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Jaylyn

I sensed them before I saw him, a vampire. He didn’t hesitate and went straight for Nakia the moment I realized what he was doing, I grabbed her and shoved her to the ground. I didn’t even think about it. I just did it.
I shielded her from the vampire attack and waited for it to rip me to shreds. That didn’t happen, but I was too caught up in the way she was looking at me to even think about it until I heard the growl.
I looked up and saw a brownish gold wolf standing between us and the vampire that was trying to attack Nakia. For a moment, all I could do was look at him. His fur was lighter than his actual hair, with streaks of gold intertwined with slightly darker hair. I couldn’t see the face of the wolf yet, but it probably resembled him at least to a degree.
I grabbed Nakia’s hand and pulled her to her feet. My eyes went from her back to the vampire and the wolf that were between us. The vampire slashed its nails at the wolf, but he managed to dodge it. While he was busy fighting the wolf, I pulled her back up to the street, away from the creek and the fight going on below.
Once I knew she was safely out of the way, I headed back down to the creek where the vampire was still fighting the light haired wolf. He was still fighting and biting at the vampire, who looked more amused than anything.
My eyes glanced behind him to a small group watching from further back. He wasn’t the only one. This was a test run to see if they could attack with a small group.
“He’s not the only one,” I yelled to the wolf.
His head swung my way for a moment, and i realized who it was. The wolf from the other pack who’d made a claim.
I felt myself getting angry at the thought of him being anywhere near Nakia and our conversation. He didn’t have the mate bond. Even if he was telling everyone he did.
I felt my body contort and every bone break and reshape. My vision changed, and every piece of magick anyone held was right in front of me.

That was new.
I noticed a dark shield around the other wolf. Likely placed there by the warlocks. He snapped at the vampire again and caught its arm.
Blood sprayed from the wound, and he wailed with pain. I took the opportunity to jump at his neck and took a large chunk of flesh from it. This time he fell back into the water behind him. My eyes shifted to the others behind him. They looked as though they were slightly impressed. An older woman with long dark hair and eyes smiled slightly, her fangs showing just enough to make sure I knew they had a plan.
The light-haired wolf pushed past me and growled at them, but they stayed still. It wasn’t until I felt a presence behind me that she glanced up and then backed into the darkness of the forest. When I turned to see who it was, Axl was standing there with a look I’d never seen on his face.
Fear.

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Nakia

Getting pushed out of the one place I feel safe wasn’t what I expected. When Jaylyn pushed me to the ground, I had no idea a vampire was trying to attack us. It was a little confusing until I realized the only thing between me and death at its hands was Jaylyn and some wolf I’d never seen before.
He didn’t waste any time in pulling me to my feet and pushing me away, even if I was stronger than I looked. Before he hurried back to the creek, his eyes ran over me like he were looking for a reason not to leave. Then he was gone.
I glanced up the street, and my dad was heading towards us. He grabbed me first.
“Are you okay?” He held my arms for a moment and looked me over, just like Jaylyn had done a minute earlier.
“I’m fine. There’s a vampire,” I said without elaborating. My mind was still trying to figure out how in the hell there was a vampire when the sun wasn’t completely down. “Jaylyn is there and another wolf.”
“I know,” he said, and I looked up at him, realizing what was happening.
“This is one of your tests, isn’t it?” I pulled back from his grip. “You knew we were going to be attacked and used it as the first test.” I shook my head. “They don’t even know.”
“They will,” he said and walked down towards the creek. I followed behind, but kept my distance. I wanted to make it clear I was not a part of this. Testing in the old ways was one thing, but this could kill someone, and there was no way I was okay with that.
I glanced at the two men as they shifted back to human and grabbed their clothes. Jaylyn slipped his pants on, but my gaze lingered on his chest and arms. They were muscular, but he was a leaner kind of fit. Not overly large in his build, but enough he had power in his punches if he wanted to.

The other man, the wolf from the Callibra pack, was larger. He slipped on his pants and let his button-down shirt stay open as he watched my dad walk towards them. His golden eyes glanced at my father and then at me, a smile edged on his face. Of course my dad gave him a heads up to the test. That was who he wanted. The wolf with more power. I wondered if he realized he wouldn’t go with me being the alpha of any pack that was created by that kind of bond.
“If you didn’t realize that was one of the tests for my pack. Shane, you won this test,” he said, moving his gaze to Jaylyn. “Best of luck for the next one, Jaylyn.”
Jaylyn didn’t move, but shook his head. He was smarter than I thought. Maybe he’d seen right through the test, or maybe he just was more concerned about what happened to me instead. The thought made my stomach tighten.
Ever since I’d gotten home, I’d had this ache in my gut I couldn’t escape. Maybe it was the bond. Maybe I just wanted it to be.
“What about the vampires?” Jaylyn said. “They won’t just give up. If they want to stop this bonding, they will come back.”
“We are tracking them,” Axl said. “I have wolves all up and down the border waiting for them to cross.”
Jaylyn nodded, seemingly okay with the way my dad was running the pack and the protection of it. I knew my father had a lot of contacts and wolves in different areas. It was what kept us safe all these years. Even when larger packs threatened to take us over. It was one of the few things I agreed with.
“It’s getting dark. We need to get her inside,” Shane said, glancing at me. “She is most likely the target.”
“I think the entire pack is,” Jaylyn said. “They know she will be the next Alpha, but if there isn’t a pack to rule, it doesn’t matter.”
“You might be onto something, Jaylyn,” Axl said, his eyes drifting back to the forest. I followed his gaze, but couldn’t see anything through the thick trees from where I was standing. “You both will stay in the pack house until one becomes Nakia’s mate. That way you can get to know each other.”
I glanced at my father and rolled my eyes. This was not going to end well for anyone. Especially, me.

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Jaylyn

I pulled my small bag out of the passenger seat of my car. There wasn’t much I brought with me. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to stay or even get this far, even with my father’s words about not coming back if I failed. That was just how he spoke. Besides, it wouldn’t be that bad to be exiled. I’d be free to be with whom I wanted and I wouldn’t have to worry about the change anymore.
That would be the hardest. Not hearing my wolf. I already knew that was what happened when a wolf lost its pack. They would slowly disconnect from that part of themselves. It was part of the deal we made all those centuries ago.
I shut the door and turned towards the house they used as their “Pack House.” It was larger than the others, but it was clear it originally was built for meetings and more formal affairs. Over the years, it seemed as though the place had fallen into disrepair. The gray paint was peeling from the siding, and the windows looked like they were stuck in their frames. The porch was large, but looked rickety at best.
I carefully stepped up onto it and opened the door. The inside looked more taken care of, with a large entryway that was painted an off-white and wood floors that looked as though they hadn’t been walked on much. It was much nicer than I honestly expected, with the look of the outside.
There was a stairway towards the back of the room to the bedrooms upstairs and paintings lining the wall heading the other direction into the kitchen.
Nakia was already sitting on the microfiber couch that honestly looked more comfortable than any bed would be. She glanced up at me and sighed.

“This is nicer than I thought,” I said, taking a seat beside her and dropping my bag on the floor.
“Yeah, the pack has tried to keep it as nice as we can. We redid all the interior and were going to do the outside this year, but…”
“Vampires kind of messed that up,” I finished for her.
“They always seem to cause trouble the minute the pack has some air,” she said. “We lost our construction guy in the last attack.” She looked away. “He had a daughter. She was eight.”
“Was?”
“The pack decided to let her live with her grandmother in a different pack,” Nakia said. “She was a sweet kid.”
“I’m sorry,” I said it without thinking. When we dealt with attacks, all of our orphaned pups were taken care of. Even my father wouldn’t dream of sending them away. That was our pack law. “We don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Send pack children away. We take care of them,” I said.
“My father follows the old laws. Family before pack,” she said. “When a child loses all the family in the pack, we send to the closest living family.” She watched me take that in. “It has its advantages. Keeps packs talking to each other and gives them reasons to work with us.”
“That’s something to think about,” I said. “Larics are fairly isolated, but we have power and numbers,” I said.
“But you don’t have friends. Why do you think your father wants to mate his sons with other packs so badly?”
I didn’t answer her because I knew she was right. Larics were feared but that didn’t mean the other packs were loyal, and now with the vampires attacking wolf packs at higher rates, we needed to stand more together.
“They’re planning something,” I said. “The vampires. They have to be.”
“But no one knows what,” she said.
“They wanted a wolf witch hybrid like Ivy,” I said, “but why?”
“I don’t know,” Nakia said. “There are so few of them. Wolves typically stay to themselves. Witches usually marry warlocks so they can increase their power and stay safe.”
“Yeah, no one wants to end up in the games,” I said. That was something even the Larics stayed clear of. Even if nearly every year my father got an invitation to send one of his sons to hunt a witch.
“I’m surprised they haven’t expanded that to exiled women wolves,” she said.
“Wolves lose their connection so they would be like hunting a human. The demons curated the games so that hunters could gain power. That’s why the witches make sense. They’re given to the hunters as a slave of sorts. It’s something my pack avoided for decades.”
“I’ll give your father points for that,” she said.
“Don’t. He only opts out because they’re witches? He doesn’t want them in the bloodline if he can avoid it. I think he looked the other way with Ivy only because she was part wolf,” I said. And because she gave the pack actual power to fight the vampires.
“He might change his mind if he sees how much a witch can benefit the pack,” she said, messing with her phone.
“They don’t, really. Sure, they have power, but any child will only get half of that, so the bloodline gets reduced every time.” I’d looked into it when Erik and Ivy got together, just so I could help Erik if my father pushed back. It didn’t take a genus to see how much they wanted to be together. Even when they both acted like they didn’t.
I watched Nakia for a moment. She was actively trying not to look at me, that much I could tell. She didn’t want this. Any of this.
“I’m sorry you have to pick a mate,” I said carefully. “But I want you know I’m never going to push you into anything.”
“You wouldn’t have to. My father will,” she said and stood, finally letting her eyes meet mine. “I should go.”
“I guess we’ll find out what your father has in store tomorrow, and maybe we can talk more then,” I said with a smile. I didn’t want to force anything. If she decided she wanted to mate Shane, I’d honor it even if it threatened to rip me apart.
“Sure,” she said simply and walked up the steps towards the bedrooms. I waited for a bit before grabbing my bag and heading to my own room.
This was going to be harder than I thought.

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Nakia

I was in the kitchen before either Jaylyn or Shane making the only thing that could make my day remotely decent. Coffee. By the time Shane was walking down the stairs, I was already sipping my drink and trying to decide what the hell I could do about any of this.
I’d settled on picking one of these guys with the very clear instructions of how things would go or finding my mom and leaving this whole fucking pack behind. Neither of these were a great option.
“You know there is a cafe’ here in town,” he said with a smirk. “Might be better than just homemade coffee.”
I glanced up at him from my spot on the couch. “I like my coffee.”
“I got the best caramel macchiato I’ve had in a long time from there. Just a thought,” he said, taking a seat beside me. “I could take you right now if you want.”
I forced a smile and held my coffee up. “Like I said, I really enjoy my own coffee.” The last thing I wanted right now was to be stuck anywhere with this guy. He was everything my father wanted: connected, powerful, and good looking. The only problem is he was everything I never wanted in my own life.
Jaylyn made his way down the stairs, his eyes meeting mine with a smile that made my breath catch. Then his gaze shifted to Shane and his smile twisted into disgust. I almost laughed.
“Did you make enough for me?” He made his way towards the coffeemaker and poured himself his own cup, adding just enough creamer to lighten the dark liquid a shade or two. He took a sip and sat in a matching chair just across from the couch. “You always make the best coffee.”
I smiled without thinking, and Shane sighed.
“I don’t like doing things at home. It’s time consuming. When you mate me, you won’t have to worry about making anything. You can just do whatever makes you happy,” he said without taking his eyes off me.
While the idea of that was nice, it didn’t fit with an alpha. I’d have to run the pack and make sure everything was taken care of. I’d need a partner, not someone who would only want to pamper me. Even if that was something most other women would love.

“Do either of you know what Axl has in store for today?” Jaylyn asked even though I was sure he knew Shane wouldn’t be honest if he really did know.
“Not sure, but you better figure it out, or you’re going to be leaving soon,” Shane said with a smile. “You’re already down one.”
“I’m aware,” Jaylyn said, taking a sip of his drink. “I’m not worried about a contest.” His eyes shifted to me. “In the end, Nakia has the final say.”
I looked away and drank the last of my coffee. “I’ve gotta go,” I blurted out and put the cup on the coffee table. I’d deal with it when I got back. Right now, I wanted out of this suffocating house.
“Wait, I’ll walk with you,” Shane said, getting to his feet faster than I expected.
I put up my hands. “Oh no, don’t worry about it. You need to prepare for whatever fresh hell my father wants to put you through.” I backed towards the door, glancing at Jaylyn still sitting in his seat, not even bothering to stand. “Later,” I said. “I’ll make a point to have a moment with both of you.”
I didn’t know if I really meant it. I just wanted out of that room, out of that house, and to figure out what the hell I was going to do next. All of this mate stuff was happening way too fast.
I wasn’t ready for this.
I wasn’t ready for anything. No matter how much they all wanted me to be.

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Jaylyn

I took a sip of my coffee and watched Shane. He leaned back on the couch with his arm over the side where Nakia was sitting not five minutes before.
“You know you don’t have a shot at this, right?” He said, with a smirk on his stupid face.
I kept my eyes on him and took a final sip of my drink. “We’ll see.”
“I have every connection you wish you had. The warlocks, witches, and some of the most powerful packs on the East Coast. Axl would never let Nakia pick someone else,” he said. “He let you stay to make your father happy.”
“Maybe,” I said simply. “My father is a powerful man.”
“He has no power outside of the five packs he united.” Shane paused. “He should have taken that deal with that warlock Skyler.”
“You have no idea what the deal meant,” I said. Shane didn’t know it wasn’t a deal at all, but an agreement that would have wiped the Larics off the map. Maybe that was what he was hoping for. Maybe he was just trying to get under my skin. “The Larics have access to a powerful witch.”

He snorted. “One witch.” He smiled bigger, like he knew he had the upper hand. Maybe he did. “My pack has an in with the council. A mating with a warlock from our own pack.”
“Does Axl know that?” I finally had something, even a small thing that might turn him away from Shane. His pack wasn’t as pure as he wanted everyone to think it was.
“He knows enough,” Shane said. “She wasn’t in the pack until the moon gave her powers,” he said. “She’s powerful on her own, but with him, more.”
I didn’t say anything to that, but filed the information away. If there were a wolf mated into the warlock council, that was going to change things.
“Don’t worry, Sanir is still in charge, but it won’t be long and we’ll run it,” he said with a sneer. “Maybe you should go back and tell your father. Prepare him for what’s coming.”
“Why would I do that?”
“What do you think is going to happen to our rivals when we control the warlocks? When we have all the power?”
I didn’t say anything, but the implication was clear. If what he said was true, every pack that wasn’t in bed with his would be under attack from all angles.
He stood and headed toward the door. “Consider your options, Jay. Not getting on our bad side is going to be good for whatever pack you end up mating into. Consider this an opportunity to save yourself and your family.”

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Episode Two

Episode Four

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