Atticus
The pull was pleasant, Atticus thought, as he allowed it to tow him out of the pack house and into the ornate gardens fringing the wide veranda. He had his suspicions about what it may be, but he didn’t focus on them. Instead, he let his eyelids droop, keeping them half closed as he navigated his way down the stairs.The uppermost floor of the pack house was home to the Alpha, Luna, and their family. It would belong solely to him once he found his Luna, but his parents would be welcome to stay under his reign. Most wolves, once their heirs had taken their place, chose to live away from the pack house, and moved into something smaller and more private.
Atticus had awoken early, intent on replying to a letter sent to him by the Alpha of the Lone Wind pack. Their allies to the south had heard rumours of a new pack forming, one built on ambition and treachery rather than tradition and l
LilyIt was, by far, the worst birthday Lily had ever endured.She tore through the gardens, sprinting on wobbly legs, desperate to put as much distance between herself and her heartbreak as possible. She had loved and loathed Atticus, but she had never thought him capable of such cruelty.The bond was gone. In its wake lay only ruin.She rounded the edge of the gardens, and it was a straight run to the training fields. Her chest ached with budding sobs, but her lungs were too busy pushing air to her pounding muscles to allow any to break free. As long as she kept moving, she was safe. But she didn’t know where to go.Atticus would surely allow her to leave after his rejection. It could not be clearer that he did not want her, that he did not want her soiling his beloved pack. She thought the words with venom, and spat viscously at
Atticus Atticus’s honey-brown hair rippled as his fist thudded into Ralphin’s jaw. His Beta stumbled, and he spat blood onto the grass before hissing, “What’s got into you?” Everything about Ralphin was annoying him today. The cock-sure swagger of his walk, the sheen of his black hair, the glint in his onyx eyes – all of it made Atticus’s gut swell with rage. He bared his teeth at Ralphin, hardly allowing him a chance to adjust his defensive stance before baring down on him again, slamming first his right and then his left fist at him in a quick, brutal one-two that forced Ralphin back against the wooden fence. “Spit it out,” Ralphin growled, dark eyes narrowing. A bruise was already blooming across his tanned chin and cheek. Atticus held his positive firm, jerking his head for Ralphin to stand up to him, to fight. His Beta was one of the few wolves
UnknownHe sat with a rigid back behind the ornate desk. It had belonged to his father, once – many years ago. He disliked it greatly, for both its bulk and its pompous, gilded edging, but it was a reminder of the father he had lost.Besides, he thought to himself with a secret half-smile, his father hadn’t liked it either.He brushed his dark hair forwards, covering the tips of his ears. A soft knock at the door startled him, but he relaxed into his chair as a familiar face peered around the door.“Alpha,” the woman greeted, smiling broadly before inclining her head. Shimmering waves of golden hair brushed her neck, sweeping across her wide shoulders, only to recoil, like the sea scrambling back from the shore, as she pulled herself upright.“Beta Ithia.” He inclined his head, too, though it was not e
LilyLily held the ring in her palm, tilting it back and forth. The garnet sparkled softly in the sunlight. She didn’t have long, but –But this was too important a moment to rush. She sighed, closing her fist over the ring as she re-read the words marked carefully on the paper before her. Rose had offered her a nicer piece of paper, framed with delicate flowers inked down the margins, but Lily had refused, choosing instead to use a piece torn from her notebook. It wasn’t as pretty, but her dad would know it had come from her.Her throat bobbed at the thought of her father sitting at the kitchen table, the same peanut butter and banana toast he favoured after training slipping from his fingers as his eyes traced the words of her betrayal. She was leaving him here, alone.Lily knew it was the lesser evil. She knew that, if she stayed, her da
AtticusThere was a knock at the door.Sighing, Atticus stretched his long legs out under the table. His office was smaller than his father’s, and he’d filled the shelves and surfaces with books – books on strategy, books on war – and rolled-up parchments that he’d pull out when a meeting was boring him, flicking idly through the reams of paper to drown out anecdotes of past pack negotiations. Still, the room stretched before him as the unexpected knock startled him from his thoughts.He’d been thinking about her. About Lily. About her scowl, and the wicked way her brown eyes would narrow at him. The glint of sunlight streaking across the floorboards and wooden desk had reminded him of how such light would make her hair shine golden-red in places; in turn, his mind had drifted to the way she’d flick her braid over her shoulder, both coy
LilyDusk spluttered across the horizon, dripping between the trees, the last vestiges of sunlight pooling across the uneven ground. Lily watched her step as she strode through the undergrowth, wary of everything from fallen branches to malevolent creatures lurking in the shadows.Her pack thumped against her back and, exhausted, she drooped against the trunk of the nearest tree. Darkness trailed her, swallowing her whole as she crumpled onto a carpet of moss and twigs. Brushing strands of stray, wavy hair from her face, Lily bit her lip.Uncertainty stole her breath. Had she done the right thing? Though she was well trained in combat, she had never spent a night alone in the woods – let alone tried to make her home there.Yanking her pack to her front, Lily dug through its contents and pulled her canteen free. She had to ration her water intake until
LilyHer hand ached with tension as she tugged the zip downwards. Cold air stung her face as she peered through the gap, her heart stilling in her chest as she looked up at her father.“Dad?” Her voice was little more than a whisper, the words strained through a throat that suddenly felt too tight.His familiar face was a punch to the gut. He smiled down at her, crouching slowly, as if approaching a wild animal. Letting out a long, relieved breath, he extended a hand towards her. “I didn’t dare hope that I’d find you so easily.”Stepping into the cool night, Lily allowed her dad to heave her up. Fear churned at the knowledge that she’d been so easy to track, but she forced it aside, allowing an uneasy joy to fill her instead. This was wrong, she screamed internally, but something about his presence made her forget al
UnknownHe was in the bathroom, deftly sweeping shower-damp, dark hair across the pointed tips of his ears when he felt it. Grey eyes turned to steel, cutting through the mist fogging the mirror.Alongside the steady thumping of his own heart was the beat of another. This was a feeling he had grown used to, one normal, natural, even, for his kind. For two long years, he had learnt to live without that feeling, that echo. Her cruel words had taken its place, pumping through his veins and turning his heart to stone so as to lessen their sting.Until he had seen her eyes in that dappled wilderness, and felt the purity of love’s kiss all over again.This was different. This was not the steady, reassuring beat of her heart alongside his. His gut clenched, and his hands felt too light for his body. His eyes unfocused, until he was no longer able to make out