VIOLET
My eyes fluttered open, the rays of sunlight falling on my face. It made it hard to fall back asleep. It felt like someone had put sandbags on my eyelids. It was so hard getting them to open but eventually I did.
It took some time before my eyes finally adjusted to the light. With a groan, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked around. I was on the floor outside the main house. I looked back at the tall building that had served as my home and prison for twenty-two years. The torture and torments I had endured in that house wasn’t something I liked thinking about.
All of a sudden, memories of the previous night began to flood my mind. I clutched my chest, feeling like my heart was going to give out. It was still hard to believe that all of it had happened. I had been painfully rejected. The worst part was that he had embarrassed and humiliated me before the whole part.
I took in a shaky breath and got up to my feet with a few groans. There was no point in hating myself over what happened. I didn’t regret a single word of what I had said last night. I meant every single one of it.
I would no longer take the horrible treatments of the pack members. What happened was very clear. Tristan had made his choice very clearly and decided who he wanted to choose over me. The battle line had been drawn and I would not be succumbing.
“Mark my words Tristan Black. I will make you pay for everything you made me endure.” I swore to myself.
I made my way to the back of the house where I knew the window to my room would be. I looked around and my eyes landed on the tree. I looked down at what I was wearing. I was still in yesterday’s gown. It would be impossible to climb with it.
I began to rip at the seams until I knew I would be able to freely climb up. It was a shame I had to ruin the only beautiful gown I had but I knew it was necessary. Taking in a deep breath, I began climbing the tree.
It took some time before I finally made it to the branch that extended all the way to my window. I looked around, making sure no one was watching me. It was still pretty early in the morning so most of the pack members would still be asleep by now.
I crawled into the room through the open window and landed less than gracefully. I wasted no time in taking off the gown and quickly grabbed a shirt and some trousers before putting them on. I grabbed my bag and packed up most of my essentials into it. Once I was done, I put on my hoodie and flipped the hood over my head.
As I stood by the window, I took one final glance at my room. Blowing out a breath, I got out of the window and climbed down the tree with my bag still in hand. I landed on the ground with a small thud. I quickly looked around, making sure no one saw me.
“We’re good. We’re good.” I tried to reassure myself as I bolted for the forests.
It wasn’t all that far from the main house and soon enough, I had made it there. I looked back, the houses already in a far distance. My heart thrummed in my chest as the thought of what I was doing echoed in my head.
It was for the best. I deserved this. I needed to do it for myself. I let out a breath before turning and heading deeper into the forest. All my senses where on alert as I walked through the forest. I didn’t have a phone that I could use so it only made my journey the more difficult.
My main aim was to find someone that could help me beat Tristan Black. When I thought about getting revenge, there was only one person that came to mind. The one person that I knew Tristan hated with every single cell in his body.
Alpha of rival Dark Moon Pack, Lucian Sinclair. He was well known as a monster among wolves, with a ruthless reputation and a knack for defeating his enemies in the most brutal way possible. Was I sure if I could even find him? How was I sure he would even agree to help me?
I pushed away all the insecure thoughts and focused on my goal. I had to have faith that I could find him. I had a map that would direct me where I was headed. I took multiple stops and breaks, occasionally foraging the forest for some food.
I would then get up and continue my journey. This continued for almost five days. By the fifth day I was already tired of everything. It was as if my mission wasn’t yielding any success at all. I could feel myself on the verge of giving up. What was the point in doing anything?
By now, West Creak must have realized my absence. I tried not to think about it as I forced myself to trudge on. It was already late afternoon and I had barely even eaten anything all day. I decided to rest against a tree when I felt my feet were about to give out. This was all so hard.
It was hard holding on to my resolve with each passing day. I could feel myself slipping further and further. Would this even work? What if I even succeeded in finding Lucian? Who’s to say he would even help me?
I was still deep in though when a howl made me freeze. After some seconds two more howls followed the first one.
My body tensed as I already knew what it could mean. There was only one possible meaning to those howls.
Rogues.
LUCIANThere wasn’t any reason for doing that—deciding to help Violet with her training. Deep down, I couldn’t quite explain it to myself either.It was just something I did without thinking. I let out a breath before putting off the shower. The days were going by faster than I could keep track of. If what Zayn had said about Tristan looking for an alliance with Ashborne was true—Another breath left my lips. I grabbed a towel and dried off my wet hair before making my way out of the bathroom.Violet was already there, her focus trained on the phone in her grasp. Her lips were pulled down into a frown, like she completely detested whatever it was had her attention.I slowly made my way towards the bed, my footsteps concise and intentional. She must have noticed my presence right from when I stepped out of the bathroom. But somehow she’d mastered the art of acting like nothing mattered to her.Except for the occasional cracks in her façade.I wanted to annoy her, get under whatever it
Lucian’s POV.There was once a time when I could feel any and everything all at once. I carried my emotions with everything that little heart could muster.That was over two decades ago.I’d long since smothered that piece of shit that only ever made me do stupid things. How did that help?It made me into the Alpha I was. Strong, dominant, and unwilling to break no matter the strain.“Hit me.” I turned to Zayn, waiting to hear what he had to say.The report was simple: Two dead, one injured. Patrol breach, southern ridge. Most likely scouts—testing us.I set the parchment down without reacting. I’d seen worse. Handled worse. But the tension in my jaw didn’t ease.Zayn leaned back in the leather chair across from me, arms crossed, waiting. “You going to say something or just keep brooding?”I looked at him once. That was enough to shut him up.“This isn’t a scouting mission,” I said. “It’s provocation. Tristan’s baiting us.”“He thinks you’ll act emotionally,” Zayn muttered.He’s not e
Violet’s POVThere was tension in the air that seemed to suck the breath right out of me. The look on Zayn’s face didn’t help either.He turned to Lucian, seconds passing between them as they locked gazes. I hated it. The silent conversations between them, whatever it was they arrived at were well understood by both parties.“Well,” Zayn suddenly got out of his seat. “I’ll leave you to it then.”I whipped my head to him, surprised that he was already so eager to go after all the egging and rage-baiting. ““Wait, where are you going?”His gaze flicked to Lucian and back to him. “It’s something you need to hear, preferably without my presence being felt.”I frowned. “What if I want you to be here?”For a moment, something indescribable passed behind his eyes. Then it was gone.“Sorry, Violet.” Zayn had a sad smile on his face. “I won’t be gone for long.”With that, he began making his way out of the office. The moment Zayn left and the office door clicked shut, I sensed it—something was
VIOLET“So what it is?”I didn’t bother wasting time as I went straight to the point. Being in the confines of Lucian’s office wasn’t something I found comfortable.Coupled with the fact that he hadn’t said anything about seeing me that way last night, I didn’t know what to make of anything.“Sit down first, then you can start running your mouth.” Lucian shut the door before turning to me.“I doubt you’d know much about keeping your mouth shut,” I shot back. “Barking out orders and telling people to do as you want must be a huge turn-on for you.”His eyebrow twitched in irritation. Before I knew it, he had already crossed the room and closed the distance between us.“Shut the hell up, or I will make you.”There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he stared back at me. Too bad, I wasn’t one to give a damn about what he wanted.If he wanted to act all prickly, then everyone was going to get pissed today. Two could play at that game.“Is that always your go-to threat or you just have th
Violet's POVOne thing I would always pride myself on was my profound ability to act, put a smile on my face and go about as the unfeeling bad ass I thought myself to be.Forget traumatic pasts and borderline bullying.I was it!Well, that was what I liked to tell myself. It helped sometimes, kept the whispers of inadequacy and doubt at a distance.Up until it’s just me and my thoughts. Honestly, the fact that I was yet to fully spiral was more than a surprise. The nightmares were the most annoying. I was still in fervent search of a remedy for them.Lucian hadn’t noticed yet. It was good that he hadn’t—even better that he’d left the room last night.As soon as he’d shut that door, the tears had come pouring down like an unending flood.“Why is it so hard to breathe?”That was the only coherent thought that rang in my head. It felt like my heart was threatening to lurch out of my chest.“Damn it.” I cursed, wiping away at my cheeks profusely.The harder I wiped, the more they fell.Wh
LUCIANIt had been about three days since the dinner with Kane and Marissa. Two since Zayn told me about West Creak brokering an alliance with Ashborne Pack. Five since I’d noticed something unusual with Violet.She’d been pretty good at her role as Luna, no doubt about that. I had to give it to her, she had a knack for being open and there for the pack members whenever they needed it.Whatever complains it was they had, especially when it was something that required utmost attention, she was always quick to lay it to me. Which was one of the things I actually found amusing about her.What I did find unusual though was certain actions I’d picked up on from being her roommate for quite some time now.It mainly happened when she was asleep. I’d been skeptical when it happened the first time.She’d mumbled somethings in her sleep, her whole form shrinking into what had seemed like a fetal position.I still remembered how she’d woken up with a start, her whole body lightly trembling. She