Knox
The distinct smell of hot garbage and rotten meat wafts through the air. The four rogues are sizing Bennet and me up aggressively with their teeth bared.I open a pack-wide mind-link, ‘Rogues have breached the trail, squad A report immediately, those on patrol stay at your post, everyone else stays inside until an all clear is issued.’Nothing good can come from a group of rogues; there's a reason they were kicked out of their packs. I won’t let whatever half-cocked plan they have play out.I call my wolf forward to shift, my bones snapping and rearranging, the air shimmering as I land on all four paws; Bennet’s large, hazel-brown wolf takes a defensive position to my right.Baring my teeth, I let out a warning growl towards the matted, pack of mongrels in front of me. The sound of my warriors trampling through the forest offers me a bit of comfort, knowing we can quickly stifle the issue and avoid casualties.‘There are four of them; let’s go with a boxing approach; no one attacks first; let them get nervous. That’s when they will make mistakes,’ I mind-link those fast approaching.‘Yes, Alpha,’ rings through my head in multiple voices.Why haven’t they attacked? We haven’t had rogue issues for years, but they injured Adam, and that's enough for me to give the order.‘No mercy, they all die here,’ I say before blocking the mind link to focus on the fight.The feral and packless pussies scan the area around them as they sense my men start to surround them. I can feel the fear rolling off them.Snarling, I take the first step towards them, baiting them to act out. Just as I wanted, the one that seemed eager lurched towards me, jaws snapping. The others follow suit, lunging into the readied line of warriors surrounding them.His teeth graze the nape of my neck as I duck my head with my jaw open and I latch on to his throat’s matted, mousy brown fur. The sickening, sweet taste of copper fills my mouth as he yelps and growls—adrenaline courses through my veins at the sound of my warriors tearing through the others.I sink my teeth a little deeper as he flails around from the pain. One of his thrashing claws catches me across the ribs. I whip my head, teeth locked on his neck, slapping his body into the trunk of a nearby oak tree.I flip him to his back, releasing his neck and placing my body on top of his. I lock onto his dark eyes, still dazed from the blow, and rip my claws through his neck. Blood splatters around me as I see the life leave his eyes.No one fucks with my pack.Shifting back, I task my team with disposing of the rogues as Bennet, and I carry Adam off to the pack hospital. His breathing is ragged, and he has lost a good amount of blood. Luckily for him, his shifter healing has kicked in. I can see his skin is slowly working its way back together.As I pass through the automatic doors of the hospital, the stern face of the head triage nurse, Donna, greets us.“Set him down on that stretcher, and I’ll take him from here, boys,” she says, motioning to the readied gurney with two orderlies ready to take him back. Donna has been the head nurse here since I can remember, she is kind and respectful, but once you enter her hospital, she takes charge.Donna tells us that once they get Adam cleaned up and the larger wounds stapled shut so they can heal properly, he’d be ready and will probably be released in the morning.The adrenaline from the earlier encounter starts to wane away, but in its place a weird anxiousness starts to eat at me. My wolf begins to whine at the feeling.Bennet’s eyes glaze over with a mind-link. Crap, I need to drop my wall. As I do so, Bennet looks at me, his steely gray eyes flickering with concern, “It’s the Luna; she hasn’t returned to the community center; pack members are growing concerned.”“Who the fuck let her leave during an attackI” I growl.Bennet stiffens before pointing out the obvious, “You, as well as anyone, know that if Lyra wants something, she will make it happen. She isn’t one to stand down from a fight, man.”My fists clench and unclench at my side before I roll my neck, feeling the subtle crack. I turn to Bennet and nod in response.Lyra is very strong-willed, which is part of the reason I fell in love with her. She is feisty and scrappy since she grew up with two brothers and only her father. She is nothing less than a force to be reckoned with.I start to cross the clearing where we were celebrating the supermoon just hours ago when frantic cries for help begin to ring out. As I turn towards the tree line, a young she-wolf, Sarah, stumbles out with blood pouring from her leg. Her sun dress is torn, hanging from one shoulder.“Alpha,” she sobs, “it’s the Luna; come quick; a rogue has her.”KnoxI sit in my office, leaning back into my leather office chair. I sigh at the memory and run a hand through my hair. It was never supposed to be like this. It’s been three months since Lyra was killed. Three months of trying to get any leads we could on the rogues. What we’d gotten so far, Lyra stepping in to save Sarah fucked with the rogue's plans. They were strictly looking for she-wolves to mate with, as not many unmated females end up staying rogue for long or surviving it. I glance around my office, looking for a distraction from the latest set of commercial contracts I need to draft up. A row of pictures above the fireplace has my chest constricting. I haven’t been able to take them down. Shifting my gaze, my eyes land on the desk that has sat untouched since the last Supermoon festival. Ironic, I had my mate by my side at the last festival, ready to start a family, but now I’m mateless…A ping on my laptop pulls me out of my thoughts. Shifting in the chair, I lean towa
Thea– Present Day –‘And they lived happily ever after.’Of course, they did; Bleh!I sigh and snap the book closed, letting it rest on my stomach. I just lay with my feet dangling over the arm of one of the many leather wing-back chairs in the library. Thousands of books fill the dark mahogany shelves that line the room. I have read them all at least once, some two or three times.Coming to the library to read is one of the few things my father, the alpha king, allows me to do. I’m locked away like a fairytale princess, except I wasn’t kidnapped at birth, just cursed.Ugh! I swing my legs around to a sitting position before I stand up, and run my hands down the soft material of my black t-shirt dress. I wander over to the window that overlooks the training grounds where I can see the warriors all gathered together for the morning session. My father and half-brother, Kenrik, watch from the sides.Kenrik is preparing to take over as Alpha of Golden Claw soon. Father will hand down the
TheaI have a love-hate relationship with family dinners. On the one hand, it’s nice to be around my family, whether they acknowledge me much or not. On the other, it's exhausting to listen to how my father and brother go on about their ill-treatment of people.I glance across the elegant marble table to Ahlana, her head bent down as she slowly picks at the salad in front of her. Becoming an Adler woman was a hard lesson to learn, and by the looks of the faint outline of a handprint still on her face, she is still talking back. Kenrick is seated to her right with father at the head. Elder Advisor Egan sits between father and I. When I saw that he was in the formal dining room tonight, I knew that this dinner will be spent going over my shortcomings and to plan what to do with me as I still have no gift.I finish off the last of the one glass of wine I am allowed at dinner and lean back in the high-back mahogany chair. Usually, I’d try my luck for another glass, but tonight I have a
TheaI am a curse. White wolf or not, there is no way I could be blessed and be the cause of so many deaths—my mother, Calliope, and now Apollo. I was robbed of time to love him, and now, I don’t even have time to mourn him.A harsh growl pulls my eyes away from the hole in Apollo’s chest to the feral man that is towering above me, discarding Apollo’s heart into the river. I feel like my own heart is sinking along with it. Tears fall freely from my eyes as I scoot myself backward. I turn over, my body shaking as I attempt to get to my feet.A rough hand grabs my braid, yanking me up and back. Even if I knew the slightest bit of self-defense, I have no false hope that my attempts would do anything to this beast twice my size. He has a tight hold on me as his cold eyes rake across my body. “Mmm, no mark, perfect for breeding,” his voice is gravelly, like it hasn’t been used much.Breeding? Oh no, no, to breed me, he has to mark me. With the full moon, he can do that.Sheer panic wa
KnoxMy legs burn from running across multiple territories for the last few hours. The adrenaline pumping through me is enough to keep me going. I’m not stopping till that rogue is in shreds. I follow the river path, and as I came to a line of bushes, I catch that scent again. Thank the goddess! The sickening sweet, coppery smell of blood mixes in the air as I navigate through the brush. I hope he is wounded and not another wolf.As I come into a clearing near the bank, I am not prepared for what I see.The naked body is littered with teeth and claw marks, but the gaping hole in his chest ignites my anger. Just like Lyra, this man- hell a boy, he looked to be only 18- lays lifeless on the ground. Even if there was a doubt in my mind about the scent, this right here proves it is the very same rogue.Small whimpers make my head snap up as I creep slowly through the trees.The whimpers slowly fade and are replaced by gargled gasps as I come around from behind the large, oak tree. The
KnoxPrincess?Maksym has that obnoxious son, Kenrik, but never once has a daughter been mentioned. After the warrior leaves, the doctor turns to me, “Thank you for bringing her in. We’ve got it from here. You can use the phone in the waiting area to call someone if you need to.”I say nothing. Instead, I silently take in the man in front of me. He’s shorter than me, but as an Alpha, that’s to be expected. His forehead is etched with wrinkles, and he seems slightly out of shape for being a shifter. I’ve found that silence makes people uncomfortable, and when you pair that with a position of authority, you’ve got the perfect recipe for someone to ramble out things without prompting.I meet his gaze and raise a single eyebrow. I can see his nerves starting to surface as he fidgets with the buttons on his coat then clears his throat.“Alpha Maksym is, er, well protective of his only daughter. Being in the state that she is in, and the fact she was outside of the packhouse…well, he’s goi
TheaTheaMy eyes shoot open at the burning pain that is spreading across my face. The harsh fluorescent lights make me squint at the person that I assume hit me.“Do you have the slightest idea of how much trouble you’ve caused?”Father.I blink quickly to clear my eyes. Shadows make his harsh features more ominous as he glares down at me.I try to talk, but my throat burns, and a strangled gasp is all I can manage. “It is your fault my best guard no longer has a son. You know better than to leave the packhouse, you are not to be seen or heard, yet here we are tonight with you causing chaos among the pack, so much so that now another pack alpha knows of your existence.” He paces back and forth across the room as anger radiates from him. “You were to be blessed by the moon goddess; that was the only value you had, and then that fucking oracle lied about that too. I’ve kept you alive for all these years, waiting for you to be of use to this pack and nothing! Do you know how fucking e
TheaSoft, steady beeps call to me, but I’m so comfortable that I’m not ready to get up yet. I stretch my arms above my head lazily and blink my eyes open slowly. I feel a pinch and pull on the back of my hand, and my eyes shoot open at the sensation.I’m in what looks to be a hospital, but it’s not Golden Claw. I sit up, looking around at the beige walls and white tiled floor that glows in the bright sunlight pouring in from the window. I scan the room for a clue as to where I am when an unfamiliar but very handsome man catches my gaze.“Mornin’, Sleeping Beauty,” his deep voice calls out.I scramble backward, wrapping my arms around myself and end up smacking my head against a monitor parked near the bed.“Ouch, easy princess, no one is going to hurt you,” the man says, his face softening. His hands are up in surrender as he steps forward. He pulls a chair up behind him and sits at the edge of the bed.“I’m Bennet, and you are at the Onyx Ridge pack. My alpha, Alpha Knox, found you