GINGER“Now your turn,” Sara said.Could I refuse?Her dark eyes burned into me as she waited for me to take the knife.What had I gotten myself into?“Take it, Gigi. Do it for Tyce.”My hand shook as I extended it. I forced myself palm to wrap around the handle. I was trembling so much, I almost dropped it, barely able to get a grip on it. I wrapped my other hand around the first just to make sure I wouldn’t.“Now, ask him something. If he answers, we can give him a break. But if not…” She smiled widely at him, leaving his fate unspoken.“Are you trying to take over my pack?” I asked. Please answer, please answer, please answer.But he didn’t. He continued to hold his silence.“We’ve got a stubborn one,” Sara said. “My absolute favorite.”To be fair, it did seem he was starting to relent. When I’d first entered the chamber, he’d seemed tougher. He was a tall, robust man. But something in his face showed the uncertainty he saw about the future of this exercise. I could see why someone
NIKOLAIEarly on Tuesday morning, I jumped into the hot shower before it was time to leave. They say a full moon can make one do crazy things. And in our culture, we were especially affected by the first full moon of the year—the wolf moon. It was days away. And there was no reason to believe that a sunrise couldn’t affect us much the same. Especially after having lived in persistent darkness for so long. I’d practically forgotten that there was a time in my life that I’d walked under the sun’s rays.As planned, I met Terri at the dining table that morning, munching on some buttered toast. “Shh, don’t tell my mom.” Terri winked at me and giggled. I stared at her, not sure what she expected me to tell her mom. That I was taking her on a private adventure? Her mother would be elated at the news.I continued into the kitchen, where I heated up a pre-prepped breakfast sandwich that Tasha always had on hand for the alphas when we’d be up early for training. I fumbled with the fancy Nespres
NIKOLAI The wind whipped around us, lifting fine dust from the snow and swirling it in the air, obscuring the path ahead. But I pushed forward, relying on my nose instead of my eyes. From when I’d first gotten my wolf, I’d always had a strong sense of direction. Once I traveled a path, the scent stayed with me, etched in my memory like a map. My mother had been the same. Something hitched in my throat at the thought of her. Although I had remained calm that morning, Terri had ascertained correctly that it was difficult to hear of others' mothers and to be reminded of her. What I wouldn’t give to hear her strong opinions today, as much as they had always annoyed me. Terri came closer and whimpered. My attention instantly went to her. What had happened? Was she okay? Nothing seemed amiss. I tilted my head at her in question. But she just looked at me with puppy eyes, as if she could sense what I had been feeling and her own mood sobered correspondingly. It was eerie. But I pushed it
NIKOLAITerri pranced along the perimeter of the summit, radiating pure joy. It was infectious. A force tugged at something buried deep within me. Slowly, a rare smile crept across my face, waking muscles that had lain dormant for ages. Then it hit me—a realization so startling it shocked me to my core. I was happy.I couldn’t remember who started it—whether it was an unspoken agreement or some shared, instinctive understanding—but before long, we were play wrestling each other, rolling around in the snow, barking and growling with delight. I nipped at her dark fur—fur that was full and glossy under the sun’s rays. Absolutely stunning. She licked at my face and I returned the affectionate gesture. Before long, our tongues were touching, licking at each other as we lay on our sides. Our paws rested against each other’s faces, and our hind legs tangled. Heat radiated throughout my body, but I refused to advance things further. Especially when she couldn’t verbally confirm it was what sh
NIKOLAIBefore long, Terri’s legs were shuddering against my cheeks, her nails were digging into my scalp, and her moans were echoing off every surface of her bedroom. I ate her as if this were my last meal. Her moans turned to a euphoric scream, her thighs trembled against my ears, and I drew every bit of orgasm I could out of her. When I finally withdrew my mouth, she was left panting and limping, finally collapsing into her bed. “Wow!” she said, as she spread out in a starfish position. “You’re amazing at that.”Pride radiated throughout my body. My shoulders straightened in pleasure, basking in the vision of her rosy, glowy skin, the rise and fall of her chest as she caught her breath, and satisfaction on her face. I couldn’t help myself from climbing into bed with her, pulling her into my arms, and nuzzling against her neck to inhale her sweet, musky scent, now ripe from the day and what had just gone down.I jolted; a surge of shock coursing through me at the sudden touch of he
NIKOLAIWhen she finally lifted herself, and lined her entrance up with my cock, I was a goner. Any other misgivings I may have had were wiped from my consciousness.I let out a deep, appreciative moan as she lowered herself onto me in a slow grind, rocking her hips to allow each bit of my length to methodically enter her. The inner walls of her pussy clench around me. My hands dug into her thighs in reaction. I couldn’t believe such a beautiful angel was allowing me inside her, packing every inch of me into her. She continued to slowly and carefully lift and lower herself onto me until she was filled to the hilt.“Fuuuuck, you feel so good!” I cried out.She smirked and lifted her arms over her head, elevating and emphasizing her sporty, pert breasts. I couldn’t take my eyes off them as they bounced with every movement. Using only her thick, well-muscled lower body, she easily slid up and down the length of my cock, impressing me with her display of athleticism.I wrapped my large ha
THERESAI stirred awake, blinking against the lamp light. Had I fallen asleep? I glanced upward to find a pair of silver eyes meeting mine.“Oh, shoot! Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” I stammered, scrambling to get up. Gosh, last thing I needed was for him to think that I believed this to be a relationship where we spent the night together and stuff. Moreover, my family was likely getting back soon, and it was in my best interest to scram before they figured us out.As I sat up, readying to grab my clothes and get out of his way so he could leave, his hand closed gently around my wrist. “Wait.”I glanced back at him, searching his face for a clue to his thoughts. As usual, his expression was unreadable.“Would it be wrong to want to spend a little more time with you?” he asked.“Oh,” I replied, caught off guard.“When we can speak to each other,” he added.I blinked, then smiled faintly, the tension in my shoulders easing. “Look who wants to talk all of a sudden,” I teased, play
THERESAI shook my head, pushing the thoughts away, and then continued. “Everything changed this past spring. I came home for summer break after my sophomore year of college. By then, I’d mostly gotten used to the idea that I’d stay a virgin until I met my mate. And then... I met him. My now-ex.”My mood darkened at the thought. Kolya seemed to sense it, as he gave my upper arm a squeeze.“Honestly, I didn’t even like him at first. He was a friend of a friend of a friend. My friend Kaylynn had a crush on this warrior who she invited to a party she was throwing. He had duty and couldn’t make it, but he asked her to invite one of his friends in his place that he said was kind of a loner. Said he was trying to get him to meet more people. And Kaylynn, of course, agreed.“We were all just sort of hanging out. I’d made some silly joke, teasing him in a flirting sort of way. And instead of laughing, he flipped me off. I don’t even remember what I said, but I’m sure it wasn’t anything that r
NIKOLAITyce’s hands trembled at his sides. His shoulders rose and fell unevenly, like he was barely keeping himself together. For a moment again, he looked young and lost, like a boy whose world was unraveling piece by piece. But he quickly shook his head and straightened his shoulders."I’ll do my best. I promise." Tyce’s voice was raw, quieter than before. His fingers flexed at his sides before he turned away, blinking hard. I recognized the move. The sheer, bone-deep exhaustion of trying to keep it together when everything inside you was falling apart. Finally, he turned back and said, “Give me something with her scent on it. Alpha Nikolai will help too.”Sophia’s father rushed back into the house, returning seconds later with a winter hat. He handed it to Tyce, who passed it straight to me.I took a deep breath, inhaling the Sophia’s scent, locking it into memory before handing it back.I was sure Tyce felt the same as I did. Someone had reached Sophia before we could. And now, s
NIKOLAIThe silence between us stretched thick and suffocating, broken only by the rhythmic tapping of Tyce’s fingers against the wooden desk and the occasional muffled sound of a voicemail message cutting in and out.Every few minutes, he tried again. Calling. Mindlinking. His expression flickered between frustration and outright fury every time the connection failed.Each passing minute felt like an hour.Tyce was relentless. Again and again, he dialed, pressing on the chosen contact of the moment, only to be met with the same voicemail box recording. Calling and mindlinking like a maniac.I couldn’t deny I wouldn’t have done the same. I just didn’t have the same means to attempt contact. So, I determined, my job, albeit impossible, was to attempt to keep him calm.Honestly, I wasn’t doing any better. My mind screamed for action, but all I could do was sit there, forcing myself to remain still. I kept blocking out the worst-case scenarios. If I let myself think about Terri in the ha
GINGERAs I woke, I fought against a dull, aching exhaustion pressing down on me like dead weight. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy. My mouth was dry, my head pounding. Every muscle in my body throbbed with soreness, as if I’d run a marathon the day before.This has to be the worst hangover of my life.Slowly, the fog in my mind began to clear. I inhaled the scent of crisp air and wet earth. Was I outdoors? I groaned, trying to roll over. A sharp clink echoed through the silence.My eyes snapped open.Coldness nipped at my skin—no, at my fur. My stomach dropped as my sluggish brain scrambled to make sense of it.The room—was it even a room?—was cloaked in darkness, the only illumination coming from the faint glow of my red night vision. The outlines of my surroundings took shape: cold, empty space, stone walls, and metal bars blocking the only exit. The scent of damp earth and frost hung heavy in the air.I tried to move, but the harsh clink of metal stopped me short. I looked down. M
TYSONI finally understood what it meant to straddle the edge of sanity and madness.I hadn’t slept in days. The world around me felt surreal, like I was walking through a dream—or nightmare. Every time I bumped into a wall or grazed a piece of furniture, I’d catch myself wondering why I hadn’t just passed through it. I felt like a ghost, a shadow of myself. Losing Gigi was like losing my purpose. Without her, what was the point of any of this? I scrolled through our old messages, rereading the last text she sent me:Gigi: Love you, send you some snaps laterAs if the words might change. As if they could tell me where she was now.But the screen remained the same. No new messages. Just a string of my frantic ones.They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Well, here I was, proving it. I must have called and texted both Gigi and Terri a thousand times. At this point, my fingers were moving on autopilot. The result
NIKOLAIAs feared, by the next morning, Tyce still hadn’t heard from Gigi or Terri. The thick and suffocating dread was settling in. It was looking to be less and less a case of a couple of lost cell phones.While everyone else was at the morning temple service, Sasha and I met Tyce in his office, where he was seated in the same spot I’d left him the night prior.Tyce looked exactly how I felt, like hell. His eyes were bloodshot, shadowed by dark circles. His hair was even more disheveled than it had been the prior day. Overgrown stubble dusted his jawline. He appeared a ghost of his former self—an alpha taken down by his biggest weakness.He arrived in the same clothes he’d worn the prior day, now wrinkled from his clearly sleepless night. The muffled sound of a generic voicemail box rang through the air.He let out a heavy breath and rubbed his temples before running a hand through his hair. “Flight conditions are still a no-go,” Tyce muttered in a voice that was rough with exhausti
NIKOLAITyce leaned back in his chair, dragging his hands back and forth through his dark hair. The movement left pieces of it sticking up in all different directions.“I just wish…” He trailed off, exhaling sharply. “I just wish I’d marked her.” His voice cracked. “I wanted to. But she was adamant about waiting until marriage. She didn’t want to look bad in front of our parents.” He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “That shit’s so outdated. It’s not like they don’t already know what we’re up to.”His shoulders sagged as he let out a heavy sigh. The weight of his regret was palpable. “If she were marked,” he rasped in a raw voice, “I’d at least know where she is. I could feel her. I’d know she was safe. But…” His voice faltered, splintering into something dark and helpless.Crack! With a strangled roar, he slammed his fists against the desk. The violent sound shot through the room.I flinched. Not at the outburst, but at the raw emotions and vulnerability it exposed. I knew e
NIKOLAI“I don’t understand! Where the fuck is she?” Tyce’s booming voice echoed down the hallway as I stepped through the front door on Sunday evening, sweat still cooling on my skin after hours spent pushing my body to exhaustion. I walked further into the packhouse and his voice became louder as I proceeded. “We need to get that plane out tonight. I need to go to Anchorage immediately.”I followed the sound of his shouting, rounding the corner, to find a red-faced Tyce with bulging eyes in the common area, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.Across from him, Beta Liam stood firm, arms crossed, with a calm but unreadable face.“Tyce, it’s not possible,” Liam said with a measured tone, a stark contrast to the storm raging inside the alpha.Tyce’s chest heaved. His nostrils flared. “I don’t care if we crash the fucking plane,” he snarled. “I have to get to her. Do you understand? She’s out there, and we’re just standing here, doing nothing!”Liam’s jaw tightened, but his voi
GINGERShe walked off, joining the line for the bathroom down the hall. I was about to take a seat when Grace appeared beside me.“Hey, can I get you something else to drink?” she asked.“Oh no, I’m good. This is probably my last one,” I replied.“How’s your friend?”“She’s fine. She just went to the bathroom.”“You’re not leaving, are you? We just got here!”“No, no, she wants to stay,” I assured her. “I can introduce you when she gets back.”A man approached us and stood next to Grace. I struggled to remember his name. Bill? Brian? Ben? Something with a B.“Hey, do you wanna?” he asked, tapping his right nostril meaningfully.“Gigi, have you tried it before?” Grace placed her hand on my arm in a friendly gesture.I shook my head.“Oh, you have to. It’s amazing—it makes you feel so good, like you don’t have a care in the world. You’ve gotta try it!”The idea was tempting. I’d missed out on trying coke at my bachelorette party, which I’d always hoped would have been much wilder than i
GINGERBy the time we made it to the party, Terri seemed to be in a much better mood. I felt pleased with the progress I’d made. She was opening up more and actually laughing, a huge contrast to earlier that afternoon.“Let’s go get some drinks!” I exclaimed and led her into the kitchen of the small house we’d come to. They had a huge bowl of jungle juice set out, so I filled our Solo cups with generous pours. We clinked our cups together and made it out to the living room where music was blasting and different students were gathered. I sniffed around, but only humans seemed to be in attendance so far.“How’d you hear about this party?” Terri asked.“It’s kind of funny,” I said. “I met another one of our kind earlier today at school. She gave me her number and said there’d be more of us here tonight.”“Oh,” Terri replied, but didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it as I thought she’d be. “Do you know what pack she was from?”“I couldn’t tell,” I replied. “And she didn’t say.”“It’s usual