I stared up at him curiously. He wasn't that bad of a Wolf. We'd found some common ground during our conversations-now that we were no longer discussing rubbing Leander's cum all over my body. Amazing how well two people could communicate when leaving that out."What is it?" I peered up at him."Hold up your hair."Now I was even more confused but reached to hold my hair away from my neck."Good. Turn around."I turned and was shocked to feel him release the locking mechanism on the collar. It slipped off my neck into his hands.When I turned back around, I stared intently into his eyes. "Does Leander know you're doing this?" Leander had been pretty clear on the purpose of the collar, to detour me from getting into a fight. He knew without my ability to shift and my Moon-given strength, I wouldn't be stupid enough to take on whoever got in my way in order to escape. I was almost certain Leander wouldn't approve of removing the collar and wondered if Ever frequently defied his Alpha's
I wasn't going to wait around or call her back to answer any more questions, but I needed to get answers somehow. And I certainly wasn't going to ask Leander. Abruptly, Ever was standing behind me. I turned to face him."So, are you done laughing at them?" His lips twitched.I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. "How did you know?""You made quite an impression...by doing nothing at all. Well, you did giggle at the six most formidable shewolves in the Pack, so maybe that's something." He rubbed his chin. "After this morning, Leander was worried a fight was unavoidable. Once again, he was wrong about you."Ever's words surprise me. He almost sounded impressed."I know what I can do. I didn't feel the need to prove anything."He nodded and mused, "You're good for him," and then he added, "Never thought I'd say that."I didn't bother to analyze his words. "Where next?""First, the collar...and then my house."That damn collar. I narrowed my eyes.He tensed as he watched me
LEANDER'S POV I'd paced a path through the carpet in my office, anxiety running rampant through my body. Hycinth was in good hands with Ever, but it didn't stop me from stressing, particularly after her interaction with Sydney this morning. I cringed. Of all the shit conversations to have, my little mouse had somehow convinced me to give her a list of my past lovers! I cursed myself again and again for allowing that to happen. Nothing good would come of it.Of course, I hadn't expected Sydney to come off with that level of aggression. That part surprised me. Maybe it shouldn't have. Sydney hadn't been pleased when I broke it off with her three years ago. Truthfully she'd been relatively relentless in trying to change my mind over the years, but I couldn't do it.I told Ever to remove her collar during her session with Sydney and her team of she-wolves because I'd been sure a fight would break out. I'd even thought about attending the session myself, trying to head off the problem, bu
Ever just stood, staring at me silently, his expression a mixture of frustration and lost hope. Because he too knew the answer, she would never believe me. I said quietly, "You need to go home. It's been a week since Gwen finished her heat. She's going to need you tonight."Now his expression looked pained for an entirely different reason. His mate had finished her heat seven days ago, and within hours, he would either scent a pup in her belly, or she would begin the process of expelling the birthing byproduct no longer needed in the absence of a pup.He nodded, turned and left.I sank back down into the chair. After another moment, I finished my drink. I missed my little mouse. There was still some daylight left, and there was some place I wanted her to see."Where are we going?" She looked up at me curiously as we walked through the woods."A place of refuge and adventure I went to as a young pup.""Oh," she breathed and then lapsed into silence.After a moment, I asked, "Did you se
Everthing I WantHycinthThe water pounded onto my skull, hot and burning. Steam billowed in the space around me, clouding the air and fogging up the transparent glass walls, making it impossible to see through them. Not that I could see anyway. My eyes were red and puffy, swollen from my tears. I listened to the sound the water made coming out of the shower head. It echoed in my ears, resounding with its own heartbeat in my head. I was desperate for it to drown out all of my other senses -to make me numb. I wanted to forget what I'd just seen...what I'd just heard. The tortured wails of a shewolf, unfathomable, heart-wrenching cries of pain ripping from her throat. Her mate, on his knees, crying for her pain and also his own. I've never seen anything like it before. I've never heard anything like it before.I understood everything now.I understood why Leander was so desperate for this claiming ceremony to happen. Gwen wasn't the only she-wolf struggling in the Pack. Over the last fo
Wicked GamesLeanderI'd dealt with some messed up shit in the past but never pain like this. My heart felt like it was going to explode from my chest. My head was pounding, and my Wolf was howling mournfully, his agony echoing mine. So that was it. She told me everything I needed to know. And she had a foolproof plan to make everyone happy- everyone except me.I'd told her how I felt- I wanted her as my real mate.And she told me how she felt she was never going to be capable of loving me.Fuck, those words hurt.I looked up to find myself in my office. I didn't remember walking there. Robotically, I headed toward a $600 bottle of Bourbon I'd been saving for a special occasion, opened the top and turned it up to my lips, drinking straight from the bottle. It burned as it went down -it was precisely what I needed. Right now I needed to be numb to the world because if I unleashed the chaos inside of me, I knew I had the potential to do a lot of damage in some form or another.I settled
HYACINTHS'S POVHe'd said yes.He'd agreed to my deal.I couldn't believe it. I was going to have my freedom in a little more than a month from now! I was going to get to walk away and never look back. I wouldn't have to run from him anymore. I'd made him promise last night, swear on his life to stick to the arrangement once I was gone. He'd agreed. He'd sworn he wouldn't try to look for me. He would let me go. His only other condition of our arrangement was complete secrecy. The pack could not know about our agreement until it was over. He didn't want them to worry. I was fine with that.I was getting everything I wanted, so why did it feel like a large part of my heart had been ripped out of my chest?I pushed the feeling away. I couldn't dwell on it. I didn't have time. Most of the wolves were already gathered outside. Shockingly, they had pulled together all of the arrangements for our Announcement Ceremony in less than eighteen hours.I looked out the window, down at the wide ope
LEANDER'S POV As soon as I walked into the room, Hycinth got off the bed and faced me. She stared at me for a long moment, expression contrite at first. But then it slowly transitioned into fury."What the fuck happened?" I snarled. The Ceremony she'd just recklessly ruined with her hot-headedness was meant to give the wolves in the pack an outlet to express their appreciation and thanks. That certainly wasn't how it turned out.I couldn't believe she'd put me in that position! An open challenge always required a public punishment. There was no way that she was ignorant of that fact, and yet instead of talking to me, like I asked her to do, she decided to issue an openhanded challenge right across my cheek!If she'd done that in private, I would've handled it differently. But she didn't. And my Wolf would never allow that disrespect to go unpunished.So here we were, glaring at each other, and I was hoping for an explanation soon, which didn't look like it was forthcoming with the wa