Chapter Twenty-One: Come Back to Me

“Now that you’re doneeee. It’s time for candy!” Ryan exclaimed excitedly, picking up our plates and tossing them into the sink with a clatter. “I’ll wash them later…or buy you new ones.”

Smiling gently, I watched as he raced around the kitchen searching for the colorful packages he had bought at the store. Snatching them up off the counter, he came racing back before ripping them open and spilling their contents all over the island. Picking up one of the pieces, I inspected the brown wrapper and gave it a quick sniff. Chocolate and peanut butter. The next one was in a bigger package that smelled sour and fruity followed by another that was sweet. All of them had that faint chemical smell clinging to them like most human food did.

He opened up one of the brown ones and handed me a chocolate cup, “A buttercup for my Buttercup.”

Laughing at his words, I felt a pang in my chest because I knew I’d have to cut our time short soon. Taking the sweet treat from his fingers, I pulled the black paper away from it and took a small bite. Flavor bursted over my taste buds, chocolate and peanut butter combining in the most delicious way. And I couldn’t even taste the chemicals I had smelled earlier.

Ryan bounced lightly in his chair, “Well? What do you think?”

“So, this is what you’ve nicknamed me after.” I remarked, glancing at the treat.

“Yea, you like it?” His body was tense as if he truly wanted me to enjoy it.

I placed the rest of the sweet on the table, “It’s delicious. I didn’t think I’d like it but I do.”

“I knew you would.”

He went to open up a different piece of candy but I placed a hand over his, “Total honesty time.”

“I take it you’re finally ready to tell me about what happened earlier.”

My lips twitched, I should’ve known he’d see right through my lies, “I’m going to the Lunar Soldiers tonight.”

Ryan’s expression fell, “What, no. We still have a week.”

“We did but there was a male hidden in the forest by the store today. They’re done waiting for me, I have until midnight to meet them.”

“And you’re just going to go? Ignore them like you did before. We haven’t even finished talking about giving you a watcher. You can’t, I won’t know where to find you if something goes wrong. It’s too dangerous.” He pleaded, shaking his head in disbelief.

Flipping his hand over, I laced our fingers together, “They had a little girl, Ryan. A Feral Born pup, they threatened to slit her throat if I don’t go. The male I saw was cured and it was…wrong, Ryan. His eyes were dark red like they’d been dulled somehow. I don’t want to see another of my kind like that. He might have been willing but I know most of us won’t be. I have to go.”

“You think they’d really kill her?”

“I don’t know but I swore to protect her. I have to go now.”

He gave a painful laugh and ran his other hand through his dark locks, “Does it make me an asshole if I said I wish you hadn’t?”

I squeezed his hand, “No.”

“I really don’t want you to go, Kai.”

“You’re acting as if I’m not coming back.” I replied, tilting my head at his heartbroken expression.

He yanked his hand from mine and snarled, “But that’s the truth of it, isn’t it? Your going moon knows where, full of people who want to ‘cure’ you. With the hope that the others of your kind, who are already there, will help you. What if they don’t want help, Kai?” He stood abruptly knocking the stool back and barked harshly, “You’re leaving me! You’re leaving me and the worst part of it is-is that I have no idea if you’ll even come back to me.”

The crack in his voice stole the breath from my lungs as he stared at me accusingly. He was upset, no. He was angry. Angry because he was afraid of losing me. He was convinced I’d die and leave him forever. I didn’t think this was such a big deal to him. Ryan never made it seem like he was truly afraid of me going, he had even supported my decision to Otis. And then suddenly, I’m reminded of how he had told me he was in love with me. He never pressured me to say it back and didn’t press for an explanation on why I hadn’t. He’s never asked me for anything I couldn’t give and gave me time to come to terms with how I felt about him. He never tried to control me or dictate what I could and couldn’t do. All he had ever wanted was me and he never wavered at my cold words or hesitance. So of course, he wasn’t going to tell me not to go or about how terrified he was about letting me go.

Locking eyes with his agonized ones, I slapped a hand down on the island and vaulted over it with ease. Landing a few inches away from him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and swiped my nose across his chin and along his jaw. Releasing a shuddering breath, he placed his hands on my hips and let me nuzzle his neck. Raising up on my toes, I tapped my forehead against his chin and then connected our eyes once again.

Pressing his forehead against mine, Ryan whispered, “I can’t lose you, Kai.” He swallowed roughly, “It would obliterate me.”

Before I could respond, he swooped down and connected our lips passionately. This kiss was different from the others, everything about it was desperate. His grip tightened and pulled me against him like he was trying to absorb me into himself. Tongues tangling, I took a small step back before jumping up to wrap my legs around his waist. Ryan grunted in surprise before growling in approval as his hands moved to my thighs and squeezed. Growling back, I shifted my teeth and nipped at his full bottom lip with a sharp fang drawing blood.

Breaking away for air, he gave a small teary laugh and then a gasp as I lightly bit at his neck. Holding me tight, Ryan stumbled his way into our bedroom before hitting the bedpost and cursing. Pulling back, I laughed as we tumbled onto the bed and landed with a grunt against the mattress. Within seconds, his lips were back on mine with a frenzied intensity that stole whatever breath I had been able to take just a few moments before. Sliding my hands up his sides, I bunched his shirt up and broke our kiss to pull it over his head. Ryan was quick to strip me of my own shirt and sweater once his arms were free.

Lips and fangs clashed together as he frantically tried to draw me into himself. Rough hands roamed quickly, running over smooth skin and curves in an attempt to memorize the feel of me. Ripping my mouth away, I gulped down air in harsh pants as his lips reattached themselves to my neck. The heat between us was scorching but at the first wet splash against the hollow of my throat, everything inside of me went icy. My heart felt like it was sinking deeper into my chest as more tears fell against my skin and his body heaved in silent sobs over mine. Sliding his arms around me, Ryan pulled me tightly against his chest while I wrapped my own around him.

Staying silent because I was unsure of what to stay, I hugged him back just as tight and ran a hand through his soft curls. Lying unmoving beneath him I stared up at the ceiling with burning eyes, letting him cry silently against me because he needed it and I found I needed it too. His fear needed to be released for him to come to terms with me leaving in a few short hours and I rather I was here to comfort him than to leave him with his mind spiraling in fear. Ryan’s head laid against my shoulder until his tears slowed their racing pace down my skin and his body stopped its jerking to tremble softly.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed lying on the bed together, skin to skin clutching at each other like the world was falling down around us. But it felt like only minutes had passed when he shifted us slightly so our feet were no longer hanging off the edge. Air brushed against the tear soaked skin of my arm making me run my hand through his curls once more and brush my other hand over his back in a hopefully soothing motion. Wet sniffling sounds filled the otherwise silent room and had me moving my head over to the side to look at him.

In the few inches that separated our faces, I could still see the wet droplets clinging to his lashes and the trails that they had left behind on his cheeks. Lifting my hand from his back, I cupped his face so I could wipe away his tear streaks with the pad of my thumb. Red rimmed eyes opened slowly to grace me with the view of his chocolate colored orbs that shone like glass due to his tears.

Ryan stared at me for what felt like minutes before he brokenly whispered, “I thought, I had more time…I hadn’t fully realized the risk you were taking to save your kind’s future. We were here in our own bubble and I” He gasped as his eyes welled up again, “I thought maybe, maybe you wouldn’t have to go. That another Feral Born would step up and take your place. It was a distant possibility in my mind, one I didn’t think would actually happen. Foolish, I know. But we were getting closer and living together and-” Another choked breath, “And even after everything that’s happened, it wasn’t real to me. That the moon would be so cruel as to finally bring us together, to finally get you in my arms, and then send you out to fight against people that’d see you cured or…dead. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

With a heavy heart, I wiped away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks and whispered back, “I know. For a while, even I forgot about the evil waiting for me on the other side of the bubble.”

“But you’re still going to leave.”

With burning eyes, I shakily sighed, “Yes. ”

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, “Because you need to save them.”

“Yes.”

“Does it have to be you?” Ryan whispered thickly.

I gave him a sardonic smile and rasped, “It doesn’t. But I’m the only one who’s answering the call.”

Eyes still closed, he gave a heavy sigh, “I’m having a really hard time finding a reason not to be angry and bitter with you for going.”

“That’s okay. You can yell at me when I come back, I promise.” I whispered, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose and ignoring the wetness sliding down my cheek.

His eyelids slid open slowly to reveal eyes that pierced my blended soul, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Kai. Not about this. Don’t.” He clenched his jaw and gritted out with shining eyes, “Don’t do that to me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, love.” The last word slipped from between my lips before I even realized what I had just said. But it was something that’d been building inside of me for a long time, I just hadn’t been able to identify the emotion I held for him until now. I was in love with Ryan Davis. I was in love with this beautiful man who babbled and blushed and who didn’t always make sense to me. I was in love with this man who didn’t mind that I’d never be the type to be overly affectionate or that most of the time I’d be covered in someone else’s blood. I was in love with a man who saw what everyone else called a monster and called me amazing. And I was in love with a man who didn’t need me to break his heart even more by telling him that I was, right before I left on a life risking mission. It wasn’t the right time, I didn’t want him thinking that I said it just because I might die.

So, I kept my discovery to myself and distracted him before my words could register in his mind, “I’ve beaten death before when I didn’t have a real reason to. I can do it again. I’ll come back to you.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed and his jaw unclenched as his hand drifted up to brush the hair away from my neck. Fingers stroked the raised scars with the gentleness of brushing against a still open wound, “You never told anyone what happened.”

“My…father was the ideal Feral Born. He was more animal than man and he wanted me the same way. He used to tell me, ‘Feral borns can be trusted to a certain extent, Kaiya. But all of them, no matter who they are to you, will always be an animal at heart with a survivalist mentality. Remember that. Trust none of us.’ I didn’t realize at the time how seriously I needed to take that lesson.”

Pausing for a moment, I cleared my throat and glanced away, “We were out hunting one day and had just taken down a buck together when I challenged my father for the first bite of the kill. I believed it was time for me to surpass him in rank, I was tired of always having to submit to him. I couldn’t continue doing it, even when my instincts screamed not to. That he was the superior predator. So, I had snapped my fangs and challenged him. We fought viciously for a while and it never occurred to me that he’d turn it into a death match but he did. It’s common in Feral Communities but I was his daughter, I didn’t think he’d do it to me. My father did though and at the first opening he got, he lunged and ripped out my throat.”

Taking a breath, I glanced back at Ryan’s face and caught his enraged expression before looking away again, “The pain was like nothing I had ever experienced before or since. I still remember how it felt to have someone’s fangs shredding apart my throat muscles and skin. After he had ripped out my throat, he shifted back and stood over me as I lay bleeding to death at his feet. He had shook his head and tsked before saying ’Stupid, Stupid, Girl. You took a stupid risk and listened to your feelings when you could have been so much more.’”

Ryan pulled my face back so our eyes could meet and whispered, “That’s why you hate being called that.” He hand brushed over the scars again, “How could he do that to you? ”

“He walked away after. Didn’t even wait to make sure that I was dead, which is always a mistake. Always make sure your prey is dead, Ryan. I survived and tracked him down as my throat healed. It was a little less than a year after that that I had found and challenged him again. It was then that I….tore my father’s head off.” Looking into his now dry eyes, I explained , “I didn’t tell you this for anything other than to show you that, If I can survive that? I can survive whatever the Lunar Soldiers throw at me. I will come back to you and there’s not a damn thing that can stop me.”

He stared with laser-like intensity, eyes swirling, and swiped a thumb across my cheekbone, “Good. Because I don’t think that the world would like who I’d become without you in it.”

I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and decided to lighten the mood, “What was that about being a little unhealthily obsessed with me?”

Ryan huffed out a big breath and then made a show of rolling his eyes, “You’re basically mating your stalker, get over it already. I thought you didn’t live in the past.”

Laughing, I scooted closer to him and tucked myself underneath his chin. He wrapped his arms around me and made a deep rumbling sound in his chest that caused me to laugh again.

“Did you just purr?”

“Wolves don’t purr, Buttercup. Thought you knew that.”

“Thought I did too, until you just did.”

I felt his head shake, “You must have hearing problems because that didn’t happen.”

The notation that I had hearing problems caused me to laugh even louder and move away to look at him.

He pulled me tighter against him and sighed, “Just let me hold you, Buttercup. Before you have to go.”

Ryan’s bittersweet words rang through my head as I laid against him and closed my eyes, completely relaxing into his arms. His chest rose and fell in a hypnotic motion while his fingers ran through my hair. I smirked, noticing that we had completely reversed our positions from earlier. I’d never been held like this before but surprisingly, I found that I enjoyed it. Time seemed to pass slowly in Ryan’s arms but when I peeked my eyes open, the room was completely dark. The sun, that had been in the early stages of going down, was now completely gone. Replaced with the silver rays of the moon that creeped their way into the bedroom. It was time for me to go.

“Ryan.”

“I know.”

We lay there for a minute more before slowly pulling apart and moving in silence. He walked over to the doorway and leaned against it, watching me change like he was looking at me for the last time. It should annoy me that he had so little faith that I’d come back but I knew he was just preparing himself for the worst. It was the fears playing on his mind that caused him to act in such a way. Buttoning up the black cargo pants, I shrugged on a black t-shirt and sat back on the bed to lace up my boots.

Standing, I grabbed a hair tie and pulled my hair back into a tight bun at the base of my neck. Straightening my shoulders, I turned around and walked over to Ryan with determination lining my features. He smiled weakly before grabbing my hand and silently pulling me out onto the front porch. We stood there for a while in silence just looking at each other as the moon shone down on us.

“I think we should mate when I get back.” I said, placing my hands on his chest.

He held my wrists, pushing my hands against him firmly, “I think that’s a great idea.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

Ryan tried to smile again but failed, “Let me come, I’ll follow at a distance.”

I shook my head, “I don’t want anyone from the pack getting mixed up in this. Especially not you.” I don’t know what I’d do if he got hurt, he’d be safer here.

“I knew you’d say that.”

Before I could respond, he gripped my hands tighter and pulled me closer, “Screw waiting, bite me.”

Shocked, I sputtered, “W-What?”

His expression was one of longing and desperate eagerness, “As a promise that you’ll come back and finish it. Bite me so that even if the worst happens you’ll always be with me.”

Raising a hand, I cupped his jaw, “Are you sure?”

Ryan leaned into my hand, exposing the strong column of his throat, “Please, I-I couldn’t imagine if we didn’t and you don’t come back…I can’t..”

“It’ll hurt.” I whispered as I leaned up to reach the middle of his neck.

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Shifting my teeth, I pressed my lips to his skin in a soft kiss before grabbing his shoulder and sinking my fangs deeply into the side of his neck. It wasn’t just my fangs that had to mark his flesh but all of my teeth so I paused for a moment and then sunk the rest into his skin. He gave a low groan and shocked me when he pulled me closer instead of trying to push me away. When I felt something click inside of me I carefully pulled back, trying not to cause him any more pain than I already had. Sinking back onto the flats of my feet, I glanced at the bloody mark that would leave a scar wrapping around the entire left side of his neck starting just below his jaw.

“It might be sore for a while but it’ll scar nicely. The bite also doesn’t work like you may think, we won’t be able to mindlink but we will be able to feel any intense emotions the other is having. That includes death, so you’ll feel it if I die.”

He nodded gazing down at me with more emotions than I could decipher and went to connect our lips when I dodged his attempt. “I have blood in my mouth.”

“And you probably always will.” He stated before crushing our lips together and kissing me deeply.

After we pulled apart, he pressed his forehead to mine, “Kill anyone who gets in your way and come back to me, Buttercup. I love you.”

“Always.” He might not know it yet but I’d always come back to him and I’d always love him. I knew that now, it had just taken me longer to figure it out than most.

Giving him one last kiss, I pulled away and ran full speed down the porch and towards the stream.

———————————————————–

Well, Well, Well, looks like Kai finally understands her feelings. And Ryan! Oh my poor baby, if I’m the only one who’s “allergies” acted up during this chapter then I wrote this all wrong.

You know the drill people, comment or like if you enjoyed something in the chapter!!

Happy Valentines, Verbage💋

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Coup

Ryan’s P.O.V.

Horrific images of what could be happening to Kai bombarded my mind, along with the brain numbing desperation that she’ll fulfil her promise and come back to me. My very last glimpse of her couldn’t be of her running off to fight an evil with no guaranteed back-up. It killed me that I couldn’t go with her but I knew I’d only be a liability to her. Kai’s best chance of coming back to me in one piece was if I stayed completely out of her way and let her do her thing. I was confident she could take care of herself but now with the added responsibility of that little girl, I was terrified that despite her promises she wouldn’t be coming back. Hell, I didn’t even know when she’d come back if she did. We had no idea how far the compound was or how long it’d take to bring it crumbling to the ground.

Anxiety tightened my chest to an almost impossible degree as I paced back and forth along the porch. I planned to wait right here, no matter how long it took for her to come back. I wasn’t going to miss her arrival. I needed to see her as soon as she got back to make sure that she was really with me and okay. Kai would come here first, she’d want to be in her own territory first, especially if she was…injured. Yes, yes. She’d come here first and I’d be the first to see her and make sure she was alright.

A cold breeze whipped across my bare chest and arms causing a shiver to race throughout my body as I paced. The shiver reminded me of my actions earlier and my cheeks heated in embarrassment at the memory. I had crushed her against me, crying into her shoulder out of fear and anger for what she was going to do and she let me. Even when I told her that I was mad at her for going and that I wished she hadn’t promised anything to that little girl. She knew I didn’t really mean it but she had let me vent and didn’t get angry when I spoke harshly to her.

If I was anyone else she would’ve ripped my head clean off, I gave a weak smile at the thought.

So much had happened in just a few short hours that I still hadn’t processed everything she told me. The reason for the scars on her throat and why she had that thing about being called stupid. It was all because of her father and what he did to her. Me, Otis and Candice were so far off the mark that we should’ve known. Kai wasn’t the type of person that cared what other people thought of her and she’d told us that many times. But more importantly, she had finally made me her mate and I couldn’t even fully process that because the fear I felt was all consuming. It blocked out everything that wasn’t about what could happen to her. It’s like my mind was on a never ending loop circling the drain of despair that was my current thought process.

Running a hand through my hair, I tried unsuccessfully to clear my mind and have faith that she’d come back. Breathing deeply, I tried to calm myself by thinking of all the little memories that we had made over the past two months that had come to mean so much to me. Like when Kai had showed me that first little sign of affection in the kitchen or every time she had laughed at my jokes. Really, she was probably just laughing at me and what she called my oddness. But that was okay, because I was completely and hopelessly in love with her. My Buttercup hadn’t said it back to me but I knew she felt the same way, I could feel it through the bond. Maybe not as obsessively as me but she did in her own way and I had heard her call me love earlier. It almost sent me back into a sobbing mess and I was extremely grateful she hadn’t said the actual words. My poor heart wouldn’t have been able to handle it especially if she had tried to leave after. I’d probably try to physically stop her from leaving which would’ve just ended up with me getting hurt.

Despite the direction my thought’s had taken, I actually felt my heart rate dramatically decrease from the ‘you’re gonna have a heart attack’ pace it had been in for the past thirty minutes. The only downside to calming down was that Slader could now make himself heard.

Go. Mate. Help.

Releasing a long breath, I turned to pace the other side of the porch. You know we can’t.

Why?

Because, Slader. We’re the weaker mate.

He snarled sharply, We protect Kai. She ours. Us capable.

Against threats of our own kind, yes. But we’ll get her killed if we go.

No understand. Fight with mate. Always.

The porch railing exploded underneath my fist in a shower of wood chips before I shouted at him, Don’t you think I want to! We can’t, Slader! We aren’t strong enough! Not against pissed off Feral Borns. She was right, they’d try to kill us and she’d only put herself at more risk by trying to save us! This isn’t a fucking game! It’s real life! The only thing we can do to help her now is to stay here, so her focus isn’t divided. I will not let my pride be the reason our mate dies.

My chest heaved in aggravation to his naïve words, I hadn’t meant to yell at him but he needed to understand what would happen if we went. I wasn’t above accepting that I wasn’t capable of handling this fight, I’d be a liability to her. It hurt to hear but I wasn’t going to go run off like some dumbass and cause more trouble by trying to help. I’d apologize to Slader later but sometimes my inner wolf needed tough love.

Die if go? He whimpered.

She could, yes.

Stay here then. We protect…den! We protect den for mate.

I smiled softly at his need to protect her or at the very least something of hers, Yes, we’ll protect her den.

Lifting a hand, I scratched at my shoulder only to immediately stop when I felt my claws rip through my flesh. Fuck, that hurt. Pushing my now burning shoulder forward a little so I can see the damage, I sighed at the sight of three bloody scratch marks below my collarbone. The fresh blood mingled with the dried blood lines running down my chest from Kai’s bite. And it was just my luck that Otis came trudging out of the woods towards me. With no time to hide the blood or the broken banister, I just stood there waiting for him to reach me.

His apologetic look slid into one of concern as he took in the blood seeping down my chest and the broken railing, “What the fuck happened? Did you guys get into a fight?”

I gave a miserable laugh, “I wish.”

“What?”

Rubbing a hand over my head, I gave an unamused huff when I realized that everything had happened so fast that no one else knew she was gone. Feeling my eyes burn once again, I shuffled over to the bench on the other side of the porch and plopped down onto it.

Staring out at the moon, I replied, “She went to the Lunar Soldiers. They threatened a pup’s life if she didn’t go by midnight.”

“Alone?”

“Yup.”

“Why wasn’t I told immediately? You should have said something as soon as she mentioned the threat!” Shaking his head, Otis stomped up the porch steps to me,“Goddamn it, Ryan. You are the Beta of this pack! Start acting like it!”

I scoffed in disbelief, “I’m so sorry, Alpha. I’m so sorry, I didn’t tell you the love of my life left to go on a suicide mission the second she mentioned it. I was too busy trying to come up with ways to stop her and thinking about how she might not even come back at all. I was too busy wallowing in self loathing at how I can literally do nothing but wait for her to come back or for news of her death. But no, yea. I’ll get right on it next time.”

Otis froze in complete shock at my words. I don’t think he had ever seen me in such a bitter mood nor have I ever spoken to him in such a hateful way. I couldn’t help it, I felt like I was a few wrong words from either blowing up or breaking down. I hadn’t lied to Kai when I told her the world wouldn’t like who I’d become without her in it.

Glaring, I watched as Otis leaned back on the unbroken portion of the railing in front of me and hung his head in shame. A brief submission in apology to his Beta, a position I never thought I’d see my proud Alpha in.

“I can’t even imagine how you must feel right now.”

“You don’t want to.”

We fell into a loud silence, both of us just looking up at the moon in all her distant glory. Such a beautiful deity we prayed and lived our lives by, but she could be a cold bitch sometimes. Even thinking the thought was considered a direct sentence to a moonless hell after death. No one wanted to admit it but we all thought about it. She sat up there nestled between the stars baring down on us, watching our lives play out and stayed silent. Her gleaming moonlight graced our skin at night but left us to bear the cruelty of the world beneath her. She hung unmoving in the sky while a faction of her children were mutilated and another group of her children were the ones doing it. It was hard to gaze upon her the same way I usually did when Kai was out there on her own facing the enemy.

Moon, I’ve never asked you for anything but I’m begging you now. Please send my Buttercup help. Someone strong, a force to be reckoned with just like her. Just…please, send her help. She’s strong enough on her own, I know this but I…I just want her back safely. Oh and preferably another female, may your glow be eternal.

The last thing I needed was for Kai to come back in love with some hulk-like male who saved her. Not that I think she’d do that but insecurities had a tendency to play on your fears like a bee on honey. Shaking the shallow thought from my head, I peered up at the moon to see if she’d give any indication that she heard my prayer. My heart fell a little deeper into my chest when she gave nothing away, a star near her brilliance winked as if it heard me and was mocking me for it.

Looking away I shivered as the wind sliced through the air, this time causing the fresh cuts underneath my collarbone to burn. Otis turned his head to look back at me but stopped and snapped his head to the left. Heart racing I shot up in my seat to look in that direction, was it Kai? Had she come back already? Searching the tree line around the property, my senses worked on overdrive trying to catch sight, smell, or sound of her but it quickly became clear that it wasn’t my Buttercup.

Cautiously, I rose to my feet and moved to stand beside Otis who was already snarling at the dark path leading to the pack house. The sound of snow crunching underneath boots echoed from every direction around the cabin, some sounding determined while others sounded hesitant. A few ran at a breakneck speed in our direction and it wasn’t long before they broke through the tree line. Candice, Marcus, Theo, Devin and twenty other warriors sprinted to a stop at the bottom of the porch with hard expressions maring their features.

“Where’s Kai?” Candice demanded.

Otis folded his arms over his chest, “She left for the Lunar Soldiers early. What’s going on? Why’s the entire pack headed here?”

She released one word on a savage snarl, “Jasper.”

Before his name had completely left her mouth, the rest of the pack broke through the clearing and leading the charge was the motherfucker himself. Growling loudly, I watched as my fellow members walked closer with differing expressions on their faces. The ones closest to Jasper had the same angry scowl as him but further away there were looks of confusion, concern and apprehension. Most of them stopped just inside the tree line but Jasper and his group stopped a few feet away from the line of warriors blocking them from the cabin. Dominance, strong and weak filled the clearing while we faced each other in silence.

“What the fuck is this, Jasper?” Otis barked and I didn’t need to look to know that his eyes were swirling.

Jasper spread his arms wide and giggled, “What does it look like cousin?”

“I will not ask again.” His tone was filled with such utter dominance that I watched as a good portion of the shifters hit their knees in submission while others strained to remain standing.

Instead of answering him though, Jasper turned to stare directly at me, “Where’s Kai?”

Snarling, I took a step forward, “You really don’t want to do this today, Jasper. Do not push me.“

He made a ‘all shucks’ gesture, “Damn, she left already didn’t she? I was hoping to challenge her before she went. Eh, looks like I’ll just have to settle for your position until she gets back. Imagine her surprise at coming back and finding your lifeless body. That’s assuming she actually does come back, of course.”

Slader shoved violently up against my mind as my body tensed to the point of pain at his words. How did he know? How did he know she left? Without looking away from Jasper, I opened up the link between me and Otis.

Did you tell Jasper about Kai leaving?

No.

Then how does he know?

“I’ll save you two the trouble of making an educated guess between your pea sized brains. I told the Lunar Soldiers that she wasn’t planning to go willingly. That our Omicron was building an army to take them down and rallying the pack behind her.” Jasper smirked at our expressions, “Yea, I know. They acted faster than I thought too. I really wanted to show that bitch her place before they took her.”

Rage pumped through my veins at his confession, “I’m going to make good on that promise to you, Jasper.” I should’ve known. That day after our fight in the woods I should have gone straight to Otis.

Otis’s growl rang sharply through the clearing, “You planned this? You forced her hand into going alone, why?”

“Why?” Jasper gave an exasperated laugh and then stepped forward, ignoring the warning growls aimed at him. “Because that feral bitch practically runs this pack! Honestly, Otis! You call yourself the Alpha but then share your power with a monster! Or worse a woman! She’s not even your mate! It’s shameful and weak.”

My eyes narrowed in on Jasper as Otis opened his mouth to respond but was cut off, “She was in the way, always thinking she was better than us because of her unnatural abilities. I did you a favor, cousin! Don’t you see! She wasn’t going to be happy with just being the Omicron, eventually she’d challenge you for the Alpha position.”

“Kai has never wanted to be Alpha.” I snapped, vibrating in fury at Jasper’s audacity. He stood there calling her names and accusing her but was too much of a coward to do it when she was here to defend herself.

He gagged, “I don’t believe that for a second. And since she’ll never get out of that compound alive…I’ll just move on to phase two of my plan.” Jasper gestured to the men and women closest to him with a smile, “You see, they’re people in this pack who are disgusted with the fact that Kaiya had held rank to begin with and they don’t want to see you in power anymore. But Otis, they’re willing to give you a second chance since you were such a great Alpha before Kaiya came along. Unfortunately, the rest of the higher ranks need to be refilled.”

The people on the outskirts began murmuring to each other in hushed aggression, moving closer to the cabin before facing Jasper and the others. The pack was officially divided, not equally as more shifters stood with us but at least 30 still stood with Jasper. My mind was more focused on the fact that Jasper was the main reason Kai was currently in danger. He was the reason we didn’t have enough time to put a better plan together.

Slader rushed to the front of my mind, not pushing me aside but sharing in the control of my movements. It felt odd at first, having us occupy the same space, then a rush of power like I had never felt before flooded my body. This wasn’t supposed to be possible, regular shifters weren’t able to pull on their wolf’s strength in their human form.

“That cunt corrupted your Beta and your Gamma’s a woman, Otis. Not to worry though, a simple shift of power needs to be made.”

My breath heaved out in rough exhales as I tried to control the rage building within.

“Kai was right,” Otis spat, “You’re not pack. Family or not, you and your followers die. Tonight.”

The beat of fists pounding against flesh started up as the members on our side began our pre-war ritual. One, we hadn’t used in the seven years since Kai had been with us. Raising a clawed fist, I stood straighter and slammed it against my bare chest with a harsh thump that fell into rhythm with the others.

“I AM PACK!,” Jasper screamed over the thumping with a wild look in his eye. “How dare you! She’s a monster, I’m your cousin. The bitch is probably already lying in a pool of her own blood!”

Otis ignored him, thumping his own chest and snarled, “BARED FANGS!”

Growls exploded throughout the clearing as multiple voices screamed back, “BARED FANGS!“

“RAISED CLAWS!”

“You ungrateful son of a bitch! All of you! I’m trying to help you!”

“RAISED CLAWS!” Bones snapped as some had begun to shift in the adrenaline of the moment. My own body hunched slightly getting ready to shift and if I hadn’t been so consumed by my own rage, I’d notice that it had felt different this time.

“IN THIS WAR IF WE SHALL FALL!”

“IN THIS WAR IF WE SHALL FALL!” I snarled along with the others as we continued to thump our chests. The howls of the shifted singing out among us in the darkness.

“WE’LL MAKE SURE BEFORE WE DIE!” Otis screamed out filled with rage.

“WE MAKE SURE BEFORE WE DIE!” The thunderous roar caused a few of Jasper’s followers to turn and begin running the other way. A murderous rage hung over the field around the cabin so thick it was almost tangible, like something was adding to our bloodlust. Fueling it. And judging by the fevered almost battled crazed howls that followed our screams, I wasn’t the only one who felt it. A flash of shiny blue between the trees caught my attention but Jasper grabbed it back just as quickly. My blood boiled as I locked my gaze on Jasper’s, he’d die tonight by my fangs.

“COME ON THEN! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” Jasper screamed back, the veins in his neck bulging.

“THAT A MOONLESS HELL IS WHERE THEY RESIDE!”

The thumping reached a crescendo and then stopped all together with a collective snap of fangs, “THAT A MOONLESS HELL IS WHERE THEY RESIDE!”

Otis, now in his wolf form, tipped his large head back and released a bone chilling howl of war before leaping off of the porch. Howls echoed out after his before both sides crashed into each other, spilling over the clearing and between the trees. In my shifted form, I release a message through the pack link before jumping into the raging battle below.

Jasper’s mine.

The pack left an almost clear path for me that ended where Jasper was facing off against Otis. As I charged by, their rounded eyes seemed to follow me before quickly going back to the battle at hand. Shaking off their looks I raced towards my prey, taking him by surprise and slamming right into his side. Jasper yipped as his body flew a few feet and crashed directly into another fighting pair. Whipping my head to Otis I snarled dangerously at him, waiting for him to acknowledge my claim on Jasper’s death.

He reared back a bit but nodded his head and followed after me as I sprinted towards Jasper. Raising a large paw, I swiped it across his face before he could fully recover from the first blow. Snarling he shook his head and lunged at me, catching me around the middle as we rolled snapping at each other across the slowly pinkening snow. Otis circled nearby, killing off any of Jaspers followers who thought to come to his aid.

Fangs sinking into the meat of my front leg caused a howl of pain to escape my throat before I jolted forward to catch his lower neck between my jaws. Wrapping my paws around his upper body, I dug my fangs deeper into his neck and began shaking my head to rip into the muscle. He gave a short pain filled howl before driving his own fangs into my shoulder to try and get me to release his throat. Blind to the feeling of fangs shredding my skin, I released him for a second and then snapped up upwards. My fangs latching successfully around the middle of his throat. Using my weight I rolled us until he was underneath me, forcing him to let go of my shoulder or expose more of his throat.

It was then that Kai’s voice seemed to echo through my head, ’Always make sure your prey is dead, Ryan.’

Shaking my head viciously, I was deaf to his howls as I yanked chunk after bloody chunk from his neck. When I reached his trachea I opened wide, crunching down on it and his neck bones. With a blood soaked muzzle, I ripped it out with a sharp toss of my head and spit it out onto the ground beside him. There would be no coming back from this for Jasper. His body slowly morphed back into his bloody human form but his head stayed a few feet away in wolf form.

Shaking from the adrenaline I shifted back into my human form, feeling an odd tightening sensation before my bones snapped. Looking around, I saw that most of Jaspers followers were lying headless in the blood soaked snow but a few still fought for their lives here and there. Kai’s going to be soooo pissed with all of the smells perfuming her territory, I thought with a huff.

A sudden wave of dizziness rocked my body bringing me out of my thoughts and causing me to plant my feet more firmly into the ground.

“…Ryan?” Otis’s hesitant voice had me turning my head slightly to look back at him over my shoulder. Black spots speckled his naked form but didn’t block out his slack jawed expression, “Ryan…your eyes….your eyes their…”

The rest of his sentence was lost to my ears as the ground suddenly rushed upwards and the darkness finally won.

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Guys I really just be out here plot twisting myself at this point, lmao.

Comment or like if you enjoyed this chapter!!!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Twenty-Three: Quick Thinking

When the overwhelming anger coming from the other side of the bond suddenly flickered out, I stumbled for the first time in my life. Pausing, my eyes roamed my surroundings as I checked the bond for any signs of life. It was a tense couple of seconds before my body sagged in relief when I felt the steady pulse of Ryan’s life line through the bond. Thank, Moon. He must’ve worked himself into a rage before someone knocked him out, probably Otis. At least he’ll get some rest while I was-

“Move!” The order was barked with a rough shove to the shoulder causing me to whip around and snarl.

In response, he pressed a button on the small remote he held and an excruciating shock wave traveled throughout my body. Every nerve I had felt as if it was being split in half and then painfully sewn back together. When my muscles finally slowed their spasming, I glared down at the thick silver coated titanium bracelets encircling both of my wrists with a small chain linking them together and the burnt flesh smell coming off of them. I had been with the Lunar Soldier’s for a total of two hours and already I was going to have two new scars, big noticeable ones. Ryan was going to be sooo pissed when I got back.

Tilting my head to the side, I flashed my fangs at the man at fault, “I’m going to enjoy ripping your throat out.”

He tried very hard to suppress the shiver that went through him but I saw and smiled. The nameless soldier went to press the button that would send me spasming once more when the cured male stepped out from between the shadowy trees. Still panting from the pain of being electrocuted, my eyes trailed him as he came to a stop in front of me. Curling my lip, I released a low growl at his smug form and straightened out my spine to stand tall.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” He cooed, looking me over. “Are you ready to transform into what you were always meant to be?”

“I am what I’m meant to be.” I gritted out.

Dull red eyes squinted as his grin widened, “Not yet, you aren’t. Right now, you’re a monster. A rabid beast that needs to be put down or cured. The moon didn’t want us this way, she didn’t want her children to be the things of nightmares.”

“You’ll die moonless for betraying our kind.”

My head snapped to the side from the force of his fist to my jaw but my feet stayed rooted in place. Taking a moment, I tried to access the damage from his hit. No loose teeth or cut cheeks, only a busted lip and a definitely swelling jaw. Lifting my hands, I dabbed at my bloody lip but cut my eyes to the forest as a flash of royal blue slipped around the trees.

“I’m saving our kind. I’m doing the moon’s will.”

Ignoring the odd flash of color, I chuckled as I gathered the blood pooling on my tongue and spit it at his feet, “So the moon…she wants us to be cured?”

His chest heaved in anger, “Of course, she wants us to be cured. To embrace her is to embrace the cure.”

“Then…I pray the moon dies out along with its soldiers.“

His hand struck out to grab my jaw in his clawed fingers but I dropped low and swiped his legs out from underneath him. The traitor hit the snow covered ground with a loud crunch and I was barely standing up when another electric shock ripped though my body. Hunching my shoulders, I tried to breathe through the ongoing pain refusing to allow any sound to escape.

“Come on, let’s get this bitch to The Savior.”

Harsh hands latched onto my elbows and my booted feet dug lines into the snow as I was hauled through the trees and into a wide clearing. Blinking, I forced myself to walk on my own two feet and looked around as we went. We had to have been a good distance from the pack because there was no way I wouldn’t have realized a camp this big was in our backyard.

The Lunar Soldier’s made a bee-line straight for the bleak concrete building with a few window holes where more soldiers looked down on me. Others walked around carrying lanterns as they exited and entered the smaller surrounding huts. These people were functioning like a pack and by the look on their faces, it was obvious I was not welcome here. Growls and snarls rang out behind my back, fading away as we entered the freezing entrance of the main building. Holding me tightly, they led me through the cement hallways and wooden doors until we reached a tall doorway.

“Taking me to your king, then?” I panted out amused. “I thought you only worshipped the moon.”

What I’m assuming was a fist slammed into the back of my head causing my vision to swim for a moment. Damn these handcuffs for making me as weak as a normal wolf. Gritting my teeth, I focused on taking the necessary steps to make sure I wouldn’t fall as the doors were yanked open.

The room was smaller than I thought it would be and extremely bare. A man sat cross-legged on top of the only table in the room, directly across from us as we walked in. Two of the men with me stopped at the entrance to stand guard while the others came to stop with me before the strange male. The man on the table had very pale yellow hair with hazel eyes set in a childish looking face. He didn’t seem much older than I was and a quick sniff confirmed that he was just a regular shifter.

He looked me over before greeting me, “Hello, Kaiya. I was disappointed but not surprised to hear you were building an army to take us out.” An army? He didn’t give me a chance to ask though as he immediately continued speaking, “Your friend Jasper betrayed you. He told me what you were planning. And it’s for these reasons that you’ll be killed instead of cured. The beast within is too intertwined with you, I can see that now.”

Fucking Jasper. “So your, The Savior?” I asked.

He gave a slow smile, “Yes but unfortunately I cannot be yours.”

“You’re different then you were that day in the woods.” I stated, bluntly.

Uncrossing his legs, he let them hang over the edge of the table, “Because the original Savior was an idiot. He was cocky and childish, only truly wanting to exterminate your kind, but me? I actually want to save you. The Moon has spoken to me, it wants its children saved not killed.”

A very uneasy feeling overcame me at his calm and rational tone,“But you’re going to kill me?”

“It has deemed some of you too dangerous to live. You are one of those.” A pale hand rose as he spoke to motion at one of the shifters gripping my arms.

The male holding my left arm released me to reach for the gun at his side that I was willing to belt held silver coated titanium bullets. A sharp kick to the back of my leg had me falling to my knees before The Savior with a hand gripping my shoulder to keep me there.

Raising his hands to the concrete ceiling, The Savior closed his eyes, “As the Moon has deemed you too animalistic to continue to live, a moonless hell shall greet you in death. I hope you take comfort in the fact that others of your kind will continue to be saved. That they will be cured by our efforts. May the Wolf Spirits find a way to forgive you as the Moon never will.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the shifter with the gun take slow steps to stand behind me. A click sounded throughout the room before I felt the barrel of the gun press into the back of my head. My heart sped up at the feel of it, I wasn’t going to keep my promise to Ryan. No. No, I had to. I told him I would. Think. What would Ryan do?……That’s it! It was so obvious I could’ve laughed right then and there.

Acting quickly, I blurted out, “How do you know?”

“What do you mean, Kaiya?” The hand gripping my shoulder tightened as The Savior leaned towards me in interest.

“How do you know the cure won’t work on me?”

The Savior’s brow furrowed slightly, “We’ve tried the cure on your type before it never ends well.”

Seeing his eyes flicker back over my head, I spewed out more words, “Or maybe your methods aren’t working as well as you thought they were if you can’t…can’t save us all.”

The cured male from before had left his post at the doors to look down at me, “We should show her. Let her see how they finally go into the embrace of the Moon. How the future of her kind will look after she’s in hell. Bring her a small piece of comfort by showing her the curing process and its success.”

The Savior looked at him for a long moment before sliding off of the table to stand in front of me, “Let her up.”

Getting me feet underneath me, I felt my fangs pierce the skin of my mouth as I made eye contact with the traitor. His dark red eyes glinted maliciously while watching me struggle to stand. From his look, I knew that whatever he planned to have The Savior show me would bring me anything but comfort.

“Will what Ralph suggested bring you comfort, Kaiya?” The Savior asked.

But I also needed to find a way to get myself thrown into the cells, “Yes.”

“Oh, how exciting!” He clapped his pale hands together. “It’s not everyday we get to show the curing process to someone new. We’ll have to kill you afterwards, of course. But it’s still a high honor to have seen it. I hope you understand just how lucky you are, Kaiya.”

And with that, the two guards at my sides roughly shoved me around to follow The Savior. He was practically skipping as he pushed the doors to the room wide open before making his way down the long hall. Keeping up with the brisk pace my guards had set, I heard the sounds of the other two guards following us from the room. Bare concrete walls made it difficult to keep track of how many turns and doors we had gone though. And I quickly gave up, since the moment I got these cuffs off I’d be able to find my way out by smell.

The backs of the men in front of me were a ruthless taunt at the fact that I wasn’t able to rip into them. With the cuffs on, the four guards they had on me could easily take me down. However when I caught the smile on the traitors face when he looked back, I was more then willing to take the risk. Shoving the rash thought away, I reminded myself that I was here to save a little girl and the rest of my people. I couldn’t waste all of our chances at escape just to dig my fangs into his throat. His time would come soon.

The Savior and the traitor, Ralph, came to stop before the end of the hall and stood beside another set of double doors. These ones looking much thinner than the others with small windows at the top. Coming to a rough stop in front of them, I watched as both males smiled with different intents. My eyes drifted from their faces though, when my ears finally caught on the sounds coming from behind the doors. Howls and muted screams leaked out from between the stained doors and sent a chill racing down my spine.

Pressing a pale hand to the flimsy door, The Savior smiled warmly, “Are you ready to witness the Moon’s work?”

Stomach rolling, I steeled myself in preparation for what I might see behind those doors, “Yes.”

But absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the atrocities taking place in that room.

Urine and fecies burned my nostrils the second the doors were pushed apart. Shoved over the threshold, I squinted against the bright artificial light that blinded me to the room. When they finally adjusted, a long empty concrete hallway met my gaze. Before confusion could set in, the rough hands on my arms jerked me sideways so I could look into the huge rectangular hole in the wall beside me.

“This building used to be a old psychiatric hospital so they had the perfect set up for us. Viewing rooms all lined up next to each other! Lucky us, right?”

The muffled sound of The Savior’s voice reach my ears but nothing registered in my mind. An all over tingling sensation started up as my eyes soaked in the reality of my kinds situation. Small black cages lined the back wall, one stacked up on top of the other all the way to the ceiling. Little faded tables in blue and green sat on the floor beside old toys that had seen better days. Smudges on the thick glass blurred my view but nothing could blur out the twenty sets of bright red eyes in the room. This…this couldn’t be real. They couldn’t…they wouldn’t… not to pups.

Tiny hands and paws pressed up against the bars of their cages while others had their backs to the widow. Some of them hadn’t even shifted into their human forms yet. There were newborns in this room. Little howls released from tiny muzzles as the ones in human form looked back at me unseeing. Their faces were covered in a thick layer of dirt cut through with tears while their clothes were covered in their own filth. Hope lit their faces as they finally recognized the shade of my eyes before their own caught onto the males behind me. That was when their howls for help and cries turned into little snarls and growls filled with raw agression. But it was the ones who whimpered and huddled in the corners of their cages that had my heart squeezing dangerously.

Eyes racing over them all in disbelief, I gave a vicious snarl when I was yanked further down the hall and out of their view.

“You won’t see anything of value standing there all day. Those ones are too young to cure. What you need to see are the ones like you.”

I only caught glimpses inside of the other rooms as I was rushed down the hall towards the end. Not enough to tell what was happening inside but it didn’t matter anymore. Just seeing the room with all of the pups was enough for me to know that none of the Lunar Soldiers would make it past dawn alive.

Thrusted in front of the last room at the end of the hall, I immediately raised my bound hands to cover my nose. For a moment I was confused on what I was looking at until I realized that the mound covered in flies and maggots was made of bodies. Some of them were missing heads and throats while others were littered with bullet holes. Dull red eyes gazed up at the ceiling as their bloated naked bodies were feasted upon by nature. These were the ones who had fought back. The ones like me who they thought were too far gone to be saved.

Uncontrollable growls spilled from my chest causing the hands on my arms to tighten further as my body shook in rage. Lip curling, I flashed my extended fangs seconds before I lunged at the guard on the right. Inches away from his throat, I was stopped by a harsh yank to my bun.

“Enough.” The Savior said, coming to stand in front of me and block the dead from my view. The light blonde male was practically bouncing on his toes, “It’s time to see the glorious cure in action!”

The grip on my hair stayed as they forcefully moved me over to the next window. With their holds on my body, I had no other choice but to look inside the room before me. The screams. The screams had been coming from this room. A Feral Born male screamed and strained against the silver bindings tying him to an old hospital bed. His movements caused my eyes to catch onto the IV running from his shaking arm up to a small bag filled light blue liquid. The metal stand it hung from shook as he viciously fought to get free. But his screams hit a crescendo when the veins in his arm by the IV started to rise underneath his skin.

I struggled to get free of my own restraints as his red eyes locked onto mine. Through thick glass I could barely make out his screamed words, “RUN! HELP THE OTHERS AND RUN!” He shouted it over and over and over again until his body started to convulse. Eyes wide in fear as I watched his turn dark, I shoved my body back in their hold and jumped up to slam my boots into the glass. I had to get to him. I had to help him. Fine cracks had started to show in the window before they finally yanked me out of reach.

Snarling in rage, I shoved my shoulders into the guards at my sides and lunged for The Savior. Before anyone could react, my leg had already connected with his chest and sent him flying onto his back. Following him to the ground, I had barely started slamming my bound fists into his face when a kick to my head threw me to the side. Before I had a chance to recover, clawed fists started to rained down from all sides with slashes to my exposed skin.

Shifting from the curled up position to my side, I kicked out and heard a sickening crack as I connected with someone’s knee. Twisting my bound hands, I grabbed onto the closest fist and yanked it down to sink my sharp teeth into their flesh. A deep scream quickly rang out from the person attached to the limb and then all at once everyone started to shout.

“Get this bitch off of me!”

“SHOCK HER! HURRY!”

A pulsing liquid fire like sensation raced through me, this time at a much higher voltage than the others. I shook from the electric currents being forced through my body while my mind went blank to everything but the pain. When the current finally stopped, I sucked in large gasps of air trying to expand my temporarily paralized lungs.

With my eyes on the ground, I watched it get further away as hands violently hauled me up to me knees. Still reeling from the intense shock of electricity, I tried to keep my head from falling forward while The Savior approached. His winter boots clipped over the concrete until he was less than a foot away.

Smooth fingers slipped under my chin to raise my head to meet his bloody face. Hazel eyes glared harshly at me before his knuckles hit my jaw in a strong blow. With my head hanging low, I could only hear his orders as I was dragged from the room by my arms.

“Throw her in the cell with the others. I want the pleasure of sending her to hell myself.”

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Dun, dun, duuuunnnnn.

Like aways, comment your thoughts on the chapter if you enjoyed it!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Dominant

The pain from the shocks had eventually subsided to a more manageable whole body throb as they dragged me through the halls. Keeping my head hanging low, I pretend to still be in agony by allowing them to drag my body through the halls. After coming to a stop, they dropped their hold on me for a moment to unlock a door and then reached back to pick me up. They took a few steps, pulled me high up between them, and then flung me forward. My side hit a hard edge before a brief loss of gravity overtook me and I went soaring downwards. The sight of shiny bars and red eyes swirled in my vision before I slammed into the ground. These motherfuckers threw me over the side of the stairs!

Groaning, I closed my eyes and rolled onto my back while listening to the footsteps of the Lunar Soldiers coming towards me. The sound of keys entering a lock bounced around the room before I was tossed through a doorway. After the clang of the cell door closing, the soldiers headed back up the stairs without a word. Once the top door was closed, it stayed silent for a few minutes and then little footsteps sounded out. As they stopped beside me, I popped my eyes open to find the little girl from earlier that day staring down at me.

“When I called for help, I didn’t mean to come half dead.”

Looking past her, I saw around forty Feral Borns of all ages with bound wrists huddled together in small groups towards the back of the cell. They stood tall and proud but kept the weakest of them between their bodies as they stared back at me. A man who looked a lot like the little girl staring down at me, slowly moved away from the group while keeping his eyes locked on mine. Narrowing my own back at him, I watched as he approached us. Once he was close enough, he snatched up the little girl and pulled her behind him.

Tilting his head, he looked me over and raised his chin at my presence, “Who are you?”

“Who’s The Dominant?” I rasped as I pushed up into a sitting position.

I received a snarl in response.

Taking a moment, I slowly stood up and rolled my neck. Stretching out my limbs, I pressed on the shoulder I had landed on and deduced that it was dislocated. Snarling a little in annoyance, I went over to the cell bars and wedged it between two of them. Taking a breath, I jerked my body forward and popped it back into place. Pulling it out from the small space, I rolled it around before turning to face the man with a raised chin.

“I’m breaking us all out of here but I need everyone to follow my instructions exactly and that won’t happen unless I’m The Dominant.” Looking over the crowd of Feral Borns, I asked again, “So, who’s in charge?”

What the entire shifter population didn’t know was that Feral Borns had a completely different hierarchy then they did. We didn’t have packs, we had communities and we didn’t have Alphas, we had The Dominant. What The Dominant said was law and anyone who didn’t follow those laws could be killed or punished. So in order for all of us to get out of here alive, I needed to take control of the makeshift community they had undoubtedly formed. This was the first step in my plan and one of the main reasons I didn’t mention any of this to Ryan in case he had figured it out.

The male I spoke to earlier pushed the little girl farther away and raised his chin before pushing his shoulders back. Copying his movements, I stepped forward and stared right back at him. Red clashed with red as we stared each other down for several long minutes, both of us refusing to back down. Shifting my fangs, I rumbled out a deep growl from within my chest and bared them. His own face scrunched into a menacing snarl before he moved to slowly circle me. The others had left the back of the cell to form a loose ring around us. Crouching low to the ground, they began to scrape their claws against the concrete as me and the man circled each other.

“How do we know we can trust you? You could be working for them!” He snarled.

This was why I needed to become The Dominant, if I didn’t they’d never trust me enough to get us out of here. “A feral’s allegiance is to the kind first, you know that.”

His clawed hands flexed in their cuffs, “We’ve had a lot of traitors lately. The old ways don’t mean much anymore.”

I stopped moving to face him head on and growled, “The old ways should mean more now than ever. I’m here to free you and burn this compound to the ground on our way out. The real abominations are the ones walking around above us.”

“And you think you can free us?”

Breaking eye contact, I looked over the crouched Feral Borns around us, “No. I saw what they’re doing to us up there. Pups covered in their own filth stuffed in cages like dogs. Screaming Feral Borns strapped down to chairs and pumped full of a cure they didn’t want. The ones proven to be too animalistic beheaded and tossed in a pile. I can’t free all of you alone. We all need to fight to free ourselves but with me in charge I can promise you a chance at your revenge.” Turning back to the male, I crouched low with narrowed eyes, “So like a true Feral Born that they’ve deemed too animalistic, I’ll take the position by any means in order to make our freedom happen.”

The male looked at the Feral Borns around us before nodding and running to meet me head on. The scraping on the ground intensified as I ducked underneath the male’s bound fists to slam my still throbbing shoulder into his stomach. He stumbled back a few steps before he cracked his hands down onto the middle of my back repeatedly. Ignoring the pain, I clung to his thigh with my hands and pushed with my legs to toss him up and over me.

He hit the ground with a loud smack but was already rolling to his feet by the time I reached him. Swinging out with a booted foot, I hooked it around his knee and dropped him back onto the floor. While he fought to breathe, I dropped down onto his back and slammed my cuffs against the back of his head. Instead of doing what I wanted him to, his elbow flew back and cracked against my cheekbone. Grunting under the impact, I fell to the floor beside him and raised my legs before twisting them to the side. We struggled for a few seconds before I finally locked his head between my thighs. Reaching down, I placed my clawed fingertips over his eyes.

“Move a inch and I’ll carve them out.” I warned him.

The scratching sounds continued, followed by low rumbling growls as the others waited for one of us to submit or die.

A choked, “Your name?” Came from the male.

“Kaiya.”

“Last name?”

Growling, I pushed my claws in until they broke the skin of his eyelids, “Feral Borns don’t have last names. Stop playing with me.”

The words came pouring out of him as fast as the blood flowing from his eyes, “I, Colin, relinquish all rights to the position of The Dominant. The community will now follow underneath the leadership and law of the new Dominant, Kaiya. I thank The Dominant for her mercy and hereby bow to her rule.”

Releasing him from my hold, I got to my feet and looked around at the ring of Feral Borns surrounding me. The scratching stopped as all of them including the children dropped to their knees and bared their throats with downcast eyes.

As one they spoke, “To The Dominant, I give my loyalty. To The Dominant, I give my trust. To The Dominant, I give my protection. To The Dominant, I give my life.“

Pushing my shoulders back, I raised my chin and responded, “To The Community, I give my loyalty. To The Community, I give my trust. To The Community, I give my protection. To The Community, I give my life.”

“Underneath The Dominant Kaiya, we bow beneath her and her absolute rule.”

Tipping my head back, I howled out my promise to lead them to victory. As mine started to fade out, howls in multiple pitches rang out in joy and bloodlust at the battle to come. They’re howls echoed around the basement for a couple of moments after they stopped and stood tall. My community stood watching and waiting for me to issue out commands that would lead them back to their lives.

“After we get out of here, you’re all free to go back to your original communities. But first thing first, we need to get these cuffs off. We get these off and out of this cell…they won’t stand a chance.”

The ferals around me nodded their heads, some of them looking relieved at being able to go home after. Staring down at the cuffs around my hands, I pulled them taunt testing the strength of the chain and the metal.

“Babes, I have got to tell you. I am loving the whole ‘Long Live the Wolf Queen’ vibe you’re giving me right now.”

Spinning to face the person who spoke, Feral Borns who were blocking my view quickly moved out my way and maneuvered to stand behind me. A tall woman, wearing a light gray prison uniform and a thick gray chain wrapped around her waist connected to her wrists and ankles, stood there grinning at me.

Confused, I asked, “Are you a prisoner too? How did you get in here?” I hadn’t seen her earlier.

Her chains rattled as she shuffled closer to the cell bars, “I guess you could say that.” White teeth flashed against rich brown skin, “Imagine my surpise when I realized that Slykhelm’s in Alaska and on fucking earth no less.” She chuckled a bit before continuing, “Although, those human movies do make a lot more sense now. Have you seen the crazy little blue fish one? It’s my favorite.”

On earth? Slykhelm? Was this place called Slykhelm?

A long shiny piece of royal blue hair fell out of her bun to brush against the sharp angles of her face, triggering my memory. “You were in the woods when they were bringing me here.”

“Yup.” She said, popping the p. “I was planning on going home and starting an epicly bloody war with Lily but something just… called me here. I also couldn’t pass up the excitement. I mean, do you even know how boring prison gets after the first two hundred years?”

Two hundred years? That couldn’t be right.

“Also there’s the little issue of these iron chains.” Blue eyes, the same shiny shade of her hair, sparkled at me, “So whadda you say? You unchain me, I unchain all of you and then we go kill these Lunar Dickwads. I’m thinkingggg…. a nice winter themed massacre after what I saw, what do you think? ”

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Sooo I’ve decided, drum roll please….🥁🥁🥁

Feral Born will be the first in a series of badass supernatural women (possibly a man too)! It’s looking like a 6 book series but each can be read as a stand-alone. If you read them in order you’ll get a fun little teaser of who and what the next book will be about (Hint, Hint). I’m kinda on the fence about possibly making it so each book adds onto a bigger plot but I’m a beginner writer soooo… lol. I keep you guys informed.

Also imma tell you right now, the main characters of my books (the ones who’s P.O.V its mostly in) will always be brown women or men. As a brown girl myself, I feel like there isn’t enough representation of us. Especially in books. And when I say brown, I mean darker skinned Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterns, Native Americans, Indians, etc. I’ll try and leave the features of them open ended so you can imagine them as any brown girl or boy race you want. Sometimes the race will be obvious but that’ll only happen if it’s important to the plot. And ofc, you can always envision them however you want as well.

And lastly really quickly, thank you everyone for your reads and support!!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Twenty-Five: Truly Monstrous

Eyeing her, I took a deep sniff in her direction trying to figure out what she was. There was no way she was a shifter but she also wasn’t pale enough to be a vampire.

A thin blue brow arched in disdain, “Are you sniffing me? You better turn that snout around. I’ve killed for less.”

Looking at her, I realized her features were a little hazy like something was blocking me from seeing her entire face at once. “Colin.”

“Yes, Dominant.”

“Does her face look hazy to you?” Maybe I’d taken too many hits to the head.

He stepped up next to me and took a minute to stare at her, “Your right. It’s like I’m looking at her through a fog. I can only see the part I’m focusing on clearly.”

“What are you and why were you in prison?” I demanded.

Her mouth curved into a mocking smile, “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s rude to ask an ex-con what they did?”

I snarled sharply and flashed a fang, “Answer the questions.”

“Oooo, fangs. I have those too, want to see?” She smiled again but this time instead of blunt human teeth, every tooth was as sharp as a fang.

What. The. Fuck. “What are you?”

The woman hummed, “Someone who wants to make your escape easier for a small price.”

I shook my head, “No. If you want our help then I need to know what you are and why you were locked up for so long.” She could be a mass-murdering psycho for all I knew who planned to turn on us as soon as we freed her from those chains.

“So brash,” she gasped. “And already you want the first date treatment.”

“I’m mated, just answer the questions already.” I barked, confused.

Her royal blue eyes rolled to the ceiling, “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.”

“Show you what?” I asked.

She looked back at me and then to others before sighing dramatically, “I’ll tell you what you want to know if you answer the same questions you ask.”

“No. I don’t have time for this. Tell me what I want to know.”

“Are you ordering me?” Her tone sounded curiously amused, “Interesting.”

Growling in irritation, I turned away from the woman to look back down at my cuffs. I didn’t have time to argue with a strange woman and I didn’t want it to turn into a fight. My instincts warned me against it, I didn’t know what she was but I could feel that she was something very old and very powerful. But I also couldn’t afford for her to turn around and help our captor either so I was going to try another one of Ryan’s methods. I was going to give her the silent treatment.

“You’ll never get them off without my help.” She sing songed.

Breaking the cuffs was out, I didn’t have enough strength to snap the double coated metal. I couldn’t melt it either as I don’t have anything to do that with and it’d melt into our skin, killing us. Brows furrowing, I strained to think of anything I could do to rid us of these cuffs that didn’t involve the woman. Tilting the cuffs this way and that, I tried to find a part where the metal was the thinnest or had a keyhole. Glancing up, I caught sight of the desperate Feral Borns around me all pulling at or banging their cuffs against the bars in the hopes that it’d break.

Damnit.

Slowly, I turned back around to face the woman, “Fine.”

She raised a brow, “Fine, what?”

“You help us and then I’ll help you.”

“Ooooo. So sorry, Babes.” She gave a dramatic wince with her shoulders, “Can’t do that. You have to help me first.”

“So, I help you, and then you help us out of these cuffs and the cell?”

“I knew you’d come around, Babes.” She said, shoving her linked hands between the bars.

“On one condition.” I stated, not moving towards her.

Her mouth curved wickedly, giving us a peak at her sharp teeth again, “Like a deal?”

The glint in her eye gave me pause, “…Sure.”

“I love a good deal. What are your terms?”

“Are you sure about this?” Colin whispered in my ear.

Ignoring him, I told her, “Before I help you, I want to know how you got out because I’m sure it wasn’t for good behavior and why you were locked up in the first place.”

Her smile didn’t waver, “I like you, Little Wolf Queen. You have yourself a deal…on the condition that you give me your name before I free all of you.”

Irritated that I had to bargain with this stranger, I snarled a quick, “Deal.”

“I busted out of Slykhelm and I was imprisoned for the same reason you are, for being myself.” She said, her blue eyes glowing.

Blinking, I processed her answer for a moment before rage flowed through me, “That doesn’t give me any actual information.”

She shrugged, knocking more shiny blue hair from her bun, “Should of been more specific.”

Just as quickly as my temper flared it burned out, I didn’t have time for this shit. I had no idea what I’d be unleashing if I unchained her but honestly I didn’t care as long as my people were freed. Walking the few feet towards her, I raised my hands and grabbed her chained ones. Lifting her hands to my face, I sniffed the metal and instantly became confused. What type of supernatural creature couldn’t break themselves free of iron? It was the weakest kind of metal to us.

Pushing the thought away, I grabbed onto each side of her left wrist cuff and yanked it harshly in opposite directions. Dropping the pieces of the broken cuff, I moved over to her other hand and freed that one as well. Crouching low, I repeated the process with her ankle cuffs that she pushed between the bars so I could reach.

Standing up, I had just moved my hands to break the last of the thick chain around her waist when I thought of something. “How do I know you won’t just run off as soon as I free you?”

For the first time, she lost her smile, “We made a deal. I never go back on my deals and I make sure others don’t either.”

It was a tense moment of me looking at her foggy face and her staring back at me before I reached through the bars and snapped the chain hanging around her waist. Looking up at her, I immediately realized why she had what I’m guessing was some sort of magical mask covering her face. She was gorgeous in a harsh otherworldly type of way. Long thick blue lashes framed almond shaped eyes that led to high cheekbones and a sharp jawline. Her features could almost be called delicate except that the lines of her face were too defined.

Taking a step back in shock, I was even more surprised to find that her prison uniform had been replaced. She now wore a loose mid-thigh black tunic lazily half tucked into the front of her matching leather pants and thin leather boots covering her feet. A couple of silver chains hung loosely around her waist and peaking over each of her shoulders were the handles of a sword. What was even more shocking than her apparel though was the silver colored tattoos stretching from each of her arms up to the top of her neck, they seemed to glow against her rich brown skin.

Looking up at her, I saw that her wavy royal blue hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail. Even the fact that I was looking up at her was surprising, almost all the women I knew from the pack were shorter than me. This woman however, had to be almost as tall as Ryan, If I had to guess I’d say she was around six foot two or three.

A shuffling sound by the door upstairs knocked me from my stupor and this time I was the one shoving my hands through the bars with a raised brow.

“Ah, ah, ah. Name first.”

“Kaiya.”

The woman grinned and then waved her hand over my cuffs before grabbing onto one of the cell bars. Confused, I looked down and watched as the metal slid from my skin like rain slipping off of a coat. Snapping my head to her, I watched as the bars of the cell all around us began to melt. Silver and titanium pooled onto the floor before it began moving like a living thing to the corner of the room. My community let out sounds of shock themselves as their cuff slipped off their wrists and followed the rest. The metal clumped together building on top of each other until it shimmered and formed a large sign that read Fuck You.

Feeling my natural strength pumping through my veins again, I turned to her, “Thank you but you should leave now before the fighting begins.”

She smirked, “Oh, no. The fun’s just getting started.”

Shrugging, I gave her my back so I could address my community. Taking a moment to look over their faces, I said, “You fifteen to the left, protect the children and get them out. The rest of you kill as many as you can on your way to the otherside of the building. We have more of our kind to rescue. When the fighting is over, you’re all free to go home.”

I waited for them to nod in understanding before saying what I needed to say, “Tonight we will prove to the shifter world that we are not be fucked with!” Roars rang out in approval. “That Feral Borns will not be pushed around! That we will never standby as our kind is threatened! Tonight with our actions we solidify the safety and continuation of our kind! Tonight, no matter if you live or die, know that you have shown the shifter world what true dominance looks like!” Snarls and growls of agreement filled the room at my words. A snarl of my own ripped from my chest as the adrenaline began to kick in, “They call us monsters! Mistakes! Animals! Abominations! They tried to strip us of our birthright!” Cloth ripped as Feral Borns began to shift, “They want to label us as the monsters in the dark! So, let’s show them how truly monstrous we can be!”

Dropping my head back, I released a long deep howl of war as I shifted and received multiple howls back from the others. Bloodlust whipped through me like a tornado at an almost overwhelming degree as I charged up the basement stairs and slammed right through the door. Howling again, I watched as the cement walls shook underneath my rage and the soldiers in the hall sprinting towards me. Swiping a clawed hand, I ripped open the chest of the first soldier to approach me like butter. Moving further down to let the others spill out into the hall behind me, I snatched up the Lunar Soldier closest to me and bit into her neck. Screams pierced my ears from all around as the sounds of battle waged on but when I heard what sounded like laughter ring out, I turned to look in it’s direction.

The blue haired woman, closer to the entrance doors where more Lunar Soldiers came pouring in from, laughed maniacally as she swirled fluidly around them. Twirling blue glass like blades she cut down soldiers, sometimes two at a time, with one stroke. Tossing the woman that I still held, I heard her body slam into the wall with a wet splat. Loping over to the blue haired female, I slashed my claws across one man’s stomach before snapping my jaws down around the head of another. Bones crunched between my fangs as I yanked my head back and made eye contact with the blue haired woman. Chewing on the head, I growled at the screaming soldiers watching me.

“Holy Divines!” The woman laughingly shouted as she stabbed a man through the heart, “That was iconic! Eat these fuckers!”

At her screamed words the soldiers began running back out the doors they had previously charged through. Following them out, I spit out a wad of hair and crushed a shifted wolf beneath my clawed foot. More Feral Borns rushed out of the door, some of them in hospital gowns, from behind me and started ripping through the huts. Blood and limbs flew through the air casted with a eerie silverish glow due to the moonlight. Baring my bloody teeth in delight, I sped right into a group of shifted wolves. Claws and fangs ripped into my flash as they jumped up clinging to me in the hopes of bringing me down. Slashing out with my clawed hands, I gripped two by the neck and with a quick squeeze snapped them.

Tossing them aside, I reached a hand back and pulled the wolf biting at the back of my neck over my shoulder. Growling deeply in anger, I sliced a line from her neck to the bottom of her belly and watched as her intestines dropped to the floor. Taking the large intestine, I tied a loop on the end and used it to lasso the male running for the trees. Once it slipped around his neck, I yanked it back and laughed as his head snapped back seconds before his body flew backwards.

Cutting the throat of an annoying wolf biting at my ankle, I focused back on the man and pulled him across the bloodied grass towards me. He struggled, yanking at the intestine with a horrified look on his face that grew the closer he got to me. When he slid to a stop a few inches from my feet, I gazed down at him coldly and then gave him a wolfish grin. Picking him up with one hand, I brought him close to my face.

Clearing my throat, I released a garbled, “I told you I’d enjoy ripping your throat out.”

His eyes widened and right when he opened his mouth to scream, I clamped my jaws down around his throat. My fangs sunk deep and as soon as I felt bones crunch I whipped my head back at full speed. His head hit the floor and rolled while I spit his throat out with a splat. Consuming one head was enough for today.

Glancing about, I finally noticed that there weren’t as many soldiers running around. Turning to the building, I watched as a group of Feral Borns formed a circle near the doors. Stretching my neck a bit to see over their heads I caught a glimpse of the cured male and The Savior. The ones ripping into them wore the tattered remains of what looked like hospital gowns. I growled in approval as one of the females latched onto The Savior’s arms and tore them off with a howl. A chuffing sound left my chest when I realized that the adults weren’t attacking the cured male but watching closely. Small hairy forms with the tallest being around five feet ripped into him with tiny razor sharp claws and fangs.

Seeing that everything was handled, I shifted back into my human form to watch them finish off the last two. They clawed into the pair looking determined to turn them into something that resembled confetti. A few of the Feral Borns still prowling around the bloodied battlefield stopped what they were doing to stare as the blue haired female walked past them. She had a huge grin on her face as she made her way towards me stabbing at a few still groaning bodies with her swords.

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Kaiya.” She called out to me.

“You enjoyed this?” I asked, tilting my head.

She laughed coming to a stop before me, “Of course! Didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“My kinda girl,” She purred, “You should come with me. We could battle like this everyday and party all night in victory.”

Chocolate brown eyes and a sweet grin flashed in my mind’s eye, “No. I have a mate here and I’m not interested in anything that doesn’t involve him.”

“Bring him along, my place is huge.”

My lips twitched, “He’s not the war type.” Remembering something, I asked, “Didn’t you mention starting a war with Lilly? You already have someone to join you in battle.”

Her expression darkened to something that hinted towards her true nature being much…angier than the one she currently presented, “Yea, something like that.” And then just as quickly her expression reverted back to the happier one she used, “Anyways, is everyone out of the building?”

Casting my eyes over the reckage we had caused, I tipped my head back and released a Calling howl. In seconds, a group of Feral Borns clutching pups in their arms came racing out of the building. Moving to stand clear of the building, they howled back that none of our kind were still inside. Swiveling back to the strange female, I relayed that message.

“I can’t burn it the ground but I can….” Her blue eyes cut the building, “Do this.”

A loud screeching sound had every single head in the clearing turning sharply to look in the direction of the building. Cracks and snaps rang out from inside the building but nothing on the outside showed the damage it did. Not until the concrete at the corners started to crumble inwards and then all at once the entire building collapsed. In a roar befitting a giant, the concrete building fell in on itself and crushed everything inside of it to smithereens.

Turning in shock to look at her, the blue-haired female just gave me a wink, “Want a ride?”

I was hesitant to accept her offer after what I had just witnessed but I wanted to see Ryan sooner rather than later, “Sure but why?”

She brushed a shiny blue tendril away from her eyes, “It’s the least I could do for a new best friend.”

“Best friend?”

“If you think that after I saw you eat that man’s head we’re not going to be besties? You’re crazier than me.”

I shook my head in amusement. I guess having one more friend wouldn’t hurt besides there was something about her that I liked.

“Ready to go?”

Taking one last sweep of the area, I nodded as she grabbed my arm.

In a blink of an eye, I was no longer standing among the bloody remains of the compound. Now, I was standing on the bloody snow at the edge of my cabin’s clearing. What the hell happened? Seeing a long figure bundled up on the bench, I quickly started making my way towards them.

Halfway there, I turned to look back at the woman, “I never got your name.”

She grinned, “It’s Macha and if you ever need me? Start killing things.”

As soon as the last word had left her lips, she disappeared into thin air. Shaking my head, I raced up the broken porch and to the bundled up lump. Smiling gently, I pushed the blankets down around his chin and pulled the beanie away from his eyes. They blinked slowly as he woke up and then we both jerked back at the same time.

“Why are you naked?”

“Why are your eyes red?”

————————————————————————

Okay honestly who missed Ryan? I know I did! The evil has been defeated and the lovers are reunited, we’re in the home stretch people!!!

As always comment or like if you enjoyed the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Twenty-Six: Playing Catch Up

We stood frozen, staring at each other in shock for a moment before he tried to get up. I hid a smile as Ryan started murmuring curse words while yanking at the bankets. Shoving himself up into a standing position, he immediately started to tip to the side. Reaching out with one hand, I grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him straight. His cheeks flushed red as he finally tore the blankets off of himself before scooping me up in a tight hug.

“You came back.” He whispered.

Taking a deep inhale of his scent, I said, “I told you I’d always come back to you, didn’t I?”

Instead of replying, he pulled me tighter against him and clung to me for awhile. When he was satisfied that I was really there with him, he pulled back and ran his gaze over my body. It wasn’t sexual in nature but instead the type of look someone gave when they analyzed a wound. Most of the injuries I had gotten from the battle had already begun to heal but the deeper ones were still a bit tender. His fingers brushed against my bloody skin gently looking to see if I had any serious bites or cuts.

Raising my hands, I tugged his face back up to mine, “I’m fine, Ryan. None of the wounds are serious.”

Chocolate brown eyes with a slash of bright red now in them, searched mine before he seemed to sag in relief. “What happened while you were there?”

“I should be asking you that. My yard’s destroyed and you have red in your eyes.”

His unique eyes rolled, “Jasper tried to stage a coup while you were gone and died by my fangs for his efforts.”

Feeling a jolt of happiness shoot through me, I joked, “Told you, you were getting meaner.”

Ryan laughed and looped his arms around my waist to pull me against him, “Well, what can I say you’re a bad influence.”

“Clearly.” I said gesturing to his eyes.

I was pretty sure I knew what had happened for his eyes to turn a quarter red but most of my kind thought it was a myth. No one had heard of something like this happening for over hundreds of years. But from the old stories, I was confident that this wasn’t something to worry about.

The laugh lines by his eyes disappeared as his gaze latched onto my newly seared wrists. He snatched them both up with a speed that now rivaled my own and pulled them up so he could see them clearly.

“None of them are serious, huh?” He growled, the red of his eyes expanding. “Then what the fuck is this, Buttercup.”

Ryan’s tone was harsh but the grip on my wrists were gentle, a tell that it wasn’t me he was angry with. The tone though, the tone I didn’t appreciate. Snarling a little, I broke free of his grip, “Exactly what I said they were, not serious.”

His body seemed to shake in rage as his eyes were almost completely red, “They chained you, didn’t they? But these are burn marks. Silver and titanium don’t burn you, just like silver doesn’t burn me. It poisons us so why is the skin burned…”

Not liking the turn this conversation was taking, I snapped my fingers in front of his face. As soon as he stopped speaking to focus on the noise, I spoke calmly, “Ryan, listen to the noise. Listen to how it repeats, focus on the rhythm of the sound.”

His breathing slowed as he watched the movement of my hand and the sound it created. Keeping up with the rhythm, I waited until the red of his eyes decreased to the original quarter it took up. Once I was certain he was calm, I stopped the noise and waited.

“By the moon, what the hell was that? Am I some wolf version of the hulk now? I mean that’d be cool but I think it’d raise a lot of questions if people saw a giant green wolf running around the woods.”

Yup, there he was. “I don’t think-”

“Or would it be red? Wait, what if I hurt you?”

I snorted, “Ryan.”

“Yea, you’re right. I’m sure you can still kick my ass.”

Grabbing his face between my hands, I suggested, “Ryan. I think we should talk about your eyes before anything else.”

“Yea, that’s probably a good idea.”

When he just stood there, I motioned to the door, “Inside, Ryan. I’m still naked incase you forgot.”

“Right, I know. It’s just, I’ve been dying to do this since I woke up.” Stepping into me, he cupped the back of my neck and pressed his lips to mine.

The kiss was passionate but short as he stepped back and threw the blanket around my shoulders. Confused, I shrugged it off and walked around him to open the door. Rolling my eyes in irritation at finding it unlocked, I stepped through the door and towards the bedroom. Footsteps sounded behind me, following me closely as I headed into the bathroom and turned on the water. Jumping in, I closed the curtain and quickly rinsed the blood off of my skin. When I finished, I turned the water off and left the bathroom to throw on some clothes.

“So, is there a name for what I am now?”

“Yes,” I answered while tugging on a loose shirt. “It’s Splintered.”

“Uh, so does this mean I have toe claws? Cause I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

Laughing, I pulled the boxers up around my waist before turning to face him, “No. You won’t have a lot of the abilities that I do. Honestly, the only thing that will really change for you is your bond with your wolf.”

His muscles tensed, “I’ll lose Slader?”

Moving closer, I reassured him, “No. From what I’ve heard you’ll still be able to communicate with him but your senses will bleed into each other’s. You’ll also be a tad stronger and faster than regular shifters.”

His face scrunched in concern, “But what about my moods? Will I have anger issues now?”

Holding off on the answer, I linked his fingers through mine and pulled him into the little living room. Before I could sit, he gently moved me to the side and then pulled me to sit on top of him. Maneuvering around in his lap so I could face him, I ended up straddling his thighs.

“Let me start from the beginning. Splintered’s are a myth among my kind.” Raising a hand to stop his immediate response, I continued, “One of your kind hasn’t been seen in over hundreds of years, ever since we stopped mingling with the regular shifters. It was said that when a Feral Born mated a regular shifter, the regular shifter would change. Their eyes would be split with red and they’d receive some of their mates abilities. It was claimed that this was because of how dangerous a Feral Borns life could be. The abilities given to the Feral Borns mate were so they could protect themselves.”

Ryan was silent for a few beats before asking, “Wait, when you mean they’d receive some of their mates abilities. Did you mean that literally or figuratively?”

Smiling, I responded, “Literally, of course. Some of your abilities will come from your new closer bond with your wolf. But at other times, like earlier when you got angry, you’ll draw from mine. The mate bond we formed when I bit you makes it possible.”

He shook his head, “Won’t this make you weaker though? I don’t want to put you in danger. What if you’re fighting someone and I accidentally pull on your abilities?”

“You’ll only be able to pull on a fraction of what I can do. It doesn’t have any negative effects and I don’t even feel it.”

Suddenly his fingers were pulling my eyelids wider, “Are your eyes going to change too? That’d be like the ultimate couple matching moment.”

Pulling back from his hands, I looked at him confused, “My eyes won’t change and do I even want to know what a ‘couple matching moment’ is?”

Smiling, he yanked me closer and buried his nose into my neck, “I missed you so much.”

“I was gone for less than a day.” I mused, threading my fingers through his hair.

“That’s not the point, Buttercup. Anything could have happened to you. You have no idea the thoughts that were running through my mind. All of them worse than the last. I was a wreck without you.”

At his words, my heart felt heavy and a thickness coated my tongue making it so that no sound could come out. Swallowing roughly, I opened my mouth to say the words that would express how I felt about him. But something was blocking the words from coming out. I was never good at expressing the softer emotions, especially not in words. It was Ryan who was good with his words and I was the one good at killing but I need to try. Because this wasn’t just anyone, this was Ryan. This was my mate.

“I, uh,” Swallowing thickly, I tried again, “I want to say that I-I-”

“You don’t need to say it, Buttercup. I know, I can feel it through the bond.”

Moving back slightly to see his face, I growled, “I want to say it.”

“Then take your time, you don’t need to say it right now.” He replied, raising a black brow.

Nodding in frustration, we sat in silence while he played with my fingers. Why was it so easy for others to say it but I felt like I had sand in my throat when I wanted to. I’d have to practice saying it when he wasn’t around. Maybe if I said it enough times, when the time came it wouldn’t be so hard. A tug on my hand, had me blinking my thoughts away and looking at Ryan in question.

“So what happened with the Lunar Soldiers?”

The blue fabric of his sweater shifted as he pulled his shoulders up high like he was preparing for a hit. But instead of answering his question, I asked one of my own, “Are you okay with being a Splintered?”

“Hell yea. It means next time when you go out on a life endangering mission I can join you.”

That’s what you think.

Shaking my head at him, I answered his earlier question, “I made a new friend. She helped us escape our chains and then the cell. After that we raced upstairs and slaughtered them all. It was very quick.”

“What about The Savior?”

“Dead. The ones he cured and tried to cure ripped him apart.”

He hummed, “And the little girl?”

“She had family. I think she only called for my protection because she felt my dominance. She knew I could help them.”

Ryan nodded, “Thank you for giving me the kiddy version.”

“Can’t have you rampaging around ripping apart dead bodies now can I?”

He smirked, “Whatever. So, who’s this new friend of yours?”

“Her name is Macha and I think she’s… not all there.”

“Why do you say that?” Ryan asked, tilting his head.

Raising a brow, I replied, “Well, she was in prison for over two hundred years and then after seeing me eat a man’s head, she declared us ‘besties’.”

Ryan’s eyes squinted as he tipped his head to the left and then to right, “Ummm, did you just say you ate a man’s head?”

“Yes.”

“And when you say you ate his head…you meannnnn skull, brains, hair, the whole thing?”

Face scrunched, I shook my head in disgust, “No, of course not.” He looked relieved until I continued, “I spit the hair out.”

He huffed in amusement, “Right because I’m the one gross one for asking.”

“You are.”

“Whatever, Buttercup.” He smiled and then leaned forward to connect our lips.

Kissing him back, I ran hand through his locks and gave his lower lip a little nip. He growled lowly and roughly grabbed onto my hips to pull me tight against him. Smiling, I rocked into him causing a groan to escape from the back of his throat. Pulling away, Ryan kissed along my jaw and then gave my ear a little tug with his teeth.

“No more talking.” He whispered, “Tonight, I just want to be with you. To feel that you’re really here with me.”

“Does this mean you want to complete our mating?” I asked, while tilting my head to nip at the mark on his throat.

“Yes.” He hissed out as he bent his head to the side to give me more access to the mark.

Grinning, I teased, “Think you can handle all of me this time?”

“Are you in heat?”

“No.”

“Then why don’t we find out, Buttercup.”

————————————————————————

🎤REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD🎤

Lmaoooo, that’s how I feel about this chapter. I love my little babies!!

If you enjoyed the chapter feel free to comment!!!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hello, Slader.

He gave a push to my shoulders and I actually grunted in surprise when I fell backwards. Bouncing lightly against the couch cushions, I quickly forgot about everything else but Ryan’s body weight settling over me. Pulling my legs up, I wrapped them around his hips as I reached out to pull him closer. Arms sliding around his neck, I arched into the feeling of his hands gliding over my sides.

With one arm wrapped around my middle, he dug his other hand into my wet hair and connected our lips. Moaning, I deepened the kiss until we fought for control of it and my tongue brushed against fangs. Pulling my hands from his neck, I slid them down his sides before yanking on the fabric of his hoodie. Breaking our kiss, Ryan sat back on his knees and pulled the hoodie up and over his head. The creamy flesh of his muscular torso was now on full display and I couldn’t resist.

Pressing a hand below the hollow of his throat, I flexed my fingers before pressing my claws lightly into his smooth skin. Eyes hooded, I watched my claws scrape five light pink trails down his chest to end at the waistband of his jeans. Flicking my eyes back up to his, my arousal grew to find them just as hooded as my own.

The tips of his fangs hung over his bottom lip while his own clawed hands scraped down to my hips. Teasing him, I ran my hand over his chest again but this time I pressed my claws more firmly into his skin. A growl slipped from his mouth at the feeling and without hesitation, he sunk his claws into my flesh. Moaning at the feeling, I sat up and shoved him back into the arm of the chair so I could grind my hips down into his.

Digging my own claws into his shoulders, I met his increasingly redding eyes and growled. Snapping his fangs at me, Ryan ripped his claws from my flesh and tore the shirt from my body. The moment it was out his way, he bent his head and took one of my breasts into his suctioning mouth. Tipping my head back, I slipped one of my hands into his hair and focused on the wet heat lapping against my sensitive skin. Spreading my knees wider, I dropped further into his lap and began a circling motion that had him groaning around my flesh. This was nothing like the other times we had gotten intimate, this was quick and desperate. A need to feel the other alive.

Eyes on the ceiling, I panted as heat started to build in my lower abdomen and caused me to rub against him harder. Cold air rushed over my nipple as he pulled away to plant wet kisses up my throat. Latching onto the side of my neck, his teeth nipped at the sensitive skin and a clawed hand scratched up my back to pull my head further to the side. I groaned at the feeling of his fangs scraping against my neck and didn’t notice his other hand at my waist until it was underneath the fabric of my boxers. Pressing his palm into my lower stomach, he pushed his hand further down as his lips left my neck.

Still holding my head to expose the column of my throat, he ran his nose from my shoulder to just below my ear. Ryan breathed in my scent deeply before nibbling on my earlobe and panted, “I can smell how aroused you are.”

The words had barely been ripped from his mouth when his unclawed fingers sunk into the wet heat between my thighs. Gasping, my claws sunk deeper into his shoulder while my other hand tightened in his hair at the burn of his fingers harshly thrusting into my entrance. A gruntle snarl tore from his chest when I instinctively squeezed down around his hand. The claws of his free hand sunk into the side of my ribs as he yanked me tightly against his chest. His fingers started up a brutal pace that had me biting into his shoulder as the tight ball of heat in my stomach unbearably increased. With every thrust, his palm rubbed against my clit but left me frustratingly unsatisfied.

Sensing my frustration, Ryan growled before pulling his hand out from between my legs. Fumbling around underneath me for a moment, he used his claws to tear my boxers away. Right as I was just about to release a snarl of anger, he gripped my hips and slammed into me. His length surged straight past my entrance and buried deep inside of me until our hips connected. The slight pain that his abrupt entrance caused had my toes curling and my fangs clenching tightly together.

“Fuck me. You’re tight.” Ryan spit out between his own clenched fangs, his claws buried in my sides. “I’m not going to last long, Buttercup.”

Pulling back a little to look at him, I saw that his eyes had the barest sliver of brown in them. “Bite me.”

He squeezed his eyes tightly before swallowing thickly, “Are you sure?”

The moment his eyes opened again, I tipped my head to the side to expose my throat. “Yes.”

Within a second, I was pressed in the couch cushions with my claws digging into his back as he buried his length into me repeatedly. Arching into his thrusts, I rolled my hips up when he pulled away and created a rhythm that had us both growling. Feeling the heat in my lower stomach starting to build up once again, I clawed at him more aggressively and pulled him harder against me.

Bright red eyes looked down at me as he snapped his fangs at my aggression before lunging and sinking them deeply into the side of my neck. The pain sent shockwaves throughout my body and instantly sent me hurtling into an orgasm. Clenching down around him, I moaned as he continued to thrust and draw out my pleasure. Feeling a faint similar sensation that I knew was his, I tightened even further around his length and buried my own fangs into his neck. The moment my fangs snapped down around his flesh, a loud growl vibrated the room and I felt his warm release fill me.

After a long moment I felt him sag against me and I released his neck to let my head fall back against the couch. Ryan shivered before following suit and licked at the fresh bite mark he left on my neck. Looking around the small living room as I tried to catch my breath, I caught sight of the open window and started to laugh.

Pushing up onto his elbows, Ryan looked down at me with mostly brown eyes, “Uh, is that a good laugh or a ‘That was really horrible, how do I politely ask him to leave?’ kind of laugh.”

Hearing the panic in his voice, I cupped his chin and turned his head to the window. Immediately, he snarled and stumbled onto his feet as he pulled up his jeans and rebuttoned them. Grumbling about killing nosey teenage pack members, Ryan stomped out onto the porch and ripped the paper from the window. The paper that had read,

’Dear Exhibitionists,

We are a close pack but not this close. Close your damn blinds.

Sincerely, Kaiya’s only friend.’

Well, it had read that until Ryan shredded it in his claws before stomped the pieces into the snow covered porch. Coming back in, he slammed the door behind him and grabbed a sweater from the hall closet. Shrugging it over his shivering form, he trudged over and picked up the sweater he was wearing before. Pulling it open, he shoved it down over my head before throwing me over his shoulder.

Walking towards the bedroom, he continued to mumble underneath his breath, “Telling me to close the blinds in my own damn house. Why was he even over here looking into the windows in the first place! I should track that little shit down.”

Laughing, I pushed out of his grip and fell a few inches until my bare feet hit the floor. Punching my arms through the sleeves, I shoved the hood back and freed my hair before heading to the bathroom. Ryan’s release was starting to get…uncomfortable between my legs.

A yank on my wrist had me turning around to look up at Ryan with a raised brow, “What?”

“Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom.”

His cheeks flushed, “Right.”

Turning back around, I continued on to the bathroom only to stop in the doorway when I heard him following. Stepping inside, I grabbed the handle and looked back at him, “Ryan.”

“Yea?”

“What are you doing?”

He scratched the back of his head, “Going to clean up.”

“After me, right?”

His unique eyes glanced over my shoulder like he was looking for something before he fell back a step with an embarrassed laugh, “Right.”

Nodding, I closed the door and went about my business getting clean.

……………….

Drying my skin with the towel, I had just slipped back into Ryans hoodie when a banging at the door assaulted my ears. Lip curling, I quickly opened the door and ducked before Ryan could knock on my forehead.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” I snapped, growing irritated.

He quickly slipped his hands behind him and gave me a big grin, “Sorry. Sorry. Just really need to clean up and pee.”

Eyeing him, I gently pushed him out of the way and moved over to the dresser. The door closed as I rummaged around my drawers looking for another pair of boxers. Fingers skimming over the cloth in the dark, I finally found a white pair and slipped them on.

Getting into the bed, I pulled the comforter that Ryan had bought over my legs and settled in. But before I could get comfortable the bathroom down slammed open. Startled, I shot to my feet with a growl on my lips that disappeared when I saw who was standing in the doorway. And it wasn’t Ryan.

Bright red eyes watched me intently from the doorway but he didn’t move an inch. His head tilted back as his nose lifted into the air and caught my scent. And I knew the exact moment that he realized he was in control because a lopsided grin plastered itself oddly across his face.

Taking a step forward, a deep voice rumbled free of Ryan’s chest, “Mate.”

“You must be Slader.”

The wolf, unused to his two legged form, stumbled towards me, “Yes. Needed meet mate.”

“It’s about time.”

Placing his hands on my arms, he immediately pulled them back to look at his fingers, “Ryan body weird.”

“Yes, human bodies are weird.” I replied, looking at my own fingers.

Slader shook his head quickly, “No. Not mates.”

Looking into his sincere red eyes, I decided to ask him a question that only he could answer, “Does it bother you that I don’t have a wolf? Are you sad?”

Stepping into my personal space, his brow furrowed, “At first sad. But then realize mate more wolf than Slader. So Slader no care. Now,” Slader gently pressed a clawed finger to my heart.“Slader like Mate. Slader love it, have more control on Ryan now. Make him mad.”

A deep chuffing sound left his chest as he said the last part like he got his amusement in life by annoying his human counterpart. Smiling, I asked, “Slader, Is Ryan scratching to come out?”

His head bobbed wildly as a huge grin lit up his red eyes.

“Then lets annoy him by taking our time.” I said, pulling on his hands so he’d sit on the bed.

The chuffing sound came again as he sat and pulled me to sit across from him, “Yes. Kai funny.”

Laughing with him, I reminded him why he came, “You said you needed to see me?”

“Yes. Slader would like see you more. Come out, spend time with Kai.” He said before looking down slightly. “Okay with mate?”

My heart squeezed at the tone he used like he really wasn’t sure that I would want him around. Leaning forward, I caught his eyes, “Did you block Ryan?”

Slader whimpered and curled his shoulders inwards, “Slader blocked Ryan. He no know that mate get mad.”

“No, no. I just wanted to tell you something. Only you. Not Ryan, not yet.”

“Only Slader?” He questioned, hesitantly.

Turning my head, I looked at him from the corner of my eye, “It’s something very special….”

Forgetting that he didn’t have a tail at the moment, he wiggled his butt on the bed, “What, what! Slader wants know!”

I avoided his eyes for a moment more and then gave him a serious look, “Okay, I’ll tell you. But you can’t tell Ryan.”

Giving me a poor imitation of my expression back to me, he nodded vigorously.

“Okay.” Swallowing, I pushed the words off my thick tongue, “I love you.”

Red eyes blinked rapidly before he threw his head back and howled in excitement.

When he finally stopped, I continued, “So you can come see me whenever you want.”

Jolting forward with a grin, he licked my cheek and wiggled on the bed, “Slader happy hear that. But Slader go now. Ryan feel something changed. Slader come back another time. Bye, mate. Slader love you, too.”

Grinning at the childish wolf, I watched the red in his eyes reduce back to the quarter it originally took up.

Ryan shook his head and eyed me suspiciously, “Why is Slader so giddy? What’d you two talk about?”

“What’d he say?”

“He won’t tell me. He just keeps holding his snout in the air smugly. It’s already annoying me.”

“Then I can’t say.” I replied, getting back underneath the covers.

Ryan crawled up the bed to get in my face, “Hey. How come you never smile at me like that?”

“You’re not as funny as he is.” I murmured, laying my head on the pillow.

“What-How-That’s not-I don’t even- We’re the same person!”

Closing my eyes, I said, “Slader called your body weird.”

“Weird? Weird? How rude! We share the same body!” The bed bounced as he huffed and tossed around behind me. “Whatever, you obviously enjoyed my weird body.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Grinning, he grabbed onto my shoulder and rolled me over to face him, “Maybe you need a refresher on my weird body then.”

“Please no.” I replied, fighting back a smile.

Gripping my chin, he pressed his lips to mine with a laugh.

——————————————————————————

Awwwww who loves Slader??? I know I do! Again, don’t @ me for that sex scene I’m kinda embarrassed lmao. Their stories almost over😭😭

As always, comment if you enjoyed the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Clearing Things Up

“What the fuck happened to you guys?” Was the first thing out of Otis’s mouth when we walked through his office doors.

Candice snorted from her position on the edge of his desk, “I think your third word answered that question.”

Shaking my head at them, I continued into the room with Ryan at my heels. Dropping into one of the leather chairs across from them, I leaned back and kicked my feet up onto the desk. Ryan pulled the other chair right up against mine before plopping down into it and linking our hands together. Glancing at him, I tried not to grin at the red and purple marks with the occasional bite covering his neck. He had even more littering his body but the hoodie he wore hid them away. Unlike him, mine were on full display. My chest, neck and even a little bit of my upper arms were covered in hickeys, bites and bruises.

“Really, Ryan? Her arms?” Candice deadpanned.

He ignored her to look at Otis, “Really, Otis? Candice?”

Otis rubbed at his jaw in an attempt to hide his smile, “What can I say? She grew on me…like a fungus.”

Candice’s face turned carefully blank as she turned to look at Otis, “I wonder what Marcus is up to.”

His eyes swirled, “Knock it off.”

Curious as to her response, I tilted my head and waited to see if she’d put him in his place.

All she did though was smile brightly and say, “Of course, wouldn’t want to upset you in front of the boyfriend.”

Disappointed by her response, I tuned them out as they began to bicker between each other. Shifting slightly in my seat, I felt Ryan instantly readjust his grip so our skin could remain touching. Ever since we woke up this morning, Ryan hadn’t let more than a foot separate us. It was like he needed to be in constant contact with me and I didn’t understand why. His emotions weren’t strong enough to feel through the bond and I wasn’t very good at guessing people’s feelings to begin with. I didn’t mind his need to touch me but I also didn’t want the contact to stem from insecurities or fear. I thought this was dealt with when Slader had come to see me last night but I guess not. I’d have to talk to him after this, I decided.

Looking around to find everyone staring at me, I snarled, “What?”

“Otis is trying to tell you something, Buttercup.” Ryan replied with a squeeze to my hand.

Giving him a squeeze back, I looked to Otis, “What?”

“Ryan already debriefed me on what happened with the Lunar Soldiers. Congrats on the win by the way but I have something to say.”

Staring, I waited for him to get on with it.

He tipped his head down slightly in a pose of half submission, “I should have trusted you about Jasper. You sensed something off about him from the beginning and I didn’t listen. If I had, it would’ve saved us all the headache.”

Nodding in acceptance to his apology, I admitted, “It’s not all on you. I should’ve done a background check on him like I had planned but I got distracted.”

He shook his head, “No, you had a lot going on. As Alpha, Jasper is on me.”

“How do you feel about his death?” I asked, needing to know. Ryan was the one who killed him so I needed to make sure that Otis didn’t harbor any ill will. If he did, I’d have kill him and then we’d have to leave to pack. I didn’t want to do that to Ryan.

“There’s some sadness but the kill was more than justified. If Ryan hadn’t killed him, Jasper would’ve only turned into a bigger issue later on. I’m actually grateful that Ryan saved me from having to kill Jasper myself.”

“Good because if Ryan hadn’t, I would’ve.”

Otis gave me a weary grin, “I know.” He paused and then spoke again, “And I didn’t mean what I said that day when we argued. I shouldn’t have tried to overrule you. No matter what anyone says, I enjoy sharing my power with you. This pack runs smoothly and without casualties every week because of how we do things.”

“Surprising, since none of you bother to lock your doors.” I replied dryly.

All three of them laughed at my words but I didn’t understand what they found so funny. The fact that they didn’t lock their doors was a major breach of safety that still pissed me off to no end. And now that Ryan lived with me it was happening in my own home. When they realized that I wasn’t laughing or even smiling along with them, they quickly got serious.

Ryan turned to give me a charming smile and opened his mouth to say something when Candice interrupted him, “So you guys are fully mated! How did that happen?”

“We fucked.”

Ryan immediately began to choke on nothing as Candice paused in picking the lint off her track pants to laugh loudly. Otis on the other hand did what he always seemed to do, eyes rolled to the ceiling with a strained expression on his face.

“Buttercup, I-uh I think she meant what happened before that.” Ryan said.

“Oh.”

Cheeks red, he told her, “We were already half mated and last night just felt like the right time.”

“How sweet and men think women get clingy after sex.” She mocked.

Before Ryan could snap back at her, Otis stood up from his seat and grabbed onto Candice’s arm. Pulling her towards the door, he announced, “We’ll see you two later. Congrats on the mating, by the way.”

When the door softly thumped closed behind them, I dropped my feet from the table and turned to Ryan. He smiled at me but it slowly dimmed at my expression, “What’s wrong?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

“What?”

I lifted our linked hands, “Not that I mind but you haven’t let me out of your reach.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said looking over my shoulder.

My temper sparked at his obvious lie, I didn’t even need to smell the sweetness in the air to alert me. “Don’t lie to my face.” I snarled.

Pulling his hand from mine, he ran it through his hair, “I’m sorry, it’s just..”

Softening my tone, I replied, “Talk to me, Ryan. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m- I’m afraid that I won’t be able to help you again. That you’ll need me and I won’t be able to do anything, Kai. I don’t ever want to feel as helpless as I did when you left ever again. I don’t mind that you’re stronger than me and that you don’t need my protection but it kills me that I’m useless when it comes to helping you.”

Heart aching, I lifted his chin with my fingertips so that I could look him in the eyes, “You’re not useless at helping me, Ryan. You help me all the time in ways you probably don’t even know.”

“Yea? How?” He scoffed.

I didn’t even need to think about it, “You’ve helped me realize that sometimes words can mean more than actions. That words can actually help you in certain situations. You’ve also helped me realize that not everyone who sees my shifted form will run in fear. And most importantly, you’ve helped me realize that I’m capable of more emotions than just annoyance and bloodlust…Hell, you took out Jasper! That in itself was a huge help to me.” Smiling, I brought his face closer to mine, “It’s because of how you help me that I can actually say any of this to you right now. You don’t judge me for the way I do things and you accept me for who I am with nothing but love. So, no you’re not useless when it comes to helping me because,” Taking a deep breath I continued, “someone I love could never be useless to me.”

Eyes shining, Ryan whispered, “You said it.”

“I did.” Not completely but I was half way there.

“And you didn’t even look like you were in pain either.”

Laughing, I replied, “I practiced while you were asleep last night.” And I said it to your wolf.

He raised a brow, “Before or after you woke me up for round three.”

“Before and after.”

A grin split his face, “I love you too, Buttercup.”

Leaning in just a bit, I pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose, “Do you? I hadn’t noticed.”

He chuckled, “Guess I’m rubbing off on you too. Wait until the pack finds out you can actually joke.”

“They’ll never believe you.”

“Of course they will, I’m their Beta.”

“But I’m their scary Omicron.”

“Scary? You? You’re a big teddy bear.”

We stared at each other with a straight face for as long as we could until his lip twitched and we lost it. Laughing loudly, I studied the way his dimples flashed coming out of their hiding place. They made him look younger which I didn’t think was possible since he was four years older than me and we already looked the same age. His laughter tampered off into a small chuckle as he stared at me.

Something about what he said earlier came back into the forefront of my mind, “I can train you.”

“What?” He said, still laughing slighty.

“With your new abilities, it’d be beneficial for you to hone them so you don’t accidently hurt someone. And it might even help you get rid of any of those lingering doubts about your helpfulness.” Because I knew that despite how we were laughing now, he probably had some negative thoughts bouncing around in the back of his head.

“Like the type of training you do with Theo and Devin?”

I nodded, “Yes but more intense. We can also just do it one on one, you don’t have to train with them.”

He hesitated, “You’ll teach me how to control my new abilities?”

“Yes and if you want, I’ll teach you a few new fighting moves.”

Ryan stayed silent thinking it over for a minute before answering, “Yes to the abilities training. But as for the fighting, I’ll leave that to you.”

Confused, I asked, “Are you sure? I thought you said-”

“I realized after what you said earlier that I wasn’t useless in helping you. I only thought I was because we didn’t have a plan or a way out for you.”

“So next time no matter what, I won’t do anything like that again without a step by step plan.” I said easily.

He tilted his head, “Just like that?”

“Just like that.” I shrugged.

“I thought you’d be more against having to follow a plan.”

Shaking my head, I replied, “Not when my mate is the one making it.”

“Oh?” He puffed out his chest, “I get special treatment?”

I chuckled, “Of course.”

“So, does this apply to other things as well?”

“Like what?” I questioned wearily.

“Could I…for example, do the grocery shopping from now until forever?”

A little offended, I said, “What’s wrong with how I stock the fridge?”

“Nothing, nothing,” He stressed, “It’s just, you know, you have no junk food or any food really that isn’t bland.” Squinting at him, I went to argue that statement when he spoke again, “You can do the hunting and I’ll do the grocery shopping, deal?”

I hesitated before saying, “Deal.”

“And Buttercup, the 2 in 1 soap? It has to go.”

“What? What’s wrong with my soap?”

“Nothing, nothing,” He repeated, “It’s just, it’s killing my hair. I can already feel the difference.”

“Why are you using my soap?” I questioned, furrowing my brows.

He waved a hand,“I ran out of mine.”

I paused and then, “Ryan. I saw your shampoo and conditioner bottles this morning. Both are full.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and murmured, “I like when we smell the same.”

Weird but not off brand for him, “Okay but I’m not changing my soap. It makes showering faster.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll just have to find us a new brand then.” He said dramatically.

I patted his shoulder and replied sarcastically, “Your so selfless, Love.”

“I know. The things I do for you, Buttercup. The things I do.” The last part was said sadly as he touched a lock of his hair.

I just shook my head in amusement, at least I knew being mated to Ryan was never going to be boring.

————————————————————————

If Ryan isn’t the man we all need if our lives I don’t know who is. Who else is sad that their story is almost over? 😭😭😭

As always, comment if you enjoyed the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋😭

Epilogue

Ryan’s P.O.V

Two Weeks Later…

Humming in contentment, I swung the axe down harshly and split the wood right down the middle. The logs tilted and fell off the stump into the growing pile beside it. Kai didn’t think we needed this much wood but as the only one in the cabin who actually still got cold, I strongly disagreed. Which was why I was chopping up more wood after she had already chopped some. She thought it was amusing that I got cold and used it as an excuse to mate, not that I was complaining but a man needed a break sometimes.

Slader, no need break.

Rolling my eyes, I stopped chopping the wood to reply. I’m still not talking to you.

You. Big. Baby.

Excuse me? You had me chase after a squirrel for three hours yesterday. In front of Kai. I think I have the right to be upset.

Mate liked. Laughed.

Slamming the axe into the stump, I snarled, Because we fell into the stream!

Faults yours. Weird body have no reflexes.

Gasping in indignation, I refused to respond to him and his new found sassiness. Being a Splintered wasn’t all that different from being a regular shifter. The only noticeable changes were with my senses, strength and wolf. Me and Slader were much closer now, which unfortunately meant that sometimes his wants overpowered my own. Hence the squirrel debacle, and his expanded vocabulary. Thankfully though, Kai was helping me create a balance between my wants and Slader’s. It was slow going but half of the time I was able to stop myself.

Slader know something you don’t, He taunted with a raised snout. Mate told him and not you.

Growling in annoyance, I spit, If you’re not going to tell me then stop talking about it!

“Fighting with your wolf again?”

Jumping, I spun around to face my Buttercup, “You really need to stop sneaking up on me.”

Her ruby eyes crinkled as she laughed, “Even with your heightened senses, you’re still the same.”

Standing there dressed in her usual attire of cargo pants and a tank top, I still couldn’t believe that this incredible woman was all mine. Snowflakes dotted her loose dark hair and melted on her skin as she walked towards me with a smile. If someone were to tell me two months ago that I’d be mated to Kai and living in her cabin, I would’ve punched them in the face for playing with my emotions like that.

“Otis told me something interesting the other day.”

“Oh?” I questioned, pulling her into my arms.

Her brow arched, “You want pups.”

“Uhhhhhhh,” It was like all rational thought had suddenly fled my brain at her words, “I mean, I might’ve said that. Weird. That. Is. So. Weird. How did this come up again? I do possibly maybe sometime in the future, like a wayyyyy distant,-Well not that distant because I am twenty seven and I’d want to be able to run around with them. Although, when I think about it my age wouldn’t really matter because I’m not the one getting pregnant…that’s not a possibility now that I’m a Splintered right? RIGHT?” I was practically hyperventilating at the end of my speech.

Hands cupped my face and when Kai spoke it sounded as if she was trying not to laugh, “No. You can’t get pregnant. Hate to be the one to break it to you, Love. But you don’t have the right anatomy.”

Cheeks burning, I looked into her ruby eyes and tried to laugh it off, “Obviously, I knew that. Just trying to keep you on your toes.”

“Obviously.” Before I could respond to her smart remark, she continued, “About the gremlins. I’m willing to have one, if we have it in a few years. ”

My heart swelled with happiness, “Buttercup, are you serious?”

Her face scrunched, “Of course.”

Releasing a very manly squeal, I yanked her tight against me. I was already busy daydreaming of a little girl with Kai’s eyes and my dimples, when her body tensed and her head snapped toward the trees. Following her lead, I turned to look in the same direction straining to hear what she did. Sliding out from between my arms, she placed herself in front of me with a rigid spine.

A flash of silver streaked between the trees before a large man stepped out from the tree line. He wore old timey clothes made of leather with two axes peaking over his shoulders. The sides of his head were shaved close to the scalp with tight silver curls going down the center and his face was devoid of all emotion.

Silver eyes looked us over in a cold detached way that sent a secret shiver of fear down my spine. The hard features of his face never moved as he gave me a look and then dismissed me before focusing on Kai.

Well then, I huffed.

“You, female. Where did she go?”

And for the first time in my life, Kai played dumb, “Who?” From what she told me about her blue haired friend, she knew exactly who this male was looking for.

“Macha.” His voice was a deep timber.

Kai’s head tilted, “And who are you?”

“Where is she?”

If I wasn’t so tense, I’d find it funny that when he asked a question it didn’t actually sound like a question.

“Don’t know. So get the fuck off my territory.” She growled at him.

The males face didn’t even flicker with annoyance, “Where is she?”

Suddenly, a figure slunk out from between the trees and charged him from behind. Blue hair whipped through the air as a long leg slammed into his knees from behind. The silver haired male landed on his back with a solid thud before a heel was pressed to his throat. The woman who I was pretty sure was Macha turned to face us and ignored the struggling male beneath her boot.

“Babes! So nice to see you again!” Blue eyes sparkled as they flicked to me and then back to Kai, “I can see now why you didn’t want to join me. Your mates a smoke show. Sadly, I can’t stay long. I just popped by to give someone a little message.”

Her expression darkened with deep seated rage as she turned to look down at the man. They stared at each other for a long moment, her face twisted in rage and his carefully blank. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to the punch, “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

Quicker than my eye could see, a blue glass like blade stuck out of his shoulder with her hand wrapped around the hilt, “Consider this a declaration of war.” And just like that she disappeared into thin air.

The man silently got to his feet, gave us a look that could’ve withered the sun from how cold it was, pulled the dagger from his shoulder without making a face and then disappeared.

“I know we’re probably not supposed to like him with how your friend reacted to him but you have to admit…that was a baller power move.” I told Kai. I couldn’t help it, it needed to be said. “Think she’ll be okay, though?”

Kai turned and ran her palms up my arms, “I think she’s more than capable of handling herself.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Smirking, I grabbed onto her waist, “So about these five gremlins you want.”

Her eyes widened, “I said one.”

“Mmmmm, that’s not what I heard.”

Her mouth curved as she tried to suppress a smile, “Ryan.”

“I mean who am I to refuse my mates’ demands?”

“Ryan.”

“Day and night, no matter what. I’ll make your dream come true, Buttercup. In fact, we better start practicing.”

Tossing her over my shoulder, a grin spilt my face as I raced towards the bedroom. My heart swelled as I listened to her laughter ring out and I knew that I was the luckiest wolf in the world.

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😭😭😭😭😭Kai and Ryan’s story is officially over, they may pop up in the other books but our view into their lives is over. I’m actually sad that I won’t be writing their story anymore…Although… I am excited to write the next book in the series which will be Macha’s story in case you didn’t catch that.

Thank you so much to everybody who’s read Feral Born! Truly, it means so much to me that you’ve read my book and I hope this was a satisfying ending.

Don’t be afraid to comment your thoughts about my little book! Or leave a review!

Smooches, Verbage💋