“Because usually, you can’t get two words out of the guy.”
A light flickers, blinking in the dark night.
One of Toby’s comments surfaces in my brain: hope you haven’t bitten off more than you can handle.
Bitten—the word brings on a wave of anxiety that makes my palms sweat and sends butterflies flying without direction in the pit of my belly.
“You okay?” The soft stubble of his emerging beard tickles the side of my face.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You sure about that? Apprehension wafts all around you and has you jumpier than a rabbit in a den of wolves.”
“Nice choice of words there, Romeo.” Toby slows, allowing the horses to travel side by side. “We’ll enter from the north, then travel around to the front door.”
“But you said the, uhm”—she searches her brain for the right words—“Order, covens, clans—hell, whatever the witches call themselves, occupy the front yard.”
“They do.” Toby whistles a different bird call, and the horses go from a trot to a brisk walk. “Without magic, they’re as good as castrated.”
“For how long?” Ethan relaxes his hold.
“Until dawn . . .”—Toby’s focus falls on me—“pending your decision, Ms. Reed.”
Toby trots off. “Get the gate, Charlie.”
Choices. I’ve never really had them before. In the foster care system, others dictate where you live, what you eat and wear, and what you can or can’t do. Life had been hard in many ways, but making decisions never kicked off angst because that was something outside of my control.
But this is different. The choice is mine. Fuck. Fuckity fuck!
Becoming a prized science experiment doesn’t rank high on my list of things to do.
Or a fucking breeding sack for the witches or other groups. The thought crowds my mind.
Marked. Would it be so bad? Ethan’s been by my side. His loyalty never wavering, not even once.
I could do worse, right?
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I’ll do it.” I swallow hard, keeping the sliver of courage left from escaping on my breath. “I’ll submit to marking. You can do it.”
Silences falls between me and Ethan. His steady breaths now the only sound echoing in my ears.
The horse follows a trail through an opened gate, snakes around the acre lot making up the yard, and then comes to a full stop next to the front door.
Groups of people linger, keeping their eyes on Agartha. Many of them whisper, but their speech remains just out of reach. I’m left wondering if any of the women gawking are Cole and Ethan’s mother.
Agartha approaches. “You returned unmarked, or so I hear.” Keegan and Cole stand on each side of her. “Has a decision been reached?”
“Yes. She’ll—”
“No.” Agartha holds up a hand. “The words must come from the Kindred, Sadie Reed. So, tell me, child, what sayeth you?”
Those in attendance stand motionless, their conversations fall silent.
Ethan dismounts and helps me down.
“I submit to marking.” I step on the sidewalk.
“By whom?” Agartha flips one side of the cape over her shoulder. “What clan?”
“Shoshone. By Ethan.” I pause, wondering why she asked the question, and then recall the on-lookers—must be a formal thing. “Ethan Cotter.”
“And do you accept her submission, whelp?” A slight curl tugs at the corners of Agartha’s mouth.
“I do.”
Agartha takes hold of Ethan’s hand in one of hers, and mine in the other, and raises them above her head.
“Let it be known to all, the Kindred, Sadie Reed, now joins the Shoshone clan. Under the laws of the marking ceremony, approved and sanctioned by me, Keegan—the alpha of the Shoshone Clan—and Cole Cotter, Sadie now falls under the protection of her brethren and the Order.”
“An assault on her”—Keegan steps forward—“is a direct attack on me and my clan.”
My temples throb. I’m done playing fish in a bowl. Movement to my left catches my eye.
Samuel Wardwall zeros, holding me in his seething gaze.
“May I go in the house?” My lower lip trembles.
“But of course.” Agartha nods, then gestures toward the door.
Inside, shielded from those on the yard, I’m able to release the tension in my shoulders.
I plop on the couch, wishing this was all a bad dream. But the ticking of the clock on the wall says otherwise. It offers a countdown to the approaching dawn.
“You okay?” Ethan slides on the couch next to me.
“What do you think?” My words come out harsher than I had anticipated. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine.” He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “There’s a lot to take in.”
His touch offers the promise of comfort. Something I’m not used to relying on others for, so it feels odd, foreign even.
Thoughts of the cave come to mind, and my face flushes.
In truth, I wish I were still there, away from everyone and everything. In the confines of the cavern, it was only the two of us—the weight of the outside world held at bay.
“Hey.” He caresses the side of my face. “I need only mark you, nothing else. You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready or willing to do. Okay?”
I nod in response, riding a rollercoaster of emotions that flip as easily as a coin flicked into the air.
Heads: dive headfirst into a relationship I’m in over my head with, or Tails: turn tail and run as far as my legs can take me, licking my wounds in the process, or at least until caught and tossed inside a six by six sterile cell.
His smoky, blueish eyes draw me in. There’s no malice, anger, or hidden motives to see. Instead, what I view conveys a gentle calmness, an inner peace I long to hold on to.
“W-what if”—I push hair out of his eyes—“What if I want more?” I lean in, brushing my lips against his.
Chapter Twenty
Ethan Cotter
CLAIMING HER MOUTH, I playfully nibble on first her lower lip then upper. When she yields, I deepen the kiss.
Drawing a deep breath, the wolf inside me takes in the scent of her awakening arousal along with a hint of uncertainty.
She seeks freedom and a place to belong, I think to myself. How do I help her achieve both?
A need, a deep-seated hunger to protect her, drives me forward.
“C-can we do it somewhere else? The marking?” She peers out the broken window. “Where there’s some privacy?”
An audience lines the front lawn.
I don’t need the heightened vision of the wolf to know eyes from outside follow every movement between me and Sadie.
“Yeah. We can go to my room.” Rising, I draw her into an embrace, cradling her to my chest. “If that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah.” Her heart beats erratically, and her breaths, short and shallow, release in small bursts. “I’d like that. Anything to get away from them.”
I take her by the hand and head across the living room. Shredded fabric from the curtains litter the floor. Shards of glass wink reflected light like twinkling stars.
“Hold up.” I scoop her into my arms.
“What are you doing?” She tenses from head to toe.
“Don’t want you to cut yourself.”
She scans the floor then relaxes against me, placing her head against my shoulder.
A mixture of fear and desire wafts from her body.
Walking down the hall, I carry her to my bedroom, then set her on the floor.
The comforter and top sheet hang off the bed. Grabbing a corner of the bedding, I yank it across the mattress.
Looking up, I find her taking in the room.
“Uhm, I seem to recall someone stating the occupants of this house were tidy?” She lifts a brow. “Housebroken, even.”
The floor, covered with discarded
clothes and shoes, paints a different picture. Not to mention, several glasses line the dresser and television stand.
“I wasn’t expecting company today,” I chuckle.
A small smile dances across her lips. “I can see that.”
“But in my defense, I wasn’t expecting to be almost run over, either, or surrounded by Wiccan covens, brethren, and other clans.”
“You didn’t just say that.” She runs the tips of her fingers over a track trophy, and then inspects the metals hanging on the wall. “You didn’t tell me, you run track.”
“Well, it’s not like we’ve had a whole lot of time to sit and talk about stuff. Well, normal things, but I’d like to.”
“As in a date?” A smile plays on her lips. “Like a movie and dinner date? Or even a dance date?”
“Yeah.” The end of year spring dance at school comes to mind. “You’re gonna go to KC High, right?”
“KC?”
“Kensington Cove. It’s the only public school in town.”
“I suppose so.” She puts one of the cross-country metals around her neck.
“Then we can go to the spring dance.”
“I’d like that.” Standing on the tips of her toes, she returns the metal to its resting spot on the wall. “Something normal sounds good.”
The elephant in the room, time, continues to tick, counting down to the enviable.
Mine, the wolf within whispers. Mark, Sadie Reed.
“Dawn is almost here.” My mouth tingles, and my teeth shift under the gumline.
“I know.” Stepping over shoes, she sits on the foot of the bed.
“Are you sure about this?” Anticipation builds, making my skin buzz with energy.
I’ve never marked anyone—never wanted to before. But as Sadie said back on the road, ‘Never say never because there’s a first time for everything.’
Chapter Twenty-One
Sadie Reed
“Am I sure? Yep.” I trace the paisley design of the comforter with the tips of my fingers. “Are you good with it?”
“Uh, yeah. My wolf has wanted you since first encountering you on the road.”
“That’s your wolf. What about you?”
“We are one and the same, me and my beast—the wolf.”
“Okay.” Taking the hem of the shirt in hand, I pull it off, exposing my pink sports bra. “But do it quick.”
He slides next to me on the bed and brushes his lips against mine. The act, simplistic in nature, offers reassurance.
“Ready?”
I nod then ease the strap of my bra partially down my shoulder, exposing the marks left by Keegan and Cole.
Earlier, fear had dominated my mind, but now, there’s a calmness around me. One I hadn’t expected.
“Mine.” A low, throaty growl escapes his lips.
He presses his lips to my neck, then continues the journey down to the shallow marks, leaving a wave of heat and goosebumps in his wake.
“Sadie,” his voice is thick, desire-ridden with lust. “May I mark you? Do you consent?”
“Yes,” I whisper in his ear. “I do.”
Tipping his head, he exposes elongated canines, and then pierce my warm and inviting flesh.
Drawing back, I take in the three small circular wounds. They form a perfect triangle.
“Did I hurt you?” A raspiness etches his voice.
I shake my head then kiss his lips. “No. Actually, I kind of liked it.”
“Did you now?” His brows shoot up.
“It was different with you.” A yawn plays upon my lips.
“How so?”
“Not sure. I can’t explain it.”
“Try.” He tucks some hair behind my ear.
“Before, in the living room with Keegan and Cole, I was scared, nervous. I didn’t know what to expect.”
“Oh, and you did with me?”
“No. It’s just that I know you’ll never hurt me—not willingly, anyway.”
“Neither will they, Sadie. The clan members will defend you with their lives. I hope you know that.”
“I do now. So”—a grin dances on my lips. “What else does your wolf want to do?”
“More than mere words could ever explain.” He nuzzles my neck. “And just so you know, we—me and my wolf—plan on showing you daily.”
“Does this mean that I’m yours now?” Well, for the next two years, and then another choice. “That I’m Shoshone? That they can’t take me away?”
“Yeah. It does—on both accounts. And I’m yours.”
He playfully nips at my lower lip.
“Hey, what’s with you and the biting, boy?” I pat his head then scratch behind an ear.
“Yeah. Real funny.” Pressing my back into the soft folds of the mattress, he nibbles on my neck again.
His laughter lightens my heart, but an uneasiness tugs at me, refusing to relinquish its grasp.
“Tell me what’s on your mind?”
“What if they come for me, Samuel and his coven?”
“Let them try.” He ushers a low, throaty growl. “And just so you know, it’ll be a wintry day in hell before I let go or allow anyone take you away from me. You. Are. Safe. Sadie Reed.”
Worry mixed with fear bubbles in the pit of my belly. “I hope you’re right.”
“Don’t worry.” He kisses first one brow then the other. “You’re Shoshone, and we take care of our own.”
Sneak Peek
Turn the page for a sneak peek of
COLE
Kensington Cove Book 2
written by
April A. Luna
Excerpt of Ava (Book 2)
Cole Cotter
THE BAR IS GENERIC and offbeat. Brown carpet, stained with food and drinks, runs the length of the floor below the grooved counter.
Sitting on a wooden stool, I sip the soda in my hand.
The overhead television flickers.
Glancing up, I peer at the screen then turn away, uninterested in the basketball game that’s in overtime.
The clock on the wall behind the bar reads eleven-thirty. It’s still early. Curfew isn’t until two.
Down in the pit, the lower section of the bar next to the live band, Tessa Johansson serves drinks and nachos. The table she’s at is full of lycans from the Kweo clan—my inner wolf can smell them.
Most of the faces are unfamiliar, but one stands out, Chad Sawyer. And from the looks of things, he and his squad of brainless followers downed some alcohol before hitting the bar.
Alcohol and Chad are never a good combination in any setting because the idiot can’t hold his liquor. And now, here at the bar and grill, with a group of his brethren, well, he’s just a fight waiting to happen.
Tessa looks up, and her eyes meet mine.
A smile dances across her lips. She makes her way over to the bar and stands next to where I’m sitting.
“Hey, Ethan,” she shouts over me. “Table three needs a house special for three with waters.”
Behind the bar, my brother, Ethan, grabs three water bottles and a beef nacho plate with all the trimmings. “What else you need?” He sets the items on a tray then looks at Tessa.
“That’s it. Unless you have something that’ll take care of stupidity. God. I don’t even know why Chad comes her.” She rearranges the bottles then nudges me with her elbow. “Hey. You stickin’ around?”
“Maybe.” I swig the last swallow of my drink. “We’ll see. Why?”
A grin dances across her face, and her brown eyes light up. “Because I have a surprise for you and Ethan.”
My eyes rake up and down the length of Tessa’s lean body, which is poured into skin-tight jeans. An Alpha Prime T-shirt—advertising the bar & grill’s fall specials—hugs the curves of her full breasts.
“You ever think of wearing something else?” I shake my head. “With those guys in the pit, you’re just asking for attention. The kind you don’t want.”
A few months back, after homecoming, he and T
essa dated for a while, which was a wild ride.
I came to the conclusion, she and I were better suited to be friends than a couple, and she agreed.
“What? Are you my father or brother now?” Tessa rolls her eyes. “Besides, I make better tips with what I have on.”
“I’m not even touching that comment. I’m just saying.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I heard you.” She turns around and heads back to the pit.
“So, what’s going on with Tessa?” Ethan wipes the bar. He picks up the empty bottle, and then he hands me another drink.
“Don’t know. She said she had a surprise, and with Tessa, that could be almost anything.” I scan the room, which is full of familiar faces. “Seems like a third of the town came out tonight.” I stretch, working out the kinks in my shoulders from a hard day’s work on the construction grounds I work at part time.
“Yeah.” Ethan shrugs his shoulders. “They’re either here for the band or the game.” He points at the television.
Off to the left, Tessa pulls a tall, young female, well, taller than her five-foot, three-inch frame, into the hallway next to the entrance to the bathrooms.
Tessa motions for her to stay put then dashes off into the kitchen.
Light blond hair pulled into a ponytail, cascades down the middle of her back. She’s wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, sweats, and sneakers.
There’s a logo on the shirt. But with the way she’s standing, I can only see a fraction of it, so I can’t make out what it says.
Shouts, followed by a thunderous boom, reverberates from down in the middle of the pit.
I spin around on my stool, taking in the evening’s entertainment.
Two guys, lycans sitting at the table where Chad was earlier, exchange blows. They flip over a table behind them, knocking over a pitcher of tea in the process.
The bar owner, Isiah Mesnikoff, who is the Alpha of the Black Foot clan—and one of his pack members, his son his son, who is my age—approach the men and drag them outside.
Swiveling back around, I grab my drink.
Sadie Page 10
