The dark clouds completely covered the sun. Jax stood at his lookout rock and looked over the forest. Even the witch was closing in from that direction when it was supposed to be their safest. He could sense her magic filling up in it even though he couldn’t sense any individual wolves. It was like when she’d sent the rogues who had hidden in the shadows right under their noses. His warriors wouldn’t sense them until it was too late. ‘The women and children are in the packhouse,’ Dylan said in the mind link. He didn’t know if that would make a difference. The strength he could sense in the magic around him was something he had never experienced from the witch before. He could feel it in the clouds above him, in the air they were all breathing. He could feel it rippling over his skin, yet they had not reached their boundary. Cain was silent in his head, already in hunting mode. But he couldn’t hunt everywhere at once. They were surrounded by armies bigger than any that had ever
Layla clutched her heart and fell to her knees. Hope started to cry behind her, as if her poor child could sense her pain, too. Faith tried to soothe her, but there was too much fear in the air, too much pain. “Jackson is hurt,” she whispered, looking at her mother. She had held out long enough. The house was full of all the vulnerable people in the pack, and their fear and anxiety weighed down on her. She couldn’t wait any longer. Rebecca walked over to Faith and took Hope from her. And her little girl instantly quietened in her grandmother’s arms. Rebecca met her gaze and nodded. “I will look after Hope. And I will protect everyone in this house,” Rebecca said, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Her mother knew what she had to do. She couldn’t leave Jackson to fight alone, but if anything happened to one of them, it would happen to the other. “Can I trust you, Mum?” she whispered. She hadn’t called her mum since the day she had abandoned them. “Always,” Rebecca whis
Jackson grinned when Dylan rolled his eyes at him as Hope led him by the finger to the tea party she had set up in the garden. “Enjoy your party,” he called to them before he turned and walked toward the packhouse. The trainees had the day off today, but he was pleased that most of them took their training seriously and were sparring in the fields. All the kids had to grow up quickly after the last war. In a few days, they would all hold a memorial honouring all the people they had lost. Gavin walked up to him before he reached the door. “Everything is all set, Alpha,” he said. Gavin was the most prominent reminder of what the war had cost him. He’d had to fill Micah’s big shoes. Though it wasn’t his fault, his heart cracked whenever he saw Micah’s replacement as the Gamma. “Thank you. We’ll be ready in time,” he said with a nod. The packhouse was spotless as usual, awaiting all the guests he had invited. As he walked toward the stairs, Faith’s mother walked in, a huge sm
“I’ll get straight to the point. I need you to have my baby.” Jackson King watched the girl’s eyes widen as she looked from him to his Beta, Dylan. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. I thought you said you needed me to have your baby,” she chuckled. He could sense her unease the same way he could smell her arousal. She was drenched. Even without a wolf telling her she was his, her body knew it, and he hated that. He hated that he had to fight so hard with his beast to stop it from claiming what was rightfully his. He hated the fact that he had to resort to this. She was half-human! Why would the Moon-Goddess curse him like this on top of everything else? He’d caught her scent even before he had walked into the hotel days before, and now it filled the entire suite, taunting him, reminding him how fucked up everything was. “I did,” he answered. “I need a surrogate, and I will pay you handsomely.” “Um... I’ve just walked into this room to clean. You don’t know me; you don't even know
Did she have some sign on her head that said she was a pushover or desperate? Layla pushed the cart with more force than necessary until she was far enough away from the penthouse suite and then leaned against the wall. Her knees were still shaking, and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was because of the man’s words had said or the man himself. It surprised her she hadn’t fallen flat on her face when she’d made her righteous exit. The men were in the most expensive suite in the exclusive hotel; they didn’t need to ask a stranger to help them out. He might have somehow got a hold of some of her personal information, but everyone in Wolfdale knew about her. The kid abandoned by her mother. The kid who’d had to drop out of school so she could work and take care of her little sister because their father was an alcoholic and a gambling addict. That didn’t mean she had no dignity left. She wouldn’t give up a child! Those men thought they could throw their money around like that, and she
“You’re out of your damn mind if you think for one second that I’ll let you pimp me out!” Somewhere between her mother leaving him with two small girls to raise on his own and now, Gerald Carlisle must have lost his damn mind. Completely. “You go with him, or we all die. Simple as that,” her father said. “We don’t have to pay for your mistakes! I’ll take Brit and leave,” she snarled. “Brit is still seventeen, and I’m her father. You can’t take her anywhere,” Gerald said as he stood up again. Her father could be intimidating if he wanted to be. He had never been violent towards them, but she knew it wasn’t because he wasn’t capable of it. She had picked him up from the police station after many bar fights often enough to know the damage he could cause. And she could see the desperation in his hazel eyes as he approached her. “And I don’t see you dragging Brit out of school in her senior year when you want her to graduate,” Gerald continued. “And that’s what I want, too. Britne
Changed her mind? She would never be able to look him in the eyes again, much less carry his child. “No. I’m sorry, I'm almost finished here,” she said as she threw the used towels into the laundry bag and grabbed fresh ones without turning back to them. What the hell was she thinking? If they told Andrea about this, she would fire her before they even finished talking. She’d be stuck looking for another dead-end job to pay the mounting bills and her father’s debt. Her fingers shook as she buttoned her shirt and tucked it in. She was sweaty again, so she’d cooled herself down for nothing. Embarrassed herself for nothing. She redid her hair and took a calming breath before leaving the bathroom. The men were still standing near the door and still looking pissed off. She couldn’t meet their eyes, instead looking down at her well-worn work shoes. “I’m sorry,” she started. “The heat is too much today. I was just trying to—” “Just keep your clothes on. No one else needs to see that
First, a stranger had asked her to carry his child, and then her father had tried to sell her. Maybe she really did come across as a pushover. She wiped the sweat off her brow while waiting outside Andrea’s small office. Andrea was in charge of housekeeping, but she liked to act like she was in charge of the whole hotel. She could have gone to the manager first to ask for more hours, but Andrea would feel slighted and would make her life more miserable. She would even find any little reason to get her fired. That’s why she had to suck up to her even though she’d pissed her off that morning and with the warning from Human Resources. Her phone vibrated in her pocket again, and when she pulled it out, she saw her father’s name flashing on the screen. Her father only called her to ask her for money or to pick up more beer on the way home. Andrea came around the corner talking to one of the other cleaners, so she cancelled the call and made sure she still looked tidy. Sweat dripped d