“It’s not too late. I can stay home, Pocket. Sam will understand.” I sit on the bed next to her and Dillon. “Go spend time with your friends.” She takes my hand and smiles at me. “Who knows when you’ll have another opportunity? Mom and Dad are here. They set the travel bassinet up. Mom showed me how to make bottles of formula and how to change his diaper. If anything happens, she and Dad will help me. I’m going to leave the bedroom door wide open just in case, but right now, you need to go out. You said the Doc told you to. Don’t go against the doctor’s orders, Keller.”“If you want me to come home, you’ll call me right away, right? Like for any reason. You’ll call me?” I stroke my fingers over Dillon’s soft brown hair. He gives me another scowl and a little grunt. “It doesn’t feel right to leave you two on the first night.”“Don’t make me manipulate you, Keller Joseph.” Zara raises her eyebrows at me. “Tonight, you go out with your friends. Tomorrow, the three of us will spend the d

After a quick conversation with the manager, I point out my friends at the bar. He says he will take care of them and shows me the door to his office where he is going to bring them. I step outside and try to make my way to the alley as nonchalantly as possible. There isn’t anyone there. I don’t know why the Hell I need to meet Tyree’s friends in the alley, but if Estelle trusts him, I should as well. I pace back and forth in the dark alley that smells like piss and vomit until I sense a change in the air. The scent of ozone fills my nose, making me gag. Rocky, who has been unusually quiet with all the commotion, becomes restless. Out of nowhere, he says the most terrifying thing he’s ever said. “The Reaper is coming.” “What the fuck? Rocky, what are you talking about?” I back up against the side of the building and look around, trying to cover my nose from the potent scents building up around me. A searing heat and bright light forces me to close my eyes and turn my head. My heart

James approaches Kara, holding both hands up so she can see the piece of metal and the box with buttons. “Okay, Kara. I’m going to slide this metal between the collar and your skin. It might be tight, but I’m not trying to choke you. It will just be for a few seconds, okay?” “What is that?” She points to the metal. James looks at Reggie, who shrugs. “No one will ever believe it. Might as well tell them.” “This is a piece of Achilles’ battle armor. Have you ever heard of him?” James turns the metal over in his fingers and gives Kara a gentle smile, as if he is trying to convince a child. “That’s the sound Katie makes when she sneezes.” Kara turns serious, forgetting about the metal piece. “It’s true. It sounds just like me.” Katie echoes her sister’s words with a nod. “What… Achilles?” James tilts his head. I think he’s starting to understand the twin’s intelligence level now. I cross my arms and observe the interaction, amused. “Don’t keep saying it, Mister James.” Kara puts h

“What do you mean ‘Jasper has sigmas for mates’?” Mom puts her hands on her hips and gives me a dangerous glare. “And why are you using the plural here, Keller Joseph?”“At the club last night, Jasper and I were at the bar talking and the sigma twins we brokered to Darius Cirillo stopped to say hello… and uh… they met Jasper and… well, you know how that goes… they’re all mates.” I try not to cringe under Dad’s scowl.“Do you understand how dangerous this is, Keller?” Dad snarls on the verge of losing his temper. “For Jasper, for those girls, and even for us.”I hold my hands up in surrender. I thought after a good night’s sleep, the news would go over better in the morning after breakfast, but I was wrong. “Would it make you feel better if I told you the Regents’ pack is helping take care of it?”“THE REGENTS MET YOU IN A BURLESQUE BAR?!!” Mom shrieks and grabs her hair into fists. Dad cringes at her exclamation and holds his finger up to his lips, but it’s too late. Dillon wakes up a

Dad arrives five minutes before Estelle and Tyree, giving him just enough time to hang up his coat and give Mom a kiss.When the doorbell rings, Mom takes off her apron and answers it. From the kitchen, I hear a low growl. Lily snarls in her deep, raspy voice. “Who are you?”Oh shit. Estelle must have arrived already in her true form. I thought she would wait and remove her glamor once they sat down to have the conversation. I drop my knife and run to the foyer to help prevent an altercation. “Mom, Lily, it’s Estelle. Smell her scent. Dad, you too!”Tyree is standing in a defensive stance in front of Estelle, who is in her true form. Tyree’s eyes flash from dark brown to black and back to brown, trying to hold back his wolf. Mom and Dad are blocking the entryway, preventing them from coming in. Mom and Dad each take a deep breath. Mom’s black eyes fade back to brown, but Avalanche is still close to the surface. “Estelle? Wh-what’s going on. Why do you look like that?”“You need to ch