I ran until I felt another tug. Every time I worried I was heading in the wrong direction, or I would hear a howl behind me, I would get another tug and I would head straight towards it. Soon, the world melted away, as it did on the way towards Amara. The edges of my vision wavered. But through the entire time, the lost woman, the lost soul followed, desperate to find my body first.I was terrified. What if she got to my body first?What if I was left to wander this plane, to wither and moan while she walks around in my body like it is a suit to wear, a part to play? I shivered as I thought about what she looked like before she absorbed my life, my vitality. How could anyone live like that?But then the thought hit me: it wasn’t living. It was almost the exact opposite. Stuck waiting until you find an empty shell to take over like some kind of living hermit crab. But instead of just finding a new home, you become a new person. A new face, body, entire life. And do you get new wolves?
“Do you think she is going to be back soon?” Wendy’s voice was soft as she squeezed my hand.Toya started down at my body and raised her shoulder. “I don’t know.”“It’s been so long.” It felt like days had passed since I left my body and started down the black chain leading to Amara. Toya smiled. “It’s barely been an hour.”The truth hit my stomach. An hour. How was that possible? So much had happened in the short time. I stared at the lost soul, listen to her manic laughter as she faded. And my stomach dropped again. I cracked open my eyes to find the two women still clutching my hands. “Amy!” Wendy screamed and dove into my arms. “You’re back.”I smiled and nodded. But Toya, Toya seemed a little reserved. “I read the book while you were gone.” I turned to her and cleared my throat. It felt dry and painful.“And?”“Tell me something only Amy would know?” Her words were measured and her eyes stared into my soul. “Our fathers are still alive.”Toya seemed to glare at me, as if tryin
“Holy goddess.” Wendy’s fingers twitched in my hair.But Toya just nodded. “As I read more about spirit walking, I learned about the Mara.” Toya wiped my arm and caused me to hiss again. “The Mara?”“It means bitter soul. It’s like what you explained. A lost soul, whether they lost themselves while they were still alive, or after they died, and they wander, looking for a life to take over. If you had read more about it all, you would have been prepared.”“Hey now.” I pulled back, but she pushed me back down. “Lay down. I want to check your head.” Toya pushed again and Wendy helped her part my hair. “Amy.” She hissed as she saw the damage.I laid back down, but huffed out my breath. “I read that book, inside and out.” “There were a few pages stuck together. I don’t know why.” Toya tapped a page. “Wendy helped me figure it out.”“I had to use a tiny bit of water around the edges to release the pages from each other. Then I used a blow dryer to dry them again.”“Seriously?” I hissed a
I closed my eyes in disbelief. “Is that bad?” Toya leaned over and whispered. I just nodded. “This isn’t the end. The goddess has a plan.” I told her and I hoped it helped a little with the pain of everything she was dealing with. “She wouldn’t do this to you unless there was a reason.”“I know. And I think this is the reason.” She whispered, her voice growing lower. “Why?”“Because everyday Vince commands me to come to the pack house. To sit next to him and Derek.”“What the fuck?” Wendy’s eye grew wide. “That’s torture.”Lynn sniffled and, for the first time, I could hear how much this was killing her. “It is. But only because he refuses to accept my rejection. Even though my wolf has accepted her fate and is trying her best to recoup, he won’t let the link die. He calls to us, every night. And makes us come stand next to him every day. The bond on my side is shattered, but my wolf is still in pain.” Lynn took a deep breath. “Anyway, I didn’t call you to complain.”“It’s okay if y
I opened my eyes to find Wendy and Toya staring at me expectantly. “What’s wrong?”Wendy glanced at Toya, and she turned back to me. “We just wanted to see if it worked?” I stared at her for a moment, and she smiled. “Your wolves? Are they okay?”I smiled and opened my mouth, but instead of words, a yawn large enough to crack my jaw hit. “Yes.” I smiled softly. “They are tired, but alive.”“Thank the goddess.” Toya sat back and went back to my hair. “Now, your wounds?”“The Mara. I didn’t know she could hurt me. But as I ran away from the caves, she grabbed my hair. She was dragging me back into the caves and I knew I couldn’t let her pull me too far back or else I would get lost. So, when my hand shifted to my claws, I sliced through my hair, but she had already done some damage.”“Some damage?” Wendy scoffed.“You are missing a huge chuck. And I know it will grow back fast, but you aren’t healing properly right now, so I don’t actually know that.” Toya paused with her fingers on a t
Toya leaned over and kissed my head. “Let’s stop talking about it.” She pulled back a little more and fluffed my hair. “Wendy, hand me the blow dryer.”Wendy got up and handed the cast aside dryer. But I turned. “You don’t have to.”Toya pulled me back like my mom used to do when I was little. “Sit still. You can’t go to bed with wet hair. And you can’t get sick. We have a long day ahead and need to be up in a few hours.” She clicked on the hair dryer and Wendy came over and whispered in Toya’s ear, then she slipped her shoes on and left.“Where is she going?” I yelled over the sound.Toya leaned closer and spoke directly in my ear as she continued to blow dry my hair. “She needed to grab some things from our place. She will be back in a minute.” I just nodded because I was too exhausted to ask. I leaned against my own knees with my eyes closed as Toya dried my soaked hair. It was the most peaceful feeling I have had since I was a child. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until Wendy
I woke slowly. My alarm going off was probably the worst thing I had ever heard in my life. All I wanted to do was to stay in the soft, warm comfort of their arms. Their arms…what? My eyes sprang open to the soft glow of the recessed lighting in my bedroom. The room itself was familiar, but the arms wrapped around me were not. I turned my head slowly to the side, terrified to find the lost soul, the woman I thought I left behind beside me. I closed my eyes in relief when I saw it was Toya. I turned to the other side to see Wendy snuggled on my shoulder. The rest of the night flooded back to me and I remembered that my two friends had slept over. Whether it was for them, or for me, I was grateful. Toya finally cracked an eye. “Shut it off.” She groaned as she snuggled into my side. I started to laugh. “I would, but my phone is on the other side of you.” My voice was soft, but both girls flew off of me. Wendy fell off the side of the bed with a soft bang.“Fuck me. I forgot.” Wendy gr
After I kicked my two friends out of the elevator on their floor, I continued down to the main floor. I gave a tiny wave to Jora, who was wrapping up his shift, and I walked out the door. I am sure he called after me, but as soon as I hit the cool morning air, I was running. I ran around the building, straight into the woods, and shifted into Nix. She paused on a hill, feeling the wind ruffle her fur, and she closed her eyes. “I have missed this feeling for far too long.” I receded enough inside to sit next to Megan. “I promise we will make time for both of you to shift more.” I turned to look at Megan. “And I want to train in your form as well.” I felt her stiffen next to me and she turned her head to look me in the face. “You would have no reason to fight in my form.” I wrapped my arm around her. “It is always better to be prepared. What if you are running and are attacked? We won’t be able to stop to shift into Nix.” I ran my fingers through her fur. “If would make us vul
I walked out of the office with an exhausted grin on my face.“Did you do it?” Alannah stood at her desk with a grin on her face. “I did. Got it just as the counter was counting down.” Alannah jumped as the door swung open and Vince walked in. “Amy!” He yelled as soon as he walked in. Alannah swung around me as naturally as she could. “Yes Alpha Vibce. What can I do for you?” Alannah stepped into Rick’s office, creating more space between them. Vince looked at her retreating, but I turned away from him and grabbed my purse from my hook, pulling his attention back to me. “You can’t call off the mating ceremony.” His face was smiling, but I saw the glint in his eye. He sounded like he was begging, but he meant it as an order. “Brandon loves you.”I nodded. “And I love him, but I love him enough to respect him and his reputation.”Vince furrowed his brow. “What do you mean by that?”I sighed as I stepped out of my office, pulling my door shut. “Alpha Vince, I know rumors don’t get ba
I covered my face with my hands. He doesn’t want me. My wolves laid down and I knew they were sad. We know how you feel about Rowan. How you feel about Thoth if you are ever going to admit it? We already told you we won’t interfere, but Erubus just snuck up on us. Megan huffed out a breath as she flopped over. Nix nodded. We thought we were just getting past the anger and the hurt that the two of them caused us. So that we could all learn to work together. And we did. Nix sighed as she laid her head down on her paws. Okay. I can understand that. I sat back. But what happened?He was…just himself. No interruption. No human getting in the way with his emotions. Rowan talks himself out of a lot. Nix shook her head. He takes a lot onto himself, more than needed. He thinks that his mate will make or break the realm. Nix sighed. I feel bad for the weight he forces on himself. He must be exhausted all the time. Megan nodded. He never pushed us, never made me feel excluded or uncomfortabl
I started in on the first firewall, which I breeched with no issue. But the second firewall blared the alarm. “Amy!” I sighed. “Got it.” I fixed my breech and tried again. And again. And again. I wanted to bang my head off the screen by mid day. I groaned in frustration when I heard Alannah call out again. “Amy.” “Seriously?” I slammed my keyboard in anger. I had made it halfway to the mainframe undetected, but I was stuck around the ninth firewall. I stood up and started to pace.Alannah came to the door. “Why don’t you take lunch? Take thirty minutes to regroup and then come back and attack. You will still have three hours to get rid of the virus once you settle.” She smiled and handed me the menu. “Maybe your hangry.”I huffed out a breath and then nodded. “You are probably right.” I sighed and dropped back into my chair. I looked over the menu and decided I needed meat. A lot of meat.Is everything okay? I called back to my wolves.Nix looked at me with wide eyes. I think we a
I watched his face go through a barrage of emotions and settled on anger. “Neither the pack nor Shannon can tell me who I can or can’t mate with.” He grabbed my face. “I want you, Amy.” He kissed me again and I had to hold myself back from puking. I couldn’t hold in the shudder, which made Brandon smile. He thought it was from need and not utter disgust. “You will be my mate. Promise me you will give me time to fix it.”I looked off to the side. “You have less than two weeks.” I turned back. “If Shannon hasn’t retracted everything…if she hasn’t stepped back, then she can take my place. I won’t be second place in my bond.” I slid out from in front of him and walked to the door. “Until then, I don’t want to be put in a situation where I would be considered the other woman.”Brandon watched me from behind y desk before he finally nodded and then walked back towards me at the door. “I respect that.” He leaned over and kissed me again. “I’ll handle it. Give me some time.”I just nodded and
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