SERENA
After leaving the council meeting in Riverton, we follow Beta Rob back to the packhouse in Norbury. I’m not sure what I expect, but when we walk in and I see Chase slumped on a couch in the living room, eyes glazed over as he stares blankly out the window, my heart sinks. What Rob said earlier was right- he looks like absolute shit. His hair is sticking out in all directions and his red-rimmed eyes have dark circles etched underneath from lack of sleep. He doesn’t even glance over when we walk in, and when Rob calls out to him, he doesn’t so much as acknowledge our presence. It’s like his body’s here, but his brain has completely checked out.
“Wanna step into your office?” Reid asks Rob, turning and clapping him on the shoulder. “We can go over what arrangements you’ll need to make for the funeral, maybe Cy and I can take a few things off your plate.”
Rob n
REID“Damn, Red,” I growl, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe of our bedroom as I peer inside at my mate. She’s standing in front of the full-length mirror, fussing over her appearance even though she’s a total knockout.Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. “Is it too much?”She turns at the waist to face me, and I can’t help my eyes from drifting down her frame. She’s wearing a tight light grey sweater dress and black suede thigh-high boots, her makeup impeccable and her hair pulled over one shoulder in loose red waves.“It’s too much,” she sighs, turning on a heel and stomping off toward the large walk-in closet that we moved her things into yesterday afternoon.“Serena…” I catch up to her in three long strides, capturing her wrist and yanking her toward me, spinning her into my chest. She lets out a little puff of air a
SERENA After my family was killed, there were no funerals to attend. I never saw their bodies lying in coffins or heard anecdotal stories of memories from friends who came to pay their respects. When my parents and brothers were murdered by the shadow pack, they were just… gone. Instantly forgotten by the ones who took their lives, their bodies disposed of like trash. I was made to believe that I was the only one left to remember them. In those first few hopeless days, I felt like I was drowning in my grief. It was almost too much to bear, and I found myself wishing that I’d died, too. The days in that cell bled together into weeks and I lost pieces of myself with each one that passed. Then they brought my sister to me, and everything changed. Knowing that Olivia was alive, that some of my pack had survived the attack- that was all I needed to find the will to keep going. To survive. Even when I felt desperate, hopeless, I d
REID “Yo, Reid!” Jax greets, waving an arm over his head from across the practice field. I haven’t been up here to the complex in nearly a week now, but we’ve all been slowly trying to get life back to some semblance of normal in the aftermath of the war with the shadow pack. For the squad, that means daily training, even though we no longer have any immediate threat to prepare for. The guys and I talked it over and it doesn’t make sense to disband the squad just because the shadow pack is gone. For starters, having a dedicated fighting force to protect the territory is a smart move in case trouble comes knocking again. It also provides us a pool of qualified candidates for selecting teams of enforcers to track down the splinter groups of rogues that used to be with the shadow pack. But most importantly, the warriors who live up at the complex eat, sleep, and breathe the squad life… they’ve selflessly dedicated themsel
SERENA“Alright, line up, let’s do it again!” I call out, clapping my hands together as the young trainees scramble to obey my instruction and get in line.I hear Fallon chuckle from beside me as she watches the kids practically trip over their own feet to take their places. “Hustle up!” she encourages, sliding me a smirk.It has been two months now since the war with the shadow pack. Two long, hard months of picking up the pieces and figuring out how to move forward, both as individual packs and as the six-pack alliance. We’ve banded together to fix some of the things that were broken or damaged in the attack. We’ve helped each other heal. We’ve planned for the future and taken on new challenges, like this weekend program that Fallon and I started for high schoolers interested in joining the squad someday.This youth training program was Fallon’s brainchild- she
REIDThe shrill howl of a wolf echoes through the forest, followed by another. Tonight, the woods are crawling with wolves out running together under the light of the full moon. They’re running wild, free, answering the call of their most basic instinct at this stage in the lunar cycle, when the moon’s energy is at its peak. For many, it’s a time for cathartic release, to let go of the past and move into a new phase.Just a few minutes ago, I was out there running with them. As my pack’s Alpha, it’s my duty to lead the run every full moon- it’s a ritual that promotes pack bonding and solidarity. Us wolf shifters are always looking forward to the full moon run, but anticipation was particularly high for tonight’s run because it wasn’t just with our own pack; we joined in with the other five packs of wolf shifters that we’re aligned with for the run. The full moon run felt so different tonigh
SERENAIs this real life? I’ve had a lot of dreams about escaping that cell, but so far none of them have involved stumbling upon my fated mate under the full moon. I blink at the gorgeous man standing across from me, my throat tightening. I forget to breathe. Am I dreaming? I dig my fingernails into the flesh of my thigh, pinching.Ouch. I’m awake. This is real. And before he even says the word, I know it’s true. The most delightful sensations are washing over me, lapping at my skin and enveloping me like a warm blanket. I’m flooded with endorphins and adrenaline, a euphoric high that has me feeling half drunk. I’m so aware of the connection between us, the pull yanking me to him. He’s beautiful, and my inner wolf is spinning and preening with the realization that he’s ours.Mate.I’m not sure what I expected in a mate, but he’s not
REID“You’d better have a good reason for calling us over this early,” Theo yawns as he steps over the threshold into my packhouse. He and Jax are the last to arrive- Gray and Brock are already here. I sent out a text last night telling them we needed to meet this morning, and considering I don’t make requests like this often, they all showed up, no questions asked.“He’s got coffee,” Gray calls from the kitchen, holding up the pot.Theo scrubs a hand over his face. “Thank fuck.”I roll my eyes, clapping him on the shoulder and leading him and Jax into the kitchen where Brock is sipping on a cup of coffee and Gray is filling a few more for the rest of us.“You gonna tell us what’s so urgent, or are you gonna keep us hanging?” Jax groans, posting up against the kitchen counter. He’s got dark circles under his eyes and his hair is disheveled- I&rsq
SERENA Taylor’s the type of girl that’s so outgoing and over-the-top nice that it almost seems disingenuous- because nobody’s that sugar sweet, right? Wrong. The more I talk to Taylor, the more I realize that this isn’t a front; it’s really who she is. And I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little jealous. I wish I could be more like her. Maybe I could’ve been, if life hadn’t stomped all over me. If I hadn’t seen what I’ve seen and done what I’ve done. She leads me down the hall from her daughter’s room to her own, and on the way, Taylor tells me all about her mate, Cyrus, who is also the beta of Reid’s pack. Apparently the adjustment to parenthood has been rough on both of them, but Cyrus has stepped up more than she ever expected him to. Her hazel eyes light up when she talks about her mate, her wavy shoulder-length honey brown hair bouncing as she speaks animatedly. “So what kind of clothes are you looking fo