"Hello?" Thalia didn't know where she was. It was dark, too dark for her to even see what was next to her. She could feel her skin prickling with unease. She hated darkness, not because it completely blinded her but because she was unconsciously afraid of what was hiding in it. Her eyesight was greatly diminished because of the curse. She was almost reduced to being like a helpless human with only the additional defenses of her swift and agile movements together with her sharp claws. "Where am I?" she asked to no one in particular. What was she doing before coming here? Thalia tried to remember any details before this sudden darkness engulfed her, but nothing came to her mind. She tried to step out of the dark corner that she felt she was cornered in. Thalia felt that she was hiding but had no idea why or what she was hiding. She walked away from her hiding corner, but almost involuntarily, she started to walk in a particular direction. Now

Alpha Carter 33 "Cute, isn't he?" Said Kim. She furtively shot a look to a guy who smelled of pine, wet forest ground, musk, and wolf that was five feet away from them as they waited for their burgers and French fries. Thalia and Kim had been shopping for quite a while in the mall and were getting tired. They had decided to take a break in the fast-food area and grab something to eat. "Smells pretty good too." "If you like him so much, you can just go and have a chat with him, you know?" said Thalia drumming her fingers on the surface of the white plastic table. She would have fancied the cute guy a little more if he didn't stare at her like she was a fly stuck to a cake. Yes, she did have ugly inscriptions on her body, but there was no need for those disgusted glances he shot in her direction. "Not my cup of tea," said Kim. As she muttered a quick thank you when the waitress returned with their orders. "I don't like guy

"I'm asking you for the last time. Step out of my way Jake," Carter could feel the last string of his patience that was holding on to his rationality starting to snap. He could just barge past Jake to get inside the infirmary and check on Thalia himself, but Jake didn't budge in the slightest. Every time Carter tried to step past him, Jake would intercept him. He felt the overwhelming urge to just punch that pretty face and make it worthy of a mugshot. "You cannot go inside, Carter," was all Jake said. Standing in front of the infirmary door like a fucking guard dog. "Alice is checking Thalia, and she isn't a healer. Which means that her treatment involves needles and stitches. Do you really want to see that? Can you handle seeing that?" When Carter opened his mouth, Jake interrupted him, "You know what, I didn't ask. It is better not to answer that. I know what you will say. What I meant to ask is, can you take it? Right now, Thalia's skin is being pierced and

 Silence. Then Kim hesitantly spoke, breaking the awkwardness around the two of them, "She foresaw the explosion. I am fairly sure that she did." Carter, who was staring point blankly at Thalia, finally turned to look at Kim. His demeanor was lazy as always, but it was a sharp contrast to the sharp glint in his eyes a few moments ago. "Foresaw? Wasn't her powers sealed, so how can she see the future?" "I don't know. I'm just telling you what I saw. One second, Thalia was fine standing next to me, and then the next, her marks started to bleed. Not like they usually do, the blood was dark, almost black, like poison, and I think it was some sort of backlash because she can't use her powers. Her eyes turned glassy, and she was bleeding so much that she scared the shit out of me. I tried to call her, but she didn't respond and then -" Kim swallowed hard. "and then she turned to look at me like she had seen a ghost or something. Once

 "You-" Thalia was done. She was done being played around like this. One second he was warm like a summer breeze, and the next second he would freeze her until she was chilled to the bone. She raised her hand to slap his hand away but then the door to the infirmary burst open, and the two of them came face to face with a flustered and sheepish-looking Shayne. "It looks like I came in at the wrong time?" Muttered Shayne. "Shayne," said Carter, not sounding embarrassed at all about being caught. He raised his head and smiled at Shayne, his eyes cold and threatening. "Make sure to run ten laps around the territory, alright?" "What! Why?" spluttered Shayne, his eyes widening as he stared at Carter with a look of injustice on his face. "For being an ass," said Carter smoothly. "A dominant shifter, because of his prejudices, ignored his Alpha's order. Instead of taking care of his duties skulk