Nobela ni Icy popsicles

“How long do we have to walk again before we get to the end of the border?” I groaned, bending down to drop the heavy bag of salt on the ground. Sweat ran down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away with my sleeve. My back ached from carrying the weight for so long.“I told you this place was huge, but you didn’t want to listen to me,” Tessy snapped at me, her voice filled with annoyance.“Well, I didn’t know you didn’t even know the directions,” I shot back, frowning at her.We had been walking for what felt like forever, round and round the pack’s land, trying to find the border but no matter which way we turned, it was like we were going in circles. I had asked Tessy several times if she was sure about where we were going, and every time she told me yes, to trust her because she had lived in the pack long enough to know the way. Now it was clear she had no idea, and we were lost.“Should we just go back?” she asked, sounding tired.I shook my head. “No, we’re not going back. I feel

I looked at the cover of the first book for a long time, trying to understand what was written on it. The letters were strange and twisted in ways I had never seen before. The more I stared, the less sense they made and my eyes felt heavy from just looking at them. I tried tilting my head to the side, as if that would somehow help me read them, but it didn’t.With a sigh, I decided to stop wasting time and just open the book. Maybe the inside would make more sense.The old pages made a dry cracking sound as I turned them and dust filled the air, making my nose itch again. Tessy was still eating, but I could feel her eyes on me. She watched as my eyebrows furrowed and my lips moved silently, trying to figure out the strange shapes on the page. I must have looked confused, because that was exactly how I felt.“Any luck?” Tessy asked between bites.I shook my head. “Not even a little,” I muttered.I turned the page again and saw a picture of something I recognized. It was a demon and it

I quickly jumped into the shower, the water running over me as I remembered that I was rushing in the first place because of Tessy. At first, I had planned to look at the books Kaden told me about before going to see her but I knew myself. If I tried to study those books now, I wouldn’t be able to focus. My mind would just keep going to her, wondering how she was, what Caleb might be doing to her, and if she was safe so Tessy came first.Thirty minutes later, I was out of the shower, dressed, and standing in the room with my towel still draped over my shoulders. I thought about leaving right away without eating but then my stomach growled so loudly it almost hurt so I decided to eat first.I went into the kitchen and made two sandwiches as fast as I could. I didn’t even sit down to eat before I shoved them into my mouth one after the other, barely tasting them before swallowing.Once I was done, I headed out.I walked for several minutes, scanning houses and trying to guess which o

Pack members were staring right at me. A small group of them stood a few meters away from me and their heads were close together as they whispered among themselves. The way their eyes moved over me was strange, like they couldn’t decide if they were confused, scared, or guilty. I knew those faces and I don’t think that I would ever forget them.They were the same people who used to insult me. The same ones who turned their backs when I needed help, the same ones who called me names, who laughed at me in front of others and made me feel like I was lower than dirt. I used to beg for a place in this pack. I used to dream that one day they would accept me as a member and not just an omega but they looked like they were the ones afraid of me.My eyes narrowed as I stared at them and I didn’t look away or drop my gaze like I used to when they looked at me.Instead, I glared at each one of them, slowly and one after the other and I noticed that their expressions started to change. They d

The next morning when I opened my eyes, the bed beside me was already cold and Kaden was not next to me.I sat up slowly, rubbing my belly and blinking the sleep from my eyes. For a second, I thought maybe he had just gone to the bathroom or something, but when I looked around the room, I knew he had left to prepare for the trip to the woods. I dragged myself to the window and peeked outside and I found him in front of the house, already dressed and talking to the warriors who were going with him. They were all serious and listening to him and for some reason, watching them gave me a tight feeling in my chest.Why was I suddenly scared? And why did it feel like… this might be the last time I’d see Kaden?That thought made me think to myself for a minute. I didn’t understand why I felt that way. It’s not like I was in love with Kaden again, right? I wasn’t supposed to care about him anymore. I cared about Kellan. Kellan was the one I loved.But then again, I hadn’t even thought mu

Kaden let out another sigh and slowly sat down on the edge of the bathtub. He looked tired. “I’ll talk to the elders,” he said at last. “I’ll bring it up but Seraya… if this goes badly, they might take me down before the fight even happens.”For now, we need to focus on the demons and the rogues that keep entering the pack. They’re being chased out of the wild by the demons and that’s why they keep coming closer.”I nodded slowly. “So what do you plan to do about them? I can help. Just tell me how.”Kaden sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “We need to find a place for them, maybe somewhere far outside the pack borders. We can’t keep killing them. Yes, they’re dangerous, but not all of them are attacking us. Some of them are just looking for safety but at the same time, we can’t let them into our pack either.”I frowned. “So what do we do then?”“We need to clear out part of the woods,” Kaden replied. “We can build a shelter there for them. Somewhere they can stay but it has t

Simeon had left right after the meal, and I returned to my room, where I stayed the entire day, doing absolutely nothing. By the time night came, I was restless. Tonight, I would finally see Varek again, after a whole month and I had no idea how to feel about that. When Simeon first told me he was back, my heart had started pounding… and that was weird, completely weird. I was supposed to be angry, furious, even. Not feeling like I missed him or something. I had so much bottled up inside and the first thing I’d do when I saw him was break his head for vanishing without a word, or maybe break each of his fingers for daring to invite me to dinner like nothing had happened. The rest of the day dragged on painfully slow and I spent it lying on my bed, rolling around and lost in thought. Wouldn’t it be pathetic of me to show up after he acted like I didn’t exist? Was I really going to run to him the second he clicked his fingers? Shouldn’t I be the one ignoring him now? Give him a tast

All I could remember was Varek carrying me and running like he was heading somewhere urgent before everything went black. When I finally woke up, I was back in my room, lying on my bed and above me stood a strange figure, staring into my eyes.I remembered Varek saying he couldn’t leave the realm by himself, so how did he manage to bring us back? Where was he now? I tried to look around for him, but before I could move, the strange figure jabbed something into my armand I lost consciousness again.The next few days passed in a blur. The strange figure, who I learned was a healer, was treating my wounds, which were healing much slower than normal and that was strange. .He had the lower body of a lizard and the upper body of a human. He said he wasn’t a “he” or a “she,” but told me his name was Loid. I decided to use “he” for him since he looked masculine, even with the long hair covering his head down to his tail, I tried not to judge him, when I wanted to. I also chose to not ask h

I was suddenly jerked awake by a heavy force landing on my body and seizing me up. Gasping, I sat up, only to freeze in horror.I wasn’t in my body, instead, I was staring at it. My body lay still on the ground, pale and cold and I felt my heart drop in fear. What… what is happening?I reached out, trying to touch myself but my hand passed right through. There was no feeling and I couldn’t even hold my body. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I tried over and over again, stil nothing came out. Panicking, I turned my head, searching. “Varek?” I tried to say. But again, no sound came from my mouth.He was still fighting with the horned monster and it was pushing him back, winning but Varek was still giving it everything he had.I ran toward him, desperate to grab him and also get his attention but my hands couldn’t touch him either. They slipped right through his fur like mist.I was losing it. What exactly was going on? Was I… dead?“No,” I whispered, tears blurrin

Varek didn’t say a word to me after that. Even when I asked him why I needed to keep my clothes on, he ignored me.So, we just walked and walked on and the heat was gone now, completely gone. In its place was a bone-deep cold that stole the air from my lungs. Every step drained what little strength I had left. My teeth chattered uncontrollably, and I couldn’t even feel my fingers anymore. I regretted ever complaining about the heat. I would take that over this in a heartbeat.It wasn’t snowing. It wasn’t raining. But the cold, God, the cold felt like we had been dropped straight into Antarctica. I hadn’t been there, but I imagined this was what it felt like.I blew warm air into my hands, rubbing them together in a useless attempt to stay warm. It didn’t help.Shifters aren’t supposed to feel cold like this. We can usually handle extreme weather better than humans, especially the cold. But this… this wasn’t normal and if I was freezing, then that meant it was something far worse.I pu

I burst into laughter, not just a soft chuckle but a loud, full-belly kind of laugh that shook my whole body. I bent over, clutching my waist to stop myself from falling to the ground. My eyes stung from the tears forming at the corners, and I could barely breathe.“A witch?” I wheezed in between gasps. “Did you just say we’re going to see a witch? Is this some kind of joke? Because if it is, it’s so funny!”Varek didn’t even flinch. He just stood there, arms crossed, staring at me like I had completely lost my mind. “You don’t believe witches exist?”“Everyone knows they don’t!” I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “Witches are extinct. They were wiped out years ago, every last one of them.”“Not all of them,” he said quietly, tilting his head slightly. “You don’t know half of what goes on beyond your little realm and I don’t blame you. It’s your kind’s fault they’re nearly extinct. Power-hungry, always killing anything you don’t understand, even those that aren’t threats.”“H

“Enough!” I snapped, my voice echoing off the stone walls. “Enough of you saying this has something to do with me! I don’t know what’s going on! I never called for you. I have no idea why our wolves share the same fur color, so can you just drop it already?”My hands clenched at my sides. “What’s your obsession with making a fuss over nothing? Yes, fine, you helped me and I thanked you. The next logical step is for you to let me go my own way, and you go yours.”“You can’t!” Varek’s voice boomed, fierce and deep. “Destiny has tied us together, and our fates have aligned!”I froze. “What?” I whispered, eyes wide. “What did you just say?”But instead of answering, he cursed under his breath and ran a frustrated hand through his thick hair.“I don’t understand any of this,” he muttered. “And for the first time in my life, I’m completely confused and it all started the moment you entered the picture.”He took a breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly.“I’m trying to find out what thi