Forgotten: Silver Falls University 2 Read online

  Forgotten

  Silver Falls University

  M. Sinclair

  Lost & Bound Publishing

  Important Note

  Forgotten is book 2 in the Silver Falls University series. Readers can find Lost, book 1 of the series, as part of the Kingdom of Wolves Universe Collection.

  Please note, Lost should be read BEFORE Forgotten in order to read the series in proper order.

  https://geni.us/Lost-SilverFallsUni

  Forgotten: Silver Falls University #2

  Copyright © 2021 by M. Sinclair in USA

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced/transmitted/distributed in any form. No part of this publication shall be shared by any means including photocopying, recording, or any electronic/mechanical method, or the Internet, without prior written consent of the author. Cases of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law are the exception. The unauthorized reproduction/transmitting of this work is illegal. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Editorial Team:

  Refined Voice Editing & Proofreading

  Created with Vellum

  The Union of Love & Madness

  Author Note

  In some ways, Effie has proved to be one of my most complex characters. Balancing the reality of how she was raised with the experiences I have had on a university level, along with the paranormal environment that was crafted, has resulted in one of my favorite plot lines to this day. Through this series I wanted to craft realistic relationships between not only her mates, but her friends. In this industry, specifically the romance genre, I think it is so important to show healthy relationships of all kinds, including the family and friends who fill our characters’ lives. I hope you guys love Forgotten, and you will be happy to know that Discovered, SFU 3, is already up for pre-order!

  Contents

  Description

  Prologue

  1. Effie Harlow

  2. Effie Harlow

  3. Julian De León

  4. Effie Harlow

  5. Effie Harlow

  6. Effie Harlow

  7. Ryder Bosu

  8. Effie Harlow

  9. Effie Harlow

  10. Caedmon Moroz

  11. Effie Harlow

  12. Effie Harlow

  13. Effie Harlow

  14. Tore Hansen

  15. Effie Harlow

  16. Dakota Claymore

  17. Effie Harlow

  New Series Announcement

  Afterword

  M. Sinclair

  Published Works

  Description

  Five broken alphas. One lost wolf. A fate she never expected.

  For so many years of my life, I’d felt lost. Unwanted. Worthless. Scorned for being a bitten wolf. For being weak. Different. I could have never expected to find my mates when I came to Silver Falls University. In fact, there seemed to be a lot that was unexpected when it came to SFU, from my value in society to being marked by my own professor, something that still had yet to be explained to me.

  I shouldn’t have expected life to get any easier for me—it never had been. But now I knew there were secrets being hidden from me. I’d been sold to SFU. I’d been lied to about my importance in society. My biggest question though? What had I forgotten all those years ago when I’d arrived at my pack’s doorstep, bleeding and exhausted?

  My most pressuring fear? That in the chaos of the world around me, my mates would grow tired of me, like everyone else in my life had… leaving me forgotten.

  Join Effie Harlow on the second part of her journey at Silver Falls University. This slow-burn reverse harem paranormal romance features five protective and possessive shifter mates that are bound and determined to keep Effie by their side, no matter what. To prove to her that she is so much more than anyone has ever tried to tell her she was. Will they be able to convince her of her place at Silver Falls and in their life? Or will Effie get lost in the university crowds like she did back home?

  Find out in this second installment of five in the Silver Falls University Series. Warning: This PNR university-style RH will contain swearing, adult sexual content +18, elements of PTSD and mention of prior emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, violence, and additional darker themes. Mild cliffhanger - Discovered, SFU 3, already available for pre-order.

  Prologue

  Effie Harlow

  I was lost.

  A ship at sea amid a storm. At least that was what it felt like as I continued to drift back and forth in unconsciousness. There were emotions, heavy and dark, that were pushing at the fragile barrier my mind had crafted in defense… I just wasn’t positive what it was in defense of. All I could focus on was the knowledge that I had to force myself to not let those emotions through, that they were toxic and bad, that they would only lead me to a darker and more desperate place than I was currently in.

  At the same time, I knew that if I let them in—if I remembered what I’d forgotten—I wouldn’t feel nearly as lost. Those memories and feelings would pull me from the depths of this ocean of numbness to… Well, I couldn’t remember where it would bring me to. I wasn’t positive I wanted to remember, if it had brought me to this point.

  Why was I in so much pain? Why did the idea of returning back into the land of the waking seem like such a burden? The sadness and pain weren’t the type I was familiar with. These were raw and shocking, and I was far from comfortable with them…especially since I knew there was something else. Something right on the edge of my memories that was filled with warmth, so much so that it touched every part of me. A place filled with beautiful sights and sounds, affection given easily instead of used as some type of bartering tool.

  I knew there had been more to my life at one time, before the cold chill of growing up in Chicago had infiltrated every element of my being, and I had thought I’d found it again… I’d thought that instead of being in a fragile snow globe that I was always terrified of shattering, that I’d found something real. Something solid. Something that I could anchor myself to, possibly forever. I couldn’t remember who had invoked that feeling, but the sensation of five glowing auras hovering around me brought back the sensation. The hope. The possibility.

  So what had ruined that? Something had….something had scared me and made me realize that my snow globe was not only on the brink of shattering, but that it had possibly never been real to begin with.

  My introspective thoughts were swept away as pain pulsed through every nerve ending of my body. I let out a small whimper that echoed through my ears, my body wracked with shivers. I was so cold. Why was I so cold?

  Ice. I could remember the distinct icy touch and strangling hold of the water I’d fallen into, shocking my system into immobility, my lungs frozen in place as I struggled for a breath. Why had I gotten into such cold water? I hadn’t meant to, clearly. I knew my wolf liked cold weather, but this? No, she would never do something like this.

  “We need to wake up.”

  As if summoned to the front of my mind by thoughts alone, my wolf’s voice echoed through my head in a loud, urgent demand. It surprised me only for a moment, the concept of her speaking so directly to me something I was still adjusting to.

  Wake up? I didn’t feel like we were sleeping, not exactly. Sleeping was for your body to rest in a peaceful state…and this was painful.

  Letting out a small pained sound, I stretched my limbs, trying to account for all my fingers and toes. Sensation sl
owly returned back to them, and they began to prickle and burn. Yet I couldn't pull myself from this state, my eyes heavy.

  Why wasn’t I waking up?

  “Open your eyes.”

  I ignored my wolf, knowing that she understood more than anyone that I could barely focus, let alone get my eyes to open. Why was she being so insistent? What was the rush?

  “Mates.”

  The singular word hit my stomach like rocks as everything flooded back to me at once, shattering that fragile barrier and reminding me of so many different problems.

  Finding out that I was mates with the four alphas I lived with and the pure joy I’d felt at the concept… Followed by the insecurity of why they hadn’t told me themselves, why I’d been told by Ruby instead of them.

  Seeking Ryder out to ask him about the mark he left on my arm, one that had me feeling an avalanche of emotions, only to be interrupted by a woman he already had drink plans with. Yeah, that had hurt a lot.

  Losing my way, trying to run from Ryder, and finding myself in the University President’s office. I shuddered to remember the words he’d said, the ones that had made me feel far lesser than ever before. He’d purchased me. Dr. Hastain had purchased me from my pack for… I didn’t want to think about why.

  Finally, the memory of me walking down the beach as Ryder followed, trying to talk to me as I stood on the ice caps, filled my head. I could hear myself clearly telling him about everything that had happened and insisting he leave me alone… Until the ice broke through and I fell into the lake.

  That had been so damn painful, and there was another sensation associated with it, one that had to do with my magic, that I couldn’t seem to pin down. My wolf moved in agitation under my skin.

  Was I dead? I felt like I was in too much pain to be dead.

  “I would never let us die.” My wolf sounded very offended, but I didn’t have the energy to apologize.

  Mates. I frowned, wanting to rub my temples as I tried to recall each one of their faces, but I was drawing a blank, instead just remembering the feelings they invoked.

  The sensation of Julian as he brushed his fingers over my bite mark, initiating a rush of hot desire that I’d never experienced before. Tore’s solid heartbeat under my fingertips as he surrounded me with a protective energy that had me feeling more at home than ever in my life. The scent of cinnamon and spice that wrapped around me as I laid curled up against Caedmon’s hard, muscular frame. The bone-deep connection I felt with Dakota that grew from the core of my magic as I had my first shift where I felt comfortable in my own skin, as if I was accepted. The experiences were burned into my consciousness. There was one more, though…

  Sadness flooded me, remembering how upset Ryder had been in the library. I’d known something was different about the man, but when he touched me, marked me, the anguish on his face made me feel like my own heart had been ripped out. The rejection floored me in a way I hadn’t thought possible.

  So why had he come after me? Why had he saved me from the lake if he didn’t want me? I knew he said that he shouldn’t want me and that it was ‘bad’ for us to be together, that he was bad for me or something to that extent, but wasn’t that what men said to women when they just didn’t want commitment? Gerald’s friends had bragged to one another about that exact thing when talking about how they managed the women they were ‘screwing’ outside of their mates. I didn’t think Ryder was lying, but his phrasing soured in my mouth and made me feel sick, only adding to the feel of being knocked down one too many times.

  Yet I had no doubt it had been his magic and him that had saved me. Not only saved me but flooded my body with…something. Some type of magic that I didn’t understand. Although that wasn’t anything new, considering it seemed I didn’t understand a lot lately. I was always playing catch-up, and it was exhausting. For once I wanted to feel confident in my actions.

  “Little wolf, I need you to open your eyes.”

  Dakota’s magic ran over me, the tone of his voice alone causing chills to break out over my skin. Suddenly, I could feel everything around me as his magic seemed to bring the room alive. I could sense the touch of heated blankets cocooning me, the sound of machines beeping in my ear, the quiet conversation of five deep voices…but what I could feel was so much more than physical. It was almost like a gateway had been opened and I was now able to feel the magic of all five men. Not a connection to them, per se, but their wolf sides and counterparts.

  Dakota’s wolf, massive and dominant, moved through the space of my subconscious freely the minute I let down my guard. That didn’t completely surprise me—from day one I had let his wolf in without even realizing he was my mate. There was something about Dakota that had me trusting him completely, without question. I knew the last thing he would ever want was for me to get hurt, so I didn’t try to hold myself back from him. I didn’t want to fight something so natural.

  Tore’s energy, aggressive and so unlike the man I had come to know, had me initially apprehensive. In response, Tore’s magic seemed to almost automatically calm itself. A slight tremble worked its way over me while trying to separate who I knew he was as a man, the one I could feel holding my hand and squeezing it gently, to the other fenrir wolves I’d been subjected to in my life.

  After a moment, when my heart had stopped beating so fast, I was able to separate and pick apart the other magic in the room. Caedmon’s surprised me because I could feel a vicious lethality to it. It was clear he was very powerful and had a physical form to his wolf, but he wasn’t allowing me to see it…to see him. It felt as if he was trying to make himself seem as harmless as possible by hiding in the darkened corners of my consciousness.

  Ryder’s energy was impossible to miss, and when it pushed into my system, it shone a golden and orange hue that seemed to heat up my skin. I could feel fur brushing over my arms and legs, even though I knew it was only happening in my subconsciousness, and despite the confusing way the man conducted himself, his magic was clear as day. Open and receptive, wrapping me up in its warm embrace and making it unfortunately obvious that it was the man who didn’t want me, not his creature.

  Where was Julian’s wolf?

  The thought echoed through my head as my wolf looked around in confusion. I tried to focus on connecting with him…only to realize he was already there.

  The reason I hadn’t noticed him was because he was everywhere. I felt almost breathless at the power that seemed to encompass mine, naturally dominating and practically demanding submission. How the heck did he act as relaxed as he seemed? This wasn’t anything like I had assumed his wolf would be like… It couldn’t even be classified as a wolf—he seemed like something so much more. The minute I recognized it, I could feel it drawing on me. It was making me want to wake up because that was what he wanted. I didn’t understand how that was possible.

  Then Julian’s voice sounded against my ear. “Wake up, preciosa.”

  It was that voice again, the tone he used, that had my eyes opening immediately. A flush of desire ran against my skin, my wolf happily submitting. I had no idea how he did that. I felt everything turn hazy, and the lust that ran through me had any remnants of the cold disappearing.

  It took a minute for me to focus on what was around me. The dim lights of the hospital room, the five large bodies surrounding my bed, and the fear that coursed through me at the idea that these men had come to mean so much to me already. What if they forgot about me? What if they decided I wasn’t worthy of their attention? Or worse, worthy of being their mate?

  I’d been forgotten once, left to my own defenses. It could happen again.

  Dakota’s chest rumbled as I met his gaze before looking back at the others. Suddenly, the burning on the inside of my forearm had my gaze moving down to the large mark there, bigger than the one that Ryder had originally put on me. Something about it both seemed familiar and alien.

  When I looked back up at the men, I could see they knew something, and I had a feeling that it was
going to be something that changed my life forever.

  1

  Effie Harlow

  The first thought that popped in my head was: when had I arrived back at Eclipse Three, our dorm building? Or when had I been placed on my bed, surrounded by a thick, almost fortress wall of blankets? Better yet, what time was it even?

  I couldn’t tell you any of those answers because my memories from when I opened my eyes in the medical center to when I closed them again out of pure exhaustion were absolutely limited.

  There had been a nurse taking my vitals, and Tore had been holding my much smaller and colder hand in his large, rough and warm one. The concern painted on Julian’s face and the tormented weight in Ryder’s gaze were both vivid, making an uncomfortable, nervous sensation permeate my gut. I didn’t want either of them feeling like that, especially over me.

  Caedmon had been the worst in some ways, because despite sitting as close to me as possible, his face had been completely expressionless. Those deep green eyes had been glued to me as I attempted to answer the nurse’s questions. Something I would have failed at completely if it wasn’t for Dakota aiding me with subtle prompts in my head.

  It didn’t help that I felt overwhelmed by the strong imprints their magic left on me, imparting sensations and emotions that I didn’t fully understand. Was this what they were feeling as well? Or just their magic? I was hoping it was a mixture of both, because it would go a long way to helping me figure these men out. Hopefully I would get used to it as well, because right now it felt like a system overload, and it was one of the many reasons my eyes had grown heavy and eventually closed, giving into a far more peaceful darkness than my unconscious state before.