Sedona hugged her when she heard the shortened version of what transpired after she went back. Serena allowed the hug, even though she stiffened when her arms wound around her shoulder. “I am so sorry,” the older woman whispered sympathetically. Serena felt numb all of a sudden. She felt more like the day she had fled from that horrible house, fled from being accused of witchcraft.    The scent of incense and wood calmed her senses. Dorian had opted to stay outside. Serena hadn’t argued. She felt the weight of the book in her hand, the frayed cover of the book tethering her to reality.    “Is this what you were talking about?” she asked and it was then that Sedona’s eyes fell on the book. Her reaction said it all. “How did you…?” Her gaze flickered from the book to its current owner.   

Serena frowned at the implication. Viviane’s face did not really convey anything good. The latter’s eyes flickered to her before they gravitated back to the mark. “Does it burn?”    The former nodded slowly. “Yes, especially if...um...it’s touched.” She still felt awkward taking Dorian’s name and especially now. However, there was no teasing glint in the pack doctor’s eyes and neither did she tease her about it. Instead, she nodded somberly. “Listen, I want you to be attentive towards this. It’s...nothing serious, just strange. I want you to note when the mark burns and when it stays dormant, okay?”    Serena nodded even though worry had started gnawing at the back of her mind. Viviane smiled, a forced stretch of lips. “Don’t worry Serena. It’s just I want to make sure that you are safe and that there's nothing to worry abo

Having coffee was a bad idea, a very bad idea. Serena lay wide awake, her heart still drumming in her chest. She gazed at the ceiling or rather at the small nightlights that dotted each corner of the ceiling. But Dorian had offered so hopefully. She sighed and turned to her side, the light from the corridor spilt inside the room through the slight gap between the door. She kept staring at the light. She took solace from the fact that he was just a few steps away. Yet again, she gasped, when did she see him as her saviour?  Maybe when he saved you from the faes, a voice at the back of her mind murmured.  The truth was she was scared to fall asleep again. What if the nightmare came back? What if this time it was worse and she embarrassed herself again...like she did when she was at the Whites’. She bit her lower lip. The way she had attacked them when

Serena knew that she wasn’t conscious. The fact she was back at the cliff, this time looking at the waning moon, told her that this was a vision. She looked down to see the tides, crashing viciously against the wall of the cliff as if it had been angered.    “Serena…” that melodic voice reached her ears once again. She turned this time, unable to resist her curiosity and her lips parted as the word she had not said for as long as she could remember, slipped out. “Mom.” It was like a breathy exhale. She knew that her mother was dead, her silhouette shimmering and translucent, and yet she felt her eyes well up. Her mother smiled sadly. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.” Serena wiped her tears, but she wanted to hug her. Despite her repressed memory, her not inability to remember her own mother and taking a long time to figure out things, she felt her suppressed love and longing ooze out at the sight

Serena’s reeling brain turned numb and blank. All she could feel was the softness of Dorian's lips moving against his. She felt a warm hand cup the nape of her neck and felt herself being pulled closer. Involuntarily, she placed her palm lightly on his chest as she lost herself in the exceeding and exhilarating feeling. She heard him growl and nip at his bottom lip. Heat pooled in her stomach, a noise left the back of her lips and then she felt herself being tilted backwards, and that...made her eyes open.    Her back hit the mattress and while her brain was slowly catching up to what was happening, he pulled away, but not far enough. She stared at his dark, hooded eyes before her gaze drifted to his lips which had reddened slightly from the kiss. They were so...close and yet Serena did not feel repulsive, she didn’t have the urge to push him away. Instead she wanted him to be closer.&nb