Shades of Vengeance - Ebook

Harper Gibbons only wants one thing: justice for her family who was killed by a group of rogue wolves.

But while digging deeper, she's told she will need the new territory alpha’s approval in order to move forward. There’s just one problem with that… he's been dodging her attempts at contact and her patience has run out.

Aiden Anders just lost his father and has taken over their pack while also being named interim-territory alpha. He thought he was prepared, but as more disasters keep happening around their pack, he quickly realizes his previous alpha training only scratched the surface. When a hot-headed female shows up at his doorstep demanding help, he wants nothing more than to send her away, but his wolf has other plans.

Together, Harper and Aiden learn they have more in common than they realize and they’ll need to figure out how to work together for both their benefits.

That is, if they don't kill each other first.

Fans of Young Adult Paranormal Romance full of shifters, sass, romance, and unforeseen twists will devour these books.

My knock was steady, but my hands shook as I waited for Eric to invite me into his office. While I stood in front of the carved wooden door, I put on my best poker face, hoping he wouldn’t know how much control he had over me. If he didn’t help me, it would set me months behind. I shouldn’t have been banking on the territory alpha to help, but he’d recognize his mistake in making me wait sooner or later. From what I had learned so far, I needed his permission to move through the territory, and I’d be damned if I let him ignore me.
“Come in,” Eric’s deep voice called.
Twisting the handle, I took one last deep breath before I opened the door.
Eric stood as I entered. “Good afternoon, Harper. What can I do for you today?”
“I was hoping you had some time to talk.”
He did his best to hide the smirk, but I saw it anyway. “About what?” He knew what I wanted but enjoyed pushing me out of my comfort zone, making me actually ask for the help. Jerk.
“The same thing as usual. I want to make sure the rogue wolves who took my parents can never hurt anyone else again.”
“Take a seat.” He gestured toward the small couch on my right and moved toward the chair in front of it. “I want you to know that I have enjoyed having you in our pack. You have adjusted well and done better than I originally thought when Cord asked me to give you a home here. I’ve seen your growth and determination, and while I wish I could stop you and force you to stay, I know I can’t.”
“I appreciate that.”
Here comes the ‘but’, I thought. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation about me leaving in search of the rogues.
“But I can’t help you as much as I would like.”
There it was. At least I had been mentally prepared for it, so I tried not to let the statement get me down. I had a plan A, B, and C, followed by a whole lot of chaos if none of those worked.
“You need to understand that once you leave here, I can’t protect you anymore, but I’ve done my best to gather resources for you, in order to give you the best chance of survival.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“Did you really think I would let you leave here on your own without a better plan than hoping to force Aiden to help you?”
His laugh was haughty, and I tried not to feel insulted. I knew he meant well, and I needed to keep my mouth shut before I ruined whatever he was offering.
“You’ve always told me to be patient, to wait for Aiden to give me permission and assistance to hunt the rogues. What changed?”
“You did.” He leaned forward, his attention completely locked on me. “When you first arrived, you were a mess. You might have thought you hid it well from me and the rest of the pack, but I saw the precarious line you were walking. For the first few weeks, I assumed you were going rogue yourself, but then, slowly, I saw the changes and knew you’d find your way back. I just needed to make sure you had the time.”
Staring at him, I couldn’t find the proper words to respond. I knew I had been hurting from the loss of my parents, but thought I had handled it well enough. Apparently, not.
“You’ve shown you can let people in and that you can control your anger. Most importantly, you have shown me a great deal of respect by not running off. If you hadn’t come to me today, I would have called you in tomorrow when the last of everything arrived.”
Feeling guilty, I internally chastised myself for my earlier thoughts of leaving without the alpha’s permission.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I answered, unsure of what else to say. Very few people in my life had ever done anything nice for me, and it wasn’t easy accepting help, but I had done my best to change since being on my own these past few months.
Little did I realize, I wasn’t actually on my own.
“Harper, there are good people in this world. You’ll need to remember that on your journey, but most importantly, don’t forget it’s okay to walk away. I know you feel like you need to do this, and I don’t blame you, but it’s not worth your life.”
“But is life worth living if you’re constantly afraid?”
For that question, he had no answer.