My father once told me survival is not just something you do. You have to will yourself through it. If you give up on yourself, even your wolf will stop healing you eventually. It is through our own determination we make it. Every freezing step through the icy wastelands I kept that in mind. The fact my father somehow managed this as a young boy is not lost on me. Competitiveness is a powerful tool. By the time I reach the black-ridged mountains I am completely humbled in his shadow. The strength of character to make sure he lived. That he would be able to return one day and put right the injustices done to his family. Day turns into night, I don’t even try to sleep for fear of never waking up. I eat as I walk, fumbling around for the oat biscuits and chunks of meat Howen had hastily thrown into my backpack. I thought of my parents and their struggle because the alternative is to think of Hope. The first day was the worst. The further the sun rose in the sky I constantly wondered

The cold is brutal. We’ve covered so many miles. I was bordering on ripping the compass out of clumping Oskar’s hands at one point as the cragged black mountains failed to appear over the horizon. Each day, we trudged through the deadly snow. How the hell has Mireille lived up here all her life and never wanted to sprint towards the sun? She doesn’t complain, but I know she’s finding it hard. There is no rest for her body that’s already under enough pressure. I know I wake her with my patrols, too. The last few days, we have all suffered from the biting wind. Even Dee and Quinn fell behind from the front, joining us at the rear. The large, flat expanses of glossy white offer no obstacles to break up the vicious gusts. All we can see is the snow and the crystal blue sky. Flat, white death. Nothing else lives out here. My humongous fur coat has formed the unofficial windbreak. Which means I can’t show any weakness. Not just for Mireille, but in case any of those other men have the

My fathers words leave me breathless. I try to break down his thoughts sensibly. Take the emotion out of it.. Unfortunately my first instinct is to run away and scream he’s a fucking idiot into the howling wind. I loved the fact Cal wants to make my old villa at Finley perfect for us. Is that such a bad thing, to return to a place I always enjoyed living? To be marked under the stars and live contentedly? Happily ever after. That's meant to be the fucking goal! I shove the letter into my pocket and do another scan of the horizon with my binoculars.Some of his words do prickle at the back of my conscience. Cal definitely has courage. No doubt about it. He ran into a hail of bullets and shifted to try and tackle Ervin for a start. Then I came unstuck. Loyalty? He has openly hated being under Reu and Elvie. He flirted with the idea of joining Ervin for real I’m sure, at one point.He believes in the superiority of his alpha bloodline yet is content to be a sexy as sin, hammock-lazin

Watching the shambling, slow-moving figures had been hypnotising. All four of us were glued to our binoculars, trying to recognise faces or shapes in the shadowy darkness ahead. Vera had a small brass telescope, Rey, Elvie and I, binoculars. My eyes were drawn to the tall one. Well, how could they not be? He moved differently to the rest, his steps were lumbering but powerful, his whole body swaying into the deep snow. His stride must be enormous. “There’s more than one woman in that group, look at the legs, the cut of the coat,” I whisper as Elvie and Reu nod in agreement. “Mireille must be one of them, she has to be,” Elvie added, not flinching in her observance for a second. When the full moon completed its ascendance and activated its powers all of us took in a deep breath. My heart tugged. Even more painful than normal. My wolf is unbearably restless. The frustration of missing Cal is getting to us both. The frustration of Cal in general, to be more accurate. “Shit, wait, w

I’d used every last bit of reserve energy to surge towards Mireille. My mate. I had pure joy coursing through every cell that the Goddess had seen me worthy of her. For as long as I am lucky to live, I will make sure I deserve that blessing. And then some fucker shot me.The coat Mireille crafted made me feel like a king. I didn’t realise it had turned me into an immortal God. The sheer force of the bullets ploughing into my chest, a few skirting past my forehead, sent me flying to the ground. Dazed and dizzy, when I came around, it was to the shouting mayhem of Sven. He and Quinn were slapping my face and pinching my nose to try and rouse me.“Wake up we need to fucking move! We need the guns! There’s no blood so get the fuck up!” Quinn shouted, delivering another blow across my jaw despite my eyes being wide open. In the background I heard Dee slapping and shaking Mireille who lay on her back in the snow.She had been shot too?That was the end of me lying on the floor. My Lycan w