“Three witches, three vampires, and three werewolves…” I heard myself say. The corpses of Carmen and Devin came to mind, both strategically placed shortly after their gruesome murders. It brought me no peace to learn that their deaths were for a specific purpose. Learning the truth had renewed my rage, but also invoked a wave of disgust that made me nauseous. I had no doubt that the witches were more than willing to knock off a few of their own if it meant getting what they wanted. ‘That’s why we’ll win in the end. Even under Tyler’s rule our pack had more loyalty for its members than the witches.’ Maya huffed, her tail swishing in agitation. “We have to assume they’ve already sacrificed three of their own. There’s no reason why they’d wait if they have three witches readily available. Hell, they probably offered themselves willingly. We know they’ve killed more than one Vampire, which leaves…” Tristan trailed off, his voice fading but his grimace was answer enough. “Which leaves

“Oh, Lola.” Ember sang, “Why don’t you come out before I start losing my patience? Wouldn’t you rather walk out with dignity than have Tessa here use her vines to drag you out by your ankles? We’ll even let your little friends go…so long as you don’t put up a fight.”“Lola, did I not tell you to get the hell out of here?” Deacon rumbled, cursing under his breath.Ember turned her attention to the hulking Vampire that had spoken and smiled dryly.“Deacon, you never planned on accepting our offer, did you?” She tutted, eyes flaming with vicious excitement. “I’ll admit, as much as your loyalty would’ve made things easier, I’d much rather watch you all burn.”As the air around her began to shimmer with heatwaves, I had one thought.We needed to get the hell out of here, right now.No sooner than the statement had crossed my mind, the exit doors just a few rows behind us were torn open. Blasted so hard by a gust of wind, they slammed into the walls on either side. The deafening clatter ech

The air around us exploded in a bright flash of light and heat that seemed to come from nowhere. Dina was ripped from Tristan’s arms and flung against the base of a tree, crumpling the second her body made impact. Her clothes were smoldering, letting off thin tendrils of smoke that dissipated in the air. Splotches of light danced in my vision, but I noticed Tristan was smoking as well. The blast had clipped his shoulder, burning a hole in his blood-soaked shirt.Before either of us could act, a second blast followed. This time I was able to track it before leaping to the side, and saw that it wasn’t an explosion, but a plume of red-hot flame.Tristan was at my side in an instant, crouched into a defensive position that would do little to nothing against the magic of a highly trained elemental. There were a reason Rowena’s books warned against angering one. Controlling nature had no limits. All that could determine an elementals range of power was their own personal strength.As if to

When Tristan left, the front door clicking shut behind him, I slumped against the kitchen counter and took a deep breath. The bottle of blood I’d been sipping on sat untouched at my side, which didn’t go unnoticed by Breyona or Giovanni.“You feel like death, and I’m not talking about how exhausted you are.” Breyona commented, her voice laced with worry. “Did something else happen?”Clutching the bottle in my hand, as though it’ll somehow give me the courage to break the news, I mumbled, “This is going to take some getting used to.”Breyona was already more intuitive than your average wolf, but now the two of us were magically connected. Even now, I could feel the smoky threads between us, connecting our souls.Her nod was one of understanding, and as much as I appreciated it, it only made my heart seize in my chest.“I promise not to pry any more than I usually do, but I get the feeling there’s something you need to tell me, but you really, really don’t want to.”“You might want to s

Really?” I scoffed, staring open-mouthed at Asher through the glass of the holding cell he was in. “Is this necessary?”Asher paced back and forth, his head snapping in my direction whenever I spoke. His eyes were still that violent shade of gold, telling me his wolf was still in charge and very much feral.The holding cell he sat in was a part of the newer renovations Asher had orchestrated. There were dozens of these cubby-like rooms, each one with a cot and a small table, reinforced with military grade equipment to keep the prisoners contained.I bet Asher never thought he’d land himself in one.Both men standing before me were grim, their lips pursed, and eyes cloaked in shadows. I was used to seeing that particular expression on Brandon, but not Zeke. Neither one appeared too happy about how things played out, but I needed to keep the conversation going. If I didn’t, I’d start thinking about what they barged in on and have no choice but to drown in embarrassment.Brandon spoke fi