‘Absolutely not.’There was no room for argument, no room for negotiation within the gruff plains of his voice. Not a single shred of remorse or sympathy was viable within his words, nothing I could play on or entice to change his mind.‘Asher, come on. I have to do this—’‘You don’t have to do shit.’ He snarled, the sound raising each and every hair on my body until I felt like I’d touched a live wire. ‘You can wait until we get back, then we can assemble an actual team to accompany us.’‘It’ll be too late by then. I’ve already told you that they change the location of their lairs. If I don’t act now, they’ll move somewhere else and then we’ll never find them. How can you not understand that?’ I barked, frustration sharpening my voice and tinting my vision in a dull shade of red.I was being insensitive, uncaring of the fact that he’d gone through so much while I was held captive by my father, but Asher was being so damn stubborn.‘I might be stubborn, but I’m not reckless. I don’t l

“I hear our girl’s night has been cut short.” Holly stated as she stepped past the threshold and into the house Asher had built for me. As she spoke, her eyes scanned the foyer, her head pivoting back and forth to soak up every detail.I hummed my confirmation, motioning for her to follow as we passed through the dimly lit kitchen and into the living room. “Sorry about that, things sort of popped up at the last minute.”“Oh, no worries. I had a feeling something would come up. Truthfully, I’m just happy to be out of the house.” She smiled softly, striking a chord deep within my chest as I noticed the similarities between us. Releasing a sound of interest, she spoke. “Oh, so many windows! This might sound hard to believe, but I absolutely love natural light. I can’t stand being cooped up.”“That’s not hard to believe at all.” I murmured, thinking back to the meek and obedient girl I’d met, trapped within the walls of the warehouse our father called his home. “Does sunlight hurt you? I

As always, Tristan had impeccable timing. Not ten minutes later he stood at the front door, an instant look of suspicion on his face when I opened it. He blocked the way with his lanky torso, not allowing me the chance to slip outside without thoroughly scanning the inside of the house. “Holly still here?” He asked, knowing full and well that she was.I rolled my eyes, sarcasm thickening my voice. “She’s in the living room doing a dark and ancient spell that could save us all, but it has horrible consequences.”Tristan blinked once, his already milky skin somehow growing paler. “It’s hard to tell when you’re joking sometimes.”“Obviously, I’m joking.” I sighed, patting his shoulder as I slipped out the front door. “We watched some romantic comedies and talked about boys. Really, you didn’t miss much. If you wanted to watch us do some magic, I’m sure we could uncover a spell or two—” “No, that’s alright.” He shook his head, pushing back his newly cropped locks with his hand. The l

Judging from the small building the wedding was being held at, it was initially meant to be an intimate event. As grandma mentioned earlier, the couple in question had high hopes that a wedding was just what people needed to lift spirits. As it turns out, they were right.There were cars spilling out of the little parking lot, parked alongside curbs and even up on the flat, grassy areas. Dainty paper lanterns suspended on thin fishing wire were what led guests to the front doors, though many just walked around the building to where the party was overflowing into the grass. A hastily thrown together dance floor had been constructed out back, along with a dozen or so tiki torches and streamers in various shades of violet.The sign out front read, ‘Chatham Recreational Center.’ The music pouring from within was loud and upbeat, matching the laughter that drifted throughout the air. Children darted in and out, weaving between adults who were either drinking, eating, or dancing.There was

As Asher’s snarl bounced off my skull and left my ears ringing, I feared he’d already discovered the truth. The tidal wave of worry I’d been seconds away from drowning in fell flat when he snarled. ‘Lola, pull the damn car over. Now.’I let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t figured it out yet.A single tap to Tristan’s shoulder told him we were in the clear—for now, anyway.Since the helmets we wore left us unable to communicate, the tap system I made up on the spot was what I used to keep him up to date. One tap meant we were safe, and to keep coasting down the backroads at normal speeds. Abiding by the speed limit was slower than simply taking off like a bat out of hell, but there was always a chance it would keep us from being discovered for just a few seconds longer. Two taps told him to speed up, and three…three meant we were out of time.‘You know I can’t do that.’ I told Asher, forcing to the very back of my mind the loud snarl of the motorcycle’s exhaust and the pressure the hel

The howling didn’t stop when we raced through the pack’s boundary lines and into what many wolves considered ‘no man’s land.’A total of four hundred and seventy-three miles west of Asher’s pack was Alpha Bran’s, which we fully planned to steer clear of. Even though it was insanity not to relay the location of the Vampire’s lair on the off chance we didn’t make it back, I couldn’t risk Asher sending a group of warriors to my rescue.The last thing I needed were the Vampire’s thinking I’d come to ambush them.A few of the warriors followed us past the boundary lines, though they didn’t dare venture too far. If I had to guess, the ones brave enough to leave Asher’s territory were new recruits, desperate to prove themselves in the eyes of their Alpha. When the last wolf following us slowed and darted back to the territory lines, I let out a sigh of relief.The sound was muffled by the helmet I wore and smothered by the snarling of the engine, yet Tristan still felt the need to turn his h

“You must be awful stupid comin’ around these parts, girl—even with a Vampire at your side.” A loud voice snapped.A woman came into view, emerging from where she blended in with the forest line. Her skin was as dark as the bark that covered each tree, but that was where the similarities ended. She swayed her round hips gracefully as she approached the bike, her full lips curled back in a fearless sneer. She stopped five feet away, standing on the dual yellow lines that split the road in two. The leather jacket she wore glittered under the moon, mirroring the light in her dark eyes.For a single fleeting moment, I wondered if they were oblivious to who we were. The miniscule dash of hope fizzled out when the woman spoke a second time.“And don’t expect me to call you Queen, you ain’t no friend of me or mines.”Though I didn’t dare take my eyes off the Vampire, I could see in my peripherals that she wasn’t the only one venturing from the forest to stand in the road. In all, I counted f

“What’s with Vampire’s and abandoned warehouses?” I asked, speaking to no one in particular.The breaks of the rusty minivan we were crammed into squealed as we pulled into a handicap space close to the front doors. I could make out the symbol painted on the spot, though it had faded over time.Within the parking lot were a few cars, but most looked like junkers rather than functioning vehicles. There weren’t any windows apart from the ones that lined the front, but they were blacked out by scraps of cardboard boxes and old newspapers.“This one won’t be half as luxurious as your father’s.” Tristan muttered at my side; his face marred in a permanent scowl.From the front seat, Dina snorted. She turned around and glared at Tristan.“With how flimsy your loyalty is, you got no room to be judging anybody, Tristan.” The pale-haired Vampire at my side lifted an eyebrow, but Dina didn’t falter in her rant. “That’s right, I know you. You don’t know me, though. I was a nobody back then, a bod

“What the fuck?” I deadpanned, staring at what could easily be my father’s clone like the man himself had risen from the grave and sewn his head back on.I couldn’t process the thoughts churning in my head enough to formulate any other response, but I couldn’t help but feel as though those three words summed things up brilliantly.He had the same thick hair, composed of the darkest onyx, that Holly and I inherited, along with the startling eyes. His build was definitely larger than my father’s, but his face, the wide-set jaw and sloped nose—that was the same.The man who claimed to be my uncle—as if that wasn’t the weirdest thing I’d ever said, raised one of his dark eyebrows. “Well said.”“You’re Deacon?” I managed, my voice a touch suspicious.He nodded imperceptibly, “That’s what I’m called.”“The former King doesn’t have a brother. I spent nearly all of my time by his side, and never had he mentioned a brother. How is this possible?” Tristan grimaced, hovering protectively at my s

There was an itch I needed to scratch, a burning curiosity I needed resolved before I could give him what he wanted.“How do you know about my magic? As far as I know, it’s passed down through my…my grandmother, but it was kept a secret for the most part.” I grimaced.“It was kept a secret because my father despised witches and their magic. My brother, on the other hand, saw only power. Unfortunately for him, our mother died before he ever got the chance to use her in his plans.” Deacon replied, then let out a snarl. “I’ve been more than accommodating considering I haven’t had you killed on the spot. I won’t tell you again, niece or no. What do you know about Bridgette?”I’d never been a cruel type of person, nor was I someone who lorded information over another person’s head, but there was something about Deacon that provoked that side of me. Perhaps, it was his attitude and the way everything he said felt like a challenge, but I couldn’t help but feel that a Queen—his Queen, wouldn’