LUCIAN“Hey, I didn’t see you at breakfast,” Kade said as he walked towards the car. I had gotten to school a few minutes before the bell signaling the end of the day rang.I stood in the parking lot, contemplating whether it made any sense to go back in but decided against it. The janitors and principal would be patrolling the hallways at this time, looking for prey to send off to detention, and I wasn’t in the mood to come up with an explanation for why I was walking through the doors at that hour.I felt my pocket and realized that the pass was still in there - I needed to return it because it was the only thing that could implicate me if I gave it back the next day.Or maybe it was better to give it back later. I could go back to the classroom early and hand it to the teacher, saying that I had been in the counselor’s office and then went over to the infirmary because I was feeling a little under the weather.It was a stretch, but I hoped my excuse wouldn’t be fact-checked and tha
ELLALyla and I had spoken during lunch. Her trip to the principal’s office had been a simple misunderstanding—at least, that’s what she said.But as she narrated the ordeal, I felt like her teammates were trying to sabotage her and get her out of the cheerleading squad for reasons best known to them.She asked if I had seen the pictures of her making the rounds in the school gossip vine, and I told her I was out of touch with anything that wasn’t related to schoolwork and going straight home once the day was over.She chuckled at the response, and that was the first time I had seen her genuinely smile all day.It was great to see the stress lines on her face lessen a little, and I asked her to tell me all about it.She explained that someone had made a fake picture of her in a compromising position with an older man and sent it to the whole school.As she spoke, I remembered coming to school a few days ago and noticing how everyone was glued to their phones or chattering excitedly wi
ELLAWe spent the next few hours training. I couldn’t tell if she had gotten stronger over the last few days or if she was simply channeling her emotions into this session, but at the beginning, I was struggling to keep up.Slowly, I started catching up with her pace. My body hurt all over, and my joints screamed for mercy, but I didn’t stop until she signaled that it was time to take a break.Even then, I wanted to keep going, but I knew it was better to let her catch her breath and recollect her thoughts.I tried to steady my breathing and calm my nerves as she reached into her bag and pulled out some sandwiches and two bottles of juice. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until the aroma of peanut butter hit my nostrils.I thanked her as we sat down and ate a couple of sandwiches before drinking from the bottle she had given me. I chuckled at how much my body ached; it reminded me of the first day I started these sessions.The only difference was that this time, I had become accusto
ELLAI continued training until after sunset and was breathless by the time I decided my body had reached its limit for the day. Despite the ache in my joints, I felt lighter and much stronger.I had also practiced the moves I saw Lyla perform and was certain I had mastered them, but I would only confirm that when we returned here to practice tomorrow.I closed my eyes for a moment, exhaled, and inhaled until I had steadied my breathing. I resisted the urge to open my eyes and decided to listen to the sound of the waterfall to help me stay calm.As the minutes rolled by, I realized that the feeling I had been ignoring for so long—the sensation of impending doom that seemed to envelop me throughout the day—was still there, and this time, it seemed to have heightened with the emotions I was feeling.This was yet another problem I had to solve. My troubles seemed to be exacerbated at every turn, and it irked me greatly. I needed to find solutions to everything plaguing my mind, and I did
ELLAI was starting to lose my temper, and honestly, I didn’t care how he would react to my outburst.I had taken enough of being followed around by these twins; I simply craved some peace and quiet.He looked taken aback by my retort, but I was too engrossed in the memory of the last few minutes before he showed up to care.They always ruined everything, him and his brother. If he hadn’t turned up, I would’ve been able to communicate with the wolf I had just seen and find out where it was from. Or I would’ve died fighting for my life.I refused to consider the possibility that his appearance had saved me from imminent death. The Blackthorn twins had never saved me from anything, and if that wolf was an alpha, it wouldn’t have run away just because another person showed up.There was more to all of this, and I needed to get to the bottom of it. Again, my list of things I needed to sort out had grown, but this seemed very important.I couldn’t shake the feeling that the alpha was conne
KADE“If you hate it so much, then why are you here?” she retorted, and I scoffed.“You really just hear what you want to hear, don’t you?” I asked, trying to mask my irritation.She was trying to process what I was saying, and I understood it. I wasn’t sure why I had decided to do this, but after Lucian told me he had seen her in this part of the woods, I needed to see for myself if what he was saying was true. It was.I didn’t admit that to him, though, and instead, I suggested it was better for all three of us to move on since we had already rejected her.But I understood it; she was on a loop in my mind, and I needed to do something about it.I wasn’t sure if this was the right way to go about it, but I needed to cover my bases.If the pack considered having a mate essential to taking over the leadership role, perhaps I could make things feel less abrasive with Ella.She still wasn’t a great pick for the role, but I needed a backup plan on that front—and a bird in the hand is defi
ELLAI was still talking when he reached out and pulled me close to him. Our bodies were so close to one another that I could hear his heartbeat and breathe in the smell of his cologne mixed with sweat.I blinked and stopped talking for a moment, not because I had run out of words to express myself - far from that. I had a number of things to say, and I wasn’t close to being done, but I had genuinely lost my train of thought.For the first time that evening, I was grateful it was dark and he couldn’t see the effect that singular act had on me.I cleared my throat and tried to continue talking, but as soon as I opened my mouth, my brain felt mushy, and I knew nothing I would say from that point would be coherent. I had only one option: to leave.Everything within me was screaming the same thing. My blood had run hot and cold at the same time. I was struggling to move my feet, but his hand was still on my arm.“Run, Ella, run,” I told myself, trying to internally remind myself that I wa
ELLAWe watched in silence as he walked away. I was still feeling befuddled by what had transpired and was starting to think I was in a silly dream I needed to wake up from.“Pinch me,” I muttered and looked around. The wind had picked up, and the leaves rustled as it blew through the woods.That was enough proof that I wasn’t imagining the entire scenario.“What was he doing here?” Lyla asked. She seemed upset, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. Perhaps dinner didn’t go well, or she was just as surprised as I was to see Kade. “Are you hurt?”“No… I… just a little disoriented, but I’m fine,” I replied, and she let out a relieved sigh, then repeated the first question.I was still in shock and explained the exchange as briefly as I could. She clicked her tongue and moved toward me.“Don’t let him bother you. This is probably some silly ploy he and his brother have come up with. Don’t let them get to you,” she said.I stood rooted to a spot for a few minutes, trying to gather my thoug
ELLAI started hoping that I wouldn’t have to encounter being in Kade’s mind once more, but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I heard a loud whistling sound, and my vision split in two.It happened faster than I anticipated, but I soon realized that I was no longer looking at just the stream.I could see the waterfall back home, and a feeling of dread enveloped me when I realized I was in Kade’s mind, and he was standing in the clear area where Lyla and I had our training sessions.I swallowed and tried to be as subtle as possible, but in a few minutes, I realized that he had caught onto what was happening.“I know it’s you,” he said, and a chill ran up my spine.I felt annoyed that even with the distance between us, he still had that effect on me, and didn’t bother to hide my irritation.“I wish I had connected with someone else,” I answered. The irritation I felt was evident in my tone, and I hoped he had caught onto it. “I was looking forward to talking to someone that is act
ELLA“Hi, good morning,” Quincy said as he stepped into the room. I was on my way to the bathroom, but he had a cheery expression and a swing in his step that made me stop and look at him suspiciously.I internally chuckled at the fact that he would never have guessed that just a few minutes ago, I thought he had picked up his things and left without me.Just how traumatized was I that my first thought leaned into the worst possible outcome? It was as hilarious as it was pathetic.I would have to reprogram my mind to see the good in things, but right now, that was far from happening anytime soon.“Hey you, for someone who has missed their flight, you look too happy,” I said and turned around to face him completely.“Well, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”“The bad news. That way I can get it out of the way and appreciate the good news better.”“Fair enough. Well, bad news—our trip got rescheduled. Something about a road being fixed and buses currentl
ELLAAt this point, I was happy I hadn’t told him about the conversation between Kade and the group.He would probably have a basic explanation for that or say I was thinking about going back to the twins, and that was why my mind was playing tricks on me—finding ways to convince me to go through with this new thought. It felt unfair to make such conclusions, but then he had taken my experience and made light of it. I didn’t know what to think anymore.“Let’s go to bed. Tomorrow you’ll wake up, and you’ll see that everything feels so much better,” he said and tapped the empty space beside him. I shook my head and walked toward the bathroom.“I need to take a long bath, and I need some time to myself. I spent the last few hours outside. I think I need to soak up.”He nodded, then closed his eyes. “If you need anything, all you have to do is wake me up, and I’ll make sure you get it. And oh, your food is on the table.”As he spoke, I glanced at the table and saw the dish covered. I didn
ELLAI heaved a sigh of relief, stemming from the fact that he hadn’t completely realized what was going on. But the fact that he had his suspicions made me uneasy.I also had to deal with the reality that I was somehow involved in all this. It would only take one person— someone who knew about the knives and the inscription, to go into my house looking for me or any traces of why I had left, and they would start connecting dots that didn’t even exist.I inhaled and exhaled, trying to steady my nerves. This wasn’t the time to panic—that would solve nothing.I had to think this through and figure out what to do with this information and this newfound ability.Once more, I was right back where I started at the beginning of this trip: wishing Lyla was here with me.It was a terrible time to be thinking about something like that. I’d gone down that road a couple of times during this trip, but I couldn’t help the feeling.I wasn’t sure if I would tell her the entire story, because that wou
ELLAThis new revelation seemed to throw Kade off balance. He clearly wasn’t expecting their helper to be someone within his social sphere, nor did he think there were any other alphas around the area.And this confirmed one thing for me as well: the group he was speaking to weren’t from our pack—or at least not all of them. If they were, their loyalty would lie solely with the person speaking to them and his twin.Their devotion to someone else, strong enough to keep a secret of that magnitude, was a clear indication that something else was at play here.“An alpha?” Kade said, disbelief evident in his tone. “Why would an alpha help you?”“They had… well, they had similar goals, and when they found out we wanted information on the victim, they gave it readily.”“And your excuse for not killing them?”A pause swept through the group, and they shook their heads in unison. I could tell they were all thinking the same thing.“You might be an alpha and we might be mercenaries, but we know
ELLAThe conversation clearly wasn’t going as expected for any of the parties involved, but I was determined to see it through to the end, so I listened attentively.“So you saw blood, saw a weapon, and decided that he was still alive at some point—and your initial thought was blackmail?”“Yes. We had no reason to believe any harm had come to him. His shack was in an organized state when we arrived, and our informant had seen him earlier that day, hale and hearty, planning something fun with his buddies.”“You thought their idea of fun included spilling blood?”“Fun can be anything for anyone. We were focused on carrying out the assignment you gave us, not trying to put two and two together.”“That’s very clear. I should’ve found smarter people to get this done. So humor me—what did you do after?”“We contacted the person who had given us the information about his whereabouts and asked if he had seen the victim again after the first sighting. He admitted he hadn’t come across him sinc
ELLAPerhaps watching the entire procession would help me understand what I was dealing with. I had never experienced anything like this before.I wasn’t sure how to navigate this new ability—there were no seers to ask, no council of elders to tell me how to channel this power or even what to call it—but the thrill of encountering something unknown piqued my curiosity.It was fascinating to discover that I could tap into the mind of another wolf, but whose thoughts had I ventured into? There was only one way to find out, so I steadied my nerves and decided to observe.The whole thing was surreal—I had gone from being annoyed and irritated by everything around me to trying to unravel what I had just unlocked. If there had been a memo about this happening, I had clearly missed it.I focused on the events unfolding on the other side. Whoever this was, they were in a meeting with other werewolves. But it wasn’t a regular pack meeting—it felt more like something arranged in secrecy. And wh
ELLAWhen I got to the end of the lot, I stopped walking and peered at the trees for a bit, trying to see if that was all there was.But I soon discovered that there was a clear path in the middle of them, and that only meant one thing—there was more than just trees waiting beyond this path, and I needed to get to it as soon as possible.But first, I had to make sure Quincy knew I was alright. If I just wandered off, he would end up worried and start searching for me.I wasn’t interested in explaining that I needed some time to myself, so the best thing was to make that clear right away.I walked back to the motel and met him at the door.“I was about to come get you,” he said with a smile.I tried to mirror his expression, but it felt too warm and cheery—a far cry from what I was feeling. I couldn’t bring myself to pretend, so I let it go.“Likewise,” I replied as calmly as I could and walked past him into the reception area. “Are the rooms ready?”“Yes, come, I’ll show you how to ge
ELLAThe air was dry during the day, then cold and damp at night. I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but it was a new experience compared to where I was coming from, so I accepted it.As I walked through the parking lot, I thought about what Quincy had said. I still didn’t believe his confession of love, but it was surprisingly comforting to know that someone felt that way about me.The prospect of starting my own pack and being away from the Blackthorns filled me with both excitement and fear.Starting fresh was no easy feat. I would be in a different town with people I had never lived with before—I didn’t know their temperaments or understand their way of life.At the same time, it was an opportunity to begin again. There wouldn’t be any social ladder to climb.I didn’t have to impress cliques or keep trying, after failing multiple times, to be part of people who clearly wanted nothing to do with me.It was one thing to dream of a life where I could be whoever I wanted. It was another to