I’m off the sidewalk that follows the main road around the hospital and cutting through the grass behind toward the trees. Every step getting faster and faster until I’m no longer walking but full on sprinting toward the forest. I won’t stop. I can’t. Goddess, why did you do this to me? Why am I being tortured for something I didn’t do? I want to curse the heavens and the moon itself. Why am I Makayla Pride, daughter of Nemora? Why couldn’t I have been Quinn Iverson? Or Annabelle Lucas? Or any one of the beautiful girls of River Crest who were loved by their parents and cherished by their pack? I break through the tree line and the dense canopy overhead blocks the sun. I’m still running, legs pumping furiously as I charge toward the unknown. But I can breathe a little easier. Or so I thought. My chest burns with every painful breath and my throat aches the deeper into the woods I go. Pulling the stranger’s hoodie from around me, I throw it into the bushes as I retreat farthe
“Why isn’t she improving?!”“It’s not that simple, Rafael... Her injuries... when you brought her to us, she was half dead!”“It’s been two weeks, Juniper. Wolves in far worse conditions have bounced back in half as much time!”I know this furious voice. My mate. He sounds so far away, but it’s no doubt his warmth beside me, radiating through my body.“Did someone dare sabotage her recovery?! Is that why she ran into the woods in this condition?!”I can tell he’s fighting hard to control himself; every word is growled through grit teeth. His aura is staggering, and it’s hard to breathe even while I’m unconscious and not on the receiving end. I don’t know how Dr. Juniper is still standing, let alone speaking back to him.“Rafael, please. No one has been allowed into her room besides me, the nurses, Christobel, Thane, and you,” Dr. Juniper sighs. “Let’s think rationally for just a moment. I know she’s your mate. I know you love her and are concerned. But the truth of the matter is, your
My mate, Rafael Crane, is a madman. That is the sad, ugly truth.I don’t know if he was always insane or if it is the result of our mate bond. But what I do know is this man is unwell psychologically. Well, that’s a bit of an unfair exaggeration. But what else am I supposed to think?He hasn’t left my side for two days. I can’t even go to the bathroom without him tailing me and standing outside the door. He watches my every move like he’s studying some mystifying, unknown creature. And when he’s here in the hospital room with me, he refuses to be further than six inches away from me. That’s if I can get him to let me go.I know it’s my fault he’s behaving like this.All of the running and pushing away has probably driven him crazy. One minute, I’m in his arms, feeling nothing short of the grace of the Goddess and the light of eternity. The next minute, I’m telling him we can’t work or outright pushing him back. I’d be insane, too, if my mate was acting like me.Still, this is too far.
Thane stands firm, unfazed by Rafael’s objection to being forcefully removed from my side. The growl that shook me to my core, he simply shrugs off as he shoves Rafe toward the door. That’s the last upper hand Thane gets.Rafe plants his feet and roots himself in place, refusing to budge even as Thane shoves his shoulder roughly.“Come on, kid. Move it,” Thane grunts, toe-to-toe with the younger man.Rafe’s scent shifts, and I smell Reign rising to the surface. His golden eyes flicker for a moment, and the hair on the back of my neck bristles. Milla wants to surge forward and wrap around him. As hard as I’m wrestling to control and contain her, I can’t imagine how difficult it is for Rafe to keep his wolf in check.“I know you’re worried about her, and I can understand you don’t want to leave her side—”“You understand nothing, Thane,” Reign growls, taking over Rafe’s voice. “You have no mate. You know nothing.”“Reign, calm yourself,” Thane sighs. I don’t understand how he can keep a
Christobel’s question comes out of nowhere. A walk? Me? Am I even allowed to leave the hospital room after the stunt I pulled? I’m sure Rafe had a pointed conversation with Dr. Juniper. No doubt, I’m under constant surveillance now. I’ll be lucky to get two steps out of the door before guards are on my ass. And she’s asking me if I want to go for a walk?I almost laugh at the suggestion until I see she is dead serious.“A walk?”“Mmhm.” Christobel beams, pulling me up to my feet. “I think a little fresh air is just the thing to help you recover.”“I don’t know if I—”“Don’t worry about Rafe. I’ll let him know what’s happening through the mind link. He’ll have no problem as long as I’m your chaperone.”Did she just read my mind? And chaperone? It really is like I’m under house arrest. Now, I have to have a chaperone to walk around. The whole situation is crazy enough to be comical.To think, Makayla Pride, the outcast of River Crest, is so highly valued and protected that she’s not eve
I smelled him coming a mile away.My father only ever comes to see me when he reeks of cheap whiskey and rage. He needs a target to attack and someone to blame for all the various misfortunes of his life. I'm guilty of only having been born to the bitter tyrant.I press my face against the dingy wallpaper inside my run-down trailer tucked away in a corner. My heart pounds with an all too familiar dread, despite having endured this scene many times in my life. It's all burned into my body, like muscle memory.The sound of his heavy footsteps echoes outside with the uneven crunch of gravel under Deadrick Pride's stumbling gait. He's here for me, fueled by the liquor that consumes his inhibitions and ignites his rage.The trailer, my paper-thin sanctuary, closes in around me. Its walls, worn and rusted, bear the scars of countless altercations. The only physical evidence remaining of the many wounds inflicted by my father, my family, my pack. The half-broken windows allow slivers of moon
"Get up, bitch." Wesley sneers down at me, his voice dripping with venom. "Or do you need more time to finish crying to mommy dearest?" His words sting, but I'm used to them, along with his slaps, his kicks, his punches. His words are probably his weakest weapon, but that doesn't stop them from stirring something wounded within me. I pick myself up and get on my feet despite my aching, tense abdomen. I know the drill and keep my eyes lowered. Grit and bear it. That's all I have to do. Just grit my teeth and bear it. "Not much of a mother, though," he sniffs, circling me and her grave. "Took the first chance she could to leave you behind. I guess that's where you get that coward streak from." Wesley Wrest knows just what to say to cut me deep. He's had years of practice. Of course every insult and barb is carefully calculated to prick at my raw nerves. He also knows that I can't do anything against him. As the future Alpha of River Crest, he's already got more power than he knows w
If I were anyone else, I might have believed him. Might have believed he'd be gentle and let me go after and never bother me again. If I were someone else, I'd be stupid enough to see this as a chance to change my fortunes in River Crest. Maybe get into the future Alpha's good graces. But I'm not someone else. I'm Makayla Pride. I know there's nothing I could ever do to be free from this nightmarish hell. I know Wesley, Quinn, Russel, and the other three hiding out in the woods waiting for orders will never let me go unscathed. Even if I beg like he wants and give him my body. And because I am me, I know what's coming next. All I can do is relax and wait for it to pass. "You'll never get another chance like this, Pride." His thumb traces my bottom lip, and that flicker of insanity sparks in his eyes. His composure is cracking. "Beg me, and I'll make you feel like heaven." "Stop wasting your time on her, Wes. She's not worth it," Quinn snaps, crossing her arms over her chest like