Ember
I keep thinking back to that day. One year ago, today, the events with Ryder that changed my life happened. Ryder kept all of his promises. Charli came by faithfully every day to monitor my mother. They had gotten really close over the last year and I was glad my mother had someone she could bond with. Her relationship with Rosalee was strained already. As commanded, I trained his staff and now I was leading them. I got to know more about Ryder as time went on. His family controlled every part of northern Florida, and their main location was in Tallahassee. He told me that he was raised to lead his family in this lifestyle, and that he had no choice. I almost felt sorry for him. Ryder lived in a huge mansion. It was a beautiful, all-white, three-story mansion trimmed with blue. There were apartments nearby, where he said some of his extended family lived. At least the ones who didn't want to live in the mansion. When I had first arrived, everyone looked at me as if they had seen a ghost, and then all eyes turned to Ryder at once, who was glancing silently at all of them. It was almost some sort of a warning, but after that, things went to normal. Ryder explained that Florida was split between two families. His, and a rival family. He said that their grandfather had a treaty that they still go by to this day. Ryder and his family control the northern region of Florida. The rival family controls the southern half. As long as neither of them step foot in the other region, there is no cause for war amongst families, but Ryder believes they have spies in his territory. He just has yet to prove it.
My coworkers are super nice to me, minus this one woman named Rhea, but I was told it was because Rhea was in love with Ryder, who did not return her affection. She was jealous, because I was the only one there who Ryder showed even more than a minute of attention to and had even tried to sabotage my first day by putting children's glue in my flour, and baking soda in the sugar. Luckily, thanks to my training at the Tallahassee school of arts, I was trained to recognize different smells, and my sense of smell was amazing. Best in my class. If I was to teach these chef's what I was learning in school as well, I needed no one to question my authority, so I spoke with Ryder asking advice on how to deal with Rhea. He said he would handle it. I took it that he would speak to her but I'm not sure what happened. Rhea went to work the next day, less bitter and more determined to learn. She almost looked scared. Knowing Ryder, who knows what he did to her to make her that way, I made sure to treat her with more kindness. She asked many questions along with the rest of my coworkers and I answered them. After a few months, their training was complete and now I lead them each morning with meal prep. I only stay for the breakfast portion, since school starts at 1pm every day, so I make sure the rest of the meals for the remainder of the day are properly prepped to be cooked later.
Ryder has one of his men, Lamonte, follow me to school each day. Lamonte sort of sits in the back and monitors me. Ryder says it is for my protection, since there are spies looking to threaten his organization daily. Even though I don't know anything, they would still torture me just for working for him. Given that he was the head crime boss, I believe him. I'e seen movies. Knew what happened. Hell, I have even seen Ryder kill a man just because he yelled at me. Who knew what he and other people like him were capable of?
Somehow, in this last year, against better judgment, I had somehow fallen for Ryder. You're probably thinking, What Ember? He is a fucking monster!! How could you? You're absolutely correct. He is horrible. Almost villain like, but there was the small part of me that was attracted to this darkness, and no matter how much I tried to fight it, I could not deny it. So, we started fucking, and he turned it into an actual relationship. He told me he hadn't dated anyone since his last girlfriend, Victoria, killed herself from depression. It was all he would say about it and looked sad when he spoke about her, so I never brought her up again. I had spent the night at his mansion one night, and we ended up in an argument over my last year of school. He suggested that he hire my professor to teach me here, and that I officially move in, since a few of his men were starting to go missing. He was already focused and the last thing he wanted was to be worried about me.
" I'm a grown woman, Ryder. I can handle myself. " I said to him, which made him angry.
" I don't give a fuck if you can handle yourself or not. You are staying here live and to be schooled," he said back angrily.
" So what Ryder, your just going to keep me fucking locked up here all the time? What about my mother?" I shouted at him.
" Obviously, I would get her here too. How fucking dumb can you be?" he said, which annoyed me.
" Dumb enough, I suppose, to see how paranoid and ridiculous this is. Are you even sure your men were trustworthy? What if they just left because they hated you, I said, attempting to make him see reason.
" Then that's even more reason to keep you here. What better way to reach me, than to hurt you?" he said to me.
" I carry a fucking gun everywhere I go, Ryder. Lamonte watches my every fucking step to and from school. " I said to him, almost yelling. He didn't take being yelled at too kindly and he did something he promised he would never do again. His eyes seemed to turn black again and he struck me across my face. It had only happened once, in the past, when he was angry with me, and after I turned away from him, he apologized and kissed my face as tears fell. This time, it caught me off guard, but I was prepared for it. I took my gun from its holster and aimed it at his head.
" Hit me again, I dare you", I said to him, gun on his head. Ryder had taught me how to shoot and I ended up being a pretty excellent shooter. He was not expecting me to pull a gun out on him. He was quick though. Quicker than I realized as he pulled the gun from out my hand. A shot went off, hitting the room door as I was being pushed to the opposite side of the room. He stripped the gun and tossed the pieces aside, before walking over to me and hovering over me. My head was bleeding from the impact I took, and I was feeling weak.
" Don't you ever pull a gun out at me, bitch", he said in the calmest yet dangerous tone, before standing up and leaving the room. Nurse Charli came in not long after and bandaged me up. She gave me some medicine and helped me to Ryder's bed. I don't know if it was the drugs she gave me, but I was hallucinating. I heard a howling sound before I drifted off to sleep.
" You rest now
EmberThe dream I had that night was sort of foggy. I saw my mother. She was walking towards a light. In that light, I could see my father's face."Mom" I called out. She reached dad and then turned around and looked at me, emotionless. A tear fell down her face though, and dad reached out of the light to wipe it off." Run Ember. Run as far and as fast as you can. Go to Miami. He will not follow you there" , my mom said before stepping into the light with my dad and the light faded. I was soon in utter darkness and I heard a voice behind me in Ryder's voice."Look what you made me do!", his voice said before I was grabbed from behind and then I woke up in a sweat. Mom. My first thought was, I needed to get to my mother. As soon as I hopped out of bed, I ran to the door and swung it open. Ryder was on the other side of it with some flowers. I didn't have time for him right now, as I pushed past him." Move Ryder, I need to get to my mother", I said. His bodyguards were blocking my way
"I guess this is the part of the story where I come in", I tell the camera. "Like Ember, I'll also take you back to the beginning. Seth and I's beginning. I think you will understand more about just how complicated things were when Ember came into the fold." Carter MoonstoneI could feel my wolf stir. Something was up. I only wish sometimes I was able to talk to it, but that was a thing of fantasy books. In reality, our beasts are just an extension of us. We control our beasts, but sometimes it does feel like they have a mind of their own. I guess that's just our wolf nature. Let me give you more insight into who we are. My best friend, Seth Lightwood and I, were currently going over paperwork for our pack. We are both alphas of the Woodstone pack, just as we are co-owners of the number one restaurant in all Florida, Moonlight. Yes, you heard that right. Co-alphas and co-managers. Crazy, right? I know that when you read in fantasy novels, typically, a pack only has one alpha, and t
"You can't really tell our story, Carter, without them hearing my side as well", I told Carter, sitting beside him. He laughed and rose up from his seat."By all means, continue where I left off", he said. "I'm going to find Ember anyway. Think I'll steal a kiss or two from her", he said to me, laughing before leaving the room."Tell her to save some for me too asshole", I yelled back before he disappeared around the corner."My best friend in life is a menace to society sometimes", I tell the camera. "Ember wanted our story to be known for generations to come and we, of course, are a big part of that story. Let me tell you a bit about myself. "Seth LightwoodIt was a sunny day in Miami, Florida. The days here were always sunny, and I loved them. Carter loved it when it rained though. One of the smaller things we disagreed on. I know he told you about our friendship. We really did share everything together, growing up. We were always mistaken for brothers because of it, though we loo
Ember I was far enough into Miami to be able to take a pause now. I parked behind a Walmart I saw, far away from any other people. I was alone. My mom was dead at the very hands of my boyfriend. He must have been a real menace, the way her body was in pieces like that. All the blood. The fucking blood. I put my hands and head on the steering wheel. I should never have accepted that damn job in the first place. I probably would have been killed, but it is a hell of a lot better than seeing my mother's body in pieces. No one should have to see that. I know Ryder would be looking to blame me for all of this. I know his ways. Blame others for the love he cost. The reason I was so attracted to him at one point, I will never know. My heart is so broken. Fucking broken, but now is not the time for mourning. My mom didn't raise a weak bitch who cried around all day. I will mourn her when I get that chance, but first things first. I need to find a home. I took the phone Lamonte gave me and
Ember It was a Sunday morning. The sounds of the city were loud, but I was used to that already. I had only been here one week and had gotten the apartment settled to my liking. I went shopping yesterday for new clothes for every occasion I may need. I also bought a laptop and created a new email address. Tomorrow morning, I will be going in for a interview at the Moonlight restaurant. I did some research on the restaurant and was very surprised by what I had seen. This restaurant was definitely unlike anything I had ever seen, I thought, as I looked at the photos of it. It was huge and painted all white with red trim. I didn't see any photos on the inside. I assumed maybe this was one of those fantasy restaurants that took your cellphones at the door to keep it exclusive.I looked up the owners of the restaurant out of pure curiosity and came across two of the most handsome men I had ever seen. Good Lord. He sure did take his time when he created these men. They were both wearing e
Ember Carter was the one who took my hand and shook it. I was honestly kind of scared to look him in the eye, but I wanted to be direct. The goal was still to be impressive and leave a lasting impression. I could have sworn when he touched me, it was like a jolt of electricity going right through me. It was almost exhilarating. He smiled at me, and I felt as shy as ever, though shy was not my personality. Who was this guy? " My name is Carter Moonstone. This is my partner, Seth Lightwood", he explained. We didn't even realize we were still shaking each other's hands. It was like neither of us wanted to pull away. "Ahem. We don't have all day, Miss Stanford", Seth said. His tone was grumpy, deep, and somehow still sexy. Carter let go of my hand and found his seat next to Seth. I sat down in my chair and pushed my portfolio at them. Seth just eyed me before finally taking the file and scanning it. I looked at Carter. I felt like I would get further with him, but a part of me wanted t
EmberIt had been four days since I had the interview. It was heading into the weekend now. I had heard nothing back from anyone. My eyes went back and forth to the slip of paper on the table. The one with Carter's number on it. Should I call him? No. Better to leave it alone and let them call first. Calling too much could make me sound desperate, and with men such as themselves, desperate would sound weak. I had been researching other restaurants in the area that I could apply for, although I really wanted to work at Moonlight. Something about it called to me. I was never one to believe in destiny, but if I did, I just knew that Moonlight was it. What I would lead that high class restraint as a top chef, leading my own chefs into the battle of cooking. I was a natural leader. Something that came easy to me once I trained Ryder's chefs. Leading people was also another skill I had possessed. My thoughts ate at me. Had I really not made a great impression? I know my resume was fake, bu
Carter It was funny, how, at one moment of my life, the only thing that ever really crossed my mind were thoughts of Moonlight and our pack. Now she did. She invaded every dream. Every thought. Just fucking everything. I had to see her. When she left, I forced my wolf to stand down. My primal part wanted to claim her on the spot, and I couldn't let that happen. I had already chosen her to add to our ranks for the chef we were looking for. Our beta, Jax, was tasked with keeping an eye on her, so we arranged for him to move next to her that same day and befriend her. As much as I hated another man being beside my mate, I knew Jax. We grew up together and the trust I had in him was undeniable, so I knew he would protect her at every corner. He smirked when I passed him in the hall after she closed the door in my face. I couldn't even deny her accusations. Except about sleeping with me just to get the job. While it's true I wanted every inch of her, it was not because of the job. Now, th