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
"I'm really sorry I can't honor... this." Alpha Rowan finally turned to face Adriana, who looked up at him with sad eyes. "But I have to think of my pack, and I'm really not ready for a commitment like this..." His eyes drifted away from her, looking over her shoulder. She knew this was coming, and yet it still hit her like a tidal wave of pain. How could her heart be shattering when she only knew his man for a few hours? And was this even a formal rejection? She wasn't sure if those words had to be uttered explicitly, or how all of this worked. All she knew was that Alpha Rowan was confirming everything the Turnbulls always told her. That she wasn't worthy of love, and that she'd never deserved anything better than what she already had. Which was nothing. "No," Adriana said suddenly, backing away from Alpha Rowan. He cocked his head to the side, looking at her quizzically. "I... I have to go," she quickly added, running past him and heading towards the Turnbulls' house. "Adr
Rowan drifted in and out of sleep for a long time, not quite understanding whether he was dreaming or awake. He heard cloth flapping with the wind, and he felt the chilly current brush his face. Then he felt something soft underneath him, and he willed his head to go back to sleep. He was too tired and drowsy to open his eyes. In what seemed like just a few seconds later, his mind conjured up an image of the last thing he had seen when he was awake. Her. Adriana. Her blue eyes looking back at him in the middle of that chaotic scene where a tree had caught fire, and they fended off the attacks of those strange wolves... He felt an aching need to see her, to know if she was all right, and as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over his face, he opened his eyes. "What happened?" Alpha Rowan hurt everywhere. Especially his ribs. They throbbed whenever he breathed. The first person he saw was Lucien, also looking battered up, sitting next to him in what looked to be a hospital