EllaThe crowd is hissing, booing, and screaming curses down at my mate. Ryatt looks around, panting, his shoulders rigid despite the welts covering his skin. Jaxon is still staring at me, but my attention is stolen by several people trying to climb down into the pit. A tremor of panic shudders through the entire arena. “Alpha Jaxon, you need to get him out of there,” I say hurriedly, turning back to the Alpha of Oasia, the man who just lost the crown of Eastonia to my mate. But suddenly I feel cool metal against my neck and freeze.“Play along,” Jaxon rasps along the shell of my ear before yanking me upright so violently I shriek in alarm. Below, Ryatt’s face has turned from grim amusement to absolute rage as he spots Jaxon with his hands on me and a blade to my neck. “If you shift, she dies,” Jaxon taunts as warriors race out into the pit, shoving delirious onlookers out of the way before they can get to my mate. “Ella!” Granger screams my name over the chaos erupting all aro

RyattI don’t know the name of this village or the pack. I barely spoke more than three words to the Beta before being ushered out of the village and into a heavily wooded area high above the village proper. A small stone cabin sits in the center of a clearing, flanked by a few out buildings. Smoke puffs from the chimney as I approach the cottage with my hands curled into fists at my sides. I try to tell myself that everything is going to be fine, but Granger and I are alone in this. My men–my commanders, generals, and warriors–are currently spread out between here and Veiled Valley. Everyone is on standby, waiting for whatever conflict might have come when we faced off with Jaxon. I’m too far out of mind-link range to connect with any of my commanders to tell them the situation has changed. I push open the door and step inside the dusty cottage. It’s a single room–wide and nearly empty save for a bed in its center and a few cabinets and chairs. An elderly woman is yelling at a vil

EllaBright light. A soft, warm breeze that smells sharply of pine and cedar. Somewhere in the distance a soft, delicate voice sings a beautiful song–a lullaby. A baby whimpers and is gently shushed. I feel hands grazing down my arms. The scent of honeysuckle and lavender fills the air, and birdsong echoes in my ears. I snuggle deeper into the warmth penetrating my back. Ryatt’s scent brushes over my senses like a loving embrace. Deep in my chest, in my soul, that thread that binds us together sings with satisfaction. His scent is sharper than before. It’s everything I love. Everything that sets my soul aflame…I jolt to awareness, and I’m blinking frantically to clear my vision. Murmuring male voices cut through the lullabies and birds singing, and suddenly I’m in an unfamiliar cottage made of dark stone, the windows open to reveal a landscape of towering pine trees and rolling mountains capped with snow. They’re people standing outside of the cabin dressed in warrior leathers. I

Isaac I’m not sure what I was expecting to find, but it isn’t this.Instead of simply walking through a wall of mist and magic, coming out the other side and coming face to face with Ryatt and Ella, I feel like I’ve been dropped on my head after having every nerve in my body pulled apart and thrust back together again.I never gave much thought to what Ryatt and Ella went through, twice now, while crossing the veil. It’s nothing like spiriting myself from room to room, or from the castle to the rolling fields beyond the woods, no.My powers are useless. Even my wolf powers are whimpering in my veins as I shift my weight on the stool I’m sitting on with my hands bound behind my back.How many days has it been since I came through the veil? Four? Maybe five?The man seated in front of me hasn’t said a word in a long time. I can only see his jaw, the rest of his face shielded by a hood. He has dark skin, and his hands are covered in a tangle of scars and tattoos.Other than tying me up,

EllaI cry out Ryatt’s name as he thrust in from behind. He grips my hips, adjusting me so I’m where he wants me, and begins to absolutely lay waste to my body.It’s like every piece of me–every cell, every nerve–is honing in on his movements. He lowers himself over my back after a moment, pressing me into the mattress with one of his hands pinning my wrists above my head.He kisses the base of my neck, then bites down, holding me there.For whatever reason that bite ignites something in me I’ve never felt before. It’s something ancient. Maybe something tied to my powers? I don’t know. But whatever he does awakens that spark of light deep in my soul, and soon my skin is glowing a pale gold.Each stroke of his cock has me edging toward a climax I already know is going to be stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced. I lose sense of place and time. The bed is threatening to fall to pieces beneath us. His free hand smooths over my side, clutching the slope of my hip, and he thrusts i