ARII have hardly slept the whole night.So when I hear the knob of my dorm room turn, I am wide awake, alert; but I am too slow because the door bangs open, and before I jump from the bed to the living room, I am tackled down on the floor before being hauled back on the bed.I am not weak, but I haven’t eaten for days too, so the assailants easily overpower me.Five girls to one.They are all wearing ski masks, but I know who it is even with the masks. Two people have promised me to make my stay here so much more interesting, and one of them is making it true to make their promise so early in the morning.She is carrying a bucket. I am struggling and trying to fight off the girls who have me pinned on the mattress, but I can't. So I am immobile as she tips the bucket, and ice-cold water that must have been from the freezer drowns me.The cold hit me, and I gasped, trying not to drown. I am soaked from head to toe, but I still struggle until the girls start hitting me.Punching and ki
ARII am a ghost, fleeting through lives and not even living. I get told to go this way, I do. When I am told to jump, I do.The only color and life that is in my life is the fact that I will be done with this life when I graduate. I thought it would be when I turned eighteen but no. That came with being told I had to mingle and be like the rest of the kids. Be like the legacies.The owner of the life I am living.Owners. That’s how I feel about them. Nothing in this life is mine. I don’t feel like I belong. I don’t wish to. I lost my home, I lost myself and right now I am only going through the motions.Sure, I act and show my mother that I am normal. I put on a fucking smile when I need to, and I laugh and tell a joke when it is needed. All for her not to look at me too closely. Not to question my character because then she might see me. The real me.Then she will see the real daughter she has.Dead. Hollow. An empty shell grasping at life even though I am failing to hold on.I find
ARIIt’s all happening too slowly, yet my whole body is frozen. My eyes widen as his face slowly closes in and his lips press on mine.They are soft, cushiony… and very hot. I can feel his breath on my face, the way he smells, closing me. Before I can control myself, I close my eyes, one hand touching his chest that’s inches away from mine, leaning in.It's hard ... defined ...I part my lips, and his tongue brushes inside my mouth, causing me to shiver and a moan involuntarily escapes from my lips, my knees getting weak.Just as I relish this feeling … this alien warmth I have never felt in my life … it gets ripped away and I am left panting, seeking it but the cause is stepping back, putting some distance between us.Zade looks at me with a cruel smirk, those silver eyes so dark and cold I think I might turn to frost as he spits down.“just like your mother and yet you say I shouldn’t do, what?” he wipes his lips like it's disgusting, no. Like I am disgusting before he sputs again.
ARINo beauty of the morning can melt away the anguish and the coldness slowly seeping inside my heart.“oh my!” my mom’s high-pitched exclamation makes me wince a little.“Hi Mom,” I murmur, tugging my lips into a smile as we hug but before I can sit down, she pulls me closer to her.“Whatever happened my baby? Have you been crying?”I nod, looking down, and when she pulls me for a hug, I feel the tears prickling again at the back of my eyelids. I squeeze them shut, not wanting to start another crying session. I missed my mom.I let her hold me until I am ready that’s when we pull apart.The visitor's court is set up like a restaurant, with an actual restaurant and tables under fancy umbrellas and green lawns.“I am so sorry baby, I should have come sooner,” she grips my hand and I frown.“What?”“I heard that you got mated but he rejected you,” she looks so guilty. “This is all my fault.”“How is this your fault?” my words come out a little sharper than I intend to and I notice her
ARIOn the flyer I was given, Evencrest Academy- the name scrawled out in big bold letters, it was made clear from the beginning that it would be nothing like the human schools I attended so far.Sure, it has only wolves, but they all come from different packs under one massive tree: the legacies.The legacies themselves are in the official pack- the Phoenix pack where Mr. Parker is the alpha, the king alpha, and his son zade, is the future alpha prince.With all the royalties going to the academy and the top of the cream pack daughters and sons of the pack members going there too, the curriculum is bound to be special and top-notch.Or so I expected.Today, there is a sort of trial going on.Yep, the school has an annual cull that happens after every red moon and the reason is to eliminate. One would ask themselves to eliminate what? After all, the students here are people who say death would cause shakes and disturbance. But no, this is a special type of trial.This is where all tho
ZADE“She is going to kill her.”Rowan, my best friend snickers as he continues playing against me in the video game we are matching up against.“She is not going to kill her, because she knows that she is not supposed to,” I correct him, as I defeat him in the game.“Rhea said they are going to be jumping her, do you think she can survive that?”I know his twin sister is a menace and Livie’s best friend. Maybe Rowan is right, that the girl mated to me might be in danger tonight.“Dude, how lucky are you, being fought for by two hot girls, all wanting to be your mates?” Castiel, my other best friend's shoulder bumps me from my right side, as he takes the controller from Rowan's hand and starts another match against me.“he doesn’t want the new girl, he is set on only Olivia, his childhood sweetheart,” Logan who is seated behind us watching us play sounds so bored by the conversation, and his sarcastic tone grates on my nerves.“says the guy who is being driven crazy by a girl,” I stan
“Why do you hate her so much anyway?” a girl who is wearing all black asks as she crosses her arms, looking so bored.“Rhea, she is mated to Zade. What other excuse do you need to support me on this?”Rhea shrugs. “That's enough, it's just that she looks so pathetic. She is shaking.”“And? When has that ever stopped you from stepping on a cockroach?”Rhea shrugs again. “you're right. Let's do this I need to catch up with my show.”“do you think Zade might get back on us for this? I know you are not worried since you are his girlfriend and all, but I don’t want to get on his bad side,” the third girl looks at Olivia with wide baby blue eyes.“Katie, focus,” Rhea snaps her finger on her face.“zade doesn’t mind. He told me to have fun tonight right before he gave me this,” Olivia raised a club stick.“I see why you two are a match,” Rhea rolls her eyes.As they have this conversation, Olivia is still pulling my hair, and then she presses the club on my face.“Should I ruin your face fi
ZADEI am scanning the crowd tonight below, as they gyrate against each other at the loud heavy music, the club lights bouncing off them and the walls.Cass and Logan are still on the inner side, another whole world away from the club gambling. I needed air and decided to just catch a break and get a drink, as I saw if there was anything that would distract me from the way I am feeling.I wasn't given a match today; not a single person was strong enough to fight me, which just ended up ruining my mood even more. I had to find something to keep the edge off and keep my mind occupied, and here I am.I have been antsy since I stepped into the club and I have been wondering why I would feel that way. I have never felt like this before, always going out and debauching with the bys but tonight is a little different. Everything in me wants to go back to school …Hah. So that’s what it is. “fucking hell silvers,” I mutter as I slam the glass down the counter. These are not my feelings. Someo
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