Adriana didn't know when dinner time was supposed to be, so she quickly bathed in the luxurious bathroom attached to the room she was in. Just like the rest of the place, it gave off airs that it had been built for another era, with its gold accents and huge clubfoot tub.
In just a few hours, she had experienced more comfort than she ever had in her eighteen years living with the Turnbulls.
When she was done, she chose a dress from the closet, picking a red and black dress with short sleeves. The more time she spent browsing the clothes, the more she realized that everything that she had ever worn had been hand-me-downs from Rhonda, or things she rescued from the trashcan when Rhonda was done using it.
Just as she was brushing her damp hair, someone knocked on the door.
Rowan left the tent and went to check up on a few of his omegas who had been a part of the battle. His body was still stiff and sore in the places where he had been wounded, but he was well enough to move. Once he had a better picture of how his pack was doing, Rowan headed towards the main house. When he reached the path that led to the Turnbulls' house, he couldn't help but remember how he had led Adriana back here, and how surprised he had been at her reluctance to let him speak. Even if she never forgave him and didn't want anything to do with him afterward, he needed to tell her how sorry he was. The yard around the house was mostly cleaned up, save for a stack of burnt wood near the edge of the forest. Two omegas flanked the entrance to the house, and they eyed Rowan with suspicion as he walked up to them. "I'm here to see Alpha Darien," he said and continued to head towards the door. "Who are you?" One omega stepped aside and blocked Rowan's path. He was about to push Ro
What the hell had happened last night? Adriana woke up with a headache, still in the clothes she had worn to dinner. Had the wine really messed her up so much? One thing was very clear: she was going to have to smarten up. Back at the Turnbulls, they were her biggest threat. Now that she was on her own, in a way, she was going to have to be very careful with what she did. Flashbacks of her conversation with Alaric ran through her mind as she took a bath. He seemed to be convinced she had something to do with the strange things that happened during the attack on Black Moon pack. That simply wasn't possible; never in her life had anything like that happened around her. She dressed quickly, taking out yet another dress from the closet. Some day she'd b
Rhonda cornered Rowan in the office after her father had left to investigate what had happened in the mines. He had a slight suspicion that the incident wasn't something too bad and that Peter had just wanted to get Alpha Darien out of Rowan's reach. Rhonda kept talking as Rowan thought of his next move. "And... it just can't be true. Did she say something to you? She must have tricked you!" Rowan glared at Rhonda, making her flinch. "Yes, I am sure. Now, please let me through. I need to go take care of important things." "But she isn't an Alpha's daughter! That's not how it's supposed to work." Rhonda sounded like a whining little girl, and she all but stomped her feet. "It's unfair." Luna Mona a
“Don’t be scared,” Ravenna said, gazing down at Adriana as she stood and backed away, her back against a bookcase. This couldn’t be true. Maybe she had just imagined that this woman’s teeth were sharper than normal and combined with her pale skin, she had panicked. Vampires didn’t exist, did they? But then again, humans lived under the impression that shifters didn’t exist either. “Ravenna, please.” Alaric looked like he was being held immobile with an invisible straightjacket. The veins on his neck popped up and a bead of sweat fell down his brow. “What… what is going on?” Adriana’s eyes darted back and forth between Ravenna and Alaric. “I take it A
What his mother had shown Rowan in the morgue… was something he would never be able to forget. One of the attackers from Crimson Blood had died of his wounds earlier in the day, and immediately his body had… changed. It was as if it had been drained of blood and he was all skin and bones, and the doctor who had set his time of death said it happened within minutes. Now they were on their way to Crimson Blood, and all he could think of was that Adriana was stuck with these… creatures. Whatever they were. "How far are we?" he asked for the millionth time. Jaina, who sat in the back let out a sigh. "Close. We should stop soon and assess the area before approaching their entrance. We should-" "AARGGH" A wav
Adriana had never felt so poorly in her entire life. Not even when Rhonda "accidentally" sprinkled rat poison into her food. Every muscle in her body hurt the second she stirred, realizing that she was lying on a hard, rocky surface. The sound of water rushing close by overwhelmed her ears, and she covered them, wishing she could go back to sleep. "Adriana?" said a soft voice that sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place. It was like music to her ears. Suddenly, memories flooded her brain. The bite. Ravenna carrying to the steps of the house and leaving her there as a full-on fight raged outside. Rowan. Rowan had been carrying her. She lifted her head with pain flooding her body, and there he was, sitting with his back against an enormous boulder, looking intently at her. "How are you feeling?" His voice pierced her ears. She covered them and groaned. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I don't know what happened to you... But-" His voice was too loud. It echoed through the sm
Adriana flinched with the sound and crawled further down the cave. Soon, however, she heard voices."You could have let me know it was you. I almost jumped you!" Rowan sounded furious. "How did you find us?""Us? Aren't you alone? And some of us can actually track people." It was a woman's voice.That almost scared Adriana even more than the growl, though a few seconds later, the logical side of her brain kicked in, telling her it wasn't Ravenna."What is that supposed to mean?" Rowan said. His voice was getting louder."I'm the one who should be asking questions. What on earth are you doing here? And why didn't you wait to attack? Right now, I don't know if you're stupid or suicidal. We lost people.""We were going to lose people anyway," Rowan replied, sounding very angry."Where are you going?! Come back here!" The woman kept cursing at Rowan as their footsteps grew louder, coming towards the cave.
Rowan didn't know what to make of the girl he had just brought home. She had attacked one of his wounded men in a frenzy inside the medical convoy, and he was sure everyone in the pack had heard of this by now. They wouldn't say anything to his face, of course, but they must all know that the girl their Alpha had personally rescued from Crimson Blood had tried to hurt an omega. Now Adriana lay sleeping restlessly in his bed. There were many other rooms in the house, but he didn't want to take any chances in case she attacked someone again. When he got up to bring some water for her in case she woke up, he heard her stir. "Alaric?" she mumbled, half asleep. Who the hell was this Alaric man she kept mentioning? He didn't even know the man's face, but he gathered he was responsible for hurting Adriana, and that was enough to make him want to kill him. Rowan's muscles tensed as Adriana slowly woke up and opened her eyes.&