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Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Beta's Daughter: Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 110

122 Kabanata

101 | DOUBLE-SOUL

“Arienne–“ Samyak said, his tone startled. His eyes no longer looked black; now they were a bright, translucent brown, like a crisp, autumnal leaf held up to the sun. “Why didn’t you want me to take this book, Samyak?” I asked. My own voice was devoid of emotion, and I could hear a sharp inflection to each word that I had not intended to use. He looked as though he’d been slapped. Outside, the sky began to darken with thick, oppressive clouds. “I – I don’t mind. I just didn’t think you’d want it,” he stammered. “That’s why I put it down.” “Okay,” I said, my eyes narrowed. I clutched the book close to my chest, and looked away from him, my nose and chin hoisted into the air. “Ari…” he trailed off. From the corner of my eye I saw him exhale heav

102 | THE GREAT TYNUN

My heart shattered as Samyak pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. I could feel the force of his love behind it, of his fear and his regret and his guilt and his worry, all bundled up into one brief touching of lips to my skin. After a while the tears stopped, and I sat blankly, my eyes staring at nothing, as Samyak whispered in my ear. I shrugged him off, and turned to face him with flaming, dark eyes. He gaped at me, a fish with flapping gills, as I met his gaze. He looked soft. I felt hard, impenetrable. But he was made of curves, of pillows and cushions, of comfortable blankets and a thick duvet on a winter morning. I was the bitter chill that clung to the air like frostbite. “What’s the Great Tnyun?” I asked. My voice sounded cold, too. Samyak pulled back, and looked at me quizzically. “An old legend of our pack. Why?” &

103 | AUTUMN

I found myself thinking about everything but the notes in front of me as we drove to the meeting point. I missed my truck; Samyak’s car was too sleek, too comfortable. I realised that made no sense, but I stuck my nose into the air as I thought it. Yes, his car was too comfortable. I settled myself back on the too-comfortable seat and stared resolutely out the window. The trees were thick with orange leaves, save for the evergreens rocking gently in the light breeze behind them. The curved edge of the road was littered with a myriad of brightly coloured leaves, in bold reds, ochre yellows, and wilted browns, that had been discarded by the gnarled branches above. Some of them looked damp and crumpled, sodden where they had been trampled into the tarmac. Samyak had not spoken a word to me all morning. There was an uncomfortable tension in the air, and it existed within our mate bond, too. I was not used to feeling nothing from h

104 | WHISPERS

With my hand on the car door, I turned to Samyak. His eyes looked withered, and unnaturally old before their time. There were wrinkles lining his forehead, and dark bruises were stamped beneath his eyes onto his usually flawless brown skin. “Samyak?” “Yeah?” He sounded hopeful, and I smiled at him softly. “I love you.” “I love you too, Ari. Be safe.” I closed the car door quietly. I held my small notepad in my fingers, and the starchy paper rubbed against my palms. There was no sound as I stepped into the forest, save for the crunch of twigs beneath my feet. There were no warbling birds, no scurrying footsteps of small creatures, and no hum of insects. It was eerie, and the arching boughs of the trees surrounded me. I swallowed thickly, suddenly finding that my mouth was parched. My bone-dry tongue ran across the back of my bo

105 | ALPHA

Despite my fear, I stuck my chin out as far as I could. “I have already given you information which you did not previously possess. Agree to my truce, Gedeon.” He sneered down at me, the curiosity of his dark blue eyes undercut by his arrogance and building fury. The forest seemed to grow behind him, arching up and over my head. I felt small, incompetent. Then I had an idea. I did not want anyone to possess such otherworldly magick, such raw, heady power. But I needed him to agree to my terms, and we were stronger united. I had to hope that Gedeon would see that. “They – they control how much power they give you.” It was a guess, but I held my resolve as I stared into his eyes. Power seemed to be the only way to get through to him, and as his eyes crinkled I felt a smug sense of satisfaction. I’d guessed correctly. “Yes,” he p

106 | LUNA

Gedeon’s face turned pale. His eyes, so confident before, searched the mist and the trees for answers. Finding none, he turned his rigid gaze to meet mine.“You’re lying.”“I’m not, Gedeon. The magick they’ve promised you – the magick they’ve already given you a taste of. It’s not a human power. The dead members of your pack? They were taken by the hunters, experimented on. It’s only a matter of time before they come for you.”“No,” he snarled. His hands curled into fists, his nails dark and claw-like. “Yes!” I roared back. “It’s all here.” I shook the notepad in his face. “Look! Everything you need to know. It’s all in here. And it’s the truth. You cannot think me foolish enough to meet with you without facts, without words steeped in honesty. You know it, too. That’s why you’re repulsed. There is no gift offered for free in life, no power extended without exchange. It must have a source. A sacrifice must be made, and the greater the power, the greater the sacrifice. I do not doubt f

107 | DREAMS

Samyak was waiting for me anxiously as I approached the car. He leapt out of his seat and jogged over to me, relief making his bottom lip quiver. The cold vial of serum I clutched in my hand burned, as though it was liquid fire rather than an ordinary plastic syringe. “Thank the Goddess,” he murmured, and then I was wrapped in his arms. His warmth encompassed me, and golden light flooded from his soul into mine. Our argument – if it could even be called that – was forgotten, for now at least. I buried my head against his chest, and felt a sob latch itself onto my throat. His soothing hands were in my hair, on my face, and then suddenly the anger was back. It rose up like a flame, scorching my skin as I pushed against his chest. The syringe was still latched in my hand, and I curled my fingers into a fist around it. My knuckles pressed into his pectorals, and his lips parted mournfully. &ldqu

108 | MIST

“Ari? Ari! Wake up!” I blinked, my vision a blur of hazy, streaming sunlight and grey mist. What had happened? Had I fallen asleep? “Oh, Ari,” Samyak breathed. I’d been angry with him, I thought. But I’d not felt truly angry, not inside. Looking at him now, I felt nothing but relief as I fell forwards, my gaze lost in his warm brown eyes. “Hi,” I croaked. I pulled myself upright. I was in his car – yes. That was where I’d been before. “Careful,” he said, worried hands reaching for me. “You blacked out. I think you hit your head pretty hard.” I suddenly felt scared to move. I imagined blood pouring from the back of my head, and my hands tightened into fists. “Is it – does it look okay?” I ground out, my teeth clenched. “F

109 | PLANS

Alpha Felix’s office felt smaller and more crowded than usual. We were tightly packed within the space. Outside, the pale grey clouds outside loomed. I felt as though they were pressed up close against the glass of the windows, as squashed together out there as we were in here.Of course, there were no more people present than normal. There were, in fact, less. Upon our return, Samyak and I had been called upstairs to discuss the events of the morning’s meeting with Alpha Felix and Luna Carla. Though there were only four of us present, the walls closed in on us as I spoke, slowly pressing the air out of the room.My head throbbed, and though I knew it had not been cut, I could feel the phantom blood creeping down the back of my neck. Its trickle made my shoulder blades squeeze together unconsciously, giving me the appearance of being compressed, and even smaller in stature than I usually looked.Samyak’s nervous energy bounding through the mate bond was not helping matters. I could fee

110 | THE SILENCE OF GRAVES

“Before we get to Ace, there’s something I need to tell you.” Samyak said, and he hesitated, one foot slightly raised from the grass. I let my own stride come to a clumsy halt. It felt as though the summer had come to an abrupt end. The sky was white and dull, colourless save for the dapples where two clouds overlapped, pale grey and contorted. Once we’d left the pack house, I’d felt a bitter chill in the air; the kind that stung your fingertips, and made you want to shove them deep into pockets or pull them up into your sleeves. My hand, however, was in Samyak’s. It had been like ice before, during the meeting, cracking through my veins and freezing my skin. Presently, it was like fire: sweaty across my palm and burning up towards my wrist. I looked up at his face. It was red and flustered, his brown skin rosy with a high blush that crept along his cheekbones and swallowed his n

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