Into the Unknown Extras
Excerpt
From Marked by J.A. Belfield:
I had an assignment.
To find something special—preferably perfect.
To get it wrong could have catastrophic results.
To succeed, my mission had to stay a secret. I placed the chances of that happening at slim to none.
One week. One week to make my arrangements. One week to keep schtum.
Why didn’t I believe I could do it?
~*~*~*~
Gravel crunched underfoot as I strode across the driveway of the building site late Monday morning. To my rear loomed the apartment complex nearing exterior completion—the latest project of my family’s property development business. At the portacabin, I gave a quick glance behind myself. Once assured nobody trailed me, I tugged down the handle of the door.
I’d barely taken a step inside when I smelled her.
Jem. My mate.
Twin sapphires drew me as her face tilted up. “Hey.”
I froze on the spot, attempting to reflect the smile she sent me. “Um … hey.” I could have sworn she’d been in the showroom apartment.
In the corner, Dad turned his bulky frame, mug in hand. His bright blue eyes stared my way from beneath dark hair identical to mine and my brother’s. “What’s up?” The heavy scrutiny of my pack’s Alpha grounded me like an anchor despite the casual question.
My eyes flickered from him to Jem, back to him. “Nothing.”
I spun and walked out before he could ask anything more of me.
From Misguided by Aimee Laine:
Wyatt Moreland walked through his office door and froze. “Why are you in my chair?” He shook his head. “Better yet, why do you have your feet on my desk?”
Stuart Vance, forgiven former best friend, and most recent ad- dition to Wyatt’s team, rose from the chair, an apple in his hand. “You weren’t here. I had to wait. Got bored.” He bit into the fruit and sprayed fresh juices into the air.
Wyatt took Stuart’s vacated spot at the mahogany desk he’d had for a decade. “You have your own office, you know.” Wyatt tugged at his tie, relaxing it from his throat after six straight hours of meetings.
Stuart, still in his suit, but tieless, moved to a visitor’s chair. “Yeah, but my space isn’t as big.” He bit again, the scent filling the space.
Wyatt rolled his eyes, opened his laptop and waited for the login screen to appear. A dull buzz started at the back of his ma- chine, adding to the irritated throb at his eyes.
Stuart hummed behind his snack.
A glare from Wyatt didn’t stop the tuneless noise. “Okay. What do you want?” His fingers tapped on the keyboard.
“Well …” Stuart leaned forward, positioning his elbows on his knees. “I was wondering when you were going to get Charley a real ring?”
The jerk of Wyatt’s head accompanied the stillness of his fingers.
A crunch rang through the small office. “I’m just sayin’ . . .” Wyatt’s slow turn should have been a warning. “. . . she might like something that wasn’t bought by an eighteen year old with his meager savings.”
From Tempted by Jocelyn Adams:
I stepped out of the portal and emerged inside the stone cavern at Seven Gates. A chilled wind whipped into the small hollow carved out of the rock. Shivers rumbled through me from my toes to the base of my skull as I exited the narrow tunnel and emerged under a murky blue sky near the entrance to the hidden fae city of Dun Bray. The Seelie fae who lived there considered me and the rest of my people—the Unseelie—the enemy.
Only one had accepted me: Lila.
Even without the wind, the frosted air threatened to seep through to my bones and turn my blood to ice. Crystals edged the crevasses in the towering rock wall, along with every gold and rusty leaf that littered the ground. November in the north had its beauty, but I didn’t think I’d ever get used to winter’s bite.
A week had passed since I’d last seen Lila, and every day she haunted my subconscious even more. It had been harder than I’d expected to keep our trysts secret from both our people, but no amount of effort would be too much. My heart ached to be near her again.
My Lila, with her fearless nature and stare, could melt me into a puddle of want and need. Thoughts of her name lit a flame in me, a passion I’d never known before I met her.