blows and I shift. He senses the same thing I do. I rise and walk over to her.I sit down. "Hey."She tosses a glance. "Hey." She goes back to playing with the blade of grass in her hand.With the invisible border between us, I try to see her face. "Anna. Is everything ok?"She blows a breath. "Yeah. I'm good." She doesn't look at me.I grow concerned. "Why are you just sitting here?"She tosses the blade of grass. "Thinking. Taking a bre
RIVER The look in Anna's eyes, as Karver jammed the barrel of his gun into my temple, told me that under her crass, rough exterior, there was a pain she kept well hidden. A wound so deep, you'd think it would impossible to fix. After I went to the hospital, she came by. Lectured me about being stupid and that I shouldn't have put myself in that position. I agree it was dumb, but I couldn't let her face Karver alone. Even as she lectured me, though, I felt she wasn't actually talking to me. It felt like she was talking to someone else. I had to find out who. When I went to her house, I wasn't expecting to have the conversation we had. Karver killed her lover. The same way he was going to kill me. I was shocked, but not surprised. It explained everything I saw in her face that night. After our emotional exchange on the swing, I felt I was delving into the real Anna. The