by Tamar Sloan
I hold my breath, wanting to tear my eyes away from the gruesome, humiliating sight, but they stay trained on the two Weres.
The Phelans are silent as they watch the victory, the Channons among them watching this voiceless loss.
Noah releases and he steps back. He pushes his proud, dirty body upright, expanding on a breath. His neck arches up, his eyes trained on Kurt. Despite the dirt, the blood, and the barely concealed exhaustion, he looks striking, imposing. Magnificently alive.
Kurt lies there for another moment, taking long seconds to register what has happened. Hazel eyes open and his head comes up, seeing Noah then registering the two packs behind him. As he pushes himself up, his head drops.
Noah transforms to human form.
“Kurt Channon.” His voice carries through the clearing, ringing with the authority of an Alpha. “You have broken the Precepts, dishonored all that Weres stand for. You shall never again hold the title of Alpha, and are banished from the Channon pack.”
I feel rather than see the flash of anger that spears through Kurt. His body never moves; his eyes remain downcast. I tense, knowing Noah is painfully vulnerable in human form. He has put far more trust in Kurt than he deserves.
But Kurt merely turns toward the opposite side of the clearing, and with his head hanging low, his tail brushing the dirt, heads for the trees. He doesn’t look back at the pack he has to leave.
The silence is absolute. Birds are mute. No one moves. Even the breeze has been curbed.
Noah slowly turns to face me, the trees, and the two packs. His handsome face is a jumble of shock, regret, pride, relief.
And a roar lifts up from the trees. I turn to find the Phelans as humans too, and they are clapping, cheering, their arms lifted in victory. They rush at Noah, whose eyes go wide at the tidal wave of family coming at him. They engulf him, Beth taking him into her arms, Mitch wrapping both of them in a hug of his own. The others revel and whoop around them like a carousel.
I smile, and it makes my eyes sting. Relief is washing through me, making every exhausted muscle and every trembling joint go weak. He’s okay. He’s okay. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to contain these emotions, but a small tear manages to slip down my cheek.
I open them to see Noah peeling himself from the mass of people, and they part as he takes a few steps forward. Then he is striding toward me—electric blue eyes holding me captive. Their intensity steals my breath.
His hand comes up to cup my face, his palms along my jaw, his fingers spearing into my hair. And he is kissing me with fervent emotion. His lips fasten to mine. He tastes of dust, of the sun, of Noah. The best taste in the world.
His lips and his hand don’t let go. Our connection is physical, emotional, visceral. Reassuring me, reassuring him. An affirmation of life. A testament to our love.
“I love you,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Oh, Noah, I love you too.”
38
Noah
Our whole journey, we’ve been like two magnets drawing closer and closer, the pull becoming stronger and stronger. Nature taking its course to bring them together… Eventually coming to a point where nothing can keep them apart. Only at peace when they are united, aligned, and balanced. And if you try to separate them, that magical connection will blaze, the two halves will pull, tremble, strain in their drive to return to the other.
One of the most powerful, undeniable, impenetrable forces known to man.
I pull Eden in closer, her warm, delicate hand in mine, her lush green eyes soft with tenderness. And there, in the ICU waiting room, I kiss those rose-red lips. It’s a kiss full of heat, affection, and potential. It doesn’t take long before it’s a kiss full of fire and promise and need. And I have to remind myself where I am. I pull back, sucking in lungfuls of unforgettable wildflowers.
With foreheads touching, hands caressing, we smile. We have so much to talk about, but there’s been no time, no privacy. We’ve barely discussed the Claiming, who her identical male alter-ego was, Kurt, calling the animals...does she have a favorite cheesecake recipe.
But we have plenty of time for that. Because the invisible, persistent force that pulled us through has never been stronger. I can feel the warmth of her happiness, the intensity of our passion, the gentle glow of love. The twinge of helplessness that the final piece of the puzzle, my father, remains unconscious down the hall. Each of her emotions mirroring mine.
A beep fills the room, and Eden sits forward, retrieving her phone out of her bag. Tara, across the room, covers her mouth with her hand, quickly tucking her own phone between her and Mitch. Bored Tara is always a worry—an unpredictable, sometimes hazardous force. I can’t imagine she can get up to much in a hospital waiting room, but I’ve had an entire childhood learning not to underestimate my brother’s mate.
Eden’s hair shifts over her shoulder, the hair she always wears down now. I can’t help myself, I lean forward to tuck it behind her ear. My fingers brush those silken strands.
Then stop.
And fall away.
Behind Eden’s ear, partially covered by her hair line, is a mark. That place she always used to rub. A perfect circle…with a five-pointed star inside it. My hand smacks over my own tattoo.
Eden turns toward me, and her face furrows. I’m pretty sure my face has the lax, wide-eyed expression of shock.
“Noah, what is it?”
But my slack-jawed mouth hasn’t recovered the ability to speak. Eden and I…we’re…
“Noah, Mitch!” My mother’s voice, urgent and high, carries across the ICU.
Grabbing Eden’s hand, I rush into Dad’s room, hot on the heels of two nurses. Another is already bustling by the machines, one hand on his pulse. Mom is holding the other, tears raining down on her cheeks. Mitch is holding Tara. Everyone is looking at Dad.
Groggy blue eyes are blinking back.
With a croaky voice and a crooked smile he asks, “So, what have I missed?”
Prophecy Accepted
Their connection is binding, their love undeniable.
However, Noah and Eden are about to discover that even a love prophesied through the ages must be founded on one thing.
As Noah carries the secret he’s too afraid to share, Eden desperately wishes for a destiny that’s already come to pass. But as the Prime Prophecy reveals itself so does the greed for what it promises. As tensions between the packs grow, as the existence of Weres is threatened to be exposed…as Eden finally learns the truth about her inexplicable gift with animals, the two will face their greatest challenge.
Because ultimately the Prime Prophecy will ask for the one thing they have yet to grasp hold of...
Faith.
Continue the epic journey
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Chapter 1: Noah
My heart slams my chest with the same thundering beat as my paws pounding the soil. Claws dig into the ground, chewing out clods of dirt as I propel myself forward. Lungs fill like bellows, stretching to capacity then rapidly deflating, keen to do it all over again. The trees become a blur, a camouflage of green on green, the scent of pine hitting me so hard I can taste it.
My head dips, dividing the wind that rushes at us.
Faster.
My whole body smiles as the legs gripping my ribs tighten. Who knew this quiet, shy girl of mine had an inner-adrenalin-junkie just waiting for the right Were to unleash it? Not that I’m complaining—there’s no bigger, better rush than running with Eden.
Sh
e leans down, her head brushing close to my ear, breath tickling my fur. “Faster,” she breathes, this time out loud.
I heard you the first time.
I glance back, at the reddish-brown wolf and larger black wolf who are already falling behind. Tara slows, having the competitive spirit of a sloth. Mitch, on the other hand, dips his head, black brows coming low.
Bring it on little bro.
I stretch eager muscles, suck in my essential fuel—Eden and oxygen—and run. I run like gravity is optional, like the sound barrier is just ahead; I run like this will never end.
Mitch slows, and although I can’t hear my twin’s growl of defeat, my victorious mind imagines it. Eden’s laughter bubbles out, a natural sound of joy and freedom, the magical sound that has progressively lost its rough, unused edge.
But I don’t stop; I can’t help myself. Without slowing, I angle to the left, forging a new track past the trees. With Eden, I always feel like I can gain a little more speed, a little more strength, a little…well…more.
Because when we’re running, nothing matters. It doesn’t matter what time it is. As if four months haven’t passed since I banished Kurt, that it’s only weeks since the icy snow of winter melted. That graduation isn’t looming on a very near horizon.
It doesn’t matter who we are. Me, the Alpha heir; her, a human. Well, mostly human. Because it was Eden who called the bears and mountain lions—a surprising, unimaginable act that prevented a blood bath. And the average human certainly can’t do that. But that guy, her male alter-ego, the one who appeared on the rock ledge, has never shown up again. The very same dude Eden won’t mention, let alone discuss.
I head west, knowing exactly where I want to go. Eden leans forward a little more, like it will help us get there a little faster.
Yes.
I smile, feeling canines push into my bottom lip, the wind whipping up the exhilaration. It’s just Eden and me and the miles falling behind us. The sun smiling down on us. Our feelings flowing freely between us. Bigger, more real, more doggone incredible than anything I could have imagined.
Because here, alone and together, it doesn’t matter that I’ve carried a secret for four long months. That I’ve concealed the small circle with a five-pointed star within it, undeniably imprinted on my chest. A little mark with huge implications, implications that make my conflicted heart soar and sink, depending on which way my thoughts take me.
Because no one knows, not one person or Were, that we’ve bonded. An impossible, confusing dream come true. Not even the one it affects the most–Eden.
Impossible because it’s never happened before, impossible because our laws say it can’t be.
A dream come true because, well, because it’s Eden. The heart-tripping, mind-blowing, soul-grabbing girl that already owns my heart.
But ultimately confusing because I have no idea what it means. I don’t know how to tell her. How she’s going to take it. Shoot, if she wants this. I don’t doubt her feelings for me; I feel them every single day, but a never-heard-of-before-bonding to a future Alpha? That’s big. Irreversible, life-changing, how-do-you-even-bring-that-up big.
A stand of rocks crests on the horizon, at the top of a rise, breaking the skyline with their stoic harshness. Every time we run, I find something to jump. First fallen trees, then rocks, eventually the odd monolith. Each jump a little bigger, a bit more of a challenge. I see the rock we jumped last time, all rounded greys and angled whites. But those six feet of granite no longer pose a challenge. My head tilts up, and I angle slightly to the left. The boulder’s bigger brother next door does.
Or maybe it’s a daddy, because it’s almost twice the size.
Now that’s a challenge.
Through the wind blasting my ears I hear Eden’s intake of breath, sense the jump in her heart rate. I certainly feel her hands clench my fur. The smile grows to a grin as I scan the rock getting closer and bigger.
Paws concertina in and out, over and over, devouring the distance, bringing us closer. Eden presses her front to my back, hands deep in my fur.
With precision timing, I leap, hit its cold hard surface, and push. My front paws have barely landed when they’re replaced by my back legs, and I push up again. A powerful thrust and we’re on the top. Now comes the awesome bit. I compress down as I land, coiling the spring, loading the gun. And bam! All that potential energy is propelled into the sky. Eden lets go, leans back, and arches to the sun.
The air that was rushing past slows, lifting us, holding us in suspended animation as we defy the laws of physics, stalling the passage of time. There’s just a white wolf, stretched and taut, and his gorgeous girl, arched and open. I can just imagine that mane of hers flowing behind like a mahogany sail. It’s a beautiful, breathtaking image.
But all things that go up and over a boulder must come down and honor gravity. A breathless moment later I hit the ground, elbows and knees bending, absorbing the impact. Eden’s body crashes into mine, for a split second blending us into one.
Making our landings equally as awesome.
Neither of us needs to say a thing; everything we feel is overflowing between us. Two bodies, even one as big as mine, can’t contain such a whirlwind. I gallop over grass and gravel, giving us a bit of time, a little to get our breaths under control, but mostly to bask in the wild feelings our runs unleash.
Because I know. I know it’s the freedom that Eden loves, that makes this so special. She’s had so little choice in her life, so few opportunities to decide. Which is why I’m not landing the bonding in her lap. She deserves to choose, in her own time.
And that’s fine; I really don’t mind.
I’ve waited this long.
Eden’s legs tensing around my ribs bring me back to the present. Her thoughts tickling through my mind suggest we should turn around before we end up in Canada. I slow, making a big arc. A rhythmic lope takes us back to the Glade.
Tara and Mitch are sitting in the middle of the grassy clearing. The pine trees that surround it like protective parents glisten with melted winter snow. Back in human form, they’re both leaning back, propped on bent arms, chests sucking in lungsful of air.
Eden slips off, her hand running down my shoulder, making me shiver.
Thanks.
Anytime, I reply, my response as sincere as her gratitude.
I head over to the Precept rock, the mini mono-lith that has our four laws carved into it.
You shall not reveal the bloodline
You shall not bond with the opposite bloodline
You shall not attack another blood member
You shall obey the Alpha
I don’t look at the reminder of everything I’ve just pushed out of my mind. I slip around the back, doing my usual transformation away from the green eyes I can feel following me. I hate hiding, pretending, but the alternative stirs an uncomfortable feeling I’ve yet to name.
As I return, Mitch grabs a handful of wet grass and tosses it at me.
The green blades are caught in the breeze and swept toward us. I leap in front of Eden. “Hey, that could have hit my girl!”
Eden’s forest green eyes peep up at me as she slips beneath my arm. That sense of connection that never leaves gives me a jolt. I love it. It keeps me anchored. It keeps me high.
“My hero.”
Tara snorts. “Thank Galactus you were there. Eden, you’re going to have to gain some weight. We need to slow this Were down.”
“I won’t if we keep doing this every week.”
I squeeze her hand. “Although if Tony keeps making those cheesecakes…”
Eden’s eyes light up at the mention of the chef who works at her mother’s Inn. A chef that seems intent on spoiling her more than me. “A cheesecake challenge.”
My girl’s version of heaven.
“As your bestie, I should help.”
Eden nods sagely. “Proving there is no such thing as the selfish gene.”
Tara shrugs dainty shoulders, tilting her
head in an unsuccessful show of modesty. “I’m a team player.”
Eden’s eyes squint as she stares ahead, her lips puckering just a little, just enough to focus my eyes on them. “We’ll start with the raspberry white chocolate swirl.”
“Or the triple-choc cheesecake with the salted peanut caramel.”
“We don’t want to leave out the baked cherry and hazelnut praline.”
Mitch sits up a little straighter. “It couldn’t be a pizza challenge?”
Both girls turn to him, shocked, a little stunned, looking a bit like Eden did after she witnessed the first time I changed. Come to think of it, I looked like that, too. I shake my head. Mitch has been with Tara long enough; they’re bonded, for heaven’s sake, to know better.
“Of course not!” Tara punches his arm. “They don’t even start with the same letter.”
Eden and Tara laugh as Mitch mumbles something about cheese fitting the bill.
Just as I plonk myself on the grass, bringing Eden down with me so I can rest my head in her lap, Tara decides silence is over-rated. “So, guys, we have a double birthday coming up, and it’s a significant one. I’ve already spoken to your mom about initial preparations.”
I feel Eden tense in the legs cradling my head, but more so deep within. “How big is this thing going to be?”
“I’m defs keeping it low key this time. Some peeps, some dancing…”
I hear Mitch shift in the grass. “Can I do the music?”
“No!” Three voices chorus their horror.
Mitch grins as the girls laugh, and I look up to the sky, seeing the weak spring sun doing its best to warm us. It’s all I need to expand my chest in a deep breath and squeeze out any residual doubts that I’m doing the right thing.
Sitting there, in this place where time seems to stand still, I look to the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with, a girl I’m not supposed to be able to. I suck in another deep breath, a breath full of hope, her wildflower scent…and patience.
