LOGIN“Begin,” Zeus commanded, and the feast came to life. The grand pack hall buzzed with clinking of cutlery and fine china as the pack members indulged in the ceremonial meal. Laughter and chatter echoed through every corner, excitement humming in the air. Only, I wasn't feeling any of it. My dinner sat untouched before me, my nerves tightening. It felt as though a dagger hung suspended above my head, inching down closer and closer with each passing second. The anticipation was unbearable, like waiting for a storm I couldn't escape.I had heard tales about bones shattering and reshaping, skin stretching, and muscles tearing as the body took a new form. One of the late bloomers in the pack even described it as being set on fire from the inside out. Even though I had experienced the transformation once before, it had happened so suddenly and in such a blur that mixed with the rush of adrenaline, the pain hadn't felt as intense as it should have. I took a shaky breath, trying to steel
I had been standing in front of my mom's hospital room for the past ten minutes, my fingers tightly wrapped around the door handle, but no courage, however, to go in, face her and tell her the truth. I heard she woke up last night but due to her weakness, the doc’s been keeping her under sedatives mostly. I wanted to see her so badly, but I was afraid if she found out I was no longer a human, but a werewolf, she would be hurt or even disappointed in me. I knew she had been in love with one, but after what happened to my father, she seemed to be in a constant panic mode whenever I showed any abnormal qualities. After she tended to me, she’d always say— What else would it mean, Tasia, my darling? You're a human, after all. It was as though those words were never for me, but for herself. Like she forced herself to believe so. Maybe she wanted a normal life, away from chaos. But look where life brought her again. “You know you can come back when you're ready,” Iris suggested from behi
Zeus lowered me to the ground gently and straightened my clothes, carefully fastening the buttons he undid earlier. I heard footsteps and voices approaching the door just as his expression steeled, his familiar commanding aura settling over him like second skin, and his voice regaining its cold, authoritative tone as it cut through the air. “Come in.” The door opened, and there stood Iris, gripping someone by the arm and not in a friendly way. She roughly yanked at them, and the person stumbled into the room. Malorie. She whimpered, slowly rising back to her feet, but her eyes remained fixed on the floor, never daring to rise. Her shoulders shook weakly, fear etched into her very posture as she was shoved further into the room. Iris kicked at the back of her knees, pushing her down at least ten feet from where Zeus and I stood. “What's going on?” I whispered, my brows connected. I felt Zeus’ hand press against the small of my back as he stood tall beside me. The air around him c
I woke up panic-stricken and with my heart in my throat. A nauseous feeling of deja Vu hit me, and I realized this was becoming a habit. I threw the blanket off of me, and my restless gaze drifted across the length of my body. Normal, fair skin under a black satin shirt, not milky-white fur. I brought my hands in front of my face. No paws either, no claws. It was a dream. A bad dream. As though my mind wasn't convinced enough, I jumped off the bed and ran to the mirror, feeling my face as I looked in for better measures. I was fine. I was me.“Anastasia.” Zeus appeared behind me in the mirror, and I whipped around to face him. “Zeus.” “Are you okay?” he asked, his hand coming up and cupping my cheek, his intent gaze tracing every inch of my face. I nodded, smiling. “Good.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Your mother woke up.”“Really?” I perked up. “Yes, but the doc put her back to sleep. She isn't yet out of danger to take any more hits.” “What do you mean?” He
The shock was too overpowering to realize the pain searing through the skin of my stomach. Even the cries of my friends. I was suspended in time, taking in the man before me. No… the monster. He looked so much like my dad that if he was alive he’d look probably the same when he grew old, but what separated him from my dad was the deranged, diabolic gleam in not just his eyes, but in his smile, in his aura and in the way he carried himself. Even his scent smelled like a graveyard with trapped souls and lurking demons. It almost made me gag. “I had been waiting for years to meet you, and finally the time has come,” he spoke, his eyes glinting with a twisted, malicious delight that made my blood run cold. I glared at him through tears I didn't notice escaping. “I had been cursing you since the moment I knew you.” I spat each word with every bit the revulsion I felt towards him. His smile strained, and he twisted his claws inside me, piercing through more flesh, making me grab his arm
Beep.Beep.Beep. With each rhythmic sound from the heart monitor that determined my mother's fate, my pulse quickened. I had been sitting by her side since the crack of dawn, waiting for her to open her eyes and tell me she was okay. That she wouldn't leave me like Dad. A fiery torrent coursed through my veins like molten lava. If only Mom hadn't gone through a minor cardiac event forbidding me, I’d be on my way to rip his killer’s head. Unfortunately, Mom was right. I couldn't face that man. There was no equilibrium between us. He was a werewolf and I was a human. A helpless, hopeless human. I possessed no power to avenge my father. I wouldn't ask Zeus either. I’d only be putting him in danger. If that monster could do this to his own blood, he could do about anything. Looking down, I stared at my hands; so fragile, so easy to break. My whole life I had never deplored being a human nor did I ever want to be a beast after finding out about werewolves. But today, I wished I had ta
“It happened during a hike in the Alaskan mountains,” Mom started, settling into the chair the doc occupied moments ago. I sat beside her on the bed, cupping her hand in-between mine on my lap to offer her what little comfort I could. “I got lost from my group, and a bear attacked me. I thought I
“Why did you do it?” Was the first thing I asked him right after I woke up. He didn't answer instead took a washcloth, soaked it into a bowl of water, then raising my hair, he placed it on the back of my neck. The shiver that ran through my body wasn't only from the coldness but also from the fact
Dark and imposing, I found myself in an unfamiliar room when I woke up next. Warm lighting competed with the soft morning glow filtering through a sloping floor-to-ceiling window with an arched top dominating one wall. Untamed wilderness was all that ruled beyond it. By its towering expanse rose hi
Three cars screeched to halts at the same time on the street, one belonging to us, another Tyler's and the other his dad's. Two women stood in the lawn, their phones stuck to their ears. One of them turned and said something, but no sound reached me. My vision blurred at the corners as the only thi







