Before you begin, just a heads up this is the SFW (Safe for Work) version. If you want to have the NSFW (Not safe for work) version or just want to read without the ads, you can do that in the Coven Tier on my membership here

Or you can buy it as a single ebook here

Nakia

“I can’t believe he thinks he can just marry everyone off. Is that the solution every wolf pack is going to come to?” I paced my modest room, walking right past my bookshelves before stopping and sitting on my bed beside my phone.
“He’s just trying to keep the pack going,” my friend, Tara said on the other end of the phone.
“By making choices that affect other people and not him,” I snapped. “Does he really think Carik is going to want to go back to being my mate after everything that happened?”
“It’s not like you guys couldn’t work it out if it meant the packs survived,” she countered.
“I’m not giving up my life more than I have to. I’m not even sure I’m going to become the alpha,” I laid back and stared at the ceiling. “My mom would know what to do.”
“I know, but no one knows what happened to her.”
The thought of my mom being somewhere out there on her own was worse than any other feeling I’d had in a long time. She was always the person that could make any situation better.
“I’m going to find out,” I said without thinking.
“They already tried,” Tara said. Her voice carried that same logic she was known for. Even if she wasn’t a part of my pack, she was still the closest thing I had to someone that knew everything. If my father found out, she’d be cut off from talking to me or worse. “You remember how that went.”
“I know, but that was a long time ago.” I sighed and shook my head. “She didn’t just disappear overnight. There has to be something.”
“Nakia, your mom was a human trying to find a way to be with a wolf. You know what they do to humans that try to enter our world,” Tara said, her voice careful not to overstep. I knew what she meant. Most of the time the wolf that ended up with a human was cut from the pack, but when it’s the alpha, they banish the human even if she had a child.
“Tara, I shouldn’t have let this go before, and I can’t now. I’ll just have to find a way to do it while dealing with all this shit from my dad,” I said, pulling the phone over to me.
“I have to go,” Tara said with a sigh. “Class is starting any minute, and they hate it when we’re late.”
“I still can’t believe you joined that place,” I said.
“The Order of Fate is more than just witches hunting demons, but they will never tell you that,” she said with a slight laugh. “Call me back when you can.”
I stared through the window past my favorite tree. The sun setting gave me some weird peace of mind that maybe finding my mom wasn’t going to be the worst thing that happened, as long as I could find something, anything that might show me what happened to my mom and how to find her.

Want to Read without the ads? Join The Coven Membership and get the entire series and more.

Jaylyn

Getting to the town where Nakia’s pack lived wasn’t the hard part. Seeing her again would be. The town was smaller than I’d imagined, even though Gavin, my brother, hadn’t mentioned much about it.
When I met her father, I kind of expected their pack town to be bigger, more closely aligned with traditions than any of the others my own father had dragged me to all those years growing up.
I pulled my car into the main town area, hoping someone there might be able to tell me where their pack house was or at least where the visitors they were inviting were supposed to stay. There was an old, rundown hotel on the edge of town, I’d passed, but that was all.
The moment I stepped out of my little black Kia, I felt eyes on me. This was going to be a long few days, and none of them were going to trust me.
Maybe they shouldn’t.
My father wanted me to upset the order of this pack just to make sure he maintained power. It was as dark as it gets for another pack, but they also had to know if I made an offer, it was going to be the best bet against the vampires. We’d already gotten them to back off once, not that they needed to know how that happened.
I opened the door to the town hall and stepped inside. There were more people there than I expected. Most were women, probably coming to be mated off with other packs in order to help their alpha, but a few men, I figured were trying to also convince Axl or Atlas, whichever one you got that day, to let them marry his daughter.
When I walked around the corner to the main area of the town hall, I saw her. She was sitting in the back on a fancy couch with a look of complete boredom on her face. I smiled slightly and shook my head.
Nakia was not a willing participant, which is something I figured when I was told to find a way to marry her by my own father. Instead of making a scene in my presence, I waited next to the other would be suitors at the far end of the room.
“You were called here because it’s time for Nakia to choose her mate. You would be expected to honor the old laws,” Axl’s eyes stopped on me and he paused. I smirked wider. “She will be the next Alpha by blood, and you would be her mate.” He stepped closer to the other men as he spoke. “Each of you has a pack that could benefit from merging with us, but we keep the blood pure.” He glanced at me. “No exceptions.”
I glanced back at Nakia who was looking up at the window higher on the ugly yellow wall behind us.
“Step up and tell us why you should be her mate,” he finished and stepped to the side.
I watched as each of the men puffed up their chests and gave Axl everything he was looking for. One had a long line of what they called pure blood wolves. It was a fancy way of saying they didn’t fuck humans or witches, but everyone knew how connected we all were. They just had pride in lying about it.
The second man seemed like the only one that might be a problem. He was from the Callibra pack. They were ruthless and hated Larics based on some bullshit rumor from centuries ago, but they had numbers and power with the warlocks. Something the Larics didn’t have.
He stood up there with a fake shit-eating smile and perfectly combed blond hair. I wondered what his wolf looked like. Since we commonly shifted into the color of our hair. That and the eyes were the only things that looked even remotely similar in wolf form. Even if we didn’t get to shift into it as much as we should.
Axl glanced at me when it come to my turn and I slowly stood up. Unlike the others, I didn’t direct my words at Axl. I looked straight at Nakia. When her dark eyes met mine, I felt something shift. It wasn’t just a matter of merging packs anymore. The way the golden flecks in her eyes shifted told me I wasn’t the only one who felt the pull in my chest.
“I’m from the Laric pack, but you already know that. I came uninvited to claim you as my mate. I can offer protection you don’t need and loyalty you didn’t ask for. But you have to be the one to choose it.” I paused, knowing what I was about to say was going to either put me in first place for her mate or get me killed, but it didn’t matter. “I’m your mate. By bond and cord.” I glanced at Axl. “Like the old ways.”
All hell broke loose.

Want to Read without the ads? Join The Coven Membership and get the entire series and more.

Nakia

I jumped up from the seat so fast I probably freaked my dad out and walked to Jaylyn. I grabbed his shirt and dragged him toward the nearest door.
“What in the hell are you doing?” I said, closing the door behind us.
The little room was bare except for the chairs against the wall and the window letting in some of the sun from outside.
“What?” Jaylyn said with a shrug. “I heard your dad was trying to marry you off and came to…”
“Get in on that power grab?”
“No,” he said a little too fast.
I sighed, but stepped back from him. A small part of me wanted him to be the one, but my family would never do it. It didn’t matter that there was that tug of the bond. All I needed was for him to leave, and it would die along with any ideas he had.
“You need to go home,” I said simply, and he put his hand in front of the door so I couldn’t walk out.
I raised an eyebrow. “Move your arm or I’ll put you through the door in front of every wolf you’re trying to impress.” I kept my eyes on his and he pulled his hand back. I moved past him and opened the door. My dad was standing there with his arms crossed, but he didn’t block my path.
That stunt Jaylyn had pulled was going to do one thing: it was going to get us both on the wrong end of my dad and the alpha.
When I stepped outside, the cool air of the late afternoon hit my face. I was thankful it wasn’t summer still because that cool air was the only thing keeping me from shifting and running out of this entire town.
The whole idea of all of this was to keep the illusion that my blood wasn’t, quote tainted because of who my mother was. This entire pack had no idea who I was, or they weren’t going to ask the alpha about it.
The door opened behind me, and I started walking.
“Nakia, wait,” Jaylyn’s voice echoed through the rapidly darkening town.
“Why?” I didn’t stop walking as I spoke.
“Let’s go somewhere and talk,” he said, catching up and grabbing my arm. “I didn’t mean to cause you trouble.”
“You didn’t. It’s just…”
“You have obligations.” He nodded. “I get it. I know you never thought following your father to that place and helping my brother would lead you right to your mate.” He paused. “Most of us think we’ll never find our mate, and many don’t.”
“Your father would never go for you not being the alpha,” I said plainly. “He’d demand you take the lead here and make it one of his new territories.”
“I know.”
“Then why come here?” I waited.
He didn’t answer.
I turned and started walking as fast as I could, but he easily kept up. Those stupid long legs that made him so tall made it impossible to outrun him. “Go home, Jaylyn.”
“I can’t,” he said simply. “My father found out about the selections your pack is going. I can’t go home.”
“I can’t help you,” I said, and he spun me around.
“Nakia, please just give this a chance.”
I stared into his dark eyes and felt something in me start to crack. I wasn’t sure if it was me that wanted him to stay or the wolf, but something begged, pleaded for him to be near me. “I can’t.”
I pulled away from him and kept walking to the only place I felt any kind of peace. The place my mother would see me before she disappeared.

Want to Read without the ads? Join The Coven Membership and get the entire series and more.

Jaylyn

I watched her walk away, but everything in me wanted to follow her and make sure she was safe. I didn’t know where the vampires were at the moment, but I knew that they would be heading for any small packs that I thought they could overtake. The last thing I wanted was for Nakia to get caught in it, but I also couldn’t make her listen to what I had to say.
When I made my way here, I guess I was expecting that she would want to be my mate. I didn’t expect that she would turn me away at the first chance she got. Maybe those feelings weren’t something she could actually reciprocate right now. Maybe it was just the idea of giving up power to me and my family. Even if I didn’t want that for her.
“What are you doing here“
I didn’t have to look to know who was talking to me. I turned and Niki‘s father was standing there with his arms crossed, watching me. “I came here for the same thing as everyone else.”
“You think I would actually let her mate you?” he stepped in front of me as he spoke.
“I really wasn’t thinking much about it,” I said. Just from the way he was standing there, I could tell I’d hit a nerve.
“Why would I ever merge my pack with yours?” He didn’t take his eyes off me, and I almost shrink from the power coming off of him.
“It’s not really your choice anymore, is it?” I kept my eyes on him even though I wanted nothing more than to shrink away. He had all the power that he claimed that he did the one thing that gave away the difference between him and his brother. He would protect his family. Atlas, his brother would protect his pack.
“It’s always my choice,” he said.
“Isn’t it Nakia’s choice this time?” I didn’t take my eyes off him, even though everything in me wanted to. I could feel his rage boiling up. It still wasn’t enough to make me change my mind.
“You are not going to mate my daughter,” he said, taking a step towards me. “I won’t allow it.”
“Even if Nakia chose me?” I raised an eyebrow. “Like I said, I felt the mate bond and I know damn well she did too.”
“I can spin it,” he said. “I have another prospect in mind.”
“Look, I want to help your pack, and this is the best way to do it,” I said. It was partially a lie. I wanted to help Nakia. I wanted to help myself, but maybe the pack could benefit from the merging of my father’s and Axls to protect all of us.
“You are just like your father. An opportunist,” he said. “I should have never helped your pack. I should have let the vampires kill your alpha’s mate and been free of you all.”
“Then you wouldn’t have a chance either.” I paused and shook my head. “Look, we both know what will happen if the vampires destroy enough of the wolves.”
“That’s why it’s important to pick the pack that can give us the best protection, and Larics are not it,” he said. “I expect you to be gone by morning.”
I didn’t say anything as he turned and walked away. He was right, the other options had some better connections. Especially the Callibra pack. The warlocks were the only ones with any real power and short of letting one marry into the pack, this was the closest he was ever going to get. It was the smartest move, but I wasn’t giving up on Nakia without a fight.

Want to Read without the ads? Join The Coven Membership and get the entire series and more.

Nakia

I made my way down the street away from Jaylyn and towards the creek where the only memories of my mom were. As soon as I was out of sight of everyone, I let my shoulders relax. Something I couldn’t easily do as the next damn alpha. But here, where no one could see me or bother me, I could let down that guard that kept me safe and alive in this stupid world.
I settled on the boulder that was placed at the edge and took in the same spot I came when anything got to be too much. The purple and blue flowers my mother planted when I was little bloomed at the edges, and the water lapped over the rocks and sticks that were in the creek naturally. There was a line of trees on one side, separating it from the town, and the other side lead to the deeper forests I didn’t normally go into, except for the first time I shifted.
If my mother was here, she’d probably tell me I had choices even if my father liked to tell me there was only the one. Obviously, the one he wanted for me was Carik, but he’d ignored the summons my father sent to his pack. Which I expected. I hurt him last year and maybe I deserved the snub.
The next best pack was the Callibra pack. Marik was decent looking with a lot of power behind him. My father would want us to merge just to have that backing. He knew what was coming. He knew the vampires were going to become a larger problem if we stayed separated, but I hated the idea of joining our packs just so we had access to the warlocks. They were as bad, if not worse than the vampires.
I sighed when I heard him walking up to my creek and sitting beside me on at the edge of the water.
“What do you want? I already told you to leave,” I said, finally glancing at Jaylyn.
“I can’t. Like I told you,” he said, but his gaze was on the water.
“Because of your father,” I said again, and he didn’t look at me.
“I’m not trying to take anything away from you. I’m trying to find my own place.” He met my gaze. “My brother has his new extension of my father’s pack now, and Gavin will probably take over leadership of the Larics.”
“So, my pack is a status thing?”
“No,” he said simply. “I know you felt the bond the same as I did.” He sighed and looked at the water. “Erik tried to run from his bond to Ivy and couldn’t. I don’t think we can either.”
“My father doesn’t care about the bond. He wants to keep the pack alive,” I said. “So do I.”
“I know.”
“Marik is going to claim to have a mate bond too. I know he is and my father will expect me to fall in line,” I said.
“He already told me to leave, but I can’t, and you know it,” he said, letting his dark eyes fall on me again. I hadn’t noticed the small scar above his left eye before. It looked fairly new, but the way his eyes burned into me made me shiver.
“You can try to beat him in the trials,” I said without thinking.
“Trials?”
I smiled. “Traditional pack, remember. My father will make it hard on purpose.”
“But I’ll have a chance.”
I wanted to tell him he already had one. Even with everything going on, I just wanted to tell him it was him and that we should both be telling my father to fuck off. But I had obligations. Without a new alpha soon, the pack would be forced to take a new path or left to die by the vampires.
“We shouldn’t be out in the dark,” I said.
“Vampires, right?”
I nodded. They hadn’t attacked us as of right then, but it was only a matter of time. “My father’s been tracking them. They are in the area.”
He stood and reached out his hand. Before I could grab it, I was slammed to the ground and everything went hazy.

Want to Read without the ads? Join The Coven Membership and get the entire series and more.

Episode One

Episode Three

Start at the Beginning of the Series