LOGINWhat do you think of Josh and Maddie's first few interactions?
JOSH POV Once inside, I look around for Lucas and Shannon. I don’t see either of them, so I set my gift on the overflowing table of colorful gift bags and boxes. I grab a long-neck from the bartender and head outside to the patio. I spy Tyson and Rose dancing together under the gazebo and wander their way. Rose sees me first, although I’m pretty sure Tyson smelled me as he doesn’t look surprised when he sees me. Rose walks up and gives a large hug. “How are you, Josh?” This woman. She hasn’t once made me feel like shit, unlike Jenna, for leaving the pack and returning to my normal life. She said it’s because she knows how it feels to be a human trying to decide the way forward in a wolf world. However, she is disappointed that Tyson and I hurt her little girl by the deal we made. She mainly blames her mate, and she gave Tyson the cold shoulder for a little while after I left. “I’m okay, Rose. Hanging in there.” “Are you happy to be back
JOSH POV I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up. Three months and not a single, solitary word from Maddie, despite sending her multiple text messages a day and calling every single night when I get home. This week, I’ve started calling in the morning when I get up too. I feel like I’m going to go insane without her. The itch, which began as soon as we left Blue Meadow territory, is rippling uncontrollably under my skin. I have invited her up to see me and to spend some time with me here, but she has yet to take me up on my offer. I’ve become testy and short tempered with my teammates. I’m frustrated with their performances not being up to par and the attitude I’m getting back because I expect better efforts from all of them is childish. Honestly, this is what I would expect from high schoolers, not seasoned NFL players. Or have they always been this way and I’ve just never noticed? During the first few weeks back, I had to undergo extensive
MADDIE POV There’s a knock at my door and before I can answer it, it opens and Emerson bounces in with a wide smile on her beautiful face. She is probably the happiest, bubbliest person I know. She plops down on one of my chairs and rubs her teeny tiny baby bump. I scowl at her. Not because I’m mad, but because I’m jealous. All my siblings are able to find their mates and get pregnant at the drop of a friggin’ hat. Lucky fuckers. “Hey, Mads. Still looking at those rogue reports?” “Yes.” “Well, you’ve been in here for hours. Let’s go outside.” “I have work to do Em.” I tell her, but that doesn’t deter her. “Come on! When was the last time you went flying?” “My birthday.” “That was months ago! And skydiving doesn’t count. Besides, there’s an eagle I can sense outside. I want you to come with me to meet him.” I sigh as I stand. There’s no point in resisting her. She’ll just nag until I do what
MADDIE POV – THREE MONTHS LATER I rub my temples trying to relieve the tension in my head as I read over reports from my siblings and our other allied packs. Everyone is reporting abnormally large groups of rogues being spotted all over the country. But no one can find out what they are wanting or where they are based. Even Samuel, who can turn invisible, cannot infiltrate them to find out what’s happening. We are all very aware magic is being used to hide them; it practically vibrates through the air sometimes. But to our knowledge, all witch covens in the US are white circles. The last black circles were eliminated by THE white circle, the head coven in the US, right after Mama and Tyson mated. I’ve been in contact with Gisele, their leading witch whom the shifter community has had a treaty with for centuries, and she is adamant that no new black circles have formed in the US since the last’s demise. She is currently investigating her people, beca
MADDIE POV “Alpha, I hope I’m still welcome…” I hold up my hand to stop Jenna’s question. “You are Bruno’s mate, you will always be welcome here, Jenna. Will you be coming back for visits?” I ask, hoping, for Bruno’s sake, it’ll be more than that. “No. I won’t be visiting. I’ll be coming back to stay. I’m going back for a few weeks. I’ll be selling my condo and setting up a CEO to run my business.” “Really?” “I started it up to honor Jay and the love he had for the game. I now know my dreams of Jay, over the years, were real. He visited me to keep me going, but that last one, he gave me his permission and approval to move on from him. So, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to let someone else run the day-to-day, but my life isn’t there anymore.” She looks up lovingly at Bruno, “It’s here. And when I come back I will be accepting Bruno’s mark.” “That’s wonderful!” Poppy exclaims, while Bruno and Rocco smile in
MADDIE POV I calmly walk into the hallway, but as I emerge from my suite, I double over. The façade of being in control and not effected by the rejection I just received, crumbles into dust. I have to hold onto the wall to keep from falling to my knees in pain. Oh Goddess this hurts! And it’s not even the official rejection yet. It takes me a few moments longer than I would have thought to get a handle on this. I realize it’s taking me longer than normal because Infinity is alternating from wailing in despair to snarling in anger to then whimpering in pain, in what feels like an endless loop. She can’t settle on an emotion and honestly, neither can I. He’s leaving me for football. A game. A childish game that has absolutely zero bearing in the world. Entertainment for the human masses. I could maybe understand him picking his career over me if it was for something useful, like research to cure cancer, exploration to find plants and elements to devel







