I had no more words to say so I simply nodded and made my way out of the room. If he wanted proof, I would go out of my way to make sure I found proof. My guts rarely let me down and I knew that this wasn’t one of those moments when I regretted listening to my gut.There was something in here and I only had to dig deeper to find out what it is and put all of this to an end. I had nothing against Beta Jude, he seemed like a nice guy and he had a great family as well. People loved him in the pack but the man I saw in that building had a different personality altogether. I would figure it out eventually. I wasn’t going anywhere for the time being and my studies in college would have to take a backseat right now. “I thought you’d be out until tomorrow,” Maya said as I walked in through the front door. “Only if you want me to sleep on the streets. Alpha Jason asked to take the night off today while he looks after her.” I answered, falling face-first on the couch. “You don’t sound go
“You should’ve said something or you could’ve walked in.” Zach frowned. “What difference would it have made?” I asked, looking at them. “For what it’s worth, we’re glad that you’re here. We had plans to talk to you before we resume for the day.” Zach added. I wanted to argue further but it seemed pointless. I had to listen to what they wanted to say first before adding anything. I had a couple of questions for them as well but I didn’t want to push it until I understood everything going on. “Come in then,” Zach ushered me in, while Zayn closed the door. I made my way to the couch while they remained standing. “Is there a problem?” I asked, unable to stay silent any longer. I didn’t like the way they were looking at me and sharing glances between themselves, there was something I didn’t know yet. Something that they didn’t mention while I was listening in on their conversation. “Our father told us everything you said about Beta Jude and we want to confirm if what he said is t
I walked away and they didn’t bother to call me back. I figured that they wanted to leave me alone or they were tired of chasing me around. I could tell that they were both angry that I wouldn’t give this up but I didn’t care. I wasn’t doing this for them and if they wanted to save their reputation, they didn’t have to help me. I could do it all by myself and if things turned out ugly, I’d take the punishment myself and without anyone’s help. I mean, it wasn’t like I was a crowd’s favorite around here anyways. My reputation here was cooked and what’s one more dent in my already broken shield? It wasn’t going to matter much either way. Even if I was ridiculed by everyone, I had no intentions of staying here—not after what they did to me and besides, I had a whole new life to return to when my mother fully recovers. I made my way out of the State Building and debated on where next I should go. I thought about heading to the hospital but I wasn’t sure Alpha Jason would be pleased with
“Words are cool and all but don’t expect me to believe anything that has just come out of your mouth, Ken,” I said. “I would be surprised if you did but I didn’t come here to lie to you.” He said. “The last time I lapped up every word you said, you tried to drug me and rape me. And when I found out that it was all part of a bigger plan involving the five of you, it was already too late because it had already triggered the chain reaction that led to the sex video being circulated in the pack without my consent.” “Ari, I—““Don’t interrupt me, Ken. Let me finish before you say anything else.” I snapped. I knew what this was like and I wasn’t going to give him the room to lie to my face some more. I wanted to lay down rules and if he wasn’t pleased with it, the door was wide open for him to walk the fuck out the same way he walked in. “Okay,” He mumbled and fell quiet. “Firstly, I don’t trust and I don’t think I ever will trust you after what you did to me but that’s beside the poi
Ari"Hey, look what we have here," Zach sneered, his eyes scanning my outfit. "Little Ari, dressed in her usual rags."Zayn chuckled, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Yeah, she looks like she just rolled out of a dumpster."Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I tried to push past them when Zach blocked my path."Where do you think you're going?" he asked, voice dripping with condescension. “You can't leave so easily. Let's have some fun."“Leave me alone, please,” I cried out “Look at her crying, so pathetic,” Zachary spat out snickering while Zayn smirked. Their laughter echoed in my ears, sneers growing wider…wider until-I gasped awake, my eyes opening to bright lights. Taking heaving breaths I shut them tightly to calm myself.“A dream. It was all a dream,” I whispered frantically. Slowly the panic and memories waned and I began to calm down.It was more than a dream but a memory . Memories upon memories of torment. Of their presence. But things were different now. I was n
AriMy mom seemed oblivious to my shock, still smiling and chatting. Yet I couldn't focus anymore as I felt the car stop. What was going on?"Mom, are we making a pitstop or something?" I asked cautiously, cutting her off in the process as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing.Turning back to face her, I found hints of confusion on her face."No, sweetie, we're home.” She said and I blinked in surprise."Home?" I repeated. "But...but this is Alpha Jason's house.""Yes, it is.” her smile faltered for a moment before she nodded.I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. Alpha Jason had been the Alpha of the Silver Reed pack for as long as I could remember. Even before I'd left, there was one concrete fact. He was a widower ever since his wife died years ago and since then, he had never remarried. The only family he had were his twin sons…A chill ran through me. There was no way my mom could have married him…right?No way. I shook the thoughts away. I was thinking too much. It was
AriI had no idea how I found myself in the nearest bathroom by luck but I didn't care.Without hesitation I locked myself inside, desperation and panic brewing inside me. My mind was a mess and the cool bathroom tiles weren't enough against the storm raging in my mind.It shouldn't be. Of all the things I had anticipated, this wasn't ever in the cards. My mother had married Alpha Jason? Zayn and Zachary, my high school tormentors, were my mates?The universe had to be playing a prank on me. A shudder ran through me as the memories rushed back in full force, taking me back to when I was in highschool, constantly bullied for my poor clothes, my skinny appearance.The main perpetrators were none other than Zachary and Zayn. I had no idea why they hated me so much, yet from the moment I met them, they had their sights set on me. And nobody stopped them. Why would they when they were the sons of the Alpha, the most sought after and popular boys in school?Many even joined them.Those t
AriMy jaw clenched. Facing their stares I was frozen. In the end I didn't even need to come to them. They had come to me instead."Look at you. All grown up I see." Zayn said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.The reminder of the past left me shaky. Whenever they ganged up on me like this, it was nothing good.But I wasn't the weak girl who would cry. I could stand my ground now, and that was exactly what I was going to do."What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep my cool despite the butterflies in my stomach."Oh, we just wanted to welcome you to the family. You know, make you feel at home." Zachary chuckled, leaning on the other end of the doorway. "Save it, Zachary. I'm not buying it." I snapped."Look who's grown feisty,” Zachary smirked, “You’ve really changed in the year you've been apart haven't you?”And from the looks of it, they hadn't changed one bit.A part of me wanted to snap back but I stopped myself. So far, there were no cruel remarks compared to the past. For th
“Words are cool and all but don’t expect me to believe anything that has just come out of your mouth, Ken,” I said. “I would be surprised if you did but I didn’t come here to lie to you.” He said. “The last time I lapped up every word you said, you tried to drug me and rape me. And when I found out that it was all part of a bigger plan involving the five of you, it was already too late because it had already triggered the chain reaction that led to the sex video being circulated in the pack without my consent.” “Ari, I—““Don’t interrupt me, Ken. Let me finish before you say anything else.” I snapped. I knew what this was like and I wasn’t going to give him the room to lie to my face some more. I wanted to lay down rules and if he wasn’t pleased with it, the door was wide open for him to walk the fuck out the same way he walked in. “Okay,” He mumbled and fell quiet. “Firstly, I don’t trust and I don’t think I ever will trust you after what you did to me but that’s beside the poi
I walked away and they didn’t bother to call me back. I figured that they wanted to leave me alone or they were tired of chasing me around. I could tell that they were both angry that I wouldn’t give this up but I didn’t care. I wasn’t doing this for them and if they wanted to save their reputation, they didn’t have to help me. I could do it all by myself and if things turned out ugly, I’d take the punishment myself and without anyone’s help. I mean, it wasn’t like I was a crowd’s favorite around here anyways. My reputation here was cooked and what’s one more dent in my already broken shield? It wasn’t going to matter much either way. Even if I was ridiculed by everyone, I had no intentions of staying here—not after what they did to me and besides, I had a whole new life to return to when my mother fully recovers. I made my way out of the State Building and debated on where next I should go. I thought about heading to the hospital but I wasn’t sure Alpha Jason would be pleased with
“You should’ve said something or you could’ve walked in.” Zach frowned. “What difference would it have made?” I asked, looking at them. “For what it’s worth, we’re glad that you’re here. We had plans to talk to you before we resume for the day.” Zach added. I wanted to argue further but it seemed pointless. I had to listen to what they wanted to say first before adding anything. I had a couple of questions for them as well but I didn’t want to push it until I understood everything going on. “Come in then,” Zach ushered me in, while Zayn closed the door. I made my way to the couch while they remained standing. “Is there a problem?” I asked, unable to stay silent any longer. I didn’t like the way they were looking at me and sharing glances between themselves, there was something I didn’t know yet. Something that they didn’t mention while I was listening in on their conversation. “Our father told us everything you said about Beta Jude and we want to confirm if what he said is t
I had no more words to say so I simply nodded and made my way out of the room. If he wanted proof, I would go out of my way to make sure I found proof. My guts rarely let me down and I knew that this wasn’t one of those moments when I regretted listening to my gut.There was something in here and I only had to dig deeper to find out what it is and put all of this to an end. I had nothing against Beta Jude, he seemed like a nice guy and he had a great family as well. People loved him in the pack but the man I saw in that building had a different personality altogether. I would figure it out eventually. I wasn’t going anywhere for the time being and my studies in college would have to take a backseat right now. “I thought you’d be out until tomorrow,” Maya said as I walked in through the front door. “Only if you want me to sleep on the streets. Alpha Jason asked to take the night off today while he looks after her.” I answered, falling face-first on the couch. “You don’t sound go
I watched them walk away and I knew that I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. I had to tell someone about this and suddenly, Alpha Jason came to mind. He had instructed me to come to him if I had any piece of information that was vital to finding who poisoned my mother and there was something suspicious about Beta Jude and a mysterious man talking in a place like that. Small margins mattered and I wasn’t going to ignore them. I made my way back to the hospital, hoping to meet Alpha Jason alone. I made it past the guards standing at the entrance without any fuss before entering the room. Alpha Jason was sitting on a couch, his eyes glued on my mother who was still sleeping peacefully. “Has she woken up yet?” I asked softly as I took the empty chair next to him. “No, not yet. The doctors keep reassuring me that she would but I don’t care about their words anymore. It means little to me these days, you know?” He sounded broken and on his face, I could see the pain I held in my eyes too
The tears were flowing freely right now and there was nothing I could do to stop it much to my annoyance. Deep down, I knew that they weren’t lying but I didn’t want to admit it because I didn’t have the room to feel weak right now. I had to be strong for my mother because if she were in my shoes, she would be doing the same thing for me and I didn’t want to be caught lacking. The thought of quitting flashed through my mind but I quickly discarded it. As soon as I felt a lot better, I would go back and talk to the Alpha twins once again and I was sure that we could agree without having to fight because I needed this.I heard voice speaking—muffled voices but I knew that they belonged to two grown men but I couldn’t make out their faces from where I was. I didn’t know what I was going to be eavesdropping on but as I wanted to move away, I heard a name being called. “Alpha Jason.”He was my step-father and if this was a conspiracy involving him, I had to get in on the juicy parts.
Alpha Jason stared at me, debating on what verdict he would give after hearing everything I’d said. I was hoping that he wasn’t going to turn me away because I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I didn’t just need this because I didn’t trust Zach and Zayn, I also needed it for myself. I was going to lose my senses if I didn’t find something to keep me busy and there was nothing more befitting than looking for the person that poisoned my mother. I need that motivation and Alpha Jason’s approval was key to getting it. “I’ll let you do this on one condition, Ari.” Alpha Jason said. “Whatever the condition is,” I said. “The moment something goes wrong, I want to be the first person to know about it and I want it to come from you—not my boys and most certainly, not a third party either.“I give you my word,” I said. “They’re at the state building, just tell them I gave you the clearance to join them and they will explain everything you need to know.” “Thank you. Look after her fo
I made my way to the hospital and I spent the last hour reading my mother’s favorite book to her while she slept. Before now, I spent a substantial amount of time talking to the doctor and trying to know everything that had to do with my mother’s condition. The doctor assured me she was only unconscious and even though they hadn’t recorded any of it yet, she would—at some point in time—have minimal brain activity because she’s alive but cannot be woken up and show no signs of being aware.The person’s eyes may be closed, and they’ll appear to be unresponsive to their environment. They may not respond to sound or pain, or be able to communicate or move voluntarily.Someone in a coma may also have very reduced basic reflexes, like coughing and swallowing. They may be able to breathe on their own, although some people require a ventilator, and a breathing tube to keep their airways open.Over time, someone in a coma may start to gradually regain consciousness and become more aware. Som
I made my way to the hospital and I spent the last hour reading my mother’s favorite book to her while she slept. Before now, I spent a substantial amount of time talking to the doctor and trying to know everything that had to do with my mother’s condition. The doctor assured me she was only unconscious and even though they hadn’t recorded any of it yet, she would—at some point in time—have minimal brain activity because she’s alive but cannot be woken up and show no signs of being aware.The person’s eyes may be closed, and they’ll appear to be unresponsive to their environment. They may not respond to sound or pain, or be able to communicate or move voluntarily.Someone in a coma may also have very reduced basic reflexes, like coughing and swallowing. They may be able to breathe on their own, although some people require a ventilator, and a breathing tube to keep their airways open.Over time, someone in a coma may start to gradually regain consciousness and become more aware. Som