One more coming up in a while.
CATHERINE. ‘Mate!’ Purity howled in my head. I felt goosebumps rise in my skin as my heart thudded loudly. So loud that the whole ballroom noise vanished, and the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat. ‘Catherine…’ Tyler’s voice reached my head, but I was so shocked that I was not able to answer him. I kept walking alongside Dad until I finally found him. My gaze locked with the ocean-blue eyes that were staring right back at me, looking at me earnestly as if I were his prey. I felt the mate bond snap between us, and I was left immobile, unable to take another step. The whole ballroom vanished. It was just me and my mate. His addicting scent was swirling around me, and it was making my knees buckle that I had to grip Dad’s arm tightly, or I might stumble forward. “Catherine…” Despite standing beside me, Dad’s voice was so faint because all I could hear were growls everywhere. My mate was Alpha Maddox of the Dark Forest Pack. He was part of the clan that attacked and took
CATHERINE.The Claiming was delayed, but it eventually proceeded without us. I was trying to put on a brave face, but my heart longed to see Tyler. He wasn’t around, nor was Jace, but all the Alphas from the circle were with us. Amara said they volunteered to convoy with our cars until we met the reinforcements that would meet us halfway home. Jace didn’t want to, as he didn’t want to put them in danger, but they insisted. I knew I should be thanking them for still looking after us, but I couldn’t even find a word to speak to anyone, not even to my own wolf. Purity and I had always been a team. We suffered and triumphed together, but for the first time since I welcomed her into my life, we were drifting apart. But I knew she understood as much as I understood her. It must be the reason she was not sharing her thoughts with me and had retreated to the back of my head.When it was time to go, I got into the car that Dad was driving. Mom was sitting beside me in the backseat. Amara w
TYLER. “She said she missed you,” Jace said, and it just added to the pain inside. “Stop, Jace.” My shoulders shook as sobs wracked my whole body. The tears I had been trying to stop since earlier came flooding out. “We will find a way. I know it hurts…” In a few steps, Jace was already standing beside me, patting my shoulder. “You don’t get it, man. I don’t even care about myself anymore. Why the fuck was she mated to that asshole? Did you see how he treated her? They had just met, and he was acting in such a manner towards her. If he ever lays a hand on her, I will fucking kill him!” I meant that. Zoey and I never saw eye to eye all the time, but I had always treated her with respect and had never shouted at or embarrassed her in public places. “Of all people… Was this supposed to be the part where I’d wish she was mated to one of your friends or to Andrew? Because even if we don’t end up together, I know she will be taken care of.” “Are you giving up already?” “No. I will
LUNA AMARA. Jace and I barely slept. We just lay in bed and spent most of the night talking about Catherine’s fate and asking questions we never found the answers to. It didn’t help that Jace was already in a rage to see Maddox, and his being mated to his sister was adding salt to an open wound. I was trying to calm him down while my own heart was weeping for my best friend. But we both know that, at this point, we couldn’t let Tyler and Catherine see us as weak. Our Betas needed us, so we decided to make sure that we would keep fighting alongside them as their Alphas and as their family - as long as Catherine kept choosing Tyler. By the time we needed to wake up, we were still awake, and I didn’t think I would be able to sleep, so I took a shower with Jace, and we decided to head down to his office. Jace held my hand, drawing our strengths from each other as he opened the door. We were walking down the corridor when we noticed something on the other wing of the fourth floor.
CATHERINE. I was in my bedroom, sitting by my window and looking at the entrance of the packhouse grounds. I could not see the front of the house, but I could see the car coming in, and I already saw Grandpa Theodore’s vehicle entering the grounds earlier. I could only imagine what was going on in Jace’s office at the moment. As much as I wanted to be there, I didn’t want to look at Grandpa Theo. I felt guilty even though I knew it wasn’t my fault. I was sure nothing they would say about Maddox could make me feel bad for him, but I didn’t want them to look at me with pity. As Amara said, it wasn’t my fault, but still, this was what I had, and until I broke my bond with him, it would cause more chaos in my family. I turned my head when the Omega, who was fixing my wardrobe, asked permission to leave. Some of my clothes that were already in Tyler’s room were sent up. And seeing those clothes hurt like I was back on my own without Tyler. My only consolation was that Tyler sent up
TYLER. I stood there and listened as Catherine’s whole family expressed their frustration over Maddox’s importance in Catherine’s life and how it triggered an old wound to be reopened. But despite their frustrations, there was one thing I was sure of: her family loved her more than the pain that Maddox and his clan caused them. Grandpa Theo, the rightful Alpha of the Dark Forest pack before it was taken over, apologized to me before he said his piece, and although it hurt, I understood him perfectly. “At the end of the day, I will let it go if Catherine decides to accept him.” He said it firmly, but his eyes avoided mine. “It’s not going to happen.” Jace blurted out, and I could see Uncle Jake was about to say the same thing. “Who are we to stop Catherine if she wants him?” “He will break my daughter, and I will not let that happen.” Alpha Jake said. “I’m sure you’ve heard of Alpha’s reputation.” Grandpa David added. “And we’ve heard of Jake and Jace’s reputations, but are the
CATHERINE.Amara and I were in my room, lying on our stomachs in my bed, while we scanned the photo albums of our childhood. They were Mom’s, and it had too many photos of me and Jace, but Tyler and Amara were everywhere as well, so it was amazing to look back at them with her. I was just in my underwear, so taking it off would be easy once my heat worsened. The bathtub was already filled with ice, and I had mild painkillers sitting at my bedside table in case it got intense, but I knew Mom was trying to get ones with a higher dose. I was nervous, but I knew I would survive it. I was determined, and Purity promised me she would try to share the pain with me. The thing with my wolf was that we had different emotions ruling us at the moment, but like me, she respected my choice as much as I understood her. And I was glad she was not fighting against me on this. We were both waiting until our decision became one, but I hope she will also end up choosing Tyler and not the other way arou
ALPHA JACE. I jumped out of Austin’s Wrangler Jeep even before he could halt the car and made my way to where Maddox was. He was standing on neutral territory with just a gate barrier between us. “What are you doing here?” I got straight to the point. “I want my mate.” He answered. “She’s not here.” “Where did you take her?” “It’s none of your business.” I tried to speak in a calm manner despite his snapping at me. “Go home.” “She’s my mate! You have no fucking right to take her away from me!” “Catherine has not decided yet. Until then, she’s free to decide where she wants to stay.” “Let me in. Or I will force my way in!” “Fuck off! What in the fucking world did you not understand that she’s not here?” “Let me talk to any of your men and see if they could lie under my command.” He said it arrogantly. I had no idea if he was being stupid or just plain ignorant. He could roll off an Alpha command to my men, but I could always counter it with mine to stop them from speaking