Thirteen Months Later Thea I slide down the bathroom door, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my head on them as I wait for the longest three minutes of my life. The sound of the shower running beside me helps hide the racing of my heart. What if I’m still not? I don’t know if I can take another negative result. We’ve been trying every single Supermoon to get pregnant and it hasn’t happened yet. It has really made those feelings of not being enough resurface. Knox has been great though, beside me each time, promising me we’d keep trying. He’s held me when I cried and always knew what to say when I felt like I was failing him. He’s taken me to pack doctors and to Sybil for any and all things to try to help. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sick and tired of yoga, herbal teas, vitamins and the lean and green diet I’ve been on. I didn’t want to get Knox’s hopes up with this test, I told him I’d just wanted to shower alone after training today and he begrudgingly agreed. I lea
Knox“Okay, everything is all set. I emailed the accommodation listings to Crystal Moon and Crimson Valley, and they will let us know when transportation for those attending tonight’s Supermoon Festival is enroute.”I look up from an expense report I’ve been combing over all morning to see the bright, blue eyes of my chosen mate sparkling in the morning sun. I push myself away from my desk and walk across the room to hers, I pull her to her feet and place open-mouthed kisses down her slender neck. “If this is what I get for shooting off a few emails, I might have to start helping more often,” Lyra sing-songs. As her arms wrap around my neck, her body presses up against mine, causing the bulge in my pants to grow more noticeable by the moment. A small sigh leaves her lips as I nip at the mark I gave her under the last full moon.“Mhmm, I think I’ll have breakfast in here today,” I say, lifting her up to sit on her desk. I push up the bottom of her floral sundress, “Fuck woman, no pant
KnoxThe distinct smell of hot garbage and rotten meat wafts through the air. The four rogues are sizing Bennet and me up aggressively with their teeth bared. I open a pack-wide mind-link, ‘Rogues have breached the trail, squad A report immediately, those on patrol stay at your post, everyone else stays inside until an all clear is issued.’Nothing good can come from a group of rogues; there's a reason they were kicked out of their packs. I won’t let whatever half-cocked plan they have play out.I call my wolf forward to shift, my bones snapping and rearranging, the air shimmering as I land on all four paws; Bennet’s large, hazel-brown wolf takes a defensive position to my right. Baring my teeth, I let out a warning growl towards the matted, pack of mongrels in front of me. The sound of my warriors trampling through the forest offers me a bit of comfort, knowing we can quickly stifle the issue and avoid casualties.‘There are four of them; let’s go with a boxing approach; no one at
KnoxI sit in my office, leaning back into my leather office chair. I sigh at the memory and run a hand through my hair. It was never supposed to be like this. It’s been three months since Lyra was killed. Three months of trying to get any leads we could on the rogues. What we’d gotten so far, Lyra stepping in to save Sarah fucked with the rogue's plans. They were strictly looking for she-wolves to mate with, as not many unmated females end up staying rogue for long or surviving it. I glance around my office, looking for a distraction from the latest set of commercial contracts I need to draft up. A row of pictures above the fireplace has my chest constricting. I haven’t been able to take them down. Shifting my gaze, my eyes land on the desk that has sat untouched since the last Supermoon festival. Ironic, I had my mate by my side at the last festival, ready to start a family, but now I’m mateless…A ping on my laptop pulls me out of my thoughts. Shifting in the chair, I lean towa
Thea– Present Day –‘And they lived happily ever after.’Of course, they did; Bleh!I sigh and snap the book closed, letting it rest on my stomach. I just lay with my feet dangling over the arm of one of the many leather wing-back chairs in the library. Thousands of books fill the dark mahogany shelves that line the room. I have read them all at least once, some two or three times.Coming to the library to read is one of the few things my father, the alpha king, allows me to do. I’m locked away like a fairytale princess, except I wasn’t kidnapped at birth, just cursed.Ugh! I swing my legs around to a sitting position before I stand up, and run my hands down the soft material of my black t-shirt dress. I wander over to the window that overlooks the training grounds where I can see the warriors all gathered together for the morning session. My father and half-brother, Kenrik, watch from the sides.Kenrik is preparing to take over as Alpha of Golden Claw soon. Father will hand down the
TheaI have a love-hate relationship with family dinners. On the one hand, it’s nice to be around my family, whether they acknowledge me much or not. On the other, it's exhausting to listen to how my father and brother go on about their ill-treatment of people.I glance across the elegant marble table to Ahlana, her head bent down as she slowly picks at the salad in front of her. Becoming an Adler woman was a hard lesson to learn, and by the looks of the faint outline of a handprint still on her face, she is still talking back. Kenrick is seated to her right with father at the head. Elder Advisor Egan sits between father and I. When I saw that he was in the formal dining room tonight, I knew that this dinner will be spent going over my shortcomings and to plan what to do with me as I still have no gift.I finish off the last of the one glass of wine I am allowed at dinner and lean back in the high-back mahogany chair. Usually, I’d try my luck for another glass, but tonight I have a
TheaI am a curse. White wolf or not, there is no way I could be blessed and be the cause of so many deaths—my mother, Calliope, and now Apollo. I was robbed of time to love him, and now, I don’t even have time to mourn him.A harsh growl pulls my eyes away from the hole in Apollo’s chest to the feral man that is towering above me, discarding Apollo’s heart into the river. I feel like my own heart is sinking along with it. Tears fall freely from my eyes as I scoot myself backward. I turn over, my body shaking as I attempt to get to my feet.A rough hand grabs my braid, yanking me up and back. Even if I knew the slightest bit of self-defense, I have no false hope that my attempts would do anything to this beast twice my size. He has a tight hold on me as his cold eyes rake across my body. “Mmm, no mark, perfect for breeding,” his voice is gravelly, like it hasn’t been used much.Breeding? Oh no, no, to breed me, he has to mark me. With the full moon, he can do that.Sheer panic wa
KnoxMy legs burn from running across multiple territories for the last few hours. The adrenaline pumping through me is enough to keep me going. I’m not stopping till that rogue is in shreds. I follow the river path, and as I came to a line of bushes, I catch that scent again. Thank the goddess! The sickening sweet, coppery smell of blood mixes in the air as I navigate through the brush. I hope he is wounded and not another wolf.As I come into a clearing near the bank, I am not prepared for what I see.The naked body is littered with teeth and claw marks, but the gaping hole in his chest ignites my anger. Just like Lyra, this man- hell a boy, he looked to be only 18- lays lifeless on the ground. Even if there was a doubt in my mind about the scent, this right here proves it is the very same rogue.Small whimpers make my head snap up as I creep slowly through the trees.The whimpers slowly fade and are replaced by gargled gasps as I come around from behind the large, oak tree. The