TALIA Alex stared at me for a long time. It was completely silent as we looked into each other’s eyes. Finally, Alex responded, “Okay, Talia, I will let him back. I’m sorry I banished your friend.” He paused and took a deep breath. His eyes filled with emotion, and he continued, “But I hope you understand why I did it. When I saw the two of you together, it was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced in my life. Goddess, Talia, I’m in love with you. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I would do anything for you. To me, you are perfect. And seeing you with someone else—I can’t think of anything that could hurt more except maybe you dying. That’s the only thing I can think of that would hurt me more.” I sensed his pain, the same pain I felt the day that it happened. It wasn’t as sharp this time, clearly having dulled with time, but it was still there. He was still hurt by the incident. “Thank you for letting my friend back into your pack.” I took his hand in mine, feelin
JASMINE Being a warrior was becoming harder, and I really began to question whether it was worth it anymore. Blake was always so encouraging, and the way he believed in me was infectious. But after spending the day with Charlie harassing me during physical training, strategy, and planning class, and cleaning the gym as part of our warrior duty (where Charlie made me clean the toilets, as usual), we had sparring as the last part of the day. I couldn’t wait to finally be done in two hours. He started the session off as normal, telling us to go for a mile run, and then he had us do a round of burpees, jumping jacks, and push-ups before he paired us off. I was surprised when he didn’t have me do extra of anything, thinking that maybe the rest of the day would go smoothly. He paired me with a guy named Rob who I mostly got along with. We went through all of the different moves as he barked them out, and he didn’t even make a single negative comment to me! The session couldn’t have been go
JASMINE After dinner, I drove over to Talia’s apartment, wondering what she wanted to talk about. She met me outside, brought me upstairs to her floor, and let me in. “Sorry, I don’t have much furniture yet,” she apologized. “Why don’t you take a seat at the kitchen table, and I can make some tea.” “Sure, tea sounds good,” I replied, looking around the apartment as I entered. It was very bare, with close to no furniture and no decorations, giving it a cold and lonely feeling. As she put the kettle on, I asked, “So what did you want to talk about?” She let out a deep breath. “You rejected your mate, right?” “Yes, I did,” I replied, my high suddenly squashed, flinching at the reminder, the lingering pain making itself present. “Oh, sorry.” She bit her lip and furrowed her brows, clearly noticing my reaction. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.” “Does that mean it still hurts?” “Yeah.” I sighed at the dull ache within me. “How long has it been?” “About a year now.” “Oh,” she said. Aft
BLAKE The weather was frigid, and it was the week leading up to Thanksgiving—the whole pack was in a festive mood, with the winter holiday season kicking off. While we didn’t celebrate Christmas, we were still influenced by human culture, watching their TV shows and movies. Many pack members had adapted the Christmas customs by setting up decorated trees in their homes and putting lights up outside for the winter solstice and New Year’s. It was a joyful time of year, and this winter would be more special than usual for me. I was with Jack one evening, doing a loop outside the border in our wolf forms during my patrol run, when we took a break to chat. “You know, I don’t like how they just kidnapped and killed Jimmy, and we haven’t seen or heard anything since. It’s making me very suspicious,” I mindlinked Jack. “It is pretty sus,” he agreed. “I’ve reached out to the other packs, but there haven’t been any other incidents since.” When he didn’t respond, I glanced over to find that
BLAKE *** Five and a half years ago *** It was mid-March, and my father had finally agreed to put off transitioning the alpha title to me until I completed college. I’d be leaving for Siberia in less than six months. While I should’ve been relieved, I couldn’t see past the pain that’d taken over my entire mind and body. I was completely possessed, with no relief in sight. It was just dark, always dark. It hurt so much most days that I was sure my chest would cave in. When I’d breathe in deeply to stop the caving, it was as if my ribs were puncturing my lungs. What was the point of living anymore? The woman who’d finally brought light and relief to me after I’d tolerated years of my father’s abuse was gone from this earth. The woman who’d been carrying my pup, whom I’d promised to protect and foolishly allowed to go to battle with me. I deserved this anguish. I hadn’t protected my mate. I hadn’t protected my offspring. And now I was supposed to protect an entire pack? I was completel
JASMINE Just as predicted, Charlie was even worse now after what’d happened. He spent the entire morning constantly forcing me to do burpees randomly. Blake came by to bring me coffee during our morning break. As soon as he left, Charlie pushed the coffee cup out of my hand, acted like it was an accident, and then forced me to clean it up. I thought about confronting him again, but I didn’t want to end up in another fight. During the afternoon, he made me run several miles while everyone else sparred. I’d never felt so relieved to go home, practically in tears from the day. I jumped in the shower, finally relaxing with the hot water hitting my muscles. I just had to get through it a little longer, and I’d be in a new rotation, not having to deal with Charlie anymore. Of course, that didn’t address all the other problems I was having. Luke and Blake had decided that they no longer wanted me to go to patrol duty anymore, so once again, I was getting preferential treatment and, like a
BLAKE Early the next morning, I met Jasmine and her dad at the front of the clinic to visit Tyler. We all hugged each other in greeting and then headed inside. On our way, I explained to both of them that Tyler was not in great condition, but my mom had cleared him for visitors that morning after a tough overnight recovery. Jasmine's dad nodded, appearing a bit dazed. When we made it to his room, Jack was already inside in a wrinkled T-shirt with dark circles under his eyes. I knew he had spent the night, and by the looks of it, he'd barely slept. Although my mom had suggested he go home, he refused. I couldn't blame him and convinced my mom to let my friend stay. As we entered the room, Tyler stirred and gave us a bright smile, flinching as he tried to sit up. Jack instantly moved to help him, affectionately running his hands through Tyler’s hair, and brushing his hand along his arm. He then fluffed up all his pillows and made sure he was seated comfortably. As we all found chairs
BLAKE The next day, I checked Charlie’s schedule and saw he had patrol duty. He’d be doing a twelve-hour overnight, from four at night to four in the morning. For these assignments, warriors normally went out in groups and rotated throughout the night in two-to-three-hour shifts, taking turns keeping watch while the others slept. I snuck out of the packhouse a little after four while Jasmine was working upstairs in the office we’d set up for her. I made my way to the eastern border, where Charlie was stationed that evening, pulling up to the patrol station in my car. When I exited, I asked the senior on duty, an elderly warrior close to retirement named Fred, where Charlie was. “He took one of the new recruits out for some training. Told me she needed some one-on-one attention. Nice girl. Comes from a good family. I see them at temple every week,” Fred replied. “Any idea where Charlie took her?” I asked. “I saw them head over in that direction.” Fred pointed toward the forest. “T