To all my faithful readers, Mate bonds, plot holes, and unfinished story lines. Oh my! Thank you all so, so much for your commitment to this story, even when life got in the way and updating was not regular. It was such an adventure to write, and I am excited to say the adventure continues in the sequel, "Chase." Your favorite side characters will be pulled to the forefront as the beginning of the war the hunters alluded to takes hold. Mate bonds aren't what everyone wants, and they can prove to be quite the hinderance - especially when they fail to see that the universe has a bigger plan than just their destined lover. No one likes to admit they can be the difference between life and death, etiher. No one truly loves change, but sometimes it's necessary to chase after it. ********* ********* Time passes, things change, and everyone moves on. It’s easy to feel left behind. I always feel left behind. Left behind and forgotten. All my life, I’ve wanted for someone to reac
I run. It’s just who I am. Whenever things get tough, I bail. Every new situation I find myself in, I have an exit strategy. Because I know what could happen if I don’t. Things are about to get bad, and I don’t understand how or why. I’m in a new place, with no pre-existing connections. I’ve developed a life for myself where no one could suspect a thing out of the ordinary. I fit in - or at least try to. But here I am, ready to run. Let’s just hope I do so in time. *** I didn’t ask to be in these shoes. In fact, I was thoroughly looking forward to a life of little more than personal responsibility. I never saw my future tied to this place, no matter how much this place is a part of me. The position was thrust upon me, though, and with no one else left to step up, I had no choice. At the end of the day, I do love it here. These are my people - my family - and this is my home. I couldn’t turn my back, even if I wanted to. That’s a type of betrayal I would never be able to stoma
Lya I looked up at the sky peaking through the branches. Stars twinkled, and what little light from the half moon that made it through the foliage cast a soft glow on the forest floor. This little home I’ve found was an interesting place. We were surrounded by prairies and farmland for hundreds of miles, but the Buffalo Ridge along the Big Sioux River had rolling hills, forest, and a sense of mystery. It was a little taste of home, even if it was just a few miles worth. Just a couple miles east or west and you’d be back to the neverending open spaces until you hit a mountain range. You’d have to follow the river north or south to stick with this little haven. A tear trickled out of the corner of one eye as I begged and bartered in my head with whatever higher power was out there for just a little more time. This latest implosion of my life snuck up on me just a little too fast, and I wasn’t ready for how quickly I needed to get out. Unsurprisingly, nothing answered. Even though
Oliver I blinked sleep out of my eyes as I rolled over in bed, grabbing for my phone that would not stop ringing. One missed call isn’t such a huge deal - repeated calls in the middle of the night start to become worrisome. The caller ID showed a name from the past - someone I hadn’t spoken to in a very long time. He was one of us, but very much on the periphery, really only calling when he needed help. Against my better judgment, I accepted the call. “What?” I barked out. “Good evening to you, too.” He was much too perky for this time of night. “It’s 3 am. Not my definition of evening anymore.” He chuckled. “Well someone isn’t having much fun with their life, then.” I groaned, ready to end the call. “What do you need?” There was a pause, and I could tell the upbeat demeanor vanished. “I need to report a rogue.” That caused me to sit up. Rogues weren’t uncommon - hell, my own brother would now be considered a rogue - but ones worth reporting were. Rogues worth rep
Lya I came to in a familiar place - exactly the opposite of what I hoped. We needed to be far, far away from here. Curled up in front of Trevor’s apartment door was not that. I heard footsteps down the hall, but I didn’t even have the mental fortitude to move. Maybe I could just be arrested and sentenced to death. That’d be one way to be rid of this parasite. 'I’m not a parasite.' That damn voice. 'Go away,' I retorted. 'No.' Great. The footsteps got closer. I would sure be a sight - a naked little girl covered in blood just curled up on the floor. This would definitely get some attention. Why couldn’t I move? Trevor rounded the corner. He was the only person I wanted to see, and the last at the same time. I stared at his shoes as he came to stand in front of me. “Oh, Lya…” he sighed. I offered no response. He helped me stand up, unlocked the door, and guided me inside. I stumbled across the apartment to flop down at the kitchen table. I didn’t want to sit anywhere wh
Oliver It had been four hours. I really hoped he had a handle on where she was by this point. For the first time in a long time, I actually called Trevor. The phone barely had a chance to ring before it connected. “Yeah?” His voice was gruff. “Update?” “Oh, y’know, pulled an all-nighter. Not the fun kind, either.” I waited for him to continue. This wasn’t exactly a joking matter. “It’s bad, and we will be headed to you as soon as we can.” “We knew it was bad,” I pointed out. “What other information do you have?” He sighed. “Do you want to know now, or wait for her to tell you?” “Now.” “Well, her mom at least clearly had no idea what she could be. I don’t know if it was a one night stand or she was adopted, but clearly her dad isn’t in the picture, because the wolfiness could have come from him and he wasn’t around to help her.” That bombshell caused pause. Werewolves don’t let humans adopt their pups for this very reason. It’s too dangerous to go through a first sh
Lya I sat in the passenger seat of Trevor’s Lincoln. I was curled up small, staring out the window. Every time he tried to get me to talk, I stayed silent. Really, I had probably told him too much. I just needed to get out and away from here. Trevor insisted there were others like me. I had a hard time believing it. He wanted to take me to what he called a pack. They could help me, get me acclimated and adjusted to the life I was supposed to have. That wasn’t going to happen. There was no way something like me was supposed to have a life. “Are you like- like me?” I asked after a good half hour of silence. “Yes,” he said with a laugh. “I am. It’s how I kept an eye on you the past couple weeks.” “You what?” I asked, shocked. “C’mon, Lya,” he chided. “I knew something was wrong. Do you remember a couple weeks ago when you stayed late at the bar, actually got drunk, and then crashed at my place? I knew something was wrong.” He gave me a sideways glance, quickly reverting hi
Oliver I hadn’t even been thinking twice before answering phone calls today. Already, I had sent out my best three scouts to check out the area surrounding the girl’s former home. I had an analyst digging up what he could about the hunter family she was enmeshed with, and had calls out to packs anywhere within 500 miles asking about hunter activity. So far, the consensus had been that hunters had been quiet recently, almost worryingly so. There were only a few primary factions of hunters throughout the country. They tended to work together, forming their own pack of sorts. It was usually a side gig for them while they maintained otherwise normal lives as well. Years ago, they tried to make noise about the things that went bump in the night humans should be scared of, but they were quickly written off as mentally unhinged. That served us well, resulting in a large number of our threats being locked away and dubbed insane. In a roundabout way, it also secured the idea that we were j