Everly took the book she’d stolen from Jack’s library out of her coat and carried it into her bedroom, putting it underneath her pillow so that no one would see it. By no one, she meant her dad, since there wasn’t anyone else who came into her house except for Jack himself, but then, he wasn’t going to be coming in there himself any time soon, what with him hating her himself.
Then, Everly went into the kitchen and threw herself into making dinner. By the time her father got home, the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and rolls were ready.Apparently, her emotional state was so obvious even her dad was able to tell there was something going on. “What’s the matter?” Jim asked as he cut into his meatloaf.“Nothing,” Everly replied, stirring her mashed potatoes around her plate but not really eating anything.“It sure seems like something is the matter,” Jim surmised. “Is Toby doing all right?”When Everly woke up the next morning, she was surprised to see she had a text from Jack.“Do you need a ride to school?”She stared at it for a few moments, half wondering if he this was some sort of trick. If she said that she did need a ride, would he say, “Too bad,”?She didn’t need a ride, though, so she sent a text back saying, “No, thank you. My dad can take me.” Thankfully, there were enough bars that it sent.A minute later, the response, “K,” came through.She couldn’t blame him for being succinct.Getting up, she headed to the bathroom to take a shower, hoping the water would help wake her up a little. She’d stayed up too late looking at that book. Nothing she’d found had been too helpful. But then, she hadn’t known if she should skim or read the whole thing word for word. She’d started off skimming but then decided that wasn’t helping much, so she’
Since it was the last day before the Thanksgiving break, the teachers didn’t really expect them to do much. Most of Jack’s classes were blow-off classes. The teachers either showed them a video or let them talk the whole time.By history class, he was ready for school to be over.He didn’t have anything he wanted to say to Everly, though. After what she’d done yesterday, after she’d had the audacity to go off with Slate during lunch, to steal that book…. Maybe she wasn’t the girl he thought she was.She came into the classroom and glanced at him briefly before making her way to her seat. He didn’t say anything to her. What was there to say? He was still going to help her the way that he’d said he would, but things were definitely different between them now.And to think, he’d just been kissing her in her kitchen two days ago….“All right, let’s get started,” Mr. Donald said
Staying away from Everly for an entire weekend wasn’t easy, and by the time Jack arrived at her house Monday morning, all he wanted to do was see her. He didn’t really care anymore about what she’d done or how angry it had made him, he just wanted to see her.As they went about setting the posts for the fence, all he could think about was how fruitless his search through the German books from the libraries had been. His German was pretty good. He’d been studying it since he was little. His father had told him that he would be a better Alpha if he could speak the old language, and Jack had always wanted to do whatever he could to be the best Alpha possible.So he’d learned German. He’d learn to speak it. He’d learn to understand it when it was spoken. He’d learn to read it, and he’d learn to write it. None of it was easy. But he was confident in his ability to search through those books and find any clues that were hidde
“How to Keep a Moon Wolf From Ever Changing to Begin With,” Everly read. She shifted her position on the couch, sitting up slightly as she read in French, hoping that this was what she had been looking for all along.Translating from French into English came fairly naturally to her since she’d been studying French for four years now, but she decided to read the entire section through first, and if it sounded like this was something Jack needed to be made aware of, she’d write it down in English for him.“If a person who has the capability of turning into a moon wolf is infected by a shifter wolf, they must be helped right away,” the first paragraph said.“Define right away,” Everly thought, rolling her eyes, but then, if they couldn’t help her right away, that was just as much her fault as anyone else’s.Continuing on, she read, “The infected person must be eighteen years of age, or all is lost, an
The book in Jack’s hand felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as he rushed out to the trucks and the shifters who were begging him to hurry the hell up like they hadn’t eaten in a hundred years.He rushed out and jumped into the driver’s side, carefully placing the book on the console between himself and Chase.“Is that what I think it is?” Chase asked as Jack buckled his seatbelt and turned the truck on.“Yeah,” Jack said, turning the truck around to head back toward their village.“But… those aren’t supposed to leave the village, his best friend reminded him.“I know,” Jack said. “It was stolen.”“It was stolen? By Everly? On your watch?” Chase’s eyebrows rose higher with every question.“Yeah,” Jack said again, his mind on other things. If someone found out that the book had been taken out of the library, he would deal with that lat
Everly knew she was dreaming because Jack was smiling at her. His eyes were peering into hers, and he didn’t look angry at all. How long had it been since his face had been this close to hers? She was in the woods, the scent of pine and freshly falling leaves mingling with Jack’s cologne and that manly scent that always made her stomach tighten up, and he had her pressed up against the rough bark of a tree.“I love you, Everly,” dream Jack said in a husky voice. “I love you so much.”“I love you, too,” she said, staring into his eyes. He leaned in and kissed her, and Everly could taste him as if he was really kissing her, as if his warm lips were really on her mouth.Then, suddenly, everything shifted, and they were wolves, running through the woods together, their paws ripping through the soil, birds circling above them, calling to one another, the tops of the trees swaying in the wind.Everly’s fur was a dar
“I have to marry you?”Everly repeated what Jack had said, trying to make sure she understood.He nodded. “Yeah. Well… I guess not me. But someone. And since you’re basically out of time, and I’m the only guy around that fits the criteria, it’s probably going to be me. Unless you want to go to another pack and see if there’s another Alpha’s son or Alpha that wants to marry you. Which maybe you could find. But… that would take some time.”Everly stared at him for a moment, not daring to say the obvious alternative. She would never even consider marrying Slate anyway.“All right,” Everly said, shaking her head slightly because she still couldn’t quite wrap her head around what Jack was telling her. “Is that what this marking ceremony is that the book was talking about? Is that a wolf shifter wedding?”Jack shook his head. “No, that’s… something
Everly was aware that she was staring at Jack, that she had been staring at Jack for a long time now, probably too long, and that he was patiently waiting for her to say something.She just didn’t know what to say.He wasn’t saying anything either, which she kind of resented. She wanted him to be the first to speak after the bomb he’d just dropped on her. Wasn’t he supposed to ask her something like, “Everly? Are you okay?” or say, “Everly, speak to me!” Instead, he just sat there, waiting for her to process it and be able to talk—or at least breathe.“Uh… wh-what?” she stammered.“Yeah,” he said. “The marking ceremony happens during sex. That’s why the book wants you to be eighteen, I’m assuming. So that you’re an adult, or whatever.”Everly shook her head, and the ability to think and speak came flooding back to her. “But wasn’t th