FREDERICK’S POV:I stood outside, thinking about everything that happened to me, all the regressions, the people we lost. I’ve grown numb to all the deaths. As long as Adolphus was alive, there was always a chance to change the outcome.My final role was to kill him. For the regression to happen, he had to die after her.Now, whether we wanted it or not, things would never be the same. I would go back to the kid I was and Adolphus would go back to his old self too. To be honest, I was always jealous of how he had a choice in remembering or not.He got out of the underground cell built specifically for today.“You certainly put so much into this,” he said.“Of course. But this is where our role stops. No matter how much we want to influence things with our current memories, it won’t ever happen. We won’t remember anything.”“It’s true. But this is the price we have to pay if we want it to work. We only need to someone to warn them. They will do the rest. If it doesn’t work again, then
EBONY’S POV:I opened my eyes early in the morning. I drank my milk and sat with my parents having breakfast. They laughed together and nothing reminded me of these moments. I have been waiting for my father’s heart attack for two weeks now and it didn’t happen.I checked my tattoo mark and it was there, just faint and impossible to notice.“Sweetie, do you want more milk? You’ve been sipping on your glass while it’s empty,” my mother said.Mom had long black hair and the palest, bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. They weren’t the normal typical blue. They were lighter and paler, as if they were diluted by white and became as blue as the sky early in the morning when the sun had finally settled in place.“Yes, mom.”And I was five.I couldn’t believe that it worked. My father was sitting there, wearing glasses and reading his early morning newspapers. Our house was small and it was full of magical artifacts. Maybe because I was five, I didn’t remember them. Or maybe because a lot happened af
Rayleigh laughed.“I am being serious here,” I pouted. “Grandpa left me with you because I requested so. I want to talk to you alone. It’s sad that Chronos isn’t around anymore but I think it’s for the better. Now, no one has to take meaningless responsibilities. I guess without them, everything will be peaceful.”“How do you know…?”I cut him off. “C’mon! You’re a smart man. You know there is no way a five years old child will talk like this. I’ve lived through two regressions and I’ve come back again as part of the plan, only this time, this is the final phase. We can’t lose.”“Ah! What happened? Why did Chronos disappear?”“My father was supposed to be the sacrifice. I don’t know why but unlike all the other Chronos sent, I am the only one who got to regress more than a decade. That’s why they left the burden to me. Since my father is still alive, I assume that Chronos took the hardest decision in his life. He chose to die and take the others with him. I don’t know if I should feel
I swallowed my pills and returned to work as I intended to do. There were still a lot of things to do and I was waiting for Frederick’s Beta to come and discuss the rest of the project with me. I must see it through to not make the same mistake.“Aren’t you tired from all that work?” Nialliv asked, eating a basket of grapes. I always wondered how she could eat a lot and not gain weight, and here I was, trying to keep my body in a perfect shape to not humiliate Frederick and stay beautiful. “Isn’t your birthday tomorrow? You should take a day off and enjoy it.”“My birthday isn’t important,” I smiled. “The pack comes first. Frederick always prioritises the well-being of the pack first. I don’t want to fall behind.”“You love him a lot, don’t you?” she chuckled. “You’re too devoted.”“Frederick gave me a life when no one did. It’s only normal for me to repay him.”“You know, I found my mate, Ebony. He already marked me.”I smiled. I was happy for her. If she found her mate, she wouldn’t
“Ebony,” he called my name, shaking me more. I didn’t want to wake up. There was only a nightmare outside. “Wake up. We need to talk.”It should be fine as long as I close my eyes. No one would know that I knew what they did behind my back. I would escape and live with my child, away from all this.I am tired. Exhausted. I don’t even find the energy to be angry.“Frederick, I’m sorry. There is too much work to sleep. It seems I drifted off,” I smiled. “I want to finish all these quickly so I can be free on Nialliv’s birthday. I don’t want to miss it. She is my best friend.”I stood up and went to my desk, skimming through the paperwork, as if looking for a specific document. As long as I didn’t allow him to talk, he’d let it go. I didn’t want to listen to what he had to say.He is here to tell me about Nialliv.“It’s not important now. We need to talk first. There is something important I want to tell you,” he moved behind me, massaging my shoulders like a dutiful man. I trembled desp
He had his ways with me the last few days. He left me bruised and feeling so sick. His touch disgusted me, especially when he was doing it with his cruel expression. A punishment for me. Now, it was Nialliv’s birthday.I tried to leave a few times but I was caught. Frederick didn’t allow me to leave at all. We argued about it a few times and he turned into the complete opposite of the man I fell in love with.I shouldn’t have come to the party. Everyone attended. The Alphas from the same region and their Lunas, the Betas, the Gammas. The party was full of important people and I was the only one standing alone, near the buffet.I picked up cupcakes and forced myself to eat them. Frederick was with her. He was standing with his hands all over her, dancing. I had no choice but to fill my heart with horror and tears. The only thing I was waiting for, the end of the party when we could leave. If I had a wolf, I could have shifted and returned home.Humiliation filled me as everyone gossipe
“Stop crying. You’re hurting my ears.”Someone said at the opposite cell, right in front of me. Everything was dark. The moonlight didn’t reach these parts. I got up from the ground and got closer to the bars. It has been two days since I’d been thrown into this place.“I am not crying. If you don’t want to listen, close your ears or get used to it.”“What did you do?” his voice struggled to appear soft.I swallowed. “I was naïve, stupid and too trusting,” I wetted my lips. I didn’t have water for a day now. Thirst ripped me, hunger as well. “I don’t know what they will do to me. Will they kill me? Will he keep using me? What will happen to his child?”“You’re with child. Such an unfortunate one you are but you deserve it.”“No, I don’t deserve it,” I yelled.“Look at me and tell me you don’t. I will rip you apart woman. If you were next to me, I would have killed you. Because of you, I am stuck here.”The man got closer to the bars as well. There was one torch lighting us. As his fac
My hand was on my belly as I hummed the song I used to sing to my child when he was inside me. It was a lullaby my mother used to sing for me.“I couldn’t even hold my child properly,” I whispered. “I am sorry.”“Apologies don’t fix anything.”“Yeah! It’s my karma. I deserve it for everything I did. I swear…” I murmured. “I swear I didn’t know Frederick was the one who started the war between the five packs. To be honest, I never cared for anyone but him. Can you blame me?”He didn’t answer.“No one ever treated me well. I tried to not hurt anyone but back then, when I thought Frederick could be killed, I gave it my best,” I sighed. “I miss the sky. What do you think he’ll do to me now?”“He’ll execute you. He has no use of you. There were a few werewolves here but they were all executed once they weren’t useful.”“If only he killed me when she tossed the corpse of my child next to me. The worst is suffering with everything I knew all at once. Betrayal, being used like a pawn all this