VIOLET
“Fuck my life.”
I cursed underneath my breath, scrambling to my feet. If it was truly rogues, then staying there would spell my doom. I didn’t waste any time and began running in the opposite direction from the howls.
The cold wind whipped past my face but I didn’t care all too much. All that mattered to me was escaping from them with my life. That was all that was important to me. That was all I cared about. That was all I wanted.
My legs ached with each step I took but I knew I couldn’t dare slow down my pace. Any false step would mean my death. I’d suffered and endured so much these past few days. I couldn’t let it all end here. My fingers were clinging hard onto my bag as I sought to quicken my pace.
My heart began thumping faster as the howls began getting closer. They’d taken notice of me. It would be better if I could transform now and run but it would only slow me down and give them an advantage over me.
I could hear the sound of their growls getting closer and closer. The thud of their feet hitting the ground filled my ears. They were right behind me and I could feel the bloodlust emanating from there. They were definitely after my blood.
I increased my speed and began running faster, picking up the pace as best as I could. I was so engulfed in getting away from them, I didn’t bother taking note of where I was running to. All I could think of was getting away from them.
After some time of running, I noticed I couldn’t hear the sound of their growls. There were no thuds coming from behind me. I slowed down to a stop and looked behind me. They were gone.
“Fucking idiots.” I clicked my tongue, trying to catch my breath.
My chest hurt so bad from running so fast. On the bright side, at least I had managed to escape them. I still didn’t understand why they’d stopped chasing me all of a sudden. Rogues were known to chase down their prey to the ends of the earth.
I pushed away the weird feeling gnawing at my chest and tightened my grip on the bag. I had no idea where I was at all. Just as I was about to bring out the map and try to decipher my whereabouts, my whole body froze.
It was pure primal instinct for an animal to know when it was being watched. I could feel it deep in my bones and didn’t even need anyone to spell it out for me. I wasn’t alone. A low guttural sound made me snap my head to a nearby bush. More growls sounded from all around me.
A small gasp escaped my lips as I watched a number of wolves walk out from different directions. Soon enough, I was surrounded by all of them. I tried to step back but there was one behind me.
I was really in for it now.
The biggest of them, a big black wolf walked up to her and stopped just a little away from her. She felt the urge to flinch back in fear but held her ground. She hadn’t done anything wrong. If it came to it, she would not be going down without a fight.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” She yelled out to them.
The black wolf growled in response, its eyes glaring at her intently. For a second, she was sure it would definitely attack. What she didn’t expect was for it to slowly shift back into human form. The tall man walked closer to her, eyeing her up and down with a look of suspicion in his eyes.
“I think we’re the ones who should be asking you that.”
The other wolves shifted into a group of men, all of them watching her intently. She had to resist the urge to squirm under their intense gaze. The man in front of her was probably contemplating if he should just kill her off. Her heart sped up at that thought.
“Check her bag.” He said to one of the other men.
The blonde hair man grabbed her bag forcefully and emptied out its contents on the floor. They probably had no interest in what they saw and turned back to her, annoyance reading all over their facial expressions.
“Who do you work for? What allegiance do you serve?” He threw a barrel of questions at her, not giving her the chance to muster a single answer.
“I-
“You’ll be coming with us.”
Without giving me a chance to defend myself, the others grabbed me and began dragging me with them.
“Hey. Wait one second. This isn’t what you think. Who are you? And where the hell am I?”
They didn’t bother answering any of my questions and just dragged me along with them. My heart beat sped up as various scenarios ran through my head. Where were they taking me to? Who were they? I’d heard of people getting kidnapped this way. Was the same thing happening to me? Would I be whisked off to heaven knows where? My body parts sold off?
I tried fighting out of their grip once again and the black hair man turned to glare at me.
“Do that again, and I’ll cut your legs off.” He threatened.
His threat was crystal clear. Obey or suffer the consequences. Shit. Everything was happening so quick, I barely even had any chance to react. I couldn’t ask anything else. Who knew what they would do if provoked to anger.
Right. The best thing to do would be to just cooperate with them and give them what they wanted. Maybe they’d let me go if I did that. It was naïve to think that way but I didn’t have much of a choice. I remained quiet and let them place a bag over my head.
I didn’t expect the painful blow to my head before everything went black.
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