Malia The drive to my house was suffocatingly quiet, broken only by the sound of Corey’s shallow breathing from the backseat. I kept glancing at him, fear tightening my chest every time I noticed how pale he was. Jamie, sitting behind the wheel, didn’t speak much, his usual snark replaced by a deep worry etched into his face.As we pulled into my driveway, Jamie exhaled sharply. “If Corey doesn’t wake up soon, my parents are going to lose it. And by lose it, I mean full-blown Glenn family meltdown.” I glanced at him, knowing he was right. The last thing we needed was for Jamie’s parents to start asking questions—questions we couldn’t answer. “My parents are out of town,” I said, unlocking the door. “No one’s here to panic, so we’ll keep him here for now.” Jamie nodded, and together we carefully carried Corey inside. Every step felt heavier than the last, the weight of the situation pressing down on me. Once we got Corey to the guest room, Jamie settled into a chair by his bedsi
MaliaNina’s words lingered, heavy and insistent, but Jamie wasn’t one to be pushed into rash decisions. His expression hardened as he raised a hand to stop her mid-argument. “Before we do anything,” he said firmly, “we need to discuss this properly. Let’s find a quiet place first. I’m not making any moves until we know what we’re dealing with.” Nina threw her hands up in frustration. “You can’t be serious! Every second we waste gives Aaliyah more time to tighten her grip on Asher. How is this even a question?” Jamie didn’t flinch. “Then let’s make it official,” he replied. “We vote. Either we go to Asher’s mom now or we sit down and talk first. Majority wins.” Nina glared at him but didn’t argue. When the votes were counted, to her clear annoyance, everyone except her agreed on talking first. She let out a dramatic sigh and muttered something about “idiots” under her breath, but she followed us anyway as we left to find a quiet spot. The theater hall we chose was dimly l
Malia My heart raced as Asher's claws glinted dangerously close to my face, the sharp tips mere inches from my skin. His low growl reverberated through the room, vibrating in my chest and sending chills down my spine. Every instinct screamed at me to retreat, to abandon the reckless idea of tearing off the necklace, but I couldn't. I wouldn't. This was Asher. The man I loved. And I wasn't going to lose him to Aaliyah's twisted games. His glowing eyes locked on mine, a fierce, predatorial rage burning in their depths. He was fighting me—no, he was fighting the spell. I could feel it, the way his claws trembled mid-air, the way his breathing hitched, like he was battling an invisible force to stop himself. "You won't hurt me, Asher," I said, my voice steady despite the tears stinging my eyes. "I know you won't." For a fleeting second, doubt flickered across his face. That was all I needed. My hand shot up, grabbing the enchanted necklace. The cold metal burned against my
AsherI couldn’t believe it—my own mother, siding with the girl who had me spelled and rendered me a pawn in her twisted game. How could she take Aaliyah’s word over mine? She even ordered the arrest of my friends. People she knew meant everything to me - all for what? Because she valued Aaliyah more than anyone else?I watched as the guards advanced towards them, but before anyone dared touch Malia, I caught the guard’s wrist in an iron grip, looking him up and down before I said, “Who is your Alpha? Me or her?” “Y-you, Alpha Asher,” he stuttered, trembling under my glare. “Then how dare you try to carry out an order I didn’t approve of?” “I’m sorry, please forgive me. We just thought—” “—You are not wrong,” my mother interjected sharply, rising from her seat. Her usually perfectly styled dark hair was in a messy bun—a state I had never seen her in before. The sight sent a chill through me. She was unraveling, and it dawned on me that Aaliyah might have my mother under a s
AsherWe all stood frozen in the narrow passage, the silence around us was suffocating, every sound amplified in the dark passage. I felt Malia trembling next to me, her fear practically bleeding into the air. But beyond her, I could sense something else—someone was about to screw up.“Corey, don’t,” I said, linking minds with him, my tone sharp enough to cut through the silence. “You turn on that flashlight, and you’ll alert my mother.” There was a scoff, followed by the faint rustling of Corey shoving his phone back into his pocket. Good. At least he had the sense to listen for once. This passage wasn’t unfamiliar to me. I’d used it more times than I cared to admit, slipping away to escape my father’s wrath. The first time I stumbled in here, I spent days lost, thinking I’d die in this suffocating darkness. But those endless hours taught me something valuable: the way out wasn’t about sight. It was about listening. Every creak, every whisper of air, every subtle shift could guid
CoreyYou know that moment when the rug gets yanked out from under you and you’re left face-planting into reality? Yeah, that's what it felt like standing in the middle of the forest knowing that chaos was probably already unleashed on our school. “Asher, they need help,” Amara said, her voice sharp but not quite yelling. She was trying to keep it together, but the cracks were showing. Asher’s eyes blazed, that Alpha energy radiating off him like heat from a furnace. “You think I don’t know that?” His voice snapped like a whip. Then, his gaze turned on Avan and Savannah, pinning them in place. “You two. Take Malia to Miss Banks for treatment at the safe hub. If the hybrids are attacking, then most of the students must've gathered there. Don’t screw this up, or so help me—” He let the threat hang in the air, but we all got the message loud and clear. Avan’s smirk was still plastered on his face, but I caught the flicker of fear in his eyes. “And if we don’t?” he asked, just to be
MaliaIt had been a week since Asher turned his back on everything we’d fought for, aligning himself with his mother and announcing his intention to marry Aaliyah. I couldn’t believe it at first—refused to, really. Even though I’d spent days recovering from my injuries at the school hub, the news of his decision hurt far worse than the excruciating pain of being shot with an arrow. Amara’s family had invited me to stay with them for the holidays, which turned out to be a blessing. I couldn’t face the halls of the academy, the whispers and judgment. The combat showdown, which I’d prepared for relentlessly, had been postponed indefinitely and eventually canceled in favor of a holiday break. So here I was, lounging by Amara’s pool, trying to piece together the wreckage of my thoughts. Amara, of course, had her theories. She always did. “It’s duty over love,” she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Asher’s chosen his mother over everything else. You know what that means, right
Malia. My encounter with Asher at the Russo twins’ party the week before was still on my mind. The look in his eyes—pale, disoriented, and detached—played over and over in my head. Something was wrong with him, but no one seemed to care. Not Amara, not Jamie, not Corey. They all insisted I let it go. Initially, I couldn't imagine not doing anything, but now… it's just so obvious that there's very little I can do. He isn't under a spell anymore, so this time it's all in Asher's hand. Only he can put an end to this. Soon, it was Monday, and the holiday reprieve was over. Back to the academy, back to the whispers, and back to pretending everything wasn’t falling apart. The academy halls were alive with murmurs, their sharp edges cutting through the quiet resolve I tried to build up on the walk-in. Everyone had something to say about Asher. About me. The whispers followed me like a shadow. “She’s still here? Brave, I’ll give her that.” “I heard she tried to talk to him at the
AsherThe sun began to rise.The golden light washed over the field like a mercy none of us deserved. It touched the broken, the bloodied, and the dead. Too many. Faces I’d known. Names I’d grown up with.The Reece mages dropped one by one, barely able to stand. Their magic was gone—sacrificed to stop one man.Rhedd clutched her stomach, pale and shaking, her magic burned out like a candle in wind.The wolves—those still standing—shifted back. Naked, bruised, and dazed. They looked at me like they didn’t know what to feel.And then I turned and saw him.Ronin.He was bloodied, bruised, still limping from what Jude had done to him. But his eyes were sharp. Watchful.He walked toward me, the others parting in his path.He stopped a few feet away, lifting his chin.“So,” he said, voice raw. “Now what?”I didn’t answer right away.“I know what you think of me,” he continued. “And I don’t blame you. But I pledged because it was the only way to win. That doesn’t mean I—” He hesitated, jaw c
AsherJude was just a man. Twisted, obsessed, and broken. A shell of the force that had terrified every wolf and Lycan under the moon. And I wasn’t sure killing him would be victory… or vengeance.Should I kill him? Is that the answer?Behind me, I heard Rhedd cry out, pulling me out of my thoughts.“Keep him still!” one of the Reece mages shouted.They circled Malia where she lay floating in the air and then slowly brought her to the ground. They were unraveling the last of the threads Jude had embedded inside her. Magic that pulsed and bucked like it didn’t want to let go.“He used her like a damn conduit,” Rhedd muttered. “If we don’t cut it clean—”“He’ll pull her soul out with it,” another finished.I didn’t take my eyes off Jude. His breath hitched. His gaze was unfocused, but when it landed on me, I saw something strange flicker behind his eyes.Fear.Not because he was about to die.But because he wasn’t in control anymore.“You think this fixes anything?” he rasped, coughing
AsherWhile everyone else was unable to move. Ronin had it worse. His bones cracked—loud enough that even the stunned silence couldn’t hide the sound. I watched him fall to his knees, coughing up blood. His spine jerked one way, then the other, like it was trying to twist him into something unrecognizable. Something wrong.“Damn you,” Ronin hissed through clenched teeth. “I’ll kill you… I swear, I’ll—”But Jude just smiled and raised two fingers. Another wave of agony surged through Ronin, folding his body like a puppet whose strings had snapped.No one moved.Corey. Jamie. Rhedd. Everyone stood frozen in place, either physically or emotionally. Shock. Despair. Fear.Except me. I didn’t flinch and unlike everyone else, I wasn't unable to move. I just stood still because… well… I was stunned by all that had happened. But for some reason, Jude's magic wasn't working on me.Jude turned to me slowly, his eyes glowing like coals.“You’re quiet,” he said. “But you always were a little slowe
AsherI felt it before I saw it.A deep hum tore through the battlefield like a pulse from the earth’s core. The ground cracked beneath us, vibrating with something ancient and wrong. My body stilled, instincts taking over. Every wolf on our side growled low, confused. Even Ronin, standing opposite me with blood on his hands and a twisted glare in his eyes, paused mid-strike.And then it happened.The earth opened up and Jude rose from it, Malia by his side.He wasn’t walking.He was floating—levitating above the dirt like he belonged to another realm. Malia hovered next to him, limp but breathing, her hair weightless in the still air. Streams of energy—magic—flowed from her into his hands like threads being woven. Her face looked drained, pale, as though the life was being siphoned out of her bit by bit.I froze.This couldn’t be real. I heard he was confined and starving in the same cell that I had been locked in. But he was here.And he wasn’t just alive—he was drawing magic from
AsherThe moon was full and heavy in the sky, throwing pale light over the open field ahead. My boots pressed into the soft earth as I looked over the line of soldiers behind me—my father’s secret elite, all in wolf form, silent and still. Every one of them had trained for this night, and still, we were outnumbered.Four packs stood against us—Sky, Storm, Range, and Lycone. Wolves I had once thought would always be loyal to me. Jamie and Corey - Brothers I had fought with. Now they stood across from me with their teeth bared and claws ready, all of them backing the one who took what was mine.Ronin.He stood on the ridge ahead of us, arms folded, his wolf just beneath the surface because he wouldn't turn. He didn't need to. He was a Lycan. Day or night didn't matter for Lycans to shift. He didn’t look tense. He looked smug, like he already believed this battle was over. I mean, with me being outnumbered, he was probably right.I exhaled through my nose. My heartbeat was steady. I did
MaliaI didn’t breathe.Not for a full minute after Ronin said those words.Asher Mendoza is alive.I stood there, frozen beneath the branches of the old silverwood tree. Just moments ago, I’d been smiling faintly at the way Ronin had grumbled about paperwork. Just hours ago, I’d kissed him without shame in front of his guards.And now, my world has split in half.He was alive.My Asher.The one I had mourned in silence. The one I had cursed the stars for taking too soon. The one whose name I had stopped speaking, not because I forgot—but because remembering hurt too much.I had let him go.And now he was back.Ronin didn’t look at me. His entire body was taut, rage pouring off of him in waves as he crumpled the letter in his fist.“He dares to ask me to step down,” he growled, pacing. “After everything I’ve done—after the unity I’ve forged? The peace I’ve built? He wants to come back from the dead and reclaim what he abandoned?”His eyes flicked toward me at last. And the moment he s
MaliaIt had been almost a year.A full cycle of moons since I stood before the altar in a dress that felt like a cage and pledged myself to a man I did not love. A year of silent dinners, of shared quarters and unshared sheets. A year of waking up beside someone who looked at me like I was a world he couldn’t touch.Ronin had not once tried.He had kissed my cheek in public, taken my hand at royal events, and always ensured I had a personal guard at my side. He gave me space. Respect. But not once had he laid a single finger on me—not without my permission.And that restraint… it had become unbearable.Tonight, the weight of it collapsed on me.I sat on the edge of our bed, staring at the hearth’s dying flames. My nightgown clung to my skin in the low firelight, and my chest ached with something I hadn’t let myself name in months.“Just accept it, Malia,” Rhedd had told me only hours ago, his voice quiet but final. “He’s not coming back. If Asher was alive, he would’ve come by now.”
AsherThe moon was high the night I met with Nina’s parents. I had to meet them since I now knew the truth. They were the only ones I could trust. We gathered in the ruins of the old Northern chapel, a place sacred enough to keep secrets buried but strong enough to host rebellion. I didn’t ask how they got in contact with me—they always had a way to do things discreetly. Nina’s father, Nathan, regarded me with the tired eyes of a man who had carried the truth for too long.“He told us this day would come,” he said. “Ian prepared. We kept his will safe. And we kept his soldiers even safer.”From the shadows, they stepped forward—silent, deadly, focused. Wolves in human skin. Elite. Trained in secret under Ian’s orders for the day I would reclaim the crown.I couldn't believe my eyes. How did Ian think of this? How was he able to predict that I may not get any support unless he provides one for me?I was relieved that I had been given a head start, but it wasn’t enough. Not for a war.
AsherMy thumb hovered over the next page for longer than I cared to admit. The leather binding creaked softly beneath my grip, like it too feared what lay ahead. But I couldn’t stop now. I needed to know it all—no matter how much it hurt and no matter how much I wanted to stop, I turned the page.‘Brooke and Renah began their affair not out of love, not truly—not at first. Brooke wanted affection. She wanted to be wanted. Renah… he was a convenient escape. They were discreet. Not for my sake. For hers. Always for hers. She didn't want to ruin her reputation.’I leaned back, jaw tightening.So it was true.I watched them once. They didn’t see me. Her smile was real. His was reverent. That was the moment I knew—Renah loved her more. Brooke? She simply needed to be adored.It painted such a different picture of my mother than the one I’d held growing up. She had always seemed powerful, poised, in control of every room she walked into. I never imagined her desperate. Or fragile. But with