Gianna, or Veronica, whatever her name was, had removed her hand from Francesca's throat, but Francesca still felt like choking. Her body was paralyzed but she could move her mouth, at least. She guessed Veronica wanted it exactly that way.Francesca was supposed to talk. So she did, "I don't understand. How did you become Stefano's wife?"Veronica grinned at her, pleased, "We knew Selene's host was going to be a werewolf so I did my search. When I found you in his pack, I immediately manipulated him to marry me. As you can see when you look at me, it wasn’t difficult at all.""Are you really his first wife?""No, he’s immortal and had so many women in his entire life. The ones that preceded me were dead shells before I kicked them out.""Those poor women." Francesca felt sick to her stomach. Veronica snorted, "Please, I did them a favor." A sense of dread washed through Francesca, "You didn't kill them, did you?" "Why don't you take a guess?" Veronica said, though she avoided Fran
"Good, you're awake." Veronica stood over Lynn, smirking down at her. She never liked the Beta much, so she had put her in a spell with a little bit of nightmare woven into it. It must have been real terrible since Lynn had fallen off the bed. "What--" Lynn croaked in her grogginess. Her eyes widened as she spotted Francesca's unconscious form. "Francesca? Oh my God." Lynn rushed to the Luna, checking her vitals. "She's not breathing. What happened?!" Veronica rolled her eyes, "I swear, you both are such extreme overreactors." she commented, but Lynn wasn't listening. The Beta ran to the door, and after failing to turn the knob, started pounding on it, "Help! Help us!" "They can't hear you. They're all knocked out." Veronica cackled. "You bitch! This is all your doing, isn't it? I knew it. We shouldn't have trusted you." Lynn shouted, running towards Veronica. But a flash of light blinded her momentarily and suddenly, she was suspended in the air, a coat of dark violet mist su
Francesca woke up with a mighty headache. Her skull felt like splitting so bad she wouldn't be surprised if she found her brains scattered all over the floor beside her. She doesn’t feel any different though. At least not on the surface. But then again, nobody really knows what it felt like to be Selene. She looked around. Veronica and Lynn were still in the room with her, on separate sides. They weren't speaking or looking at each other. "So, how was it?" Veronica was the first to speak, eyes alight.Lynn rushed to Francesca, "Are you okay? That didn't explode your brain, right?" she turned to Veronica, "Aagh, seriously Gianna, I could kill you.""Veronica, I thought we talked about this." came the immediate reply, "Stop calling me that. I hate that name. I should've picked something else.""Seriously? That's what you're bothering yourself with? You just turned Francesca, who you claim is your friend, into the moon! Do you hear me? The moon!""Stop overreacting." Veronica said, "Loo
The first time they transported, they got to the wrong place, so they had to do it again. It was awful, like you're being ripped away from your body was exploding into a million pieces. This is not to mention the dust and soot that would cover you once you arrive at your destination. As if that wasn't enough. Veronica just realized that she was having trouble summoning her demons, too. Apparently, her powers were weaker when she visits an unfamiliar dimension. They had to come up with another plan. Francesca wasn't happy about it, as it would definitely drive Stefano over the edge. But they didn't have a choice. "Jeez. I swear to God, if you do it one more time," Lynn murmured to Veronica the second time they tried transporting again. "Francesca," Tristan said her name so softly, there was no way anyone could've heard him across the lawn, even with a werewolf's ears. Francesca's hand flew to her chest. That could only mean one thing, then. Their connection was still intact. Whatever
A blast of heavy icy air swirled from where Stefano was standing and around everybody near him, and everybody stopped fighting as they gaped at what was happening. The frost and wind was biting, they could barely move forward and could only cover their eyes. But it was enough for Francesca to see four vine-like horns spring up from Stefano's head. His eyes turned obsidian and he began to scream in pain as a hard shell-like covering erupted from his own body, penetrating the human skin over it. "Oh, lookie. The pride demon finally's out of his skin." Veronica smirked. "His skin, being Stefano." "That's Stefano? What do you mean?" Kaya asked, her gaze transfixed and horrified. The other Alphas had come closer, too, their jaws dropping to the floor at the sight and their faces reflected horror and confusion.Francesca inherently knew what was happening, of course. She didn't know how it was possible. Maybe it was Selene, silently planting her own wisdom and knowledge in their shared m
Tristan could not help but pace back and forth like a madman. Seconds after his mate disappeared with the monster, Veronica snapped them all inside the building where they were previously imprisoned. She said it was to recoup and talk about what to do next.But Tristan had only one thing on his mind. "You can't expect me to just sit here while my mate is trapped somewhere with that monster," he said. He could not help the growing concern in his gut. He had wanted to hold Francesca when she first appeared in front of him. But he sensed distance between them. It might be because of her transformation into Selene, or it might be something else. But Tristan wanted to clear it as much as possible. Not to mention that wherever Francesca was, Stefano was with her. And that scared Tristan more than anything. "She's not trapped. Selene can easily get them out of there. The moon must have some business with the Stefano. Francesca will be fine." Veronica saidFinally unable to hold himself back
"Stefano, I know you're in there." Francesca ducked, Stefano's claw narrowly missing her head by an inch, "Please speak to me." "Keep going." Selene urged her. "Stefano, please listen to me. I know this is not what you want. This world did not treat you well, so you had to make do with what you have in order to find happiness again." Francesca tried again, "Think about the good in you, Stefano, please. And find it in your heart to cherish it again. Think about Emilia." It worked. Stefano paused at the mention of his mate's name. He looked around him, disoriented. Then, he seemed like he had just realized where they were. In the library, back when he was a young Alpha, back when Emilia was still alive. "That's her name, isn't it? Emilia." Francesca continued, "The moon goddess, she...she told me everything. About you. How you came to her with a wish, how you met your mate and how she...died." At the word 'died', Stefano's anger renewed. He tried to destroy the table behind him. Bu
It was three days after the war that Stefano started, and Francesca felt like everything yet nothing has changed. The Alphas, upon knowing what their origins were, have been humbled at the fact that they assisted a monster. But they were still distrustful of Tristan, who was still a half-breed in their eyes. Francesca guessed it didn't matter that becoming human was the ultimate goal that Stefano and his kind had originally intended to do. In the eyes of Kaya and the others, humans were worse than demons. As for Francesca and Tristan's relationship...well, it could be better. "Have you told him yet?" Veronica interrupted Francesca's thoughts. They were sitting in a coffee shop near Tristan's place, Veronica having waited for Francesca to get off work so they could talk. Lynn was immediately against Francesca meeting Veronica. The demon did turn Francesca into the moon without warning. But Francesca needed answers and she knew she could only get them from Veronica. It didn't mean she