DAMIENYears pass slowly when eternity is no longer in sight.Standing on the edge of the balcony of the bedroom I’ve shared with Isabel for five hundred years, I watch the lush lands in the distance. The demon realm has never prospered like this before. I’ve never been this content before.In the distance, I hear laughter and I look over to see two of my older sons carrying their sisters in their arms while my other daughter run after them, Cerebus trailing after them.I’ve had children before. I’ve watched them pass on. I still watch over their families. But this is different. This is more precious. Isabel has given me so many children and for once, I will not have to watch them die before me. Twenty strong children, half of whom are now leading their own lives, coming back to visit us. I have never once regretted sharing my life span. Now I get to enjoy my beautiful mate for centuries to come before we move on from this world. Speaking of my mate, I hear her voice.“Junip
“Hey Izzy,” Clyde calls to me from the kitchen. “Sharon’s on break. Take table 12, yeah?”I cringe a little. I hate being called Izzy. But I put on my best fake-sweet smile and tell him, “Of course, Clyde.” Then I tighten my apron and hurry off to take their order.Clyde is a rogue, like me. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end. In fact, Clyde is the only rogue around here that gets any sort of respect, since he owns the diner and it’s a popular spot for wolves and humans alike.He knows I hate being called “Izzy.” But I don’t call him on it because I need the money and he’s the only one that was willing to give me a job.In the interview, he asked me what experience I had.“None,” was my answer.That’s the answer to a lot of questions in my life.Experience? None.Pack? None.Parents? None.Mate? None.I hurry back towards table 12 to take their lunch order. I’m halfway there when I feel a steely grip of two fingers pinching my butt, hard. Hard enough for me to
The howl that interrupts my thoughts a second later is enough to jumpstart my legs back into action. The pitch and timbre of a howl can mean a lot of things, and that howl sends a shiver down my spine and a spring into my step, because it means only one thing: I’m being hunted.I vault forward down the path for a few yards before I realize how completely idiotic it is for me to keep following the path. I mean, that’s like trying to break out of jail by making a run for the front door.So I veer off the worn path and between two trees. I hear something, a rapid rustling that’s way too close for comfort. My pursuer is gaining on me.My brain is in overdrive as I keep running, my survival instincts kicking. Movement, to my right. More rustling. Another pursuer. My heartbeat doubles. My lungs burn, but I can’t stop. This can’t be how it ends for me.The next howl is closer, so close it sounds like an alarm blaring in my own head. I crash through the woods, painfully aware that I’m
I close my eyes and wait for the blow to fall.Instead, I feel the package snatched out of my hands. When I open my eyes again, he’s taken several steps back, away from me, as if being too close to me might hurt him.He still looks angry, but also a bit… confused? He looks left, and then right, and then down at the package, like he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do now.Yeah, you and me both.“You,” he says, his voice deep and tinged with a growl. “You kicked me.”Oh. The sable-fur wolf.“Sorry. I… was scared,” I manage to say. “I mean, I am scared.”Suddenly it feels like this isn’t real. Like I’m not lost in the woods at night, like the dark, alluring, frightening, attractive, dangerous stranger in front of me isn’t my mate.“What’s your name.” He asks it flatly, like it’s not a question but a demand.“Uh, Izzy.”Izzy?! Why did I say that? I hate that nickname!He stares at me for a long moment, long enough for me to realize that neither of us has any idea what to do nex
Goddess, he’s even more gorgeous than I remembered. It’s almost difficult to look at him, but I also can’t look away. I lean toward the sill, my fingers meeting glass and reminding me I closed the window after I took a shower. I unlatch it and sit on the sill, opening my mouth and hoping that an elegant greeting with emerge from my lips. My mate wasn’t exactly smiling before — now that I look closer, I see that his is a face more suited to scowling than smiling — but after my “hi?” he’s now outright frowning, his dark eyes glaring so harshly at me I can feel it in my chest. Even frowning he’s beautiful, his cheekbones so sharp they’d make a sculptor weep.I open my mouth to try again, to ask him why he’s here, but just as I start to speak, he bolts, racing toward our fence and leaping over it in one smooth stride. He shifts as soon as he hits the ground on the other side, his grey and silver fur dappled with moonlight. I track him as he races off through the trees, leaning dang
“Yo! Earth to the world’s worst waitress!” the Gamma says, breaking me out of my reverie. “Are you deaf? My boy said he wanted a veggie burger, sweet potato fries and a soy strawberry milkshake.”“No, I’m not deaf,” I retort. “I’m just surprised one of you is ordering something besides a giant hunk of beef,” I say. “It’s refreshing to see someone in your pack is open to new things.”I direct this second comment at James, hoping he’s smart enough to read between the lines. Please be open. Please accept me. Please don’t hate me just because I’m a rogue. It’s pathetic, but I can’t help it. “Anything else?” I ask. “Yeah,” one of the fighters says. “You suck at your job.”A small part of me hopes my mate will jump to my defense, but when I glance over at him, he’s still staring past me rather than at me, like I’m nothing to him, not worth a glance. So much for being able to read my thoughts. “Great. Thanks. Your criticism is greatly appreciated,” I say, forcing myself to maint
“How was work?” Ben asks as soon as I get home. I’m rushing because it’s already 5:30 and I don’t want to be late meeting James. “Fine! Good!” I yell back at him over my shoulder as I take the stairs two at a time. I don’t know if we’re meeting in human or wolf form, so I err on the side of caution and put on the cutest outfit I can find at short notice: black tights, a black velvet dress, heavy silver boots and a leather jacket. Washing my face and reapplying my makeup takes a few minutes, and after some swipes of my hairbrush, I think I look as presentable as I’m going to get without a shower.Checking my phone for the time, I see it’s 5:50. I need to head to the woods if I’m going to make it on time. Ben is still engrossed in the video game he was playing when I got home, so I pat him on the head, tell him I’ll be home later and leave, thankful that he was too distracted to ask me where I’m going. I hardly ever have plans on a Saturday night so it wouldn’t be out of the questio
“And where have you been, young lady?” Ben asks as soon as I walk in the door. His arms are crossed and he’s glaring at me, but there’s a grin tickling the corners of his mouth because hard as he tries, he can’t even fake-reprimand me.“Out gallivanting with ne’er do-wells, of course,” I say as I shut the door and toe off my boots. My feet are sore and my legs are tired, but those sensations pale in comparison to the happy glow I feel. “Of course,” Ben says.I flop down on the couch next to him and steal the last piece of pizza from the box sitting in front of him on the coffee table. All that running made me hungry.“Seriously Bel, where were you? You don’t normally stay out past midnight,” Ben says, and I look at the clock and realize that it’s nearly two o’clock in the morning. James and I were running for eight hours together.I guess time flies when you’re spending time it with a beautiful werewolf. However, I feel bad because even though I’m a twenty-year old adult, I’