CHAPTER 92 Jake~ In horrible situations, even if you tell yourself that you’re prepared for the worst possible outcome - you're just not. At least I wasn’t. The hollow feeling that kept taking over my body just to get through the things that needed to be done - my duties as an Alpha - was a reprieve. Most of the time I struggled to manage it all. I was supposed to have so much more time to train under my father, and more time on top of that to assume the role I now found myself in. Losing our warriors when my parents had been taken was one thing, I had something to focus on - to focus on looking for them. But now I found myself suddenly orphaned and with too much on my plate. I had always pitched in as much as I could, but this - this was something else entirely. Part of me was forever broken. I wasn’t anyone’s son anymore. I wasn’t going to have any more time to just ‘be a kid’ like Mitchell’s mom had always pushed me to be. It was too late for that now. My parents had been rippe

CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR Kyle~ Ally and I had a long few days of ‘playing defense’ as we were calling it. We couldn’t rip Rachel away from her current reality yet, and we couldn’t do anything to Sean lest he do something worse to Rachel. But we sure as hell could limit their time together. It was hard not just punching Sean in the face when I pulled him to the side for our little chats. He was threatening my friends’ safety. And for all I know, he could have been behind my own kidnapping, or worked with Vance on it to keep me from Rachel. Threats laced his every word to me. I had tried on our first day doing this to bring up my kidnapping suddenly to see if he would give anything away. But this guy was a total snake in the grass. He hadn’t reacted at all. Not really. He held a deadness in his eyes. On the surface he put out this whole easy-going, cool guy routine, but there was something calculating beneath the surface. We wouldn’t be able to keep this new information from Jake much

CHAPTER NINETY-SIX Kyle~ Ally was able to temporarily morph the ward. Not by much, but by enough for me to get closer to what we all felt was Maxine’s room. Evan and Nick got us very close using their wolf stealth. It was crazy being that close when they moved around, not making a sound. I knew they were part animal, but still, watching it up close right in front of me was unreal. They helped us move into a good position, and then I took Ally’s hand again (despite the warning glare from Nick), and I led us somewhere else. I went straight for Maxine. We had been right, this was her room we were next to. Before I knew it I was in a carnival at night, an abandoned one - like we were in an edgy episode of Scooby Doo. There was a ferris wheel, a ‘fun house,’ a few carnival game booths, slides, and other blinking things. A dark figure rushed past. And my head spun around trying to make out what it was or where it was going. But it disappeared. Walking on, I looked for a way into her

CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT Rachel~ I woke up on the Saturday before my birthday with the imprinted vision of the loveliest dream in my mind. I had walked through a forest on a clear night without getting cold. I had magic coming from my hands that helped me protect myself - and defend others. I met an angel in heaven and we talked about life. If only any of those things were true. I flirted with a big, broad shouldered guy with a touch that felt like magic, and we went for a walk in the snow. There were beautiful twinkling lights on a Christmas tree, and we were somehow both in town for the Tree Lighting Ceremony, and the cabins in Tahoe. For a split second when I had woken up and was still a tiny bit unconscious, they all had felt real. Even the angel stuff, and I don’t consider myself religious at all. But that is all the kind of stuff that happens to main characters in stories - not to random people in real life. “Mija,” my mom called from the doorway. “Time to start- your sister is

CHAPTER 100 Kyle~ I remember arriving here at the pack. But how I ended up by a training field with Big Bad Wolf Jake almost losing his sh*t on the tall tree known as Evan - I don’t know. Should I have been worried that I had been losing track of time or of where I was more and more often this week? Maybe. But with everything going on it just didn’t seem like a priority. I had been sticking close to Ally and I am sure if I were doing anything ridiculous or dangerous she would tell me. Right? Assuming she noticed I guess. But these days her focus was on Rachel - and Nick. Not mad about that last part really. But I can’t keep lying to myself. I still like Rachel - like, like her. My eyes hone in on Jake who is now completely still as a small crew of wolves escorts some girl who looks in trouble. Tiffany I assume. Ally had filled me in a bit. It seems she picks up on a lot that goes through Nick. I wonder if he knows. Does Jake even really value Rachel? He just seems straight obs