[I Will Make You Pay] SIERRA “Would it be inappropriate for me to express how proud I am of you? Not for what you’re doing, of course. I cannot, in good conscience, be proud of you committing murder. Under no circumstances,” she announced. “Mom, I know this makes you sad. Given what you went through, I’m not mad. I’m grateful.” She cupped my face and kissed my forehead. “You couldn’t possibly understand how proud I am to be your mother; despite I didn’t raise you.” The conveyed sadness in her voice was unmistakably real. It broke my heart. I wasn’t a mother. Not yet, at least. But I didn’t need to be a mother to see she was hurting. This couldn’t be easy for her, knowing all the milestones she never got to witness, including my first step, first word, first laugh, and even my first crush. I wished to show her those firsts. Perhaps it’d help a little. It wouldn’t be the same as witnessing them firsthand. However, should it not count for something? That was when it hit me. There
[Madness] SIERRA Come on Sybil! Where are you? I could sure use your help right about now. Cassidy dropped her mother’s body, placing her hand over her father’s face. She then lunged at King Darien, screaming vehemently. Darien side stepped her and she went tumbling behind him. “Mark my words, you bastard! I will make you pay for this!” Cassidy hissed as she charged at Darien. It reminded me of a cat-and-mouse game. Darien was the mouse, and Cassidy was the cat, chasing him around the room, failing to land a direct blow. Vines spurted through the windows and wrapped around Cassidy’s leg, lifting her up in the air and holding her upside down by her ankle. She kicked and screamed, but it was pointless. The vine had a deadlock grip on her. “Father, stop this!” Zaiden shouted. “If you want to exact your vengeance on anyone, take me. I was the one who plotted against you. Not them.” While the vine dangled Cassidy by her ankle in the air, Darien turned his attention to his son. Disa
[The Man In The Hole] SIERRA “How could you possibly know what the plan was or that it wouldn’t work?” Zaiden’s brow furrowed. For a moment, he looked confused, and then averted his gaze to Cassidy. “Seriously! That’s what concerns you?” I chortled, unamused. “I am telling you your plan is flawed, will fail, and we’ll all end up dead. Yet, your focus is to ask how I knew about your plan. Are you kidding me?” “That’s not what I’m saying,” he retorted. I threw my hands in the air, exhausted by this merry-go-round of bullshit. “Then what are you saying? Because I, for one, would like to prevent your father from killing me.” “Your knowledge about the plan failing and us dying caught me off guard is all,” he stated defensively. “Besides, Cassidy would never betray me or her parents—” “Well, I’m glad you put so much trust in her,” I cut him off. “But I know what I saw and what will happen. I have the images ingrained in my mind like a flash photo, and I can’t get them out. So you tel
[The Man In The Hole II] UNKNOWN “Okay, I have the cutters and I’m coming down,” Manny said as he descended the rope. As soon as his feet landed on the creaky floorboards with a thud, Manny used his jersey to cover his nose. He flicked on his flashlight, illuminating some of the darkness. “Can you move at all?” he asked, his voice muffled from the fabric of his shirt. “Yeah,” I replied. I extended my legs and raised a hand over my head. It hurt when I did that, but I would not make it difficult for him if he was going through all this trouble to help me. “Do you know how long you’ve been down here?” I shook my head. My memory was as fuzzy and weak as my entire body. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t recognize myself if someone held a mirror to my face. “Your name, how ‘bout that? Can you tell me what that is? Or your home address, so I can take you there. I’m sure someone’s missing you. Perhaps a wife or girlfriend. What about kids?” I shook my head with every question he f
[Going Home] SEBASTIAN “Rory, it’s been weeks! Weeks!” I swiped everything from my desk to the floor. “Where the hell is she?” Among the mess was a framed photo of Sierra and me, grinning stupidly and goofily at each other. I ran my hand through my hair, trying, but failing miserably, to suppress the sweltering rage coursing through me. Just knowing that after all this time, I was no closer to bringing my mate home was utterly agonizing. I have been more than patient in recent weeks. Deep down, I had hoped Zaiden would return her to me. Or prayed by some miracle she would find her way home. I was wrong. Because not only was my pack irate over their Luna’s disappearance, I was having a hard time controlling Atticus. “Honestly, do you think throwing a tantrum will bring her back? C’mon, Sebastian,” Rory chided, shaking his head. Just as I was about to snap at him, a knock at the door interrupted the conversation. The door creaked open, and my mother poked her head in, her face dis
[Reunion] SEBASTIAN It was much later in the evening when I sat down for dinner with my mother. “Sebastian, you can’t keep doing this to yourself!” My mother scolded, shoving a plate in front of me. “What do you think will be Sierra’s reaction when she returns and sees you like this?” I glared at the meal as if it was my enemy. Truth be told, I had no appetite. Without Sierra by my side, my days had been awful, and the longer she was gone, each day grew worse than the last. The pain of missing her grew in my chest. Everything about her, even the way she was so obstinate in her doubts, I missed. The way she screamed my name while we made love, the way her body responded to my touch. I even missed her giggles. Her curiosity and interest in learning everything there was to know about werewolves had me missing her. It had gotten so bad; that I missed how she argued with me to prove a point. Even with how little she was by my side, the nights were the worst without her. The few nigh
[Why Did You Do It?] SIERRA “So, now that we’ve gotten things all squared away, I believe it’s time for me to leave. I still have a lot of work to do. There’s the official crowning ceremony, appointing new cabinet members, and finalizing my wedding nuptials,” Zaiden stated. “That’s assuming there will be a wedding.” I pulled away from Sebastian. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know you said this wasn’t something you wanted.” “It wasn’t. But given the circumstances, I have no choice,” he admitted with a shrug. “The funny thing is that I want to marry Cassidy, although I doubt she wants to marry me.” If only he knew their one night together had impacted her feelings towards him. My heart wanted to tell him she felt the same way, just to know he would find a chance at happiness. However, my head kept telling me not to meddle in their affairs. Cassidy wanted to marry Zaiden. I knew that. But wouldn’t it be fair if she told him, rather than he heard it from me? I believe so. T
[Cleansing The Pack] SEBASTIAN I stood outside the cell, watching Sierra as she riffled through Arianne’s memories. Whatever Sierra was doing seemed painless. It was a bonus. For her, anyway. To be frank, I wished Arianne had experienced even a bit of discomfort. I wanted her to experience more than just a vast amount of hurt for all the suffering she caused over the years. “What is Luna Sierra doing?” Rory asked, no concern or trepidation in his voice. Just enough interest. I answered. “Reading Arianne’s mind.” Rory’s head snapped in my direction. I could almost read his shock as his lips curled upward into a smile. “She can do that?” “I suppose we’ll find out when she’s done.” “Mm, interesting. And what do you think she’ll learn? Knowing that girl, I could only imagine the twisted things she’s done over the years,” he commented. “I won’t argue with that,” I confessed. “After she informed me a few days ago that she killed him for me, I kept racking my brain for a workable re