LOGINAfter realizing that her new stepbrother was her one-night stand 'fish boy', a fantastic idea pooped up Isis Cepheus's brain. "Let's strike a deal, Sam" she demanded with a forced smile. Samuel Armani looked at her with an angry gaze, "What deal?" "Let's fake a date. If my mom and your dad sees we're in love, they'll get divorced" She opined. Samuel Armani wasn't foolish as to accept such ridiculous idea from the girl that made him lost the only gift his girlfriend gave him and almost made betray her . But since fate brought them together to meet as siblings again, after their first time chaotic meeting, he had no choice than to agree. However, as much as he wanted to hold himself back from assuming it was fake dating, the more he was drawning into his 'stepsister's' charm. First they had to hug tightly to oppress rivals. Second they had to kiss lightly in front of the parent. But nothing seems to be working not until they....
View MoreKEYWORDS: ICE - SHORT FORM OF THE FL'S NAME (ISIS) EPC - SHORT FORM FOR EMBER PACK COLLEGE SPC - SILVERMOON PACK COLLEGE HAPPY READING ****
Isis jotted down each point as Hale explained with keen attention. After a while, Hale dropped the textbook, signaling the end of class.
“So good luck, pups, don’t forget to make the mass communication department proud.”
Students rose to their feet until the professor walked out and the class dissipated. Isis got out and breathed in fresh air. She reached into her backpack and fetched her phone.
Giggling happily, she dialed her mum’s line and it rang several times before the latter picked up. “Mum! I finally got selected for Professor Hale’s class!!” Isis yelled happily.
On the other side, the woman was moaning, barely hearing what her happy daughter was saying. Isis frowned, “Mum? Are you listening? I said I took Professor Hale’s class today, which means I can now……”
“Fuck it, baby. Faster!” Isis heard. She froze, and all the ecstasy died down immediately. “M… mum?”
“Da.. Darling, can you…. Oh fuck it. Can you call me back?”
Isis’ brain sparked with anger, “Mum, did you even remember it’s my college’s inter-school sports competition today?”
“Baby, I’ll call you back. Be good at school, and enjoy yourself…. Oh, Max, you’re biting my nipples… You…” The line went dead afterwards.
Isis stood in trepidation. Sweat broke from her forehead as she realized what her mum was busy with.
‘She’s fuckin, as usual,’ Her wolf said as sorrow coursed through Isis’s veins.
From behind her, Isis heard happy voices yell. “Hello, journalist Ice!”
Isis turned slowly and saw her friendship circle; Alice and Fatima were standing there.
‘They must not know anything about my mum,’ She thought as she plastered a fake smile. “Guys,” she greeted.
They marched toward her. Alice poked her nose, “Look at you smiling happily. You’re now an EPC journalist.”
Fatima howled happily and helped her with the tripod stand. “Is your mum coming? I’m dying to see if you really look like her.”
Alice laughed in agreement. But Isis stopped. “My… my mum is not coming,” She announced slowly. “She was busy at work. Her boss won’t let her come.”
Fatima and Alice stopped. “Oh. Sorry that I asked.”
“It’s okay. We can have dinner at your home after the events today, right, Ice?” Alice blinked.
Another bang of shock hit Isis’ chest. How will she take her friends home to see her mum, whose basic source of income was prostitution?
Isis put on another smile again. Anything to make them stop talking, she thought. “Of course. Let’s get today over with first.”
The girls marched toward the stadium. As they mingled with other friends, Isis’s mind was calculating what lie she would give them at the end of the day.
As a third-year mass communication student at Ember Pack College, Isis Cepheus wanted her mum to be present on her special day, which is her first day as a professional College Journalist.
In the past years, Isis was used to carrying cameras and tripod stands around, while the seniors did the filming and interviewing. It was every junior’s dream to feature as a professional journalist on an event like this and just this once… Isis wanted her mum to be there at least.
However, since her mum is not here, Isis promised to take good pictures to show her later as she marched to the swimming arena, where the main event of the day will be happening.
“Alright, babes. I’m going for basketball,” Fatima bid after Isis took her seat amongst other Journalists from her class and other schools.
Alice pulled Fatima’s arms. “Why basketball? We should at least help Ice take some pictures.”
“No, Allie. Have you forgotten I hate swimming? I just…”
“Alright, enough with the arguments,” Isis said. “I can take care of myself. See ya later.”
“Record the hot guys with the highest quality,” Alice teased before leaving with Fatima, finally leaving Isis alone.
The competition commenced shortly after. As she was setting up her camera, she sighed at the thought of him — Alpha Dalton, her boyfriend, as well as her source of joy.
She waved eagerly at Dalton, who looked incredibly hot and breathtaking in his swimming trunks as he went toward the starting platform.
The whole school was hailing him. He could barely see Isis amongst the crowd, but she stole more pictures of him.
Dalton Lillard was the school’s hottest guy and the swim team captain. But lucky her, Isis thought. “He’s mine.”
Isis was happy to be controlling the camera herself for the first time and temporarily forgot about her slutty mum. She took proper caution as she filmed; her performance here will determine if she will be moving to Hale’s class permanently or not.
The whole of EPC was screaming, “Alpha Dalton!!”
As she filmed, her mind flashed back to when she first got entangled with Alpha Dalton. It was during a competition like this that she had fallen into the swimming pool.
He saved her, and even though they’re not mates, some unseen connection seemed to help them, and soon, they started dating—but this fact was only known to their friends.
“…..and yes, Alpha Dalton from EPC swam 10 seconds ahead of Alpha Alaric from SPC!!” The announcer yelled over the megaphone, and the scoreboard results appeared immediately.
Isis waved to Dalton, who barely noticed her, and again happily went to the interview shed waiting to make him her first interviewee.
However, as Dalton, who was beaming with smiles, got to the interview shed, he spared Isis, who was EPC’s journalist, no glance, as if she was never there.
Isis was confused; panic rose to her tongue immediately. She remembered that she could only attend Hale’s class if her first outing went well.
She pressed again when the others seemed to have kept quiet, “How did you feel about winning this Swimming Championship medal for Ember Pack College?”
For the first time, Dalton looked at her and smiled simply but coldly, “I’m good, thanks.”
Isis was confused. She wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction from him, especially as this was her first time, but she pressed on; eventually, all her questions were left unanswered!
“Why did you ignore me out there, Dal? I told you last week that for joining Professor Hale’s class, I have to give him good reports, right?” Isis yelled at Dalton after successfully getting him out of his friend’s circle.
They were now at the baseball arena since swimming had ended.
Dalton ran his hand through his hair carelessly, “Can I tell you something honestly, Ice?”
She blinked. “What?”
He scoffed shortly. “Have I ever told you, you’re very annoying?”
“What?” The words surprised her; Isis’s jaw dropped. “Dal, why are you suddenly….”
“I said that something is not right when you never let me or your friends meet your mum!” Dalton cut into her words. “If Fatima hadn’t told me, then all this while, I wouldn’t have known I was dating a whore’s daughter!”
Isis staggered back momentarily. A shocking gasp escaped her lips. “F…. Fatima told you this?”
“Can you deny it?” He shot back and pushed her head with a finger. “Better stay as quiet as you are, slut’s daughter, or else if the whole EPC knows of this, you’re cooked.”
Isis couldn’t say anything more; she only stared as he turned to leave, but he stopped again and dropped the banger she had never seen coming. “Let’s break up, Ice.”
“Wait, what?”
Dalton turned and pushed her head again, “Can’t you understand anything? I say let’s break the fuck up! I’m the swim team captain, I can’t date a slut’s daughter.”
"But Dal, that's my mum. I can tell her to stop....."
Dalton stopped. "That's your mum? Ohh. Have you forgotten that you're a stealer? What's the assurance that you won't be worse than your mum?"
The words broke her as she fell to her butt. He also knew she was a stealer? Another secret that Isis was keeping was that she was a stealer—a breed of the werewolf tribe that can mate with more than one person.
Basically, the breed of wolves that sleeps around just like... just like her mum, Isis thought as slow tears of agony rained down her face.
“It’s really over,” she thought.
The Olympics came in August, a year after everything had changed.Riley stood in the athlete village in Paris, feeling completely out of place among the world's greatest competitors. She wasn't an athlete. She was a writer, a journalist, a mate who'd somehow gotten credentials to be here supporting Samuel."You look lost," a voice said behind her.Riley turned to find a woman in her fifties, wearing a Team USA jacket. "I am a little. First time at the Olympics.""Family member?""Mate. My partner's competing in swimming."The woman's face lit up. "You must be Riley. Riley Chen. I read your book."Riley was still getting used to this. Being recognized. Being known. "Thank you for reading it.""It's beautiful. Raw. My daughter is in a relationship with someone ten years older, and she was terrified to tell me. After reading your book, she found the courage." The woman held out her hand. "I'm Margaret. My son's competing in track."They talked for a few minutes before Margaret had to lea
The first draft of the book took four months to write. Four months of late nights and early mornings, of Riley staring at her laptop until her eyes burned, of Samuel reading chapters and offering feedback between training sessions. Four months of reliving every painful, beautiful moment of their story. Riley worked from Samuel's apartment most days. He'd insisted she move in officially two months into the writing process, claiming it was ridiculous for her to pay rent on a place she never stayed at anymore. "Besides," he'd said, pulling her close, "I like waking up with you here." So Riley had given up her apartment, moved her things into Samuel's tiny studio, and learned what it meant to build a life with someone. It wasn't always easy. Samuel's training schedule was brutal, six hours a day in the pool plus strength training and physical therapy. Riley's writing consumed her, whole days disappearing into the manuscript. They had to learn to exist in the same small space without
Two weeks after the article ran, Riley got a call that changed everything.She was in her apartment, working on a business proposal for the online publication Max had suggested, when her phone rang. Unknown number.She almost didn't answer. But something made her pick up."Riley Chen?""Speaking.""My name is Victoria Ashford. I'm a literary agent with Ashford and Associates. I read your article in National Pack Weekly."Riley sat up straighter. "Oh?""I want to represent you. I think your story, yours and Samuel's, would make an incredible book. Memoir, maybe, or creative nonfiction. The kind of thing that could really resonate with people.""A book?""I've already had three publishers reach out asking if you have representation. There's real interest here, Riley. Real money, potentially."Riley's head spun. "I don't know. I've never written a book before.""But you can write. That article proved it. And you have a story people want to hear." Victoria's voice was persuasive, professi
The article hit stands on Monday morning at six AM.By six-thirty, it was trending on every social media platform. By seven, news outlets were picking it up, dissecting it, offering their own commentary. By eight, Riley's phone had exploded with messages again.But this time, the tone was different."This is beautiful. Real love.""Finally, someone brave enough to tell their truth.""Age gaps in mate bonds are totally normal. People need to educate themselves.""I'm crying. This is the kind of love story we need more of."There were still haters, of course. Still people calling Riley a predator, calling Samuel naive, calling the whole thing inappropriate. But they were drowned out by support. By people sharing their own stories of mate bonds that defied convention. By pack members across the country vouching for the sanctity of goddess-chosen connections.Riley sat at Samuel's kitchen table, scrolling through responses with tears streaming down her face."Hey," Samuel said softly, sit






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