Rose It was a monumental effort to peel my eyes open, but nature called. After a week of no sleep at all, this was the most peaceful sleep of my life. I breathed in deep, nearly letting the comforting aroma surrounding me lull me back. With a sigh, though, I went to get out of bed. It took a couple tries of getting up to realize I was being held down by a heavy weight thrown across my waist. I froze, glimpses of last night seeping back into my brain. I was scared to look over and see who was lying next to me. My heart and wolf wanted to tell me it was my mate, but my brain said he never would have done what he did last night. He wouldn’t have cared. I kept my eyes squeezed shut as I turned over, too nervous to see who was before my eyelids. The hand that reached out to caress my cheek was a dead giveaway, though. “Bunny,” a husky voice breathed. I smiled in relief, but the illusion quickly ended as soon as my eyes opened. I jumped up out of bed, as if that would douse the

Rose It had been two days since I had woken up to Liam in my bed, and I had skillfully avoided him since then. Tonight, though, there was a little sending off party for us in the packhouse, so I’d have to face him. Lya had finally decided to set up her office, but it was primarily used for us girls to hang out. If it was a pack matter - Wulver or Snow Moon - she was in Oliver’s office so she could ask questions and get help. She was currently pacing back and forth while Anna, Jade, and I watched. “He’s miserable, I hate him!” she shrieked. “He’s being a royal jerk to you, Rose, and he keeps talking to me like I know nothing! I mean, first he said all this stuff about me not knowinging how to be a wolf and alluded to me not being fit for alpha, but then when he tried to apologize, he just made it worse!” I let out a sigh of relief. It felt good to have my opinion of my mate validated by someone else he treated poorly, and it was really nice to have Lya back and acting as Lya -

Rose I couldn’t sleep after Liam left. I was painfully aware that I would probably never sleep peacefully again without my mate by my side. At the same time, though, I had absolutely no interest in seeing him. Twice in one night, I was turned down. I always thought guys liked sex? I could see why Cody shot me down. In fact, It was pretty deplorable what I tried to do. At least, it would be if Liam was a halfway decent mate. If you asked me, he deserved to be hurt in the way that his mate sleeping with someone else would hurt him. Maybe then he’d realize what he had. And if Liam was so opposed to sleeping with virgins, why would he even care? Let someone else knock out my first time, and then he could have all the fun he wanted with his mate. Not that I’d ever let him touch me again. If I could help it, at least. He was my mate, so I was hardwired to want him in every way possible. I hated that I wanted him, but I couldn’t stop myself. He brought out a side of myself I had l

Rose Liam and I had had exactly one conversation since our big fight. That conversation included zero eye contact, extreme physical distance, and only stipulated our schedule of shifts. We wanted eyes on patrols as often as possible thankfully, which meant we wouldn’t even have time to spend with each other, anyway. Not if there was actually going to be boots on the ground at all times, at least. Liam had made a comment about us needing more manpower up here, but I quickly refuted, reminding him that too much of a presence, it’d be obvious what we were doing. Keeping it secretly at a distance was probably good for us right now. I wasn’t proud of my outburst, and I needed some time to live it down. The logical solution was to have a conversation and apologize, but I wasn’t about to initiate it. I had to admit, a week in and these shifts were getting hard. Seven days of twelve hours in wolf form every day and still not being able to sleep was wearing on me. I felt like it was the sa

Rose Liam’s hands fell away from me as he backed away slowly. The words had stung to even say. He looked away from me, but I kept my eyes on his face, trying to see what he was thinking. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that the emotion I saw was hurt, but I was fairly certain he didn’t know how to be genuinely hurt. He knew anger. He knew revenge. But he seemed to always bypass succumbing to the pain. “What do you mean, Rose?” he asked, voice dark and gravelly. I took a deep breath, trying to steel myself for what I was about to do. “Liam, I reject you as my fated mate.” I felt the familiar sensation of my chest tightening as the bond began to fray, preparing for the permanent severing and the pain that would undoubtedly come along with it. Liam’s eyes came up to meet mine, staring at me blankly. The hint of possible pain I saw on his face was gone, and when his eyes flashed, there it was. The anger was back, accompanied by a sardonic smirk. “No!” he scoffed. “I