CelineIt’s a short way to the kitchen hall, and everyone is conspicuously absent. Strange, because the pack house has been extraordinarily busy since Emma got pregnant.We are bursting full of gifts, the joy of the Blood-bound pack oppressing me in its intensity. But that is the least of my problems. My unease increases when I turn into the next hallway and still hear no one, not even a stray laugh from behind closed doors. I swallow hard and think about food. This will be the first time I eat in more than two weeks now, and I need it to maintain my strength. It’s only a short walk to the kitchen, and I refuse to let my fear cripple me in doing that much. The dragging of claws on tiled floor makes me jump and I glance around suspiciously. Is my imagination playing games on me or am I being followed? I shrug it off and increase my pace. I found a peaceful spot in the garden out back where I can sit under a shade and watch everyone undetected. Their happiness does not touch me and

Lor “Alpha Lor!” Emma’s voice stops me and I look back to see her hurrying towards me. “What are you doing?” I ask, immediately concerned and not sure how safe it is for her to be running around like this. “You should be with Dan, resting.” I grab her shoulders to bring her to a stop when she nearly plows into me. She’s obviously not yet herself. “I should be saying the same to you.” She says, catching her breath. “You should be in bed with me, so what in the name of the goddess are you doing running around instead?” Ice spreads over my demeanour and my concern cools. “In bed with you?” Unbelievable. “Do you think I have been in your bed for my pleasure? You are carrying my son, and the last two weeks were a sacrifice I made for him.” She flinches like I slapped her, and I grit my teeth with frustration. “Is being with me such a sacrifice?” She asks in a horrified whisper. “Am I now so repulsive to you?” It is such a stupid question that I don’t bother to grace it with an a

CelineI’m submerged under, or that’s what it feels like. I hear voices, faint and indistinctive. There is a scent in the air that is both familiar and strange and it tickles my memory. I know for certain I have been here before, but I didn’t remember before now. The last thing I remember is the fear of the hunt, the screech of pain and then nothing. It dawns on me, I’m in the place where I go to every time I disappear. Dreading what I will find, I try to pull myself up, to open my eyes, to do anything at all but I’m immobilised. Not again. I fight harder to get free. Whispering voices flutter closer and I stop my struggling, ear straining and heart pounding. I can’t make out their words but they are talking about me. When I try to call out to them, I am silent. All I can do is lie down like the dead. And then there is the touching. I flinch but I cannot reject the touch. I feel a poke here, a shift there, almost like I am being checked up by a physician. The touch retreats and then

Lor“I told him you’ll call him back when you’re able, that you’re busy but he insisted. He says it’s about Celine’s disappearance.”I’m angry that it has already gotten to him I’m but of course it did. By now, the entire werewolf community must know I’m searching for a female. “Fuck.”I head into the meeting room with a dark scowl on my lips. “Put him on the call.”I’m bloody from my last fight and my temper is shorter than a fuse, not the most ideal situation to meet with my mate’s father but I will not waste any more time I could be searching for her. Alpha Dontellar fills the screen and he observes my bloody visage. By the tightness around his eyes, I am sure he does know Celine is the missing emissary. “I take it Celine has disappeared again.” He says finally, heavily. I’m about to reassure him I have my best men on it but his words puzzle me. “What do you mean by ‘again’?”He stares at me with unreadable eyes and I feel my patience bend. “I don’t have time to spare. My m

CelineEveryone stares as I walk, all the way to the pack house and I know it is because of my disappearance. The way they look like they might be seeing a ghost makes me wonder how many days it was this time, and if they hoped I would remain dead. At the pack house, the guards startle on seeing me and the first voice finally cries out. “She’s back!”By the time I enter the great building, there are wolves gawking at me in rows. “She’s really back!” A female whispers. “Look at that, she’s just strolling in.”“I thought they said she was abducted.”“How is she still alive?”Annie slides in front of me, blocking my path and looking down at me from flinty eyes. “Celine darling. What a pleasant surprise to see you! Rumours had the worst things to say about you.”“Rumours always do.” I say and move around her. She slides in front of me again. “Oho! Do you want to leave us with no explanations whatsoever where you have been and why you are only now strolling back in?”I glance around