:) As we come to the end of the month, please do remember to vote and use the gems before they expire. It would truly be appreciated đ
~ QUADE ~Her glittering eyes widen, and I canât help but smile.âI love you, Layla. I fucking love you. You make me feel what I never knew I could.âShe closes her eyes, tears trickling down her cheeks and I cup her face, leaning in to kiss her. âWait!â she whispers, and I cock a brow, removing her glasses.âI did brush my teeth and shower in the hospital wing before I came to see you,â I murmur, making her laugh. âNo! Not that, I want to tell you something first.â She pouts, âI love you, too.â I smirk. âI knew that, but I do want to hear that every single day.âThis time I donât wait for a response and press my lips against hers, claiming them in a deep hungry kiss. She whimpers against my lips as she cups my face, pulling herself even closer. I wrap my arms around her and lift her up as I place her on the drawer she was standing beside when I had snuck into our bedroom.I kiss her hungrily, my hands running up her thighs, enjoying the feel of her skin beneath my fingertips. Sheâ
One Month LaterâŠ~ LAYLA ~Itâs been a month since everything went down and itâs oddly⊠peaceful. To feel safe and relaxed is something I havenât experienced for ages. My memories returned, so many where I spent moments with Quade, where I was crushing on him. He was my first crush, and that crush remained until my memories were erased. Through those memories I noticed how he became distant after a while. Cross-checking those memories with Julian, he confirmed that was when Tray told them I was his mate.Sickening.And right now, thatâs all I have, these memories of him.The shot Reagon took was aimed to kill, containing the same poison as the blade I was given. But somehow Quade didnât die. I felt his heart slow in my arms, and then it began pumping again. Julian thinks it was my gift, but if it was, then why is Quade still asleep? He didnât wake up, and itâs killing me not knowing if he ever will.Nikita is healed; it took her two weeks of complete bed rest before she was able to g
~ LAYLA ~I have to trust Julian not to hurt Quade, or Quade to not kill Julian because I need to find Tray.Theyâve been protecting me for so many years. Itâs my turn to protect them. They are all thatâs left of their brotherhood. Their bond is the only legitimate one.I need to think!Itâs hard to, with the growls and snarls of the two men I care for fighting one another. I need to look past the illusion. But how do you do that when they are so powerful?Think! My heart is thudding, my ears ringing as I try to look beyond the storm within my mind.I need to shift! Iâll be able to mind-link Quade too!I shift, bones cracking and reforming before I look around me with keener eyes. The scent of my mate is intense in my nose.âQuadeâŠâ I trail off when something else fills my nose. The metallic stench of blood.I sniff the air, sensing Tray and Axelâs blood. I might be able to find him to put an end to this. I have to act fast before Tray realises and disguises the scent. He is able to ma
~ LAYLA ~âExactly. We all know Quade took good care of his little sister. He had a soft spot for her, so I wanted him to kill her. Sucks though, but he turned out weaker than I hoped. And he held out, even when I made it look like she was the one that killed your little baby brother!â He laughs again and Quade snarls, the sound ringing through the room as his rage surges forward.âYou!ââNikita didnât kill him,â I whisper, Trayâs words sinking in and my heart leaps. I feel relief that I didnât let Quade kill her, because he would have only felt worse.âNo, she didnât. Shame, she had it in her. And she decided to become a disobedient little bitch. Even after I made her think Quade had killed her mate, she still wasnât able to harm Layla. Pathetic whore,â Tray spits at me.âFuckâŠâ Julian murmurs as he glances at me before he turns and walks over to Nikita and begins cutting her ropes. Thereâs going to be a lot of guilt there⊠I just hope both men can forgive themselves for how she was t
~ LAYLA ~âTray,â Julian breathes.âWhy? If youâve been alive all this time, then why did you pretend to be dead back then?â Quade is the first to ask the question on all our minds. His voice is low but strained with emotions, heâs good at hiding his emotions, but for him to let them slip, shows how much this is affecting him.âOh, you mean that entire pond fiasco? Well, I had to plant the seed of doubt somewhere in the boys.â Tray smirks and Iâm disgusted. This man is meant to be my mate? I feel nothing for him. Thereâs nothing, not even a pull. All I feel is anger.âBut why, for what?â Julian asks. His anger is clear, and unlike Quade, heâs not trying to act in control of it. It makes Tray chuckle.âLook at the three of you, working together yet still. So. Fucking. Dumb! Why do you fucking think!?â he snarls. âYou, Steele! You were the mother fucker I wanted to take down.â His eyes are fixed on Quade and I glance at him, feeling a pang of hurt for him. Quadeâs eyes flicker. Is that c
~ LAYLA ~My heart is still hammering, even though itâs been ten minutes since I used the poisonous gas. But I still canât wrap my head around it as I look at Nadia, who is tied up in the same place where I found Nikita.Her leg is bleeding profusely where Quade had shot her. Axel is tied to another chair, but heâs badly wounded. If he doesnât get medical attention, he may die, not that either of the boys would care.âWe should go take a look around her quarters and see what we can find. She must have a phone. We might be able to find out who sheâs been talking to.â Julian moves forward, checking her pockets before he pulls out a phone.âPassword lock,â he says, passing it to Quade.âIâll have Eddie look into this. You and Layla go see if you can find anything else in her quarters or anything regarding her true identity.â Quade frowns as he looks at the unconscious woman, then back at the device.I cast a final glance at Nadia, feeling sick. This was the woman I trustedâŠâCome on, Layl
~ QUADE ~âSomething isnât right⊠they are on castle ground,â I mutter, as we park a good 100 yards from the entrance gates. Something isnât right. Why is Axel here?âWe need a plan before we just go in there,â Layla says quietly. I glance at her, trying to squash the jealousy that I feel and still feel knowing she kissed Julian. Iâm acting irrationally, but there is nothing I can do to rid myself of this burning rage from inside of me, no matter how pathetic it is.I frown, âI think the only thing we can do right now is to get inside, find Axel and put an end to this.ââWe need some kind of plan, Quade. If Axelâs there, then they have friends on the inside, and also it means heâs here to meet someone. I donât think you should tell Eddie weâre here either,â Julian says.âA reasonable point. Letâs arm up.â I walk to the trunk and take out a few weapons. Iâll shift if I need to, but there is one thing I have to do before we enter.I need to tell Layla about what happened with Tray, even
~ LAYLA ~âAll, ok?â Julian asks as I step out of the bedroom feeling horrible.âYes,â I say with a small smile, before heading to the kitchen area to start cleaning up.âLay?âI turn and give him a small smile. âWhat is it?ââDonât do that. What happened?ââNothing. Now please letâs drop it,â I say, sighing softly.He glances at the door, then at me. âYou told him that quickly?â he asks quietly, now coming over as he tosses the rubbish into the bin.âNo, he knew.ââBecause youâre not a good liar.âI sigh and look up at him. âIt wasnât because of you. I did something because I wanted to, because I realised something last night,â I whisper.His green eyes soften. Thereâs something there, a longing mixed with acceptance. âThat you love him.â Itâs a statement.I nod. âYeah, exactly that. And I have no idea how to process that. I donât even know when my feelings became more.ââThen when heâs cooled down, you should tell him.âI look up at him and nod slowly, when I have the courage becaus
~ QUADE ~Leaving Layla with Julian somehow made me uneasy. The gnawing feeling in my stomach kept growing, and although I told myself it's because of what Iâm about to do, I couldnât shake it off.I ended up parking halfway there and travelled the rest of the way in my lycan form. Keeping to the shadows of the night.The grave wasnât hard to find, even if I havenât visited it in ages, the memory of it isnât one that will ever fade. Entering these forgotten lands where the Sapphire Pack once stood is harder than I thought it would be.I remain in lycan form, holding my bag in my hand as I pay attention to every sound around me.This was once a place I loved to spend my summers.If heâs alive and this is all his game, then those memories were all a lie, and proof that trust is usually misplaced.I look around the fields, itâs overgrown, covered in grass and brambles. No one visited, and neither did I. After the massacre, this was a place I didnât want to come to, remembering the death o