GINGER I rolled into the house around three to Paige with her hands on her hips. "And where have you been?" "Hi, Mom, nice to see you too," I replied, rolling my eyes. "What happened to your arms?" She came closer. "And your pants?" I looked down to see that my linen pants were dirt-streaked and torn. Well, there went one leg-covering item. "Nothing. Just another spill." "You're not usually that clumsy." "Maybe I'm getting old." "Seriously, Gigi?" I shrugged and turned to walk upstairs to change. Before I got too far, she said, "You smell like Alpha Tyce. That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with what happened, would it?" I stopped for a second, caught off guard. But I decided to just ignore her and continue on my way until I was safely in my room and able to close the door. Fuck, I didn't think I'd be able to get away with wearing long sleeves too. I examined the scratches along my arms and wondered how long it would take them to fully heal. I groaned as I pulled a ma
JASMINE "Blake, Blake, wake up," I gently shook my mate's shoulder. He stirred and opened his mesmerizing blue eyes to me. His lips turned upward into a smile as he brushed my hair out of my face. "Blake, the pups—they're kicking." He instantly moved his hand to my belly, sparks drifting across my skin as he kept it there, little pops inside me. His smile widened. "I can feel them! Already alpha warriors." He pulled me against him and kissed me. "I wouldn't expect any less of course, with two alpha parents." I snuggled into him, listening to the drumming of his heart in his chest. "You've been getting better, Blake." "Maybe you're just getting used to it like I have." "No, I definitely think you're getting better." He didn't say anything and rubbed his hand up and down my back. I could barely bring myself to get out of bed to get ready for the day. It didn't help that I was constantly exhausted. Growing twins in six months was taking a toll on me, and I imagined alpha ones likely
GINGER "Aren't you hot dressed like that?" Heidi asked only seconds into arriving. "It's cold in here." "Cold?" She looked around as if she could actually see the temperature. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm cold." "Maybe you caught something. Do you have a fever?" Heidi asked, putting her hand to my forehead. I swiped it away. "I'm fine." "Maybe you got mono." She snickered. "Haha! So funny! Why don't you get all your slut jokes out of the way now so I don't have to endure them all night," I replied. "We can't all be Miss Mated and Married perfect housewife." "I'm not a housewife!" She scoffed. "I told you, I've decided to start taking classes in graphic design at the local community college. There's just not a lot of job options out here in the middle of nowhere. But I think this will be good for me." "Weren't you trying to conceive?" "Yes, so?" She asked. "I can be both a mother and in school. Or working." "Who's going to watch the pup?" "I'm sure Mom will help. What, wer
GINGER A few hours after my exit, Paige burst into my room. "What did I tell you about knocking!" I yelled. "As long as I don't walk in on you getting a golden shower or having anal sex with Tyce, I think I'm good." She snickered. "What about him wearing my panties?" I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. "Well, I'm thinking the important things would be covered in that case. And, anyway, I've already seen him naked." "What! You have?" I was furious at the thought, and my fingers began contorting themselves to turn to claws, similar to the night I went to the club. "I am a warrior, you know. We're constantly shifting back and forth between our two forms." I calmed down after she gave her explanation, relieved that nothing more nefarious had gone on. "Especially Tyce since he can't mindlink with us. And it's literally all the other female warriors can talk about. You should hear them. I think they're worse than the guys!" "What do they say?" I asked, my ears perking up. She snic
JASMINEOn Saturday morning, I was looking through some reports on the casino, upstairs in my office, when I recalled that Blake had recently printed out the PowerPoint slides from a presentation we'd been given earlier that week. He had taken some handwritten notes and I wanted to make sure I took them into consideration before I responded to the CEO's email that was awaiting a reply, so I descended the stairs to go find them in his office.As I approached, I noticed the door was slightly ajar with light trickling into the hallway, and voices in a passionate conversation, possibly an argument. Curiosity getting the best of me, I snuck closer so I could better hear what was going on."Fucking Artemis, Lucy, now is not the time. Blake could come back any second. Put your clothes back on.""C'mon, Luke, don't you think it's time we get started on the beta heir? You know the pack's going to be expecting one now." It was quiet for a moment and then Lucy's voice continued, "That's right, b
GINGER The morning after the sisters' potluck disaster, I woke up to find the house empty. Paige was nowhere to be found. I figured she must have had Saturday duty along with my dad. My mom also wasn’t home, and the family car was gone. I breathed out a happy sigh. It was nice when I got the house to myself. I could just wallow in my misery alone without anyone bothering me. I spent the entire morning and early afternoon in the backyard, laying out in the sun while reading and listening to music. The sun was bright without a cloud in sight—the perfect day to sunbathe. I knew I'd regret it later since my fair skin didn't take well to the sun. But my sunburns eventually faded into tans, so I suffered through it. Around mid-afternoon, a group text came in from Lucy, with a bunch of phone numbers included I didn't know. Lucy: Club tonight! Packhouse 10 sharp! I was going to ignore the text at first, but then, I thought, it would be nice to get out and ignore my problems. I double-che
GINGER By the time nine o'clock had rolled around, Paige still wasn't home. I quickly shot her a text to make sure she was okay. I then showered, noting my skin did not take well to the sun at all and it would definitely be peeling soon, only adding to the injuries to my body that I'd need to cover. Pretty soon my only option was going to be a full-on burqa. I made sure to keep the water cool in order not to scald myself. I tried to put a bra on and found it painful when parts of it would touch the skin my bikini hadn't covered. It was becoming quite clear what a bad idea it was to go clubbing that night as I'd also have to cover my legs and arms. I hadn't thought this through fully. But I had already committed to go and didn't want to back out now. In the end, I pulled on some fishnet stockings, and wrapped a scarf creatively around my stitches, thinking maybe I could set a new trend, chuckling to myself. On top, I had on a pair of black shorts, and a long-sleeve blouse with loose
GINGER I didn't know what I was expecting when we stepped out of that room, and part of me probably should have expected what I witnessed, but it was still quite shocking. Lucy was completely sloshed—especially considering she was a werewolf. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was one of my college friends rather than a beta's mate. She was grinding up on all the guys that had come with us, wobbly on her feet, practically falling over as she flung her body against theirs. One of them took a bottle of beer and started pouring it from above into her mouth while everyone looked on cheering. "Oh, fuck," Tyce shouted next to me, and headed toward the group. "Alpha Tyce!" Lucy yelled so loudly I could hear her over the music. "Pour some more in my mouth." I couldn't hear what was said after that, but I watched as Tyce clearly tried to persuade her to go with him. There was a struggle between the two of them as he put his arm around her shoulders, and she pushed him away from her. It