Lottie’s POV Gabe has been so attentive since I told him everything at his spot near the river. I think he feels bad for ignoring me for so long. When I asked if he was going to reject me, the look of pain on his face told me everything I needed to know. He never intended to hurt me, I know that now. He has spent months knowing that I am his mate, and he has lived with the pain of keeping it a secret that whole time. I can’t even begin to imagine the strength it must have taken to come and wave me off when I set sail for the Islands. He stayed right at the edge of the group, which I thought was weird at the time, but I was preoccupied with Witney and trying not to give away that I knew everything she had done. After Rosaline broke the hold the vampyre had on Witney, she decided to remain with the Island pack for a little while. She was too ashamed of what her actions led to, and the pain they had caused, to return. I tried to tell her that everyone would understand, but she wasn’t h

Imelda’s POVMy gifts are unique, even among my kind. We have folktales and oral lore, which speak of only a single deathless witch ever existing at any one time in history. When I first learned what I could do, I was young and without guidance. My mother had just passed away and I was too overcome with grief and anger to listen to what I was being told.I’m ashamed to admit I tried to end my time here, all I wanted was to see her again. I needed to know why. She wouldn’t come to me in any from. I tried calling for her, I scried, spent weeks in the astral planes searching, hoping she would come to me, but nothing.After drinking the Nerium tea, I had a momentary lapse of conviction. When I woke in the stone circle my sister witches had laid me in for protection, I was relieved to have somehow survived. I knew what my mother was, that is why I felt so betrayed. A deathless witch has to choose to die. She chose to leave me. I can’t accept that she acted without reason, so I learned to l

Lottie’s POV Gabe’s arms cage me, one thick, veined bicep bulges either side of my head. His forearms depress the plump feather pillow as he holds my head in his hands, and his eyes stare into mine with a longing I feel in my heart. I have heard stories about sealing the bond, how mates mark each other, it’s all any of my friends talked about last year, in the lead up to our sacred days. They shared tales they had heard from older siblings or the she-wolves in the pack with lose morals or unsheltered history. There are only a few girls born into the pack in each generation, so naturally we are all quite close, and every one of us had hope that we would find our fated mates. We knew chances were slim. The pack protects us girls more fiercely than anything, especially after girls from packs close to Pine Lake started going missing. Gabe is sweet and tender and takes his time. I know about him too, and what the men get up to when they are off pack land. I’m not as blind to everything t

Lottie’s POVI don’t mind being in a cave with no idea how I got here. I don’t even care that the floor is littered with bones and animal horns. The thing that bothers me most right now, is that I am one hundred percent butt naked.The only way this could have happened, that I know of, is if I misted. But that can’t be the case, my dragon is bound, and I’m not strong enough to use my magic to mist. Fire is easy because my mother was a Pyro. Controlling fire is in my magical genes, and that gave me a massive advantage when it came to learning how to summon Fire.‘I was bound, but no longer am.’ A feminine voice speaks.“Who’s there?” I spin on the spot, my eyes searching every crevice of the dark, rocky dome. The ceiling must be at least fifty feet high and it sends my voice bouncing back to me.‘I’m in here, not out there.’ The woman sounds amused but possibly a little crazy. I’m looking in here, and I see no one.‘Not the room Lottie. You. I’m inside you. My name is Naivleen, I have

Liberty’s POV ‘Trust your gut Liberty.’ Justice repeats the same words she always tells me when I start to doubt myself. I was hoping she would tell me it’s all in my imagination, or have an example of why my theory is way off base.“I’m trying, but if I’m right… the danger to the pack doesn’t bear thinking about.” My body quivers at the thought. The rebellion would foam at the mouth if they knew about Lottie and Arly, and if I’m right about this, the target over Pine Lake will only grow.‘She has been here for years, undetected and unharmed, there is no reason that would change just because you know.’ Justice, ever the voice of reason, tries to put my mind at rest. I have had my suspicions about the pack as whole, ever since we met Marcel. When the Old guard and Elite warriors shifted to follow me into the woods, there was something about them, their wolves had auras that were similar but different. I know, it doesn’t make any sense, I couldn’t wrap my head around it at first. Hones