VALERIA
Old wounds were opened yesterday by Marcello's cousin, that boy. He said things that made me relive moments that I just wanted to forget so badly. Not only that, he offered me a chance for vengeance, I was scared but I took it. Those people that took my parents from me, I had a chance to get back at them, to make them feel what my eleven year old self felt. The despair, sadness, and anger, I was going to inflict it on them in double fold. "I advise not to take inspiration from the thirst for vengeance." A voice, low and calming, spoke from behind me. I recognized it from that vision I had in the woods, it belonged to Selene. I looked back and she still looked just as beautiful as the last time I saw her. Her soft smile was inviting, but there was still a part of me that believed that she was still just a figment of my imagination. "What are you talking about?" I asked despite my doubts. "TVALERIA We were moving again. This was proving to be no different than my rogue life. Heck, I may have even been better off as a rogue. At least, no big black wolf was after my life then. Everything I owned fit in the backpack that I had on as I was miserably trailing behind Alan and the rest. Every day, I thought about giving up on this mission, but I would be a coward to back out of an opportunity to avenge my parents' deaths. "We're almost there." Alan announced. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. He had been saying that at intervals for almost an hour now. Veronica was already panting and she was barely hanging on. This was not her thing at all and I felt sorry for the poor girl. At sixteen, she had already been through a lot of unspeakable things. She was another reason that I had to go through with this plan. "Are we actually almost there this time?" Veronica asked between short breaths. "Yes." Alan responded. "Just about a hundred meters more." "Thank the goddess.
VALERIA When I heard the loud, angry, growl behind me, I did expect to turn and see the giant silver wolf that was standing behind me. It was only by his eyes that I knew it was him. Marcello. But I was still terrified. Even though, somehow, I knew that he would not hurt me. I ran away from them, him and that big, black, wolf. And when I turned back again, they were already biting and clawing at each other. I looked away from the gory scene and closed my eyes. My hands were already trembling, I had never been so scared in my life.Someone grabbed my hand from behind but before I could scream, I saw Alan as soon as I opened my eyes. Veronica was the one holding my hand. I let out a shaky breath as my nerves relaxed, even though I could still hear Marcello's growls as he was fighting that wolf."Shit." I heard Alan curse under his breath as he watched the fight. "You guys need to head back to the cabin. Don't stop until you get there." "What? No." Veronica argued. "We can'y just lea
ALAN My heart raced as I stared at the piece of paper. Who in the world could have left it here? And who did they want to find it? Was it possible that it was meant for all of us at the same time? I crumpled the paper and stuffed it in my pocket as I stood up straight. "Forget about this." I told Marcello firmly. "We have bigger fish to fry right now." "What if it is more important than we think?" He countered. "We cannot just dismiss it like that." "If whoever it is is not bold enough to show their face then we should not be thinking of them." I faced him. "Veronica and Valeria are already worried enough as it is, we do not need to add irrelevant things like this to their troubles." I really wished that I actually believed that the piece of paper was irrelevant. Deep down, I knew that it meant danger. And it was even worse that I had no idea who wrote its content. We walked back to the cabin in silence, both of us choosing not to speak our minds. As soon as we entered, i
MARCELLO "You felt someone watching you?" Alan stared at Valeria in confusion. "Yes. I know for a fact that someone was there, even though I did not see them." Valeria responded, confident as ever. "How—" "It's the amulet." Veronica cut Alan off. "It's heightening her powers. She's getting more sensitive to the slightest things." "So someone was actually there?" I spoke this time. "Who could it be?" "Bran?" Alan suggested. "No, I doubt that." I shook my head. "He would have challenged me then and there. It's not his way to play hide and seek." "Then who? One of your father's guards?" Veronica was looking worried. "What if they followed you here? What if they've sent for more men to come here and apprehend us." "Calm down, Veronica." I sighed. "It's possible that it's one of his guards, yes. But I doubt that they could follow us here. None of them can match neither me nor Valeria's speed." "O—okay, that's good." "Why were you guys at the river in the first place
VALERIA "The ambassador has managed to convince the minister of defense— who happens to be his brother— to join in on our mission." Alan was pacing to fro as he spoke. "He has asked for two more days to get the Alpha's advisor on board. If that's successful, I think we'll be good to go." "Wouldn't the involvement of the advisor be risky?" Veronica asked. "What if he declines and says something to the Alpha?" "He won't." Alan seemed so confident about that for some reason. "Believe me, most of those people in powerful positions would jump at this opportunity to take down the Alpha because he has done despicable things to just about everyone in this pack." "Well, that's one valid explanation." Veronica shrugged and sat down beside me. "So what do we do while we wait?" I tuned out of the conversation when Alan started talking about gathering as much information as we could. What was really bothering me was the dreams I had been having for the last couple of days. In those dream
MARCELLO Alan made me go along with him to see who he called the ambassador of our pack. Now, I had never heard of this person before, and unlike the other people Alan was trying to gather, this person was not an omega, he was a gamma. Alan explained that this person was a good friend of his father and he also thought that my presence would do something to persuade him into helping us. The ambassador's home was in the valleys near the borders on the other side of town so it took a while to get there. The building was modest, as opposed to the houses of some other gamma nobles that I had seen before. The guard at the entrance let us through the gates once I spoke to him. And immediately we stepped in, the ambassador was standing in front of his building, almost like he was already waiting for Alan, but he looked a little bit surprised to see me. As soon as we were within earshot, he asked Alan, "Why have you brought the Alpha's son here?" "To show you that I was serious a