TYSON "Tyce, I feel like we should show your family my wolf form. I'm finally starting to learn to accept it," Gigi said to me as I dodged her right hook. "We will. But tension is really high right now. I want to find the right time. You know they're going to have something to say." "It's okay, I can handle it, I think. I mean, it's not like they haven't been calling me fat without calling me fat the whole time I've been here. Your mom and grandma both give me looks every time I serve myself and then I look over at their size two bodies with their bowls of salads and, Goddess, I feel so gross sometimes." "Don't, Gigi, don't. You're so beautiful. Do you really feel unhappy with how you look?" I moved closer to her, brushing my palm against her cheek that had become rosy from the chill. We were now in mid-September and the temperature had noticeably dropped since arriving. It wouldn't be long until the first snow of the season. "I mean, I didn't. I honestly didn't really think ther
TYSON The three of us piled into my G Wagon, and made the hour drive to Prudhoe Bay, where Trav's mate was staying. We had built up housing there for the rig workers, and my family kept a couple of nicer, slightly larger units for ourselves, one of which was currently being occupied by Sara. As soon as we parked and stepped out, we all simultaneously began audibly sniffing, catching whiffs of what was very clearly Grandpa's blood. We followed the scent, the strong wind making it impossible to miss as it blew it our way. After following the smell for about a quarter mile, a trail of blood appeared, very clearly his. We looked up and, in the distance, was an olive green Toyota Sequoia, the same car that my grandfather drove. We rushed over to find it partially submerged in one of the many bodies of water that peppered the North Slope. "What the fuck?" I gasped. "Tyce, Trav, help me pull it onto land," my dad commanded, getting a grip of the front bumper. Trav got a grip in the midd
TYSON I'd never felt like such shit in my life. My dad took the wheel and the hour ride to the pack was fucking painful. We ended up dumping Trav's mate into the trunk. I stayed facing front, but it didn't stop me from feeling the agonizing daggers Trav was shooting into my back. I had to be the worst fucking brother in the world. I could only imagine if our places were switched and he had gone with our dad to knock Gigi out and dumped her in the back of our trunk, transporting her to—well, Trav knew exactly what her destiny was. When we made it back to the packhouse, my dad finally broke the silence that had suffocated us the entire car ride. "Trav, I'm sorry." "She didn't do it. I know she didn't." My dad shook his head. "You're being influenced by the mate bond, son. Look, I understand. But no one gets away with murdering someone in my family." "That asshole deserved to die. You know it, Tyce knows it, and I know it. Whoever did kill him did this family a favor." "Get out," m
GINGER I sat with Tyce's mom all afternoon while she made funeral arrangements and kept up communications with the beta and gamma of the pack as they searched for the body of Tyce's grandfather. I saw Tyce's brother Trav momentarily when he came in and stomped upstairs, locking himself in his room. I got the gist of what happened between everyone's conversations. It had to be one of the most messed up situations I'd ever heard of. Tyce's brother's mate had supposedly killed Tyce's grandfather. "Anything you need, I'm here to help." Beta Liam's mate Nina joined us. She was a beautiful woman with long black hair she kept in a ponytail, smooth white skin, cheeks that were constantly blushing with emotion, and kind, dark brown eyes. She was also tiny like all the other women that lived in the packhouse, even after pushing out two huge boys that already looked every bit to be beta heirs at only five and seven years old. I'd never felt so huge in my life as I did in Tyce's packhouse. "M
TYSON My father and I got back to the packhouse that evening to find my mom, Beta Liam's mate Nina, and Gigi situated in the office. "Hey," I nodded toward everyone and then went over to Gigi to plant a kiss on her cheek. Just the touch of my lips to the skin of her cheek instantly calmed all the tension that had built up inside me from the day. "I'm sure you heard that your grandfather's body was found?" my mom asked. "Yeah," I replied. "Dad and I are planning to go view it in a bit after we get a chance to eat." She nodded. "And Trav's mate is dead now?" "What?" I asked. "Well, I'm assuming you took care of the murderer." "She's not the murderer," I replied, not in the mood to elaborate. "Come on, Gigi, come with me." I turned to my mate, no desire to go through an interrogation with my mom. I helped Gigi up and pulled her hand to take her out of the office. When we were at the stairs, Gigi said, "Trav hasn't come out of his room all day. He won't talk to anyone." She looked
JASMINE I was about to call it a day with pack work when my cell phone lit up on my desk. I glanced over to see it was my dad. Odd. My dad didn't normally call. He'd text. That was the first thing that tipped me off that something was wrong. "Hello?" I answered. "Hey, Jaz," my dad replied somberly. "How are you? How are the pups?" "Everything is good. Progressing as normal." "Great, great." The way he said it didn't sound great at all. "Are you sitting?" "Yeah, why?" "Okay, good. Your mom got some bad news today." My stomach sank. I hated bad news. What could it be? Did my mom somehow get an illness? Was she at the age yet where that was possible? I tried to steady my heart as I waited for him to tell me what it was. "We got a call from your mom's old pack, and it seems her father was murdered." "Murdered?" I gasped. "By who?" "They're not sure yet. But they're making funeral arrangements. We're looking up flights now. Your mom thinks it'd be best if you and Blake go too. Aft
TYSON The past couple days passed by like a bullet train. After my grandfather's body was found, my father and I went to the pack clinic to take a look at it. And although I had grown used to seeing dead, mangled corpses, it still shocked the fuck out of me to see my grandfather like that—I had grown up with him being the enforcer, ex-alpha, most terrifying and strongest person I knew. He had to be one of the most notorious alphas in recent history. He had always been ruthless and brutal, and fought in battles like nobody's business. I hated, loved, admired, feared, and respected him. But seeing him reduced to a bloodied corpse with his heart ripped out of his chest—well, that was sobering. It reminded me of meditating on impermanence in school and at temple. Nothing, not even the man who seemed undefeatable, was impervious to death. My grandfather had been tortured and killed the same way he had done to likely hundreds before him. "Closed casket," my father said, and I nodded. We
TYSON Alpha Vic's beta escorted us to the packhouse. My father and grandfather weren't wrong. His pack was a shithole. The roads were all in terrible need of repair, and many weren't even paved. You could easily tell who had money and who didn't by one glance at the houses. Clearly the pack didn't subsidize or help with home repairs like ours did. The packhouse, however, was in pristine condition, and even appeared as if it may have had some additions made to it since the last time I'd visited this pack, which had to have been a least a year earlier. "Alpha Tyce!" Vic greeted us from his doorstep. "And who is this beautiful young lady?" "Alpha Vic, this is my mate and soon-to-be luna, Ginger. But she goes by Gigi," I replied once we got closer. "Gigi, my pleasure." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. This dude was something else. Who the fuck did that except in movies? "Pleased to meet you as well," Gigi responded. "Come in, come in." He opened the door for us. "Let me t