Three Pines Review Novels & Stories

My grandma was pleasantly surprised. She came closer to me and held my hands, "this isn't a coincidence my child. I know you eventually have to accept one of them as your mate but for now, you can work with all three of them and get them to put an end to their feud with one other. Once you have achieved that, you can find out who our enemy is." I immediately recalled my encounter with the three awesome men this morning. The way I felt when all three stood in front of me is something I would never be able to explain. How could I work with all three of them?

Aria's POV The drive to Silvercrest took over an hour, but it passed in a focused silence between my partner and me. "Look at the tall pines," I muttered to Maya's hearing as soon as we approached the borders of the pack. "Very beautiful," she replied. "They're oldies but still goldies." I nodded, noting how the shadows of the pines stretched long across the asphalt as the sun climbed toward its late morning peak. The deeper we drove into Silvercrest, the more dazed we were with its natural touch.

Owen hesitates. And that’s when I know— Whatever this is? It’s *not* going to be simple. We stop just outside of a small town, tucked in the valley, barely more than a few streets and a handful of buildings. Owen stretches as he steps out of the car, exhaling. “Welcome to Red Pines.” Levi shuts the car door, watching him carefully. “This is where your guy is?” Owen nods. “Yeah. But don’t expect a warm welcome.”

Lyra's POV The second cluster met us in a forest clearing that smelled of pine resin and cold water and old decisions, the particular scent of a place that had been chosen for survival rather than beauty, and had over time accumulated a beauty of its own from the choosing. Thirty-six people, Nadia had told me, and I had prepared for thirty-six people, but the reality of them was something that preparation could only approximate, the families, the children, the elderly man whose determination had long since overruled the objections of his joints, the woman holding an infant against her chest with one arm and a small packed bag with the other, both arms steady, neither shaking. People carried

Pine came from a pack where females were subservient and listened faithfully to their mates. When Pine refused to reject his se.xuality under his father's command, Pine was forced to watch as his mate was executed. He was disowned, banished, and sentenced to the life of a rogue. It was his father's idea. Pine was too soft to make it as a rogue, so he figured that an execution was too easy for Pine to suffer. When Beast heard his story from Alpha Thorin, it stirred something in him. He wanted to storm the disgraceful pack and get penance for all his Gamma had suffered, but Thorin stopped him.

There, seated among the judges, was Connor. Daisy thought he had come just for her. Her face lit up again, and she happily explained her drawing, "My painting shows a daughter's wish to go to the amusement park with her dad." However, Connor didn't vote for Daisy. Instead, he voted for Hazel. Although Daisy still won first place in the end, she started crying when she saw Connor choose Hazel. Even so, she quickly wiped them away and tried to comfort herself. She asked, "Mommy, Daddy has emotional issues, but he's also really fair. He probably had his reasons, right?"

Great, he will be working, and Reggie will be oogling, and I will have a chance to finally rest. I had never been to Pines Port, but I did hear it was beautiful. I read that it was always cool weather, like right at the end of Autumn, before the first snow. When it did snow, the entire town was covered in white, butting up to a delta that led into the Pacific. I was excited to see what Cash's family home was like. I really hoped it was much more inviting, then his personality. I also wasn't exactly sure about the living arrangements, or how long we would be there, but I knew I couldn't be idle the entire time.

Steve’s eyes still carried the joy and excitement of a teenager who hadn’t seen the world at all, pure and fresh, without a single contamination, just like how he looked when they were in high school. If only she had stayed here, would she still be like this? Instead of the tired and hopeless person she had become now? Wait, what was she thinking? The only person she shouldn’t have met in her life was that bastard, Zak, okay? If she didn’t meet him she would probably still be the number one most sorted-out supermodel. “Here we are,” Steve announced as the car rounded the bend, distracting her from her thoughts again. The tall trees disappeared, giving way to the small town of Everheights. T

Either way, I needed to get out of view of the mansion. I passed through the rose garden, eerily blooming in winter, and passed my broken-down car before entering the tree line. Snow kicked up behind me, and I realized they’d be able to easily follow my tracks. I needed to get out of these freaky woods as soon as possible. Snow never fell this thick in the Pacific Northwest, except at higher elevations—which this was not. I had a feeling as soon as I got away from here, I’d find rain-drenched streets with not a snowflake in sight. This place was unnatural.

The old guy also called the names of the people on Ley’s side. After the exchange of greetings, the oldest looked at Ley. “So what’s the reason you requested a video call? Do you know how hard it has been to set up this thing? And it’s very cold here, so old bones like me would always feel like it’s very torturous to move.” The City of Pines was famous for being cold all-year round due to its high location and even on summer, nights there would compel one to turn the house's heater on. Ley raised an eyebrow, his glance asking 'why go there in the first place'?