The room remained silent for a second, before Vince grabbed the phone and slammed it into the desk, shattering it. But my mom just smirked. “Oh, don’t worry Vince. I have backups.” She crossed her arms. “Now…about my divorce.” The smirk on her face was amazing. But I had to play both sides. “Mom. You can’t let that photo get out. It’s obviously fake. Morgan might do that, but Alpha Vince would never do that.” I pleaded with my mom, but she just patted my hand. “Don’t worry, baby. Whether the photo is real, it’s your concern.” My mom turned back to Vince. “Is it?”Vince looked at me and I could see the relief. He thought I was stupid enough to believe it was real. He still had some standing with me. Brandon stood back up, wincing from the pain. “She’s right. I don’t know what Morgan does in his spare time, but my father would never do something like that.” Brandon crossed over to me and tried to grab my hand. “I will stand up for your dad, because he is my alpha and that photo is ma
Vince looked at me, then he turned to Morgan with a raised brow. “Well, then…” He sat back. “There isn’t much of a choice, is there?”Morgan turned to me. “Amy, you can’t be serious. I raised you. I was your dad.” My eyes flashed and Nix was in front in a second. “Repeat those words and I will call the Cath Báis for pure arrogance from you. You barely looked at us when we were a pup. You did everything and anything to take our mother’s time and attention from us. And when I finally shifted, you stole our bonding night.” Nix chuffed a warning call. “So think before you open your mouth again, beta. If you step on my father’s legacy and my mother’s hard work, then I will not hold back. I will rip you to shreds and reunite you with your mate.”Morgan paled. “Nix…I didn’t mean-”“You dodn’t mean to take credit for work you had no hand in. You didn’t raise me. You didn’t pay my way. You didn’t even house me. Amy bought the house. Amy’s money paid for everything for her and her mother. You
We made it back to the house and my mother was ecstatic, dancing her way to my room. We shut the door, and she twirled. “Where do I go?” She turned to me and I just gave her a look. “I know I’m going to the cabin. I just mean how? Won’t the pack notice if I don’t leave?”I waved my hand. “I’ll use magic to pretend to drive you away and I’ll leave your car at the airport and run back. Just pack your essentials and we will go over.” I kissed her temple. “But let’s be quick.”“Why?” She sat on my bed and I pulled out black clothes. She just lifted her eyebrows. “What are you going to do? Rob a bank?” I laughed. “I need a shower and descenting spray.” I rummaged through my bathroom, but my mom stood and went into my closet. “What are you doing?”“I put the extra spray in here, foolish girl.” She came out with a bottle. “Now tell me why.”“Rick.” She just twirled her finger. “Rick what?” She handed me the bottle, and I put it on my counter. “When he told me to go home for the day. He to
I drove past the pack members that had lined the street. All of them were waving and bowing, giving my mother a farewell deserving of a luna, not just another pack member. But she has stepped up where Vince’s mate failed. My mom helped with the pups. She made sure they were taught properly. She fought for the females of this pack. And wolves never forgot their debts. I drove down block after block of our pack, saluting to my mother, who wasn’t even here to see it. I waved as I drove past the guards at the beginning of the land, and then we were out. My mother’s body double disappeared, and I called for the jet to get ready to take a flight to the coast and come back. “Who are we taking?”I laughed. “No one.” There was silence on the other end. “Take you families for a vacation to the coast if you like, my gift to you.” I looked at the dash. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Get everyone to the hangar to leave and I’ll transfer you twenty thousand to have a nice weekend. Make s
The world blurred past us. The trees became blurred sticks as we wove in between. Bushes became wider obstacles that we jumped over. The animals, the birds, they knew something was happening, and they stayed quiet and out of the way. Megan passed the borders of the pack lands, she weaved between the border patrols that were following their routes, and others that were just out for friendly hunts. We finally slowed to a stop to catch our breath and to figure out where to go. She looked around. Nix receding back beside me and collapsing. Are you okay? I hurried to her side. Yeah. She huffed and sagged against me. I pushed too hard, that’s all.I cuddled her to my side, holding her up as she caught her breath, and I realized the sun had set. How long did it take us to run here? Nix huffed out a breath. Not long. Around two hours. Why?Why is the sun setting? I looked around and the woods were definitely darker. Megan looked up, and we saw it. She checked the sun, but there was nothi
Morgan shrugged. “You should have kept your pants on. You only had to keep it in your pants for a few years, and you can’t even do that.” Morgan leveled him with a look. You can blame Shannon all you want, but let’s not pretend she is the only one you’re fucking.Brandon glared at him for a minute before laughing. “True.” He sighed. “But Shannon was the only one Amy had to deal with.”Morgan level him with another look. “Again, it isn’t her fault you decided you wanted to drain Amy of her power. You could have chosen anyone else.”Brandon sighed. “True again, but she is so fucking strong.” He grabbed his dick. “And she is so fucking stuck up. I was going to enjoy draining her.” Rick laughed. Fucking laughed, but when he turned, I saw it. A flash of something in his eyes. He didn’t want to be here. What the fuck is going on here? Megan called back to us, but neither of us knew. “Shut the fuck up.” Vince called back and everyone quieted. “Verity. How fucking long now?”She sighed as s
I heard them all shift and start after me. One after the other, I heard a growl and then charging feet. Even Rick, who knew I was going to be out here, was charging after me. Rick, fucking Rick.Why would he want me to see all of that? Megan’s words were ragged. She was waning, but Nix was pushing her body to the brink. I think he needed us to see that. Maybe this started as a couple of friends, and he thought they were joking. Or it was a what if, and then he fell in love with Shelly?Nix panted but hummed her agreement. I think it was probably in the middle. He thought they were just assholes joking around with the women they were using, and then he found his mate. But he didn’t want to let go of his friends. Until his pup came back branded. Megan finished, and Nix agreed.I feel bad for him. Her words made us stop. But Nix pushed on. This about it, you’re trying to stay loyal to your friends but faithful to you mate and you think that witchcraft is probably fake and then suddenl
Vince yelled as he tossed me to the ground. Morgan kicked me as soon as I hit the dirt, chunks of grass and twigs flying, the swift kick to my stomach sending me into a tree. I yelped as my shoulder broke, along with a few ribs, but Vince just looked at me with surprise as a chunk of his face slowly knitted itself back together. I looked at him through hooded eyes, but I watched with satisfaction as his cheek slowly rebuilt itself. Blood poured from his left side of his face. The lip hung loose, cut adrift from the portion of his cheek. I ripped away. His teeth were visible, and the surprised look in his eyes made the slow healing a little easier to deal with. Brandon looked at his father with wide eyes. “Are you okay?” He went to move closer, but that was the moment I spat out the hunk of meat I had in my mouth, as if his blood was poison. Vince didn’t look away from me. I sat up and wretched, like I was going to vomit. His blood and bits of flesh clung to the inside of my mouth.
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