The Price They Paid: Imprinted Mates Series

Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Jade Royal
Acknowledgments


The Price They Paid
Copyright © 2017 by Jade Royal
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations em- bodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organiza- tions, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All trademarks and trade names are used in a fictitious manner and are in no way endorsed by or an endorsement by or an endorsement of their respective owners.
Contains sexual situations, violence, sensitive and offensive language and mature topics.
Recommended for age 18 years and up.
For information contact : Jade Royal
www.authorjaderoyal.com
Editor: Wing Family Editing
Cover Design: T.E. Black Designs; www.teblackdesigns.com
Interior Formatting & Design: T.E. Black Designs; www.teblackdesigns.com


The Claim
An eclipse means something very different for wolves than it does for humans. Most humans become restless with energy, and some of them even become unstable or off kilter. Some humans avoid others because they know the likelihood of mood swings and frantic behaviors that transpire because of the phases of the moon.
Other’s seek nature and even observe the brilliance of sun, moon, and earth as they align in a rarer precedence. Those humans aren’t as human as they think. Time has diluted their bloodlines that trace back to what they once were. An eclipse makes them feel all the magic that flows through their bodies for a short amount of time. They answer the call by becoming one with nature in their own way to celebrate something that they don’t understand. Things they don’t know about, but that they feel.
Wolves experience an eclipse more extreme than any other species. They have the urge to hunt, kill, and even mate more than any other time of the year. The moon brings those instincts to the surface, and even the strongest Alphas and warriors cannot deny their compulsion to be who they truly are.
When the sun, moon, and earth align, the female wolves go into a heat that every man is powerless to deny. Her scent is heady, but it’s a call to her one true mate to find, mate, and mark her. To them, her scent is the most potent, and he becomes a slave to her desires. Her scent is strongest when the alignment is perfect and complete. The effects of an eclipse lasts three days, giving mates time to answer the pull.
A total eclipse has different effects lasting up to seven days. The mates can be driven insane by the intensity of the need to mate. A connection between mates is made during a total eclipse that can never be destroyed. The connection is different for every mated pair. The agenda is the same: To Claim.


Justice
Justice. I think my mother chose that name for me because she could never find any. From what I understood, she never amounted to be much of anything. Between the drugs and the men, she couldn’t stay afloat. My adoptive parents, Paul and Sharon Everette, were the exact opposite. They came from old money, and they made sure that I had the best upbringing. I was a good girl for them because I understood that the role that they played wasn’t something that they had to do. They wanted a child to love and cherish unlike the addict that birthed me.
My mom and dad were so successful at parenting that on my eighteenth birthday my world completely shattered apart. They planned a surprise party for me, but it took them longer to set up the venue than they expected. That’s the reason why my father was speeding when he came to get me from school. They were late picking me up from cheerleading practice and didn’t want to chance me catching a ride home with one of the other girls.
Ms. Sandy told me that they were extremely excited that I was turning eighteen. Probably more excited than I was. I could just imagine how happily my mother chatted in the car to my dad. She’d probably asked him if she’d baked enough, or if she should stop and get more food. She was always feeding people. It was her gift. Her love of food was something I’d picked up along the way. My dad was probably salivating over the feast she’d prepared and wasn’t nervous about a thing. He was relaxed and cool even though he was a perfectionist. That party was probably spectacular. I wouldn’t know. I never made it to the party.
Maybe the guy who drunkenly cut them off was celebrating my birthday, too. He could have been on his way to the venue to liven up the party that much more, or maybe not. I’ll never be able to ask him his side of the story because he was dead, right along with my parents. I spent weeks in my room bawling, trying to figure out the whys of that accident. After all, it was my fault that they were even in that car. If it weren’t for my stupid birthday they’d still be here.
After that, I’d wished that I had been in that car with them. Then we could have died a tragic death together as a family, and I wouldn’t be alone. They didn’t have any close relatives, so I was left to figure everything out solo. I did have friends, though, and Ms. Sandy. She always seemed to be around, and as much as I wanted to push her away and be mean and cruel, I didn’t have the heart to. She cared about me and vowed to always be there for me.
To be honest, if