Rhyx 的作品

Tori** I stared up the grand staircase, not noticing my jaw still hung open as I watched Dylan Palmer, my tormentor. Now apparently, my employer’s son and new master.For a split second, I caught his eyes widened, carrying the same stunned disbelief that had me rooted to the marble floor. “What the hell are you doing in my house?” he demanded, his voice echoing through the entire sitting room as he walked down the stairs, hopping two at a time. “Dylan! That is no way to speak to our guest. Apologize right now.”Mrs. Palmer stepped forward immediately, her warm smile turning instantly into a frown as she turned to face him.Dylan stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his hands crossed firmly across his chest. He looked every bit the spoiled rich kid in his expensive casual clothes, his hair still slightly tousled.“She’s not a guest, Mom. This…she goes to the same college as me. Tori whatever-her-last-name-is. The scholarship girl.”What the—!I flinched at the way he said “scholarsh

Tori**My head is still spinning, and no matter how many times I blink, the person standing in front of me doesn’t change.Out of everyone in this world to blackmail me.It had to be this devil?“What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?” A cold smile slowly spreads across his face as he watches the shock settle into me, like he’s enjoying every second of it. “H…how did you get that video?” I force the words out, my voice unsteady despite my effort to control it.For a moment, he doesn’t utter a word. Then, he tilts his head slightly, as if deciding whether I’m even worth answering. “I went out to have some fun at a club as usual last night,” he begins casually. “But then…I came across something even more fun,” he continues, letting out a faint laugh. “Dancing shamelessly for men who happen to find someone like you…attractive.”Heat rushes to my face instantly the moment he utters those words, humiliation burning through me so quickly it almost makes me dizzy. But I force myself to act com

Tori**I sit at the far end of the class, scrolling endlessly on my phone through different job listings. Yet it feels like I’ve been doing the same thing over and over again— refreshing, scanning, hoping any reasonable job will show up.But nothing ever does.My eyes hurt, but I don’t stop… I can’t.Not when I have only two days left before Mum is going to be taken off dialysis. I force the thought away and begin to scroll faster.Waitress. Sales assistant. Cleaner.All of them pay too little, not even close to the amount of money I need, but just as I’m about to give up, a new job listing appears on the screen.A Live-in Babysitter Needed At A Private Residence. Immediate Start.Responsibilities: Care for an 8-year-old girl, light household dutiesI pause for a moment.Something about it makes me look closer.Then I see the pay.Salary: $4,500/month + bonus upon successful 3-month probation.“…what the?”I blink, thinking maybe I read it wrong. Then I lean closer to my phone and rea

Tori**The cab slows to a stop the moment we stop at the address Mia texted to me earlier. “Here we are, Miss.” the driver says casually.“You can do this, Tori,” I mutter to myself as my fingers tighten around the strap of my bag. I close my eyes and take a shaky breath, then I open the door. The night air hits my face as I step out of the cab, by the time I reach the entrance, my pulse is racing. I swallow hard and push the door open.The moment I step inside, everything changes.Music vibrates through the air—low, deep, vibrating through my chest. Followed by the scent of perfume and alcohol that fills my nose instantly.“Hey girl!”I turn at the sound of a familiar voice to see Mia.She’s walking toward me with a confident stride, dressed like she owns this entire club. “Perfect timing, I was just about calling you.”“Mia… I—” the words get stuck in my throat, but I force them out. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”She waves a hand dismissively.“Girl! Relax. There’s

Tori**“What have you just done, Tori…?”The words slip out of my mouth before I even realize I’d said them out loud. I tighten my grip around the stack of textbooks pressed against my chest as I walk down the long hallway of Riverside College. Students move around me in fast motions, laughing and talking about things that suddenly feel very far away from my world.Classes.Assignments.Football games.Normal college life.But none of it feels normal to me anymore, because I’ve just made a decision that might change everything.“Be ready tonight,” Mia had said before hanging up.How the hell was I supposed to be ready for something I’d never done in my entire life? Could I really go through with it?My fingers tighten around my books as the immense haze of doubt begins to creep in, but then another image appears in my mind. Mum lying in that hospital bed, her pale face and weak smile. The constant beeping of machines beside her.“Well…I don’t have a choice in this,” I whisper under

Tori**“Why the hell are you here?”My Dad’s voice thunders through the living room before I even step fully into the house, and I freeze in the doorway.“D…dad,” my hands tremble as I clutch the hospital envelope against my chest. “Please, I just need you to listen to me—““Don’t you dare call me that!”His eyes rake over me with utter disgust, like I’m something unpleasant he accidentally stepped on. “I told you and your mother never to show up here again. So what the fuck are you doing at my house? Huh?”The words stab deeper than I expected, but I swallow the pain and step forward anyway.“I know,” my voice cracks, “I know I’m not the daughter you always wanted.”That part has never been a secret.My father sighs impatiently, already turning away like I’m wasting his time.“But please, Mum is really sick and I need all the help I can get.”He stops, and for one fragile second, hope sparks in my chest. Then he turns back slowly, and his face quickly turns back to that same cold and

Willow’s POVI stand in the middle of my cramped dorm, a towel wrapped loosely around my body, followed by the droplets of water tracing lazy paths down my collarbone, my thighs. I thought taking a shower would wash it all the way. Their scents. The way their dominance pressed into me during the drill, layer after layer, until I felt like I was drowning in it. Zandro’s scent still lingers in my nostrils, mixed with Ronan’s heat and fury. Lucien’s cool mint edge, Alaric’s steady warmth, Nyx following me like a goddamn shadow. Five pulls. Five hungers that my wolf won’t let me forget.She paces inside me now, her restless claws scraping against my ribs, a low growl building in my chest.No!Get a hold of yourself, Willow!My legs tremble as I move toward the bed, intending to collapse and force sleep to come. But skin feels too alive, too sensitive. Every brush of the towel sends sparks low in my belly, heat blooming where it shouldn’t. I drop the towel, and let it fall to the floor,

Willow's pov“You’ll kneel when you’re told.”The instructor’s voice cut through the hall like a blade. “That is the point of this drill. Anyone who cannot submit will be removed.”Power pressed down from every direction...Alpha supremacy layered thick enough to make breathing feel like work. Wolves filled the arena in ranked rows, their scents clashing, their gazes sharp with anticipation.This wasn’t training. This was a reminder.I scanned the ranking board and felt my stomach drop.Rank E. That was the lowest tier.A few wolves glanced back at me and smirked. Others looked away quickly, like weakness was contagious.My wolf stirred uneasily. Angry.“Low ranks forward,” the instructor ordered.Before my pride could catch up, my legs moved. I stepped onto the marked circle at the center of the hall, awareness crawling up my spine as hundreds of eyes followed me. The runes carved into the floor pulsed faintly beneath my bare feet, humming low...designed to amplify influence and s

Willow's povAlaric didn’t ask before lifting me.One moment my knees buckled, the next his arm was behind my back and I was off the ground, my body pressed hard against his chest. Gasps rippled through the sparring hall, but Alaric didn’t slow, didn’t explain, didn’t look at anyone except straight ahead.His grip was firm, unyielding in a way that made my breath hitch.I could still feel Zandro’s scent on my skin. Dominance that had soaked into me like a bruise I didn’t know how to explain. And when Alaric passed him, I felt the tension. The jealousy snapping through the air like a live wire.Zandro’s voice followed us. “Careful, Alaric. She didn’t tap out.”Alaric didn’t turn. His jaw tightened instead. “She doesn’t need to.”That shut him up.He carried me through the halls like I weighed nothing, his steps controlled, his arm locked around my waist. Every place I touched him felt magnified...his chest rising beneath my cheek, the heat of his skin through his uniform, the subtl

Willow's pov“Get out of my way, ” I said, pushing myself between the towering bodies. I didn’t wait to see if Zandro or Ronan listened.I shoved past them, heart pounding so hard it made my vision blur, books clutched tight against my chest like they were the only thing keeping me upright. The crowd parted instinctively, no one wanted to be in the path of a girl who had just defied two alphas and lived.Barely.Behind me, I felt their eyes…their attention dragging along my spine like claws.“Run,” Ronan called after me, his voice amused. “That’s usually how it goes.”I didn’t look back.I didn’t slow down until I reached the admissions hall, the heavy stone doors slamming shut behind me with a thud that echoed too loudly in the quiet interior. My legs shook. I braced myself against the wall, sucking in a breath that tasted like dust and ink and old magic.My wolf finally stopped pacing.Barely.“Pull yourself together,” I muttered under my breath. “You’re fine. You’re fine.”In le

Willow's povHis lip curled in disbelief. “You’re either very brave,” he murmured, leaning closer, his scent wrapping around me like a threat, “or very stupid.”Maybe both.I tightened my grip on my books. “Then move.”For a split second, shock flickered in his eyes.Then suddenly, it shifted to rage, hot and uncontrollable. His control surged hard enough that my knees nearly buckled.Nearly.But I held my ground.“Bow.”I blinked, genuinely unsure if I’d heard him right. Around us, the courtyard had gone unnaturally quiet. “I’m sorry?” I said.Zandro loomed closer, his shadow swallowing mine. He was taller than I’d realized up close, broader too. He was handsome… infuriatingly so. His storm-grey eyes dragged over me slowly, like he was measuring how easily I could be broken.“You ran into me,” he said. His voice thick with restrained anger. “Then you spoke out of turn.”“I apologized.”He laughed once, low and humorless. “That wasn’t an apology. Do it with a bow”I felt a mixtur

Willow's pov“You will get your answers,” my mother said, eyes fixed on the road. “Once you finish your studies at Blackfang Academy.”I scoffed. “You’ve been saying that.” So many times that I didn't believe it anymore. I stared out the window, fingers curled tight around the strap of my bag.“This time, I mean it,” she said My wolf stirred under my skin, restless, impatient, unfamiliar in a way that still made my chest tighten. Three days ago, I’d woken up with heightened senses, a burning ache in my veins, and a truth I hadn’t been allowed to know for eighteen years.I wasn’t human. I wasn't an orphan either. The woman I had been living with, who I had served for eighteen years, was my mother. When she told me I was a princess, I found it hard to believe. “You told me I was nothing. Nobody.” I muttered, my chest squeezed in pain as the memory resurfaced. “You told me I had no family! No past. Just… lucky you found me.”Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. She turned back