Author's Cut: The Legend of the Alpha-Omega

Hey All,

Welcome back to this version of my Author's Cut. Yes, it's showing up before the introductions of the characters but this one has to work a little differently because this story is part of Dreame's Pay to Read program.

The Legend of The Alpha-Omega is my second one for them but, if you’ve been with me from the start, you’d know that this was originally my first shot at an Omegaverse (otherwise known as an A/B/O) story, titled Rey’s Mechanics on Ao3. Since writing it years ago, I’ve noticed my own growth, which is why I wanted to go back and freshen this one up. Where there were outlining flaws, there aren’t anymore. I also have a deeper understanding of the trope and ultimately reached further into it in this story to fully develop each character. I have also made it a multiple point of view (pov) story. It seems to be a popular strategy among Dreame’s platform which also gives a deeper understanding of the supporting characters and their lives too.

That being said, this is a multifaceted plot line. There are multiple things happening at any given time and following the character's lives, hints and indications to events along the way is imperative designed to keep the reader engaged and guessing. Personally, not to toot my own horn or anything, I always come back to this story when I want a good, action packed, unresolved sexual tension building, twisted plot line that really dives into the supporting character's lives as well. There's a lot to be said about a great supporting cast and it's certainly something I strive for in each of my stories.

The Legend Of The Alpha-Omega is a fantasy story about the myth of the Alpha-Omega. In this world designations such as Alphas, Betas and Omegas coexist and thrive in a designation driven society. While they all have flaws and navigate through their lives accordingly, Alphas are the best at physically adapting to their surroundings. Betas are even minded and capable of running systems and survival while Omegas are very emotional eccentric beings who are driven by the way they feel. That being said, they are still human, and their reactions to the people around them, depend on how well those beings communicate with them. I found this to be a good nod towards the way society is with one another and felt the need to explore it in this way.

Our main character is Kayla. She is an unmated, twenty-three year old Omega. She comes from nothing and hasn’t exactly learned how to deal with the emotional damage that was left with her all that time ago. In her infancy, Kayla is stolen from a family she’ll never know. She’s gone through a life of rejection as an item while in a human trafficking ring until she’s passed up one last time. Kayla builds up the nerve to try to get out and does, but it’s all for naught when she’s placed in the system after being rescued.

Once again, she crosses the line, not yet branded as an Alpha making such decisions, but survival is all she knows how to do. Throughout her life she handles obstacles and overcomes them. She makes good friends, Roxi and Chyanne who become close to the point of sisterhood, that are the type to ride or die. The trio look out for each other, even as fresh meat comes knocking on their door. Both Roxi and Chyanne are Betas but don’t let that fool you. They’re bosses. Roxi is twenty-five and lived with Chyanne after moving out of her house when her father left and her mother went crazy. Although Chyanne has her secrets, the twenty-seven year old Beta is just as badass. She is somewhat motherly to Kayla, but it’s welcomed as the three have been with each other since they were teens.

Roxi, while young, met her Alpha mate first. His name is Frank. This Alpha was the first of his designation to be allowed anywhere near the girls, as decided by Kayla, who shot at any Alpha’s looking to lay claim to their family. He’s unlike any of the Alpha’s she’s come across and felt absolutely no challenge from him. Frank even lowered his eyes to her, which is unlike an Alpha to do to an Omega. It showed her that he wasn’t a threat, and that she could trust him. This is important. While all designations can be male or female, which we see throughout this story, I found it imperative to show behavior and for Kayla to be able to pick it up as it was happening was also a skill past instinct. She is noticing more of her surroundings as she allows more people to be around her. This will start to soften her world and she'll have to adjust, just like everyone around her has been doing for her.

Chyanne’s mate, also an Alpha, Pedro, was not as fortunate. His mouth and nearness had resulted in making him dance around a few rounds fired at his feet. Kayla was notably acting in her sister’s defense, but his Alpha still screamed at her for Kayla's Omega to submit, give him what he wanted and that wouldn’t do. Allowing Pedro to work for her took a lot of effort on Pedro’s part. Allowing Chyanne to be around Pedro was another challenge, and furthermore not killing him for every breath he took was another. But as time passed, both Kayla and Pedro found a workable truce, allowing Chyanne what she wanted.

Both Alphas had their perks. Frank offered support as he was in the Air Force and acted like a big brother to Kayla, despite having Roxi to tend to. Despite being only six years older than her, Kayla still welcomed it enough to allow him in but not for room to take over. Pedro, being thirty-two still acted like a pubescent Alpha, ten years less than his prime. He claims that his responses to Kayla are not with ill intent, but more because he comes from a big family and was the only Alpha to them in a family full of Omegas. His experience with keeping his sisters safe was a daunting one that Kayla couldn’t possibly understand and furthermore, doesn’t bother trying to. She simply assumes she has to keep an eye on him.

While relationships are great and all, Kayla gets on with her life, working at her self made entrepreneurship as a mechanic at her own shop. She owns the building through a friend she’d made years ago, Herald, who sold the garage to her while she was making money salvaging parts, projects and fixing any machine she could get her hands on. Kayla has since made it into the thriving facility it is and she’s learned a few things along the way, of which include how to shoot, self defense, and how to fix, fly and drive anything… except for the Alpha that induces her heat.

Ben, a thirty year old Alpha from out of town, happens to seek out help from her shop one night after he wrecks his car. His presence throws her a few days forward into her heat; the most vulnerable place she can be, in front of an Alpha she doesn’t know. It’s clear to Kayla that her behavior is off and that even though her whole body sings with the need of having this Alpha take care of her, it can’t be real. No one’s ever wanted her as herself. They just wanted an Omega to f*ck, as per the choice of their words and actions that begged for her bullets.

Sure enough, Roxi has her back. She staves off the effects of it with an emergency suppressant, calls the shots with Ben and once their back where Roxi can help Kayla to her room, Ben’s Alpha has had enough. He claims Kayla scented him and demands to be able to keep her. The Beta, Roxi, doesn’t take his word for it and shoots Kayla’s gun for attention, sending the alpha home without the prospects of getting what he wants. A lot is to be said about this tight-knit family that’s started from Kayla’s pure grit. It taught the others how to act and protected her from her own biology as Kayla expected herself to.

Kayla handles her heat alone, like always. The shop completely shuts down while she deals with it because she lives there. Her customers are patient, as always, but a new round of Alphas are looking forward to it reopening. Her staff needs one more, and hiring season comes with all types of grit trying to shove their way into her presence, most of which are looking for an easy lay. The trouble is, Kayla isn’t like every other Omega out there. It does leave her friends and family on edge sometimes, but so far it’s proven for quite the show.

Ben returns, looking for his car that Pedro picked up and brought back to her shop while Kayla was in heat. He’s mostly looking for her, but the car is a good way to hide his intentions. He meets Pedro, and Kayla’s sisters give him a hard time, especially Roxi who is enjoying herself a little too much at his expense. All the while Kayla has been servicing his car, her headphones on, ignoring the world, and giving him all the more reason to try for her attention. The thing is, Ben isn’t the same as any Alpha. He’s top of the line, a nearly perfect specimen who, because of the underlying Alpha within him, is nearly completely in control of himself regardless of a few screw-ups. He is only human…

He and Kayla cross paths for a second where she doesn’t know he’s really there. She sticks up for herself in front of another Alpha she knows, unbeknownst to Ben, and it has him seeing red that she had to do it. It also intrigues him that she isn’t bothered by it either. Omegas usually are. Their emotional strengths are usually shattered, and he’s lost the ability to soothe her and make it better. Ben finds himself needing to know more.

I found this to be a very important thing to write about. Being an emotionally strong partner doesn't mean we need someone to fulfill a role all the time but that being said, if we haven't had someone help us through the hard stuff, it's difficult to see that it's a problem worth rectifying. My husband does that for me. A lot more has come out that hasn't before and communicating has been the key to our successes. Because of it, I wanted Ben to be able to recognize this hurtle he'd have to deal with because it's all she knows. I felt that it gave more to his character than to be this hot shot Alpha that is the best of the best.

The rest of Kayla’s morning continues similarly. She is very clearly the boss of her land, shop, and world. Anyone that expects differently will be removed without hesitation leaving Ben to not be sure of what to think. When they cross paths again, she falters and he is very aware of that but doesn’t let her know. Instead he soaks in the ways that she reacts to him and feels he had more than a fleeting moment with her, that his scent could have carried her through her heat alone and the thought is intoxicating. She didn’t want any of those creeps she left in the lot, she wanted him.

Here, I play more to the card of Kayla trying to flirt but knowing she's being too much. She battles internally with herself because of it. Denying what she wants is not necessarily her thing, but wanting an Alpha goes against who she's raised herself to be, so the struggle is indefinitely there.

Kayla takes him back inside and is aware of Ben’s behavior. His answers are strained to her so she flips off her Omega and gets straight to business. In doing this she wrecks his Alpha, just like every other one that’s come in with a busted car wanting something more. She may be twenty-three but she’s seen through a lot of shit to get here. Tension builds between them until she sees him teetering, and finally lets go. He mirrors her interest and is determined to show her his strength, that is, until he sees where she sleeps. It’s draining to his Alpha, regardless of how competent he is, to see her success out there in her shop, and how little she has within her space and wants to fix it immediately, but can’t. The war in him takes over his ability to stimulate her, and Kayla shuts down too. She gives him a timeline to get his car and she removes herself from the space.

The Alpha she decked earlier in the day is back and somewhere within her Omega’s burn she’s still able to deal with him, but she’s not alone. Ben’s Alpha seems to be working again but Kayla can’t be sure about him now either. Instead she seeks out Pedro to handle the job. It’s a clear blow to the towering Alpha beside her, but she’s still not sold on his behavior. Regardless, she allows him to stay and eat with her family. Only, trouble stirs once more, making her double back to check on Pedro. Her family reacts along with her and Ben is left to follow suit. The drama that follows Kayla is astounding and honestly, exhausting, but he can’t get her out of his mind and that's when he decides that no one is going to get her but him.

As much as I want to keep going with this, it’s the best I can do without going over my contract’s boundaries for this book. Like I said previously, it is in the Pay to Read program. While there are multiple plots braiding their ways along through the main one to give it more structure, what I can add is that Kayla, her family and her shop will be invited to show custom vehicles at a prestigious show later that summer. She’ll be faced with many challenges, including deciding whether or not to let Ben in and if she wants to mate him and what that means for going forward. She’ll have to learn what she is past being an Alpha-Omega, and what that high will mean to her as she continues living her life. It’s something that Kayla will have to figure out because her business, family, dreams and freedoms are on the line.

Unlike how I was able to express The Omega Witch, due to this story being in Dreame’s Pay to Read program, I’ll be introducing the characters and their backgrounds singly and taking you through where the playlist comes up in the chapters and scenes. Again, this is a touchy arrangement because of their expectations so at best, I can give a small moment or a quote that helps connect the scene to the music and hope that you check it out.

... Actually... I wanted to strike through the "Until the, happy reading!" salutation at the end here but there's no way to do it. Ok.. ok… It bothers me that I had to leave things there. This is a huge book of 129 chapters, it’s on the PTR system… so I feel like it’s your right as the reader to get more from this, which is why I’ll be adding to this post.

How? Well, I was going to share my favorite moments in the story on Instagram, but that means they’ll be popping up into my feed on the section below my blog. I had to nix the idea and fast. I prefer visuals there to entertain the thought of not only keeping notes but also pointing out a good use of all of the random shots on my phone. They completely have a reason and in no way were taken by a toddler. They have meaning and so they’ll be the pieces that make their way onto that reel.

Nope. It was better to add these to the thread itself so that I could entertain the idea of diving into my reasons for building up this story as I have. The first one I would like to start with will pull us backward from the plot that I’ve added above. While the story mainly follows Kayla’s view point, regardless of whether or not it is her personal point of view or a supporting character’s interpretation of Kayla’s story, we get to realize that the plot isn’t centered around Kayla finding the man of her dreams. We get to see that Kayla’s only ever known one way of thinking. She’s only known to take care of herself and not completely let people in. While it is certainly a slow burn of a complex, trying to find herself and settle down, the world around her seems to always be riddled with problems.

She knew this going into it as a mechanic. The work she did was honest but usually not cheap. People came for help while others came for a chance at her. Imagine, if you can, just for a second, being a young woman. In this world within the Omegaverse, everyone not only goes through puberty, but they also get to present what designation they are. It’s almost like their body and soul’s declaration of who they are and how they expect to be treated. Kayla grew as an Omega.

Alphas are usually strong, regardless of being men or women. They have ruts where they need to bang for days to give their seed to a playable host. While some are able to control themselves, others are not. They can sense bullshit and can end the impending fight with as much as a glare without lifting another muscle. They are the best possible version of themselves that they can be, regardless of whether they choose a life of crime or to be a protector.

Betas are the fully rounded individuals that can sense trouble similarly to an Alpha, but don’t need to use scents to do it. The do not have ruts or heats but are sexual beings in their own right. They are driven, level headed, and sensible. Their traits can tip the scale at times but for the most part a beta can be hit or miss.

Omegas are a real wild card. They deal with heats and there can be relapse too. Some will stay for days while others can be done in days. The length of the encounter depends on the Omega and her partner. They are psychologically draining too. The heats will ruin the Omega if she’s denied specific attention and therefore have been deemed difficult. Many use the Omegas for casual sex and claiming which bind the Omega to whomever sinks their teeth into their gland. Therefore, the Omega is looked at like a sex toy, something to be used rather than treasured.

This is part of the reason Kayla is the way she is about protecting herself too. So… back to specifics, my first favorite part is when she realizes she’s dreaming and no longer living in the past:

While I realize that doesn’t sound like a huge turning point, anyone that has been through any kind of trauma in their lives knows that making that clear decision to change things for themselves is an epic move for their story. Now, Kayla has been making those strides for years, and yet she still gets these stress dreams. Even though she has a good found-family situation daily, her work is successful, and the cards are completely in her favor, there’s still that uncertainty where she was completely out of control, and that still haunts her because she feels like she should have been able to find control and couldn’t. Everyone goes through that no matter how large or small the trauma is, the fact that we can’t control every situation is tough on our psyche.

What Kayla is able to do to try to get past it is outstanding for someone that has been on their own for the most part and unable to open up to others. This brings me to my next favorite part:

In this circumstance, I wrote Herald to be a non-father type father figure to Kayla. Where he takes her in but doesn’t make it official, as if he just happened to start feeding stray cats instead of bringing in a human. He doesn’t mind that Kayla’s living in his old hangar. She’s malnourished and a girl, never mind her designation or wherever she’s supposed to belong, he can’t out her. As an Alpha himself, it seems wrong, considering how skittish she is. To be clear, Herald is older, married, and doesn’t have it as easy as most mated couples. His wife is in politics and the scene does nothing for him. It’s not why he mated her to begin with. He’s a quiet man, loves his dog, Chief, and would love it more if Laura, his mate, would retire fully. She always seems to be going, and so their connection is on the rocks.

This isn’t fully explained in the story, which Kaylay doesn’t really understand or know how to ask him anything. Herald has a son, but there’s never a reason to bring him up. It’s not like they get to talk much anymore so as to avoid inaccuracies there’s no way to link his fatherhood into whatever Kayla might need. Instead, Herald scoots by this by saying his German Shepherd wants food, or attention, to see if she wants an activity or to be shown what he’s been holding on to, etc. It’s extremely telling that he’s trying to help her find a better life without pushing her out of her shell. Miscommunication is an ever present issue among Alphas like him. One wrong tone, one wrong word, and he knew that Kayla would take off.

To avoid it, he kept to himself mostly. Kayla stuck around teaching herself mechanic work throughout the years and when he let her sell her first few items, it gave her some self value. At least it was something she could hold in her hand and know that she did this. While Herald isn’t always there, Chief stays with her to keep her company, which is another way that Kayla finds herself repeating what she’s learned with Herald. Kayla’s articulation and self confidence is built up by speaking to Chief and over time, she has no issue rattling off her mechanic-speak to anyone that comes in for a job to be done.

Speaking of jobs being done, one of my favorites is when young Kayla is eleven and has enough money to buy the old hangar from Herald:

Her projects thereafter were outstanding for an eleven year old to take on. I say this in awe as when I was eleven I was nowhere near her abilities but I was working on drawing. Laugh if you want to, I have. Kayla’s skills versus my own are very different. Although, my son’s knowledge of things at his young age is outstanding. There are things he can do that I can’t, for the life of me, understand. To be clear, Kayla’s journey and all of these capabilities were obsessively researched. Dedication is key. If I don’t know how to do something, I need to research it. Being a creator is not entirely based on artistic freedom. I need to know that I’m not offending a career path by half-assing a skill.

Kayla’s capable of building anything she studies through manuals, and Herald always tossed the ones he had aside, so there were plenty. She’d work through accidents and build herself up further completing the challenges she set out for herself. While some of the scenes from being eleven until her next age check in at thirteen, she’s completely focused on how to run electricity and other things that may not be enticing to readers, I found this segment to be a way to show her grit past the shitty way she came into the world. Honestly, I wanted to give young people hope. Everyone, not only young girls, could feel like they could achieve some resemblance of what Kayla did to move forward. The people she surrounded herself with was one of her most valuable assets, with the first being the strength in herself. We all have that. We just need to believe it.

We all deserve that place we feel is our favorite. For instance, I have a multitude of favorite places but I love being home and doing my projects the most. I’ve never been allotted the pleasure of feeling safe anywhere and home. Before marrying the man of my dreams and having a family with him, I was always on the move. The best I had beside this was on the road. Let me explain what I mean. It wasn’t always about driving, even though that was a huge plus by the time I got my license. I liked being reminded that I don’t have to stand still on the road. I could go in any direction. It was freeing to see the horizon line disappear off in either direction. It would call to me in a way that would give me hope that my days would get better.

I wanted to give the same feeling to Kayla. While she doesn’t feel the need to run by thirteen and is well established in the hangar and created her own shop from there, her favorite place still wraps her mind around the hope that I found in the horizon. Her favorite place is unique to her and I really wanted her to feel it.

Kayla presents thereafter. While we’re not entirely sure what sets off the ease of presenting, one of my later books, Alpha Beach, gets into why presentation of the designation happens. It isn’t discussed here, but I do want to make a note that when the person feels content in their surroundings and in some semblance of control in a stress free environment, usually when they settle down, their biology takes over. Presenting is not the same as a menstrual cycle, of which, I didn’t bother introducing in this story either. I felt that she had enough going on to have to stop her day for that. (You’re welcome).

Presenting does make her more aware though. Kayla is hyper-aware of her ability to be detected now and losing the control she has over herself is very clear. It would only take one slip up now to be overtaken and used for personal pleasure. The stress that’s there is unwelcome and comes with a lot of personal doubt. To shut it up, she teaches herself how to fight, shoot, and does other things to keep her safe within her shop. It is another huge step in her favor.

Another large step is the moment she allowed other people into her life. Sure, she’s had customers come and go, but having Chyanne and Roxi in her life was a personal accomplishment.

The fact that she can read them and that they have been nothing but the true spirited individuals that she sensed they were is another layer of foundation within her whole being. If you read the story, you’ll find out what their friendship to family mentality entails. To this day, I don’t know many blood related sisters that would go as far as what Kayla’s found sisters do for her. Both Chyanne and Roxi help Kayla build herself into the powerhouse the present day folk know and seek the attention of. There’s a solidness to the unit that we all need. If you have them, hold on to them. They really are special people.

There are a lot of favorite scenes, I must say. If you were just looking to scroll through, this isn’t really the post for that. Sorry… heh…

My next few are references towards the Alphas she let around her family despite their designations. The first is Frank:

Kayla’s ability to recognize that she had no real control over her sister’s feelings was an undeniable step forward. Regardless of how she wanted to protect them, allowing Frank in even though he was an Alpha was a huge shift in tides.

Poor Pedro. As we go on he really is a good guy. Yes, he deals with being an Alpha differently than Frank but he is older and has gone through more in terms of what his sisters put him through but Kayla doesn’t know that. The fact that he’s even alive after the stunt he pulled is Kayla practicing her control.

That being said, having them all together is fitting. It’s rounding her out in a way that she couldn’t have possibly expected. Pedro and Frank became like brothers to her, and her sisters’ Mates. At the very least Kayla felt as though she could still function with them around and happy. She could control herself and they could handle themselves. While their family gathered regularly at her place, they do retreat to their own places and have the respect for Kayla not to engage in their own needs around them.

At that point in her life, what she felt she had control over outweighed what she didn’t. Ultimately, we spend our lives trying to find that. Whether or not you’ve dealt with the traumas Kayla has, we all want that achievement of feeling like we’ve got this. So when Ben makes his entrance, her Omega throws her for a loop. Remember how when she presented she lost control? Well, when she meets him, her Omega knows she’s supposed to be with him, so biology ruins her all over again.

It first happens as she’s noticing herself and the way she acts towards him:

Noticing herself as being displeasing is another way that we learn grace. Being overwhelming to another person can only overwhelm us in the process and Kayla learns that with this Alpha with whatever control she thinks she has left. When that’s out the door:

And this is the downfall. Her heat comes to consume her once more and my next favorite part in this regard is actually seen in Ben’s eyes, where she is nuzzling into him which is entirely different than what she’s ever done or been like. Letting her guard down to allow someone physical contact isn’t an activity that she’s ever really done before. Sure, she can hug Chyanne and Roxi but they’re different.

Ben, an Alpha, the one her Omega decides is hers, is allowed immediate access. She even scents him. These are huge steps. Yes, I keep saying that, but think about it. If you’ve ever been on a first date, for the thought of a realistic point in our lives that is heavily anchored to this concept, deciding to want to hold hands can be seen as a large move, let alone being snuggled against them. During the precursors to Kayla’s heat, all of that extra thought of whether or not Ben would want her to do that goes right out the window. Her Omega is in the lead even though Kayla and her Omega are one person.

There’s a lot to be said about the following scenes that continue after this in lieu of what this Alpha does to pursue this, and what Kayla’s sister does to counter, but those instances need to be read. They are stellar little pieces here and there that make me want to clap for their characters but if I keep going like this the post will be hours upon hours long to cover the length of the book. You’re more than welcome to chat with me about them on social media, but for the sake of this not being the article that never ends, I’ll be pointing out the scenes that have never left me, even after rewriting it out of its Reylo-isms.

I want to go ahead and jump to when Frank comes home, even though a lot happens between Kayla learning to accept her feelings and when Frank makes his appearance. It is entirely worth the read and the scenes will definitely be digitally painted when I get time, but Frank coming home is a very brotherly circumstance. We’ve seen how Chyanne, Roxi and even Pedro have been around Kayla, but Frank is so much closer to her than Pedro. (There’s still a wall between the two, despite how even Pedro has changed.)

Frank fully expects life to be shipshape when he gets back.

Spoiler alert: It’s not. So much has changed and it is in a word “hard” for him to deal with it.

In the original, I had the same sort of scene written out where Roxi and Frank were headed in and Frank got a look at Kayla and Ben outside of the truck with her up in his arms… but as I rewrote it, the scene didn’t come together naturally so it was deleted. Frank being upset with everyone made sense. The bickering thereafter made sense, and it is a scene I am quite proud of. I can nearly hear him and the attitude in his voice when he delivers the lines. In fact, because I can’t help myself, I’ll share that too.

I want you to be able to pick up Roxi and Frank’s relationship here along with what is going on between Kayla, Ben and himself. Their relationship and the things Roxi can get away with saying is drastically different than what other dynamics can handle. While Kayla can say some things to Ben and visa versa, they are two very emotionally charged people. What might not come across the same way as it does with Roxi and Frank, can be the opposite within Kayla and Ben’s relationship instead because of their designations. It’s something that the both of them will have to learn but Roxi is not worried and will sling shit wherever she feels it should be slung.

It feels weird gushing about my work but this book holds a special place in my heart, which is why it happened to be put in Pay To Read in the first place. That being said, there is a lot to read up on with this situation that Ben and his new found family is dealing with because of Kayla’s sisters and the hands that they have in it. I won’t spoil that but Roxi might…

And then this one:

It’s important to me that Frank set the bar as to where their family stood and why. As we know up to this point, the rest of them have a lot to say but are not as coherent as Frank is. His message gets through to Ben in a way that Ben needs and it settles him in a way that he’s not really able to fully see until later down the line.

As the story continues the girls seek help from Roxi’s sister Paige who ultimately gets the ball rolling in an effort to explain what an Alpha-Omega is, and they come up short.

Here I wanted to nudge all of my fellow authors out there that are like me and feel the need to do their research. In this story the girls come up short and have limited resources like we do as authors. Sure it would be outstanding to have unlimited facts on culture or locations, even food and real life situations abroad, but ultimately, I don’t have that and wanted to play off of the fact that I knew what the girls were going through. Feeling unable to get to that next step and having nothing to draw straws from is a very disheartening feeling. I found that it added a lot more to their characters arcs in adding their ability to cope while also being partially the reason Kayla goes through her relapse.

There’s a certain amount of guilt a good friend feels when something like this blows up in their face and the fact that they’re still willing to try to help her in any way they can is a big development as well. I don’t necessarily want to explain how it goes down because these sections really do need to be explored through reading the story.

By the time this story’s gears shift again, Kayla and her family are being launched back into what their lives were before Ben. Kayla is invited back to a prestigious car show event where she sold her whole lot and added only more to her dream. I don’t want to spoil it past the fact that she still can’t realize just how Alpha she’s being as she replays the information to her family. Kayla’s planned this since she met Chyanne and Roxi and despite the fact that she’s overstepping her boundaries into their mated Alpha’s expectations… Kayla still moves forward with it. This also shows her character’s build. If she has it in her mind, she’s going to do it, just as she has this whole time.

Only, even that road is curving. She sees the bend but it’s hard to understand what it means. Several things happen thereafter that make Kayla decide how to be better, but passing the torch, so to speak, is really difficult. Her baby steps come in second chances and sweep certain things under the rug, which is very unlike her to do and everyone is watching.

Yet another roadblock hits their unit and not being in control sends Kayla spiraling out of whatever control she thinks she has left. This is certainly something to read as well. I love the scenes leading up to and after this point because of just how raw and emotional the pair is at this point.

It also shows that Kayla’s family is not all knowing which gives Ben an opportunity to grapple with the chance of bringing her back along with them, allowing him to be the Alpha he is. This is another heated segment of which should all be read together. Picking a scene of context is less than ideal here because it could tell a different story rather than the one that’s unfolding around them.

What I will add to this is that the car show was insane to write and adding the tension there after was as if the story lobbed me an underhand pitch. My aha moments and how the scenes weave together still have me going.

For the very last quote I can give without giving the rest of it away, I leave you with:

I truly hope you do get a chance to check out this intense and steamy romance story. As always I am very interested in hearing back from you if you have. Until then, happy reading!