When I awake from slumber, Rider is gone and the spot where he fell asleep beside me cold against the sheets. I'm not even sure when he switched our sleeping spot. I was probably too high on the warmth of him to probably give a damn anyway. I've got a soul mate. Rider is my soulmate. The thought still stirs as ridiculous in my head. That something so predestined actually existed. It's completely inhuman. He's a wolf, my mind reminds me. "God I'm mated to an animal, " I mumbled running a hand across my face. The fact sounds even more ridiculous out loud. How am I supposed to explain my new relationship to my parents? Oh hey dad, mom, uh this is my mate and we'll both be living in the woods happily ever after. "What could seriously be worse than this?" I muse. He could've been a vampire, my mind responds and I bite my lip. Oh, right. That probably would be creepy. Having your boyfriend drinking your blood to keep him alive. That was a walking oxymoron. Bright side is that Rider

RIDER I conceded. Really I was left with no choice. Halie's idea of making it up to me was singing. Not a nightmare I'd like to relive anytime soon. As I walk towards the saloon, I wonder if this was how my father felt, being wrapped around my mother's finger. A man that's bent on discipline and a creature of habit. He seldom leaned towards anything that wasn't issued by our Alpha. I was still weary of the idea of having Halie without my reach especially given Jax's warning. I sigh. Halie's right, I have to trust her. The door to the saloon swings open with a squeak revealing men all getting shit faced, pining away their misery in drunkenness. My heart went out, subdued by the darkness that loomed over the room. I shouldn't be here, but hell, the least I could do was not ostracize myself from them. I found Oliver drowning himself likewise- not even sure why I'm not surprised at this point. "Joining the piss party?" He asked after taking another swing of his drink. "Not that I ca

"Drop him!" Yelled the man at Quinn. "Drop him now or I'll shoot!" What! My mind yelled. Quinn growled in response, his teeth sinking further into the man's shoulder as he dragged him further across the ground while the latter squealed in pain. He wasn't laughing now, was he? I thought. It didn't feel so hot either, having teeth in your shoulder. My eyes darted between the two enemies, neither willing to become a prisoner or surrender and between both, this was about to get down right bloody and ugly. "Hey, " screamed the nervous man. "Didn't you just hear what I said? Spit him out!" He stomped his feet and I rolled my eyes. Honestly what did he think that would achieve? As much as I wanted to just stay hidden, I couldn't. The man cocked his gun this time and when he pulled the trigger, I had an instant headache. I fell to my knees seeing Quinn fall over, thinking of how much blood he was actually losing. My mind had conjured so many episodes of this, except accepting the real

RIDER That was it. I had e-f***ing-enough. Every fiber of my being was pricked with awareness while my vision saw red. Damn rogues. Tonight wasn't the least fit for anything. Between fighting with Halie and the hunter I was beyond spent, now this?! My lips curled back into a snarl as I watched my opponent. What the hell was Ragna's goal having them come after us like this? His little mongrels were all over the place. Was the pack alright? No, they were fine, Jax would do everything in his power to ensure the remainder of our pack would survive. Wouldn't exactly be his happy number taking on that deranged wolf on his own but our hands were tied. Still, it places me on edge to no end to know we were out of communication range with him. F***ing hunters! We had bigger problems, right now, I reminded myself. More so Halie, than anyone else. We were some distance apart, which means I'd have to think carefully about how to get to where she is; before one of them decided to have her for

I was f**** Undisputedly f***ed. I didn't know what to do. I didn't and I was terrified. In a matter of weeks, my not so perfect but rather comfortable life had been shaken upside down, and have been on a constant mudslide ever since. I didn't want to think about how Halie was going to take my revelation about how Sam managed to conceive our child. I was going to lose her. Everything. That is if I haven't lost her already. My stomach churned over the prospect of her walking away. I would deserve it wouldn't I? I keep f***ing up whichever way I tried. I didn't see my mate for the rest of the day. Didn't blame her either. Jax mentioned something about her being with Moi. Not sure if she's staying the night or what. The bastard took pleasure in my sorrow. Even went ahead offering me liquor to take the edge off my frustration. But I swore since that poison in a bottle was the beginning of my troubles, I was never touching another glass. When morning came I was more miserable tha