Tyler’s POVMy brother waited for five minutes for someone inside the arena to come forward and reveal it was them, eventually confessing why they let three shitty heart-eating beasts enter Stella’s Soul. ‘A liar will never confess the truth unless he or she is tortured, ‘til one see the face of death smiling at them,’ Remus breathed into my soul. My wolf’s words of wisdom sent a grin blooming across my poker face. And even when the timer runs out, as expected—as we have anticipated, no one moves forward. And that’s why we resorted to the latter of Remus’ advice: torture.***Elaine’s POVEvery breath I take makes me anxious even more. Only one of us inside the arena could be the mole. Stella’s Soul is a village where basically those who are only a member can enter due to a gold-plated card handed out to everyone, even to me. And they can invite anyone as long as the invitee is with the member upon crossing Selena
“It was Rowena. It was her who betrayed us.” Hearing those words from Tyler himself as I look up, hearing his voice as he confirmed to me that she really is the one makes the chain of thorns around my heart wrap even tighter. My torned heart and grieving mind begged to reject and not believe any of these, any of these that happened tonight. But truth always stabs harder and leaves a deeper wound than lies. ‘Truth always hurts…’ That same unknown voice whispered to me again. ‘So now you must choose wisely…’ My throat bobbed at the last words. Is that Eliane all along? “Elaine!” Rowena shouted my name. “Get the fuck away from my wife, Rowena!” I look up at Rowena’s astonished but hurt face, who tried to pick me from the ground as my tears continue to stream down from my eyes. She backed away. And before I knew it, Jose made her kneel, making her knees bleed. I can see the pain in her eyes as the chain th
‘She…will…always…be…remembered…’ Those words echoed in my ears like some sort of death bell that made my world stop in an instant. “Wha—What are you going to do with Rowena?” I tried to remain composed and unbothered. But deep down, I am panicking. My emotions are absolutely fucked up. If what my guess is true of what they are going to do, knowing that wolves and werewolves are brutal and savage by nature, I will never forgive myself if I will not step in and stop the Alphas. And perhaps betray them as well—betray Jason, betray Karlos, and…‘Betray, Tyler...’ That same voice murmured into me as if it’s just beside me. The hair on my arms rose, sending shivers down my spine. But Tyler only stood from my gilded bed, walking away from my question and shutting my bedroom door close, leaving me with the now-cold tray of breakfast sitting in my lap.***I shove every boiled egg, cereals soaked in chocolate milk, porridge, and bacon in my mouth
“Meah’s approaching.” His breath is as warm as the sauna in my ears. “I’m surprised you know the name of every staff member here, huh.” He then kissed my forehead. “I was born here, Elaine. I even know the names of their children and their children’s children.” When Tyler mentioned the word children, I remembered I do not see them often ever since I arrived. “Why don’t I see them often?” “Do you remember the Luna’s Lake?” “Yes.” “The children’s lair is behind that, cloaked with magic. Don’t worry; they will go outside as part of our entourage.” “Wait. Did the children see us that night?” The smoke suddenly thickens near the door. Tyler faced me and wiggled his cock in a goodbye motion of the hand. Light flashed and I heard a thud on the ground outside. I was about to lean outside the window when the wooden door burst open. “What the—” Meah blurted upon seeing the thick smoke. “Why the hell
“The wedding dress is the trend nowadays. It’s called a mermaid-style wedding gown.” It’s so white that, I presume if I walk down the aisle later at midnight, I’ll be the shining beacon amidst the dark of night. It has no sleeves and has a huge V-cut by the breasts. As I survey the wedding gown, I look at my chest, calculating how revealing my cleavage would be. “I thought my wedding gown would be a conservative one?” Nicole raised a brow. “Nah, why hide something your Alpha would very much love to see?” He and Melissa clapped and I was left pouting. “And what exactly is that something?” I crossed my arms. “Your tits.” Melissa chuckled. “Shh, Melissa.” But my soon-to-be sister-in-law remained giggling. “It’s you. Your beauty. The shape of you, raw and dazzling. So flaunt it, girl! We are no longer in the conservative era—we are now in the cleavage era!” “Okay.” I don’t know if I
The road to the basement is as dark as the crow’s wings perched atop a leafless tree.From the party to here is a motherfucking almost fifteen minutes’ walk. It’s a good thing I am not wearing stiletto shoes. “I’ll wait for you outside,” Jose then crossed his arms as he turned around. The wind howled as I turned on my heel, walking like a panther in the hopes that me and Jose’s mission would go unnoticeable. We bravely hope. The stairs were steeped as I climbed down with only five steps before the door. I pressed my left palm on the wall of brick since no railing can be gripped by my hands. Rough and hard, but I ignored those two. This is not a time to complain like an entitled woman. “It’s locked, Jose.” Jose sucked a breath before going down with me very quickly, as fast as lightning. As soon as he stopped, Jose froze the glinting metal under the light of the Worm Moon, the name of March’s full moon. Frost devoured it. The strength of
And when neither of us dares to speak, I did not make bold of knowing how many minutes have passed; I just studied her—stared at her. Her eyes are wholly focused on the ground, tears quietly cascading from their origin. She’s sad and acknowledging her mistakes, I can see it. Feel it deep in my bones. Yet, I still did not know why she betrayed us. She did not answer me earlier. Yet. “Why did you do it?” I now took the courage to break the silence and ask her that vital question. But the shaking of my voice did not hide the fact that I was debating asking it. “My brother was eaten by Hearteaters weeks ago, the remaining relative I knew, on a sunny beach in your hometown…” Wait. Did it happen the same day they killed the Rutherfords and the very day I crossed paths with those hideous creatures? Holy fuck. “I don’t see why it’s a good reason to do a bad thing,” I uttered with untamed disappointment.
“Jason…” I spoke his name as if it was Tyler’s. I really thought at first that it was Tyler. Thank God it was not him. Or maybe I should be thankful it was him? The Worm Moon was already shining brightly amidst the evening, my shoulders are gilded in silver thanks to its light. After a while, the air began to change as I returned my attention to my fiance’s brother. I lifted my head and drank in the cool smell of the cold wind, closing my eyes so I could breathe in it more. It carried something pungent and foul on the moist breeze. Someone stomped a foot. It reverberated in this narrow dark place so I opened my eyes in an instant. “We’re right here, Elaine.” Jason swept his arm towards the view of empty cells around him while his gaze was steadily on me, watching and waiting. “So stop shutting your eyes and look at us.” I took in a deep breath and held it. In front of me is a man capable of reading thoughts and manipulating