JAMESI could barely look at her, knowing the following words out of my mouth would be hard for both of us to swallow. “I would love to be your mate, Zira, seriously, but…I…I…already have one.” “What!” I could immediately feel a pull on my heart. I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but I couldn’t prolong it to worsen it later. Zira looked at me, shocked, before quickly recovering to a blank expression. We stared at each other for a few more minutes, and I could see she was conversing with her wolf. “Just great, James. Why not just rip her heart from her chest while you’re at it?” Deacon growled. “Deacon-” He quickly shut me out. We’d been arguing for the past week when I brought it to his attention that we would have to reject them. I didn’t want to hurt Zira, but she needed to know the truth. When she returned, she looked at me confused, then walked to the bathroom. I had the urge to follow her, but I stayed put. Following any she-wolf after what I just said wouldn’t be wise. “

ZIRAI don’t know how long I was out of it. Still, somehow, I was in another room, sitting on a very comfortable bed with the most obnoxious fairy in the world. Trixie talked about the bare walls and adding something to make the room brighter while I stared straight ahead at nothing. Her bubbly attitude was making me feel worse. My brain was trying to catch up with everything that had just happened. But, for some reason, I couldn’t believe it. I just...I couldn’t believe my luck. Death, birth, death again, and then rejection. Tears fell down my face onto Zacharias’s face. I quickly wiped my face and tried to think about the bright side. A bright side? That’s laughable. Though the one I had was pretty worth it, and he was cooing in my arms. Zacharias was the only good thing in my life, but now I’m just waiting for that to change. “So, what do you think, Zira?” Trixie asked, breaking me out of my trance. “Yeah, it sounds great,” I said plainly. Trixie looked as if she was hurt by my

JAMESI stood there facing the door, rubbing my poor ear. Man, Zira has a firm grip. My hands were sweating, and my body tingled from her touch. My feet were rooted to the floor, refusing to leave, or it could have been Deacon. Her little stunt excited him even more. Horny bastard! Though I didn’t blame him. Her scent was overpowering, and it was a struggle to keep it out. I knew this would be hard, but she was driving me crazy. I wanted to be near her and keep touching her, and of course, Deacon made it worse. “At least I was brave enough to go after what I wanted. Can’t say the same for you,” Deacon growled. “Yeah, and look at where it got us.” 

ZIRA It’s been a while since I had a nightmare like this. I was lucky that James decided to check in on us. I don’t know what I would have done. After a few minutes of crying into his chest, he got up to get me something to clean my face.   I walked over to check on Zacharias, who was awake and probably hungry. I checked the time; it was close to three in the morning, meaning I only got two hours of sleep. James returned with a warm towel I used to wipe my face with.   “Thank you.”  “Of course,” he replied, sitting at the edge of my bed, ensuring distance between us.  I picked up Zacharias and walked around the room. I saw the door joining our room flat against the floor. Can’t

JAMESWhen I returned home from the Black Moon Pack, my first instinct was to search for Zira, and I found her on the warriors’ field. I watched as she sparred with one of the warrior women. I refused to let any men near her and was glad Alpha Fiona understood. Like any other day, she held my attention. The connection between us has been getting stronger, even with my absence. She was wearing tight black sweatpants that showed every delicious curve. She had on a matching black crop top, showing off her stomach for the first time since she gave birth. She was getting stronger, which meant it wouldn’t be long until she rejected me and left. Deacon didn’t like the idea, and now, neither did I. “Then let her mark us and complete the bond,” Deacon said.