Elise sat alone on the wooden steps behind the packhouse. She pulled her legs to her chest, and her chin rested on her knees. It was still early in the morning, 6:32am in Archview.The sky was still a cool blue color, and the sun hadn’t fully come out yet. The grass was wet, and everything was quiet, like the world was still sleeping, because the world was Infact still sleeping.She played her fingers round the tip of her shirt.Her fingers were cold, but she didn’t feel like going inside.She had been awake since before dawn, more like midnight.Her dreams had been strange again; full of light, whispers and faces she didn’t know. Her dream was so bright, almost as bright as the sun amd it was filled with faces she didn’t know.None of the faces looked familiar in anyway.She didn’t understand her dreams, but they left her heart beating fast when she woke up.She heard the door creak open behind her.“Elise,” came Kai’s voice. His voice was so soft, like he didn’t want to scare h
The night was quiet around the training grounds. Kai sat on the edge of a wooden bench, elbows on his knees, legs clenched together in a tired way. His hands were made into a fist on which he rested his jaw on.Above him, the moon hung in the sky.His second hand kept playing and swinging the round hook on the handle of his water flask. He was supposed to be in bed hours ago, yet he couldn’t shut his eyes.The wind kept whistling through the trees while making the leafs that weren’t deeply rooted with their trees fall out, but Kai hardly noticed. His kept on sighing.He stared at the ground asif finding something. The water bottle felt heavy between his palm.Someone had dropped a small pebble in the distance, and it clacked on a practice dummy. Far off, an owl called softly, he looked up the sky; maybe to see the owl or not, he wasn’t sure, but it was blank. His own head was blank. He couldn’t quite place the feeling.He heard them, but he felt far away, too lost in his own t
The Everglade estate was located at the far end of the northern territory, hidden behind tall iron gates and pine trees that looked more like guards than part of the scenery.The house was stunning; you’d only have that thought only if you liked things that felt cold and lifeless.It had stone floors, huge glass windows, and a silence so heavy it almost felt like it could choke you.The whole house was in black and white, hence, it had no life in it.There was no laughter, no warmth, just pressure and quietness hanging in the air.It was like there was even no birds or singing insects around.The whole place was dead silent.Becky Everglade stood in front of the grand mirror in her room, brushing her hair with slow, controlled strokes.Becky’s room was the only one which had color, painted and designed in pink.She had done this herself of course, after her father had given her the permission to do so after years of begging.Her father had allowed her as a reward after she’d stabbed A
Morning came early after Elise had drowned herself in her thoughts. She had barely slept and had over thought every single thing about the packhouse, if she’d continue to be an outcast all her. She felt sorry for herself — she had gone from being the outcast with no wolf or power to being the outcast with way too much power thst the wolves were scared of. Her life must have been written and organized to frustrate her.The packhouse was quiet and slow to wake or become lively, like everyone inside was still tired from everything that had happened lately.Elise woke before the sunrise, tangled under the covers and covered with sweat; the aftermath of turning and tossing around too much.Her dreams had been filled with thick fog and whispers—Becky’s voice, the council’s murmurs, Kai’s eyes staring but unreadable.She sat up and pressed the tips of her hands to her eyes, hoping the consistent pounding in her head would reduce. She hadn’t slept well since the Council’s visit. Or maybe s
Elise had never realized how loud silence could be until now.It stretched endlessly around her, through the halls of the packhouse, through the little sounds made in conversations, through the large distance between herself and the rest of the world.Although she grew up a loner, it was never quiet around her as much as it was now.Even though she was alone, she was never alone in real.There was either someone bullying her, someone talking shit to her face or someone motivating her with pity.It was never this silent. Right now, no one said a word to her face.There were just little whispers and hushed voices, but no one even said anything to her all day.Not even Kai or Lucien as they were nowhere to be found since morning.Even the wolves that used to greet her with nods or forced smiles now avoided her gaze like her eyes was filled with curse or like she could light them up just by looking at her.No one said it out loud, but the fear was there. It clung to the walls like a che
The words they had said, the judgements, the stares, the disapprovals all still lingered long after the Council left.By the time the sun had reached its peak, Elise sat alone on steps of the backyard at the packhouse, her fingers clenched tightly to the hem of her sweater. Her breath showed in the early morning air, though spring had technically arrived. She kept sighing in the cold which made her throat dry.She barely felt it. Not the air. Not the warmth of the day. Not the dryness of her throat.Nothing.She had become a ghost in her own story.Inside the packhouse, the Council had come together once again. Another meeting. Another door closed in her face.This time, they wanted to talk to “the truth wolves”. The thought of this made Elise’s stomach churn. She could hear the low hum of voices from the war room—Kai, Elder Kion, Marcellus, and others speaking in sharp husky tones. Occasionally, a voice would rise above the rest before falling silent again. They had been me