is now live on Amazon. This is the fifth installment of a six part romantic serial from the Dating a Werewolf Series. All installments in this serial are priced at 0.99 or Free with Kindle Unlimited and each serves up romance, action, adventure, suspense, and danger as the Manchester siblings race against the clock to find a mate and marry by the one year anniversary of their father's death.
CHAPTER
ONE
Despite the haze
of sadness that covered us like a blanket of snow, I was happy to see that
River was going to fight for his alpha seat. He’d been somewhat hesitant the
last few times we spoke, always the compassionate one, caring about how his
actions would affect others, how his ascension would impact our lives, never
really seeking the power. But that was River, he was never a power hungry fool.
He cared more for those in his life than status. It was father who pushed him
into the alpha position and expected him to take the proverbial throne. Now
that another had died fighting his war, he took it as a personal debt he needed
to repay. He’d make sure Sylvie’s death was not in vain.
River and I were
in the room when she stopped breathing. We were exchanging shifts. I was coming
on and he was going to bed. She’d survived a week, but was still in critical
condition. Dr. Jacobson and his colleague, Dr. Jericho, had done everything
medically possible, but the magical infection that was attacking her system was
powerful, and being a supernatural wound, we couldn’t take her to the emergency
room. Ericka had called in the best healers available from multiple states, but
with the witches divided the political red tape between those that could help
and those that wouldn’t was thick.
Despite the odds,
we truly believed she’d survive. Isaac was so convinced she’d pull through that
he had relented and allowed us to watch over her in shifts so he could get some
sleep. It was the third day of our shifts when I walked into Sylvie’s room. The
memory of the moment still shook me to the core.
River was holding Sylvie’s hand. He was pleading with
her to fight, tears streaming down his face. “Where the hell is the doctor?” He
growled.
Sylvie’s body convulsed as River held her, his touch offering
any possible comfort his presence would allow. He looked right past me. It all
happened so fast that I barely processed what was happening before Dr. Jacobson
ran into the room, pushing me aside as he went to work trying to save her. When
he started chest compressions, realization hit me. She was dying.
I’d seen death before. I planned to be a doctor. My
father forced me to hunt. I was a she-wolf. It didn’t numb me. I respected the
loss of life. But no amount of familiarity would change the reaction I had when
I witnessed the actual act of a human dying, it was terrifying. A cold, hard reality
that we all face some day. It only made matters worse that she was so young.
Cut down in the prime of life for what? Power?
“Did you hear me, Rayne?” River asked as he pumped the
air bag over Sylvie’s body. His voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Call Isaac!
He needs to be here.”
I nodded, pulled the phone out of my pocket and dialed
Isaac’s number, never taking my eyes off the frantic scene in front of me. When
I knew he was on his way I took River’s spot at Sylvie’s side. It became a
rhythmic dance between me and Dr. Jacobson. He’d compress her chest, pump pump,
and I’d force air through the air bag over Sylvie’s mouth, squeeze. Pump, pump,
squeeze. Pump, pump, squeeze.
We kept that dance going until Isaac arrived. By then,
it’d been at least five minutes. He arrived to a corpse. The heartbreak on his
face made my chest heavy. I struggled to swallow as he collapsed to his knees.
“No!” It was the most heart rendering sound I’d ever heard. We both stopped the
pump, pump, squeeze tango. Dr. Jacobson shook his head sadly. River turned and
punched a hole in the wall as he let out a deafening howl.
There was nothing
any of us could do. She was gone. Death claimed its first victim in this war.
People started filing into the room. Everyone was there to pay respects. Ericka
and Matthew were the next to let out wails of grief. I just stood there, unsure
what to do. I’d only spoken to Sylvie a few times over the last couple of weeks,
but in that time I realized I liked her. I wanted her to survive. I liked Isaac
with her. They were a good pairing.
“Vengeance will be ours, my friends,” I heard River say. From that moment on, we prepared
for war.
***
The next few days
a rain cloud followed all of us. The Mating Games were put on hold while we
mourned the loss. The men were told they could return home for a week while we
made preparations for the memorial service, but they all stayed which surprised
me. I guess they wanted to show their support. Some even stepped up to help
River with planning the retaliation while Rhyme, Chloe, and I secretly planned
the alpha ascension ritual. Rhyme was Isaac’s strength through the whole ordeal
so it left the majority of the planning for Chloe and I to complete. It was
nice spending quality time with my best friend, especially in a time of sorrow.
We’d both lost our mothers when we were young, it was what bonded us together,
and now we were able to handle the heartbreak that surrounded us because of
those same coping techniques we learned in childhood.
Not that we ever
forgot the pain of losing our parents, but life has a funny way of helping you
get lost in the moment and pushing the pain aside. In the werewolf world, we
knew danger lurked around every corner, more so lately than usual, but it was
there, waiting to sneak up and bite you if you’re not careful. Losing Sylvie,
watching Isaac and the other witches go through the sorrow only served as a
bitter reminder that life was short and there were no guarantees. I could have
lost Chloe a couple times since returning home from college. The night of my
father’s wake when she mixed prescription pills with alcohol, and the
kidnapping where Brick’s sisters, Britain and Jewel, stole her away from us. It
only made me hold on to her tighter. What happened to Sylvie could happen to
any of us, and with the battle on the horizon, there would undoubtedly be more
casualties. I wasn’t going to waste any more time. As soon as River got his
official ascension ceremony out of the way I was going to choose my mate and
start my life.
River had been derailed
too many times at this point not to make it happen this month. I figured if we
waited until it was the right time, the ‘right time’ would never come. Kind of
like that old adage about a watched pot.
The cloud of gloom
that followed many of us around like a lost puppy lifted the day after the
memorial service. The witches had practically moved into the compound which
made us assign the wolves attending the hunt to the bunk houses. We were
running out of room when Lincoln suggested we use the barn as an alternative
for beds.
“They’ll
understand. We’re at war now.” Lincoln ran a hand through his blond curls. I’d
come to know him pretty well. It was one of his tells indicating he was
frustrated that he needed to argue the point.
I didn’t care. These
were our pack mates and placing them in the horse barn seemed tacky, no pun
intended.
“Lincoln’s right,”
Storm offered his two cents as he pulled his long, dark, waves into a pony tail
at the nape of his neck after closing the fridge. Just hearing his voice made
my heart skip a beat. Why did someone so infuriating get to make my pulse race?
“It just seems
wrong.” I argued. Being ganged up on by the two men that were in the running
for my heart was uncomfortable, but seeing how they both responded to pressure
in extreme circumstances was actually beneficial.
“We housed the
infirmary in the barn when Chloe was kidnapped as a precaution in case we had
injured wolves on the hunt. Why would this be any different?” Lincoln asked as
he tapped his thumb on his lower lip while his index finger ran over the
stubble on his chin to indicate he was speaking his thoughts.
He’d actually
become a solid confidant over the last few months. I’d had enough interactions
with him at this point to know he wasn’t my mate, but he was becoming a good
friend and my back up just in case I didn’t find a mate from the contenders.
He’d become important enough to me that I worried about losing him if I had to
eliminate him from the running.
“Why not put them
up at the Myriad Springs Lodge?” Chloe suggested as she drank her tea. She
looked brilliant as she stood in the doorway, sun shining off her blonde curls
giving an illusion of a halo.
“Because they are
our pack and that makes them family.” Storm grumbled as he went to refill his
coffee.
I looked out the
window at the setting sun. How did we get here? How did I become a decision
maker in the pack? When father was alive he had his own council of trusted
wolves all outside of the family, aside from my brother. River chose to keep
his inner circle close to the belt which meant, Storm, Rhyme, myself, even
Chloe were the people who advised him and made decisions for the pack. It was
so odd, also an honor, and really made me grow up fast. I smiled. “You’re
right, Lincoln. Let’s get started on adding beds to the barn just in case.”
“If you’d like, I
can get the other Mating Game contenders to help.” Lincoln offered.
“That would be
wonderful.” I hadn’t used the contenders as much as I should in regards to pack
matters, Lincoln wormed his way into my inner circle because he had become a
pack ally and close friend. He and his pack were ready to help if needed which
was a great card to have in the back pocket.
He kissed me on
the cheek and left the kitchen. Storm growled low in his chest. They all knew
the rules. Eva was a stickler for them. No unnecessary contact with me unless
sanctioned by the games. A kiss on the cheek, no matter how chaste it was, was
completely unauthorized.
I sighed as I
watched Lincoln leave. The man had a body that was made for looking at and his
backside was probably the best part. The problem was my feelings for him had
developed into friendship, not sexual. He was too controlling. My wolf didn’t
like being restrained. “Behave, Storm.” I turned my attention back to him.
“What would Eva
say if she knew how much time you were spending with him?”
My eyebrow rose. “Probably
the same thing she’d say about the time I spend with you.” I told him
pointedly.
“I don’t sneak
kisses.” He took a drink from his mug.
“You probably
should.” Chloe grinned, then bolted out the door laughing.
We both watched
her leave. Her exit left us alone which was rare lately. When I turned back to
look at him he was staring straight at me. The tension was thick like an early
morning fog, and the silence stretched between us for what seemed like hours,
but was only moments. He was waiting for something, but I didn’t know what it
could be. “What?”
After another
momentary pause he shook his head, “I don’t know why I’m doing this.”
I smashed my hand
against my forehead. “Where is this coming from, Storm? Because Lincoln, who is
my friend, kissed me on the cheek outside of sanctioned game activities?
Because--”
“He broke the
rules and you allowed him.” A tick appeared on his left cheek telling me he was
holding in his anger by biting the inside of his mouth. That was a ‘Storm’ tell.
He was always good at holding his emotions in.
“…because plenty
of other men in this house have kissed me far more scandalously than that.” I
shouldn’t have said it, knew I let my irritation get the best of me, wanted to
take it back the moment the words spilled out of my lips, but he had a way of
lighting my fuse.
He rushed up on
me, his face inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my skin and I found
myself wishing he’d kiss me. Despite his furious look, his warmth wrapped me up
like a blanket on a cold evening. I hated how my body betrayed me around him. I
wouldn’t back down and I knew better than to back away or he’d give chase. His
nostrils flared. He scented my interest in him. Heat colored my cheeks, but I
could also see how that calmed his wolf. “None of them will kiss you the way I
do.” He grabbed my shoulders and held me there, staring at me. Both of us knew
what we wanted, but neither willing to make the first move. It was agonizing
moments of silence, both daring the other to tempt them, neither willing to
give in.
“How am I to know
that? You haven’t won any challenges so I can experience your kiss firsthand.” Why, oh why did I let my emotions speak?
‘Because we want to taste his kiss again,’ my wolf responded in my mind eagerly. ‘Kiss him.’ She urged.
A growl rumbled in
his chest, and my hand went up to feel the vibration. My instinct took over.
Being this close to this man held a level of intensity I’ve never felt with
anyone else in my life. Every nerve in my body was on fire, every fiber urged
me to claim him as my own. The past simply melted away in his arms and the
future looked bright. I knew why he was the front runner in this competition. I
understood the sheer, bittersweet attraction. The feel of his granite chest
beneath my fingers, heating my hand through his shirt, had me biting my lower
lip as I imagined how the muscles would ripple under his smooth skin. My
breathing quickened and I silently cursed my attraction to the man.
“I haven’t won any
challenges because I care about you.”
That got my
attention. I shook my head, golden-brown hair bouncing around my shoulders.
“That makes no sense.”
“If you’re meant
to be with another one of these men you need to find out. I’m not stupid,
Rayne. I can tell you want me as much as I want you, but I need to know you
know it is right.”
His words
surprised me. “So you threw the competition?”
He nodded. “The
first one I did. The second we lost because of your ‘friend’.”
“How did you know
I wouldn’t eliminate you?”
“Because.”
“Because what?” I
was losing patience. It didn’t help that he was still violating my personal
space. His hands had slipped from my shoulders to my upper arms. The air around
us sizzled. I swear the lightbulb above us sparked and burned out from the
electrical field our energies were creating. “Seriously, Storm, I--”
He claimed my lips
and all sense was lost. It flew out the window. Fireworks exploded in my body
starting with my gut and reaching every inch of my being. He poured every ounce
of emotion into that kiss and I received it. His tongue slid across my lips and
I opened to receive him. Something primal moved inside me. I felt myself
melting into his strong, capable arms as desire pooled in my core.
His hand cupped my
ass and my insides turned to jelly. He pressed me against him and I felt his
need for me as much as I wanted him. Gods
help me, but I was, in that moment, lost. Something clicked between us. It
was like a key had found the lock and opened my heart.
“What the hell is
going on in here?” Eva’s shrill voice cut through the passionate fog that
wrapped around us like a comforting blanket. We fell apart, guilt on both of
our faces.
“I was… he was
just…” I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. “I’m--”
“It was my fault.”
Storm interjected before I could apologize.
“That’s not really--”
“I take full
responsibility for my actions.” He interrupted again.
“Damnit! It takes
two to kiss, Storm! Quit trying to save me. I kissed you back.” I snapped. Gah! He was the only man that could make me
go from passion to furious in two seconds flat.
Eva’s eyes bounced
from me to Storm and back again like a ping pong ball in volley. “Who initiated
the kiss?”
“I did.” We spoke
in unison.
I glared at him
and I swear I saw the beginnings of a smirk on his face which only fueled the
furious train. This is why we were not good together. “Look--”
Eva held up her
hand to silence me. Why was everyone
shushing me?
“Storm will not be
allowed to compete in the first set of games.”
“That’s totally un-”
“Unfair? Life is
unfair, child. Get used to it.” She signaled for me to leave the room.
I shook my head
and left. Forcing my temper down as I headed to my room. I needed to get it
under control before I said something stupid and caused more drama. I was so
done with being called a child and treated like a princess. I am an adult, and
it was high time everyone started to see that, and part of making that image
happen was acting like one.
