Novel West Novels & Stories

I already knew this was not going to be easy. As I was driving, I realized that I was heading west. Ironically, I used to dream about moving west to areas like Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana. Most people would opt for California. I however, wanted a place where I knew could provide a huge landscape of open ranges for my wolf to run after I made the shift and met her on my birthday. I also need areas that would be isolated.

My favourite dangerous place. Greg points at me, knowing what I am like in this place. “Fifteen minutes.” I grin if that's how he wants to play it. Oh, baby, challenge accepted. We wander through the shops. I drift toward the books immediately. I need my on-flight reading material. After standing and staring for longer than necessary, I pick up West of Forever by Corinne Michaels. Greg appears beside me, holding a magazine. “Found mine.” I look at the magazine and tsk to myself. Of course, Greg would want this reading material. “Just MotoX?”

Instead, a very odd thing happened and the three of them moved to give us a way to pass. Taking a deep, calming breath, I walked further into the West territory. Ryker, Dmitry, and Eros were following behind me while the three wolves were on either side of us. Unlike the North or the South, the West looked like it had never been touched by civilization. The houses and buildings looked like they had been there for at least a hundred years and had never been remodeled.

As I glanced around the library, my fingers traced the spine of each book my hands touched. "Help me, Teresa," "With what? What book?" "A book about the West," "Well if it's about the West. What better way to know about it other than from a person who lives there? I'm a Westerner," I shook my head. "No, you don't understand," "What do I don't understand? You're being difficult, Amethyst," I came to a sudden halt, causing Teresa to nearly bump into me from behind. "I'm discussing a narrative from a distinct viewpoint—a perspective recounting tales from the West, not your own," I clarified.

I had never asked him where he came from. Is the West not the same place the lab guy confirmed the healing balms come from? Everything was coming at me all at once. My legs seemed wobbly now. I managed to sit on the bed, looking intensely at the paper in my hand as my brain spun with thoughts. I reached for my phone, typing furiously. “Everything I need to know about the Western Pack.” And just like that, everything that concerned the West popped up. I scrolled, going from one page to another, but… nothing was interesting.

Neither option comforted me, but being the White Wolf wasn't about comfort. I would have to speak with Axton first to hear what he has to say about it. His perspective had a way of grounding me, even when I didn't want to admit it. Once I got home, I grabbed the books Axton had brought me and carefully went through them one after another. The pages were old and smelled faintly like dust and pine, probably a result of being kept in the library for decades. I read slowly at first, scanning for anything that caught my attention, then faster when the information became repetitive.

Alexei’s POV The sun had climbed the sky, but Novel had yet to wake. I watched the steady, rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, a small comfort against the growing unease in my gut. Nearby, the white wolf still lurked in the shadows of the trees, a silent, watchful guardian. We couldn't afford to wait for Novel to stir before beginning the trek to the Land of Illusion. Though we had survived the lone wolf’s attack, the air here felt heavy, as if the very ground were waiting for us to lower our guard.

she said, her voice a low, urgent whisper. “Go west. Don’t even think about going east. They don’t take kindly to strangers there, and their Alpha is ruthless. But the West… the West won’t look twice at a new face. You’ll blend in there, but you’d stand out like a sore thumb in the East. Right now, because of the mourning, no one’s guarding the borders. Go to the highway and wait there until you can catch a ride. Tell them you’re headed to the center of Rainville. People won’t question you if you say that.”

The Arrival at the West The barge hit the Missouri mud with a "Ruthless" thud. They drove the truck off the ramp and onto the "Unindexed" soil of the West. The landscape here was different—flatter, wider, and filled with a "Raw Vulnerability" that made the Maine woods seem like a "Gilded Cage." Aria looked back at the river. The "Great Divide" was behind them. The "Common Ledger" of the East—the towers, the ruins, and the "Ghost-Scripts"—felt like a dream that was finally beginning to fade.

Alec flies out of his apartment at the sound of my running and falls in step with me. I kick the door open, not considering the consequences. The smell of fear coming from her pains me, I move back giving her some space to answer. I asked the question but hoped I wasn’t the cause. “Do I scare you?” Her answer provides temporary bliss before I see tears spilling from her beautiful eyes. My wolf’s furious, ready to kill whatever had caused our little human distress. She points to the forest, but neither Alec nor I can see anything. “The west border is that way.” Alec mind-links.