Jadie shrunk into her seat next to him. Listening to how cruel her brothers could be was hard, but Lincoln was more important at the moment. She would deal with Jack and Jeremy later.
“Ian appeared out of nowhere. We overheard my dad talking about rogues testing our borders, but none were brave enough to come deep enough to be caught.” He snarled and gripped his hands into fists. “When Jack saw him, he grabbed James and started to run away. Ian knew exactly who I was because of my father, and he wanted some kind of payback for losing his land to the new expansion my father had just sent through. He decided that instead of taking his land back, he would end his pack altogether by killing off his successor.”
Jadie reached over and grabbed his fist in her hand, squeezing tightly to try and comfort him so he could continue.
“They cut me down and took their turns beating and tearing me apart with their wolves until I was completely unrec
The pack members in that area were just as friendly as the last. The last stop they had planned was a surprise that Lincoln had.The ground dropped off over a steep cliff, overlooking Lake Superior. The water crashed against the earth, carrying some of the dirt and sand with it.“This is part of your territory, too?” Jadie asked in amazement. The water was clear enough to see a sunken boat at the bottom of the lake, fading from the erosion of the water.“It is. And trust me, it is a lot deeper than it looks.” He nudged towards the edge of the cliff and sat with his legs dangling, his hands resting in his lap. Jadie carefully slid over next to him and looked out over the fading horizon.“It’s peaceful here. There aren’t many places like this back in California, and they’re definitely not within our borders.” Lincoln just nodded, listening to her as she spoke of her home. “We had trees and wild ani
The night was long for the both of them. When Jadie thought her torture was finally over, it came back about an hour later with more intensity. Lincoln sat awake all night, feeling useless as he just listened to her struggle and squirm on top of her blankets.Around six in the morning, once Jadie was finally able to sleep peacefully, Lincoln got a mind link from his father.‘I need you to meet me at the northern border. Now.’ He lifted his large head from his paws and lowered his ears. The tone in his father’s voice was serious, making his mind wander as he gave Jadie one last assuring look over his shoulder. He slipped out the door and pushed it closed quietly before padding down the stairs and out the back door.The pack lands were eerily quiet as he strode to the border near the cliff he had taken Jadie to the day before. There was a small area of land that was open to rogues next to it, but it was usually because of the way it was
Her first class was in an hour at the local college. She was starting with basic fundamentals until she figured out what she was planning to do after. As she made it through her first day of mainly introductions into the courses, Lincoln locked himself away in his office, not allowing any visitors. He couldn’t clear his mind of the image of the young pack member mangled on the earth’s floor. It brought back the same feeling of fear and weakness that Lincoln always fought to ignore. He trained harder and longer as he aged to make sure he could never be in that kind of position ever again, but now that Ian was coming back around, it was as if all his skills would disappear and leave him as that same terrified child once again. His office door flew open, and Wilson waltzed in as if he was welcomed. “Go away.” Lincoln growled, gripping his tousled hair in his fists and keeping his gaze on the mess of paperwork across his desk. Wilson ignored his demand an
The next day, Lincoln met Jadie at the same spot after her schooling with a grin. “Ready for training?” He asked, chuckling when she threw her head back with a groan. “No.” She complained dramatically. “Let’s get it over with.” He draped his arm over her shoulders and shook his head. “That’s the spirit.” He teased sarcastically and led her out to the training grounds where the females were already beginning to train. Jadie dressed in preparation for this before she left that morning. She wore a plain pare of black leggings and a green t-shirt with her school’s logo. Lincoln waved Kyra down from across the field. He jogged in their direction, raising his eyebrow at Jadie. “Alpha.” He bowed respectfully to Lincoln and turned over to her. “Ready to get started?” Jadie let out a deep breath and shrugged. “As I’ll ever be.” They set her up inside on the rubber mats with Kyra standing opposite her in a fighting stance. “I’m going to show you co
Jadie’s eyes widened at the sight of her family making their way across the grounds. Her father had a bright smile on his face, and her mother was close to tears. Both her brothers seemed to be on edge, and Lincoln became ridged at their presence. “What are you guys doing here?” She asked, jumping into her father’s arms with a tight squeeze. She didn’t realize how much she had missed his hugs until now. Jack and Jeremy joined in, tightening their grips around the both of them. “We thought we would surprise you.” Gerald mumbled before setting his daughter back on the ground. Kristine stepped forward and smoothed Jadie’s hair down. “You should really thank Alpha Lincoln. It was his idea.” Jadie raised her eyebrows and spun around towards a silent, emotionless Alpha. His eyes were staring off at nothing in particular, clearly lost in his own mind. She rushed forward and hugged him around the waste making her family’s eyes widen in shock. “Thank y
Jadie woke up early the next morning feeling lighter than she had in a long time. She quickly got dressed and went to find her family.Jeremy was asleep in his bed, Jack sitting up on the couch scrolling through his phone. Her mother and father were getting dressed in their room, planning to meet her downstairs for breakfast.“Wake up, we have food to make!” She shouted in the younger of her brothers’ ear. His eyes shot open as he winced in pain from the volume.“Why would you do that?” He groaned, pulling the blanket over his head. Jadie rolled her eyes and ripped it away from the foot of the bed, leaving his whole body that was only covered by a pair of shorts exposed to the cold morning air.He hissed and sat up, giving his sister a glare. “Fine.” He growled, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and slowly making his way to his bag that held all his clothes.Jack remained silent by the door, waitin
His voice came out quiet as he dropped his head to stare at his hands. “I can’t get the image out of my head. It’s haunted me for as long as I can remember.” Kristine rested her hand on his knee in a comforting manor. “Whatever it is, you can tell us.” He took in a ragged breath and continued. “Do you remember the last time we all came here together? We were all a lot younger.” She nodded in confusion, curious to where this was going. “Well, Jack, Michael and I decided to pull a prank on Lincoln.” His voice broke, causing him to clear his throat. “It was supposed to be innocent. Jack and I would tie him to a tree near their northern border and go back to get him later.” Gerald frowned and sat forward. “Why would you do something like that?” His voice was becoming harsh as he tried to understand why his sons thought something like that was okay. “It was Michael’s idea.” His voice grew lower. Jadie looked confused and chimed in. “Who is Michael?” She aske
Once Lincoln was calmed down enough, he took a deep breath and straightened up to his full height. He nodded to Jeremy and pushed away his fear as he approached hesitantly. “Lincoln.” His voice was hoarse as he struggled to look him in the eye. The images of him close to death flashed in his mind; the fear in his voice when he called to them for help. “I am…so sorry.” He cleared his throat and forced himself to continue. “We should have never done that to you.” Lincoln remained expressionless. “I wanted to help you when you called out to us, and I regret it so much.” Lincoln sighed and stopped him. “Honestly, you don’t need to do this.” They all looked at him in confusion. “I may struggle to be near you for obvious reasons,” he clenched his fist and continued. “But that is for me to deal with. We were children, and no matter what you say, it will take me a while to forgive you.” Jeremy dropped his head slightly but froze when Lincoln rested his free hand on his s