RAI Several Years Ago, I stared at the red roses in my hand, a nervous smile spreading over my face. It was today--the day I would finally ask her out. And by her, I meant Raelynn Hills--the origin of the fluttering in my stomach at the moment. Tonight was the school's official dance night. Thankfully, Raelynn had showed up. An hour had passed since the event had kicked off but I was yet to get my act together. "Get it together, Rai. It's not your first time asking a girl out," I groaned. However, this girl was different because as cheesy as it sounded, I'd had a crush on her for a while. And that crush had bloomed into something stronger, something I couldn't shake off. "What's up, big brother?"I flinched at the sound of my sister's voice, immediately hiding the flowers behind me. Izzy wriggled her brows at me, amusement written over her face. I could tell she was enjoying this. "Are those flowers for her? Nice choice. You should hurry up and confess your l
RAELYNN It was unnerving how Kyan had entered my house so easily. There was no sign of a forced entry. And while he stood by the door, he didn't move an inch. Folding his arms across his chest, his gaze drifted from me to Rai. "Ah...look at that. Such a lovely couple. I almost feel jealous," he said and Rai stiffened, hostility rolling off him in waves. "Cut the crap, Kyan. Why are you here?" He spat. "For a simple reason," he deadpanned and my frown deepened. "What?"He cracked a smile at me, his claws making an appearance. "I'm supposed to get rid of the traitor," he said, pointing a claw at Rai, his eyes turning a bright yellow. My stomach churned in discomfort at the realization that I'd been right all along. Kyan was indeed somehow affiliated with Nadia. Rai scoffed. "Traitor? Really? You're really going to let Nadia use you as her errand boy?" He commented. The smile on Kyan's face faded, a crease forming in between his brows. As much as I would like to confront K
RAELYNN "I want to claim you, Rai," I whisperered. "Can I?""Right here?" He rasped, his eyes darkening with lust. I smirked, leaning up to kiss him on the lips. Cupping the back of his head, I deepened our kiss and scratched his scalp gently. A moan escaped his lips and he tightened his grip on my waist. Pulling away from him, I buried my face in the crook of his neck and pressed a kiss there. Letting out a guttural growl, he grabbed my free hand and brought it to his crotch. "Look what you do to me, woman.” He groaned. Knowing that I had that much effect on him made me feel powerful. I could feel my wolf pushing to the surface, my fangs making an appearance. Rai let out a deeper groan when I ran my fangs over his skin and swiped my tongue over the spot. "Do you smell something burning?" Rai suddenly commented and I frowned, pulling away to sniff at the air. And sure enough, the food was burning.Alarmed, Rai turned off the cooker and grimaced at me."This is all your
RAELYNN "Mum... w-what's going on? Am I...dead?" I croaked, terror gripping me. "You're not dead, silly. You're just detached from your physical form," she responded and I sighed. "Rai doesn't know that. He looks terrified," I pointed out, feeling sorry for Rai who held on to my limp form in horror. "He'll figure it out," my mum said. "This strange blue light has a lot to do with my magic, doesn't it?" I asked her and she nodded."It's why I asked you to accept it. Become one with it. That way, it can't be stolen from you," she said and my eyes went wide. "Stolen? What do you mean?""There is a reason why you're destined to be Rai's partner. He's meant to complete you," she said.I blinked as she placed her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Listen to me clearly, you must not let go..." Her voice faded and she also faded out of sight. Struck with urgency, I called out for her but got no response. Instead, I was sucked back into my body. I opened my eyes slowl
RAI Every single fibre of my being wrestled for control over the spell that had kept my mind captive. It killed me to watch Raelynn's beautiful eyes fill up with tears and terror. The more I tried to fight the spell, the more it's grip on me tightened. Suddenly, Raelynn stopped struggling. Then she reached out to touch my face, her teary eyed gaze meeting mine. "It's okay. I won't hold this against you," she choked out and I pulled away from her, stumbling across the kitchen to slam a hand on the wall. I could hear Raelynn coughing behind me, struggling to catch her breath. My chest tightened, angry tears pricking my eyes. 'Kill her!' An angry screech invaded my senses, sending a jolt of pain through my skull. 'Damn you,' I thought, doubling over as the pain worsened."Rai?" Raelynn said as she approached me. I shook my head frantically, mentally pleading for her to maintain a good distance from me. When she continued to approach, I knew I needed to leave. However, before
RAELYNN When Rai showed up in the dining room with a worried look on his face, I knew that something was up. At this point, it felt like a never-ending saga. He sat down on a chair and the kids greeted him with cheery voices. He beamed at them, his gaze softening. He was such a natural when it boiled down to interacting with our kids. Moving over to his side, I placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to him. "Did something happen?" I asked and he flashed me a tight smile. My heart sank. Whatever had happened seemed to be far worse than I'd imagined. "I got a call from Jared--" he was interrupted by the sound of my ringing phone and I glanced at it, puzzled."It's probably a call from the medical centre," he told me and I grabbed my phone from the table. Rai was right. It was a call from Rose. Swiftly picking up the call, I lifted the phone to my ear. I could hear the wailing of sirens through the phone."Doctor Lynn, it's me, Rose," my assistant said, her voice qu
RAELYNN "Come on, let's go. Can you run?" He asked softly. Steeling my resolve, I nodded once. Together, we both hurried away from the building. There was a black SUV waiting by the corner. When we got to it, Hunter opened the door of the car and I sat down on the passenger seat. He joined me shortly after, settling down on the driver's seat. A lump formed in my throat as he manoeuvred the car out of the parking space, my gaze resting on Rai who had suddenly run into the side walk, his chest heaving. Looking away from him, I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back on my seat. "Hold on, okay? I'll get you out of here soon enough," Hunter said and I released an exasperated sigh. For a few seconds, a thought crossed my mind. Was I really doing the right thing? It wasn't okay to just walk away from the chaos but I couldn't help it, I valued my own peace of mind. "Are you alright?" Hunter asked when we were a good distance away from the paparazzi. "I'm fine," I muttered,
RAI Five Years Ago, I stormed into my bedroom and paused in the centre of the room, freezing as a familiar scent wafted into my nostrils. Raelynn's scent. It was all over the place. It reminded me of the brutal decision I'd made a couple of hours ago. I closed my eyes, and all I could see was her tear-filled eyes. I rubbed at my chest, willing the ache to fade away. The door creaked open and Nadia sashayed in, butt naked. There was a glass of wine in her hand. She swayed her hips from side to side and joined me on the bed, gulping down her wine at once. I sat up slowly, my body feeling heavy. "You did the right thing, you know? I'm so proud of you for not letting her walk over you," she said, bringing her lips to mine. I closed my eyes and was once again, reminded that she didn't taste like Raelynn."I want you," she whispered in between kisses, fumbling with the buttons of my shirt. I was drunk, but it wasn't enough to drown out the guilt that was raging inside of
RAELYNN Austin took a sip from the can of beer I'd offered him. Then he heaved a sigh, his gaze finding Rai's. "You're still not going to say anything? It's been nearly ten minutes, you know?" Rai said, his gaze unwavering.Austin cleared his throat, leaning back on his seat."My bad," he mumbled and I raised a brow at him. "Alright, try not to freak out--" he started to say, and Rai's expression darkened."Are you kidding me, Austin? Spit it out already," Rai hissed, his impatience written all over his face. "The witch council wishes to have a meeting with Raelynn," Austin stated and my frown deepened."And how's that supposed to be bad news?" I asked and he winced."They must have gotten wind of your involvement with the red tulip cult. They also learnt of the fact that you got rid of the plague," he added. Rai heaved a sigh, running his fingers through his hair."That's not good," he mumbled."I still don't understand. Am I too dull for this?" I said and Rai reached acr
RAELYNN Rose must've thought that she was doing a good job at blurring the line between the truth and the lie. Nonetheless, I'd figured it out. The spell was linked to the fact that I was mated to Rai. "Raelynn..." Rai rasped, his breathing strained. My heart ached for him. It was obvious at this point. Our destinies were ill-fated. We were bound to hurt each other as long as we were bound by our bonds. I'd forgiven him for hurting me and I didn't want him to suffer because of me anymore. With this thought, I came to a conclusion that the only way to save him was to lose him. "It's alright. I'll set you free," I whispered and he smiled weakly. The lights in his eyes grew dim as he gasped for air. I swallowed hard, fresh tears filling my eyes."I, Raelynn Norman, reject you, Rai Vidal..."His eyes bulged in their sockets, terror written all over his face."No...." His voice was laced with desperation when he spoke again.I knew he would refuse to reject me. Even s
RAI At first, I felt as though I was trapped in an empty space. I couldn't feel my body and I didn't know where I was. By the time I snapped back to reality, I felt as though I was watching myself from afar. And, when I saw the mortifying scene unfolding before my eyes, I went ballistic. "So this is it. This is what it feels like to be in Alpha Rai's body," I heard myself say. It took me a moment to realize what was really good on. Kyan was inside my body. But how?How did things escalate to this aggravating point?It didn't help that I couldn't recall much. When Kyan attempted to kiss my woman, a dam of fury was unlocked inside of me. Therefore, my will to recover my body waxed stronger. Raelynn attempted to push my body away from her and when it didn't work, she jammed her elbow into my guts and I doubled over. I was relieved to know that she'd managed to free herself from Kyan. "Why are you running? Play with me a little longer, will you?" Kyan screamed as he chased afte
RAELYNN "What are you talking about? Raelynn, you're engaged," Hunter said, his face contorted in incredulity. "I need your help," I said and his frown deepened."You have to be clear about what you need my help with," he stated slowly. "I asked my dad to help Rai and he did. But, in exchange, he wants me to marry you," I told him. "What? That's insane," Hunter said. "The thing is... he already held up his own part of the deal," I stated and he whistled under his breath."That's fast. How is Rai doing? Shouldn't you be with him right now?" "I've been anxious. I just thought I needed to get this situation off my chest," I muttered, gulping down more water. "I'm guessing that Rai doesn't know about any of this," Hunter pointed out and I nodded."He's going to be so mad if he finds out.""So, what do you want me to do?" He asked and I clenched my fists, tension gripping me." I'm thinking you can just pretend to be my fiance for a little while and after a month we can offici
RAELYNN "He wants to know the truth, Rae. You're planning to marry Hunter, aren't you?" Caroline had a smug expression on her face when she spoke. My gaze met Rai's bewildered ones and I knew right away that I couldn't get away with telling a lie. I'd hoped that I could keep it away from him, long enough to get him the help he desperately needed. "Tell me it's not true," Rai croaked and I lowered my gaze, my eyes brimming with tears."I'm sorry," I croaked. This scenario was the last thing I'd expected. I should've known that Caroline was up to no good, the last time I'd encountered her. **Flashback**I was stepping out of my father's office when I nearly bumped into a familiar figure along the corridor. It was Caroline. I hadn't seen her in a very long time. She appeared gaunt and miserable. "What are you doing here?" I asked and she grinned at me."You're getting married to Hunter? Who's Hunter? Another hotshot?" She asked and my eyes widened."Where did you--""I over
RAI The cheerful sounds of my daughters’ voices awakened me from my slumber. Slowly, I sat up in bed and found that I was all alone in the room. When I took a deep breath, the mouthwatering smell of fried chicken saturated my senses.'Raelynn must be up to something tasty,’ I thought as I got out of bed, ignoring the aches that assaulted my body each time I moved.Making my way into the bathroom, I halted in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection for a while. I was such a mess. I pushed my fingers through my messy bed hair and attempted to bring a smile to my face. I managed to smile, although it was somewhat broken.After going through my morning routine, I stepped out into the dining room, where the twins sat with their mother. They all beamed at me, urging me to join them.After breakfast, we all settled down in the sitting room. The twins were engaged with their toys while Raelynn and I watched over them.All of a sudden, my nose began to bleed. In a flurry of movem
RAELYNN I stared at Rai's immobile form, clenching my jaw. His right and left arm were wrapped in bandage and his face was as pale as sheets. Jared heaved a sigh, his gaze resting on Rai. "Do you really think he did that to himself?" He asked and I clenched my jaw, willing the tears to go away. My eyes were sore from all the crying I'd done earlier. "What do you think? Clearly, he did it to himself," I replied and he muttered a string of curses."I should have stopped him. I knew he was struggling. I just didn't think it was this bad," Jared stated and I shook my head."I didn't see this coming either. I thought I'd convinced him not to hurt himself. I was stupid," I said, running my fingers through my hair."What do we do now? It's been nearly six hours. He's yet to regain consciousness," Jared's brows were knitted into a frown as he spoke. The words had barely left his lips when Rai let out a groan, a frown settling in between his brows. I rushed to his side, bringing a hand
RAELYNN "Go ahead and reject me," he droned and I halted, my heart racing in my chest. A lump formed in my throat as I struggled to maintain my composure. Slowly, I turned around and dragged in a sharp breath. "Is that really what you want?" I asked and he clenched his jaw, his eyes going blank. "Do it."We stared at each other, our gazes unwavering. The tension in the air had tripled. Despite my attempts to appear cold and unforgiving, I was hurting inside. For the life of me, I knew I couldn't bring myself to reject him. No matter how hard he pushed me, I knew I couldn't give up on him. "You can't do it?" He said and I clenched my fists, annoyed. The mockery in his tone was unmissable. "I'll get you the help you need," I said and turned away from him. "Why?" He asked, following after me as I left the room. My feet came to a halt, angry tears filling my eyes. I could still smell the fresh blood leaving his body. I hated the fact that he was letting himself bleed like th
RAELYNN I was returning from the grocery store when I noticed the car parked right in front of my house. Frowning, I fished for the pepper spray in my coat. The moment my fingers curled around the container, the door of the car was pushed open and Hunter stepped out. He held up his hands and flashed me a smile."How do you know where I live?" I asked and he beamed at me."I did a little research," he replied and I scoffed at him."What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that I'm not interested in you" I said and he winced."Although I'm hurt about that, I perfectly understand why. I'm just here to check up on you," he said and I rolled my eyes in annoyance."Now's not a good time, Hunter. Besides, I don't see why you should be concerned about me," I said, attempting to walk past him. "You look tired, Dr. Lynn. Your dark circles are massive and you've lost weight. You haven't been sleeping much, have you?" He pointed out and my feet came to a halt.I hated that he