BITE BACK
5.0
Comment(s)
5
View
22
Chapters

When Reyna's bonded mate is murdered by his own pack, she runs-not just from the killers, but from the truth. Calen wasn't who she thought. And neither is she. Grief tears something open in Reyna's blood. Something old. Something hunted. Marked by the spiraling magic of a long-extinct bloodline, she becomes the most dangerous kind of werewolf: an Echo Alpha. But her power is unstable. Her rage is growing. And the forest she's hiding in isn't safe-it's listening. With the help of a cold rogue named Lazric and her best friend Jez, Reyna begins to survive. Then she starts to fight. Jez's latent magic begins to wake. And the one who ordered Calen's death-Silva Tenrae, high ritualist of the Draven Pack-is coming for them both. As blood memories rise, Reyna must choose: control the beast inside her... or let it consume her and everyone she loves. Because Echo power doesn't just awaken. It remembers. And it burns everything that tries to bury it. She's not just here to survive. She's here to bite back.

Chapter 1 REYNA – The Ring Still Fits, But He's Gone

They buried him on a Monday. The sky was overcast, colorless, like someone had drained the warmth from the world. The wind didn't move. The trees stood still. And I stood next to a hole in the ground trying to remember how to breathe.

Calen Draven. Twenty-eight years old. My fiancé. My almost-husband. Now, just a name on a headstone and a silence I can't fill.

I didn't cry. Not because I wasn't broken-I was. But the grief didn't come in tears. It came like smoke. Thick in my lungs, sour in my mouth. It settled behind my eyes and burned, but nothing fell.

They said it was an animal attack. A bear, maybe. Some freak encounter him in the woods where he liked to run. The sheriff said there were claw marks. Deep ones. That was all they told me.

They didn't mention the symbols. The ones scorched into the bark of the trees where he died. They didn't say anything about the way his body was found-not just torn, but arranged. I read that part in the report I wasn't supposed to see. I wish I hadn't.

The funeral was small. Calen never liked big crowds. The Dravens were there, dressed like the grief was tailored onto their bones. His mother wore black lace and pearls, but her face was sharp. She looked at me like I was the crack in the picture. Like I didn't belong next to the hole they were putting him in.

I wore the ring.

It felt heavy. Not like a symbol of love, but like a question no one would answer. The silver was warm against my skin, but my fingers felt cold.

Jez stood next to me. She didn't speak. Just slid her hand into mine and held it, solid and still. She smelled like citrus and old smoke. Her buzzed hair was dyed electric blue again. It clashed hard with her black funeral shirt, but that was the point. Jez never blended in, and Calen liked that about her.

"You okay?" she whispered, voice low enough that only I could hear.

I nodded. Lie number one of many.

The minister said something about eternal rest. About peace and memory and letting go. I stopped listening. My eyes stayed locked on the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. The finality of it didn't hit. It didn't feel like he was down there. It felt like he was somewhere else, stuck between.

When the ropes tightened and the wood disappeared below the earth, something cold ran down my spine. My skin pulled tight. I wasn't alone.

I turned slowly, like looking too fast might scare it away. At the edge of the cemetery, just past the crooked gate and half-dead trees, there was someone standing in the woods. Far enough that I couldn't see a face, but close enough to know they were watching.

Tall. Still. Like they belonged to the forest. Like the trees grew around them.

I blinked.

Gone.

"Did you see that?" I asked. Jez looked where I pointed, but the space was empty.

"See what?"

"Nothing," I said, swallowing the unease. "I thought-nevermind."

The crowd began to thin. The Dravens didn't speak to me. Calen's mother laid a hand on the casket before she left and whispered something I couldn't hear. His father wasn't there. He never liked me. Maybe that was mutual.

Jez walked me back to my car. The gravel crunched under our feet like bones breaking. My hands were shaking and I didn't know when that had started.

"Do you want me to come over?" she asked. "I could make tea. Or pour whiskey."

"I think I need to be alone. Just for a bit."

She nodded. Jez always knew when to push and when not to. She hugged me, tight and fast, then stepped back.

"Text me when you get home. If you don't, I'm calling the cops. Then probably breaking in."

"Noted."

She left. I sat in the car for a long time with the engine off, hands in my lap, staring at nothing. The ring caught the light once. It looked too bright.

I thought about Calen. The way he used to run his fingers through my hair when he thought I was asleep. The way he would hum under his breath when he cooked. The way he smiled when he looked at me, like I was the one thing in the world that made sense.

I thought about how the sheriff wouldn't look me in the eyes when he handed me the death certificate. About the scorch marks on the trees. About the shadow I saw at the funeral.

This wasn't over.

It didn't feel like an ending.

It felt like the start of something worse.

And deep in my gut, something whispered:

This wasn't an accident.

Whoever did it?

They're not finished.

Continue Reading

You'll also like

Rebirth And Revenge: The Real Heiress Is Back!

Rebirth And Revenge: The Real Heiress Is Back!

R. Ink writer
4.7

Elisa watched as the most important people in her life showered the evil imposter-The fake heiress, with love. Elisa, the lost daughter of one of the most wealthiest family was found 18 years later and was brought back to her rightful home. However, someone had already taken her place. A fake heiress, the pampered little princess. Her coy acting and innocent façade made Elisa's real mother love her more than Elisa, her real daughter. That made Elisa, though, the true daughter end up as an adopted child. "Elisa, could you try not to appear in front of her too much as it could trigger her insecurities." Her parents had told her because of the fake heiress. "Elisa, You've taken everything away from her. Why can't you give her a little more?" Her fiancé had ordered her. Because of an unfortunate accident plotted by Isabelle-The fake heiress, Elisa was sent to prison and her family cut ties with her without a second thought. Four years, after much torture which led to her being crippled and blind on one eye, she was released, but got hit by a truck. While laying on the pool of her blood, she wanted to question, Why? Why had they all treated her so cruelly, while they love Isabelle unconditionally? She badly wanted to rip off Isabelle's mask of innocence, to reveal the fake, manipulative woman beneath. She was full of hatred. But after her death, she woke up back to when she was 18 years like all that happened were all nightmare. She was elated. She was reborn to re-live all that had happened in her last life, but now, her mission was to reveal mask beneath that woman and make everyone that made her suffer in her past life pay. It was her time for revenge! And definitely, she won't mess this up!

I'm Divorcing with You, Mr Billionaire!

I'm Divorcing with You, Mr Billionaire!

The Wine Press
4.5

I received a pornographic video. "Do you like this?" The man speaking in the video is my husband, Mark, whom I haven't seen for several months. He is naked, his shirt and pants scattered on the ground, thrusting forcefully on a woman whose face I can't see, her plump and round breasts bouncing vigorously. I can clearly hear the slapping sounds in the video, mixed with lustful moans and grunts. "Yes, yes, fuck me hard, baby," the woman screams ecstatically in response. "You naughty girl!" Mark stands up and flips her over, slapping her buttocks as he speaks. "Stick your ass up!" The woman giggles, turns around, sways her buttocks, and kneels on the bed. I feel like someone has poured a bucket of ice water on my head. It's bad enough that my husband is having an affair, but what's worse is that the other woman is my own sister, Bella. ************************************************************************************************************************ "I want to get a divorce, Mark," I repeated myself in case he didn't hear me the first time-even though I knew he'd heard me clearly. He stared at me with a frown before answering coldly, "It's not up to you! I'm very busy, don't waste my time with such boring topics, or try to attract my attention!" The last thing I was going to do was argue or bicker with him. "I will have the lawyer send you the divorce agreement," was all I said, as calmly as I could muster. He didn't even say another word after that and just went through the door he'd been standing in front of, slamming it harshly behind him. My eyes lingered on the knob of the door a bit absentmindedly before I pulled the wedding ring off my finger and placed it on the table. I grabbed my suitcase, which I'd already had my things packed in and headed out of the house.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book