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
Nina wrapped her arms around her sister and looked between Vince and Rowan. “Are you going to let her threaten us?”I laughed as I let go of Toya for a moment and crouched down to be level with them. “You have it very confused.”Nadine looked at Nina and then back at me. “What are you talking about?”“They aren’t letting me do anything. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a very strong alpha, stronger than any female alive today and most men. Vince and the king do not let me do anything. I do it, and then I deal with the repercussions. And let me be frank. The way you two lord over everyone, when let’s be honest, you are actually pretty weak for alphas. Toya is stronger than you.”“No, she isn’t.” Nina shot back and glared at us. “She couldn’t measure up to me and Nadine is stronger than me.”“See, that is where you got it wrong.” I looked back at Toya and she straightened her shoulders. But I could feel I was right.. Her wolf, even being an alpha, was like Cass’s. She would rather put her str
“Where are we going?” Toya looked at me from the passenger side of my truck.“To the apartments. I’ve been moved already.”“How is that even possible?”“I’ll explain everything once we get inside my new place.”Toya nodded. But I could see her biting her lips and the tears trembling at the corners of her eyes. “I can’t believe they are all gone.”I wanted to tell her, but we needed to be safe. We needed to play this properly. “I know.” My voice was soft. I looked around. “Do you know where you are going?”“Not a clue.” I looked at her as she burst into laughter. Toya laughed so hard the tears fell. She pointed off to the left as she continued laughing. “Turn left at the next stop sign. You will go through a couple more parking lots and turn right. It’s hidden by the trees, but it’s really hard to miss once you know where to look.” She wiped her face, and she smiled. “I didn’t think I’d be laughing today.”I just nodded, unable to say anything to make her feel better right now. I fol
“Amy?” I turned to Toya as I parked into one of the slots marked penthouse. “Yeah?” I slid out of the truck and headed to the elevator.“What is going on?” She looked around at the parking garage and I could see the wheels in her mind churning, but she was just as confused as I felt. “I swear, I will explain.” I smiled as we hit the penthouse button on the elevator. There was a beep. “Please scan your card.” An automated voice rang out, and I scanned the card Sterling gave me and the elevator doors closed. “This is so weird.” Toya leaned against the wall. “What do you mean?” I looked at her over my shoulder.“This apartment building has been closed off to anyone other than the King since it was built. But it’s so clean, so modernized.” Toya swiped the wall. “It’s like a hotel that the humans run. And he’s never even allowed the council onto his floor and he gave you the key.” She shook her head. “I know I am missing everything.”I grabbed her hand as the door opened. “I know that
I looked at Toya and walked over to Rowan. “My king, is everything okay?”Toya gave a nod. “I’m going to check out the rest of your new place.” She bowed really quickly and then left us in the entryway.“Sterling?” I looked down at my watch. “I don’t know when everyone will get here. Can you go check for me, please?” “Of course, Alpha Amy.” Sterling also gave a bow and then turned and left. Rowan looked after Toya before he turned to look down at me. “Are you going to tell her?”I nodded. “I feel like I need to.”Rowan took a big breath. “Okay. Who else are you telling? I want to make sure no one else has lost anyone. That way you don’t giver anyone hope.”I hadn’t even thought about that. “Hanna, Wendy, and Micca.” “Who?” Rowan furrowed his brows. I opened my mouth, but I realized I didn’t know what pack they were from. “Toya…” I called out and Rowan laughed.“You don’t know their packs?”“Look, I met Hanna in the bathroom, but she is the short, unranked wolf from overseas. Wendy
The knock at the door startled us away from each other. I hadn’t realized just how close we had gotten until I jumped away from him. Rowan closed his eyes and then nodded. “We won’t fail?” His words were soft, but there was a tiny flare of hope to his words.“Not if I can help it. I will take these next years to crack into everything I can.” I thought about what my plan was and I worried at my lip.“What is it?”“I need a place I can hack it for practise.” I looked up and Rowan nodded. “Use my stuff. I would give you the information to find me, but that is half the battle.” The knock sounded again. “Get that?” The hope that flared in my chest that he wanted to spend time with me was pushed down. I nodded. “The rest of the girls are here and we have a plan to make.” Rowan nodded. “You can stay if you like.” I offered without thinking.“What?” Rowan tilted his head.“I, I, I.” I stammered over my words, but I cleared my throat at his chuckle. “I mean, you are a part of this, and if
Toya gripped my hand. “Amy, I appreciate the effort, but lease don’t lie to me.”“I’m not.” I went to my lock box and pulled out my secret phone. I called my father’s number and waited.“Pup, you know you shouldn’t be calling me.”“I know, daddy but I needed to hear your voice and there is someone here that needs to hear their father’s voice.”I heard my father huff, and then there was a click. “Ok pup, we can all hear you.”I clicked the speaker on the phone. “I sealed the room so no one can hear us.”“That’s good pup. Now, all the alphas are here. What do you need?”I looked at Toya and held the phone closer to her. “Say hi.”Toya leaned in. I could see “Hello? Baba?”“Toya, my love.” A rich voice called out, and Toya snatched the phone away. She sobbed as she clutched it to her test. “Baba, they said you were gone. That everyone was gone. Moma, Tiven, everyone.”“We are still here. We are all still here. Amy there will explain it to you. You weren’t supposed to know.”Toya sobbed
“Hey.” He looked at the girls and back at me. “You said you had food…so I brought drinks.”“Holy shit.” Micca repeated as she grabbed Wendy’s hand. “Please tell me we aren’t hanging out with our fucking king.” His voice was barely above a whisper.I dropped my head down and shook it. “Yes, Micca. We will hang out with him.” I gestured for him to come in, and he walked into the kitchen. He slid the beer into the fridge and fidgeted for a few minutes before coming back into the living room and handing me one beer. “What have you covered?” He dropped onto the loveseat next to me and the girls kind of stood around before I laughed. I sealed the apartment and cracked the beer. “Sit down.” I pointed to the couch and chair surrounding my new coffee table. Everyone sat except Micca. “What?” I looked up at her and she shook her head, staring between Rowan and me.“Is it okay if I grab a beer?” Her voice was breathy and confused.Rowan smiled. “Of course.”She looked around. “I’m sorry but if
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