We ran to the tower first. I wanted to handle our stuff before we faced the music. But as we ran into the building, I saw that luck was not on our side. Vince, Brandon and Rowan were all waiting for us. I shifted, gesturing for everyone else to wait, since I was the only one able to retain my clothes. “Alpha Vince, my King.” I bowed my head a little to both. “Brandon.” I smiled. “What can I do for you?”“Where have you been?” Vince stepped closer to me, but I just raised my brow.“Handling something personal. Why?”“You ran out of graduation.” I snorted. “Graduation? You mean the ambush that was waiting for me coordinated by the council?” Vince reeled back as if I slapped him. I felt the skin around my eyes tighten. “Did you think I was too stupid to see it for what it was? My father has been dead for almost two years and now they branded him a traitor. I think that’s laughable.” “Amy.” Rowan started, but I growled. I couldn’t even stop it.I took a deep breath. “Sorry my king.” I
“What does that mean?” Verity stomped her foot.“It means-” Vince started. But Rowan interrupted him. “It means that if I want to speak with Alpha Amy, I must contact her and let her know I’ll be visiting beforehand. And that I have to use her title. Also, she will be included in any vote.”“Toya and I will also attend the alpha conference in a month.” I smiled at Verity.“But that’s…”“Only for Alphas.” Toya finished with a toothy grin. She walked over and rubbed her fur against my side.“While this is nice, catching up, and all, is there a reason your are here?” I looked around and waited. “Alpha Vince? Brandon?”He smiled, looking down at me. “We are here about the job position in the pack. Brandon told you to think about it. I wanted to come and see if you had.”I smiled up at him. “Sorry, with everything that happened yesterday…” I trailed off and glared back at Rowan. “I haven’t had a minute to think about it.”Vince nodded. “Where did you go yesterday?”I looked out the door.
We stayed silent as we ascended. I puffed out my cheeks as Rowan looked at me but the elevator dinged and the girls got out. I walked out with them. “Where are you going?” Rowan grabbed my arm. “They are shifted…” I looked at him with furrowed brows. “They can’t open their door. I’m going to open it for them.” I shook him off. “Keep the elevator open.” I walked to their door and punched in their code, swinging their door opened. “Call me when you get back to your packs.”They both nodded and went inside. Hanna turned back. “Be careful.” I blew her a kiss and went back to the elevator. I slid in and pressed the top floor again. Rowan opened his mouth, but I shook my head. He was obviously frustrated at me, but I wasn’t going to talk until I got into my place. The doors opened, and we headed to my door. I unlocked it and the two followed me in. Toya headed straight to my bedroom, looking for something to wear for now, and I went to the kitchen. “What the fuck is going on?” Rowan snar
I stepped back. My fingers aching, but my resolve hardening by the minute. Rowan stood, looking back toward the door. “How are you going to play this?”I thought about it for a minute. “I’m going to play the fence.” He just tilted his head. “I’m going to act like I want to rebuild, but that you are refusing me. You won’t allow anyone to the pack lands because of rogues, so I have to figure out another choice, another path until you allow me back onto my pack lands.”“Why?” “Because it will do two things. Give Vince some security that I hate you. He won’t trust me if we are close still. And I need him to trust me enough to allow me close.”Rowan nodded. “It’s one reason your father, and I created space.” I nodded. I figured it was a part of the truth, but it didn’t hurt any less. “The second thing?”“It will give him something he secretly wants.” I stretched my back out. “What’s that?”“A way to get more power without giving any up.” I twisted my back until it popped. “If he thinks h
Rowan snarled, but Toya wasn’t done. “You and her father created this pit of a plan because you’re older, you know better. But you miscalculated.”“We are older, and we do know better.” He countered. “So please, tell me, how did we miscalculate?”Toya narrowed her eyes. “You held back because your wolf was infatuated with another, but my bet is that Erubus wanted Nix. You had Amy, and he could have had Nix and you whiffed it.” Toya snarled. “You held yourself back from the one person you truly wanted because of a wolf who was the same person. If you had less restraint, you and Amy could have been mated by now.” His face fell, and he shot me a look. “Now you’re mated to a bitch who is controlling you, and Amy…” Toya looked at me. “Amy deserves better. She deserves someone who will choose her…every time.” “That’s enough.” I whispered, but both turned to me. “Rowan, I think it’s time for you to leave. Your fiancee is probably waiting for you.” I turned to Toya and just shook my head. “I
Once we were finished with my place, and we piled the rest of my bags outside the door, we went to Toya. We bagged everything that was left up and found the bag left by Wendy’s mom with a sweet note. I tucked it into my backpack. Once we piled everything inside their door.“That’s everything.” Toya sighed. “I’m going to miss this place.” I nodded. “On to better things.” I nudged her. “Let’s get the cart for all this bullshit. We have to hit my house before we figure out how the heck we are going to get all of this to the cabin.” I looked around, and I honestly had no fricken idea how we were going to do this. Toya patted my back. “Thankfully, you have a truck.” I grunted as we closed the door behind us and headed down. I was surprised to see Brandon and Vince waiting for us when we stepped off the elevator. I looked at Toya, but she gave me a tiny shake. She was confused, too. “Alpha Vince.” I smiled as I walked closer to the desk. “Brandon.” I gave him a tight nod as I turned to S
My question hung in the air for a minute before Brandon smiled and waved his hands in the air, dropping mine in the process. “Oh. Ha ha, no reason. I was just wondering.”I just nodded. “Anyway, I need to figure everything out.” I turned to Vince. “So I’ll be stuck on pack lands for a while as I wait it all out.” I smile. “If that is still okay with you?”Vince, whose brain was running a mile a minute, stared at me blankly for a second before he just nodded. “Of course. The place and position are yours.”“Oh, I don’t know about the position. I couldn’t possibly take that away from a wolf knowing I was planning to leave as soon as I’m able. Who knows, maybe I’ll find a mate pretty quickly.”Vince’s eyes darted to Brandon. “So you intend to head back to your father’s pack lands as soon as you mate?”I pretended to think about it. “I’m not exactly sure. My father raised me to take after him. And these last few years, I focused on that. Rebuilding our pack. I have the resources, the inves
“Anyway, we will see you back at the pack. I know you said you were busy tonight, and we understand, but I’ll need you at the pack house first thing in the morning.” I smiled and nodded as Vince turned away. “Brandon…let’s go.” Brandon looked at me and I wanted to gag. He was leaning in and I wanted to pull away, but Vince called him again. Thankfully. “Brandon.” He jolted back from me, gave a pained smile, then trotted after his father. Toya turned to me with a grimace. “That was…”“Illuminating.” I nodded to the door. “Let’s head out. We have a lot to do today.” Toya sighed and turned on her heels. We headed out the door to see Sterling loading the last of my bags. “This is everything.” He nodded to the truck as he swung up the tailgate. Then he turned to us and bowed at the waist. I grabbed for him, but he held up his hand. “Sterling.” My voice was soft, but he bowed again.“It has been an absolute pleasure serving you here, Amy.” He stood and then bowed to Toya. “You as well.”
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