The scent of Kesha’s arousal had been driving me insane throughout the whole morning. I mean, how did they expect us to be able to focus on anything that concerned moving during the mating period. Hell, I know most of the alphas in this room had to deal with the war with Mathias during their mating periods, but that’s different. Our wolves are territorial and protective over what they deem as theirs. Their families. Their pack. And especially their mates and pups. War strategy will definitely get them to think about other things, even causing the effects of the matebond to die down temporarily. But as badass as these witches are and as much as they’ve hurt others that we care about, neither Kesha nor I have gone up against them. Our wolves don’t feel their threat to us or our people and are, therefore, having a lot of trouble being kept at bay during this boring ass meeting. Now I understand the memes that I always see the humans spreading around about a meeting that cou
Alone in my office, all I can do is hear the three-faced Goddess’s words in my head over and over. “You will be mated to two of Selene’s children, a High Priestess and a Luna in one.” “You will give birth to a change in the world of witches and wolves alike.” “You will help to bring about the death of the Riding Hoods, eventually, though not without much pain.” “Trust yourself and your allies. Look for the traitor. Find the hybrid and nurture his talents.” I know that Marcus has a gift for understanding prophecy. He actually foretold my ascension to High Priestess when I was three years old. The rule is that it has to go to a daughter of the High Priestess or someone of her choosing if she didn’t have a daughter. It never says which daughter it has to be. But Arthur knew that I would be the great protector of my coven and that my gifts would be strongest in all forms of protection. Too bad that those gifts didn’t save my coven. Or my sister. Or Talon. I shake myself out
Pain. So fucking much pain. They beat me for two full days. No food. No water. I was stuck in a dark cave and the rogue wolves were allowed to do anything they wanted to me. I was mutilated, losing a finger and part of one of my ears. I was bitten, marks left all over my body. I was clawed, deep gouges raking down my back, stomach, and legs. I was raped, over and over by each of the rogue wolves. And then they chased me through the woods. The rogues could have easily caught me. I could barely stay on my feet. But they played with me. They were just chasing me to terrify me and get me away from the Riding Hood’s encampment. I was herded through the woods, their jaws snapping at me anytime that I moved away from where they wanted me to go. I have no idea how long I ran. It felt like hours. I just know that I finally made it to the edge of my covendom. There, the lead rogue shifted back. He walked up to me, all swagger and coiled violence. I flinched away from him.
Celeste is beaten to hell. She’s almost unrecognizable. The only reason I did is because I could feel her power, though it is waning. Flickering with the ebb and flow of her life force. Celeste’s beautiful honey blonde hair is dirty, matted with filth, and hanging limp and stringy from her head. There are no marks on her face, but they cover every inch of skin from her chin down. Large Bruises. Bite marks, both human and animal. Claw marks. Blood caked on her skin, especially between her thighs. Her brown eyes just stare, completely unseeing. Though they continue to spill unceasing tears. She’s obviously been raped and beaten viciously and repeatedly for several days. According to our doctors, she’s also severely dehydrated and they doubt that she’s been fed either. Her feet are bare, cut, and bruised, making it obvious she ran here. She also has a mauled and broken ankle, showing she was chased and nearly caught. She’s not talking. Not responding at all. The magica
I wake to Gregory’s head on my shoulder, his soft snores buzzing in my ears. I pull him into me, snuggling into his neck. I breathe in his sweet scent of magnolia, losing myself in the happiness that I feel whenever I’m around him. “I love you,” I whisper to him, kissing him on the forehead. His arms tighten around me, seemingly a reflex in response to my movement. It cuddles his body into mine, causing the sparks to flare up even more before they start their slow fade to their usual tingle that they become when we touch for more than a few minutes. The feeling is made more potent by the fact that we’re both naked, so every inch of skin is touching. The feeling of pure pleasure that runs through my body causes me to roll my eyes as my head falls back. My entire body bows and my cock begins to thicken and lengthen. Oh, fuck. Every damn morning. Every damn night. Anytime that I feel him asleep beside me like this, my body reacts. I can’t help but want him. He’s like my n
The two best days of my life were the days that I found Jenny and Jamal. The two other parts of my soul. I would have never said it to Jenny or anyone else for that matter, but I had known that I was bisexual since I was 13 years old and I saw my best friend David in his baseball pants. There was no denying it when I would have to make quick exits to the bathroom every time he came up to bat or was at my house after a game. At the same time, though, I had a huge crush on his older sister, who was 14 at the time. That summer, puberty hit her hard and she went from a twig to a full-grown she-wolf. Between the two of them, I’m pretty sure that his parents thought that I was lactose intolerant or something with the amount time I spent in their bathroom when I was at his house. But that was forbidden in our pack. Especially with me being the next in line to be delta and David being the beta-to-be. It didn’t matter what I felt for him. Or what he might have felt for me. Even aft
The trip from Bella’s coven to the Meteoric Rise main packhouse lasts until about mid-afternoon. By that point, I’m itching to get out. To go on the trail of the Riding Hoods. Mom insisted that I stay with her to at least help settle our covens in. I will be meeting up with the wolves and Bella’s hunting party in the morning at Bella’s covendom. Nissa and I will use our gifts to track these bitches down. My strongest gift is tracking. Just like Arthur’s. It’s interesting to me that I have the same affinity that my mother’s first and truest love has, even though we’re not related. I’m hoping that I can convince Arthur to come with us. His exploits are legendary. He took down an entire finagle of Unseelie fairies by himself. Located a herd of boggarts that was terrorizing a countryside. He even found a nuckelavee that had been terrorizing the coast of Nova Scotia. He’s done things that no one else has been able to do. And that’s why I wanted him with us. He has the bes
I’ve been in an almost catatonic stupor since I touched that border. I know what’s happening, but I can’t respond. The pain. The shock. The guilt. And my idiocy. They all came crashing down on me. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it. There’s nothing I can do to save myself. My only option is to save my people. But how? How do I make the packs and the covens trust me? How do I get them to go along with what Morgana wants? Because that’s the only way to get my people out. To make it so they’re safe. I have to convince Bella so that she can persuade the packs. How? How? HOW? And that’s when I know what to do. I have to tell them the truth. It’s the only way that they’ll believe me. It’s the only way that they’ll help. But first I have to contact Morgana. I have to stop her from hurting my people. Lifting my foot up, I pull the coin out of my shoe. Running my fingers over the raised pattern, during the coin blue. Morgana’s voice fills my mind. “Celeste! W