Caleb’s POVThe ground had frozen over when we got back to Night Wind. It was like stepping onto an ice rink and being unable to hop back onto the solid ground beside it. There were no barriers to grab and no way to get off it. And it was everywhere. It glittered in the dying sunlight, shining gold and scoring a path across the ice that pointed straight to the pack house. It didn’t even look slightly tempted to melt, despite the golden hour sun hitting it.It was just another problem to add to my increasingly long list.My head was scrambled. Between the messy bundle of emotions keeping Rhi at arm’s length and the fact that my so-called allies, Moon Chasm, who, by the way, were the literal parents of my Luna, were going to attack, kill me, and claim my land as their own, I was barely able to function.Let alone deal with the crowd of people that surrounded me as soon as I set foot back on my pack lands.“Alpha!”“Alpha!”“Alpha Caleb!”“Come quick!”Harley was in the crowd, pulling a
Caleb’s POV… And immediately fell on my ass. Groaning, I rubbed at my sore backside and tried to stand up. Only to slip over again. I gritted my teeth. For fuck’s sake. Knight laughed at me. ‘Come on, Alpha,’ he teased, ‘it’s only a bit of ice.’‘It’s not only a bit of ice, though, is it?’ I grunted. Before he could reply, I added, ‘Maybe you should shift out and see how you cope with it.’‘Get undressed, then.’‘Fine.’‘Fine.’I wrenched off my clothes and bundled them up into a ball so he could carry them in his mouth. He shifted out, his huge form bursting out of my human frame, and then his claws dug into the ice. They gripped it, cracking through its surface as he steadied himself, and then he was off.I huffed. ‘Show off.’‘Sorry, I think you meant to say, “Thank you, Knight, for being so helpful.”’‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’‘Stop being so salty. Nobody likes a salty prune.’‘Nobody likes you,’ I muttered. ‘I don’t know why you’re taking your bad mood out on me. Do you want to
Caleb’s POVI kicked off my shoes. My bare toes dug into the thick rug on the floor; its chill bit into my soles, the fire just starting to take in the hearth and not yet warm enough to fill the room with its heat.Rhiannon’s room was all her. Her scent was everywhere, pine needles and the air before a storm, perfumed with lime and basil. It clung to her checked bedding, to her curtains, to her. I inhaled deeply.She sat on the bed, looking up at me as she tugged off her boots, keeping her eyes on mine as she curled her socked feet under her and rested her hands in her lap. She looked innocent and inviting in equal measure; her breasts pressed together where she was leaning forward, their curves calling to me.‘So poetic,’ laughed Knight. ‘And all for breasts.’‘Do breasts not deserve to have poetry written about them?’‘They don’t do anything for me. A nice tail, however, or a good pair of ears…’My reply to him was eclipsed by her. She shifted back, slowly sliding her leggings down
Rhiannon’s POV“Nothing happened,” said Caleb, his eyes narrowing on something I couldn’t see. I watched Caleb as he watched the window. I wet my lips at the sight of his strong muscles bunching and relaxing with every slight shift of his weight. My core clenched, but I had no desire to drag him back to the bed. Not right now. Not with so much else playing on my mind.That wasn't all. Something about tonight had bothered me. We'd both wanted to put aside our feelings for a while, to use each other to forget about the world, but an emptiness had taken the place of the strong emotions I usually felt when we got close.I sat up, plumping the pillows behind me and leaning on them. Rather than feeling relieved after we’d finally got close again, after we’d finally been able to put our shit aside for a while and just be with each other, I felt uneasy. It had been amazing – believe me, it had nothing to do with that – but something about it hadn’t felt right. And now Caleb was pretty much
Kieran’s POVBeing so close to Ames again was like the kind of agony the poets described. It was the sort of agony that haunted the midnight hours, the kind that cleaved souls in two.Goddess, it was worse than being apart from her. I’d thought nothing could come close to how I’d felt on my arduous journey back to Night Wind, not ever knowing if I was too late, not knowing if I’d find her, not knowing how she’d react if I did. My imagination ran me ragged, picturing her smiling and running into my arms – and being able to – one moment, only for that image to be shattered the next by visions of her sneering at me and sidling closer to Alpha Caleb.‘You’re just a barrel of laughs, aren’t you?’ teased Bo. ‘I still think you should’ve gone with my last plan to win her back–’‘Oh, my goddess, absolutely not.’ I rolled my eyes at him. ‘Bo, buddy, you wanted to find a railway track – which, might I add, don’t even exist anywhere near us; they’re a human thing – then get someone to tie Ames t
Kieran’s POVAmes rushed over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. Her eyes were wide, and wild with fear, but she tamped down her emotions quickly. Her expression smoothed out; she cleared her throat. “What do you mean, they’re here? How do you know?” She looked towards the window. “Can you hear them? I can’t.”“I can hear their mindlinks,” I said. All thoughts of my semi were long gone. My mind was fixated on the conversation taking place somewhere outside. “I re-joined their pack, Ames. I’m still a part of Moon Chasm; I never officially left. So I can hear their pack-wide mindlinks.”“Well? What are they saying?”My gaze flicked to the window. I crossed the room swiftly, already missing her touch the second I pulled away from it. “They’re trying to get through – past the border, maybe? – but they can’t. Something is blocking them. But two of them have, from what I’ve heard. And–” I cut myself off sharply.They’d seen Caleb having sex with someone else. Someone I presumed was Rhia
Hyacinth’s POV“Why did you… no, no.” I could hear Stephen’s voice. I latched onto it, grabbing it with both greedy hands, the way I’d taken glasses of raspberry juice as a kid. “Okay, okay, I’ll try again. Why did you – no, I can’t, Brian. It sounds too aggressive. Okay, too abrupt, then. I need to lead into it.”Silence followed. I wondered what Brian was saying. I also wondered why Stephen was speaking aloud, and what he was speaking about.Then came other concerns: where I was, why I couldn’t seem to open my eyes, and how I’d ended up here. The last thing I remembered…I remembered Stephen kissing me. Had it been a dream? It had to have been.‘That was no dream, sweet thing,’ said Dolly. Then she yawned. ‘Gee, I feel like I could sleep forever.’‘Me, too.’ I tried to open my eyes, but I still couldn’t. ‘Do you know what’s going on?’‘I wish I did.’“How about this?” said Stephen. He cleared his throat. “I just want to understand why you did it, Cin. It doesn’t make any sense to me
Hyacinth’s POVMy world collapsed in on itself. He knew? How did he know?And, if he knew, what did he think about it? Why was he bringing it up now? Was he angry? Happy? Sad? Confused?I squinted at his face, trying to pick apart his emotions. It was carefully blank, which told me he was hiding how he felt, but not what was going on underneath that blank canvas.Great.And what should I say? Yes? No? Maybe? Roll again? Was this some sort of trick? Or trap? Was I still dreaming? Gah! I couldn’t see a way forward; the path was blocked by words and options and imagined scenarios playing out, as thick as a thorny hedgerow.‘Try talking to him, doll. Just be honest. He’s asked for a reason. He wants to talk about it with you. Is this not what you wanted?’I squirmed under Dolly’s scrutiny. It was what I’d wanted – but, oh my goddess, it terrified me. I’d tried to leave this behind, but it had followed me regardless.Was that what fate was? Was it the fact that any choices I made would alw