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50. Of Curses and Legends
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Aline's Choice 51. No Backing Down
-Jian- I sit on a log watching Stefan’s blond head as he carefully dusts off something that looks like a wooden box. He sets it aside with patience I do not possess. He does not open it, but moves instead, to pick up another artifact and clean it. It's unnerving to watch how exacting his movements are, almost loving, even reverent. "Jian, did you know your name means 'to see?'" Stefan's tone is casual and conversational. I look at him as he bows over whatever he holds in his hand. "What? Did you find that in one of my ancestor's artifacts that you pulled out of the ground?" Stefan lets out an appreciative little laugh at the annoyance in my voice. His eyes still focus downward as he carefully removes dirt from a crevice in yet another wooden box. "No. I looked it up on the internet." I stare at him open-mouthed. "You're cyber-stalking me?" "What?! No!" His gaze whips up to meet mine. Then he smiles and he's even more good-looking than before. The si
Aline's Choice 52. Chocolates Do Not Suck
-Aline-{Valentine's Day Eve} I've decided I'm a moron, believing that a singular thought would make him, the spitting image of Chris Hemsworth, magically appear in my room, or, at the very least, at my front door. I'm a blithering idiot. But not as big an idiot as Jian, though, so that’s some consolation. Ugh! I slap my palm to my forehead and shake my head. Hell, I don't even know if Stefan's in the same time zone, never mind whether he's next door with Felicia right now! I finish my internal self-condescension and finally shower, change, and put my hair up. I'm pleased to discover my mane is now long enough to put up again. Clean, and no longer feeling maudlin, I pad barefoot into the living room. I think about making tea. I squinch my face. I hate tea. Since Lance’s wedding, though, I've been drinking tea. Drowning myself in it, really. Someone at school told me that it would be soothing. It is. Soothing, I mean. But it tastes like flowers. And right n
Aline's Choice 1. Ache
-Aline- Under the cover of the trees that mark the perimeter of Golden Gate Park's Polo Fields, I watch the pack converge over Talu’s broken body. I’m too far away and I can't make out her face, but I know among them is Mei, the girl who has a thing for that vampire who says he’s not out to suck people’s blood. I grimace with disgust, knowing Talu believes she’s his soulmate. I despise the word soulmate and hope I never find mine. The sound of Mei’s weeping carries on the night wind, touching my sensitive ear. It is the sound of ultimate heartbreak and I wonder at that. My own shattered heart unwittingly reaches out to the girl as she climbs into the truck to hold an unconscious Talu. I wonder absently why Mei isn’t following our mortal enemies to their hideaway near the cliffs overlooking the ocean, leaving us to lick our wounds. God, Talu must be in terrible shape if Mei isn’t following her vampire lover home. She should be with him and his merry band of bloodsuckers gloating abou
Aline's Choice 2. A Little Bit of Tenderness
-Aline-Jian cuts the engine when we pull into my driveway in San Francisco’s Lake District. My yard abuts the Presidio, a national park with forests and miles of trails, devoid of humans in the dead of night and the early morning. I recently discovered this fun fact when I turned into a werewolf, with a sudden desire to hunt and the relentless urge to sprint from one end of the city to the other.As with most nights, there are no lights on at home. My mom must be out playing mahjong with my aunties again. I am disappointed, even resentful, that she rarely thinks to wait for me like normal mothers would if their teenage girls were out past curfew. She could have at least left a light on. I pull off the borrowed helmet, frowning as I shake my head to loosen my hair since it feels plastered to my head. Like silk, it falls against the back of my neck. I reach up to push a lock over my ear.Jian holds out his hand. I assume he's asking me for the helm
Aline's Choice 3. Retail Therapy
-Aline-I avoided taking my werewolf form for almost two and a half weeks because I don't want the guys to read my mind. Fortunately, the next full moon that will compel the pack back to the polo fields won’t happen for another week. Also, I’m learning to manage my anger so I don’t unexpectedly shift. I just haven’t figured out how to shield my thoughts from the pack when I am in wolf form. I desperately want my moment of weakness with Jian to stay a secret. He's probably unintentionally revealed it to everyone by now, though. The thought of that rankles. I'm hoping the guys won't believe I had a breakdown. Instead, I hope they discard Jian's thoughts to the pile of his other wannabe hero fantasies where I star as the damsel-in-distress.As if, I snort to myself.I'm lying on my back, on my queen-sized bed. My thumb repeatedly slides against the smartphone’s screen as I absorb the good news that Will, my brother, just deliv
Aline's Choice 4. Hell or Glory
-Jian- I relish the reverberating slam of the door behind me. The doorframe shakes but is still in one piece. Though I'm thoroughly annoyed that it didn't splinter, I am thankful I don't have to explain my extraordinary strength to my already suspicious mother. After I shut the car door without saying goodbye to Aline, I felt the weight of her gaze on my back as I climbed the steps into my house and out of her sight. I'm selfish enough to admit that I wanted her to stop me, just like she did the other night when she allowed me to witness her vulnerability. It pleases me more than it should that she picked me out of the entire pack to comfort her when she was so exposed. It couldn't have been easy for her. That's the thing of it. She’d asked me to stay once before. Why didn't she do the same t
Aline's Choice 5. Lightening the Load
-Aline- Somewhere between Jian's place and mine, I decided that if I have to live the life of a wolf, I will not run around like a shaggy dog. So, I took a quick detour to my new, as of today, very talented hairdresser. To her surprise and admittedly mine, I marched right into the salon with my waist-length, straight black hair to demand she just cut it all off. She left me with just-barely-touching-my-shoulder-length hair. With the bulky weight of my mane on the salon floor, I feel a lighter load on my shoulders. I roll down the driver-side window, wondering why I hadn't just cut it off months ago. My lips scrunch, knowing full well why I hadn't cut it. Lance liked my hair long. I tried to preserve other things, too, I realize, hoping he'd come back to me. The hope died in August on the night of the full moon. Compelled to rush outside, I followed the internal call to go to the polo fields. I phased when I stepped under the closest grove of trees in the Presidio. Even though it wa
Aline's Choice 6. Splintering
-Aline- I wince and continue making my way to Talu's room. As I stride past the human girl, Mei frowns when I don’t ask for help to find Talu’s room. It's amusing but irritating since I pretty much grew up in the Wu house. Why is she in Talu’s house, anyway? Shouldn’t she be playing house with her vampire? My lips curl in disdain. She steps into Talu’s room behind me, wearing a medical-grade mask she hadn’t worn when she let me into the house. Talu gives her an approving smile while sending a superior look my way. I'm annoyed and wish the girl gone. I am angrier at Talu and his supreme smugness. He looks too much like Lance and not the happy-go-lucky guy who played Hide-and-Go-Seek with me when we were kids. "Knock it off, Talu," I grumble, fishing out my KN-95 from my purse. I put it on, grateful for something to hide behind. “I came to apologize, with a peace offering.” From my fingertip, tied together at the laces, dangle his new d
Latest chapter
- Aline's Choice 52. Chocolates Do Not Suck
- Aline's Choice 51. No Backing Down
- Aline's Choice 50. Of Curses and Legends
- Aline's Choice 49. Werewolf Puberty
- Aline's Choice 48. Lessons On Love
- Aline's Choice 47. Something to Consider
- Aline's Choice 46. The Other Guy
- Aline's Choice 45. Mother Knows Best
- Aline's Choice 44. Unexpected Comfort
