“Rhett-fucking-Butler,” Joy says.We’re on the couch, my head in her lap, as she strokes my hair. We’re eating a plate of lemon cookies she baked.She stuffs one into her mouth. “He’s an alpha,” she says, with her mouth full of cookie. “And you’re fated mates. He should have ripped off your clothes, made love to you on the stairwell, and made you beg him for forgiveness, if you get my drift!”I fan myself and she giggles.She sets down the cookie she’s just reached for. “He’s the real-deal alpha. He is Rhett Butler.” She tilts back her head and sighs loudly.“Well, he didn’t say he doesn’t ‘give a damn.’”“He didn’t have to,” Joy says. “Wow. I have a major crush now.”“After you encouraged me to break it off.” I raise my eyebrow.“I didn’t want you to give in and go back to a toxic relationship!”Was it toxic?It was uneven, maybe - unequal.“Now, what do you think?” I steal the cookie Joy’s just picked back up.“I think… I think, whatever it was before, you left things better.”“We b
“Look, I think she’s waking up.”“Shhh!”My brain slowly comes back online, with a few false starts as I go in and out of darkness.My eyes are closed. I smell grass and mud. The side of my face feels damp. It’s pressed up against something hard. I hear the sound of water and a bird chirping.I open my eyes. The world is still spinning. I try to sit up, but I can’t. My hands and feet are tied.“Just stay there,” a voice says.Maybe my emotions are muted, but the sound of that voice still puts a knot in my stomach.Cherry. She’s going to kill me. I inhale sharply. It’s one thing to die. It’s another to know that this bitch won. I struggle against Duct tape I’m tied up with.“Cut that out,” a male voice says.“Let me up,” I say. “I want to see you both.”“Let’s just sit her up,” the man says, obviously to Cherry. “If you promise to sit there and don’t move.”“Fine,” says Cherry.He lifts me up so that I’m in a sitting position. I can see where we are now - in an enclosed, wooded area n
“What - what do you mean?”What the hell kind of sinister plan does she have up her sleeve? “Moon Shadow is waffling in its support of Ansel. My father’s been furious with him since he broke off our engagement. You have -“ Cherry breaks off. She’s fighting back angry tears. “You have no idea how humiliating that was. Especially to be dumped for a whore.”Cherry’s lucky I’m not at normal emotional capacity. I’d probably spit back at her - right in her face.As it is, it turns out my rational brain is better at sarcasm and comebacks.“Wah-wah,” I say in my best baby voice. I roll my eyes.Cherry growls and nearly slashes my face with her claws, but Blake is lighting fast, and grabs her.I laugh.“Cool your jets, Cherry. She’s doing it on purpose.”She looks back at me. I smile and shrug.“Here’s the deal, slut,” she says. “No one is standing by Ansel. Not King David or Prince Edwin, not Moonshadow, and sure as hell not Full Moon. We can go down the list of the Alliance. You won’t find
Ansel woke up in a cold sweat.There’s been a breach.Henry’s stark warning came through mindlink.Ansel jumped up. He grabbed a t-shirt he’d thrown over the back of a chair and pulled it on over his head.Don’t come. It will make things worse. I’ll keep you updated.He ignored Henry and was outside within seconds. Jeff was howling and pacing from inside him. He could see lights up ahead and hear shouts and cries.He shifted into his wolf and raced toward the gate, where he could soon make out the skirmish between the protestors and his security.Before he could reach the turmoil, he was flanked by Henry, who then turned to block him. Ansel growled and swiped him across the snout. Henry yelped.Ansel pushed on. It was chaos up ahead. He stumbled when a huge weight crashed on top of him. Teeth sunk into his shoulders. Henry.He tried to buck him off, but he was clamped onto Ansel with his fangs. Ansel swung around, throwing both him and Henry down on the ground, with Ansel colliding on
“You’re going to blow them away.”Zara beamed at Ansel.“Seriously,” she said. “Goosebumps.”Ansel shrugged. His brain felt cobwebby from the lack of sleep. “I used to have a knack for it,” he said. “Just keep the coffee coming.”“Well, you got your mojo back.” Zara’s silvery eyelids sparkled whenever she fluttered her lashes. “After you get on camera today - if we don’t see your poll numbers jump through the roof, I’ll eat my hat!”“Do you even own a hat?” Ansel smiled before leaning back in his chair.“Totally. A beret.”“Ooh la la.”Zara’s laughter sounded like the jingle of bells.Ansel’s stomach lurched. A moment from his dream last night
I’m a rain cloud, floating above the trees and the river below. I watch while Ansel holds me, crying, before I slip away.I’m a spirit in the darkness. In the deep, velvety black.I am not alone. I’m with the Divine. She’s the bringer of dreams and She speaks in riddles.A wolf howls nearby and I shudder. Then she appears. Her fur is white, like snow. She’s strong, fierce, and wild.I’m frightened, but she makes no move to harm me. The Moon Goddess whispers, so I go to her. Slowly, I reach out my hand. I run it over her soft fur. She watches me with wise eyes.I’m not wise. Why do you want to come with me?I stroke her head.I’m not wild. You won’t be free with me.She nuzzles my cheek.Will it be painful? Will there be a price to pay?&
And that’s when I break down.I’m wailing and sobbing uncontrollably. My face is red and my nose is running.I’ve essentially collapsed and it’s a blessing I’m in the wheelchair, or I’d have fallen out onto the floor, or draped myself over Ansel, probably messing up all of his tubes and wires.My heart feels like it has shattered.Not shattered.Exploded. Into squishy, bloody, pink pieces of pulverized tissue. Doc comes in with a nurse.“Karin, it’s okay,” Doc says.I can’t speak. I can’t get words out. I’m still balling. They wheel me out into the hall.Doc looks down at me. “I’m so sorry,” he says. “This is really hard.”I nod slowly. I can barely breathe.&nbs
I’m running down a dark, narrow hall.“Ansel?”I know he’s here, but I can’t find him. The hall stretches on forever. I pass by door after door, all closed.I hear a noise from one and I turn the knob, but it’s locked. I struggle against it, shoving it open, but Ansel’s not inside.It’s Henry. He’s standing in an office and he’s a mess. His hair’s uncombed. His sleeves are pulled up haphazardly. His tie is loose and crooked. There are papers everywhere, and he’s searching through them.Beads of sweat are breaking out all over his forehead. He kicks closed a desk drawer and yanks another open. A swarm of white spiders begin to pour out of the drawer. He tries to close it, but he can’t.I gasp as the spiders cover his hands and legs, and then they engulf him.&ldq