Liberty’s POVYou know those mornings when you wake up, but you’re yet to open your eyes, and you tell yourself you will, just five more minutes? This morning is not one of those mornings. Five minutes wouldn’t scratch the surface. Five days, now that might put a dent in the monumental mound of emotional bullshit I’ve been suppressing.“I know you’re awake little one.” Zander’s deep, rich voice comes from the chair beside the bed. His voice would usually settle the under current of shame and confusion rolling inside me. Not today, maybe never again. Guilt creeps to the surface and leaks out of my eyes. Vinny almost broke me, and he would have if Justice hadn’t forced the command. How will Zander and Christian ever forgive me? They were so close, literally right there, they must have felt it.“Open your eyes baby.” A rough, calloused finger lifts a tear from my cheek and sends tingles up into my scalp. Even though I have betrayed him, he is right beside me, he deserves better.“I can f

Liberty’s POVTingles erupted up and down my arms and legs and everyone around me sounded like they were under water. It’s the weirdest feeling, like Justice is just beneath the surface but not in control, more like she becomes part of me in my human form, I can’t explain it properly.The edge of the table comes rushing towards my face and there is nothing I can do to stop my head smashing right into it. One sickening thud followed by another draws everybody’s attention to me and a flurry of blurred faces hover above me before it’s lights out.I know I’m unconscious, I’m fully aware of the burning sting coming from above my eyebrow, and the heavy weight of my limp body being carried. I don’t have any visions or see anything really, apart from the occasional flash of faces from my past. I have a feeling though. Like a voice inside my head, telling me to follow my gut, I know what needs to be done, but it won’t be easy.My gut is telling me there is more happening here than meets the ey

Liberty’s POVThis tender side of Christian isn’t one I expected. I know him to be more complex than he portrays, he wears his reputation like armour and I’m sure very few people truly understand what goes on beneath the steely surface.I don’t know if the thoughts of the future originated with him or myself. I have never thought too far ahead. Always wondering which day would be my last, or rather hoping each day would be the end. He changed that, they both did. Now I have a home, a place where I belong, and I will not have another family taken from me.‘Let’s go for a run. If we see more of the territory it might help put our visions in perspective, make them less abstract if it is ground we have trodden.’ Justice seems very keen to get out, I don’t blame her, most wolves run at least once a day. But Justice isn’t most wolves. She is more antsy than usual though, probably from giving me time and space to digest everything.“Christian. Justice seems to think it would be beneficial fo

Liberty’s POV That was not meant to slip out, not now anyway. I had been so careful to watch what I said, making sure I didn’t say anything to lead him to my conclusion without further evidence. I never intended to tell anyone about the two bodies that stood out above the rest on the blood drenched battlefield. Saying it out loud would only breathe life into it, and it isn’t something I particularly want to relive. It’s crystal clear in my memory. Every time I think about it, my blood turns to slush in my veins. I’m just standing there in shock and horror, watching as the blue halo surrounding them begins to dim, the snow on the ground around their bodies turns deep red and that all too familiar coppery smell begins to engulf me. Kendrick lays motionless only a few feet away, his head a short distance from the rest of him. No doubt Christian’s last act in my defense If I don’t find a way to change the events between now and then, my mates will be stolen from me, forever. As far as I

Hunters POV “Esme, it’s true.” My chest squeezes the words out and my mind dare not believe my eyes. It must be… fifteen years, no, sixteen, at least, since I watched her walk away from me. I have spent every single day of each of those years convincing myself it hurts just a little less every time I think of her. It’s all total bull shit. I distract myself from the pain, go hunting with Christian, take my frustrations out on the rogues we find in the search for his parents’ killers. I tell myself it’s in their name that I commit such depraved acts against the scum we encounter, and it is true, in part. It’s mostly to remind myself how to feel something other than numb, emptiness. I know it comes across like I am no better than the rogues, after all I was one from the very day I came of age. But it’s not like that. I stumble through each day, numb and aimless, with no real sense of purpose or belonging. I don’t want to feel the pain of love or rejection, so I sought out the exact opp