Copyright © 2023 C.J. PRIMER

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: C.J. Primer

  Contents

  Copyright

  Playlist

  Content Warning

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  39

  40

  41

  42

  Afterword

  About the Author

  C.J. Primer Books

  Playlist

  Hate Me – Ellie Goulding, Juice WRLD

  Cardigan - Taylor Swift

  Dial Drunk – Noah Kahan

  Greatest Love Story – LANCO

  Red (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift

  Ghost Of You – 5 Seconds of Summer

  I Wish You Would – Taylor Swift

  Friend For Life – X Ambassadors, Medium Build

  Car Crash – Wakey!Wakey!

  If the World Was Ending – JP Saxe, Julia Michaels

  Mess Is Mine – Vance Joy

  when the party’s over – Billie Eilish

  Hold Me While You Wait – Lewis Capaldi

  Hold On (acoustic) – Chord Overstreet

  Skinny Love – Birdy

  Need You Now – Lady A

  Someone You Loved – Lewis Capaldi

  How Long Will I Love You – Ellie Goulding

  Too Much To Ask – Niall Horan

  Favourite Ex – Maisie Peters

  What Hurts the Most – State of Mine

  Long Live (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift

  Give Me Back My Hometown – Eric Church

  You And I – Lady Gaga

  Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye

  Rage – Medium Build

  You can find the complete playlist on Spotify.

  Content Warning

  This book contains darker themes that may be triggering to some readers. Triggers include, but are not limited to: graphic sexual scenes/situations, strong language, threatening situations involving firearms, injury caused by firearms, verbal abuse, confinement, snakes, blood, and mentions of murder. Please know your triggers and proceed with caution.

  For all the girls who rooted for the big bad wolf-

  because he can see you better,

  smell you better,

  and eat you better.

  Prologue

  When our parents were young, our world looked a lot different than it does now. Their shifter packs kept to their own territories, but at least they were able to live freely among the human world.

  Not anymore.

  Somehow, the secret of our kind's existence got out, and now we're being hunted.

  My friends and I are the alphas of our packs. It's our job to keep our alliance's territory safe, and in order to do that, we have to take precautions. Stay hidden, or risk being discovered and wiped out.

  We're heirs to an empire, living in the shadows.

  1

  Ten Years Ago

  Orange flames lick around the thick logs in the bonfire pit, curling upwards toward the darkened sky. Inside the steel ring, the wood crackles and burns, reducing to embers as more logs are hauled onto the pile to feed the ravenous fire. Sparks scatter as more wood is placed, the flames brightening to illuminate the faces of everyone gathered around the pit.

  My family’s here. My friends, too. All of the alphas and lunas of the six-pack alliance, as well as members of their inner circle and their teenage children. About thirty of us, in total.

  I don’t look at them when the light of the fire brightens, though.

  I turn to look at her.

  My best friend, aside from my twin sister. The girl I grew up playing tag with and teaching to skip rocks in the creek. The girl I’ve always thought of as my own, but now we’re almost sixteen and the meaning behind that possessiveness has started to evolve… and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.

  Sloane’s tanned skin looks golden in the glow of firelight as my eyes map out the delicate features of her face. My gaze traces her high cheekbones, the gentle curve of her dainty nose. Her thick, dark eyelashes flutter as she blinks, staring into the fire with a glazed look in her moss green eyes.

  A shiver runs through her, and I’m not sure if it’s from the chill in the air tonight or because she feels me watching her, her inner wolf sensing a predator in their midst. Either way, she snuggles in closer like it’s an instinct, and I relish the feeling of her soft, warm body against mine. Even through the thick layers of clothing we’re both wearing, I can feel her heat- and between that and her proximity, my blood’s running hotter than the flames dancing in the pit in front of us.

  We’re seated together on an old wooden bench, my arm slung around Sloane’s shoulders and her body tucked snugly into my side, her knees pulled up to her chest for added warmth. She’s a tiny waif of a thing, so fragile in comparison to my own hulking form. I’m growing every day- in both height and muscle mass. Most guys my age are right about now, thanks to puberty and our wolves coming in, but since I’ve got Alpha blood I’m already ahead of the curve in size and strength.

  I wonder if she’s noticed that; if she likes it. If it’s enough for her to stop looking at me as the kid she grew up with and start seeing me as something more.

  She’s changed over the last year, too. It’s impossible not to notice the way her boobs have grown, filling out her tops until the fabric strains against them. Her ass is plumper, the curve of her waist more well-defined. She’s fuckin’ sexy, and it seems wrong to feel that way about my best friend. But here we are.

  Sloane tilts her head back to look up at me, a smile breaking across her face when our eyes meet. Those cute-as-fuck dimples sink into her cheeks on either side of her smile, a riot beating in my chest.

  “What?” she asks coyly, searching my eyes like she’ll find the answer there to why I’m staring at her like I’ve never seen a woman before.

  But I haven’t. Not one like her.

  She’s magnificent.

  “Nothing,” I sputter, diverting my gaze back to the fire.

  “Aw, c’mon,” she coaxes, reaching up for the hand that’s dangling over her shoulder. She threads her nimble fingers through mine, giving my hand a little squeeze. “What’s on your mind?”

  I glance down to meet her eyes again, my heart slamming against my ribs.

  How do I tell her what I’m really feeling? Do I just fucking go for it and hope for the best?

  I immediately shove that idea aside. There’s no way she feels the same way about me as I do about her. My inner wolf and raging hormones may be blurring my own lines lately, but Sloane has never let on that she wants to be anything more than friends.

  And why would she? She’s already got me wrapped around her dainty little finger, and she fucking knows it. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for that girl.

  Even if she chooses someone else.

  Because that’s bound to happen, right? Every dude in our school wants her. She seems oblivious to their attention, but I see the way they look at Sloane. My wolf goes crazy with jealousy every time, and I have to fight like hell to keep him contained. Learning to integrate my wolf has been a struggle, but nowhere near as taxing as hiding my true feelings for the girl I grew up with.

  We’ve been friends for a long time, so there’s a certain level of comfort between the two of us. She can cuddle up to me like this in front of our family and friends, and nobody bats an eye. We’ve always been this way. Close, affectionate, but platonic.

  “Tell me,” she breathes, and the whispery, husky sound of her plea goes straight to my dick. I’m constantly horny whenever I’m around her. Even jacking off at least twice a day isn’t enough to sate the urges, and at this point, my balls are permanently blue.

  I lean down, bringing my face right in front of hers. So close that I feel her warm breath skate across my lips, my eyes nearly crossing from how close hers are as I stare into them.

  I could bridge the distance right now. In one tiny move, I could press my lips against hers and kiss her how I want to; how I’ve always imagined it.

  But what if it ruins everything?

  I’d rather have her in my life like this than not at all. Plus, I’m not sure I could take that kind of rejection. Not that I’ve got a particularly fragile ego, but being rejected by the only girl I’ve ever given a damn about would shatter it fo

r sure.

  If I hold back for too long, though, there’s bound to be someone else who’ll come along without reservations and steal her away from me.

  It’s a slippery slope, one I have no idea how to navigate without falling on my face.

  My gaze leaves hers for a moment to flicker across the fire, to where our parents are seated together. They’re looking this way, whispering to each other conspiratorially, and I’m momentarily relieved that I had enough impulse control to stop myself from going in for the kiss.

  I’ll bet Sloane’s dad would’ve freaked out. Alpha Brock has never been my biggest fan, and he’s not exactly subtle in the way he watches me when we’re together. He’s always eyeing me warily, like I’m a bomb about to go off that he’ll need to swoop in to save his daughter from.

  I glance back down at Sloane, her question still hanging in the air between us.

  She wants to know what I’m thinking about.

  I’ve never been great with words.

  Why can’t I just tell her how I feel?

  You. I’m thinking about you, Sloane, and how much I want to kiss you right now. I’m thinking about how I’ve been in love with you since I was five years old and you cried when Tristan knocked you over and you skinned your knee on the pavement, and I pushed him down in retaliation, not caring that I’d get in trouble for picking on someone younger. I’ve always wanted to take care of you and protect you, and now I realize why. It’s because I’m in love with you, and I always have been. And if you don’t love me back, then I guess I’ll die alone, because you’re the only one for me.

  “I’ve gotta take a leak,” I mumble, wincing when I realize how crudely that came out.

  Idiot.

  “I’ll walk with you,” Sloane offers, shuffling her legs off the bench and planting her feet on the ground. Her curls spill over her shoulders as she stands, and I immediately dwarf her with my own height as I rise to my feet from the bench beside her.

  “Hey, where are you two going?” Brock barks out, because of-fucking-course Sloane’s dad has been keeping an eye on us all evening.

  “To take a piss,” I reply, tossing a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the dark forest at my back.

  Sloane sidesteps closer to me, linking her arm through mine. “Buddy system,” she adds with a cheeky grin.

  It’s not like Brock can argue with that. All our lives, we’ve been warned about the dangers of going into the woods alone after dark, our parents stressing the importance of buddying up.

  He nods curtly, though the tense set of his jaw and the disapproval in his glare betray how he really feels about the two of us going off together on our own.

  It’s almost laughable, because he’s got nothing to worry about. Sloane and I have never stepped a toe out of the friend zone, and I doubt that’ll change with a hike through the snow to take a leak.

  With her daddy’s approval, Sloane and I skirt around the bench and trudge away from the bonfire pit, snow crunching beneath the soles of our boots as the firelight fades behind us. Reaching the dense cover of the trees, the two of us slip into the darkness of the forest, me leading the way to navigate around rocks and fallen limbs in our path that are partially obscured beneath the snow.

  Once the sounds of the music and chatter around the bonfire fade completely, I finally come to a stop, picking out a tree to piss on. Sloane hangs back politely as I break away from her and stride up to the wide trunk, unzipping my fly and pulling out my dick- with difficulty, since it’s semi-hard. Then I relax and let it flow, steam rising from the stream as I empty my bladder.

  I sigh in relief, shaking off, but the back of my neck prickles with awareness as I feel the unmistakable sensation of being watched. I jerk my head sideways to look over my shoulder and Sloane’s eyes ping up to collide with mine.

  “Were you just peeking?”

  “No!” she shrieks, her face instantly turning red with embarrassment. “Gross, why would I look?”

  “You tell me,” I drawl, tucking myself back into my pants. I turn around to face her, still dragging up the zipper, and her gaze drops to track the movement, her face flushing even redder when she belatedly realizes what she’s doing and turns away.

  “I wasn’t looking,” she insists.

  My lips curl into a smirk. “Liar.”

  “I wasn’t!”

  I start toward her, eating up the distance between us in a few long strides. “You sure?” I tease, grabbing her around the waist. Sloane squeals, kicking her feet as I lift her from the ground, tickling her sides relentlessly underneath her thick hoodie. “Just admit it!”

  She dissolves into fits of giggles, flailing and kicking and barely able to catch her breath. “Okay, okay!” she finally concedes. “You win! I… looked.”

  I set her back down, chuckling as she swats my arms away from her body and spins to face me.

  “Why?” I ask, both amused and intrigued by this strange turn of events.

  Sloane throws up her hands. “I don’t know! Curiosity?”

  “Uh huh.” I fold my arms over my chest, smirking.

  She rolls her eyes, giving me a shove. “Stop it!”

  I laugh as I stumble back a step. “Hey, if you wanna see my dick, all you have to do is ask.”

  “Ugh, no!” she protests with a grimace, reaching out to shove me again.

  I capture her wrists, yanking her into my chest instead. Then I spin us both around, trapping her between my body and a large tree trunk. “Don’t lie, you little creep,” I tease, grinning down at her.

  “I’m not lying,” she pants, still adorably flustered.

  But as we stand there, pressed up against one another and staring into each other’s eyes, something between us suddenly shifts. Any trace of playfulness is gone, replaced by something a whole lot more potent. Electricity crackles between us, our faces drifting closer until we’re breathing the same air.

  Our breaths come out in short bursts, fogging in the frosty air between our lips.

  There’s less than an inch of space between us.

  I should just fucking go for it.

  I’ll never know if I don’t try, right?

  But what if it ruins what we have?

  I linger there for what feels like an eternity, frozen in indecision. And just as I’m about to chicken out again like a goddamn pussy, she makes the decision for me.

  Sloane flings her arms around my neck to yank my face closer, pushes up on her tiptoes, and crushes her lips against mine.

  It’s. Fucking. Everything.

  When our mouths slam together, every nerve ending in my body lights up, fireworks exploding behind my eyelids like the damn fourth of July. I grab her face in both hands, pressing my lips harder against hers as they start to pout and twist. They’re so damn soft, but her kiss is firm- desperate and demanding, raw and possessive. I tilt my head to deepen it, sweeping my tongue across the seam of her plush lips until she lets me in.

  I’ve thought of this exact moment so many times, wondering what it’d be like to finally kiss Sloane. Honestly, I expected our first kiss to be hesitant and clumsy, since neither of us really know what we’re doing, but this isn’t like that. Instead, it’s as if our bodies know exactly how to respond to one another’s, primal need taking over.

  She sinks a hand into my hair as our tongues meet, twining together. She tastes like peppermint gum and sweet sin, her body melting against mine.

  She smells so good.

  Has she always smelled this good?

  A growl rumbles in my chest as I kiss her harder, deeper, like it’s the last thing I’ll ever do. My hands slide beneath her sweatshirt to grip her waist, my fingertips digging into her warm, supple flesh. She makes this hot little moaning sound that has me groaning in response, our lips sliding as our tongues battle for dominance.

  Then, just as quickly as it started, Sloane jolts back to break the kiss, looking a little dazed when her eyes open to collide with mine. We’re both breathless, the air fogging between us as we pant and stare at one another. Her face is flushed, lips puffy as they part to speak.

  “Madd, I…”

  “Don’t,” I choke, shaking my head. “Don’t say that was a mistake.”

  Her brow furrows. “I wasn’t…”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34