I was supposed to be fighting a group of Bears in preparation for challenging the North faction leader named Ryan, but apparently, he’d disappeared. None of Jack’s Bears could find him, which had disappointed me more than I’d expected it to.I was never too sad about private trainings with Atlas, though.After pushing myself up from the ground that was covered in dying grass, I dusted myself off as well as I could. When I’d taken a deep breath, I held my hands up, ready for him to charge at me again.Except this time, he didn’t.Instead, Atlas snapped his fingers, and a ball of flames came racing toward my head.Every muscle in my body might have been screaming at me, but the idea of getting my face burned off sent a wave of adrenaline pulsing through me.I was on the ground in less than a half second with one leg out straight behind me, the other bent at the knee and my hands keeping me in place while my forehead nearly touched the dirt.Instinct kicked in, and instead of asking him
They were holding hands while they walked across the park, coming toward us. Mark had a folder in his grasp, and his eyes so similar to mine sparked with a happiness I’d never known, but I thought maybe I could with my grumpy demon Bear.“What’s going on?” I asked them when I moved around Atlas.Mark answered first. “I finally got my mom to give up the passwords for my dad’s personal computers.”The house where the last acting Alpha Supreme had been staying had been destroyed, and the only access to House records had been on Mathis’s private devices, but getting into them had been difficult. I wasn’t sure Mark would be able to do it after the first couple of failed attempts, but I couldn’t deny I was eager to know what he’d learned.“Did you find Jacob?” Atlas asked first.Mark handed him the file. “I found a Jacob who meets the profile of someone who would want vengeance on Fire and Fluorite, but I can’t be positive yet that he’s the one you’re looking for. This guy is a mangy, older
She crossed her arms, and a line formed between her eyes as she tried to fight against my innate abilities. “I liked you better before you started embracing your alpha side.” Then she looked up at Mark, who nodded and smiled encouragingly at her. “I’ll change if I need to, so I’m going with you.”I raised a brow and tilted my head. “Are you sure?”Last I’d heard her say, she was trying to stay hidden and since she hadn’t had any visions, I wouldn’t have thought anything would have changed in that regard.“I think denying who I am might be why I haven’t been able to see what I want,” she admitted sheepishly. “Something cracked inside me on our first day here when you were attacked. Instead of shifting to help protect you, I used my magic to put up the shield, which was helpful in the moment, but if Jack hadn’t called his Bears off, I would have soon been useless to you. I would have failed at protecting you all, because I was trying to keep my secret.”There was too much self-loathing
That, I wasn’t a fan of.Sure, I’d had no problems punching Elena and plotting her death when I’d thought she’d been a power-stealing, child-murdering witch, but the thought of truly hurting her or letting anyone else do so now…made every facet of me boil with the darkness I worked to keep tightly bound.“I’m going to get so drunk when we get to Riff-Raff.” Amy giggled, hanging on to Mark.I couldn’t tell whether or not she was putting on an act with the way she draped herself over the Bear shifter, pawing at his chest. Regardless, I looked away.Elena seemed to be ignoring them as well, which made me want her even more.She had no expectations about who I was supposed to be as her mate. She didn’t ask me to fawn over her or be someone I wasn’t. She accepted my gruffness as equally as she accepted my need to touch her when we were together at night.There wasn’t an inch of her body that I hadn’t worshiped with my mouth or fingers yet, but since I’d told her about sex solidifying our b
He kept his arms crossed, watching his wolves die, or at least go down, without doing a fucking thing about it.There was no way the asshole would have ever had a chance leading a territory like Fire and Fluorite. Even if Elena hadn’t shown up.One Bear bit my tail and scratched down my side, but it was only a surface hit that hardly made me flinch before I raked my paw across his face, taking out an eye.The whimper and moan that sounded from him grew quieter as he limped away, something I soon noticed the rest of the wolves were doing as well, except for the three who still flanked their leader.“Mark,” Ethan said first. “You’re trespassing in a House that banished you.”Mark shifted back to his human form, and I noticed that Amy had never transformed into her unicorn. So much for her no longer hiding.“I was banished by an Alpha Supreme who no longer lives, not by this House,” Mark replied confidently. “Unless you’re here to tell me you’ve successfully filled the Alpha Supreme posi
The moment Ethan realized what I’d done, he turned even more feral. Saliva dripped from his jowls, and his chest heaved with unnecessary force. He lowered himself, then leapt for me with canines and claws extended.Instead of moving out of the way like I easily could have done, I decided to quit playing with him. This bear couldn’t beat me. I knew that the moment he’d lost control of his emotions.This was my House, and he wasn’t going to take it from me.I let his claws scrape down the length of my spine the worst injury I’d yet to receive and when he landed on the other side of me, giving me his back, I used my larger bear size to jump on top of him.My right front paw tore out one of his eyes while the other cut clean through his throat just before my jaws locked around the back of his neck, keeping him somewhat still.The bubbling gurgle that sounded soon after made my stomach churn, but I didn’t release the hold I had on the stubborn bastard. This was the fate he’d chosen, and I
Atlas’s lowered voice sounded in my ear. “I’m not saying you can’t handle looking for Jacob, but you’ve made a very loud statement here today. Do you want to risk searching for Jacob, finding another few supernaturals to fight, and possibly coming back here beat to shit?”Fuck.He made a good point. Mark was hurt. I was…not one hundred percent.Unless I was going to rely on Tuck and his team, which I didn’t want to do, then Atlas was right.It wasn’t that I didn’t trust jack’s people, but just as I’d said before, I wanted to prove a point.I’d shown up here with a rejected House member, a supernatural who was supposed to be extinct, and a mate with powers most bear shifters had no access to.We had something to prove as a whole, just as much as I did as the future Alpha Supreme to Fire and Fluorite.There wouldn’t be a point, at any time, that we could appear weak. Even after multiple fights.“Fine, but we leave again first thing in the morning.” I took a step closer to Mark. “Are you
I couldn’t see one and, honestly, didn’t want to. Not any longer.He was trailing kisses over my chest when I’d come to that realization, and his slow, tender movements suddenly weren’t enough for me.My heart raced and hands shook with the need I was consumed with. The need to touch him…to claim him…to make him mine. Officially.Hell, even my Atlas seemed to be in agreement.I grabbed onto his face and kissed him with ferocity. My legs wrapped around his thighs, and I held him to me while our mouths became a tangle of tongues and teeth.When he pulled back, there were slits in his dark eyes and only a faint appearance of the flames I so often saw there.“Elena.” He spoke the word as a warning, but a warning wasn’t necessary.“I want you, Atlas,” I said confidently. “All of you.”He appraised my face, sweeping his eyes over every inch, then his chest rumbled. “Fucking finally.”His hand wrapped around my neck, tilting my head back as he kissed me again. His tongue owned my mouth while