Dad? What the fuck are you doing?” I muttered the minute I shifted back into my human form.
He followed suit, glaring at me as pushed himself to his feet. “Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life. That girl is trouble. Don’t let her drag you down too.”
“You’re really going to say that to me, after all that you’ve done to her?”
“Me? I haven’t done a fucking thing to her.”
“Give it a rest. I’ve read the letter that Thomas left.”
“What letter?”
“You can play innocent with me, that’s absolutely fine. But I know what letter, and you damn sure know what letter.”
“It can’t be the letter I think it is, because I possess the only copy, and I saw to it that no other person would read it.”
“You would do well to remember that you’re not the only cunning and manipulative person in
I decided to stay.I loved Duke, but I couldn't imagine a life with him. There was too much under the bridge, too much heartache for him to ever be able to fix me completely.And it wasn't his job to fix me.I had to work on myself before I could be part of a couple - I'm not quite sure that's exactly what Alpha Theo meant when we spoke, but it was the lesson that spoke to me.The time Duke and I had spent apart so far hadn't been enough. I needed more.I retreated to my room and went back to my old friend - exercise. It wasn't what I had planned, but it brought me comfort. It helped me to hide from myself.So that's where I was when there was a knock at the door, and Alpha Theo poked his head round."You have a visitor, Grace. Remember what I said to you earlier, about hiding you from things you weren't ready for? Maybe that wasn't my decision to make. Your mate is here, and though I'm not trying to sway your decision in any way, he
Well?” I demanded, growing impatient with her lack of response. I loved her, I would always love her, but she was as stubborn as they came. Worse than that, she was projecting her anger on to me, even though I didn’t deserve it. I understood why... there was no one left for her to be angry at. She had all this pent up rage and hatred, things she had suppressed for years, and now when she was finally ready to begin the healing process, there was no one left for her to confront. Her demons needed to be sated, and I was the only connection to the past she had left. Which is why I was showing her more patience than I perhaps should do. But I wouldn’t accept her pushing me away. “Grace... I know you have demons, and I know that the past still eats away at you. But your baggage is my baggage. Why can’t we deal with these things together? I feel like you’ve tried to compartmentalize everything in your head, and you’ve come to the decision tha
was blessed.The Goddess had looked down on me and finally righted all that was wrong in my life.Duke and I had spent so many years together, raising our pack of "misfits" and doing all that we could to ensure that they had the most stable, loving pack to grow up in. Together, we were reshaping their future, rerouting their path so they were no longer outcasts, delinquents, destined to repeat the mistakes of so many before them.With our help, they now had prospects, ambitions, a dream to reach for in this scary, confusing world.Thousands of wolves had passed through our packs. A lot of them were angry and borderline feral, some were timid, thrown out of their previous packs for being weak. By the time they left us - if they left us - they were strong, confident, trained to the best of their abilities.It hadn't taken Duke a long time to come to terms with the fact that he would never be a father - after all, neither of us had god examples to lea
Paul, I’ve told you a million times, I’m not ready yet!” I exhaled with visible impatience“I don’t understand the wait!” He snapped back, his nostrils flaring in anger. “We both know that this is what we want - you haven’t changed your mind... have you?” he asked after a moment’s hesitation.I flinched as the face that haunted my dreams flashed behind my eyes for a moment, shocking me to the very core of my being that he still had this effect on me. It was one thing to come to me at night when I had no thought or control over the visions that took place, but during the day? I couldn’t let him keep this level of control over me! His voice boomed around my head, as I knew it would. The voice always followed his beautiful image. He had been beckoning me for days.“Of course I’ve not changed my mind, I just need some more time. I haven’t even told my dad about us...”Pa
"Just look at it, Thomas! 15 years old and she's yet to shift!""It's not the shifting we need to be concerned about, Helen, the poor girl is the weight of a full-grown male wolf. Its an embarrassment. Not a single wolf has even looked in her direction! We'll never be able to mate her off and get her out of our hair at this rate!""Even the Alpha has started laughing at our bad fortune. I swear on the hand of the great Goddess, we would have fared better had we remained childless. She'll never pass as a beta, she can barely pass through a doorway!""Helen" Thomas said with a laugh and a playful shake of his head"Oh come now, Tom, you know it to be true! Poor Duke is mortified after you revealed her little secret! At least his future mate doesn't have to worry about any competition! Who could possibly be threatened by a plain Jane like our daughter? Just get her out of my site! She's an abomination!"I shook my head to clear the ghosts of my past.
My wolf whined in my head, desperate to relay something to me, but unable to articulate what it actually was.My brain hurt, trying to keep my haughty glare on Duke and focus on why my poor wolf was crying so hard. I could picture her in my mind clearly, scratching and pawing at her face in a desperate attempt to remove whatever it was that was causing her such anguish. It was all I could do not to wince as her pain became my pain.I hated that we were not as connected as we should have been, that I had suppressed her for so many years. I wanted desperately to comfort her but I knew that she would understand that I had to deal with Duke first. It had been too long. I was unprepared for the force of him, the way his scent slammed into me, caressing all my senses. Damn him!"Close your mouth, Alpha" I muttered sarcastically, my voice dripping with disdain. "You're acting as though you weren't expecting me, despite having spent the past week begging and pleading wi
I was going to get myself killed. I could barely see what was in front of me as the tears streamed down my face but I couldn’t afford to stop the car and take a break. I had to get out of here!Fuck Duke and fuck the mating bond. I had offered myself to him so many years ago and it hadn’t been good enough for him then. I refused to be accepted by him because of some feeling that a Goddess I had never met had forced upon me.I tried not to think of that night. I tried not to let the memories wash over me but it was no good. The floodgates were open and they rushed to the front of my mind like a tsunami, allowing me to relive every painful, heartwrenching moment in stunning clarity. Of course I had never forgotten a moment of it...****************************5 years earlierGrace's POVI was hiding in the kitchens again, the only place I seemed to be able to find refuge lately. I wanted desperately to go to Duke, as I had so many
I stayed sat on the edge of my bed, chewing on my bottom lip as all my doubts and anxieties came to the forefront of my mind - do I have the courage to see this through? What if Duke wakes up? Is there a possibility that my parents are going to catch me?It was only when I tasted blood in my mouth that I jumped up, heading straight for the door and pressing my ear against it, straining to hear any signs of life that would indicate my parents were still awake. When I was met with the sweet sound of silence, I took a deep breath and ripped the door open, marching straight to the guest room before I had the chance to lose my nerve.Without knocking, I pushed open the door, slipping inside silently like a thief in the night and closing it softly behind me. I took a moment, resting my back against the wood as I took in the sight in front of meDuke was laid on his stomach, his arm wrapped around the pillow above him. The sheets had slipped down and were tangled aroun