All Chapters of Wild Heart ,Wolf’s Desire: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Tess's eyes locked onto her mother's, her mind reeling with questions. What was she doing here? How was she alive?The woman smiled, her eyes cr crling at the corners, a gesture that sent a pang of nostalgia through Tess's chest. She looked like her. Same hair, same eyes, same smile.But something was off. A hardness, a coldness that Tess didn't remember."Tess," her mother said again, her voice low and husky. "It's been a long time."Tess felt a surge of emotion, a mix of anger, confusion, and longing. She wanted to run to her mother, to hug her, to ask her why she'd left.But something held her back. A voice in her head, whispering warnings.Liam's voice, low and urgent. "Tess, be careful."She glanced at him, her eyes asking for guidance. He was watching her mother with a mixture of suspicion and hostility.Tess turned back to her mother. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice firm.Her mother's smile widened. "I want you to come home, Tess. It's time."Tess shook her head, tryin

Tess's eyes locked onto the leader's, her heart pounding in her chest. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice shaking.The leader smiled, his eyes glining with malice. "I mean that your friends are going to die, and you're going to watch," he repeated, his voice dripping with satisfaction.Tess struggled against her bonds, her mind racing with fear. She had to get out of here, had to save her friends.But it was too late. The leader nodded, and two of his followers dragged Fred into the room, his eyes flashing with pain."No!" Tess screamed, her voice echoing off the walls.The leader smiled, his eyes glining with triumph. "You're going to watch as we sacrifice your friend to the darkness," he said, his voice cold.Tess felt a surge of rage, of hatred. She would not let them do this.She struggled against her bonds, her muscles straining with effort. But it was no use, she was trapped.The leader nodded, and his followers began to chant, their voices low and menacing. The air in the

The pointed finger in the dark haunted Tess’s sleep, transforming her dreams into shadowy chases through endless, dripping forests. She woke not to sunlight, but to the grim, pearl-gray dawn of a Pacific Northwest morning that felt like a held breath. The memory was a cold stone in her stomach. The war wasn't an abstract concept of pack borders; it was a man in the street, marking her as the target.She moved through her studio apartment with a new, hyper-awareness. Every creak of the old floorboards, every rattle of the window in its frame, was a potential herald of the scarred man’s return. She couldn’t paint. The vibrant colors of her oils seemed ludicrous against the monochrome reality of her fear. Instead, she found herself sketching with a piece of charcoal, the black lines desperate and sharp on the page. Without intending to, she drew eyes. Liam’s piercing blue, heavy with a past that could drown them both. Ryder’s mischievous brown, hiding secrets like traps. Ethan’s percepti

The silence after the gunshot was more shocking than the blast. It was a vacuum, sucking the sound from the world before the cacophony rushed back in the dying snarl of the wolf at Ryder’s feet, the distant, fading sounds of the retreating battle, and the frantic, ragged sound of her own breathing. Blood, dark and wet, spread across the wooden floorboards, the coppery scent thick enough to taste.Ryder swayed, clutching his bitten arm. His face was pale, but his eyes, when they met Tess’s, were still lit with that wild, defiant fire. The two wolves in the doorway hesitated, their yellow eyes flicking from their fallen packmate to the wounded, yet still-dangerous man with the gun.It was Liam who broke the standoff. He appeared behind the wolves not as a wolf, but as a man a terrifying, blood-streaked god of war. He was naked from the shift, his body a landscape of corded muscle and fresh, gleaming wounds, the deepest a savage tear on his thigh. He didn’t speak. He simply grabbed the t

The forest was a cage of whispers. Tess stood frozen, muddy and shivering, as four pairs of eyes burned into her. Liam’s blue gaze was a winter storm. Ryder’s brown eyes flashed with angry fire. Ethan’s green stare was full of quiet pain. Fred’s wide, shocked eyes kept flicking to the gun in his hands, then back to the man he had just killed.The scarred man lay between them all, a dark shape on the riverbank. The coppery smell of blood mixed with the scent of wet earth and river water. It was a smell that would haunt her forever.Liam was the first to move. He didn’t look at the body. He walked right over it. His steps were slow and heavy. Each one was a threat. He stopped in front of Tess.“You left the lodge.” His voice was low. It was the most dangerous sound she had ever heard.“I had to” she started.“You. Left. The. Lodge.” He said each word like he was biting it off. “After I gave an order. After I told you it was the only safe place.” His hand came up. For a second, she thoug