"No mum! I am not moving back to Hiddensville! For what reason should I do that? I have already started a new life here, I have friends and even people I can call my family so why should I go back to my past?" I yell at mum while pacing the small room. I hear mum release a heavy sigh and mumble something to dad.
"Larissa, you need to listen to your mother. We have something important to discuss with you." Dad speaks up this time. His tone is laced with worry and I can hear chattering noise from the background. I run a hand through my hair, mum and dad think it is all that easy but they do not know the reason why I left Hiddensville, it is not something I would like to remember which is why I would rather remain here than go back to that town.
"Why can we not discuss whatever important thing over the phone? I mean we do not have to see each other physically to discuss something and if you insist on seeing my face, we could do a video call instead." I say. I hear mum scoff over the phone while I imagine the angry look on Dad's face.
"Larissa!" I hear Dad call out my name in a really harsh tone. He pauses to sigh heavily and goes on to say "Listen to me when I speak to you. Come back to Hiddensville and return back to the Moonfang pack."
That is impossible, as much as I want to obey my parents, they are asking way too much from me. The least I can do for them is return back to Hiddensville but I will never go back to the Moonfang pack, never! Not after what happened to me.
"I will visit Hiddensville tomorrow and then we can talk about whatever important thing you and mum have to discuss with me but do not think I will ever return back to the Moonfang pack.
Goodnight guys." I snap at dad. I do not wait for his response, I hang up and toss my phone on the bed carelessly.
I release a heavy sigh and place my hand on my chest. I am not the kind to confront my parents or disobey them. Infact, throughtout my years of living, all I have done is obey every instruction they give me, even after they abandoned me years ago. They left me to live with my aunt and they only causally come into my life whenever they need something, like now.
I throw myself on the bed carelessly and shut my eyes closed while having mixed feelings on whether to go back to Hiddensville or not. Although, my parents claim to have something important to tell me so I do not exactly have much of a choice, either ways I have to see them and hear them out.
I fall asleep and the next morning, I am up as early as 6am. I hastily shower and change into comfortable clothes. I pack a few clothes and some snacks and hurriedly dash out of my house because the next bus for Hiddensville leaves at exactly 7:00am. Fortunately for me, i am able to get to the bustop early and board the bus on time. The journey from here to Hiddensville is just a two hours drive and immediately I arrive, I suddenly feel uncomfortable to be here again. I never imagined myself returning back to this horrible town, not after everything that happened to me during my stay at the Moonfang pack house.
I board a taxi to the small house where my parents live and on getting there, I meet mum and dad already outside engrossed in a hot argument. They do not notice my presence until I clear my throat. Dad and Mum turn around to glare at me and a look of relief flashes over their faces. They still look the same and so does the house.
"Welcome back home darling. We actually thought you were going to disobey us." Mum says.
"I actually planned on doing so." I mumble as I slowly make my way towards the house with mum and dad besides me.
I step into the house and honestly, everywhere looks old and rusty. The furnitures are old and the paint on the walls are peeling.
Everywhere looks tacky and I can help but wonder if mum and dad are okay.
"Sit, let us talk." Dad says tapping the worn-out couch. I quietly sit down and mum joins me on the couch whereas dad sits on the couch facing us.
"What is so important that you can not wait for your daughter to settle down after a long journey?" I say rolling my eyes at how serious dad always is.
"Welcome back home. We would have offered you some food but we do not have any at home." Dad says with a stern look. I do not know if he is joking or if there is actually no food at home. How come? I mean I know my parents are not rich and neither am I but we were never struggling this bad that not a single food is at home.
"Why do I have a feeling that this has something to do with my reason for coming back to Hiddensville." I say raising a brow at Dad. He nods his head in agreement while mum just caresses my shoulder.
"You are still very smart." Dad mumbles. He clears his throat and goes ahead to say "We owe Alpha Xavier a very huge debt."
The sound of Xavier sends chills down my spine and causes my heart to race extremely fast. I gulp a lump down my throat and manage to say "How is that any of my business?" My voice comes out as a mere whisper but loud enough for dad and even mum to hear.
"He wants us to pay him back and the only way to do that is if you agree to marry him."
Kai’s hand locked around my arm like a shackle, his grip iron-tight as he dragged me back from the bars. Heat poured off him in waves, his fury so thick it felt like the whole corridor vibrated with it.“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” His voice was sharp, dangerous, too loud in the narrow hallway.Mira stepped forward fast, blocking his path before he could yank me further. “Kai, wait…”“Move.” His command cut like a blade.“No.” Mira’s eyes sparked with defiance. She stood straighter, folding her arms like a barrier. “Don’t do this here.”The guards lingered at the door, tense but quiet. They didn’t need to move. Kai’s presence was enough to make the air burn.I tried to twist free, but his grip only tightened. Pain shot through my wrist, but it was nothing compared to the storm surging in my chest. “I just needed to talk to him.”“You needed?” Kai’s voice dropped to a dangerous calm that made my stomach turn. “Do you realize what you’ve done? Do you even think before
Sleep didn’t find me that night. I lay in the apartment’s dim quiet, the ceiling above me blurred by shadows of passing headlights. Every time I shut my eyes I heard it again, his voice raw but unyielding. Family. That single word had carved itself into me, echoing through every pulse of my veins.I twisted under the blanket, restless. My chest felt heavy, like something was pressing down on me from the inside. The walls seemed closer than they should have, the silence too sharp. Kai had insisted on staying near, but even when he finally left with the promise to be back at first light, his warning stayed behind, heavier than his presence had been. Do not believe him. Do not let him near you again.And yet I couldn’t stop replaying the way those gray eyes had searched for me, desperate, like I was the last thing tethering him to this world.The door clicked softly, and I sat up quick. Mira stepped inside without knocking, carrying a blanket draped over her arms.“You look like hell,” s
The air in the room was still thick with Sera’s warning when Kai finally coaxed me out into the open. He said it would help, that I couldn’t hide in the four walls forever, and maybe he was right. But as I stepped into the afternoon light, I felt like the whole pack was watching, weighing me with their eyes. Mira was the one who tugged at my arm with her easy grin, insisting the pack needed to see me alive, not just whispered about. “You’re Luna now, whether you believe it or not,” she said. “They’ll only follow if they can look you in the eye.” So I went, Kai’s presence a steady line at my side, Mira bouncing ahead like she didn’t feel the quiet tension humming in the ground beneath us. The heart of the village was alive, women gossiping , children shrieking in play, men sharpening blades that gleamed in the sun. It was the kind of scene that should have felt safe, but every sound struck too sharp, every glance lingered a moment too long. I forced myself to smile. I held my head h
I woke because of the light, a pale stripe slicing across my eyelids. For a second the world felt slow and soft, like I was under water and everything moved easy. Then a warmth pressed against my arm, steady and real, and my breath hitched.Kai was still asleep, arm tossed over his face, chest rising and falling against mine. I curled my fingers around the edge of his sleeve without thinking, memorizing the steady rhythm of him. There was a ridiculous part of me that wanted to stay exactly like that forever, tucked into the space where none of my nightmares could find me.My mouth felt like I’d swallowed fire and water in the same breath. Last night was a blur of lips and heat, of fingers mapping the places I had kept closed for too long. The memory made something in me small and bright. I let it sit there, not trying to name it.He shifted then, not waking, just moving closer until I could feel the scrape of his beard against my cheek. He mumbled something that sounded like my name h
The walk back from the market with Sera had been filled with laughter, small talk, and the kind of lightness I hadn’t felt in a while. By the time we reached the clearing where the path split, she gave me a playful smile, tugged my arm, and said she needed to check on Mira. I didn’t argue. I just nodded and watched her disappear, leaving me standing there with a bag of fruits in my hand and silence pressing in. I lit a small lamp, its glow softening the corners of the room, and pressed my palms against the table as if grounding myself. That was when I felt it—the subtle shift in the air, the way the silence wasn’t silence anymore. My pulse quickened before I even turned. Kai was leaning against the doorway, like he’d been there longer than I realized. His eyes were dark, steady, taking me in. He didn’t look surprised to see me. If anything, it felt like he had been waiting, though his voice was casual when he spoke. “Thought you’d be with Sera longer.” “She had somewhere else
Sera nudged my arm with her basket, nearly spilling the apples she’d just stuffed into it.“Tell me why every guy in the training yard thinks flexing their arms is the same thing as flirting,” she said, rolling her eyes.I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. “Because it works on you. Don’t even lie.”“It does not.” She made a face, shoving a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just because that beta—what’s his name again, the one with the too-perfect jaw”“Rowan,” I supplied, smirking.“Yeah, him. Just because he asked if I wanted water and I said yes doesn’t mean anything. I was thirsty.”“You were blushing,” I teased, lowering my voice just enough for her to groan. “You nearly spilled the water on yourself too.”She gasped and swatted at me. “You’re the worst.”“And you love me for it.”We were still laughing when the scent hit me. Sharp. Familiar. A thread of the past that wrapped around my lungs before I could take another breath. My feet stopped cold, the sound of the market fading unde