we will revisit Freya and Zeke in the Epilogue! Now it's time for Zenas side of the story...
“How long have you got?” Maddox urged, clamping my wrists against the grey castle walls of White Forest. “Don’t leave so soon, not again,” his fingers gripped me tighter, just enough to make me shiver despite the hot summer sun. As always, Maddox was an open book. Every emotion on display all the time. It was part of what drew me to him. That and the huge muscles, tattoos, ashy-brown hair and stormy-grey eyes to die for. Several things. Our set-up suits me. I rock up, lose my mind with him for a few hours somewhere in the wilderness, then get back to normality. It’s meant to be easy for us both, no strings attached. He’s a White Forest Warrior, I’m a pack-less curiosity. No ties, no loyalty. Shaking out my messy long black hair, wincing at the fresh scrapes up my back from the more jagged bricks I keep my tone light. “I have to go, I need to get to Shadowlands before the storm.” “What storm?” looking up at the blue sky with a squint. “Trust me, there’s one coming tonight, a big
So what if we’re not mates? Like it matters! She came to me the night of the Ceremony for a reason. I can still see the way she strode towards me, licking those red lips, her dress daring and low cut, showing off every curve. Everyone assumed she was Cillian's date but no, she chose me. She always tries to keep it light, breezy with her ability to just vanish whenever the hell she chooses. The last few times we’ve hooked up I haven’t been able to play the same game. I can’t pretend anymore, I want her. To have her heart, it would feel like winning the gold medal in every possible sport. The ultimate victory. Shit, I’d take such good care of her. I’d adore every inch of her, every day. I know exactly how she likes to be fucked too. Hard, rough. A frenzy of mutual nipping, scratching and thrusting as she lets go all over my cock. But she doesn’t want me. Or she thinks she doesn’t anyway. There’s still time. Shouting how I love her has just scared her that’s all. She’ll come round.
It’s a curious thing to be part of a pack. It is assumed that you must be on the ‘good’ side, that you can’t possibly be the bad guys. We believe in our Alpha and everything they tell you. Well, I ended up with Beta Tange. Somehow, despite being obedient, loyal and ready to serve my pack I found myself second in command to the man who stole the Alpha Cillian’s wolf.It's hard to shake that kind of reputation off. I’m making my way back towards the Shadowlands war front after a few days at Cragstone but this thunderstorm has completely wrecked that plan. Instead I’ve humped the huge rucksack off my back and taken shelter in a series of deep, dry caves, not far from Roseff waterfall. I will just have to get back tomorrow. No panic, I have everything I need with me.Sitting in the dark, allowing my mind to wander, I enjoy the rain fall. The smattering sound is relaxing, I can almost picture myself on a boat, floating on the sea if I close my eyes just enough.They help drown out the do
After ditching Maddox I headed down into Shadowlands. I have secret little rucksacks of clothes stashed everywhere. I basically bought around twenty sets of leather jackets, underwear, black pants and vest tops and deposited them all over the place over the past few weeks. You won’t catch me running about in someone else's hideous old clothes. Being a little bit naughty, I charged the cost of my kits to Shadowlands alongside all the other bits I bought for Cillian and Matilda’s packhouse renovations, wardrobe and Luna Ceremony clothes. It could be called a service fee for all the running about I did sorting them out with such a beautiful start together. Cillian now should have fresh thoughts of Wodness Brook in his head, enough to make sure when Freya gets there tonight he knows exactly where to send her. There are clear rules about just how much one can reveal about an upcoming choice in the road. Sometimes I stray and say more than I should, but not for much longer. My last few d
I did the right thing returning to the North. Definitely. No desire to head back to Alpha Cillian’s camp just to see what pushes Briss’s buttons at all. How did I never notice him in all our previous interactions?/He has his shirt on/ Sybil answers sharply. Well perhaps he wants to think about giving them up. He’d get so much more attention. /Only from shallow people like us/ Sybil countered. My wolf can be mean but I love her cutthroat ways.Anyway, I returned to the Coven of Seers. Not just because I don’t have any sodding choice in the matter either. It is because signing myself whole-heartedly to Padgett’s wizened tutelage prevents me from indulging in any more foolishness with Maddox. Or thinking about Cillian. Or Briss and his taut, rigid back muscles, narrowing down to his hips.I think I have a problem.A clean break. That’s what’s need. I don’t want to string Maddox along, or burn in eternal embarrassment through Cillian. I most certainly don’t need to start up something n
A couple of weeks after my near miss with Zena, I found myself standing at the war front with Alpha Cillian and Zeke. My fellow Beta has been acting differently since he took Luna Freya to the safe house. Even I’m not trusted with its location. We stand together, looking at the maps, the huge collection of paperwork and letters that threaten to engulf Cillian. I wonder if it is worth telling him that he should just follow his own instincts. He is trying to micro-manage a war via stationary. He has the authority, the training, and the men willing to fight for him. But then I don’t have that kind of relationship with him. Zeke could probably tell him that, but he’s too wrapped up in his own world. At least he doesn’t look as angry as usual. His dark eyes haven’t had a sparkle of life in them in the whole time I’ve known him. Apparently, he was the life and soul of the party once upon a time. That sounds a hell of a long time ago looking at the way he stalks around like the Grim Reaper
I can’t decide which is the weirder occurrence. The fact Padgett blatantly knew I was going to land in a pit or that Briss is the man to save me from it. /At least it wasn’t Maddox/ Sybil suggested we slowly climbed up the slender trunk like a monkey. I don’t know if Briss thinks I weight the same as a fairy, but this tree is creaking like it could go at any time. Annoying he was right about the shirt too as the smaller branches and twigs scratched up my legs and arms.“Shit I’m short,” I groan in frustration. I’ve spent at least ten hours in this hole now, I can’t face another minute longer. I look up, finally able to see his face properly. He was merely shadow and noise above before. Now I see his serious, studious face looking down at me as he lays down and offers me his arm.No smile ,no wise-cracks or puns about the situation I’d found myself in. Even so when his rough hand clamps around mine I felt something. It wasn’t sparks, there’s no mate-bond going on here but he felt it t
Over three weeks on the bloody sidelines. Abandoned. Doing nothing more interesting than watching Luna Genevieve mope around arm in arm with Luna Helena. Alpha Alexander keeps to his library. He holds constant meetings, getting me to ferry paperwork around Silver City as he tries to arrange support for NIkolai at the front.So it is a demotion. I’m reduced to an onlooker. Beta Shane, the leader of the home guard detachment, clearly doesn’t want me on the roster. So at night whilst the guards pace and keep an eye out for wolfsbane toting assassins I’m struggling to sleep.All the while, there isn’t a trace of Zena. Nearly all of our encounters happened at this castle. I keep expecting to catch her jasmine scent and see a flash of black hair vanishing around a corner, but nothing happens.She’s probably gone back up to the North. Hiding among her own kind whilst blood is shed. She never elaborated on what that really meant. She'll tell me one day, I'm sure. Stop being vague and let her