LOGINThe room was full of wolves and my scent glands were going haywire. Gathering so many wolves in one place always did this to me. My nose was sensitive, and I had to take a few deep breaths to calm myself. “You girls ready?” I looked up at my father and nodded.
“Can we enter without you guys?” I asked my father. “Why?” I smiled over at Cas, who was on Ronnie’s arm. “I…” “You are planning something with the she-wolves, aren’t you?” “Yup.” I smiled up at him and slipped my arm out of his. “If you hear a large fight, show up. But I swear, dad, if you fawn over another she-wolf in front of me, I will hit you.” My dad laughed at me. “I promise I won’t and if by the smallest chance I do, you have full access to punch me in my face.” He smiled down at me and I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thanks daddy.” “You’re welcome, my girl.” I pulled my arm from his and held my hand out for Cassie. “Let’s go.” “Are you sure Amy?” “Yes, yes I am.” I smiled down at her and she shook her head with a small smile. “Chin up. Don’t worry. I got you.” She nodded and we opened the door and headed down the steps. When we hit the middle of the stairs, everyone had stopped to stare at us. “They are staring.” Cas whispered to me and I smiled. “It’s because we look so hot.” I whispered back as the smell of lust hit her in the face. She stumbled, but I held her up and we kept heading down until we hit the bottom of the stairs. “Let’s go get a drink.” I pulled her to the bar and ignored the stares of all the men and woman around us. “Why are they staring?” “I already told you. We look hot.” I handed her a glass of champaign and clinked my glass against hers. “Your birthday is in a few days, and these men are your potential mates. Take today and enjoy it. For your life will change when you hit eighteen.” I knew that Cas found her mate the day she turned eighteen, and he was a good man. I couldn’t remember who it was exactly, a guard or someone, but she was happy. I stopped coming here once I accepted Brandon. He forbade me from coming. Saying he couldn’t live with me being so far. It sounded sweet at first, but later on I realized it was just his need to control me. “What the fuck are you wearing, you tramp?” A screech rent the air and the people around us grew quiet. I smiled into my glass as Cas paled, but I patted her back and I turned. “Excuse me?” I took a small sip of my drink and faces Aurora. She was dressed in a pale white sheath dress and matching pearl necklace. Amanda was in a pale blue bodycon dress, with a matching choker necklace. They were stunning, but no match for me and Cas. “That dress and necklace were supposed to go to my niece.” Amanda stood next to her aunt with her eyes staring at the floor. I quirked an eyebrow. “I bought them, they are mind, I allowed my best friend to borrow it. What is the issue?” I tilted my head to the side and stared at the two. “Bullshit. You bought them, knowing that Amanda wanted them, and allowed that weak wolf to strut in here in front of us.” I took in a deep breath and then squared my shoulders. “So?” Aurora reeled back. She sputtered in front of me for a moment. And I took a step towards them. “Who are you to tell me what I am able to do? Are you my parents? Are you a gamma, beta, or an alpha? No. Then why does it matter?” Aurora growled. “It matters because weaker wolves need to know their place.” “I agree. Weaker wolves should know their place.” I growled out and Nix flashed in my eyes and Amanda started to shake. Aurora didn’t catch my meaning. But she puffed up her chest and went to grab Cas, but I stepped in front of her. “Move.” She stomped her foot and let out her power. It crashed against me and I wanted to laugh. She was so weak, but she felt like she was a bigger threat. “Don’t touch her.” “Move.” Aurora tried to go around me, but I grabbed her wrist and flung her back until she was on her ass. Her power lashed out again. But it washed over me. Cas whimpered again, but I kept her behind me. I growled out loudly and then the crowd opened up and my dad walked up through the crowd. “What the hell is going on?” My dad looked from me to Aurora. Once his eyes locked on to Aurora, I could see his eyes grow hazy. “Devlin.” Aurora got to her feet and ran into my father’s arms. I wanted to growl, but I held myself in check. “This girl was bullying me and my niece.” His eyes moved to me, and I could see he didn’t recognize me. I walked up to my father and stood in front of him. “How dare you…” He growled out and I pulled back and punched him square in his face.We closed the door behind us, and Rowan laughed. “That was mean…even for you.” I threw my head back and laughed.I started up the stairs without looking back. “It’s not like we had a lot of choices. Luke was the best option on the fly, and I need to get back to my father’s place.”“I know you’re4 right. His face was funny as fuck though.” He chuckled once more before we headed back through the closet to screaming. “Alannah, push.” “No!” She screamed again. The guttural sounds sent shivers down my spine. Rowan stopped short, and I had to push him inside further so I could step into the cottage. I walked around him toward the closet door. “Amy…” His whisper stopped me short, and I turned back. “Yeah?” He pointed to his nose in the dark. It took me a second to realize he was telling em to use my nose. I nodded once and turned back to take a deep breath. “Come on, baby, you can do this.” Ternen’s voice was soft and confident. “Once they come, you have to leave again.” She cried out.
Once both bags were full and Vince’s pack was completely drained of lupine solution, we all headed out of the med building. Luke locked the door behind us, and when I tilted my head watching him, he scratched the back of his neck. “Everyone else is already at the pack house waiting for the meeting. I guess I just locked it out of habit.” The tips of his ears turned a soft pink as I turned away. Rowan shifted, and I heard a soft smack that was followed by an indignant yelp. “Don’t flirt with my mate, Luke. You’re my friend, and I’d hate to kill you.” That made me smile as I started toward the pack house. “I wasn’t.” Luke tried to deny it, but Rowan just grunted as they both followed me. He cleared his throat. “I assume you need the lupine solution urgently, so why are you having a meeting at the pack house?”I puffed out my lips as I thought of my father’s pack. “We do. But as the Alpha of this pack, I also have to worry about the wolves here.” I looked over my shoulder as we turned
We cleared the tent and ran into Toya. “Are you okay?” I grabbed for her. The cut on her face was healing as I watched, and the worry I had disappeared. She grinned. “Yeah. My family just got back from hunting down some runners. We just came back to check in before we went for another run.” She looked around. “Everything good here?”I shook my head once. “I’ll send Nix to you to explain. We are heading back to the pack house.” I sighed. I grabbed her arm once. “Stay safe until we get back.”She tilted her head and nodded once. “Be safe.”I smiled at her, then I shifted into Nix and started running. Megan…go tell Toya everything. She took off before I hit the trees. Erubus caught up with me, and we ran to the pack house in silence. “We are heading back to Vince’s pack, right?”I nodded once. “They have a med building, and I’m sure they have a huge stock of what we need.” I called over to him. “Plus…”“Plus what?”“It gives me a second to check in on Alannah.” We ran past the pack hou
The waking world returned to me in tiny fragments. My eyes were still closed, my mind half awake, but I felt fingers intertwined in both of my hands on either side of me. I felt my fingers twitch, and both hands tightened on mine. “Baby?” Rowan’s words were a soft siren call, pulling me from the depths of the darkness that held me. I felt the tendrils of blackness slowly slipping from my body as I swam to the surface of my conscience. “Baby? Are you there?” I tried to talk. I’m here. I called out, but my mouth refused to move. I was still fighting the hold of exhaustion that still ate away at the edges of my mind. I’m here. I tried again, but my body still refused to listen. I kept fighting because I needed to re4ach Rowan, and my dad.That thought was like a bomb going off in my mind. Everything came rushing back. The cave-in, my magic failing, Ry’s words. My dad’s last goodbye. I felt the burn behind my closed eyes as tears trailed down my cheeks. “Baby?” Rowan’s fingers trailed
I focused on the little boy in front of me. His little sister clung to my side as voices rang out around me. “Is that everyone?”“I don’t know.” Another voice called out.“How many were missing?”“How many did we pull out?”“Baby.” Rowan’s voice called my attention back. “Amy?”“Yeah?” I shook my head to clear it of the mist that seemed to still coat it. “Did you hear me?” Rowan leaned over my shoulder and stared into my eyes. “What?”“Did you hear me?”My mind processed what he was saying. “What? No…Yes, I mean. Yes, I can hear you.”Rowan smiled. “I’ll take that as I no. You didn’t hear what I said.” I must have frowned because he smiled bigger. “I need you to stop pulling rocks out and instead look for anyone else still buried.” I must have paled because he reached out and cupped my face. “We just need to be sure there is no one else still buried. We don’t want to leave anyone trapped still.” His face fell for a second. “Everyone deserves to come home.”I nodded once and licked m
My entire world shattered as my vision flickered black again. But I heard some wolves call out, and I knew I had to hold the shield for as long as I could. Even if my father was gone…The words caught in my throat. I couldn’t think about it. Hold the shield. Protect the pack as long as I could. Those words became a mantra, even as I felt my wolves start to fade. Even as Loki disappeared. I wanted to stop. To save him, but I was duty bound to hold the cave for everyone else. I felt tears coursing down my face as my heart splintered. My mind flickered to my mom, and a heard a sob break free from my lips. She had just gotten her mate back, and now he was gone. I felt my power sag again, and someone cried out as a rock snuck past the shield, hitting the ground near them. I wish I could look to see if they were pulling people free, but my world was still dark. Darkness had long taken over the clearing in my mind. I was down to the tiny flickering flame of my magic. Everything else was go







