I arrive home after a long drive. I was able to hitch a ride with a few humans. I open the house door, expecting to smell Mom's scent, but I don't. She’s been gone for too long that her scent has faded away. The whole place is turned upside down. The living room looks like someone was trying to tear it down. There are pillows everywhere, and the TV is broken. Did they fight in here? The kitchen is like the living room, but my breath catches in my throat when I see blood on the kitchen counter. There’s a weird smell in the kitchen, but I realize what it was, and I wish I didn't. Please, I hope it's not Mom's. I sniff the blood to find out if it has the scent of Mom, but I can't tell because it’s too decayed. I empty my stomach in the kitchen sink because the blood smelt so bad. I think it's been here for days. The amount is so tiny I can't tell who the blood belongs to. I feel little comfort knowing that if it belonged to Mom, she didn’t bleed a lot. I walk upstairs to check the rooms

Anastasia The following day, I woke up to find myself in my bed. How did I get here? I don't remember walking home. I can smell Theo 's scent around me. He must’ve brought me home. I drop my legs on the floor to walk to the bathroom but stop when I feel a burn in my arms. It doesn’t stop there and gets worse. My whole body is on fire. I prayed this wouldn’t happen, but it's here because Theo refuses to mark me even though I have found him. I fall to the ground, pulling at my skin to stop the burning feeling. Everywhere is on fire—my arms, my legs, even my heart is burning. I scream as I feel the pain increase with each passing second. I’m being burnt alive. “Theo , please! Make it go away!” I beg him as he barges into my room. He must’ve heard me screaming. All he does is stare at me. He doesn’t move until another scream involuntarily escapes my mouth. He takes a step closer but stops, turns around and walks out of my room. I know Theo doesn’t want me, but how can he leave me in

For two days, I’ve been watching YouTube videos and practicing how to do vampire-like makeup convincingly. I’m getting ready to go before the sun sets, doing my makeup. I don’t want to be out when the sun is down because Vampires are more likely to be out. Only Originals can come out during the day. Once I’m done with my makeup, I mask my scent. I planned to sneak out through my window because I don't want the boys to see me looking like a vampire and ask questions. Before I can sneak out someone bursts into my room. “Vampire,” Lucas growls, pulling me behind him. “Vampire,” I say, confused. “I smell a vampire,” Lucas says, looking around the room. “I don't smell any vampire,” I say from behind him. “It's gone, but did you see anything suspicious?” Lucas asks as he turns around to face me. “No, I di—” “What is wrong with you, Luna?” Lucas says, cutting me off. “Are you sick?” he asks and places his hand on my head. An earth-shattering growl is heard the second he touches my hea

“Everything is ready. You can go in, Luna,” Liam says, walking out of the dungeons. He just finished chaining Theo to prevent him from going on a killing spree. All day, I’ve been praying his wolf won’t lose control and kill anyone during the full moon. “Thank you, Liam,” I say before entering the dungeons. Entering, I hear Theo struggling with the chains. His wolf must be fighting him to shift. I walk closer, and see Theo struggling to stop the shift. His eyes keep changing from their original color to golden. If he can keep his wolf from forcing the transition, it would help. “Theo ,” I say, walking closer to him, hoping to calm him down. He snarls at me, and I stop moving. “Theo is gone Mate. I’m Xavier,” a deep voice says. I look at Theo ’s eyes and they’re golden. His wolf has taken control. Before I can talk Xavier out of shifting, he transforms, and a black wolf stands in front of me. His wolf struggles to remove the chains from his paws, and I watch him almost bre

THEODORE Theodore walked inside the cabin, his mate in his arms. He could see the bruises all over her body from his harsh training. He didn’t mean to hurt her, but the training was necessary for her to be strong when they enter vampire territory. He couldn’t risk what happened the last time she encountered a vampire. His wolf would kill him if he allowed her to be harmed again. Theodore gently places Anastasia on her bed and walks to her bathroom, filling the bathtub with warm water. She must be exhausted, but she needs a good bath and a good sleep. Once Theodore is done filling the bathtub with water and scented oils, he walks back to her. “Anastasia ,” Theodore calls her name softly, trying to wake her up. He can’t be harsh with her after all the training she endured. “Hmmm,” Anastasia says in her sleep. She’s trying to block out his voice so she can sleep. “You need to take a shower. Wake up.” Theodore tries to wake her up again. “Okay,” Anastasia says, opening her eyes