登入I stared at Elara over my dainty little teacup. She insisted on using them today because it felt like a special occasion.
I laughed when she ushered me through the door earlier, but deep in my heart as the morning wore on, I realized how right she was.
I’d barely had what felt like a night’s sleep in my bedroom here before I was whisked away to live my happily-ever-after with Gabriel at the Pack House. While I wouldn’t go back and change anything, coming here today was good for
A whole-body tremor pulled me out of a sound sleep. I couldn’t catch my breath, my fingers and toes ached with the pins-and-needles feeling.Bina’s head popped off the pillow. “What’s wrong?”I couldn’t even catch my breath long enough to answer her. As it was, I could barely shake my head. Shrugging my shoulders was not in the cards at present.“Do I need to call a doctor? Linsus?”As if those symptoms weren’t bad enough, I broke out into a cold sweat.“Lucien, what the fuck?” Bina cried, jumping out of bed. “You’re soaking the bed!”My heartbeat started coming back down to a manageable level, but Auron paced inside. I could feel his growls.“I don&r
I watched Gabriel closely as he absorbed my words. His wolf had to smell the magick. If he didn’t, that would be unusual for an Alpha wolf.He didn’t disappoint.“What do you mean?” he snarled at me. I could tell that he just wanted to hate me regardless; but being magicked and not remembering wasn’t something one could ignore.I take that back; I obviously ignored it when that young woman was in the dungeon. That was guilt I had to live with. One day I might be able to look at myself in the mirror, but that was a very long time in the future, if at all.“One of my Elders has had me magicked since I was at the Academy,” I replied dryly.“What? No way!” he replied in disbelief. “How could you not know?”Gabriel slid the chair from the guard’s desk and sat so we were now eye to eye.“If you’re magicked, how do you know? It just becomes your life and how
James radioed Stig, the guard on the platform with Gabriel with a code pink, then gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.“Are you okay, Luna?” he asked, his eyes darting between me and the road.“I’m fine.”I really was, but I also knew this was the calm before the storm. Once labor fully kicked in, this nice, blissful state would be a thing of the past.“Any contractions yet?” Amyra asked from the back seat, her fingers still holding my shoulder.“Just the one when my water broke,” I said just as one rolled through my midsection.I held my breath, but Maw tapped me. “Breathe.”I exhaled and inhaled deeply as the pain subsided.We were close enough now to the platform that I
I paced Halia’s small office while she talked to one of the local witches who resided in Riverton. Elara paced with me, hugging me to her side as we walked.She and Gabriel brought back three unaccompanied children from the eastern perimeter. One girl, about twelve, and her two younger brothers, ages six and eight. The girl, Mezla, and her brothers, were half witch, half shifter.Three months ago, their parents never came home. She’d tried to keep the daily routine going for her brothers until their parents came home, but without money to pay the bills, utilities got shut off, food ran out, and a letter came in the mail saying the bank was going to take the house.They packed what would fit in backpacks and hit the woods, shifting when they needed to in order to survive. Mezla figured they’d been walking for
I looked over at Sori dozing on the small couch in the corner of the office with yet another book on ‘how to raise a healthy child’ on her lap.Ever since Doc told her it could be any day now, she couldn’t devour enough of that topic—in print or online. Regardless of the assurances from Maw and Halia, she was convinced there was something she was missing and had to read up on whatever it was.I secretly understood her fear. I often picked up her discarded books and scanned through the text, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tips and tricks so I wouldn’t come across as the inept dad.Glancing up at the clock, I sighed and focused on the requisitions Halia left on my desk this morning. As usual, she organized them from the easy ‘sign here’ to ‘read this before signing’ order, making my life much easier.
Linsus refused to answer me when I asked what he meant about planning. He just told me to use my head instead of my fists. Then he left. Bastard.Plan what? I could only plan day by day. There was no future until I was cured of this damned curse. If I planned or even thought of anything beyond that I was just dreaming at this point.I couldn’t dream, it hurt too much.Every day away from the Pack felt more like a burden and not relief. Sure, I had relief here on the island, but the island still wasn’t Pack lands.I clenched and unclenched my fists. I could feel tension, Pack tension. Kane wasn’t putting out a call, but whatever was happening, it put the Pack on alert. I could still feel it because I didn’t renounce Silverpine, only my role as Alpha. The legal documents were very clear on that.Pulling my phone from my pocket, I logged into the gossip app, hoping to catch some news that explained the on-edge feeling. There wasn’t anything new, just
I pulled up to Sam and Elara’s Victorian home, marveling at its unique design. I just enjoyed the space, even from the outside.With the circular turrets, the huge wraparound porch, and the dizzying number of windows that allowed natural light, but from the sun and the moon inside.
After a lot of deliberation, Kane and I decided it was safe to go back to Silverpine. The Seer wasn’t talking, even if only to give us her name. She just cackled every time I came downstairs.We had no ill effects from being near her, other than getting on each other’s nerves. This place w
Sam wasn’t kidding when he said the Pack House was enormous. It looked like a palace with all the windows and number of floors.There were a bunch of houses scattered nearby, painted in colors resembling a color wheel.All the houses at Silverpine were either log built, or pai
I saw Sam’s tire tracks continue on the dirt road, but I veered off to the right, heading for the city.With the four-wheel-drive engaged, I practically flew over the ruts and sailed through the curves until I hit the pavement.The roads were clear, the sun shined down, and the city







