That night when I went to bed, he wasn't there anymore. Neither when I woke up the next day. I could see a crack in the friendship I thought we were in the process of building, and that punctured my heart with a burning arrow. My mood went downhill the moment I noticed the lack of crinkle in his side of the bed meaning he never came home or came to our room. How could he be that mad at me for wanting to see my father or even stating true fact? He was in the middle of annihilating my father's bloodline for revenge on his father's death for God's sake. Then why was it any different in my case? Why couldn't he understand we harbored the same feelings for our fathers? My father wasn't perfect, but he was still my father, and he still brought me up with the utmost love and care. A drop of tear rolled down the side of my eye, and I wiped it away with force. He was the one being unfair, so why should I be crying over it? Letting out a heavy breath, I decided to fall back to sleep. It was t
Life is so unpredictable. One moment we're dreaming, hoping, and then in the next, we're crashing, crumbling. Leaving my papa into that torture cell was the hardest decision I ever made. Even though I promised I'd get him out of there, I didn't spot the belief, no hope in his eyes. I, myself wasn't sure how I was gonna do that. If I ever could do that. Stepping out of the room, I glanced back, the door disappearing behind the illusion of a cracked wall. My gaze steered to the elderly lady too focused on her crocheting task. I didn't have to think twice to discern who she was. A witch. "Luna, are you okay?" "Take me back," I told Wyett, already walking out of the house. I could feel his concerned glance finding me through the rearview mirror from time to time, but something in my expression kept him from approaching about it. He let me stare out the window without any interruption. Maybe it was the cold fire in my eyes, or the spiraling storm beneath my silence, or a new surge of
I did what I said I wouldn't. I ran. Strong fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, and with a tug, I was hurled back into my chair, the impact almost sending it down with me. He caught it by the armrest with ease. Though that'd be a lie, for nothing in his expression nor his movements were of ease. "No." I threw my hands at him. "Stop. Let go. Uh-" My struggles came to a halt when he grabbed my hands in one unyielding grip and started tieing my wrists in a firm knot. Fear shot through my veins, and I tugged at it. "What are you doing? Let me go-" He flushed against me, his heated skin radiating warmth through the thick fabric of his suit and licking me in places we weren't even touching. I was so distracted for that little while that the hard tug of my hands behind my back didn't register in my mind on time. It wasn't like I could prevent it from happening if I was sane either. He moved away, his lips thinned in a straight line, and his eyes shooting glares.My eyes widene
I had been to his office. Not once, not twice but seven times. Throughout the whole day. Even at night. But he was never there. I even went to the training field, asked around with all the bitter-sweet stares. No one could say a thing or didn't want to. But I could feel it, deep in my guts; that feeling like an intangible pull between us. It was right there. Somewhere around. Never too close, never too far. I could sense him, but I couldn't see him. I knew he was ignoring me on purpose, punishing me, making me suffer. But what he didn't know was I wasn't gonna give up on him. No matter how long it might take. No matter how long he stayed mad. I was gonna find him and lay my heart bare to him. I was gonna show him how grateful I was, and how much I craved him. Missed him. My visits became so frequent to his office in the past days, even the receptionist girl seemed to have memorized the same answer so bad she blabbered it without even looking up or while typing furiously. Even Wy
"Well, there's broken silenceBy thunder crashing in the dark." Lips syncing to the song playing in the small device Bree gave me, I took a sip from the dark bottle. At first it burned my throat and everything within, but after a few gulps, this became heaven. I felt afloat, like I was on cloud nine, or perhaps way over it. Into the space among the stars. "And this broken recordSpin endless circles in the bar."Another sip, and I began to spin, a giggle resounding off the walls in our room. In his room. In their room now probably. I was more like the outsider. The used one. Probably even the slave. But he never used me. I never let him. Was that why he sought resort to another? Someone who actually had the potential to give him what he wanted? Even more so. Experience, obedience and happiness.A sob replaced the endless giggles in my throat, and as though to match the ache raising havoc in my soul, the next lyrics of the song came on. "This world can hurt youIt cuts you deep
"Where is the Alpha?" "Alpha Hades would never abandon us." "What happened to the Alpha?" "Is he sick?" "What are you hiding from us?" "It's the hunter's daughter. She must've done something to our Alpha.""He shouldn't have trusted her in the first place." "Enough!" Garett roared, though not as thunderously as Hades did, but that still struck the pack members silent. After all, he was the beta, the second in command. He glared at the two men who suggested I did something horrible to my own mate. "If you respect your Alpha, then you must respect your Luna. Think if the Alpha finds out how y'all have been treating his other half while he was away, what he might do. He will gut you all out." Fear flashed through every single pair of eyes, and some even looked at me like they wanted to scream and run away. But that wasn't how I wanted them to feel about me. So I stepped forward on the porch of the packhouse."I'm not the enemy here. I'm just as distressed and worried as you are. H
I woke up from the ting on my phone in the middle of the night, indicating I received a message. My heartbeat flared the moment my conscious cleared of the drowsiness. I shot to the bedside table, grabbing my phone and turning it on. The bright light hit my eyes, hurting and making me squint. But the colors drained from my face when my eyes scanned over the text. 'Ela, help me.'Hades? As if my mind was on a reel, I scrambled out of the bed and ran out. But then I stopped, something else registering. This couldn't be Hades. He never called me Ela, and this wasn't even his number. Then who else it could be? Papa? But he was free now. Nola? Wyett? Bree even? Was Gordon punishing someone else in his sick traditional way? My head swirled. Typing in the number, I called. It rang and rang and rang. Then stopped. No one answered. Oh God... What was happening? How was I supposed to know who was in trouble? Feeling a wave of protectiveness surging through my veins, I ran back to Hades' o
It was a fortress, no doubt. A huge victorian fortress with tall, thick stone walls. But that wasn't what had my gut in a twist. It was the name... Dreaden. The same name the lady from the candle shop uttered before she got a seizure. But I had heard it way before than that, though I couldn't remember when or where. They had all been warnings that I so foolishly disregarded. Now I was paying the price. I didn't get to mourn over my stupidity for long because yelps from the girls snatched my attention. Two of them were being dragged by a man forcefully. Something snapped inside me, and I shot to them, pulling them off his clutch. "They can walk by themselves." I glared at him. "You-" He took a threatening step towards me when another of them stopped him. "Let them, Doyle." He looked like he had an entirely different thing planned in his head for me, nonetheless, he didn't protest. I turned to the girls huddling around me, and my chest tightened to see the affrighted looks on t