Se connecterI hurried past the closed door to Gabriel’s office. Even through the soundproofing, I could hear the raised voices that had been going back and forth since this morning. I didn’t realize having Bear and his clan moving here would be such a big deal, but living on the fringe of a pack meant I had no idea about wolf politics or the inner workings of how things were run.
Life was different at Wane Hall. We came and went and mind
My finger hovered over the send button on my email to the HC and the Twelve regarding intel that Rodgrick was bringing troops into this hemisphere and how that could possibly be considered an invasion and an act of aggression.I reread the message one more time. There was nothing to change, but hitting send would start a whole new shitstorm that Coralridge didn’t need right now.I saw a banner in the corner alerting me to a new email. Sender: Rodgrick Grendin. That was all I caught before the banner faded.I didn’t hit send and minimized that window.There it was, in my inbox.I didn’t even have a chance to open it and my phone lit up.Pietre: He’s out of control.Baun: What trouble did you get yourself into?Rocko: He needs to go.Vin: How do we respond?Kane: Ignore him.I blinked in surprise seeing Kane responding to the Twelve. We added him to the group chat the night of the dinner after we felt reassur
The nursery didn’t feel right. I know Halia gave me her suggestions as a mother and grandmother, but the more I looked at it, something felt off.I couldn’t pinpoint it, though.I dragged the new glider Gabriel bought for me, and the baby swing, and the stroller, and the car seat, into the center of our room so I could look at Kali’s room without all the extra clutter.“Ah,” I sighed. “That’s it. The crib should be on that wall and the dresser where the crib is.”The crib was on wheels, so that was easy enough to roll out of the way. Once that was done, I lifted one corner of the bureau and inched it out, then walked to the opposite side of the waist-high set of drawers to repeat the process.I would move it little by little.Just as I had the second corner lifted, Elara swept into the room and shrieked like only Elara could.“What are you dooo-ing!” she cried, rushing over to me as if I’d fallen down a cliff. “Are you alright?
Life was relatively quiet since the New Moon Dinner.Too quiet. It felt like the calm before the storm, but I knew the storm was right at our doorstep.Bear’s wolves had settled in without incident. Bear and Maw themselves adjusted easily to life outside their frigid lands. After the email exchange with the High Council, they decided to make the trip back to Wintermere after the dinner with the other Packs, just to keep up appearances.They were due back in a couple of days. Maw wanted to be here before Sori went into labor.Sid hadn’t uncovered where the HC spies were around town yet, but he was mostly sure it didn’t come from inside the Pack. Unless they didn’t use Coralridge servers for communication. He said that wouldn’t be unusual to use something like public WiFi to further mask their back and forth.
The workers quickly pocketed their cash and practically ran out of the villa at the end of their workday. It was the start of the weekend and I’m sure they wanted to go spend it much faster than they earned it.I was thoroughly impressed by their workmanship. I couldn’t tell exactly where I’d put the hole in the wall. Bina would be pleased when she got back from the ragtag coven meeting she was now a part of.Her magick was getting stronger. Still nothing new on the scrying front, but that was what it was. She even paired up with one of her friends and tried, the crystal still pointed right to where we were.I grabbed a couple of beer bottles from the fridge and made my way back out to the patio. The sun neared the horizon, casting the sky in reds, yellows, and oranges.I handed a bottle to the old grizzled wolf shifter, Lin
I sat down at the table while the applause still roared for my lovely mate, whose cheeks were a bright red from embarrassment.I purposely didn’t tell her about the speech, letting her think the only fanfare was the receiving line. It was a simple speech, but it still made her blush.Mission accomplished.We sat in tables of six in one section of the room, leaving the rest for mingling and dancing once the dinner was over. Nothing elaborate, just enough time for the Twelve to get their time in with our new Luna, and each other.Halia intentionally seated Kane’s party with us primarily to keep them away from the prying Alphas of the Twelve so they could at least enjoy dinner before the grilling started.“I’m glad Rodgrick didn’t push it and try to tag along,” I began as the servers swarmed the
This was it, the moment I’d been dreading for weeks.Maybe he won’t recognize me.I wanted to hold on to that thought, but knew the likelihood of that was slim to none.I heard Seith call out. “Kane, welcome to Coralridge.”“Seith, good to see you, man,” the deep voice replied.It was then I realized it wasn’t Victor I should have dreaded; it was Kane. I remembered that voice from inside the SUV when they snatched me off the street.He was there.I swallowed hard.I wanted to run, plead illness, go to bed.But I couldn’t do any of those things without calling more attention to myself.“May I introduce you to our Alpha and
I woke to dim light leaking down the hallway and the pasty taste of the mix in my mouth. I could hear sounds in the building and outside. The town was waking up.Fingers crossed, they wouldn’t know I’m here.I padded down the hall and grabbed a bottle of water, and drank half a bott
I stepped outside the small cave and stretched. While I was still feeling weak and light-headed, it felt good to be outside.I exhaled and saw my breath. Frigid but invigorating.Ori?No response. Normally, her inside heat would make the outside feel warmer, but I no
The door opened again, but the hallway beyond was darker than before.I lay on my cot watching them without lifting my head.The door swung inward. Four elders entered. Selwyn first with a leather bag.Marius came next, arms full—two
The sun was barely over the horizon and I was already on my third whiskey. It wasn’t like alcohol gave shifters a buzz, it was just the symbolism of the quantity that pissed me off.Then again, over the past week, everything pissed me off.All because of that Wane girl. What was she







