The trip home was filled with silence.It wasn’t the comfortable kind that faded into the background and made your eyelids grow heavy as the purr of the car’s engine droned on and on.This one was full of tension and unspoken words that were so loud they needn’t be spoken at all.Zeke, Clara, and Mason hitched a ride with Asher and I since Tessa was currently tied up and unconscious in the back of the work van Breyona drove. Giovanni and Tristan had no choice but to sit back there as well considering they were the only windows blacked out from the rising sun.It would’ve been safer to wait until dark to move, but we didn’t have the time to waste.There was no telling if Ember would come back for her twin with more witches, and now that the location of the safe haven was compromised, we needed every spare warrior available to protect the territory.It did help that Deacon, Dina, and Spence stayed behind, but there was still the risk of the witches attacking during the day.Since my ner
I didn’t have to be linked to Zeke to feel his hurt. Even if he did hide it perfectly, it was there just beneath the surface, bubbling and festering away like an open wound. Things between Asher and I weren’t always perfect, and I knew from experience how badly it could hurt to be cast aside by your mate.Zeke didn’t dignify her with a response. He shook his head ruefully and left the room. When he emerged into the observation room, he made a beeline for the door and left without a word. The urge to storm in there and smack the hell out of her was strong, so strong that I had to take a few deep breaths to keep calm.‘Zeke interviewed Tessa. He just left, so you might run into him.’ I mind-linked Asher, giving him a heads up before he found out some other way.Asher’s disappointment trickled down the bond, mixed with his concern for Zeke.‘She didn’t tell him anything, did she?’‘No, she didn’t. She actually said that she’d prefer torture over having to talk to him.’ I scoffed, glaring
Not only did I avoid visiting Tessa for the next three days, but I also made it a point not to think of her or what she knew.I stumbled back into my routine even though everything felt off kilter. Chris made warrior training worth it, but my heart was no longer invested in my magical studies. There was only one thing I was fixated on, and that was dark magic.The one and only time I used it was almost enough for it to corrupt me. There was nothing more terrifying than feeling the sickening euphoria of ultimate power, and ultimate evil. I wanted to learn everything I could so I could make sure it never happened again.There was just one problem.Since only a handful of witches successfully pulled from that kind of power, there wasn’t exactly any information on it. There were a few vague descriptions, but nothing going into detail on how or why those witches did what they did.I voiced my frustration to Asher every spare chance I had, along with the absolute terror I felt when I looked
I was so unfathomably tired of death.The pale rider and I knew each other intimately. We were partners in a dance I no longer remembered the movements for, one I wished would end already but knew never would.There were so many fallen wolves. So many families to contact, so many devastating blows to land.Just as many, if not more, witches littered the ground.They had friends, I’m sure. Families that would wonder where they were or if they were ever coming back. They would be mourned by someone, somewhere.It had taken me months to no longer have nightmares of my father’s severed head tumbling from his shoulders, rolling across the ground in a sea of blood. Every time I escaped the pull of a nightmare, a new one sprouted in its place, brought on by all of the death and carnage.Even now, after all these months, I couldn’t even look at grass without seeing flashes of it covered in blood.I kept to Asher’s side, shifting between human and wolf as I killed in both forms. Each life I to
We left that day for the safe haven, not bothering to pack or say goodbye to our families.It didn’t matter that I was on the verge of passing out, not when the place we promised would remain safe had been attacked. There was no more time to wait. I needed to use my magic to protect them, and I needed to do it now.Asher gave me enough of his blood to keep me standing up right. The only pit stop we made before peeling out of town was to pick up Tristan and Giovanni. Now that the sun was finally setting, they could safely leave the house.I cried out with relief when Giovanni passed two blood bags into my hands and quickly tore into them. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to be.We were just under a mile away and already I could tell something had happened. Smoke lingered in the air, crisp and heavy like someone had started a very large bonfire. Even coasting down the main road, the gouges in the forest were visible. Trees were knocked down and bushes trampled into the dirt. I
I floated suspended in this blissful darkness for what felt like hours. Nothing could touch me here. Not the weight of exhaustion pulling me down or the agony squeezing at my muscles and bones.It was a reprieve, but one thing about reprieves is that they never last too long.At first, it started in small flashes. An explosion of light here and there, a flicker of pain, a whisper of voices just outside my minds reach.Eventually, those flashes became longer and more drawn out. The light became blinding, tinted with colors and shapes that moved. Voices took form, names flashing in my memory as I began to recognize them.Each time I gathered the strength to open my eyes, it was sucked away by some intangible force. With each sensation that returned, my least favorite was my dry throat.I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open for long enough to drink anything, but what I wanted most was some damn blood. A few times I swore I saw the outline of Asher’s face, always hovering over me, silently
Midnight, that was when Rowena would start the spell that would crack open Tessa’s mind and unleash her innermost thoughts.There were risks involved, serious risks.For one, Zeke could go insane. His own subconscious shredded in an attempt to reach Tessa’s. Two, what Tessa said earlier could be right.What if doing the spell doesn’t matter? What if the witches are already here?We had all day to kill, and I was seriously not looking forward to it. Well, that was until Asher said he had something planned for us, something we needed to do.“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going, are you?” I grumbled; my voice disgruntled even though my insides were twisting with excitement.Asher’s laugh was low and smooth, rumbling in his chest. It tickled the spot in between my shoulder blades, right where his body met my back. Thanks to the blindfold he tied around my face, all I could see was red, scraggly fabric. He’d put it on right after we stopped by his parent’s house and made me keep
There’s nothing soft about the way his lips claim mine. His kisses embody who he is down to his core. They’re all consuming, a raging inferno that devours and destroys everything it touches. The way his hand rises to snare my throat claiming everything, even the air I breathe, as his own.My body ached, throbbing with the desperate need to be filled, to be as close to our mate as humanly possible.“Asher, you’re killing me. I can’t wait any longer.” I whimpered, lifting my hips until the firmness of his cock rubbed against my opening, grinding into the little bundle of nerves that had me seeing stars. “Please…please fuck me.”With one last resounding snarl, Asher complied.The lake, the beach, even the gorgeous waterfall in the distance faded into nothingness. We could’ve been in a piss poor tent in the middle of the woods, and it wouldn’t have mattered. Every touch dragged me further into his depths, while every seductive word he whispered pulled me under, the currents so strong that