로그인I didn’t want to brush him off like I did everyone else. As discreetly as I could, I tried to clear my throat, but I ended up rasping anyway. “I don’t know. Somebody hit me really hard when we were facing off against Dalesbloom and the Inkscales.”“In your ribs?” Gavin stepped closer, his face darkening with concern. I stepped back. “Yeah. It’s whatever.”“You can barely breathe,” said Everett.It was really fucking aggravating that Everett was suddenly privy to everything I could feel. I felt everything he felt, too, but apparently Everett felt nothing at all because the only thing I’d experienced since our shared Moondream was the pain in my chest. Well, except for all the damage he had taken just now—but on the emotional end of the spectrum? Nothing. I bared my teeth at him. “If people would get off my case about it, I’d be able to heal.”“If it’s that bad, Ais, you need to get it checked out,” said Gavin.“It’s not that bad.”“It is that bad,” argued Everett.“Is that what sto
Shame was not something I felt often, but in the aftermath of my fury against Sebastian, I hesitated to show my face to anyone. I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t be long before my fated mate found out, and if Sebastian had been telling the truth—that I really was a contender for joining the ranks of the Mythguard—then I didn’t think I could stomach the disappointment that would follow my outburst.The easiest thing was for me to sit quietly in my apartment away from everyone else and not put any extra strain on my lungs. Easiest… physically, I guess. Everybody knew me for my penchant to stick my nose in peoples’ business. I was usually involved in Grandbay’s affairs to some degree. They would find it strange, no doubt, that I was suddenly keeping to myself. I think that fact just made me want to hide even more. The instant I didn’t act like my usual self, everybody would know something was wrong, and I didn’t want to confess that it was.Muriel was supposed to stay at my pla
The Mythguard expects our best behavior then puts strikes on our record for aspects of ourselves we can’t help,” David shot back, speaking swiftly on my heels. “Wilderness is savage, that’s what we are. Not all of us are lucky enough to be marked by a fated mate so that we can be in control of our beasts. My son—if he were to lose control of his wolf and kill three deer instead of one, do you think he would deserve a penalty for overhunting? Your friend Gavin, had he lost control and raided a campsite for their food—does he deserve to be euthanized for it?”“If the actions of shifters endanger those around us, then yes. They deserve to be corrected,” I reasoned.David sneered at me. “This coming from a man who has never had the guts to give his wolf the reins.”“My wolf comes out only when I need it to,” I said harshly. “An Alpha should have control over his facilities in excess.”“And yet you align yourself with a juvenile prone to temper tantrums,” said David.“Gavin is marked. He’
By the time evening rolled around, I had heard of Aislin’s onslaught against Sebastian. He’d confessed with some measure of guilt that he had taken it upon himself to visit Grandbay and speak to Muriel on behalf of the Mythguard, leaving annoyance to fester quietly behind my lips. I didn’t dare express what I felt about this. Even though I was the Alpha of Eastpeak and a correspondent of the Mythguard, Sebastian still had superiority over me. The Mythguard could very well make decisions without consulting me if they felt that was best, and apparently, they had decided among themselves that it was worth attempting a visit to Grandbay without me giving approval of the idea. Sebastian had to learn the hard way exactly how unwelcome the Mythguard was. It didn’t surprise me that Aislin had lost her temper like that. She was too foolish and aggressive to ever be a legitimate candidate to work with the Mythguard. Despite all the attempts she’d made to join the Mythguard, I had never once vou
But I had lost the clarity in my chest. The transformation once more perforated my lungs and suffocated me, ripping away what satisfaction I might have felt from becoming a wolf. I gurgled with pain and ended up strewn in the grass, panting, tasting blood.It felt too much like the Moondream.Growling to myself, I finally managed to stand up, but what hopes I had to take off into the woods and isolate myself were dashed by the sound of an engine approaching the cabin. I watched a car pull up and tensed, recognizing the man who stepped out, surprised at the sheer gall he had to be here. It was Sebastian Hicks, the man from the Mythguard.He spied me immediately and waved. “Aislin Mundy, right?”I raised my head. Defiant thunder rumbled between my teeth, my tail lifting over my hips.“I don’t want any trouble,” said Sebastian. “I was just wondering if I could speak to Muriel.”Too bad I was a wolf, or else I would have told him to fuck off. Gavin and I might not have ended up with a fa
To say I was surprised to wake up alive would be an understatement.A sharp gasp followed my eyes peeling open, my body shuddering against a tidal wave of pain once more renewed with my consciousness. Six hands took hold of me, clutching my arms, supporting my neck, brushing strands of red hair away from my brow as voices slurred above. I didn’t know who it was leaning over me, but visions of the overcast sky and the ache in my body reminded me of what I had been doing before this—I’d been fighting someone. Choking. Losing consciousness. The hands all around me rekindled those same sensations of being trapped, and my first instinct was that it was Niko bearing down on me. Disoriented, I pushed them away and tried to sit up.“Aislin, relax. You’re alright,” crooned a gentle voice near my ear.An even more familiar voice sighed with relief. “My baby girl! Are you okay? We were so worried!”They weren’t enough to soothe me, not when the clench in my chest made me feel like I was drownin







