I'm not sure where I'm going, or what is out here under cover of the light, but every step coats my skin with the familiar heat of the sun, and every blink brings a little more clarity. Nothing but trees lie ahead of me, and with the full sunlight out, this is about to be the shortest hunt of her life. My feet dig into the dirt and moss below them, my legs carrying me through the open spaces as quickly as they can. I used to be fast. Faster than all the boys… faster than Donny… but not as fast as Brixton. His name echoing through my head brings a sense of freedom that has no place on this run. I was running for my life then too. I just didn't realize it, but now the stakes are higher. My chest rises and falls quickly as I beg for more oxygen to flood through me. With every step my knees threaten to give out, the exhaustion creeping in, and my hands ache from every rough branch I've gripped and propelled past. I’ve been running for what seems like an eternity when up ahead a small

"She won't be fully healed in two days," Mary says cautiously. "She doesn't need to be," Corbyn lazily inputs from across the room as Trent licks at my shoulder more, "out." Mary leaves promptly, never so much as looking back at me, but she never did. "Two days?" Corbyn practically stares through me at my question. "Two days," Trent repeats, exchanging the robe I'm wearing for a dress, "until the full moon marks our marriage." My eyes lock into his, "But what about my birth-" "I'm not waiting another nine days," he brushes my hair over one shoulder, leaving his mark on display, "the pack won't stand for it." He presses a long slow kiss to my lips, seemingly over the roadblock that was his mate, "I have to tend to a few things, Corbyn will be with you." He turns to leave, but being left with Corbyn is a terrible idea. Trent hasn't left my side since he carried me from the forest yesterday, and it's a reaction I can't control when I reach out and grab his arm, pulling at him t

He stares down at me, caging me with his palms pressed flat to the wall on either side of me. Corbyn is confusing at the best of times, but right now, the last thing I need is to try to navigate what he’s after. “If you want to kill me, do it already.” I press against his chest and he allows the space for me to walk past him. “Switching Alpha’s now?” He asks casually as my hand hovers over the door handle. “You knew,” I say without turning and there’s a sour taste developing on my tongue, one laced in the knowledge that he’s known this whole time that Gavin killed my family on purpose. He grips my wrist, ignoring my statement, as he drags me into the small bathroom in the room, but thankfully it doesn’t come equipped with a tub. He pulls the hand towel from the hanging rod, getting it wet before dragging it along my skin where Gavin was. He heard… everything. “There was a woman who had an affair with the Alpha. She later died giving birth, despite there being no complication

His voice fades out as my heart beats faster, her blood thrumming through me… calling out to me. She needs me. And I fucking need her. "You're fucking everything up, Pierce…" Dead. Slice… … spray… … beautiful. His blood is going to spill over this, and when it coats us, Sweetness will bathe in it with me. Oz has no idea who he's fucking with. "...That girl means nothing, she was always part of the plan. Just because you got your dick wet…" The metal restraints I’m in are the only thing that prevents his death, a new instinct I should care to temper, but don’t. He’s lucky I care more about getting to her than I do about him dying. There used to be loyalty there, a barrier between us, but it doesn't exist now, and when my blade slices off feather by feather, he's going to regret crossing me. He's the one fucking everything up. All that time he spent building trust between us as children… wasted in one decision. He excluded me from his plan, making choices with

There are no windows here, by design I'm sure, but the location is gorgeous. The one beauty there is in today, that I'll hold onto. Trent woke me this morning just before lunch, and we left alone, but arrived to pack members already patrolling the area in shifted form. They're surrounding the area, this carved-out piece of beauty just outside of the city, where the trees are high and the greenery is all shades. They look at home here, but the real monsters that make up those wolves, belong anywhere but somewhere so peaceful. Walking into the building was like navigating a maze, but the space for the ceremony has a large window on the roof where the treetops don't reach and the sunlight shines through, lighting the entire room flawlessly. ‘The moon delivered you to me, because you're mine, and I am yours. It's you, and me, always.' When the full moon is on display tonight, it will make for the perfect setting… almost like the kind of wedding girls dream about… almost like I’