Patricia Briggs

“You forgot the ‘my precious,’” Anna said dryly. “If you want to act like a freaking nutcase, you have to do it right.”

“Much awkwardness ensued.”

“All life is rife with possibilities. Seeds have possibilities, but all their tomorrows are caught by the patterning of their life cycle. Animals have possibilities that are greater than that of a fir tree or a blade of grass. Still, though, for most animals, the pattern of instinct, the patterns of their lives, are very strong. Humanity has a far greater range of possibilities, especially the very young. Who will children grow up to be? Who will they marry, what will they believe, what will they create? Creation is a very powerful seed of possibility.”

“I didn't like anyone except me having their hands all over him. There had been possession in Wolf's touch, and Adam belonged to me.”

“I am the reality of all coyotes. The archetype. The epitome. You are just a reflection of me.”

“It was complicated. I understood it, mostly, but I had to think a little sideways to do it.”

“Trouble seems to follow me around, waiting to club me with a tire iron.”

“I was too busy fighting the river to worry about adjusting my beliefs in accordance to reality.”

“Zealots are one-trick ponies. They love nothing so much as their own cause. Don’t get in their way without expecting to be hurt.”

“I hope this means you'll quit asking me to kill you. It gives me indigestion.”

“When a man is on the verge of passing out from pain, it seemed wrong to notice how beautiful he was.”

“I don't get mad, I get even.”

“A man who will risk nothing for love is not a man”

“Anna followed, keeping a sharp eye out for things he might back into or over. She wondered if Isaac did this all the time-and, if so, how he avoided getting photos in the paper with captions like "Local Alpha Trips Over Child" or "Wolf Versus Street Sign, Street Sign Wins.”

“Is it like a Harry Potter thing?" He turned his head then. "A what?""A Harry Potter thing," she said again. "You know, don't say Voldemort's name because you might attract his attention?"He considered it. "You mean the children's book.""I have got to get you to watch more movies," she said. "You'd enjoy these. Yes, I mean the children's book.”

“You should be home sleeping. What is the use of having a man in the house, if he cannot take care of you for a while?” “Mmm,” I said. “I give up. What's the use of having a man in the house?”

“But you can't marry someone to fix him, even if you love them.”

“We are none of us perfect, and...we learn to take these imperfections and make them only a small part of who we are”

“She gave Samuel a stern look. "Now, I don't know what's going on between you and my daughter and Adam Hauptman—”“Neither do we,” I muttered.Samuel grinned. “We have it pretty well worked out as far as the sex goes—Adam gets it—someday—and I don’t. But the rest is still up for negotiation.”“Samuel Cornick,” I sputtered in disbelief. “That is my mother.”

“I told them," he said in a clear, carrying voice, "that they should not give someone as old and powerful as I a daughter to love. That it would end badly.”

“It is not wise to give something old and powerful something they care about. And I am very old.”

“Um. Charles thinks that his wolf has chosen me as his mate.""In less than one full day?" It did sound dumb when he said it that way."Yes." She couldn't keep the uncertainty out of her voice, though, and it bothered Charles. He rolled to his feet and growled softly."Charles also said I was an Omega wolf," she told his father. "That might have something to do with it as well."Silence lengthened and she began to think that the cell phone might have dropped the connection. Then the Marrok laughed softly. "Oh his brother is going to tease him unmercifully about this.”

“Crep, strep, venefica est mortua ...”

“Yes, well," said his da with a hint of a grow that told him just how worried Bran had been about him, "that'll teach you to dodge a bit quicker next time.""Sorry," he apologized meekly as he sat in the passenger seat."Good," said Bran, shutting the door gently. "Don't let it happen again."-Bran and Charles”

“My father would take you wherever you wanted to go," he told her softly. "I was pretty sure I could talk you into staying, but I underestimated how badly hurt I was.""Stupid," she said tartly.He looked up at her, and whatever he saw in her face made him smile, though his voice was serious when he answered her charge. "Yes. You throw my judgement off."-Charles and Anna when he thought she was leaving him and Changed when he was injured”

“His favorite saying was, 'Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum europe vincendarum.""'Sometimes I have the urge to conquer large parts of Europe'?" Boyd said, sounding a little incredulous. Isabella hadn't, apparently, been the only one who understood her defiance.She nodded. "Usually he only said it when my brother or I were being particularly horrible.”

“What would a racist call werewolves? Wargs? She kind of liked that one, but suspected that racist bastards didn't read Tolkien.”

“Hard truths can be dealt with, triumphed over, but lies will destroy your soul.”

“I thought you couldn't make it here until morning," I said. "I hurried.”

“I think that I can count on the fingers of one hand the times you've actually said the word ‘women' and not replaced it with an epithet referring to female genitalia." "Hey, he's not that bad," Warren said. "Sometimes he calls them cows or whores.”

“I like what you've done to your face," Ben said, tapping his eye.”

“Adam wants to know what took you so long?"Tell him I had wild, passionate sex with a complete stranger.”

“I think I’ll just go take a shower,” I said. It wasn’t until Samuel stiffened that I remembered I’d just come out of the shower. So much for playing normal.”

“She crawled,” Ben said. There were tears in his voice. That was wrong. Ben barely even tolerated me on the best of days. “She crawled to the bathroom to clean herself again. If it weren’t for the two subs in the pack, I’d be on the bottom. And she wouldn’t stand up in my presence for guilt.”

“It was Adam, but he was too late. He couldn’t love me anymore. He would be so angry with me. I had to hide. He didn’t love me so he might hurt me when he was angry. When he calmed down, that would hurt him. I didn’t want him hurting because of me. There was nowhere for a person to hide. So I wouldn’t be a person. My eyes fell on the shelves that lined the far back corner. A coyote could hide there.”

“A cowboy, a lawyer, and a mechanic watched Queen of the Damned,” I murmured. Warren—who had once, a long time ago, been a cowboy—snickered and wiggled his bare feet. “It could be the beginning of either a bad joke or a horror story.” “No,” said Kyle, the lawyer, whose head was propped up on my thigh. “If you want a horror story, you have to start out with a werewolf, his gorgeous lover, and a walker.”

“Thank you, Adam,” I told him. “Thank you for tearing Tim into small Tim bits. Thank you for forcing me to drink one last cup of fairy bug-juice so I could have use of both of my arms. Thank you for being there, for putting up with me.” By that point I wasn’t laughing anymore. “Thank you for keeping me from being another of Stefan’s sheep—I’ll take pack over that any day. Thank you for making the tough calls, for giving me time.” I stood up and walked to him, leaning against him and pressing my face against his shoulder.“Thank you for loving me.”His arms closed around me, pressing flesh painfully hard against bone. Love hurts like that sometimes.”

“The Elders were closer to the Maker of All Things and should be deferred to whenever they made their will known.”

“His grandfather had often told him that he tried too hard to move trees when a wiser man would walk around them.”

“Forbidden fruit is the sweetest, Warren, my darling.”

“Are you done yet?' Issac calledCharles tilted his head back and called back, 'I suppose that's why they call you the five minute wonder.'Anna could feel her eyes round and her mouth drop open 'I cant believe you just said that' She paused and reconsidered. 'I am so telling Samuel you said that.'Charles smiled. kissed her gently, and said 'Samuel won't believe you.”

“He'd woken up after flying from Boston to Montana to find his da cooking breakfast for them: sausage and pancakes shaped like deer. It wasn't just any deer, either - they looked like Bambi from the disney cartoon. Charles didn't want to know how his father had managed that”

“I'm not threatening to kill myself. But you need to know this about me because—if you want to be my mate—I won't be like Leo. I won't let you sleep around with anyone else. I won't be forced either. I've had enough. If that makes me a dog in the manger, so be it. But if I am yours, then you damned well are going to be mine." - Anna to Charles”

“My foster mother always laughed and said it was his reputation for knowing everything that allowed for him to appear infallible: all he had to do was walk through the room and see who looked guiltiest when they saw him. Maybe she was right, but I tried looking innocent the next time, and it didn't work.”

“Bran was always a deceptive bastard, gentle and mild right up until he ripped your throat out. He had many other fine qualities as well.”

“He can stop me in my tracks, but he can't make me do someting I don't want to”

“She'd never have allowed herself to be held by anything as mundane as a few bars and a reinforced door”

“It's only fair to warn you that you sealed your fate tonight. When you knew you were in trouble, you came to me. That makes twice, Mercy, and twice is almost as good as a declaration. You are mine now.... Ben says you might run. If you do, I will find you and bring you back. Every time you run, Mercy. I won't force you, but. .. No more excuses, Mercy. You are mine, and I am keeping you.”

“You okay now ?" he asked."Okay."He tightened his arms and lifted me off my feet. "Mercy?" he growled into my ear. I wrapped my legs around his waist. " Yeah" , I said. "Me too.”

“When is the last time you were a tourist?” she asked archly.He just looked at her. Charles, she had to agree, was not tourist material.“Right,” Anna told him. “Buck up. You might even enjoy it.”“You might as well have ‘hapless victim’ tattooed across your forehead,” he muttered.”