Justin’s POVWhy? Why was Helen turning on me?We ran through the forest in my Lycan form, me doing everything in my power to keep him running instead of ripping apart Helen like he wanted to.She’s rejected us. Our mate has rejected us.Those words kept running through my lycan’s head. I knew how he felt, but I was also calm enough to understand that our connection, our mate bond was still there, just as it had been before she had spoken all of those horrible words.What did she mean I didn’t love her? How could she possibly say something like that? Of course, I loved her.Yet, against my will, Helen’s comments wiggled in, chewing on my brain like insects feasting. They were painful, and they wouldn’t let go.Had I really treated Helen that badly?A little tiny voice in my mind said, yes, you did.I snarled at that voice. I didn’t want to hear it. “I love Lily!”Do you? that little voice asked. Or did you love her the way your father loved you?“My father was a monster,” I snarled. N
Justin’s POVI gaped at the audacity of Russo’s question. Then sputtered a response. “Helen hurt me first. I was only trying to help her understand the seriousness of her actions.”Russo nodded. “I think that might be part of the problem. I think she’s upset you’re treating her like a child who needs to be taught or punished rather than a mate who’s supposed to be your partner.”“Partners don’t stab each other with poison knives,” I screamed.Again Russo just nodded calmly and took a step back away from my raging lycan. “Let’s look at this from a different point of view,” he said. “I want you to explain to me how the mate bond works because you’re right. I’m not a lycan. I’m not even a werewolf. I’m not even in a partnership with one of my own kind. So why don’t you tell me in your own words how exactly this is supposed to work?”“I’m the alpha. She’s my Luna. Her job, along with the job of everyone else in the pack, is to follow my orders.”“Without question?” Russo asked.“It wouldn
Justin’s POV“I never wanted my lycan to have control,” I snarled.My lycan’s claws came back out. I tucked them under my armpits. I didn’t want Russo to be wrong. I wanted to be able to control my beast. So I wasn’t going to let him see that I was starting to get out of control.“See,” he said, pointing to my hidden claws. “Like right now. You’re irritated with me, and he’s angry because he doesn’t take perceived insults well. That agreement between the two of you allows him to get the upper hand. I think, at least in some small measure, those times when he ran completely out of control, both of you were feeling at least somewhat the same.”“Interesting.” My claws pulled back in, and I ran my hand through my hair. “So you think that if I’m angry and he is angry, it gives him an open door to do whatever he wants and run away with me?”“Yes,” Russo said. “So you have to find a way to be calm even when your lycan is all worked up. That way, you can keep him from running amok while you h
Justin’s POVRusso stared patiently at me. “You can fix things between you and Helen just like repairing the damage she did to you, not the physical but the emotional. By stabbing you in the back, whether it was her fault or not, the damage was done. So just like this, the damage is done whether you meant to or not. And it’s going to be slow fixing it. You are going to have to gain her trust.”I snorted. “Well, that’s ironic.”He chuckled. “Yeah, it is kind of. But you’re going to have to regain Helen’s trust and show her that you will treat her the way a luna ought to be treated. You will have to show her that you’re willing to let her be an active part of her life, your life together, and the life of the pack. Just like she’s going to have to continue to prove to you that she’s not going to hurt you. You’re going to shy away from her. She’s going to shy away from you, and it will be a hot mess for a while. But in the end, if you guys both put in the work, I think you can fix what’s
Helen’s POVRandy looked so frustrated and helpless that it made me uncomfortable. “I know you can’t override the alpha,” I soothed. “I'm not blaming you.”He looked at me sadly. “I know you're not, but from the time that you came back from captivity with your parents and his father, I've wanted to do more. I've tried the skirt around Justin's orders at every turn, but I still feel horribly guilty like I let you down.”Randy waved his hand, indicating the house. “This house . . . this is how I make it up to you. This is how I do my best to help you when I should have helped you before. I shouldn't have allowed Justin to chain you up like that. At the very least, I should have argued for confining you to the bedroom upstairs. There was no reason for you to be in chains in the dungeon like some sort of criminal.”“But you're always saying that I stabbed him,” I pointed out. “It se
Justin’s POVSomething about just having a plan to reconcile with my mate had settled both me and my lycan considerably. He was curled inside me, sulking a little bit for not having gotten a chance to take his temper out. And every so often, he would shoot off snide comments about Helen at me, focused entirely on her betrayal.But Russo seemed to have a point. When I fully disagreed with my lycan and refused to give any ground, he seemed to settle down and make do with just letting horrible thoughts rip through my head from time to time. But I can handle those.I walked in companionable silence with Russo, and the sudden feeling that I should do something for him for all his help washed over me. I turned to look at him.“Russo?” I asked. “Why exactly did you decide to stay with our pack? I mean, after you stabbed us in the back, and it bit you in the butt. Of all of the packs on the continent, why pick ours?”“Ho
Justin’s POVI was going to find Russo, a mate who would allow him to continue his species as well. It didn't seem fair as the last lycan should have the opportunity to give my wife lycan pups and continue our legacy as a species, and this poor man was doomed to watch his species die out when he went. He was young, my age. He had plenty of time. All we had to do was find him someone who was compatible, who could bear fae children for him. In fact . . .“What?” Russo asked, staring at my face.He could see that I had an idea.“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I just figured out what Helen's next project is going to be. I know what I can put her to work on that will be helpful. It will make the lives of people that we care about better, and it will definitely keep her out of harm's way.”He gave me a light pat on the shoulder. “There, see, things are already looking better. Now, if you keep on this p
Justin’s POVI was going to find Russo, a mate who would allow him to continue his species as well. It didn't seem fair as the last lycan should have the opportunity to give my wife lycan pups and continue our legacy as a species, and this poor man was doomed to watch his species die out when he went. He was young, my age. He had plenty of time. All we had to do was find him someone who was compatible, who could bear fae children for him. In fact . . .“What?” Russo asked, staring at my face.He could see that I had an idea.“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I just figured out what Helen's next project is going to be. I know what I can put her to work on that will be helpful. It will make the lives of people that we care about better, and it will definitely keep her out of harm's way.”He gave me a light pat on the shoulder. “There, see, things are already looking better. Now, if you keep on this p