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DARIUS POV I’m going to kill Mara. First, she behaves like a clingy ex-girlfriend, who is hell-bent on being my chosen mate and Luna. Then she’s attacked by Justin and his crew. Now she’s somehow missing. Where the fuck could she have gone? Is she involved with Justin somehow? To top it all off, me and Daya were finally getting closer, and we had to stop because of Mara. I’m going to rip her heart out. Daya may be in denial about the mate bond with me, but I know she feels it. She feels those sparks and tingles. I can tell her wolf likes being around me. She just needs time. Hopefully, all this craziness can be dealt with before the next full moon. Daya and I arrive at the medical clinic, and I can sense the unruliness in the air. I see Tobias rushing down a hallway, shouting orders to a few warriors. “Comb sections 20-30. That’s where we last tracked Justin and his crew. She can’t have gone far. Send a couple people to scout her home and check for anything that can lead
DAYA POV Okay, I lied. I told Darius and the others that Sage would get here the day after I called her. It took her three days to get here. Amy and Pearl also needed a few days to get their lives in order and make their way here. But they should all be arriving today! It is difficult for me to contain my excitement. This is much needed good news after this week. We have had no leads, or signs, of Mara or Justin. I haven’t seen much of Darius. He has been securing all the pack’s resources and helping with border patrol every day too. I still haven’t joined the pack. Since that day in the medical clinic, I’ve been second-guessing things. Darius told me I cannot join border patrol until I join the pack. That is what sparked the idea of running multiple training sessions each day. We decided to do two different training sessions each day, to ensure the borders always have people on patrol. This also makes the group sizes easier for me to manage by myself. I clap my hands toge
DARIUS POV Tobias wouldn’t shut up about Sage. He’s used to hooking up with the occasional pack member. They are drawn to his position and title and enjoy being submissive for him. He’s never complained about that before. “I’m telling you, Dare, I’ve never been put on my ass like that. And the fact that it was done by that little vixen. Fuck dude. I had to stay on the ground for a minute just to give my dick time to calm down. I don’t know what that girl has done to me, but I like it.” He kept talking about her like this for the entire morning. He wanted to go back to the afternoon training session in hopes that Sage would ask him to help demonstrate more maneuvers. I had to burst his bubble though. I needed him to help me conduct perimeter checks. There have been no leads in a few days and the quiet makes me nervous. We checked in with the warriors on patrol. We ran by Logan and Carlo; they were our most senior warriors now. They help out extra at their training sessions a
DARIUS POV The three of us spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan and trying to figure out who this Stone-person could be. I didn’t have anyone in my pack that went by that name. Justin’s last name is Toller and Mara’s is Blakenship. I could barely sleep. It was early the next morning and I figured I’d check out the morning training session. Of course, once I said that, Tobias perked up from his spot on my couch and said he’d come with me. Lucas rolled over in his spot on my living room floor. He was covered in a couple of throw blankets, and he used his hoodie as a makeshift pillow. He wasn’t much of a morning person. He usually trained on his own, and now that there were two training sessions, he started joining in the afternoon session with the warriors the last few days. Tobias was practically sprinting over to the training field. It was still early- 5:15 AM. I couldn’t help but shake my head and laugh at him. I’ve never seen him this smitten. If he’s not c
DAYA POV “You want me to pledge to your pack?” I ask him. Suddenly feeling my throat dry up and my stomach twist into knots. There have been a couple of reasons why I decided not to join Darius’ pack. One, with all this fated mate stuff, I just don’t want to take the risk of either of us being hurt or falling victim to the plague. I may not show it well, but I do care about Darius, even if he hurt me. I know he didn’t know he was hurting me. Second, I can’t stay here knowing I was planning on challenging him. If I stay, whether we accept the bond, or not, he will find out and hate me. And who knows what he would do to me and my sisters if he found out. Third, in order to join his pack, he has to learn my full name- my real name. He still thinks my last name is Tannerman. When he realized me, Emmy, and Saph were sisters, he didn’t ask us what our real names are. If he learns my last name, it won’t take him long to put the pieces together that my father was the original Alpha of this
DARIUS POV Confusion. Betrayal. Rage. That only begins to describe how I’m feeling in this moment. I have been walking around like an idiot. I have been giving her space, when I should have been getting to know more about her. I can’t believe I never asked her what her real last name was. I just assumed that since she and her sisters were separated so young, they all changed their names. I guess, technically, they did change their names. Stone. She is a Stone. And an Alpha! Everything makes so much sense now. I’ve never heard of her father, Alpha Bronson Stone. At least I don’t think so. I know he wasn’t in this territory when we moved here. I wonder if Calvin kept any records of who owned this territory before we moved here. I’ll have to check our archives. This still doesn’t explain why I shouldn’t trust her. That note said not to trust a Stone. That means somebody from outside my pack knew about Daya. Is there more about her she still hasn’t told me? Like I told her, she is cl
DAYA POV Darius and I run into the woods, and I can already here the sounds of wolves fighting, tearing into each other’s bodies. I notice a lot of our warriors begin to separate and take on the rogues individually. We have been training for them to fight together. I feel for my newly established connection to the pack and mindlink all the warriors. ‘Warriors, do your best to stay with your teams. Strength in numbers!’ I shout out. I hear many confirmations, and they all begin to shift closer to each other, forcing the rogues to rethink their strategies and fighting styles. Of course, Tobias calls out through the link, even in the heat of battle, he manages to get a quick jab in. ‘Welcome to Running River, Daya! Now help us tear this group of shitheads apart.’ Even if he is a giant goofball, he is clearly a fierce fighter. He is fending off two rogues. I notice Sage is close to him and she is easily handling a gross grey wolf with matted fur. I continue to scan the field; I h
DAYA POV I am in shock. I can’t move. I can’t speak. All I can hear are Sage’s screams and cries of pain. Darius and Tobias are running to her. Before Darius or I could do anything, Tobias is grabbing the rogue by the neck. He slams him against a tree and without thinking, he plunges his clawed fist into the rogue’s chest. The rogue’s eyes bulge out of his head. Then he briefly smirks before Tobias ripped his heart out of his chest. Growling. Tobias stands over the rogue’s lifeless body, his hands covered in blood. “No!” Darius screams out a moment too late. Tobias snaps his head around. A moment later, Sage screams even louder. The bloody mark on her neck turning black her skin looks like it’s burning. “What have I done?” Tobias collapses next to Sage and scoops her into his arms. She is trying to push away from him, but he holds her firm against his chest as she continues to sob uncontrollably. “What happened?” I ask Darius. Not having witnessed a forced marking before in