VIENNANessa laces her fingers through mine, tugging me through the packhouse as the loud thump of music bleeds into my ears. I’m not sure if it was a good idea for me to come here tonight, but my new roommate insisted on it, citing her belief that I need to get out and blow off some steam after everything I’ve been through lately. It has been almost a week since I packed a bag and went to stay with Nessa, and my mom hasn’t even so much as called me to check in. She probably hasn’t even noticed. It’s so fucking depressing that I keep trying not to think about it, but I know Nessa can tell it’s been weighing me down. Can’t get anything past her.As we step past the staircase, I can’t help but remember the last time we attended a party here, when I watched Stasia drag Chase by the hand up those stairs. I’ve been up there myself, in Chase’s bedroom. I wonder how many other girls here tonight have. A heavy weight settles in the pit of my stomach at that thought.Nessa tugs on my hand as w

VIENNAIcy twigs crunch under my feet as I make my way through the forest, the warm glow of a fire near the edge of Norbury’s territory drawing me in like a beacon. I shouldn’t be out here after Chase’s pathetic display of immaturity this morning, but after hearing the pain in his voice coming from that office, seeing the hollow look in his eyes as he stormed out of the packhouse, I guess I’m suddenly feeling sympathy for the devil himself. When I received a worried phone call from Fallon and Gray tonight asking if I’d seen Chase, I realized that I had a pretty good inkling of where he’d run off to and stupidly volunteered to go collect the bastard.My feet shuffle against the frozen ground as I approach the blaze of the fire in the pit, eyes scanning the bodies slumped in chairs around it. All five of Chase’s boys are here, as well as a handful of other people that I vaguely recognize. The girl resting cozily on his lap, however, is all too familiar.A twig snaps under my foot and Ch

VIENNA The lodge bar is a madhouse on Saturday nights- between the guests that are here for a weekend stay and the week-long guests that are enjoying their last night before checking out tomorrow, everyone seems to have a reason to celebrate while I barely get a moment to breathe. My feet are aching, my work shoes are rubbing against my heels uncomfortably, and I didn’t get near enough sleep last night prior to pulling a double shift. After Chase’s drunken declaration, my mind just wouldn’t shut off… and damnit, I found myself feeling way too comfortable in his bed, in his arms, which only led to more intrusive thoughts. I should’ve known Chase’s inebriated confessions wouldn’t see the light of day, but his snub this morning hurt just the same. I wish it didn’t. I wish Chase’s stupidly sexy, dimpled smile didn’t take my knees out from under me every time he turned it my way. I wish his touch didn’t set my body ablaze, and I wish I didn’t crave it like I do. I wish he’d man up and adm

VIENNA “There you are!” Nessa chirps as I cross the threshold into the bedroom I’ve been sharing with her and her younger sister. She’s bent at the waist, stuffing clothes into an overflowing laundry basket on the floor. Hauling the basket up into her arms, she turns toward me with a coy smile dancing across her lips. “I was wondering when you were gonna…” Nessa’s voice trails off as her eyes meet mine, her smile falling. “What’s wrong?” I shake my head, looking away as I unzip my jacket and shrug it off my shoulders. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” After storming out of Chase’s packhouse, I drove around aimlessly for an hour, getting lost on the meandering forest roads throughout the six-pack territory. I cried angry, frustrated tears for the first ten minutes, Chase’s words replaying in my mind on an endless loop. ‘Why the fuck would I want to mark YOU?’ Like I’m so far beneath him that the thought of marking me, claiming me, is unfathomable. Like I’m nothing more than dirt under

CHASE“What happened to your face, bro?” Alec snickers as he climbs out of his truck, taking in the state of my still-reddened mug. The blisters have already healed, but some evidence of the coffee assault remains, my shifter healing working overtime to repair the damage.“Don’t go there,” Cal chuckles, shooting me a smug smirk as he slides out of the back seat of my Ford Raptor, parked alongside Alec and Dare’s truck at the lodge. He reaches back in to grab our bags of snowboard gear, hauling them out. “He got into it with his girl this morning and he’s still salty as fuck.”“Am not,” I snap, snatching my bag from Cal and leveling him with a glare.“Vienna?” Miles probes, popping up from around the other side of the neighboring truck. His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “You two official now?”Cal claps me on the shoulder, flashing a toothy grin. “Our boy got himself a girlfriend.”I shrug his hand off my shoulder and shoot him a scowl. “Knock it off, Cal,” I grumble, striding aro