The WallLilaI didn’t mean to overhear.I was coming down the hall with a tray of tea for myself because anything stronger would’ve only added fuel to the ache behind my eyes, when I heard the voices.One was unmistakably Richard Deluca. Cold, scathing, cruel. I had heard it on TV so many times and the times he would step into the café I used to work at. The other was Luca’s.And for the first time since I had met him, it sounded…small.I froze behind the archway near the foyer, heart thudding, tea forgotten.“Pathetic,” his father’s voice hissed like acid. “You’ve always been weak, Luca. Your mother saw it too. She just refused to admit it.”There was a pause. A heartbeat. Maybe Luca said something too soft to catch.Then Richard again, louder now. “You really think that girl is going to save you? You’re not the type that gets saved. You’re the anchor. The weight around her neck.”I pressed my hand to my mouth.The silence that followed was sharp, suffocating.Then the door opened.
LenaIt starts with small things.A feeling I can’t shake. A flicker of motion across the street when I pull the curtains closed. Footsteps that stop when I turn my head. The sense that every time I exhale, someone is listening.I tell myself it’s nothing.That it’s just paranoia. Guilt. The same old ghosts trying to claw their way back into my head. But late at night, when I’m alone in the little house and the only sound is the ticking of the kitchen clock, I know better.Someone is here.Watching.Waiting.And no matter how many times I check the locks, or count the bolts on the door, I can’t quiet the thudding in my chest.Ethan senses it too. Even if he doesn’t say it out loud. He’s only ten, but he’s seen more than most adults I know. He knows how to keep quiet, how to fade into the background, how to read the tension in a room before it has a name.Tonight, he’s sitting cross-legged on the floor, sorting the dog-eared comic books Mason brought him yesterday. I pretend I’m wiping
Morning after. GinaI had slept like a baby, like I had never slept before. I reached across the bed without even opening my eyes, reaching for his strong body, but the bed was cold when I reached for him, empty. I blinked, still drowsy, stretching out my hand to the other side of the king sized mattress empty. The sheets still smelled like him, faintly smoky and masculine, but they were cool to the touch. He was gone.My heart sank. After everything that happened last night, I thought maybe... maybe we had crossed some invisible line. That maybe it wasn’t just pretend anymore.I sat up slowly, wincing slightly at the sore ache between my thighs, the dull reminder of how hard he had claimed me. My cheeks flushed at the memory of his hands, his mouth, his voice commanding me like I was his. And I wanted to believe I was. Even just for that night. He had said I was his. With his own mouth, but now he was gone. Waht was so important he couldn't wait for me to get up? I pulled on a
She is gone. RyanI didn’t know what to expect, I had been gone for over two days now with no communication with anyone including Gina and I know she is pissed. But I had to come home at some point. The door creaked open as I stepped inside, the faint echo bouncing off the marble floor like a taunt. The house was too quiet. Not the peaceful kind of quiet. The kind that made your gut twist. The kind that screamed something was wrong even when everything looked normal on the surface.Of course something was wrong, I had not been home for over twenty four hours and I can't expect to come back to sunshine and roses. I closed the door behind me, slowly, scanning the grand foyer out of habit. No sight of Gina curled up on the chaise by the window, no scent of chamomile tea or that wildflower shampoo she used. Just stillness and the cold realization that something was missing.Her. Where was she? I shrugged off my jacket and tossed it onto the console table, trying to convince myself I
A Little Too MuchGina. The night air is colder here than it ever was back in Brandon’s pack. Colder, quieter. The Bloodfang estate might be grand and intimidating, but tonight, all I feel is the silence clawing at my skin.I can’t sleep.I’ve been lying in the bed for hours, replaying the awkward dinner over and over Ryan’s father walking out, my mother freezing as if she’d seen death itself. The weight of something unspoken hung over that table like a noose.And neither of them has said a word since.My mother retreated to the guest quarters, claiming exhaustion. But I saw the way her hands trembled as she poured herself a glass of water. I saw the way her eyes refused to meet mine.And Ryan he barely looked at me after that.It was like they were all in on a like secret and I was the stranger, which was weird because for once even my mom was part of this secret. I toss the blanket off and get up, pacing. I should just wait until morning. Keep pretending. Keep playing the role I a
A Face from the past. Alpha DamianShe walks in just after Ryan.At first, I didn't think anything of her. She's dressed elegantly, too elegant for an omega. Her shoulders are squared, posture careful, but there's a tension in her eyes that catches mine immediately. A flicker of something I can’t place.Familiar. Dangerous. Her eyes remind me of someone, someone I can't quite place. Then Rose walks in behind her.And the past slams into me like a blade through the ribs.I stand there stunned for a few seconds , my pulse thundering. Rose. It was like I was seeing a ghost. Twenty one years.Twenty-one years since I last saw her, since I ordered her to be sent away, hidden, silenced. I thought she was dead. I told myself she was dead. It was easier that way. Cleaner. That was what the council needed. What the pack needed.Not scandal. Not weakness Not a secret omega mate. And certainly not a child.And that is what she was going to be if she had continued staying in the pack. But n