Jane As my pups race across the room and pounce on me, I can help but laugh as I collapse beneath them. Wrestling and ticking the three wriggling bodies, they give as good as they get, poking my sides and making me squirm wildly on the tiles. A warm, deep chuckle that sends a very different kind of warmth through my body sounds above us, and the next thing I know Ethan is bending down to pluck me from the ground, tossing me over his shoulder and relocating me to the living room. Though he sets me on my feet when we get there, the feel of his powerful hands on my body makes my knees feel weak, and I have to steady myself with a hand on his arm when I land. The kids have followed of course and are now eyeing the pair of us with paws outstretched in threat. They pounce within moments, and before I know it all five of us are racing around the apartment laughing and playing, making my heart swell even larger in my chest. It feels as if it will burst out of me at any moment, and my wolf
Jane Looking down at Paisley’s sweet face, I know I can’t deny her anything. “Of course I’ll come.” I promise, avoiding Ethan’s gaze. “Yay!” Paisley exclaims happily, looking back and forth between Ethan and I. Something seems to strike her then, and her little nose crinkles in confusion and concern. “Wait, what ‘bout your game?” Ethan’s gaze zeroes in on me. I don’t need to look at him to know, I can feel the weight of his eyes on me like a pair of hundred pound weights. I should have foreseen this, I should have remembered the story I told the little girl about the hide and seek game. Now she’ll think I can’t ever be her mother because Ethan clearly found me. Panic bubbles up inside me, I don’t know how to answer her and keep up my lie for Ethan at the same time. “We put it on pause.” Ethan supplies, surprising me. “For you.” I add gently, “because of your surgery.” “Oh.” Paisley chirps, accepting our answer without further question. “Good.” She smiles toothily up at me. “I’m g
3rd Person Ryder, Parker and Riley kneeled in the back of the swan shaped boat carrying them down the lazy river winding through the dark tunnel, giggling in excitement as they spied on Ethan and Jane. Despite the pitch black surrounding them, their sharp wolf eyes could make out their parent’s bodies through the gloom, and saw that Ethan was about to kiss Jane. This is exactly the opportunity they’d been waiting for. “Riley, you’re a genius.” Parker whispered. “Thank you.” His sister smiled widely. She didn’t know why these silly rides existed, but she was certainly glad they did. It was so romantic, with the cozy boats and soft love songs blaring through the overhead speakers. At this very moment some pop star was singing about how she’d died every day waiting for her lover, and the pup couldn’t help but think Mommy had been waiting a very long time for their Daddy - at least as long as they’d been alive, if not longer! Unfortunately Ethan and Jane’s lips had barely brushed toget
JaneThe expression on Ethan’s face terrifies me.When he answered the phone all color drained from his cheeks, and his jaw went absolutely rigid. His eyes clenched shut as if he was in pain when the person on the other end of the line spoke, and the next thing I knew he was urgently telling me we had to go.“What’s wrong?” I ask, leaping to my feet.“It’s Paisley.” He answers, his voice like gravel.The room begins to spin as dread ties my stomach into knots, “Is she okay?” I gasp, reaching for the counter to suddenly swaying body.“They’ve rushed her into emergency surgery.” Ethan explains, moving for the door. “I don’t know any details yet.”Glancing helplessly at Linda, I find my friend already pushing my purse into my hands, “Go, I’ll take care of the pups.”“Thank you.” I mouth, following Ethan. “I’ll take you.” I announce, “You shouldn’t drive with a head injury.”He guides me through the door with a hand at my waist and closes it behind us, pulling the keys from my hand, “Of c
Ethan“What did you just say?” I demand, certain I’ve misheard the man.“Well, when we got into the operating room, we discovered that Paisley wasn’t actually in cardiac arrest.” Dr Hastings shares. “Her system was shutting down, but there were no signs of severe stress on the organ itself. We ran a few tests, and it appears someone administered a lethal dose of a drug called digitalis to Paisley mere minutes before we went into surgery.”“What’s that?” Jane asks, her little hand clutching my arm.“Well it’s actually used to treat heart conditions in small doses,” He explains, “but in the quantity Paisley received it can be deadly, and it’s not one of her prescribed medications. Whoever did this, did it on purpose.”“You’re sure?” I press.“Quite.” He nods, “the drug wouldn’t be tested for in a normal autopsy, we only checked because we could see that something was very wrong. Paisley was poisoned, and whoever did it probably assumed it would happen too quickly for us to save her. Luc
3rd PersonRyder, Riley and Parker were beside themselves. All the adults were in an uproar, running around and whispering behind closed doors, trying to keep the truth a secret. But they knew - they always knew. They were wide awake when their Mommy ran out with the Alpha the night before, they knew their sister was in trouble and they could feel the grown ups’ fear as if it was their own. They’d stayed up as long as they were able to keep their eyes open, but it hadn’t done any good. There was no more news while they were awake, and when they got up this morning, Mommy was nowhere to be found. Now Jane had finally called Linda for an update, so they huddled outside her bedroom door with their keen ears pressed to the wood, listening intently.“Hey honey, how’s it going?” Linda was asking, sounding as if she was preparing herself to hear the worst.Their Mommy’s voice was very faint on the other end of the line, but they could hear her exhaustion clearly. “She’s alright.” Jane answ
3rd PersonEthan was driving Jane straight up the wall. She’d never known anyone who could push her buttons like he did, and what’s more - he truly seemed to enjoy riling her up. She actually wondered how much of his current ploy was actually about power, and how much was simply to tease her.Jane glanced at Paisley, sleeping so sweetly in her bed, and felt her determination to defy Ethan waiver. He really did need to take a break, and she desperately needed some time alone to figure out what to do about their situation anyway. She couldn’t think when he was in the same room, watching her and turning her on with his mere presence alone.“Please.” Jane murmured, so quietly she wasn’t certain Ethan would actually hear her. Ethan flashed her a wolfish grin, “good girl.” Her eyes narrowed to slits, and her mouth opened to offer him a saucy retort, but he pressed a finger to her lips, “ah-ah, don’t make me change my mind.”Jane bit her tongue until he left the room, but the moment he disa
JaneSpinning to face Paisley, I find her sitting up in bed, her green eyes wide but still glazed with the remnants of sleep. This is the first time since the surgery that she’s seemed truly lucid, and I have to fight every protective instinct in my body to immediately begin interrogating her about who visited her before she went under. “Hello my love.” I greet her, crossing the room to sit at the edge of her bed. “How are you feeling?”“Funny.” Paisley answers with a yawn. “Why were you swearing, Mommy?”Brushing her hair back from her face, I offer her a lopsided smile. “I was just feeling a little out of sorts.” I confess, “But I shouldn’t have said those things.”Paisley leans forward, raising her hand to her mouth and secretively whispering “I’s heard Daddy say some of dose words too sometimes.” She grins sheepishly, “but he says dey’re bad words and only bad Daddies say dem in front of pups.”“And what do you think?” I ask her, overjoyed that she’s up and talking,She thinks fo