MasukSERAH POV:I was standing at the window when the car pulled in. I almost didn't believe it at first. I leaned closer to the glass and watched the door open and when I saw who stepped out my heart jumped into my throat."Stephen."I turned and ran. I took the stairs immediately, gripping the railing on the turn, and when I hit the bottom he was already pushing through the front door and I didn't slow down at all. I ran straight into him and wrapped my arms around him and held on."You're back," I said into his chest.He laughed and his arms came around me tight."I'm back," he said.I pulled back and looked at his face and then I hit his arm."You kept me waiting," I said."I know," he said, smiling."Don't do that again," I said."Okay," he said.Then he kissed me and I stopped talking.He pulled back slightly and looked at me and then without warning he bent down and picked me up and I grabbed his shoulders as he started walking toward the stairs."Stephen," I laughed.He didn't answ
IRIS POV:The gates were already open when we pulled in. Men dressed in black were standing around the entrance of the mansion and my eyes moved past them toward the grounds and I stopped walking."What the hell," I said.Bodies were everywhere. But they weren't fresh bodies and that was the thing that made my stomach drop. They were dried. Every single one of them lying on the ground looked like they had been dead for a hundred years, their skin pulled tight over their bones, their faces sunken, their clothes were still fresh but the people inside them completely hollow.I looked at Aurelian. His jaw was tight and he kept walking forward.We moved closer and the men in black were gathered around one spot near the entrance steps where a man was sitting on the ground wrapped in a blanket, shaking so hard it was visible from a distance.One of the men in black stepped toward Aurelian."He was left alive on purpose," he said quietly. "The killer spared him to pass a message to you."Aure
IRIS POV:It's been over two days since the death of the Lycan lady and Aurelian has been in anguish.He's refused to eat anything ever since.“But why not talk to him?” Rowe suggested, looking uncertain.“He's been quiet since we left the mountain, I mean what more can I tell him?”“At least you tried,” Serah said softly.I stood up from the couch, walking towards the stairs.Standing behind the door, I placed my palm on it before moving to the handle slowly.But suddenly, the sound of a ringing phone came from behind the door.I pressed my ear against the door, trying to hear.“Yes, it's me,” Aurelian's voice came from behind the door, filled with grief.I tried to hear what the person on the phone was saying but the voice wasn't audible.Suddenly, Aurelian’s voice thundered from behind the door.“What the fuck do you mean by that?!” he shouted.Then a loud crash followed instantly, like something had been hurled violently across the room. The sound of glass shattering against the w
IRIS POV: I stopped the car at the base of the mountain and stared through the windshield. Something was wrong. The fog was gone, all of it. Every single time I had ever looked at this mountain, day or night, there was always fog sitting around it so thick you couldn't see past the first line of trees. Now there was nothing. Just the mountain, clear and open all the way to the top like it had never been covered. "What the fuck," I said quietly. I sat there for a moment looking at it. Then I put the car in drive and started up. The road up the mountain was narrow and rocky and my car moved slowly over it. The whole mountain felt completely different without the fog, wider somehow. I reached the top and parked and stepped out. My eyes found Aurelian immediately. He was digging. A large hole in the ground near the treeline, dirt covered his arms and hands. I walked toward him slowly. Then I stopped, staring at the ground. Two wolves lay on the ground. Both dead, their bodies
AURELIAN POV:The night was quiet and I was standing on the balcony with both hands on the railing staring at the moon.Vaelthor's words kept coming back to me. Everything he said in that kingdom. ‘There is something inside you, Aurelian Virix. The future of the werewolf race depends on it,’ he said.Then I heard it."Help." Someone whispered into my ear from behind.I turned around immediately.But there was nothing. The balcony was empty, the door behind me was closed, nobody was there.I turned back slowly."Help." The voice whispered again, right beside my ear.My whole body went cold.I knew that voice.But suddenly, my eyes widened as my mind snapped back.It was her voice, the Lycan woman who stays deep in the mountain, but how I recognized her voice shocked me.‘She’s in danger,’ my wolf said. ‘Move! Now!’My heart slammed violently against my chest."No…" I whispered.And then I heard it.A distant wolf howl echoing somewhere far beyond the woods from the mountain.Before I c
NICHOLAS POV:‘Go up to her.’The old woman stood ahead of us without moving.Then suddenly, a wave of fog passed through where she stood.And she vanished."Where did she go?" Diana asked beside me.‘That’s her trick,’ Morveth said inside my head. ‘She did the same thing when Aurelian came here.’I smirked slightly.“An old woman with tricks? Sounds like a witch to me.”Diana looked toward the mountain quietly while the fog moved around us.“We keep moving,” I said.We continued climbing upward.The mountain felt colder the higher we went. The fog thickened around the trees while rocks crunched beneath our feet. Soon I could barely see behind us anymore.Then finally, I saw it.A small hut sitting near the edge of the mountain.It was made of dark wood and surrounded with old stone.The place looked ancient.“She must be there,” I muttered.Then suddenly, I heard it.A low, deep growl coming from somewhere beside us.I started walking toward it slowly.I stopped immediately.Another
IRIS POV:I didn’t get to answer.Aurelian’s mouth was on mine before the last word left his lips, no hesitation. His hand cupped the back of my neck, pulling me into him as he walked me backward through the quiet corridor. My spine hit the cool marble edge of the wide sink counter, the white porc
IRIS POV:My mother was dressed neatly, bag on her arm, her good shoes on.She looked at me properly, then crossed the room and kissed me once on the cheek."Hold your head up in there," she said quietly.Then she picked up her keys and walked out the door, and I heard her car start and pull away f
IRIS POV:We were still upstairs going through my wardrobe when I heard the front door open downstairs.My mother's voice called out from the hallway."Iris? Sarah's car is outside, are you both home?""Upstairs, Mum," I called back.Her footsteps came up the stairs, and she appeared at the bedroom
IRIS POV:I walked down the porch steps slowly.Fiona watched me come toward her with an expression I recognized because I had seen it in my own mirror. My face. But the way she was wearing it was nothing like me.She looked almost amused."What is this?" she said.I stopped a few feet from her.Sh







