I was sitting on a chair next to the bed when I heard Sierra’s breathing change as she woke up. She kept her eyes closed for a moment and I stared at her. She had dark brown hair where Samantha had blonde hair, deep blue eyes where Samantha had brown ones. They were nothing alike, so I had to wonder why I hadn’t just let her go when she ran.“I know you’re awake, Sierra,” I said softly and she shifted on the bed to turn towards me.“What happened?” she asked.“You ran, we found you passed out against a tree, brought you back, same as the other night,” I said.“I’m sorry,” she said and looked down avoiding my eyes.“Why did you run?” I asked.“I was afraid that they’d find me here,” she said softly.“This is where you start talking, and not some bullshit story about rogues, the truth,” I said.“I ran away from the pack because I heard what they were planning for me, I couldn’t stay,” she said.“Everything Sierra, now’s the time to trust someone, I can’t help you if I don’t know the tru

Sierra stood in front of me, very close to me, she leaned forward and kissed me. I don’t know what I was thinking in that moment as I kissed her back, but I felt a pull towards her that I couldn’t explain. Her hands were on my face and mine were pulling her closer.I lifted her up as I stood and placed her on the bathroom counter. She was wearing a t-shirt and I was practically naked. She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me closer to her. I pulled the t-shirt over her head as I felt my wounds starting to heal.I didn’t remember moving us to the bed or taking my underwear off but the next moment I was hovering on top of her, pushing into her and reality set in when she hissed in pain and I stopped moving. It dawned on me then, but it was too late to stop.“Don’t stop, Griffin,” she whispered.I didn’t stop, neither of us wanted to stop. Things changed for me in that moment as I looked into her eyes, moving slowly together. I started to feel things I hadn’t felt in eight years and

“There’s something I need you to do,” I said to Sierra two weeks later as I finished my trial preparation for the day.The amount of evidence I had worked through had been insane and there were a lot to process and I had a whole notebook full of notes and questions. I had requested independent investigators for the video footage, handwriting analysis and I also requested the dungeon records from the Hastings pack. I was still waiting for feedback on most of my requests.“What do you need?” Sierra asked.“You need to formally reject the Hastings pack,” I said to her.“But I was never part of their pack,” she said.“Technically you were, you lived there among them for your whole life, even if you never took the oath to obey the Alpha, you accepted their rules and punishments as if you were a member,” I said to her.“Okay, how do I do that?” she asked.“I, Sierra Peyton, hereby reject the Hastings pack as my own, I reject Alpha Conrad Hastings as my Alpha and protector. I hereby accept t

My sleep was restless and I struggled to stay asleep. Both of their scents haunted me and in the end it was Samantha’s scent that won. My door creaked open and I was awake instantly as her scent reached out to me in my room.“Griffin,” she whispered from the doorway and I sat up in my bed.“What’s wrong?” I asked her.She walked towards the bed and sat down in front of me. She looked wide awake as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. I could smell the shampoo from her hair, she was so close to me as she leaned forward and kissed me.It was all too familiar, the way she grabbed my shirt in her hand and pulled me closer, her other hand around my neck and before I knew it she was straddling me. I opened my eyes and broke the kiss off and pushed her off me.“We can’t,” I said as she sat on the bed and looked at me.“Because you have her now?” she asked me bitterly.“Sam, it’s complicated,” I sighed.“Not really, Griff. I’ve waited eight years for you, praying you’d come to find

“All rise,” the court officer called out and the door at the back opened and Judge William Harding stepped through and towards his bench.“You may all be seated now,” the same officer called out after the judge had taken his seat.He opened the file and read through it for a few minutes before looking up and closing it. He poured himself a glass of water and drank slowly from it, irritating me because I was ready to get this under way.“Let’s get this show on the road,” Judge Harding said and looked at Nathaniel. “The prosecution may start.”“Your Honour we’ve spoken at length to Darius White over the weekend and I believe that we have a plea deal on the table,” Nathaniel said and my head snapped up. I was sitting in the back row of the court room.“We have Your Honour,” Darius said.“Your Honour, may I approach?” I asked as I stood up and every head turned to look at me.“Mr. Woods, you may,” Judge Harding said.I picked up my brief case and walked towards the judge’s bench, followed