Share
FORTY-ONE | SALVATION
Lily
Elijah stopped, one hand on hers, as they entered a small clearing. Dapples of sunlight fell unevenly across the needle-covered grass, the edges of the light burning like burnished gold as the sun began its daily descent.
Three stones stood in the clearing’s centre. The middle one was the largest, and though it was well-maintained, it appeared to be the oldest. Watermarks slid down its sides, and fresh moss climbed up it. Dropping Elijah’s hand, Lily moved towards the stones.
“What is this?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer. Names had been inscribed into each of the stones, so many so densely packed that she had to squint in the low light to read them.
“Our memorial.” Elijah stepped up alongside her, his presence a comforting warmth that settled across her chest. He wound a solid arm around her waist, an
Related chapters
The Broken Alpha FORTY-TWO | CHAINED
Elijah Cheeks burning, Elijah untangled his frozen limbs from Lily’s gentle grasp. His heart was light in a way it had not been since his parents’ deaths. Speaking the horrifying truth of it had calmed him enough that his breathing no longer sounded wet or pained. But as the sun inched lower, he knew he did not have the luxury of time tonight to delve any deeper. He had brought Lily here to give her this same nirvana that she had, instead, gifted to him. The bond was taut between them, an iron fist holding them close. When Elijah felt as though he was drowning, the river water swelling over his head, water burning his nose, his throat, his lungs, Lily was there to breathe for him. She’d called him Eli tonight. For the first time, she had blessed him with the sound of a nickname falling from her lips. Dropping a syllable meant so much when it came fro
The Broken Alpha FORTY-THREE | FULL MOON
LilyWith wide eyes Elijah followed the line created by Lily’s finger. The fear curdling her stomach receded as he laughed.“Well, shit,” he said, his eyes soft as they met hers. It was by far the most colloquial, the most relaxed, she’d ever heard him sound.“It seems I don’t have a choice,” Lily muttered, turning away from him to stare at the moon. She’d never shifted outside, unrestrained, before. To do so now seemed impossible, but there was no other option. Elijah took her hand.“I’ll be with you. I promise, Lily, it will be okay.”“How can you know that?”He smiled sadly. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”“It’s not about me. I don’t care what happens to me. I just don&rs
The Broken Alpha FORTY-FOUR | WILD RAVINE
AtticusWith smug, tired satisfaction, Atticus guided his wolves home. His body ached from the exertion of shiting, but it was a pleasant, muscular ache that told of a job well done. Idly, he stretched out his long, bulky limbs as they walked.Now that Lily was gone – and he brushed over that thought quickly, patched up the hole it left with memories of the battle won – every wolf able to shift had fought by his side. Save for four of his spies, of course – all of whom were otherwise indisposed in the searches for Lily and the Red Ripper pack.He’d lost three of his own in the fight. Atticus didn’t care. Not when they’d decimated Wild Ravine, thus securing Blood Moon’s reputation for the month ahead. The summer fights were more brutal, more bitter, more bloody; he and his pack needed to be prepared.Others in his pack wo
The Broken Alpha FORTY-FIVE | RABBIT
AtticusDecorations lay in tatters across the grounds. Children huddled in groups beneath wide, leafy trees – as though they would offer some measure of protection.Atticus tried miserably to smile at them. He had to be strong for his pack, even as panic choked him. Whispers filled the air around him, and he tried to shut his ears to the words “Impulsive” and “Brutal”; that was not what he’d meant to be. He’d only ever wanted to do his best for the Blood Moon pack.Mint that had been strung in vials from tree to tree now lay upon the grass, the shattered remains of the glass cracking beneath his boots. Rabbits – a sign of family, of protection – scurried into patches of undergrowth, freed from their enchantments when their magical cages had been broken. Their wide, innocent eyes mocked and haunted him. Bunting in the colour o
The Broken Alpha FORTY-SIX | SUMMER
ElijahIn the two and a half months since Lily’s arrival, Elijah had never felt more settled in his own home. Spring had warmed slowly into an early summer, the colours blooming around the endless evergreen.He was beginning to feel as though his heart was as stalwart as the pines that surrounded him. It had stood strong through many struggles, but it had remained through all seasons. And, now, summer had returned – in more ways than one.Ithia leant across the ornate desk, hands flat on the table. “So?”Elijah grinned. “I think you mean, ‘So, Alpha?’”“You’re becoming unbearable,” Caslein muttered.“Yes,” said Ithia, examining her nails, “you are. And I hardly recognise you without that constant frown.”&ld
The Broken Alpha FORTY-SEVEN | FIRESIDE
LilyClutching a wicker basket brimming with baked goods, Lily strolled home in the late afternoon sun. The trees came alive in the sunlight, their boughs gleaming, appearing to bend inwards in a series of arches, leading her to Elijah’s – to her – cabin.And it was hers, now. She’d made it her own: Lily picked wildflowers and filled vases with them, until the entire cabin was teeming with seasonal flowers and foliage. She’d adorned the door with a handmade wreath, which she’d then made more of and sold at the market. The wreaths had been followed by pressings of dried flowers, framed in hand-carved wood, and suddenly Lily had found herself quite at home in the pine forests and meadows that made up the Sea Pine pack’s territory.Her first month with Elijah, here, in his home, had been magical. She’d unravelled him, lying o
The Broken Alpha FORTY-EIGHT | HIDDEN
LilyLily felt as though her bones were rattling. With shaking fingers she removed the crumpled letter from the crumpled envelope, smoothing it out on the desk as she lowered herself into the chair behind it.She lit a much-used candle that had dripped and oozed wax down itself onto the tabletop. Shards of moonlight cut through the hastily-closed curtains, peering through the gaps as though it was as interested as she was by the contents of the letter that her mate had gone to such lengths to keep from her.Her breaths felt too quick, too shallow. Elijah gave her everything she’d ever needed but never known how to ask for. Though the sting of Atticus’s rejection had long since been soothed, the gut-clenching fear that this was all a fallacy, ever intimate moment they’d ever shared, made the pain of not being good enough wash over her anew.
The Broken Alpha FORTY-NINE | ICARUS
AtticusAtticus had a lot to thank the Red Ripper pack for. Their ingenuity, for one. He liked a lot of their ideas, and their bravery, and their boldness. He hated them for it too, of course – but he couldn’t help but admire them either.Compared to the White Oak pack, their evil paled. His father had to physically restrain him when they’d come to gloat, saying they should never have fought them over a bit of woodland. He would have killed them all, one by one, their thick-skulled Alpha first, had it not been for his dad.He’d had to begrudgingly thank him for his foresight when White Oak had laid down the real reason behind their visit: to offer them enough basic crop to survive. They hadn’t wanted to hurt them; just to make a point. Atticus had nearly refused them on principle, but it was a windfall he knew wouldn’t land in his lap again.
Latest chapter
