“What does that even means?” Someone called out.“What’s going on?” A few students stood to their feet.“Should we just go home?” Toya stood and started to the aisle. “Calm down everyone.” Rowan stepped closer to the podium. “Let me explain it all.” Rowan turned to glare at the council members. “The attacks on all of our packs have become devastating. Some packs have been wiped out, and no, I will not tell you which packs they were. I will be going to those affected personally today.” A new hush fell over the crowd. Devastation hung in the air, but it was stunted. Everyone was terrified that they were about to learn that their families had disappeared. I watched as almost everyone texted someone. “I’m not getting an answer.” Someone panicked and stood to run.“Stay where you are. I told your families not to answer until I gave the all clear. I want to talk to those affected first. So please don’t panic. Also, smaller packs have been taken in by some of the larger packs. Not permanen
“Now to get back to you questions. Yes, there was an attack that injured someone here. She nearly died, but thankfully her wolf was strong enough to heal the damage. Even though the doctors thought she wouldn’t make it. Next, if the wolf wants it to be made public, I will say her name, but I will wait for her permission.” He glanced my way, but Nina stood. “You can tell my story.” Her voice was soft, but I could tell she was proud. “Nina.” Rowan started, but then a council member stepped up and smiled. “Nina’s attack was harrowing.” He started. “She was a little girl when a rogue attacked her and her father.” The crowd gasped, but I watched Rowan grind his teeth. “We were all worried she wouldn’t wake up, but thankfully, her juvenile wolf was strong enough to heal the damage to her head.” There were a few claps, and I had to lift my fingers to my lips. This was Ninas big attack. Rowan turned to me and I gave a tiny nod. I would have kept quiet, but this was getting ridiculous. “
This was the first time I was seeing it myself. I looked dead. My eyes were half open, and my mouth was bloodied. My neck looks ravaged, jagged teeth marks still circle my throat, with bits missing. My arm was snapped and laying the wrong way and my leg had a bone sticking out of it. I heard just one giant inhale of breath before everyone turned to look at me but I focused on the screen. This is what I had, we had, survived. We are stronger than you think. Nix’s voice was firm as she stroked her side against the wall between us. Megan did the same. They were trying to calm my racing heart. I was so close to death.But the goddess saved us. Megan’s sweet voice seemed to calm me down. Yes, the goddess has need of us. Nix and Megan settled against each other and I smiled. “How?” I was snapped back to reality. I turned to face Hanna.“What?” I furrowed my brow, and she clutched at my hand. “How did you survive that?”“Luck.” Was the only answer I could give. “Fuck off, this is fake.
Everyone froze, including Nina. “My king, please.” Another council member stepped forward. “We haven’t finished our selection process.”Rowan turned to face the others. “This will be addressed later. But I will say this now. I am not selecting a mate until this war is handled. You can pick whoever you want, but no one will become queen until everyone is safe.” The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.“My king, you need an heir.” The man, Thinius, stammered. “I have already selected an alpha to be the heir apparent in a decree that is in my personal safe.” Another gasp went out. This was the first time a wolf would be in line to be the King.“My king, we haven’t discussed this.” “It is not your choice.” Rowan screamed. Obviously losing his hold on his wolf. “I am the king.” He closed his eye and pushed off the wolf under him and strode back to the podium. He clicked a few buttons and everything disappeared. “This is not why I am here, and you all do not need to listen to the
Everyone walked out of the auditorium in silence. Everyone was worried that there was going to be the dreaded knock on their door. But thankfully, my father never listened to others. I checked my phone to see I have over twenty messages from my dad, mom, and Cass. I was sending back replies when I turned onto my floor and made my way to my room. I unlocked the door, still staring at my phone and kicked off my shoes. I turned towards my bed, and I bumped into a chest.I froze. This was my room, and no one else should be in here. I slowly raised my head from my phone and I stepped back. “What are you doing in here and how the heck did you get in?”Roman smiled. “I’m the benefactor for the school. I have a key that’s a universal key for a hidden lock under the knob.”“What?” I went back out my door and slid the metal cover over and there it was, the universal lock. I shook my head as I came back in. “Sneaky. So why are you here?” I slid past him and I felt him vibrate. I looked at him
“I still don’t understand why?”“Because we need them to think you are alone.” Rowan continued to rub my feet. It felt amazing, but I needed to focus, so I pulled my feet back and leaned closer to him. I grabbed his face with my hands, and I squeezed. “I need you to stop being so mysterious and explain it to me. Why do I have to pretend my father is dead?” I swore Rowan stopped breathing as I leaned in. “Because we want them to think that you are alone other than your mother. Your mother has spent these last years convincing Vince and Morgan that she is weak. Which plays well in to our plan.”“Are you going to tell me the plan?” I was getting frustrated.“Are you going to hold my face the entire time I tell you?” His voice was soft and his eyes were flicking between my eyes and my nose. I puled my hands back as if they were on fire and sat back. “Sorry.” I felt my face flush, and he chuckled.“I don’t mind, but I would prefer having a mint if you’re going to be that close.” He wink
I wanted to stay in bed, but the fact someone else was in here made me get up from the bed and pull out my bags. I packed up my stuff. As soon as I was done, I pulled it down to my truck and packed it into the back. I was starving by the time I was done, but I pushed myself to keep going. The truck was full, and I needed to grab food to fill the apartment. So I was going to head to the caff, but Rowan’s words stopped me. I needed to be weak, hurt, isolated. So I slid into my truck and rubbed my eyes. I sat there, and I remembered my first like. My death. And the anger came, but so did my loss. My baby was gone and there was nothing I could do. I placed my hand on my belly and I remembered the feeling of his first kicks, his butterfly like movement in my stomach. And then I remembered the feeling of having him ripped from me. The only time I got to hold his tiny body. And then the tears came. Once I had cried for my lost child, I sent a prayer to the moon goddess to tell my boy how
The silence that followed was deafening. And I waited until the girls standing with Nina and her sister all fled. “If you don’t move, I will scar you so badly that no one will mate with you.” Toya’s voice was deadly. She meant every word.“What’s going on here?” Vince’s voice was like nails on the chalk board right this second. I could not deal with his bullshit right now. I felt Toya tremble, and I looked at her. She faced me and I could see a little fear in her eyes. But I just squeezed her side, and she straightened her back. We would face this together.“Alpha Vince, these two threatened my sister and I.” Nina’s sister was toeing a line she wasn’t ready to face. I felt my face harden, and I turned to face Vince. Even he flinched back from me. “What do you mean?” He hedged his bet, hoping not to get involved.“What do I mean? Exactly that. They threatened us.” She nudged Nina, and she jumped in with a smirk. “Nadine is telling the truth. I was just coming here to give them both
I sat back, watching the grey curser flashing on the screen. I needed to answer him, but I was still a little lost on how to approach him. It’s still weird knowing that Thoth is a man. When my dad introduced us, it was just vague information. Thoth will help you. No gender. No name other than user name. I asked over and over, but he stayed quiet. We talked about computers at first. But then our conversations grew deeper. He asked about my day, complained about his own. It wasn’t until I joked with him about telling Brandon that he was a human female that he finally cracked and told me he was a man. Another alpha my father was friends with. One he had grown close to from overseas. I shook my head to clear it. Whatever feelings I did or didn’t have for Thoth would have to wait. I wouldn’t approach any relationship until everything had been handled.NixtheGoddess: Hey. I’m alive. Vince had captured me for a few days, but I got out. I’m at work. I have a full day, but I will do a full d
Humans fall in love… The words bounced around in my head. There was no fucking way. I turned to look at my wolves, who were sitting comfortably. There is no gods damn way.Nix snorted as she looked at Megan. She’s really trying to convince us…when we share her fucking soul and already know the truth. Megan shrugged. I wasn’t going to point it out to her. She ran to her computer every night for months, talking to the man. If she wanted to be stupid, that was her prerogative. They both looked at me and I staggered back. YOU KNEW!Both shrugged. Look. Nix stepped closer and ran her side down the barrier. After Brandon. I wasn’t going to agree to any mate. But then you met Rowan.And while we both liked him. Megan pressed against the barrier, sending love. There were too many things holding you both back. Including us. What are you guys even talking about?Nix sighed. She pulled back and looked at her paws. I knew you loved Rowan. We both did. And before we realized Erubus was Rowan,
I sighed before I pulled up our chat screen. The dark screen was full of messages that I had missed.Thoth: Hey. You missed our chat last night. We were going to work on getting into the mainframe. Is everything okay?Thoth: Amy? Hey. It’s been hours. I’m starting to worry.Thoth: Amy? I called your dad. He said he hasn’t been able to get in touch with you, and he’s even starting to worry. Is everything okay? We are starting to panic.Thoth: Okay, listen, I know you are probably busy. Especially with the kids. I know you said that the king was in the past, but maybe you should reach out to Rowan about the kids. Maybe he can help.Thoth: Hey it’s been another day. Are you okay? I fully expect you to message me back today. I called you but you didn’t answer.Thoth: I just realized it might be weird that I called you…I got your number from your dad. I figured since we are friends, you wouldn’t care. Thoth: Okay, don’t be weird about me calling you.Thoth: I’m panicking.I laughed at tha
I walked into the office early the next morning. I was exhausted still, but I had things to do. Alannah stood with a shout. “Amy! You’re back.” She ran over and hugged me. “I was so worried when I hadn’t heard anything from you.”“I just spent some time with my mom on an island off the coast. Cell service was bad.” I sniffed her. “You smell good.” I pulled back, patting her back. “I like the perfume, what is it?”She looked a little confused for a moment. “It’s vanilla.”I smiled. “It smells great, but I can tell it’s wearing off. You might want to add a little, so it lasts all day.” I winked at her as understand entered her eyes. “Good idea. I’ve been running around all morning, so I was really sweaty.” She turned around and went to her desk, pulling the bottle from her purse and spraying herself. She turned to me expectantly. “How’s that?” “Perfect.” I looked around. “Is Rick in?”She shook her head. “He left early yesterday after his meeting with the alpha. I think we weren’t fee
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