Novels by Ahmed WAHAB

I bit down on my lip to keep from making a sound."Charlotte."I spun around.Isaac stood in the doorway of the girls bathroom, his hand pressed against the door frame, his eyes taking in the scene in one second.The tap running. My arm under the water.My face."Get out," I said sharply. "This is the girls bathroom.""I know."He walked in anyway and let the door swing shut behind him."Give me your arm.""Isaac...!""Give me your arm, Charlotte.The water is making it worse."I looked down. He was right.The skin from my fingers to my elbow had gone red and blotchy, the burning now a deep throb that made my eyes water.I turned off the tap.He crossed the bathroom in three steps and stopped in front of me.This close I could see the slight tension in his jaw. He was angry. Not at me but at whoever had done this."Wrap the towel around yourself," he said, pulling the hand towel from the rail beside the sink and holding it out without looking at me.I stared at him."Charlotte." His voice wa

Something happened on Friday afternoon.I was walking down the main hall toward the library when Mia appeared from a side corridor. She had her bag over one shoulder and her grey eyes locked on me the moment she saw me.I kept walking, looking straight ahead and pretending I hadn't seen her.I almost made it.Her foot slid out just as I passed her.I didn't even have time to put my hands out. One second I was walking, the next the floor was near my face. My knees hit the hard tiles with a crack that made several nearby students wince.My bag flew open and my books scattered across the floor.Laughter came next, immediate and loud."Oops," Mia said above me.I pressed my lips together and reached for my books. My knee was throbbing with stinging pain. I could feel something warm and wet soaking through my tights. I was bleeding."Careful, Charlotte," Eva said sweetly. "The floors are slippery."There was more laughter.I gathered my books as fast as I could with my hands shaking and stuffed t

I had thought the bathroom would be safe.It was between second and third period and I had slipped out of class early with a bathroom excuse because I needed two minutes alone to collect myself. The bond had been vibrating in my chest all morning like a live, naked wire and I needed to breathe without feeling it.I stood at the sink and ran cold water over my wrists the way my mother had taught me when I was anxious as a little girl. The cool water helped. My heartbeat slowed and then I looked at myself in the mirror.I stared at my grey eyes. My brown hair was already coming loose from the bun. There was a small healing scratch on my cheek from a branch in the wolvesbane bush.I looked tired. Oh, I was so tired.The bathroom door swung open behind me. I looked up at the mirror and felt my stomach drop.Lydia.She walked in alone. There was no Eva, no Mia and no entourage. It was just her in a fitted blazer with her big blonde hair falling in perfect waves over her shoulders. Her b

I pulled away from him so fast I almost slipped and fell on the wet tiles."No," I said, pressing my back against the wall. My heart was thudding so loud I was sure he could hear it. "No, no, no."Isaac stood there, dripping water, his green eyes watching me carefully. He didn't move toward me. He just watched, the way you watched something fragile that you're afraid to break."Charlotte....""Don't." I held up my hand. "Don't say my name like that."He blinked. "Like.... like what?""Like…" I stopped myself. "Just don't call my name."I wrapped my arms around myself. My uniform was soaked through and I was shivering, but I didn't think it was from the cold. My whole body felt strange. It began to warm in places it shouldn't be and legs seemed to want to pull me in a direction I didn't want to go.My feet ached to move me toward him and into his arms.I pressed my feet harder into the floor, fighting it."You said we're mates," I said quietly."Yes.""How long have you known?"He was

All the students could talk about that morning was the new girl in school.Every student I passed murmured about her.Just one day in school and she had already made herself known to everyone.I saw Mia standing before her locker, arms crossed over her chest, with her two best friends, Lola and Eva, in front of her. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I knew it was about the new girl.I knew she would make school even more miserable than it already was. Because of her, I couldn’t sleep all night.Losing that necklace felt as if I had just lost Dad all over again.What would I say to Mom when she asked?I had held it in my hands and cried all night. Thankfully, my eyes weren’t red. The students would use any opportunity to mock me.Soon the bell rang and all the students went to their various classes. The classroom fell silent the moment Isaac walked in. Because of her—Lydia—she had her arms wrapped around his. They both moved to sit together, and all eyes followed them.“Argh,

I passed out.But my eyes slowly opened in the nurse’s office.As my eyes opened, the nurse quickly moved to my side. “Hello dear, are you okay?”I blinked and gave a slow nod.She grabbed my hand and scanned it with a puzzled expression on her face. “I don’t understand…”“What?” I asked. My throat was as dry as sandpaper; the words seemed to hurt. I gulped.“You were in there for more than thirty seconds. You shouldn’t be okay. Your body should be swollen. You should be in pain…” Her voice trailed off as she looked into my eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you are okay, dear. It’s just… it takes three days for a wolf to heal from this. I heard that you do not have a wolf. It should take a week.”“What about Dad’s necklace?” I asked. That was the only thing I cared about.“Necklace?”I sighed. Of course she didn’t know what I meant.I tried to sit up to go look for it, but she quickly placed her hand on my chest and pushed me back down. “You may be okay, dear, but you have to lie