Ellie’s POVThe Cathars Alpha, Gregor, looks at me with unbridled anger. His eyes glow a bright blue and I somehow lean backwards in case he tries to grab at me.Austin has warned me of my sense of humor and how I must try to keep my sarcasm in check.Noted.But sometimes, some people just try to cut at whatever keeps your temper less raving, even when you are hanging on a rope that's six feet off the ground. They want to see you fall, want to see that bloodthirstiness come out of you even if you are not necessarily bloodthirsty.I think he loses his confidence because all he does right now is stare at me like a black cat, but I don't accept the staring contest anyway.I try to reason with him. "Look, whatever I said came out the wrong way. I didn't mean to cause any injury to your self-assurance."He sniffs like a curious bulldog, irritated. "Oh, you think I'm injured? Maybe your perception of that word is twisted. How about I straighten that out for you, huh?" And the big bad wolf s
Ellie’s POVI wake up the next morning glad that my head doesn't feel like Muhammad Ali's opponent. The table lamp is still on. I must have fallen asleep under the weight of my thoughts and forgotten to turn it off.I get up and look out the window. At the far end, across the Sylvan obviously inhabited by wolves and other predators, there is an expanse of land mostly littered with broken down rocks that look like pebbles.I watch as an eagle swoops down there and picks up a bush pig. It rises to a height and then lets its prey drop, following right behind it. The pig screams like a male banshee and suddenly stops its noise the moment it lands.I tone my wolf senses and hear the thud from where I stand. It reminds me of Gregor's knees hitting the carpet. The airborne predator easily picks up the animal again and flies North, if North is actually where I am from this vantage.I start to get curious about everything concerning Austin. What makes him so powerful, even over another Alpha o
Austin’s POVI notice Beta looking sideways at me, probably wondering what measure of a plan I have conjured in the recess of my mind.I almost want to explain to him that it isn't some show of abracadabra. Just resolve. One which puts me in a position of being a better family member. Care for her as her father did, or even better than he did. And by her, I mean Ellie."Pull up here," I tell the driver in front. He pulls into the driveway of a boutique. The sign mounted on an iron bar reads:CatchoosMen & Ladies Boutique"Are you meeting someone here, Your Majesty?" Beta is all inquiry.I unlock the seat belt and put my hand on the door. "No, Beta. I am getting out here. Meet you back here when I'm done.""Your Majesty?""What?" I snap. "Am I being questioned now?"He says nothing and I exit the car and head for the doors. I step aside for a couple pushing a trolley full of twelve-by-twelve boxes and bloody red knickerbockers. Almost spooks me.The lady at the counter looks at me wit
Ellie’s POVI have always wanted to make myself believe that planet Earth turns as slowly as possible so that the lives of those living in it can keep up with its twists and turns.But even as slow and steady as it is, we all cannot keep up with the surprise demon.The crazy stuff Jaden has texted me does not pull off any warnings in my head at first, knowing that Austin is a walking block of uncertainty. I mean, all Kings do have some weird amount of secretive shit they always do. Think Norse chieftains and Indian Maharajas. But this right here before my eyes is mind-blowing and a joy killer.The image here shows that the Alpha King, Austin, once, deliberately, sacrificed the life of a gamma warrior by his side in the war against vampires so he could win. I almost throw up at this. It feels unfair. Like the world is spinning faster than usual at this moment, trying to ruin things.I cannot tell the look on my face, but if I am to say something about it, my countenance borders on mani
Third POVIt is a crazy world with a lot of insanities running in between, and then shocks, that one would think he is constantly sitting on barbed wire. Or they rather, because Grace and Joan are shocked.They haven't seen him for a long, long time, since high school. Best times and days missed.Grace, who smiled at Ellie, always had a crush on the Alpha King. He was handsome, smart, and quite gentlemanly. Some of their teachers then, branded him as the most quiet student in the class.There was a day when Austin was absent from school and their Philosophy teacher had to punish the whole class for creating a hullabaloo. He had made a particular reference to the boy who always sat at the back of the class, keeping his cool, but capable of writing anything he was asked to. He expected them all to emulate Austin. He never bragged, in as much as he was royalty.From that moment on, Grace began to have eyes for Austin. It wasn't the teacher's exaltation of him that prodded her, it was jus
Third POVThe sky is the color of horse vomit. Ugly, and grotesque in between. For the fact that it is the weekend makes the day seem a little bit awkward, as if there's been some mistake and it should be Monday instead of Saturday. The traffic is much, the snake skin road looks tireless, every damn where is grumpy and lackluster.It's a stakeout today also. Ellie and her team of detectives meet at Jaden's place by eleven in the morning to finalize things up. They are in the garage and Jaden is quite nervous, keeps looking out the window, checking if someone's coming close to the building."You should lose the edginess, Jay," Anna says. "You're making me worry about you.""It's my dad's garage, Anna. If he sees me having a convo with two girls in here, he'll think we're about to have a threesome."Ellie makes a face, puts one palm over her mouth like she's holding back a puke."How many porn videos have you watched this week, Jay?" Anna asks."Why?" Jay says. "What has that got to do
Third POVKarma. That thing can be a bitch sometimes, especially when one is enjoying his or her own slice of life so much, and then the dices roll and everything changes to a new level. It hurts more than heartbreak, stopping the speed of one's life and staring at you directly in the face and asking, "Ellie?"Ellie spins around when she hears that voice. Standing right in the middle of the hallway is the one person she would never have thought possible to be here.Austin regards her with a look of horror, his eyes walking swiftly up and down her body like a weaving rod.Ellie is unable to even say anything, her mouth loses its skill for forming words, and it's a pity her eyes aren't made for that purpose because all she can do at the moment is stare at the Alpha King.Jaden is the first one in the lobby and he stops at the top of the stairs the moment Austin whizzes past, following Ellie's almost indistinct scent.Jaden watches as Ellie bursts out of the hotel room, eyes still on the
Third POVA gasp of surprise escapes Ellie's mouth and her resolve and composure are attacked by panic. She immediately decides to rear backwards, hoping to hide beside the couch, in case he hasn't seen her.But how wrong she is. The hand holding the marker cannot be mistaken. And Austin is no fool. Before she can react, he reaches out a strong hand and grabs her left arm, pinning her to the couch. Nowhere to run to, sweetheart.Even in the dark, he notices the slight shade of uneasiness that flits across her face. The inside of his head is a freaking Temple Run right now so it takes him a while to realize that she is wincing from his grip on her lean biceps.When he speaks, his voice comes out groggy. "What... the hell... are you doing here?"Ellie stops wriggling for an escape as she considers his question carefully. Austin fell asleep on the couch some hours ago and from his breath, she did realize that he had been out drinking. Pathetic, she thinks. But his brain would still be mu