SallyI can feel Ryan’s body stiffen under my touch before he withdraws to stare down at me. His eyes look as confused as I feel. What are we doing?“I want you.”My knees turn weak, and I swear the floor dips beneath me, his confession taking up too much air. Ryan seems just as aghast by his words, his eyes going wide and his breathing turning fast. But he doesn’t try to take back his words. Instead, he takes a deep breath and says, “Tell me you don’t want me, too, and I will leave.”My mouth opens. I’m about to deny how wet I am for him, but the words never come. I stand there, staring up at him while keeping my hands on his right pectoral muscle. It’s the smallest of contact. And yet, it’s everything. His nipples are hard, and my breath hitches.Most of all, I want his shirt on the floor so I can lick his abs and bite his nipples. Shamelessly, I feel him up and see what he is hiding underneath his boxers.A quick glance up tells me Ryan would let me do whatever the heck I wanted wi

RyanI’m in love with Sally Fletcher.My heart hasn’t stopped racing since I left her bed this morning. She was so cute when she nestled up to me like a little kitten searching for warmth. It was all purely sweet and innocent...until she groped my butt like the secret little pervert she is. Not that I mind. I honestly find her attraction to me adorable. There is just something about how she looks at my pectoral muscles that makes me smile.I stare up at the ceiling, smiling until the reality of the situation crashes over me. What am I doing thinking about a girl when I have so many plans I must set into motion? I still haven’t found my mother’s crypt. I’ve been slacking off, which is highly unlike me. I should be stalking Ashton right now, finding him alone in an alley, and threatening him to tell me where he buried my mother after piercing a magical dagger through her chest.My mother was one of the four original vampires. She led large armies back when the vampires reigned...until t

SallyWhen I come home with Gwyneth, Ashton is preparing dinner in the kitchen. It’s odd seeing him prepare food from scratch, but it’s not the strangest thing that has happened. Ever since Gwyneth was born, he has been trying to be more family-oriented.It’s actually admirable. I still hate what he forced me to do a year ago, but I like that he is trying to be the father Gwyneth deserves. Therefore, I will bottle up my resentment and encourage him to keep trying.“What’s for dinner?” I ask as I set down Gwyneth in the baby playground designed for werewolves. There are lots of toys she can chew on, and she immediately gets to work.“Pasta,” Ashton tosses me a look over his shoulder. “It will be just you and I. Blair is at a friend’s house.”I almost choke and wonder if I heard him correctly. “Y-you want me to eat by the table...with you?” It feels like it’s been years since Ashton treated me like an actual person, so color me surprised.“Yeah?” It almost looks like he is blushing, but

SallyAfter my little chat with Evelyn, I’m storming up the stairs to my room. My head is spinning, and my emotions are all over the place: hurt, confused, and burning. I need to calm the fuck down, and there are only two things that can help me right now: a bottle of strong tequila combined with an old episode of Grey’s Anatomy playing on my TV.I speed up my pace but stop in my tracks when the bathroom door swings out in front of me. Ashton comes out of the room, newly showered, with only a dark blue towel wrapped around his narrow waist.He stands there, his wet hair sticking to his forehead while droplets of water trail down his well-sculpted chest. My heart instantly begins to race as memories of our past flood back despite my best efforts to keep them at bay.“Sally,” he says quietly. There’s a different kind of weight to the way he says my name this time around. It carries a sense of familiarity, longing, and perhaps regret.I swallow hard, shaping my face into a reassuring smi

SallyThe next morning, I wake up in an empty bed. There is no sign of Ryan, but I’m not sad about that. He must have decided to leave before the guard shift, and instead of compelling the new guards, I guess he just went home.KNOCK KNOCKI look at my door with an arched eyebrow. “Yes?”“It’s me,” Ashton says, sounding awkward. An image of him staring down at the floor crosses my mind. “I was wondering if you...if you wanted to come and train with the young werewolves this morning?”I turn to stone. Out of all the things he could say to me, this isn’t what I expected. I’m the pack’s Omega, and I can’t shape-shift. Therefore, I’ve never been allowed to train with the other wolves. Ashton’s father himself said it would be a waste of time to let me practice combat. So why is Ashton giving me the option now? Does he think this will somehow win me over?Regardless of what my ex-mate is up to, I’m not about to turn down his offer. Even if I can’t shape-shift, I might be able to pick up on