VinnyI paced the living area of the packhouse as I waited. Back, forward, back, forward. Each footstep ricocheted my anger off the floorboards. In my mind, Vali was mimicking my pacing. We were both wound up and agitated. We were both ready to snap.My sister watched me pace as she bounced Lacey on her lap. I looked up towards the office door every so often and grumbled softly when the door remained tightly shut.“Would you stop pacing?” my sister murmured exasperatedly.“This close Clem!” I growled pushing my thumb and finger millimetres apart. “We were this close to getting one up on these fuckers. Then she had to go and get in the fucking way. If I wasn’t dealing with her, I could have helped the warriors—”“There were three trained warriors Vinny! Three. They should have had it handled. Even on the off chance you were there to help… honestly what more could have been done?”“He shouldn’t have got away.”“No, he shouldn’t have, which is why your Alpha and Beta are doing a debrief
RomanI was mad at Rue. She had almost gotten me killed and instead of being reproachful or candidly reprimanded, she was acting like it was no big deal. She had reverted into her delusional and obnoxious self and started acting like she could have taken on the rogue. Like she didn’t need help, especially from Vincent Stevens. That idea was abhorrent to her. She was obsessed with replaying the scene repeatedly, trying to twist or invent a way that resulted in her being victorious over the rogue without having to be saved. It didn’t help that the upcoming full moon was making her even more agitated and neurotic, flavouring her obsession bitterly on my tongue. I tried not to gag on the bitter saliva and I frowned at her for what felt like the millionth time she ran through her scenarios. She didn’t even notice my mood or seem to care that I was mad at her. Rue was angry and rabid, and fixated on something that was unobtainable. She was never going to listen, and unfortunately I could n
Vinny “Top Pocket,” I called as the white ball tapped against a red striped one. The number eleven bounced and off the felt wall of the table, rolling along a perfect angle towards the top right pocket. There was a light clunking sound as it found its way down the shoot back into the collection box underneath the table. “Nice shot,” Sean said as he chalked his cue tip. I said nothing as I lined up another shot and another; each shot entering their pockets with ease. I missed the third shot by a millimetre, the ball bounced off the corner and back into the middle of the table. Sean grinned and went to line up his move. It was extremely busy at Lupus’. I had forgotten that the weekend before the full moon was the busiest of the month. There was a buzz in the air as the Blackfern Valley Pack started to feel the affects of the approaching full moon. Each month as the moon crescents got closer and closer to its monthly peak, the werewolves started to react to the pull. Many got agitated,
Roman “Are you sure you don’t want to come to the pack run?” I asked for what felt like the millionth time. I frowned at the anxious whingy tone to my voice. I was beginning to sound desperate. Not a good look.“Why? Are you asking me to run with you?” Murdoch said, with a teasing lilt to his voice. I grimaced at him. A long time ago, when I was a different person, I probably would have said yes. But that was before my wolf became toxic and my needs changed. Asking someone to run with you as a hopeless romantic teenager was one thing, asking someone to run with you at our age was a sign of commitment. And as Murdoch and I had established many, many times, I was never going to commit. I couldn’t commit. It wouldn’t be fair to subject anyone else to Rue permanently. And if I was honest, I was already committed to Rue; to spending all my energy trying to keep her contained. I made a scoffing noise in my throat. “You would be so lucky.” Murdoch let out a bark of a laugh and shook his h
VinnyI wasn’t to join the pack run.Even after Clem had suggested it was a good idea, on the morning of the full moon she had explicitly asked me not to. I raised an eyebrow at her change in attitude, wondering what could have changed her attitude. Vali flicked an image forward of when I had asked her to leave the pack and her face was almost a mirror image of her expression five years ago. “There is no way she could know,” I said to him. “There must be another reason she doesn’t want me in the pack run.” But even as I said that my gut was telling me that it was indeed something to do with Roman, even if there was no way Clem knew the degree of animosity between us. There was absolutely no way my sister knew that Roman was once my fated mate and that she rejected me. My brain buzzed as I tried to quickly decipher another reason for banning me.Maybe it was because Roman was unmerged and unhinged. If her wolf was still fizzing about our altercation, then it was very likely we could e
Roman His tongue found mine with desperate need. It dominated my mouth, as his teeth gnashed against mine. I pulled away to get a breath and looked straight into startling green eyes. Eyes that looked horrified and apologetic. He started to pull away and I followed him into the kneeling position, pressing my mouth against his. I could taste the momentary shock before he opened his mouth and kissed me back. His mouth less desperate this time, his tongue gentle as if he was hesitant. Tingles zapped around my body, and all I wanted was for his fingers to trace the tingles. But his arms were in rigor mortis against the side of his body. His fists were clenched tight. He isn’t enjoying this. Cold awareness tormented me as I pulled away, my pride wounded. I pushed him off me and backed into a pine tree, breathing heavily as I tried to stop my racing heart and the hurt it was pumping around my body. “I shouldn’t have kissed you,” he murmured as he leaned against another pine tree watchi
Vinny My blood rushed south. I needed to calm myself down. She couldn’t know how much that kiss affected me. Both of those kisses. Conflicting information was sending my synapses into a frenzy. I took meditative breaths through my mouth as the jasmine salting the air irritated my nose. But when I did so, it was as if my mouth had remembered the taste of hers and the sweetness was being inhaled with every breath. I tried to keep my breathing shallow. Her eyes were fully brown now, her wolf non-apparent. But there was an untamed emotion swirling within her eyes. I wanted to reach out and talk to her, apologise, anything to stop that expression on her face. I wanted to say something, but my tongue had turned to dust, and the language centre of my brain was having a seizure. She edged further away, shifting and bolting before I could say anything. Vali tilted his head in confusion as he watched the spot where she had just vanished. “Dick-bait.” Liv’s voice travelled into my subconscious
RomanMy alarm blasted an annoying tune before I smashed it against the wall on the opposite side of the room. I groaned and rolled over, throwing my head under my comforter. Rue smiled sedately at me and gently nudged me awake again. This was the one day a month she was gentle and kind, any other day I would have been met with insults and aggression. I sighed and gave in, trudging my way to the bathroom to start my day.After I showered, I stumbled into the kitchen and switched on the kettle before succumbing to the benchtop of the breakfast bar. My face was in resting in nook of my arm as I replayed the events of the pack run in my head. Every excruciating minute of the kissing incident, inch by inch, frame by frame. Rue was offering no help, and for once it was not her obsessing over the incident. I was. I had kissed him. I hated him, yet that didn’t stop my tongue exploring his. The most confusing part of it all, was that even though I still hated him, I think I wanted to kiss hi