Alicia: His Troublesome Fate — Chencia C. Higgins

On the outside looking in, Brix has done a fantastic job of managing his emotions following the fallout with the Elders. He's jumped right into life in Madow and worked tirelessly to make himself irreplaceable among the community he now called home, and he's done so with a smile on his face and a carefree attitude. It was when he collapsed onto his bed at the end of the day that his thoughts eventually consumed him. He was haunted by the life he'd left behind and the truths that were revealed the day he left his old pack for good. The crux of the matter is that everything he knew about himself was a lie, and as he battles to create a new self-image—one he could be proud of—the tight grip he has on his sanity begins slipping. No one but his wolf could have predicted that the one woman who he's warned to avoid would be instrumental in retaining his hold. The last few months have seen Alicia softening where everyone who knew her would have sworn she'd never budge. Once called the rudest wolf in Madow, she has made a concerted effort at keeping her past from coloring her interactions with her new alpha or the wolves she'd brought with her. It should be simple enough, but it's harder work than she could have anticipated. A chance encounter with the man who both activates her skepticism and makes her wolf pay attention, and she is soon flooded with memories—some familiar, some…enlightening. Overwhelmed, she is shocked when the only one who can help her is the person she trusts the least. Even more jarring is the way her wolf responds to him. Two people who feel like outsiders no matter how hard they try to fit in, find that their history intersects in a way that neither can deny, and they'll need each other to clear away the pain from their separate pasts. While working side-by-side, they discover something unavoidable building between them and suddenly there is another—more pressing—reason to make it onto the other side of their journey. Can they weather the thunderstorm of their history to make it to the rainbow they deserve?