Micah’s POVThe day before the fight, I just spent a lot of time with the triplets and Robin. We were going to meet in a clearing outside the city. Both families were going to be there, to be able to watch and make sure this was done as the rules stated.As an ancient werewolf, I should’ve figured this was one day going to happen to me. Sometimes these things just happened and you found yourself in the fight of a lifetime.It was going to be the fight of a lifetime. I was going to make sure I kept the triplets and Robin safe.The two of us weren’t discussing it. We were discussing everything but it. One time I did try to bring it up but she was instantly changing the subject, clearly wanting no part of it.But the next day, as I was driving in the car, I realized that I had noThe car was too quiet. Just me, the hum of the engine, and the dread clawing at my ribs. I called her before I could talk myself out of it.She picked up fast. “Micah?”“Hey.”A beat. “You’re on your way, aren’t
RobinI remember the first time I set foot on Henderson Supernatural Academy. The acceptance letter had been shocking because I didn’t even know I was capable of magic! They claimed they had done some digging and called me the Red Moon Witch, a powerful witch of legend who would one day bring all covens together.When I spoke to my Grandmother, or Abuela as I called her, she said that they were right. I did have magic. Magic ran in our family, but I was a late bloomer. Whether I was the Red Moon Witch was not something she could say.She encouraged me to go to the school and accept the offer. I did. Soon after joining, I was able to harness my magic for the first time, and it was the strangest thing! For so long, I thought I was a typical mortal, but not.Magic seemed to come to me easily—more easily than I ever thought it would. I truly never thought it would come to me this easily.Some of the other students weren’t very accepting, viewing me as a try-hard. When I met my best friend
RobinWhile I was waiting for it to be approved, I decided to go spend some time with Kathryn."So... how are you doing?"It was one of those questions people always felt the need to ask when there was a stressful situation at hand. I didn’t mind them but it also was annoying at the same time because I was shitty. How else would I be after my boyfriend cheated on me and I found out my grandmother was very sick? It was a situation no one wanted to deal with.Kathryn was my best friend, though. I don’t know what I would do without her since I came to campus a year ago, or through this breakup.She knew about my grandmother, but I didn’t tell her about the surrogacy. I felt like if I were to tell her, there might be some judgment on her part because it was a huge step to take.Eventually, I would tell her but only once I was sure of everything. Once I was sure that I was going to be the one who would be carrying this man’s baby or this couple’s baby rather.They might not be married, but
Robin“Why don’t you join me for dinner?” he asked after the two of us talked for a bit longer that night. “And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I’ll be as transparent as you’ve been with me. It’s the least I can do.”"Are you married or involved with anyone?" I asked, my voice steadier than I felt.How I managed to get this question out without turning as red as a tomato was truly astounding right now.He chuckled. "No. I am simply trying to get my family off my back by providing them with an heir. They are insistent on setting me up, deeming that I am getting to be too old to be single, so I think a baby will get them off my back."Curiosity burned in my chest. "And you? How old are you?"He smiled. “I’m 38.”He was much older than I was, something I wasn’t that shocked by. It was expected that he was older than me, but it made me feel so young.Now I was nervous about telling him that I was younger, because what if he held it against me?He had to have seen my applic
RobinThe next day, I started to feel good about the situation. Things were looking up for my grandmother, but I was still very worried.Then I heard someone calling my name.“Hey, Robin!”I turned to see that blonde bimbo cat shifter who I found fucking my boyfriend. Sighing, I tried to ignore her, but she and her equally stupid friends appeared in front of me, smiling.“Oh, come on, are you seriously going to ignore me? I think we should be friends.”“You fucked my boyfriend. Why would I ever want to be your friend?”She giggled. “Guess you weren’t doing enough to keep him. No surprise given your such a frigid bitch, refusing to let him even cop a feel.”The other friends laughed.“Wow, you’re proud of being easy, huh?”“At least I know how to keep a man interested. Must suck knowing he got bored of you.”“Bored? More like desperate. Only a loser would downgrade to you.”Her smile faltered, but she recovered quickly. “Whatever. He said being with you was like dating a brick wall. No
RobinThe next day I decided to go see my grandmother. It had been awhile since the two of us saw each other. Not because I didn’t want to see her, but because school kept me busy.We spoke on the phone a lot so that was pretty good. But it wasn’t the same as seeing her in person.I walked into the room and smiled. Abuela didn’t waste any time in telling me what she was really thinking.“You look tired.”I sighed. “You always say that.”“Because it’s always true. You work too hard.”I sighed again. “I promise that I’m okay.”The look on Abuela’s face was unreadable.“You worry over me too much.”“Abuela—”“What happens is going to happen, Mija. I think you should accept that.”My throat tightened. “But I can do something. I am doing something.”Her dark eyes softened. “Ay, Robin. You’ve always had such a big heart. But this is life, mija. We do not control it.”“I’m going to get you some great treatment,” I promised my grandmother.Abuela sighed. “You are so stubborn. Just like your m
Micah’s POVA lot was expected of an ancient werewolf family that had existed for centuries. We could trace our lineage back until the beginning of Werewolf time, or so some claimed. The point was, we were well established. The Volkov family went far back in Russia before they moved to the States to continue their reign.Our name carried weight, not just among our kind but even among other supernatural factions. Alliances were formed, and enemies were made, all in the pursuit of power and dominance. Even now, expectations loomed over every decision, every action scrutinized. Failure wasn’t an option.The second I was old enough, I tried to leave and establish a life of my own, but my family always drew me back in. No matter how hard I tried, they drew me back in.I originally went to school to become a professor. People in my family didn’t do such jobs, choosing to work for the family rather than outside it, but I was one of the first ones to decide I wanted to work outside them.But
Micah’s POVI found Reggie holed up in one of the old warehouses near the river—the kind of place we used for drops, stashes, and the occasional "conversation" with enemies who didn’t make it back out.He didn’t look surprised to see me.“Micah,” he said, voice rough like gravel. “Didn’t think they’d send you.”“I didn’t want to come,” I admitted, folding my arms. “But you left me no choice.”His jaw flexed, and his fingers curled at his sides. “I didn’t betray the family. I just… I needed out.”“We all need out, Reggie. Doesn’t mean we get to screw over the ones who took us in.”Something flashed in his eyes—guilt, maybe. Or maybe he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.He found it.Faster than I expected, Reggie lunged at me, catching me with a punch to the ribs. I staggered back a step, but only a step.“You really want to do this?” I growled.“You should’ve let me run!” he barked.I dodged his next punch and cracked him hard across the jaw with my elbow. The sickening
Micah’s POVThe day before the fight, I just spent a lot of time with the triplets and Robin. We were going to meet in a clearing outside the city. Both families were going to be there, to be able to watch and make sure this was done as the rules stated.As an ancient werewolf, I should’ve figured this was one day going to happen to me. Sometimes these things just happened and you found yourself in the fight of a lifetime.It was going to be the fight of a lifetime. I was going to make sure I kept the triplets and Robin safe.The two of us weren’t discussing it. We were discussing everything but it. One time I did try to bring it up but she was instantly changing the subject, clearly wanting no part of it.But the next day, as I was driving in the car, I realized that I had noThe car was too quiet. Just me, the hum of the engine, and the dread clawing at my ribs. I called her before I could talk myself out of it.She picked up fast. “Micah?”“Hey.”A beat. “You’re on your way, aren’t
Micah’s POVAfter the two of us slept together, things were a little better. We had talked so things were less stressed but I realized that it wasn’t going to get better until this fucking fight was over,.This was why I had to make sure I had a backup plan in case I didn’t make it. The only person I could think to trust with this was Victor.He wouldn’t want to help me. Except he would want to help the woman he was still obviously in love with. Or had feelings to some extent. It was just a matter of trying to convince him to listen to me first.I stared at the screen for a solid minute before finally hitting call. Victor picked up on the third ring.“…What?”“Good afternoon to you, too.”“What do you want, Micah?”“I need you to come to the estate.”Pause.“For what?”“To talk.”A longer pause.“Talk?” he repeated, like I’d suggested we braid each other’s hair.“Yes, Victor. Talk. With words.”I rolled my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. What the hell was wrong with my nephew? S
Micah’s POVThe fight had been bad and completely my fault. I should’ve said something else, something to convince her to stay and talk with me in the study, but instead, she just walked away. I let her walk away.Two days later, and the two of us still weren’t talking. I was back t training. At least I didn’t have to sneak around any further, something I was thankful for. If only I had come out with this in the beginning.Victor had called me, apologizing. I did snap at him for a moment until realizing he had warned me about not saying anything. If I didn’t tell her then he was going to go ahead and her for me.This was what had happened, except she had sought him out, thinking that talking with him would help her get some answers. The thing was, she wasn’t wrong. It had gotten her the answers she needed, whether I liked it or not.I threw a towel at the wall and slumped onto the bench, still breathing hard. “She’s pissed.”Coach raised an eyebrow. “Robin?”“No, the Pope. Yes, Robin.
Robin’s POVWhen I was on my way back, I decided I was willing to call Kathryn because I needed some moral support—and fast.I didn’t even say hello when she picked up. “You’re not going to believe this.”“Try me.”“Micah is going to challenge a rival crime family to an old-fashioned werewolf duel.”There was a pause.Then—“What the actual fuck?”“Right?”“Like… a duel-duel?”“Yup. Teeth. Claws. Full moon. Probably blood everywhere.”“Robin.”“I know.”“Robin.”“I know!”“You were supposed to get answers, not trauma.”“Victor didn’t even deny it! He just gave me that grumpy sigh like, ‘ugh fine, yes, your emotionally repressed maybe-boyfriend is planning wolf murder.’”“Holy shit.”“My thoughts exactly.”“This is insane. This is okay, hold on, walk me through this. Slowly. Like I’m a child.”I took a deep breath. “Micah challenged someone. Officially. As in, old-school werewolf law. It’s still a thing.”“Of course it is.”“He didn’t tell me. I had to pull it out of Victor like an impa
Robin’s POVSomething was going on with Micah. He hadn’t told me and denied it whenever I mentioned it to him, but it was obvious it was something.One person I needed to talk to was Kathryn. She was the one who could always help me in situations like this and I needed to desperately talk to her about it.After calling her, I mentioned what was going on. Being the best friend that she was, she listened and didn’t judge me at all.But it still begged the question, what the hell was going on? I wish Micah would just open up to me. I bet he was just trying to keep this from me because he was thinking thatI paced my room, phone pressed to my ear, chewing the corner of a thumbnail like it had answers.“Okay,” I said. “Tell me if I’m imagining things.”“You’re always imagining things,” Kathryn replied, not unkindly. “That’s why you’re fun. What’s Micah done now?”“He’s being weird.”“That’s… specific.”“Weirder than usual.”“Still vague.”Sighing, there was nothing else I could do except a
Micah POVIt was time to tell my mother that the formal request had been accepted. I just got news it had been and though she knew I was going to do this, I hadn’t told her this to her face.I found her in the kitchen, slicing apples with surgical precision. She didn’t look up when I walked in—just kept slicing like the fruit had personally offended her.Mother wasn’t one for spending time in the kitchen. It was honestly a surprise to see her in the kitchen right now, but I wasn’t going to question that right now. What mattered the most was being able to explain to her that this was happening.I was going to engage in this fight, and you know what? I’d bucking survive it. Again, I had no choice if I wanted to be there for Robin and the triplets.“You’re early,” she said.Robin, the triplets, and I were supposed to come over to day but for now it was just me. I wanted to tell her without Robin around, so I could make sure she didn’t hear what I had to say. It wasn’t going to go well if
Micah’s POVThe next day, while I was working out at my private gym, I decided to tell my private coach what I was doing. He wasn’t impressed.I had to tell him because he was my trainer, the one who helped me stay fit and get ready for fights. If not for him I don’t know how I would be able to keep my head in the game.After I told him, he gave me a strange look. Sighing, I realized there was someone else who disapproved. Well, fine if he wanted to disapprove then so be it. It was fine and I didn’t care. This was happening no matter what.“You realize you’re an idiot, right?” Coach said, tossing me a towel before I even broke a sweat.It wasn’t a wrong thing to say, but this was also something I had to do.I caught it. “I figured that out around the time I opened my mouth and issued the challenge.”He cracked his neck, circling me slowly. “You’ve got guts. I’ll give you that.”“I’d rather have claws sharp enough to rip his throat out.”“You’ll have both.” He stopped in front of me, a
Micah’s POVThe dinner ended up going great. Father loved Abuela, much to my surprise. Well, not really. I had a feeling the two of them were going to get along based on the simple fact that she was a lot like his mother.He ended laughed during the dinner, to my surprise. I couldn’t believe my father was laughing when lately it didn’t seem like he had much laughter in his body. Or in his soul.Right now, I was visiting my family again. Some of the oldest family guards were there keeping an eye on Robin on the twins. I had to talk to my mother but she was busy. This was why I was currently talking to Victor. We had a strange relationship, but with him here I decided I might as well run the idea by him.He was sharpening a sword. Why did he have a sword? Fuck if I know but I ignored him.What I had to tell him was important.I needed to run the idea by someone in the family. It was the fact that I wanted to challenge the head of the other crime family to a duel.They had tried to kill
Robin’s POVMicah stood in the doorway, watching me hover over the fridge like it might produce something better if I glared hard enough.“You’ve been staring at that container like it owes you money,” he said.“It does owe me something,” I muttered. “Peace. Closure. Satisfaction.”He leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “Is that the pasta you yelled at me for trying to eat yesterday?”“Yes. Because I called dibs. You don’t mess with fridge dibs.”“I was hungry,” he said, like that was a viable defense in court.“And I was emotionally attached. You almost started a war.”“I put it back.”“Yeah, after I caught you holding it like you were about to propose.”Micah smirked. “It was a tender moment.”I rolled my eyes and grabbed a fork. “I’ve been thinking about this pasta all day. I mentally committed. I skipped lunch for this.”“Sounds healthy.”“I didn’t say smart committed.”Just as I was about to dig in, my phone buzzed.My phone buzzed just as I was about to dig into the leftov