“It was magic, not how I truly felt.” My dad tried to comfort her.
“What happened? What necklace, and who is the she-wolf?” My mother listed off the questions in quick succession and I wanted to laugh. “Ainsley…are you jealous?” My dad smirked, but she just backhanded his arm and she turned back to me. “After I noticed something was wrong, I worked to get my power under control. Great-grandma helped me. And-” “Wait, the dead woman?” My poor mother was trying her best to understand everything, but she was lost when it came to powers. “I’m used to Carl and his gifts, so I’m a little lost, but people coming back from the dead should be off the table, right?” I laughed with my dad. “Think more like spirit. Her spirit helped Amy.” “You got help from a fucking ghost?” She came over and sat next to me. “Mom. We are werewolves, and you’re surprised by ghosts?” I patted her hand, and she shot me a glare. “Listen. That is“Our time has run out, love, but I am so thankful I came here.” My dad kissed her one more time before he got up. “I have to run.” He took a step towards the door and my mother jumped up and wrapped herself around him.“Don’t be mad.” Her words were soft, almost childlike, in her fear.“I’m not baby. We have four years to wait. I’ve already waited seventeen, and this will be easier because now I know you are coming back.” He kissed her again, and she walked him to the door. She pulled out descenting spray and sprayed him down. One second my father’s scent was surrounding us, and the next it was gone, leaving a missing hole in my senses. “Can you do me one favor, though?”“Anything.” My mom stared at his face with a longing so strong it made my heart hurt.“Unblock me so we can mind-link. It has been ages since Loki talked to Sigyn, and he misses
I stared at her for what felt like minutes, but it was probably only seconds. “Mom…”She shook her head, and a new tear fell. “I knew then I could never mate Vince. So I left. And I spoke with my father, as you spoke with me, and he said he would never make me mate with a wolf that held females so low. Low enough to use them while they were at their weakest and then kill them when he was finished with them. So when ever Vince had come looking for his mate, my father would always send me back home.”“How did you meet daddy?”My mom blushed at her thoughts, but a more frantic howl ripped through the air and I watched him deflate. “We should go.” She put out the fire and quickly put everything away. “Morgan will go berserk if we don’t show up soon.” She lifted her lip in disgust.“Can you handle the next four years?”“Yeah. Baby, I have to.” She waved me to the fron
Morgan backed up a little as he raised his hands up in surrender. “I was worried about you.”“Bullshit.” My mother spit back. “You wanted to control our run, or come with us, but you are not Amy’s father. You don’t get that right. You are her stepfather, and after today, that is even up in the air.”“Hey.” Morgan tried to push back, but my mother was having none of it.“Hey nothing. When Shannon shifted, what did you say to me?”“I can’t remember it was so long ago.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes, but I saw the anger there.“Don’t lie to me. It was less than three months ago. You were so proud, don’t you remember? You rubbed it in that Shannon shifted earlier than Amy. ‘Look at how fast and strong my daughter is. I wonder when Amy will get here.’ Yeah, that BS like we all don’t know that stronger wolves take longer to shift. Amy sur
“Say it.” I growled out one last time, already losing my patience.“You did this.” He crumpled to his knees, heaving. “It would have been perfect if you weren’t here.” He cried into his hands, and if he would have stopped there, I wouldn’t have suspected him. But he is Morgan, and he is an idiot. “Why couldn’t you have just died in the fucking attack?”I froze.How did he know about the attack? He continued to cry and scream, but I was focused on the words that seemed to flow like lava from his mouth. It was pure hatred. Hatred of my father and me. “If you would have just died when your dad was attacked years ago, I wouldn’t have had to raise you. Money that your mother would have inherited would have been mine, or Vinces. We would have been set. But no, you both survived. It wasn’t until you father was stupid enough to cheat on her that she moved here.” His voice tailed of
I closed the door and turned back to my mom. She was leaning against the door frame with a look on her face that I couldn’t read. We went back to the bathroom, and she leaned in. “How am I supposed to stay here for four years and deal with that man after finding everything out?”“I don’t know. But at least you have a good reason to be mad. You can hold this against him for a while.”She nodded and then shut the water off. “I have to go downstairs and clean up.”I grabbed her arm. “That can wait until tomorrow. Today has been a very long day.” I looked out the window, and the sun was starting to come up. “A very long day.” She nodded, and I noticed the bags under her eyes. “Lets catch some sleep on my brand new bed, and we can try to figure everything out later today.” We crawled into the new bed, and I am thankful it was delivered and we made it up with fresh sheets last night before t
“How dare you come here with your demon spawn? Look at what they did to my son. Just look at him.” The woman stood over her son and screamed at the goddess followed by wolves. The three faced goddess moved to the woman and held open her arms. The woman dove into them and started to sob. “Please save him, Mother. I have dedicated my life to you and I have never asked you for a boon. This is my ask. Save him. Please.” She pulled back and looked at the goddess, but her face was grim. “I’m sorry, my daughter, I can not.” The three faced goddess held the woman in her arms as she broke. Her legs failed her, and she crumpled down to her knees. “I will do anything, give anything, just save my son.” She wailed as the goddess held her. The goddess with the wolves moved closer to the young man, boy really, and she crouched over him. The wolves all moved closer and closer until they, too, were crouched over the boy. “Get away from him. Look at what you
I woke up with my grandmother’s words in the air. “The first werewolf and witch created the same night. The fates intertwined our lines, and both goddess blessing run through our veins.”I woke up groggy, as if what I dreamt of was something I actually did, instead of a dream I had. I rolled over and the bed was empty.I got off my bed and checked my phone. It was seven in the morning the next day. I slept over twenty-four hours. I stood and stretched. Then I went into my bathroom and took an actual shower.I walked to my closet and realized my clothes were clean and hung up. The descenting spray lingered in the air, and it was like the room was a vacuum of smells. Or lack of smells.I grabbed some clothes and got dressed. I did my morning routine and then walked down the stairs, not sure what to expect.I walked into the dining room to find Shannon and Morgan waiting at the table, but my mother was nowhere to be found. I looked
He sat there frozen as I stared at him. I could see the anger in his eyes, but I just stared at him. “That isn’t fair.” I turned to face Shannon. “What isn’t fair? How you treated my mother like an omega? Or that she refuses to bow down to your pathetic demands any longer?” She glared at me but I just tilted my head. “Neither one of you can give me a reason why I should step in and ask her to move on. So no. I refuse to help the two of you.” I picked up my phone and my coffee. I took another sip and went back to my scrolling as Shannon fumed next to me. “Then fucking leave.” Shannon slammed back into her chair, toppling it to the floor. Her chest was heaving as she panted in her anger. “Take your whore mother and fucking get out of our house.” Shannon glared at me and I put down my coffee again, then turned to Morgan. I smiled, and I saw him pale. “Now why would I leave the home I own?” Shannon screeched. “This is my house! My father w
I opened myself up as I sat down and sent out a call. “Sorry it took so long.” I sighed as I sat down next to her. “You were busy.” Carl’s voice was sad, and as I looked over, both he and my grandmother looked worried. “But you are here now.”“I didn’t expect both of you.” I sighed.“Daddy.” Carly called as she jumped up, but I grabbed her. “He’s not really here, baby, remember? You can’t touch him.” She trembled and then she sat back down. They settled across from us with the grave between us. “I forgot.” She looked at him. “I miss you, daddy.”“And I miss you too, baby.” He leaned over, then need to touch his daughter too much. “I heard every time you prayed to me.” His eyes softened. “And I want you to know, baby. That if you want to call Amy mom, or if at any time Amy gets a mate and you want to call him dad, your mother and I won’t mind. We will always be your mommy and daddy.” The tears in his eyes were full of love.Carly looked at me and I smiled down at her. “You don’t hav
I pulled into the house a little earlier than I expected. The grocery store was pretty empty. I only saw two workers. I grabbed my groceries and was out of the door before anyone said hello to me, which was fine. I needed a shower, and to see my girl. I brought everything inside and put it next to the closet. I left the door locked until I was ready to go over. I would do everything I needed to first because I knew if I went to the cabin, I was going to get an earful. I hopped in the shower and groaned. It felt amazing to have my shower again. I had bought new shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. I had a brilliant idea as I was shopping. One that was sure to make Brandon go slightly insane. I smirked as I sniffed the strawberry scent I had missed the last few years. Nix and Megan both sniffed the air and sighed. I missed this smell. Nix purred in my mind.Megan nodded. It makes me feel at home. I finished my shower and got out, covering myself in more strawberry scented product. My
I ran past my house, and I wanted to turn in, to check in on everyone. But I had to run back and pretend I just got back in. I ran past guards and patrols, gaining speed. When Nix got tired, Megan took over. I kept feeding magic into our feet, and after a few hours of running back and forth, weaving through the groups of wolves, I was finally off pack lands. Nix? I turned back to my exhausted wolf.Yeah? She rolled over to look at me. Use the vacuum. She furrowed her brow. What the hell are you talking about?Remember when we were learning to change our scent? The candle changed it and the vacuum…Made it disappear completely. I nodded. Exactly. I don’t want anyone following our trail. She nodded and hopped up. I watched as she dragged herself to the clearing and I summoned the vacuum. Itg was funny to watch her blow out the candle and then turned on the vacuum. She got the switch on the third attempt with her claws. She grabbed the hose with her teeth and sat down with it pointe
I heard Vince call out behind us, but I pushed Megan to run fast. I felt the first trap try to pull strength from us, and I realized I hadn’t carved the rune onto Megan yet.Fuck. I pushed forward, shoving my wolves back. The instincts were telling us to run, to flee, but I needed to get the rune on to her skin or else we wouldn’t make it very far. Amy, we have to run. Nix screamed from behind me, but I still forced Megan’s body to freeze. I stretched out our leg and used a claw to cut into the skin. I could hear the footsteps coming behind me. Amy! There is more the Vince chasing after us. We have to go. She tried to push, but I held her back. Trust me, we need this or else we are cooked. I looked behind us as Vince pushed through the last trees, blocking our view. His face broke into a smile, but then he faltered as he saw what I was doing.“Hey, what are you doing?” Vince stepped closer and the smell of blood hit his nostrils. His eyes snapped to my leg. “If you wanted to die, yo
The guard was pacing, nervous. He kept glancing back at me and muttering to himself. That put me on edge. Why does he keep looking back here? Nix stood and started to pace. I don’t know. But it’s not good. I moved to the clearing, checking on my magic. I had been funneling all of mine and Nix’s extra energy into our well. Building it until our flame turned into a giant bonfire. The magic was burning bright, and it took effort to keep it contained, my like my aura. How are you doing? Megan called back to me. We are ready. I shot back. I had been studying the book for days until I figured I could use a reversal rune to block the drain of our power. It will actually pull power from those chasing us and feed it into our bodies until we remove the rune. I had carved the rune into Nix and myself. Megan, I left for last. The door slammed open and Brandon strolled in. I wanted to recoil from the look on his face; it was so vicious. But I would never hide or cower from this man. “Looky l
But Megan ignored him. He stood and crowded the bars, drawing in more air and her scent. “Fuck.” Then he turned and spun away. “I’ll be back with your next meal.” He walked to the door, grabbed a tray he had left there, and came back. He pushed the food through the tray slot at the bottom of the door. Megan popped up. She walked over slowly, watching Vince. She stopped short of his hands. Then she pawed the food tray the rest of the way to her. We walked Vince’s eyes almost completely disappear into his pupils before his wolf took over. His eyes flashed to a soft chocolate brown, and there was a deep rumbling in his chest. “You smell good.”Megan rolled her eyes and sniffed the food. Each item had to be sniffed, tasted and then we had to wait for any reactions. But as soon as Megan sniffed the meat, she pulled back and swatted the tray against the bars. Vince’s wolf watched her, and then he smirked. “Smart girl. Most don’t notice the silver.” Megan let out a low growl before she tu
There was a bang, and a door slammed open. “Alpha.” The guard at the door called, and instantly we were all on guard. “Leave us.” He motioned for the wolf to leave, and he strolled down to my cell. “Hello.” He watched me with hooded eyes. “Still vicious?” Megan growled, causing Vince to chuckle. “I find it interesting that you aren’t afraid of me.” We barked out a laugh. “Why would I be afraid of you?”Vince froze. “You speak?” Megan rolled her eyes and turned out back on him. “Stupid male.” She tossed her head, glaring at him over her back. He chuckled, then turned back to the door. He grabbed the chair there and pulled it over in front of my cell. “Well, you kept your mouth shut the first day we met. I assumed you were mute.” I huffed out a sigh. “I nearly bit half of your face off. My mouth was very much open.”He threw his head back and started laughed. “You did. I will give you that.” Vince leaned closer to the bars and Megan lifted her lip. “You don’t like me, do you?”“Sho
“You are going to let me die here?” Megan let her words sound incredulous. Rick walked to the bars. “I don’t want you to die. But I have no way of getting you out of here without being seen or found out. If I could save you and only lose my own life, I would do it. You don’t deserve to be here…”“But?” Megan cut in. “But I have a pup and a mate who would be executed if I went against Vince.” He grabbed the bar and I heard the sizzle of his skin against the silver. “I can’t risk them. I hope you and Amy will understand that.” He pulled back and turned away. “Wait!” Megan called after him.He turned. “The guard is coming back in a minute. Be quick.”“Will you come back to speak with me?” She tried to get close. “I have so many questions.”Rick looked back to the door. “I can try. But Rick doesn’t like random people coming in here.”“Then why did you come in now?” Megan pushed. “Because…” His shoulders sagged. “Because I felt like a monster and I felt like I neede3d to explain. If I
He knows. Nix’s words were soft, her eyes fully focused on the man in front of us. What are you talking about? Megan turned back to us. He’s scum.Nix shook her head. Look at him, Megan. Truly look, and push away your hatred towards Brandon, Vince, and well, all the male population. Megan snorted but turned back.What am I looking for? Megan sighed, but focused. I stepped closer, trying to see what she was seeing.Nix was focused on Rick. Look at his skin. He is sweating, he’s pale, but his eyes are focused. His hand… She trailed off.He’s clutching at his neck. Megan tensed beside me. “What happened first, Rick?”He turned his haunted eyes back to us. “What?”Megan sighed as she crept closer. “What came first? You working with Vince? Or Abby getting branded?”“Does it matter?” He slammed back against the wall and dropped to his ass. “It changes nothing.”“It matters.” She growled. “It matters to me, and I know it will matter to Amy.” “Why?” He dropped his head into his hands. “It