The second morning of the trial turned out to be the last. Much to the relief of everyone within Midnight Forest, and I imagine Silver Stream as well. The sky was clear, but cloudy. A storm brewing on the horizon, black clouds swirling around the distant forest. A storm we sat within the centre of. The air heated and uneasy as we waited in a calm filled with fraught anticipation.I sat beside Kylar, trying not to pay too much attention to just how incredible he looked in a slate grey tailored suit and black shirt. I still can’t believe that he is mine, that he is my Mate. But despite how awful events have been, I am so incredibly happy to be beside him. With Kylar, I feel at home. With my children, I feel complete.We waited, sitting back among the rows of hundreds of Wolves. Kylar was sitting upright, scanning the tree line for any more trouble. Every now and then I would catch a glimpse or a sense of a Midnight Forest patrol. I knew that there were a lot of Pack members, because I
It was a rare moon that tied with the Winter Equinox and the Human celebration of Christmas. A tradition that I have always embraced for my children. Afterall, they spent their first years immersed in human culture. Yet Christmas Eve, with snow falling thick and fast through leafless trees, was when Kylar and I married. My residency was completed and felt as though it was part of a life I’d nearly forgotten. Between our children and the medical practice, I’ve been busy enough and can’t imagine fitting in any additional responsibilities. The sky was white with snow clouds but the trees were covered in fairy lights that twinkled in a gentle golden glow. I’m excited, butterflies filling my insides, as though I didn’t see him yesterday.I’m stood at the back of the pack house, in a beautiful satin dress that clings to all of my slender curves. I’ve styled my hair down in loose curls, just how he likes it. I should be nervous, but I’m not. The dress has a mermaid train that kicks out
Ava I flex my fingers over the keyboard of my laptop. Twisting ribbons of steam rising from my coffee mug, add a bitter scent to the sweetness of old books. Hundreds and hundreds of old books, stacked in haphazard piles where I had to clear the desk. But I’m not going to complain. Well, there isn’t anyone I can complain too, for starters. I smile as I start typing, listing the supplies that I’ll need to turn the old cabin into a working medical clinic. The cabin is made of four rooms, and I hear the creak of bare floorboards as someone steps through the front door into what's going to be the reception area. I stand up, curious and pad back to the door of the office, out through the adjoining space I'll use as a treatment space, and peer at the elderly woman who approaches. She's carrying a large basket, filled with fruits and pastries. 'Oh!' I smile, rushing forward to take the weight, 'let me help you with that, Elder Marie.' 'Oh it's no trouble, no trouble at all,' she's a small
Kylar’s POV - 5 Years AgoThe best thing about this Bond Ceremony and Wedding is the Blood Moon. Part covered in misty clouds it lights the sky with a soft red glow. If I was in a better mood, I might think it was romantic. But I don’t. The Silver Stream pack has gone all out, long trestle tables laid out beside their pack house. Covered in fresh linen, white roses and flickering candles. Large pillar candles lit the path all the way down to the river that they take their name from and the staging area for their ceremonies. The ground is dry, scorched by early summer and the air is uncomfortably warm. I stand with the rest of the guests, senses heightened, far too aware of all the wolves that surround me. Silver Stream must have invited over three hundred guests to celebrate their eldest daughter's bonding. We’re all lined up on the river bank, four deep, peering out over the water where a small island rises up in the centre of the stream. I can see the girl, dressed in a slinky white
Ava’s POV - 5 Years AgoIt’s not every day you find your boyfriend cheating with your sister. I feel like I have fallen into a pit. And I don’t know how to get out. I’m trapped here. At her wedding. My sister, Bella, tore my heart out of my chest, and I have to act like everything is just perfect.I’m watching the world from a distance. Lost in a crowd of familiar and unfamiliar faces. I don’t want to be here. I want to run. I want to throw up. To cry and scream and let out all the torrent of emotion that’s building inside. But I can’t. Instead I smile when someone talks to me. I respond, automatically. I stood beside the river and watched Bella marry Ryan. I watched their bonding ceremony and I held my tongue. When all I wanted to do was shout out. To scream that it’s all a pretty little lie. My boyfriend, Josh, stood beside me, his arm around my shoulders. Like nothing had happened, like nothing was wrong. Five years we’ve been together. My first, my only boyfriend. The love of my
Ava’s POV - 5 Years AgoI’m not usually a reckless person. But tonight I feel it. A stirring sense of restlessness in the bottom of my stomach. Maybe it’s just the alcohol, or maybe I need a way to escape the pit I’ve fallen into. Should I be afraid as I follow a handsome stranger, off into the dark? There’s a small voice at the back of my head, telling me that this is a bad idea. That I should be sensible. Fuck it. I’m always sensible. I’m always the sober ride home from the club. I’m always the one looking out for everyone else. Now I can’t think of anything else, because Mr. Gorgeous has stopped walking. We’ve stepped out from trees into a clearing. The ground drops away ahead of us, towards the rushing water of the silver stream. But I can barely hear it over my own frantic heartbeat. I’ve never done anything like this before, snuck away with a stranger. ‘Are you alright?’ His voice is low and husky, and it does something to my insides. My core feels hot. Like I’ve taken a sho
Five Years Ago: Kylar’s POVI just wanted to be closer to her. She stood up, moving away from the crowd and I feel the lurch of my wolf, Sabre. He wants to be with her, to scent her wolf. To taste her. It’s a feeling I can appreciate. She’s wearing a light green satin dress. It falls from a halterneck exposing the curve of her spine and sitting perfectly above her waist. I want to rip it off of her. But I temper the impulse. I follow her, watching as she weaves through the crowd like a ghost. Moving through it so easily, her slender frame vanishing between the heaving mass of people. Something I find more difficult, my shoulders bumping into a couple as they whizz past. I don’t care. I feel focused, like I’m walking into a skirmish. Hairs lifted over my arms and tickling the back of my neck. She’s alone. Stood by the bar, focused on the waiter who can’t help but notice her too. Maybe she doesn’t see the way his eyes flick over her beautiful face then, down to the swell of her breast
Ava’s POVI didn’t know that sex could feel so good. A tiny part of me worries that it’s just because this man is a stranger. That I’m enjoying the thrill of risk. But I know it’s more than that. His hand is on my hip as he pushes slowly within. My body is tight, walls clenching around him as I gasp. He feels hot, hard and enormous. I gasp, adjusting to the size of the man, feeling myself stretch in accommodation. There’s no pain, only a delicious sense of fulfillment, a strange completeness. He pauses, head bowed against my collar, his breath against my skin. Is it possible to love a stranger? He’s waiting for me, I know it, I can sense it. I can feel his care and consideration as the muscles beneath his skin are tightly bunched. The same hesitation before he joined us. I turn, kissing his cheek. I know he doesn’t want to hurt me. ‘I’m alright,’ I murmur against his skin and feel the ripple of desire shiver over his skin. As though all the muscles tighten for a heat beat before rel