Barely holding back a sigh, Thalia brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She had to pay strict attention to where she was going because the entire packhouse was built like a weird crisscrossing maze. Worst of all was Carter's office; as the Alpha of the pack, his office was situated in the center. One wrong turn and Thalia might end up somewhere she didn't intend to go to, not that she wasn't willing.
Not one person looked worried about her well-being when she walked out of the room, except for Kim. In fact, if anything, their icy glares seemed to be burning in her back from their dislike. They couldn't believe that she had just put Scarlet in her place where she belonged. Well, great, she wasn't up for bonding with her bullies either.
"Thalia -" Kim rushed past the kitchen counter, ignoring the groaning Scarlet as Mercy helped her up from the ground. Scarlet was handed a tissue to wipe the blood off of her face, "You don't have to. I will talk
Thalia waited for Carter to say something, but she awkwardly raised her hand when he didn't. "If we are done, then maybe I should just... you know, leave?" she said, pointing to the door of his office."You seem to be in a hurry?" Carter replied as he narrowed his eyes. He looked at her. It almost felt like he looked through her, his dark gaze focussed on her, "Do you have a prior engagement or something? Why are you rushing to leave?""Well... uh, yes I do. I have a prior engagement, and I do need to be there soon," Thalia had arranged to go to the shifters club Essence with Kim. Those passes were only valid for this weekend. But she didn't have any pretty dresses to wear to the club. Kim had suggested going shopping and then going to a movie or something before they headed to the club. Of course, their plans couldn't be finalized because Scarlet jumped the gun and jumped Thalia, causing the current mess she was dealing with.
"Hello?" Thalia didn't know where she was. It was dark, too dark for her to even see what was next to her. She could feel her skin prickling with unease. She hated darkness, not because it completely blinded her but because she was unconsciously afraid of what was hiding in it. Her eyesight was greatly diminished because of the curse. She was almost reduced to being like a helpless human with only the additional defenses of her swift and agile movements together with her sharp claws."Where am I?" she asked to no one in particular. What was she doing before coming here? Thalia tried to remember any details before this sudden darkness engulfed her, but nothing came to her mind. She tried to step out of the dark corner that she felt she was cornered in. Thalia felt that she was hiding but had no idea why or what she was hiding. She walked away from her hiding corner, but almost involuntarily, she started to walk in a particular direction.Now
Thalia walked inside the bathroom and took a quick shower. She winced silently as she applied the ointment on her bleeding curse marks and cursed as sharp stabs of pain shot through her skin. It was such a hassle. After she had finished applying the medicine, she lay back down on her bed, but sleep didn't come to her. Every time she closed her eyes, her breathing quickened, and she felt herself struggling like she was drowning.Frustrated, she sat up and picked up the canvas that Jonathan gave her, then she took out her paintbrushes and oil paints that she always kept in her traveling bag.As the Grateful song by NEFFEX played on her phone, Thalia picked up her brush and started drawing. Since her mind was restless, she might as well divert the attention to somewhere else; her brush flew across the canvas. By the time Thalia put her brush down to stretch her hand, she couldn't help but wince again. Her hand was starting to go numb after work
Alpha Carter 33"Cute, isn't he?" Said Kim. She furtively shot a look to a guy who smelled of pine, wet forest ground, musk, and wolf that was five feet away from them as they waited for their burgers and French fries. Thalia and Kim had been shopping for quite a while in the mall and were getting tired. They had decided to take a break in the fast-food area and grab something to eat. "Smells pretty good too.""If you like him so much, you can just go and have a chat with him, you know?" said Thalia drumming her fingers on the surface of the white plastic table. She would have fancied the cute guy a little more if he didn't stare at her like she was a fly stuck to a cake. Yes, she did have ugly inscriptions on her body, but there was no need for those disgusted glances he shot in her direction."Not my cup of tea," said Kim. As she muttered a quick thank you when the waitress returned with their orders. "I don't like guy
Adrenaline rushed through Thalia. She wanted to get up, but her mind was disoriented from the pain surging through her. Her vision was clouded from the hazy clouds of smoke. Sheer agony was the only thing that was keeping her conscious. Thalia could feel her rationality slipping as the pain overwhelmed her. She knew she had to stand up and look for Kim.Thalia got onto her hands and knees, gritting her teeth through the pain. She pushed herself up onto her knees to see what was happening around her. The parking lot was burning. Her vision kept lagging like an old television. One moment it was a horrendous sight of the parking lot burning, and the next, all she could see was smoke and haze.Thalia suppressed the nausea surging up her throat as she swallowed the blood filling her mouth due to her injuries. There had to be some internal bleed
"I'm asking you for the last time. Step out of my way Jake," Carter could feel the last string of his patience that was holding on to his rationality starting to snap. He could just barge past Jake to get inside the infirmary and check on Thalia himself, but Jake didn't budge in the slightest. Every time Carter tried to step past him, Jake would intercept him. He felt the overwhelming urge to just punch that pretty face and make it worthy of a mugshot."You cannot go inside, Carter," was all Jake said. Standing in front of the infirmary door like a fucking guard dog. "Alice is checking Thalia, and she isn't a healer. Which means that her treatment involves needles and stitches. Do you really want to see that? Can you handle seeing that?" When Carter opened his mouth, Jake interrupted him, "You know what, I didn't ask. It is better not to answer that. I know what you will say. What I meant to ask is, can you take it? Right now, Thalia's skin is being pierced and
Alex winced when Carter glared at him. He pulled away his hand changed the topic, "I didn't think that Marcus would bomb someone," and neither could Carter. He knew that Marcus would try to do something sooner or later. A shifter who lost his pride wouldn't sit still for long. But he never thought that bombs would be involved in their struggle. A shifter wins his pride by claws and fangs - not by guns and bombs.Using bombs was cowardly.Jake crossed his arms in front of himself and finished smoothing his crumpled clothes. "I thought that he was crazy, but I never thought he was this crazy. It's an outright provocation, trying to harm our packmates. Submissive or not, the two of them belong to our pack. Whether to protect or abandon, we are the ones who make decisions for them.""All because he can't use his own strength to get what he wants, he acts out like a feckless child," sneered Carter with a smile. He was strivin
Silence. Then Kim hesitantly spoke, breaking the awkwardness around the two of them, "She foresaw the explosion. I am fairly sure that she did."Carter, who was staring point blankly at Thalia, finally turned to look at Kim. His demeanor was lazy as always, but it was a sharp contrast to the sharp glint in his eyes a few moments ago. "Foresaw? Wasn't her powers sealed, so how can she see the future?""I don't know. I'm just telling you what I saw. One second, Thalia was fine standing next to me, and then the next, her marks started to bleed. Not like they usually do, the blood was dark, almost black, like poison, and I think it was some sort of backlash because she can't use her powers. Her eyes turned glassy, and she was bleeding so much that she scared the shit out of me. I tried to call her, but she didn't respond and then -" Kim swallowed hard. "and then she turned to look at me like she had seen a ghost or something. Once