FEBRUARY, 25, 2018.
(ORLA'S POV)
I placed my clenched fists on my lap and looked through the window yet again. I had called the driver to come to pick me up since I wasn't sure if I could walk back to the pack in my current state of mind.
My mind wandered to the discussion I had with Ella earlier on. Was it even a discussion? To think that I had called her my friend in the past. True friends supported each other, didn't they?
Just at that moment, the car braked so hard, that I tumbled forward, bumping my head on the back of the driver's seat. Wincing, I forced myself back.
"What was that?" I whispered, a sudden anger rearing itself in my head.
"A car bumped into ours, Luna." The driver reported.
I didn't wait for him to confront them, opting to do so myself. Perhaps I hadn't noticed, but I was looking for an outlet to let my anger loose. I walked towards the sleek-looking car.
"Are you blind?!" I yelled, hitting the car's tinted window.
The driver, a middle-aged man stepped down from the car and hurried over to me. "Pardon me, miss. It was a mistake, I swear it." He apologized.
But I was having none of it. At that moment, I was seeing red. "Pardon you? The likes of you don't deserve to be pardoned." I knew my words were harsh, but I couldn't help it.
The driver's countenance changed, but he didn't stop apologizing. "I'm sorry, miss. Please, pardon me." He begged.
"And who's going to pay for the damage done?" I gestured towards my head. By then, I could feel the small bump that had formed.
So engrossed was I in ranting, that I didn't notice the car open, and someone getting down. It wasn't till I perceived a pleasant cologne, did I turn back.
"You?!" I growled lowly. Okay Orla, worse luck.
Staring back at me, with a look that I couldn't tell apart from worry or mockery, was the last person I was expecting to see. Scratch that, he was the last person I wanted to see.
"Are you hurt?" He drew closer, making me retreat.
Just great. Not only was Maverick, the Alpha king acting so weird, but he was concerned about me.
I spotted the driver looking at us with a surprised look. Well.
Amongst the three top-tier packs in the werewolf race, Maverick's pack was the most powerful. He was known as the Alpha King. However...I wasn't moved by it.
Until a few years back, he had been my classmate at high school, and his actions toward me were nothing short of a nightmare.
Fatso, was his nickname for me, making me wonder if I was fat. I hated him with every single drop of blood in my body. Years later now, standing in front of him, the hatred hadn't diminished at all.
"Why do you care?" I hissed.
"Start the car." Ignoring my question, he issued an order to the driver. And before I could say another word, he gripped my wrist and pulled me towards his car. My lips parted, but no word came out.
It wasn't till we were in the car, did I turn to him with blazing eyes, my chest heaving.
"What the heck do you think you're doing, Maverick?" It was all I could do to keep back from hitting him.
However, he didn't respond, instead, he kept his gaze straight.
"Drive."
...
The hospital was a big one, the walls painted white, and it looked every inch sophisticated. I was taken to a ward, and a doctor hurried over. Courtesy of Maverick. An Alpha king.
Thirty minutes later, the doctor was giving his report. "It's just a minor bump, she'd be fine after some rest...." He said.
"Thank you," Maverick said in that deep gruff voice of his, and my heart skipped a beat. I chided myself. I hated him, and the feeling was mutual. It made no sense that my heart would tingle for him.
I wrinkled my nostrils and turned to the side of the bed. I always hated the smell of hospitals. The disinfectant always ignited the urge to retch in me.
I was on the verge of throwing up, when I heard his low voice say, "Let's go."
Not in the mood to cause a tantrum, I trodded behind him.
"What are you playing at?" I ventured to ask once we were outside the hospital walls.
He shook his head, not saying a word. I took in the view of his body. He had become more muscular, and more alluring than I remembered him.
"A new way of saying thank you?" He finally said, making me scoff.
"Thank you for what, Maverick?" I retorted, feeling that familiar surge of anger. "Your car hit mine, and caused..." I gestured towards my forehead, "...this. Shouldn't you be apologizing instead?"
"Let me take you home." Maverick offered, and I laughed cynically.
"Stop acting gentlemanly. It doesn't look good on you at all." I said and made to leave. I had barely taken a few steps when I felt his grip on my wrist.
I whirled my head back, with a furious expression plastered on my face. "What?" I hissed.
Staring into his eyes turned out to be a mistake. Beautiful they were, and more mesmerizing than anything I've ever seen.
"I heard the news," he relaxed his hold, and I pulled my hand away, with an "Oh."
"My condolences, I hope they rest well in the Moon goddess's realm." He continued.
I stared at him blankly, ignoring the way my heart was thudding so hard against my chest. When did I start behaving that way towards him?
"May I leave now?" I asked, without acknowledging his words.
"I can still take you home, you know." He offered yet again.
I took a glance at his car. It wouldn't hurt to let him drive me back, besides my car wasn't close by.
"Let's go." I nodded, taking the lead.
~And the only wrong I ever committed was trusting the wrong people. If ever I'm given a second chance, I'd never be gullible ~ Orla.DARK MOON PACK.(ORLA'S POV)"Luna." A guard at the door bowed, which I acknowledged with a nod.Meandering my way through the complicated twists of the large castle, I soon arrived at the front of the large brown door. It was my father's office.A servant had told me he'd be there.Not bothering to knock, I bounced inside. However, nothing in my wildest imagination would have prepared me for the scene which unfolded before my very eyes.My throat went dry, as I stared unblinkingly at the two figures who lay huddled on the large couch in the corner of the office.I wanted to pinch my skin and exert some pressure of some sort to bring me back to reality.Did I enter the wrong room?That wasn't the case, however. It was pretty much daytime. And the day I couldn't distinguish between Ryker and any other person, I'd know the world was coming to an end.In t
FEBRUARY, 25, 2015.DARK MOON PACK.(ORLA'S POV)Where was I?That was the thought I had in mind, once my eyes fluttered open. I was perhaps in the world beyond. The Moon goddess's world perhaps?I was dead. Killed by the ones I had trusted the most. I forced myself to sit, relaxing my back on the... headboard?Why was there a headboard in the world beyond? And why did the room look so much like mine? At the thought, I took a closer look around and blinked in disbelief. And that was because the room looked so much like mine, back at my father's pack. What was happening?'We've been reborn.' I heard a clear steady voice say in my mind. Startled, I looked around. Was there someone else in the room, aside from me?"Who's there?" I called out.'I'm Eva, your wolf. We've gone back in time.' I heard the clear voice say again.Not dwelling on the thought that my wolf had awakened, I jolted. "I've gone back in time, you say? Does that mean...?" I whispered.'Yes, you aren't dead.' She said ca
ORLAA knock interrupted my delicate sleep. A small, timid voice called out to me from the other side.I got out of bed as though on autopilot, and opened the door.Cecily, the cleaner, froze her hand in midair, a few centimeters away from knocking. She cleared her throat and took a step backward. “Good morning, Miss.”I nodded at her, rubbing my eyes. “Good morning. What is it?”“Someone’s here to see you.”“Tell them to come back later, I’m not ready to see any visitors. Besides,” I looked over at the clock hanging over my bed, “it’s not even up to nine yet.”Cecily’s eyebrows moved closer together, forming a crease in between them. “I told him that you’d still be in bed, but he insisted that he must see you Or else he'd have no choice but to come inside by himself.”Ridiculous. “And who exactly is this man?”“It’s Mr. Adams.”“Ryker?” I rubbed my hand over my face and hissed. “What does he want in this ungodly hour?”Cecily looked like she was about to try and answer that question,
ORLA“This is wild,” Ella said, sipping from a cup of fruit juice. “I’m trying really hard to believe what you’re saying right now, Orla. Please tell me that this isn’t some kind of prank.” She put her cup down and used her straw to chip at the ice cubes sitting inside it. “The Moon Goddess sent you back in time?”“Shh. Lower your voice. You don’t know who might be listening,” I whispered, looking around the little stall we’d chosen.I’d invited her over to the quiet eatery not so far away from home. I was even surprised that she’d obliged to my invitation without needing any explanation at all.She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. In the entire place, she stood out the most. Her shoulder-length hair was a wild two-tone consisting of a vivid, grassy green at the top that melted into a much darker shade of the same color as you went down the locks. Today, she’d pulled her hair into a clean bun and applied a wing of eyeliner at the corner of each eye. As a halfling, she’d grown up w
ORLAI told my driver to take us to the woods at the edge of town. He’d seemed skeptical about it at first, but I told him that everything would be fine. Ella was curious as well.We both got out of the car and descended into the woods. The air smelled so fresh and clean. It beckoned me deeper. I couldn’t recall a time in my life that I’d felt so at home. Every leaf, every tree branch, and even the squirrels moving around felt like a part of me.Was this what it meant to have your wolf awakened?“So, what’s the plan?” Ella’s voice cut into my thoughts, sending me out of the confines of my mind. “I think grass can be fascinating too, but my mother’s been calling me for the past ten minutes now. As much as I really hate to rush you, I need to get going very soon.”“I understand,” I said, already taking a deep breath and calling deep into myself. I could feel Eva’s presence, just waiting to be called upon.“You wish to transform?” Her warm voice flooded my mind.“Yes, please.”“It’s dayt
ORLAI sunk into my bed and tried to welcome sleep, but it didn't come. Restless and tired, I found myself turning and turning until I finally found a little peace.And then, I fell asleep.My dreams were a mess of images that I couldn’t understand. I saw faces that I didn’t know, and I saw things that my mind kept failing to comprehend. At one point, I even felt like someone was hovering above me and urging me to wake up, but I didn't open my eyes until sunlight had started flowing in through the windows of my room, signifying that morning had once again come upon me.I got out of my messy bed and found myself staring at the mirror. It was wide and square with a dark wooden frame. There was a notch at the corner where I'd accidentally broken it on the day of my failed Awakening ceremony. I could remember the day like it was just a few hours before. All of my peers had somehow managed to transform on the full moon after their 14th birthday, but I couldn't. I'd stood there untder the m
MAVERICKI came awake with a terrifying start. I had a dream where someone was killing my parents right before my very eyes, and I was too powerless to stop them. The killer stood over their corpses, and turned to me at last. She had blood red eyes, and a wide smile that made her look like a crazed, deranged lunatic. She came for me with her hands outstretched, claws ready to sink into my flesh and snuff the life out of me.And that was when I'd woken up.Sweat ran down my skin as I tried to catch my breath. "It's just a dream," I told myself. "Just a dream."I'd told myself the same lie for over nineteen years now, and each time I used it, it got weaker and weaker. But I didn’t have any other way to comfort myself.My parents died when I was just a baby . . . Murdered by a witch that I'd been told spared my life—but not before marking my face. Because of her, I had a scar running down a quarter of my face—from eyebrow to cheek.It was already bright outside, so I took it as a sign
ORLAAfter Eva’s revelation concerning why I couldn’t tell people of what I’d been through, I just needed a way to release all the pent up tension that I had. Definitely, I’d have to get on Ella’s good side, because she’d forgotten all about what I’d told her the day before, and still believed that we weren’t talking to one another.Five months . . . was it really that long? I didn’t think that we had stayed apart for that long. Five long months of acting like strangers to one another.I freshened up and put on some clean clothes. I never really liked dressing up in anything that exposed too much of my skin, so I dressed up in a simple t-shirt and a pair of bell-bottom jeans. I moved downstairs, drawn to the sound of voices.When I saw them, I immediately jumped to give both of them hugs. “Mom! Dad!”They returned the gesture, surrounding me with warmth and a whole lot of peace. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed them until that particular moment. My father’s eyes crinkled at the co