ARIAll the anger I have been trying to smother down starts bubbling and I frown, looking at the blond. This is poking the bear in its cave but I am done. I am not being a sheep. I didn’t ask to be here in the first place.“Are you going to let her sit with us?” the flirt asks Zade who has been ignoring all of this and reading in his little book.“I don’t give a fuck what she does.”“Run along now,” one of the girls waves me off.“I will just tell the teacher we are not compatible then,” I smile, before rolling my eyes, smile dropping as I walk over to the teacher at the front of the class.“Is she seriously tattle-telling on us?”“Can I change the group? I don’t think-““You are Ari Silvers, right? New student?” she cuts me off.“Yes ma'am.”“In this school, we all try and get along. You are new here yes, but this is an opportunity for you to get to know your classmates.”“But they-““Is this going to be a problem?” her gaze turns cold.She is not going to help me. What was I thinkin
ZADEI have been having mood swings of late.It's so damn annoying I don’t know if I want to strangle someone or cry. This is too alien for me and I know none of these emotions are mine but that doesn’t make me feel them all any less.Like now, I am feeling so awful, so bad my chest feels like it's carving itself in and it’s all my fault.I know it's my fault that Silvers is crying and feeling dejected, and this hating game I have going on is tanking so badly right now.“You, good man?” Rowan sits next to me, putting his tray on the table. You look like you are mad at the food.”“I am fine.” Far from it.Ari and her girls all arrive at the table, and she opts to sit far from me. I guess we are still fighting. I haven’t gone to apologize and make amends so I know she is going to ignore me until I do. We lock eyes but she looks away, turning to Rhea to talk to her about something.I should be worried and thinking of how to make amends with my girlfriend. I should be preoccupied with tha
ZADE “She is the one eating. Lots of proteins, high-energy foods, and a glass of milk.” I turn to look at the wide-eyed girl who is looking so confused but wary.Does she think I will poison her in front of everyone or something? Not my style- the poison, I mean.“Don’t just stand there, get it and get lost, don’t make me regret this,” I mutter before making my way back to my table.I don’t miss the act that the whole academy just watched all unfold, probably heard everything too. No, my attention is back to my table and the way Olivia is watching me like she is going to incinerate me with just her eyes.Behind all that fury, I don’t miss the embarrassment and hurt. I am dick and I know it.“What’s that about? You are in team Ari now?” Rowan puts his fork down just as I sit down, exhaling. Livie“I didn’t know there were teams.”“What are you talking about? I thought you hated her, but clearly, that’s all in the past now,” Cass looks between me and the girl who is now walking out of
ARIThere shouldn’t be a need for me to attend these obnoxious classes.What is knowing how to kickbox going to help me when all I want to be is a lawyer and live away from all these snobby wolves?“I hate this class the most,” I grumble as I tug the shirt I am wearing. It’s baggy, almost covering the shorts I am wearing underneath.“I know but it’s mandatory. All werewolves should know how to fight and protect their alpha,” Mimi chirps next to me, a large bottle of water in hand.“You like it?” I raise my eyebrows. I am not judging, but she doesn’t seem like the type who would enjoy any type of sport. She is so doll like and cute, I want to put her in my pocket and protect her forever.“Oh no, I am just repeating what the teacher said on the first day of orientation.”“Wow, you are like a walking Wikipedia.”“I can’t help that I am smart and have a good memory. It should fill in the other areas I am lacking,” she pushes her glass up her nose.Someone's shoulder bumps me so hard I cra
ZADE“Dude!”“Punch me like you mean to.”“Are you trying to black out?”“Are you chickening out? You can’t handle it?”“I just don’t want to box a maniac,” Cass raises his fists in front of his face. “Something bothering you?”“Shut up and come at me.” I don’t wait for him as I throw the first punch, getting him in his ribs. He doesn’t fall, despite the packed punch. Instead, he stops and starts getting serious.“I would rather die than be bonded to you.”Wow, she is something. She can say anything just to avoid admitting that she wants me, but that doesn’t make sense. She laughed in my face when I said she wanted me, and she called me a clown.She insulted and laughed at me, something that had never happened before. It's not that my ego is that fragile that it can get bruised over a few words. I just can’t get her words out of my mind. I rejected her, I hate her but then why am I bugged that she doesn’t want me? Why does it make me want to punch something hard?“Girl problems?” Cass
ARI“New girl, you are paired up with Zade. He is the best at getting you up to par with things.”Amazing. The one person who wanted me gone is now going to teach me how to punch. Maybe that isn't such a bad idea, then maybe I can punch him like I want to so much.I wait for him to say no or complain but he doesn’t. He only clenches his jaw and walks off to the back of the class. Mimi is nowhere to be seen, probably left when I was busy hitting the jerk with handballs.Olivia doesn’t say anything, as she squares up with another student, but still watching me. I don’t miss the way her throat bobs up and down as I follow Zade.They always say it's not good to show your enemy your weakness, because then the chances of you being exploited get significantly high. These two have made my life a living hell, to choose to be a saint is to ask to be a doormat.Do as the Romans do, they said.“are you going to take the whole day?” zade’s annoyed voice grates on my nerves as I finally reach where
ZADE“there you are.”I walk in the greenhouse to the girl laying on her back watching the butterflies, surrounded by the flowers.“How did you find me?” livie asks, her voice quiet, her attention on the butterflies flying above her face.“Isn't this the place you come to when you need to be alone?” I stand above her, looking down at her.Her dark hair is splayed on the ground, her eyes a little red at the corners."then you know I need to be alone right now.”I take the stool nearby and sit on it next to her. “why did you leave?”Her hand outstretches, a butterfly sitting on her finger. “I didn’t wish to see you and your mate flirting right on my face.”“that's not how it was.”She exhales. “I want to be alone, I am not in the mood for you right now.”“I know you, if I leave right now, you wont want to see me for a week.”“then you don’t know me at all.”The silence stretches between us. “I keep messing up,” I exhale, looking up at the greenhouse. “I am sorry livie”She sits up, wipi
ZADEMy lips take in her lower plump one, sucking it into my mouth. She moans in my mouth when I sweep my tongue in her mouth, draw her closer, hand around her waist.Why is it … so dry? Why is there no passion I feel, no excitement nor spark between us?I pull away, eyes lowered as Livie breathes hard in front of me.“Wow.” Her breathy whisper tells me she enjoyed it. She doesn’t know how I feel or what I am thinking. “I missed that.”I cannot lie.I look at her round face, which is so beautiful in an aristocratic way, with full curly hair, and red lips from the kiss. She is beautiful and sexy. and yet …I rush her hair off her face, cradling her face. She looks happy, those eyes are hopeful, before she closes them and leans into my touch, her face pressing into my palm before she kisses it, hands clutching my wrist.“I brought you something.”Her brown eyes open and she smiles. “what is it?”Why is it this way?“you have to come with me to find out?” I stand up and offer her a hand.
ZADEShe looks peaceful. Like an angel, sleeping like this.But when has she never felt or looked like an angel? I sit down on the leather chaise in the master suite, eyes trained on the massive bed that seems to swallow up her small, lithe figure.She is mad at me.I am mad at myself, too, if I am being honest. I keep forgetting impprtant shit that should be automatic when it comes to ari but then I fucked up again. I can’t keep fucking up, it’s going to cost me largely and I won’t be able to live with myself.I think I know what she needs the most. What she is asking the world for, her mother, what she is asking me for. What she is asking herself.Being with me is threatening all of that, I know it. I can feel it too, like this deep truth just below my consciousness, and I must act on it, or I will lose her. It’s not defined, it's not named, but it's there. I can feel it, and if I focus on it, I can most definitely almost put a name to it.To this feeling that Ari wants and feels m
ARI“I shouldn’t have this conversation while I am seeing two of you, but I need to let it off my chest, otherwise I will not say anything. You need to understand that one day I will be gone and you won’t ever see me.“Maybe I won’t have said something and you will think that everything is fine between us but it’s not. So this is me telling you that one day, I will leave you because me and you, we won’t end up together.“I can’t be with you. I can’t be with anyone. Mother is safe now and all I have left is one year to get done with school then I can do what I want the most. But then you … you have plans. You are set.“I certainly didn’t see this coming, you being my mate and all. But that shouldn’t confuse me or you that I will stay and continue doing life as if it’s perfect. It’s not perfect. I am not perfect, and it’s okay. I like it this way because t
ARINow I am his mate, then I will be his crowned wife, then I will be told to perform this and that for him, for the pack, for the kingdom.None of that for me. All will be stripped of who I am, what is mine, and be dressed in what is his. Be in servitude for the rest of my life, and for what? Love? I don’t believe in love.I never grew up in love long enough to believe in it, long enough to let it impact me in a way that, by believing, if I stay by Zade’s side, all will be okay. I am jaded, messy, and broken.He got mated to a disaster, and he knows it. He doesn’t even know what he wants for himself, but he has the privilege of that being thought for him.I might have misjudged him in the past as this cruel, mindless prince that is spoiled and such, but I wasn’t far off.But despite it all, I know that I have no future with zade. I can’t tell him that though, and it hurts somewhere I my chest to think I will h
ARII nod, exhaling softly. “I see.”“I didn't mean to hurt you. I just needed you to understand that some things are serious. Worldly things are impactful.”That makes me want to laugh, but I can't find the strength to. “I guess I wouldn’t know.”“Come on, why are you bringing that up? I thought we were talking about the beautiful views and the oncoming summer.”“You keep forgetting that I am not a child, Zade. You treat me like I am porcelain that can break any second if left unattended, and think that I don’t have brains.”“It's not like that. I want to protect you.”“Patronize me. I don’t even know why I am surprised. You are just an asshole, an alpha asshole who thinks that they know better and the rest are just his minions who couldn’t think for themselves.”God, this is why I hate packs. Being patronized, led like sheep, told to do this and that, not allowed to think on your own, especially if you are a female wolf, mated to a goddamn prince of the goddamn kingdom.I am not eve
ARII never wanted to believe in knights.Having someone there for you to take your needs seriously and follow them through … that’s something that I never thought could happen for me. Yet here I am.Zade asked me to be with him this summer, to take a break with him, and all I wanted to do was be away from what I had come to know. I needed to escape my reality for as long as I could, and when I told him that as long as he took me somewhere far, I would have fun, then yes.So now I am watching the ocean. The wind is ruffling my short hair, the salty, cool breeze caressing my skin, and the sound of the waves, the calming subliminal noise of the ocean, is making my heart start feeling peaceful.He took it seriously. I wanted to get away, and he took me to a beautiful island that I didn’t know existed. It's so beautiful. Palm trees, mountains, ocean, green everywhere, it looks like it's out of a fairy land.I don’t know how he does it. How he manages to catch me off guard and floor me aga
ARIZade is letting me take what I need from him, this time letting me have my way on my terms.It has been that way from the very beginning, but tonight, it's like he wants me to take care of myself using him and, in a way, take care of himself too, by using him.So when I guide him and press him on my opening, we both freeze, breathing heavily before I urge him with a pull of his hips to push inside me.And heavens, it feels delicious. The stretch, the feeling of him opening me up as my walls accommodate him until he is fully seated inside me …I contract, squeezing him, feeling the girth inside me and I want to swallow more of him, suck him in and keep him there … it’s a heady, good feeling.“Why won't you love me?” The hoarse whisper makes me open my eyes just as Zade looks at me. He is …crying?“What?” I ask, eyes wide.“Why did you say you can't love me?”“Because,” I shift, and we both groan. His hips jerk in response, and he starts moving slowly. He has forgotten about the que
ARIWhen the body is exposed to extreme cold, at some point, it stops supplying the less important parts with blood in order to save the vital organs.It has been quite similar to me. I have spent most of my life just functioning, and apparently it has been necessary for my body to cut off supplies to some of the things anyone my age would deem normal to have.There hasn’t been a case where I could feel anything other than flight and flight. But eventually, here I am.My body is thawing, slowly coming to life, and it feels so good.Zade’s tongue is slicking inside my mouth, seeking and touching every crevice inside. His body is pressed to mine to keep me up, one thigh pressed between my legs, one hand grabbing my butt, hips flushed.I am weak at my knees. I want him, I can feel him, and I am floating. I know I am kissing him, but I am also falling and falling, feeling safe that he will catch me.It’s a dam that has been let loose.He is mine. I shouldn’t feel this way. I should feel g
ZADE“But then it will be another, then another… if you can be swayed so easily, then is it even worth it?”“I wasn’t swayed easily. You and I know that there is more to us than a bond between mates.”“Hard to believe that when all that connects us is that.”“Our parents do connect us, too. Do you think we wouldn’t have crossed paths if we hadn’t been mates?”“We could have, but you would be intent on killing me or destroying my life like you did at the beginning.”“That’s true. But you can just chalk up my feelings and invalidate them, simplify them to one variable.”“It’s the only thing that is making sense. I mean, here I am, sitting in your love sanctuary, surrounded by your memories with her, and yet you are telling me it's me you want. What about her? Why was it so easy for you to just leave her?”“If you hadn't shown up, I already knew it would rather be her that I pretended with, cosplayed my inner wishful thinking even though it wasn’t true.”I close my eyes briefly before lo
ZADEThere is something dark, alluring, and compelling about Ari Silvers that I have never been able to fully comprehend.Her beauty and magnetism are not the traditional kind. It's raw, demands that you see her, revere her, and ache to be close to her, so you can bathe in it.She is beautiful in the traditional sense as well, but then you look again. And again, and again. You are drawn in, wanting, needing, desiring, and even wanting to corrupt.She is pure, she is dark, she is innocent, but also twisted. She is all that you wish you could hold and covet to yourself, but you cannot. For it is not to be held by others and coveted, stolen, but to be looked at, worshiped, and if you are good, to be bathed in.But never yours.She is sitting on the rooftop.I followed the feeling of our bond, and I am surprised, a little unsure why she would be here. This is where she fell, almost to her death after all.Her knees are pressed against her chest as she looks at the far distance, lost in wh