Malachi and I stopped in front of the den. I had woken Malachi after James’ phone call. We walked inside the den and went down to the basement. James had only said that he needed help at the den and that it was urgent.“Damn it!” Malachi said as he walked into the cordoned off area of the basement and saw Dave’s body on the rack, his intestines lying on the floor beneath him. James was shielding Shoran from Dave’s body with his own.“James…” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “What the hell happened here?” Malachi asked angrily. He took in the scene in front of him. The knife rolls were still open on the steel bed, the pooling blood beneath the rack and the blood on the floor of the cell all pointed to torture.“I killed him,” Shoran said to Malachi.Malachi turned toward her, shocked. “You killed him?” Shoran nodded and Malachi shook his head. “Upstairs, all of you.”We obeyed instantly and hurried up the stairs to the informal meeting area of the den. James and Shoran had a lot
“We’ll need bricks or rocks to weigh the bags down,” Malachi said.I gathered a few of the biggest stones I could find and placed them in the bags. Malachi seemed so calm and while my heart was thudding against my ribs, I still felt like I was composed.“Don’t think about it too much,” Malachi said as he opened a tap on the outside of the den and washed his hands.“I’m trying not to, but the fact that Shoran did this…it just kind of amazes me that she’s handling it so well.”Malachi smiled as I washed my hands as well and leaned against the den’s wall. “Shoran’s stronger than people give her credit for. The fact that she came back and exacted her revenge tells me that she’ll be okay. What happened to her won’t rule her life and she won’t wallow in misery forever. It’s easy to keep lying when the odds are against you, but she won’t.”“I saw it in her eyes tonight. She won’t give up and that just makes me respect her more, but this is going to get messy, Dad. Ramos won’t stay quiet abou
Ramos and Juniper slept late the following morning. The house was quiet, and Ramos wondered if Dave was still asleep. He woke Juniper up and she went downstairs to make coffee.Ramos took his time showering and shaving. He felt rested and this morning they would sit around the table and come up with the perfect plan to get Adara to come to them. After today, all their problems would be solved. He and Juniper would live the life they had always deserved.Dave’s bedroom door was still closed when he passed it in the hallway. He whistled softly as he went downstairs. He found Juniper in front of the stove, frying eggs and bacon. He hugged her from behind and she laughed as she pushed him away.He had to admit though, life was so much better with Adara not in it. Juniper was more caring; she did things in the house and the sex was the best it had been in years. Ramos sat down at the table in the kitchen and gulped down his coffee.“Have you seen Dave yet?” He asked Juniper.She shook her
The sun crept through the window and I woke up feeling tired. I turned and looked at the empty space in my bed. The night Adara had gotten into bed with me, was the only night she had done so. Although it had only happened that one time, I missed it.I looked at my watch and realized I had to get up and get to the hotel. I hurriedly showered and got dressed. I took the stairs two at a time and found everyone in the kitchen.“Morning!” I said and rushed out of the door and into my Jeep. I drove to the hotel and asked Lina for a cup of coffee. I had been at the hotel more often and the staff was getting more used to my presence there.I saw this as work and dressed accordingly. I wore neat slacks, a buttoned shirt and dress shoes, but I drew the line at wearing a tie. The first of the pack members would start to arrive soon and I wanted to welcome each one personally, especially as their future Alpha.For ceremonial purposes, Malachi always invited the male members to stay in the VIP su
Adara didn’t have to wait long for Karani and soon they left the house and drove to Sterling. Adara sang along to the radio softly and Karani felt immensely proud of how far she’d come. She was going to be a great wolf. She couldn’t wait to find out what Adara’s powers were. She wanted to help her harness them, use them for good and help her perfect it.“Was Sarah Kiran’s girlfriend?” Adara asked out of the blue.“How do you know about Sarah?” Karani asked, shocked to hear the name again. So many things had happened that it felt like such a long time ago.“We drove past her funeral the day we moved here,” Adara answered.“Why do you think she was Kiran’s girlfriend?” Karani asked carefully.“Those were the rumors at school, that she killed herself because he dumped her,” Adara answered.“What?” Karani exclaimed. Kiran had never said a word about it.“Was she a wolf too?” Adara asked. Karani knew that she would have to tell Adara the truth about Sarah.“Sarah was human. Kiran should ha
They drove in silence for about ten minutes before Karani cleared her throat and glanced at Adara. “Maybe I can explain it a bit better. If you see it from our point of view, maybe you will understand it better.”Adara sat up straighter and turned to look at Karani. She always seemed so in control of everything. Nothing seemed daunting when Karani was there, everything felt easy and peaceful.“The very first time I saw you, it was awful. You were so pale and thin and you had these bluish circles under your eyes that I thought was malnutrition. My heart broke just looking at you, sitting there in my kitchen and trying to lie your way out of our house.”Adara blushed with shame as she thought back to how she had looked in those days and thought herself invisible. She had honestly believed that she looked presentable. She knew better now.“That is why Kiran was so rude to you at first. Your scent was a mixture of human but not quite, and something odd, something he couldn’t place, but hi
Karani parked her car at the den and Adara followed her inside. The den was illuminated by hundreds of candles and the women stood in a circle. They opened the circle as Karani stepped forward.Shoran took her place among the women in the circle and Adara stood there, feeling very awkward and self-conscious.Karani took her hand and walked to the fireplace where the flames leapt and danced. The women closed the circle around the fireplace. Everybody wore white and Adara felt strangely out of place in her jeans and jacket.“Take off your clothes,” Karani said and Adara complied without question. She stood only in her underwear in the middle of the circle, yet strangely enough, she felt at peace.The women stepped forward and started washing Adara’s body. She closed her eyes and she could feel something in the air.“This is to signify your cleansing for your resurrection tonight. Your soul will be cleansed when you shift and now, we cleanse your body,” Karani said softly as she watched
I walked out onto the patio and looked out over the garden. I was satisfied with everything we had done. It looked perfect, but I was sure Karani would change a few things. She always did. I looked up at Adara’s window and Shoran looked down at me, grinned, and closed the curtains. I laughed and went to find James.He was moving tables as Karani stood behind the kitchen island giving instructions. She saw me and instantly put me to work.“No, move it more to the left, a little bit more. There, perfect,” she said as we moved another table. James and I looked at each other and started laughing loudly.“What’s so funny?” Karani demanded to know.“Mom, everything is perfect,” I said to her and she frowned at me.“I will say when everything is perfect,” she replied and looked around the room. It looked spectacular. Everything was in its place. “Okay, now everything is perfect. Go, get ready! The guests will start arriving in an hour.”We stood in the middle of the tables and started to lau