The silence in the cursed grove felt heavier than ever.Imogene stared at Garrick like he had just ripped the ground open. Elira’s breath came out in a hard, shaky puff. Neither of them could speak for a long moment. Not even a whisper. The air between them burned with disbelief, betrayal, and raw tension.Garrick, now standing, crossed his arms and leaned against the hard wall. “It’s her,” he repeated. “Freya is my daughter. Eleanor’s daughter.”Elira blinked, her lips trembling. “You told us she died. You said the baby didn’t make it.” She repeated.“I had to,” Garrick said, voice rough.“Doesn’t change the fact that you LIED!” Imogene screamed suddenly, shoving back her chair so hard it scraped across the stone floor. “You let us bury an empty grave. You let us suffer, thinking our sister’s child didn’t even get a chance to breathe!”“I kept her alive!” Garrick growled. “I protected her. I raised her hidden from both worlds so she wouldn’t be hunted like Eleanor was!”Elira stepped
Elira slammed her hand into the table, sending a stack of papers flying across the room. The underground house shook faintly from the force of her fury. Around her, the other coven members went silent, their eyes lowered, heads bowed. No one dared move because when Elira was like this, she could be messy."She should be here!" Elira snapped, her voice laced with venom, her breathing hard. "By now, we were supposed to have completed the binding. With Freya, we could’ve had all the power we needed. We would have been untouchable. Oh goddess, this is taking longer than I thought.”A nearby witch who looked young and timid, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, flinched when Elira's magic lashed through the air like a whip and struck her across the arm. The girl yelped and dropped to her knees."Enough!" Imogene’s voice penetrated the room like a command, cutting through Elira’s rage. She stepped forward and gently touched her twin’s wrist. “Hurting our own won’t change what’s happe
“Enough.” Torin commanded, and they all went silence. The word wasn’t shouted. Deep, rasped, and powerful—it came from the doorway.Torin stood there, pale but tall, his eyes molten with fury and devotion. His hands still rested on Freya’s shoulders, but now he stepped beside her like a shield.Even though he hadn’t reclaim is throne as Alpha yet, his dominance was potent. The effect he had on them was beyond him being their Alpha. But of course, except for the ones who still had their reservations towards him.Freya turned immediately to look at him and her wolf growled inwardly. Only her could hear it, or maybe him too? Because right then, he looked at her. His eyes carried lots of emotions and unsaid words. Freya wished she could hear them.“He’s awake,”“Our Alpha”“Holy moon”“It’s really him”Different comments went on as murmurs as they awaited him to address them. Even Caleb was now looking at him like it was the first time he was seeing him in years.Torin returned his attent
Back in Twilight Packhouse, the mood couldn’t have been more different.Beta Caleb stepped out into the cool dusk, needing air. Inside, Torin lay unconscious but alive, his body slowly recovering from the brutal nights as a beast. Freya hadn’t left his side since they returned. She had wiped his wounds. Whispered his name. Laid her head beside his chest, listening to the rise and fall of breath she had nearly lost.And Caleb had watched it all in silence.He leaned against the outer wall of the packhouse, eyes trained on the treetops that danced with wind. “Taking a deep breath won’t help what’s brewing in you,” came a voice beside him.Caleb turned to see the pack doctor, arms folded, leaning just a few feet away with that uncanny, calm presence.“What do you mean?” Caleb asked, confused at the sudden choice of words.The doctor shrugged. “I mean, the way you look at her...how you treat her. I can tell you like her.”Caleb’s face darkened. “That’s ridiculous.”“Is it?” The doctor t
Among the crowd who had witnessed what happened tonight were Luna Athena, Alpha Zeus, Alpha Silas, Imogene, and Elira, including ex Twilight pack members. They had all been part of the chaos tonight. The ones who didn’t witness it had either been sacrificed to the curse through the chaos or had ran away.It was a messy night. Luna Athena had wanted to interfere Torin and Freya’s session but Zeus had pulled her back. “Your action is not so wise right now. Stay.” He had whispered into her ears.Imogene and Elira had watched with both feelings of enthusiasm and failure. They had not expected the night to turn like this. Torin ought to die and they were supposed to take Freya home. They were losing. They would also lose if Torin ever bounce back to his feet in his original power form.“Freya,” Hunter Garrick called his daughter’s name with a kind of intensity that made his lips tremble. He stood there, looking with wonder at his daughter, while he had just witnessed her calm a beast. The
Freya took her time to explain her dream to the pack doctor and Caleb. By the time she was done, Caleb looked a bit terrified while the pack doctor remained observant.“I don’t understand the dream and…it’s driving me crazy.” Freya expressed herself.Caleb looked conflicted, his usual bright blue eyes now looked a bit tired. “I think the beast is Torin.” He suddenly said. Freya stilled. The pack doctor picked Caleb’s comment. “Our Alpha…is the beast?” The pack doctor said, seeming to be in deep thoughts while Suddenly, the door to her chamber was knocked on. Their attention snapped to it.Caleb looked from Freya’s sweaty face to the door then went for it. “Who’s there?”“It’s Kaelin.” The feminine voice spoke from the other side.“Kaelin?” He opened the door afterwards to reveal the beautiful blonde who was once one of Twilight’s pack most active warriors. Kaelin was almost chosen as Alpha Torin’s Luna until Luna Athena became the pack’s favorite—Luna Athena, who was now on the verg