AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“In the last few months,” Chase says, stepping into the light of the fires with Ruby at his side. They’re the very picture of a power couple, their strength mirrored and enhanced by their mate. “There have been reports of humans going missing, the police are up in arms. They’re talking about calling in the feds. We have to stop this, eliminate this threat, before we’re exposed to humans like nothing we’ve ever faced before.”
“We’ve hidden our existence from most humans,” Cole continues. “But with these men and women, we won’t be able to hide. They’ll discover who and what we are, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to protect all of you from exposure and possible capture.”
Gasps ripple all around, mothers clutch their children, men flex their muscles and crack their necks, ready for battle.
“If we work together, I know we can find whoever is responsible for these atrocities,” Ryder says, stepping forward, and pointing at all the men and women in the crowd. “We have to put aside our differences, come together, let no wolf walk alone. Let no pup go unwatched. No creature can move in the shadows if we all illuminate the night!”
Cheers rise, both packs together, and then Ryder’s eyes fall on me. I freeze, my heart stopping, and Jax’s arms tighten around me protectively.
“Not all news is dire,” Ryder continues. He walks towards me and takes my hands in his. With a warning look to Jax, my man releases me, and I feel lost as his arms leave me and Ryder draws me towards the fire. “My father, our late Alpha, has given us one final gift. The gift of life, the gift of a sister. May she show that his wrongs were not just meaningless harm. Cricket has been sent to us for a reason, and I truly believe the strength of the pack will hold her up and keep her strong as we try to find a way to heal her.”
Curious eyes fall on me, some filled with pity and others filled with sadness. I have no doubt they all know I’m sick. Word would travel fast in a town primarily made of wolves.
I’m about to step away when Cole walks up to me and lays his hands on my shoulders as Ryder holds my hands. Each Alpha pulls on me, each pack trying to lay claim, and I suddenly feel as if they’re about to tear me in two.
“She’s my sister,” Ryder says, his voice low and menacing. His eyes shift dangerously as Jax walks up behind us.
“You heard the Luna, Ryder, they are mates.” There’s an air of victory in Cole’s voice, a cocky declaration that he’s the winner, and unlike Ryder he doesn’t lower his voice. “I had to relinquish my pack’s future Luna, handing her to her mate with the trust that she’d be kept safe. Are you saying Silver Dawn will not do the same for your sister?”
Ryder bristles, lip curling to bare lengthening teeth, but Rachel’s hand grips his forearm and slowly his fingers release my hands and he takes a step back. Rachel won’t look up, won’t make eye contact with Cole, but she speaks, and as she does Cole’s hands feel as still as a statue on my shoulders. I’m not even sure he’s breathing.
“The difference is you had a lifetime with your sister, whereas we discovered Cricket less than twenty-four hours ago,” she says, her voice quite but strong. “I beg your understanding, Alpha, we will not stand in the way of fate. We just want to know her before we lose her.”
“She comes home with me!” Jax growls menacingly, his body slipping between Cole and me.
I’m ignited with fire as he touches me, all worries and concerns for what's happening around me disappear. His cock hardens on my lower back. We need to mate, we need to complete this bond. I feel it in my soul.
“Over my dead body…” Ryder snarls.
Both Alphas are nose to nose in seconds. Both growling, fingers extending with claws as they fight the shift they want to embrace.
Scarlett’s voice rises, a crescendo like nothing anyone has ever heard before, and all eyes turn to her. The air seems to shimmer around her, ghostly hands stroking up her arms as she raises them to the moon. There’s something holding her, someone guiding her, someone singing through her voice. Her eyes are closed as she sings, but when she opens them, they’re only white.
“My children, you must stop.” A man and a woman’s voice speak as one, coming from Scarlett like a vessel. “Lay down your differences, let mates be true to their souls. He is coming. He is coming…” Scarlett falls to her knees, the ghostly glow around her swirling up into the air and dissipating like mist.
As the presence goes, the fire goes out with it. Everyone in the clearing is stock still, and I watch chills flow through everyone like an invisible flow of energy. When it hits me, I’m hot and cold at the same time.
“The ancestors speak,” Cole says reverently.
Slowly every wolf begins to leave the clearing as if dismissed. Ryder looks at the moon as if inebriated, stumbling in shock, and Cole, too, looks as if he’s been scolded by a god.
“The ancestors speak…” Ryder says quietly, and turns sorrowful eyes to me. “I will not stand in the way of destiny.”
He angles away from me then, pulling Rachel behind him. She turns to me and mouths ‘you’ll be okay’ before they disappear into the darkness behind the cars.
Before I know it, Jax and I are the only ones in the clearing. All vehicles have gone, including Cole’s, and we’re alone with nothing but the moonlight and the smoldering embers to light the dark forest around us. Jax holds me in the stillness, both of us vibrating with the reverberation of the magic we just witnessed.
“What was that?” I ask breathlessly.
Jax presses his cheek to mine and the new growth of his beard rubs against my soft flesh. The feeling is somehow incredibly erotic, and when I feel his breath on my ear, the fire in front of us reignites just as my core burns with need.
“Raina and Cassius have blessed our union…” Jax says quietly, unsurprised by the resurgence of the raging fire.
His searching hands find the hem of my dress. It’s time. We’re alone, there’s no one to stop us. I don’t know who Raina and Cassius are, but they stopped the impending battle with nothing but words. I thank them with everything in me.
Slowly, Jax lowers us to our knees. I know this position, I know what he wants, and I’m ready. I put my hands on the ground and press my rear to his belt buckle, exposing my body and being the willing partner men have always wanted me to be.
I bite my bottom lip and moan. “Take me, I’m yours. I’ll do whatever you ask…”
