LUKE I collapsed into bed around eleven the next morning. After the scent of a stranger pack was discovered by one of the junior warriors during his rounds, Mike and some of the other senior warriors tracked it. They discovered a den deep in the woods where two stranger werewolves were staying. They politely asked the wolves to shift into their human forms so that they could talk. If the wolves had just followed the simple request, things probably wouldn't have escalated as they did. They instead refused, and subsequently attacked. Luckily, our warriors were well-trained and higher in numbers, easily able to overpower them and force them into their human forms. The strangers were then dragged into the cells and jailed. After Blake arrived, the culprits were brought out for interrogation and, up until that point, I hadn’t realized how fucked up Blake was. I’d heard tales over the years of his father’s interrogation techniques, but it was a whole different story to personally witness t

JASMINE We lay together on our backs, staring at the stars up above. “Do you know anything about constellations?” he asked. “Nope,” I replied. “Well, let me educate you.” He smirked. “See those stars over there? The ones that are all clustered?” He pointed toward the sky. “I think so,” I replied, thinking that his description was not specific enough to know which stars he was talking about. “Well, that’s Princess Wolf Enim-saj.” “Princess Wolf Enim-saj, really?” I turned to look at him, raising one of my eyebrows. “Yes, Princess Wolf Enim-saj.” He had a silly grin on his face. “She was a beautiful, beautiful wolf with amber-colored eyes. So beautiful that Zeus wanted her all to himself. But Enim-saj was not interested in Zeus and preferred a more handsome and stronger gentleman wolf name Ekul.” I laughed and Luke continued. “Artemis saw how perfect the two wolves were for each other, so she blessed them as mates.” “What about Zeus?” I asked. “He challenged Ekul to a duel to th

LUKE I had the evening off on Wednesday night, so I decided to surprise Jasmine once she ended her shift at work. While on my way, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a bouquet of roses. I removed a single rose and told the cashier that I'd like her to have the rest. I then waited until Jasmine got out of work and met her at the front door as she and Valerie were closing up. "Well, hello there, Casanova. Have you come to seduce me too?" Valerie laughed. She then lightly punched me in the arm and walked away. After Valerie disappeared down the street, I turned to Jasmine and said, "I'd like to exchange a single rose for a single Jasmine." I internally cringed at myself, thinking how corny that sounded. Jasmine giggled, likely out of politeness because that was lame even for me. She took the rose and smiled, saying, "Thank you." "I couldn't wait to see you again. I hope you didn't make any other plans tonight."

LUKE The following Friday, my whole family came over to the packhouse for dinner. My parents had come home for the weekend after spending the past month in Quebec, my father having taken over my old job. My sister Peyton brought her newborn, whom my mom was desperate to finally meet. Blake and his parents were also in attendance. They’d become an extended part of the family over the years. I invited Jasmine to introduce her as my mate to everyone. I brought her around to all the guests so she could meet my family. My mom pulled her in for a huge hug. “Oh my goodness, Jasmine. I am so happy that Lukey found his mate! And what a wonderful mate the Moon Goddess gave him. I couldn’t have picked a better one myself.” She started dabbing a tissue at her eyes, being melodramatic as usual. All of my nieces and nephews came over to hug Jasmine, welcoming her to the family. Noah, who was ten, asked her, “Have you guys done it yet?” I lightly whacked him on the top of his head. “That’s not h

LUCY I was still in shock. I couldn’t believe that I had lost both my boyfriend and best friend in a matter of weeks. Even more shocking was that the Moon Goddess had both shoved a dagger into my heart and then turned it until she could draw every last bit of pain out of me. It’s one thing to lose the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, taking with him your whole future, but the fact that he’s now with your best friend? I wanted to vomit every time I thought about it. It was so heartbreaking that I didn’t think I could ever be friends with Jasmine again. When I told my mom, she held me while I cried. But everyone knew there was nothing I could do except move on, if such a thing was even possible. Both my parents kept reassuring me that I’d eventually find my mate, and then I’d forget this ever happened. But I didn’t believe that either. Luke had been my life—he was the reason I got out of bed in the morning. The fact that he didn’t fight for the two of us still hurt me.