Novels by Chantell Bix

JELENA“Open it,” I snap, my voice sharper than I intend, but I don’t take it back.“Miss Jelena,” he says carefully, stepping forward as if to intercept me. “Master Aaron is currently unavailable.”Unavailable, the word grates.“I didn’t ask,” I reply, already pushing past him.His hand comes up not touching me, but close enough to block my path. “It would be best if you returned later.”Something inside me snaps.“Move.”He doesn’t and for a moment, we stand there locked in a silent struggle that has nothing to do with strength and everything to do with control. I can see it in his eyes, he’s afraid, not of me but of what will happen if I go inside.That fear tells me everything and my chest tightens.“Move,” I repeat, quieter this time, but far more dangerous.He exhales slowly, as if calculating the consequences, and then steps aside and i know it's nott because he wants to but because he has no choice, he knows that Aaron doesn't joke with his property and whatever lies in there

JELENAWith my mind made up to spend the day with Aaron, I head straight to my closet, already scanning through my dresses as I try to decide what to wear.I don’t know where this excitement is coming from.Maybe it’s because it has been so long since I last saw him or maybe it’s because he has been increasingly busy with pack matters as he always calls them and we haven’t had the chance to properly talk in a while.Either way, the feeling is there, bubbling quietly inside me, and I don’t try to fight it and right on cue, Sarah walks in, carrying freshly washed laundry in her arms.“You seem excited, Miss. Something important happening?” she asks, her eyes already searching my face like she knows the answer.“Not really,” I reply, even as I pull out a crimson-colored dress and lay it carefully on the bed.It’s knee-length, simple, but elegant and very much good enough.Aaron and I agreed not to rush things, not to cross certain lines until marriage. It was a decision we made together,

JELENA“Ma, you sent for me?” I say as I step into the room and come face to face with my stepmother, Vanessa.Her room or should I say their room has always been large, almost unnecessarily so. It carries a kind of quiet luxury that feels cold rather than comforting, the heavy curtains are drawn halfway, allowing thin lines of sunlight to spill across polished floors and expensive furniture. Everything is perfectly arranged, untouched, as if no real life happens here.Although it is meant to belong to both her and my father, he is rarely ever present, he is always away on one “work trip” or another, managing his carpentry business or at least, that is what everyone says. In truth, his work stretches far beyond wood and tools, his hands are not as clean as people believe, but I have learned not to look too deeply into that part of his life.We are wealthy more than most in the area and my father is known as the biggest and most successful carpenter around, yet, that has never been eno

JelenaThe urge to keep running is the only thing keeping me moving.Even though I can’t see where I’m going, I keep running.Branches lash against my arms as I force my way through the thick wild bush, my feet barely finding stable ground beneath me and my lungs burn with every breath I drag in, each inhale sharp and painful, but I do not dare slow down.My heart is beating so fast it feels as though it might burst out of my chest, I don’t know how to stop myself from running, I don’t even know if I want to.Every instinct inside me screams that danger is behind me, stalking me, closing in with every second that passes. My mind can sense it, can feel the presence like a shadow pressing against my back, but it still hasn’t fully come to terms with what is happening.All I know is that I need to get away.I need to survive.The darkness around me is almost suffocating, the trees tower high above, their branches weaving together to block out the moonlight, leaving only slivers of silver