Isaac POV Dead bond, my ass. Maise’s body sang under my touch, nearly bringing me to the point of finishing before we had even thought of starting. The sweetness of her skin juxtaposed all the spice of her personality. This was a sacred place to me, and one I wasn’t completely surprised her wolf chose to lead us to. This was the place I had come for peace and quiet, to howl at the moon when nothing else would provide clarity, and right then I decided it would be the place I’d lay claim to every single piece of her body and soul. But not today. This was my princess. I’d worship her first, take my time examining every piece of her - inside and out. I was immortal and the eclipse wasn’t for another couple months yet; we had time. Time I would be maximizing. Her virginal innocence drove me mad, leaving me wanting to dominate every part of her. I wondered if she’d had a boy between her legs with this on his mind before. I had no restraint over my body, thrusting my hips agai
This had to end. I was catching feelings, and that could only be bad news. Sure, Isaac didn’t seem at all opposed to entertaining those feelings, but he would live forever and I would die - sooner rather than later. I was too attached to do something temporary, and he was too immortal to make some sort of commitment for the duration of my life. Mates or not, pretending we had a bond that could turn into something was foolish. Maybe it would be better if I just snuck away now, before things reached the point of no return. I had a sinking feeling we were already there, though. Bram was drilling me with questions, but I was hardly paying attention to them. None of them seemed exceptionally important, so I didn’t understand the point. His next question, though, was enough to pull me out of my wallowing. “Maise, what are you thinking about?” I huffed in exasperation. “Life.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Lie.” Well, that was a first. He hadn’t claimed anything was a lie yet. Granted, I
Isaac worked in his office until it was dark, and I sat with him in a comfortable silence. I desperately wanted to read his notebook on prophecy predictions, but he wouldn’t hand it over, instead suggesting I read up on lycan history, or something like that. “Why aren’t all these books common amongst werewolves?” I asked, after an hour or so of silence. “I mean, werewolves know hardly anything about lycans, other than they exist and they technically rule over us.” Isaac looked up at me, hazel eyes showing just how exhausted he was. “The mystery is one of the things that keeps us in so much power, even when we are very hands off. All species of shifters derive from lycans, so werewolves aren’t the only ones that have been kept in the dark.” “What?” I laughed. “There’s no way. I mean, werewolves and lycans are at least both wolves. How would a werebear or werefox derive from a lycan?” Isaac gave me a very pointed look. “Use your imagination, Princess. Werewolves exist because of t
The next two days passed in a blur, and if it was any indication of what my life would be like here, I was going to get bored very quickly. Bram spent a large portion of the days with me, trying to get answers out of me. Most of his questions pertained to information about the royal pack, which I was cautious to give answers to. Even if I did not like the Alpha King, they were still my people. I wanted to ensure they were safe. Until I knew how or why they were going to remove my father from the throne, pack secrets were safe with me. Sometime after lunch, I would be escorted to Isaac’s office over at the packhouse. My leash was getting longer, though, and the Lycan King was allowing me to explore within the building unsupervised. It was in this way that I overheard rumors. Rumors that ignited that spark that had me targeting my first victim as a rogue. If I could plan it right, it would be a welcome outlet for my boredom, and satisfy my innate need to protect that I had always b
The unfortunate thing about beings with a soul is that it is quite easy for them to become corrupt. There is never a shortage of bad people out there that the long arm of the law is overlooking. It’s even worse when it’s a paranormal, as our laws… tend to overlook things. The absolute worst, however, is when one of us commits crimes against a human. Their superhuman abilities make it easy to never pay for their crimes. Needless to say, a werefox that had entrenched himself within the community to such an extent he was holding local office and was most probably responsible for at least most of the fourteen violent rapes reported in this community in the past two years was right up my alley. My reputation as a faceless advocate for justice unreceived preceded me, and I had a wide radius around my home base of Burlington, Vermont. He had to know he’d contract the curse of the rogue at some point. But, he would never know when he was staring it in the face. You see, everyone thought I
Isaac POV I was agitated today. News of a volatile werefox in the vicinity had surfaced again, naming him as the primary suspect for a serial abuser just a town over. It started with a singular infraction being reported, which resulted in several other women coming forward. Once a description was pieced together, it was easy enough to narrow down who it was - a rogue werefox who had taken up living amongst humans, going so far as being elected the sheriff. Foxes, like wolves, were my responsibility, but he was crafty. Lycans over there couldn’t pin him, and he had covered his tracks on the human side well enough we couldn’t even nudge an investigation from higher authorities in the correct direction. We had the guy pegged. We had his local haunts and his tells down. But it ended there. I hated to admit it, but I was beginning to think we needed to enlist the curse of the rogue. I had gotten close to this point before. I used to justify keeping a close eye on her by saying it wa
The remainder of the drive back to Isaac’s house was silent. The tension was thick, and was completely sexually driven. I was frustrated and annoyed, for more reasons than one. When Isaac finally parked the truck in front of his house, I noticed my truck was already there. I was thankful for that, as it seemed like a vote of confidence. A sign that I was actually trusted. The child locks remained on, though, so I was stuck until he came around to open my door. He still didn’t grant me freedom, blocking me in. “You are trusted here,” Isaac insisted. “There’s more than you understand going on right now, and I can’t risk you leaving this pack.”I wanted to ask questions, but his expression warned me otherwise. For maybe the first time, I conceded, letting him win this argument. It was only when I lowered my head and slowly nodded that he picked me up around the waist and gently put me on the ground. Once inside, he still had a strong arm around me, as if he was ensuring I wouldn’t t
I jerked away from Isaac, needing out of his head. I was all too familiar with the memories he showed me, and I didn’t need the additional pain of an alternative perspective. “H-how?” I choked. Isaac’s touch felt foreign, but oh so familiar. As if I had always known it. Hands drifted from cupping my cheeks, falling down to my shoulders. His shirt had slipped over my petite frame, leaving one shoulder bare, and one hand drifted over my shoulder blade, finding my birthmark there. He looked down on me with golden eyes. Golden eyes that if I thought hard enough, I had always known were there. Always hiding just outside my periphery, barely out of reach. But thinking hard enough to find them required I wade through too much pain to reach that safe place. “I’ve always known, Princess,” he whispered. “Your mother knew before you were born that your father had ill will, and she had me give you a staking mark as soon as she realized…” I nodded, gulping down air I so desperately needed.