TASHA Rendall was gone when I opened my eyes. I didn't even notice the time that he left me alone in my room. I was about to get my phone situated at the top of the bedside table to send him a message when I saw a piece of pink paper wrapped around a pink rose. 'For the most beautiful lady that I've ever seen. With love, your mate.' A smile swept across my face upon reading what was written on the note. I was about to smell the flower I was holding when the door swung open. I hid the rose beneath a pillow when I saw my mother's figure. She stayed at the door with her eyes fixed on my direction but didn't bother to move another inch closer from where I am. "Even from afar, I can still smell that wolf's scent," she uttered with a blank face. "I warned you but you never listen, Tasha." "Mom, we talked about this countless times already. If in the end, being with him is a wrong decision, then I'll learn from it. Let's just fix everything, mom. I'm tired of having a constant argume

TASHA Rendall stood by my side when we reached our house. When we were traveling earlier, nobody dared to utter a word about what happened. Raiah's words kept on replaying in my mind, emphasizing the moment when she told us that I will be the reason for their downfall. I couldn't understand where she was coming from but it was more than enough to fill my heart with complete horror knowing that my existence in Rendall's life was a threat to his position and his family. I heave a deep sigh as I looked up at the blanket of stars above. This night felt like a night in which everything just froze. Lightning flashed across the freezing sky and there was a heavy smell of earth in the air. I wrapped my arms around myself when the cold breeze blew. My eyes went in Rendall's direction when I felt him wrap his sweater around me. His faint smile and the look in his eyes weren't enough to hide the sadness within him. I looked away when I felt something heavy in my chest. "You should go inside

TASHA "Come on, let's dance!" Sadie persisted in her request, but I declined her offer for the nth time. I ended up going to the ball with Rendall as my date, but, knowing that my mother would not speak to me kept me from being excessively ecstatic about the situation. When I told her about the ball, she did not say a word. She remained silent, letting me do things on my own. "Tasha, you wore that outfit during our prom night, don't you have another pair of clothes to wear?" Annica inquired before she and the other members of her circle shared a peal of laughter. "I can't believe you won as the prom queen with that piece of trash." I didn't say anything. Rendall's hand clasped with mine and and he holds on to it with a light grip. I looked at him and he was smiling from ear to ear as if he was trying to make me feel better after what I heard. "She's still the most beautiful girl in this venue," he said without breaking our eye contact. With those simple words, he made me feel as

TASHA He pulled off his car somewhere in the midst of the woods. I looked around and there was nothing else to see but numerous humongous trees. I opened the car's window to let the fresh air in and the earthy breeze annihilated my sense of smell. The canopies offered a tantalizing look into the cloudy sky which turned the shades of greenery even darker and it was a sight to behold. Crickets were chirping and birds are humming—as if they were creating their own symphonies. "Where are we?" I asked. He threw me a glance but didn't bother to answer me. He went out of his car first and I did the same thing. "I said, where are—" a loud growl from afar cut me off. A deep sense of uneasiness held me rigid on my place. I could hear the slow, dragging beat of my heart thinking of what could happen next. I looked across to Rendall, but he didn't appear to be concerned by anything. All of a sudden, remnants of what I remembered from Raiah's story filled my head. Rendall was attacked by their

RENDALL"You brought the half-breed in our pack. You're jeopardizing our safety just to be with her," my grandfather said. His attention shifted to the scenery that could be seen from the outside. "You refuse to listen to me and keep your ears shut regardless of how many times I try to warn you about her. What is it about her that you want to fight for that nonsense emotion? If only I had known that you would grow up like this, I wouldn't have agreed to place you as an Alpha of this pack." He turned around to face me, and his eyes were two angry black points fixed on my direction. My heart was flooded with sadness after learning of his dissatisfaction. "I love her, grandpa," I stated despite the building of an unwanted emotion inside me. I knelt in front of him. "Let me prove to you that I can serve my responsibilities on our pack while being with her. You don't have to force me to make a decision between loving her more or being more responsible because I can do both of those things