Water filled Adria's nostrils as she realized she was going to die. Something dragged her to the bottom, and no matter how hard she tried to push her body to the surface, the current and the weight pulling her down were too strong. Her desperation turned into resignation with one last try to float back to the surface. So short. The happy moments she'd had in her brief time with Rowan had been so, so short. Why was the Moon Goddess so unfair? She had given her so much just to take it away so quickly. Back in Black Moon pack, there was an old lady who planted strawberries at the edge of the village, and sold them to the Turnbulls every once in a while. Her husband drove her in a motorcycle with an attached cart, and he beamed with pride at his wife when she stepped off with her baskets of strawberries. Adria had always envied them. The simplicity of their life, how they didn't seem to need anything else but each other to be happy. How the husband took care of her and helped h
The rain kept pouring down on them, but through an opening in the sky, the enormous bright moon shone down on the clearing. The two drenched men slowly turned their heads towards the growling wolf. "Alpha Rowan!" one cried out, stumbling back and falling onto the mud. "No..." the man named Flint said, his eyes widening at the sight of Adria. The wolf wasn't a danger. But those two men... They were the ones who had thrown her into the water. A quick blur of images swept through her mind, reliving the torture they put her through. Adria sprinted toward Flint and the man barely had a second to try to hide behind the car, slipping in the muddy soil and falling face-down to the ground. With a strength she never knew she could possess she picked up the man by the collar of his damp shirt and threw him backward, sending him flying towards the forest. "Alpha Rowan! Stop her! She's a monster," the man behind her cried out, as she slowly walked towards Flint, who lay on the ground tryi
ROWAN Three weeks. It had been twenty-two days since the incident, and Adria showed no signs of waking up soon. For Rowan, it was as if time had stopped: nothing he did mattered more than staying by Adria's side in case she opened her eyes. "All we can do is wait," the head doctor said for the thousandth time, leaving Rowan alone. He had all but moved into the hospital, arranging for Adria to be moved to the biggest room. Taking her to his house would have been more convenient, but he couldn't make the head doctor be there 24/7, and he didn't want a nurse or another doctor to be the only one close to her in case she woke up. At first, so many people had come in to check on them daily. Marla, Cora, Lucien. His mother was the only one who kept coming to spend time with him and the sleeping Adria. Rowan knew she was worried not only about his mental health but his body, too. A quick glance in a mirror showed him he looked disheveled and thinner than he'd ever been. There was ju
Adriana knew today would not be a good day even before she opened her eyes. This was her third day of being locked up in the basement as punishment for allowing Rhonda to get drunk while her parents were away. Alpha Darien had come home to see his daughter trashed with her friends, and of course, had blamed it on Adriana for not taking care of her. Rhonda's punishment: four days without Adriana to do her bidding. Adriana, in turn, got locked up in the basement with nothing but water and bread for the same amount of time. The truth was Adriana was almost enjoying it. The chilly dampness in the basement made her arm hurt in the place where Alpha Darien had twisted it, but it was slowly healing, and despite the mold and dust and the hard floor on which she slept, at least she was safe. Normally, not a day went by without Rhonda slapping her, pinching her arm, or twisting one of her fingers. She looked down at the bluish spot near her thumb; it still hurt, but it was almost healed as
Alpha Rowan bent down to pick up the contact lenses case, and Adriana realized that it was him who smelled so divine. It had to be his perfume or the fabric softener they used on his clothes. For a very brief second, she thought this was what it'd be like to meet your fated match. They'd smell divine, and one would immediately know that they were the one. But the fleeting moment went away just as fast. That couldn't be the case. Adriana was a lowly servant who had grown up as Alpha Darien's maid after he killed her traitorous parents for trying to usurp his leadership. She was no one, and this man was the Alpha of a pack. "I'm... I'm so sorry," she said, feeling Rhonda's hateful look on her. When Alpha Rowan stood, he fixed his greyish-blue eyes on Adriana, looking at her quizzically. "She can be so clumsy!" Rhonda said, snatching the case from Rowan's hand and pushing a stupefied Adriana away. "You can go upstairs." Adriana turned, wanting nothing else but to run away and hi
"It's you," Alpha Rowan said slowly, his head bobbing from left to right. "I... This... No way." Now that it was just the two of them in a rather small place, Adriana was able to take in all of him, not just his face. Every muscle of his body looked to be chiseled out of marble, visible through his jeans and white shirt. Adriana kept looking at him with horror, thinking that the stench of her body must be so strong that maybe he thought that staying in the guesthouse—even if a skunk had peed in there—was better than staying here. "I'm sorry Alpha Rowan," Adriana said, standing and heading towards her bed. There was really nowhere she could go to get away from him. "You haven't noticed anything strange about me?" he said after a few seconds of observing her, his eyes traveling up and down her body. "I'm not sure what you mean," Adriana replied. Other than the fact he smelled divine, he looked like a normal person. Well, not normal. He was the most handsome man she had ever see
Rhonda came back upstairs a little while after Alpha Rowan had left, humming to herself. Adriana could hear her all the way in her room until her door abruptly opened. "Come. I have to get ready," she said without even looking at Adriana. "And bring my dress." Thankfully, the dress Rhonda was referring to was already hung and steam-ironed thanks to Adriana's forward thinking. She followed Rhonda into her bedroom, set the dress on the bed, and joined her in the enormous bathroom she also used as a boudoir. "Don't think I will forget about how stupid you were earlier." Rhonda began to open and close the drawers and cabinets. "But right now, I have to get ready. Wash your dirty hands." For tonight, Rhonda wanted something fancy but messy. Only Adriana knew exactly what she meant: something that made her look elegant, but at the same time, not make it seem like she was trying so hard. Rhonda wasn't ugly by any means, but she was so selfish and cruel that Adriana pitied whoever her fa
It had been a while since Adriana was outside, and the crisp, cool night air that brushed her skin put a smile on her face. Pretty soon she would never have to spend another day locked up in a mossy, dank-smelling basement. Maybe she was also smiling because Lucien had said she was beautiful, though perhaps he was just being kind. She had to admit that Alpha Rowan's quick dismissal of his comment stung a little, though what else did she expect? Maybe it was the thrill of knowing this was her last night here or the fact that she was finally out in the open air, but this was very unlike her. Since when did she care what people said of her? She was so used to being demeaned and insulted that she had grown very thick skin. It shouldn't matter to her what Alpha Rowan thought of her. After she hid the pack behind some rose bushes, covering it with dirty clothes in case someone happened to look there for whatever reason, she headed towards the event center where the ball was taking plac