6 months ago. Vanessa Energy hums through the air, causing the hairs along my arms to stand on end.Deep breaths, Vanessa , I tell myself. And don’t look up.History is happening all around me as the wolves enter the clearing on both sides. Blood moon and Santeetlah.Two packs of similar origins who have fought for centuries over this land.But today, we’ll join as one.Because of my agreement to mate the Santeetlah Pack Alpha’s son.The other females in my pack are jealous. Our matings are all arranged, and I definitely won this year’s prime candidate a future Alpha.And not just any Alpha, but the Alpha who will lead the union between our packs, with me by his side.I take another deep breath, attempting to calm my inner wolf. Kneeling agitates the animal lurking beneath my skin. I don’t typically submit. But this ceremony requires it.Just as it required me not to truly meet my inner animal until today. Hence her growing excitement.I’ve never been allowed to shift.It’s part of
Vanessa Explain yourself!” Alpha Bryson shouts.I shiver, my focus instantly going to the male I’ve revered all my life. But he’s not looking at me. He’s looking at my father.And my father… is glowering at my cowering mother.“I… I…” she stutters, her skin as pale as my fur. “I didn’t know… I…”“You didn’t know?” my father repeats, his tone holding an edge of fury that I’ve never heard from him before. “How could you not fucking know?”He points in my direction. “She’s a goddamn mutt!”“I thought she was yours,” my mother whispers. “I… You have to believe me. It… He found me… I tried to fight… But I…”Her statements are all garbled. Maybe because I can’t hear beyond the pounding in my ears. Maybe because she can’t seem to explain herself.“I swear, I had no idea,” my father says, his words for Alpha Bryson.“I’ll take whatever punishment you require. This is not a reflection on our pack, it’s a reflection on me and my whore of a wife.”“He raped me!” my mother shouts. “I tried to fi
Kev I fucking hate wearing suits. They’re claustrophobic and suffocate my wolf. And the damn ties make me want to choke something.Not my own neck.Someone else’s neck.Like the human sitting across from me.Fortunately, he’s useful. Unfortunately, he’s the reason I’m in the suit.I wait patiently as he counts the cash in front of me, showing me the bonus he’s giving me for a job well done.He gave me a mark. I carried out the assignment without any inquiries or assistance required. And now I’m being paid for it.“You military-types are unnervingly silent,” he says.I don’t reply. He assumes I’m military because I’m good at what I do. I don’t bother correcting him because I don’t need to explain myself. I’m afreelance assassin. The suit is just my version of a mask.If he saw the claws beneath, there would be questions.And I really fucking hate questions.This guy has several on his mind. I can see them in his dark eyes. But he’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut, instead thankin
Vanessa I can’t shift.I’ve tried for four days and my wolf won’t allow me to return to human form.The guards think I’m being defiant. The intake judge called me feral.And the social worker in charge of my case stated she couldn’t help me because I didn’t want to be helped.If only that were true.My wolf refuses to let me defend myself in human form. Everyone thinks I killed my mother because Alpha Bryson told them I did.He claimed I turned feral when I found out my true lineage. He acted like he felt bad for me.He called it a “sad, helpless case.” And then went into a speech about how he couldn’t put me down, that it wasn’t my fault for being born thisway.Yet he didn’t have a single problem with Alpha Crane’s wolves killing my mom.And he didn’t care at all about laying the blame for her murder at my feet.My wolf is furious. I am furious.But I’m also terrified.They’re taking me to Carnage Island, home of the cruelest wolves in existence.Because they think I killed my mom.
Jake The female’s scent slithers around me, perfuming the air and filling my lungs with each breath.There’s something intoxicatingly sweet about it.Something I want to taste.“She tried to kill Jack,” Jordan says conversationally as we walk in the general direction of the main docks. It’s the location where the guards should have taken the girl. But instead they went to the opposite side of theisland where they couldn’t anchor their boat.Cowards, I think. “They were going to throw her cage in the water and let her drown. I think her assassination attempt is warranted.”“He was technically helping her by letting her out of the cage and removing the muzzle.”“Because he wanted to fuck her,” I return.Jordan ’s silvery eyes gleam knowingly as he looks at me. “And you don’t?”I grunt. “Entirely not the point. I didn’t try to drown her.”“Fair,” he replies. “Well, it’s a good thing you anticipated their usual fuckery. She would have drowned if Kev hadn’t pulled her out.”I grunt again
Kev The little wolf follows close behind me as I lead her up the hill to our den. When I reached down to carry her earlier, she stood up and shook outher fur, then gave me a lopsided grin. It seemed to be a dare from her animal, or maybe an invitation.Shrugging, I kicked off my pants and shifted.Then she happily trotted along beside me up the path. Jake was right her animal is definitely in control.I can see the conflict in her eyes every time I glance at her, the general confusion as to why her wolf is so easily trusting mine.It’s dangerous.I’m dangerous.But the little wolf seems quite taken with my purr, so I continue to emanate the sound to soothe her.It’s a natural reaction after observing her terror in the waves. My animal is hellbent now on protecting hers.The word Omega whispers through my mind. She doesn’t smell right, but something about her is calling to all my instincts.Some wolves have fated mates. Carnage Wolves have a different form of fate Alphas are inherent
Vanessa My wolf has a death wish.She’s a fucking psycho.And she’s going to get us killed.Because she decided to take a nap in the Carnage Island Alpha’s bed.His low growl from the doorway is a warning I feel to my very core.But all it does is draw a little whine of irritation from my suicidal wolf.She picks up her head, yawns at him, and proceeds to flop over to her other side.And closes her eyes.I scream at her to move. To bow. To run. Anything but just relax in the Alpha’s bed as though she belongs there.“I see,” he says, his tone holding a lethal note that makes me wince inside.This is not going to end well.“I think we need to have a conversation about etiquette and common decency, little one.” He sounds calm. Too calm. And because my wolf’seyes are closed, I can’t see his face. But I hear him prowling toward me, his presence a darkness threatening to suffocate me from the inside out.Jake , called him.A name I know very well.A name I’ve feared for years.Jake isn’t
Jordan love’s sweet aroma makes me so fucking hard, I nearly come from the scent alone.Jake groans, his head falling to her shoulder. “Fuck.”Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what I want to do. Fuck Vanessa .But Jake is already inside her, his knot claiming the sweet heaven between her thighs.Kev growls, as do I. Not in anger, but in hunger.Our mate is going into heat. Her gaze is liquid black, her pupils blown so wide I can barely see the whites of her eyes. That didn’t happen last time.Which tells me this is the real deal. She’s about to lose herself to estrus for days, maybe even a week or more.And I cannot fucking wait.“I have to address the pack,” Jake says, sounding agonized by the mere notion of having to leave her in this state.But we just suffered a major loss with Alpha Duncan’s death. And experienced a huge win by taking down Alpha Bryson.Jake doesn’t have a choice. This is where his duty as Pack Alpha will have to come first. “You can make it a quick speech,” I