"Woah, little wolf," Cai said, looking stressed that he'd accidentally upset me further.We had walked into a communal gathering area outside of the hall by this point and I was grateful that no one was around to see me in this state.He strode up to one of the couches and gently put me down, crouching in front of me so we were eye level."Do you want me to tell me what that was all about?" Cai asked.

"Caius... Knight...?" I could hear myself ask in a strained voice. I hadn't heard that name in an incredibly long time.I'd tried so hard to forget it."Are you okay? You suddenly look really pale again. Are you still too weak from before?"I couldn't hear him. Emotions were overcoming me. Guilt, shame, disbelief... regret.Caius Knight, future Alpha of the Silver Lake pack, had risen to power after his father had been killed; or, more accurately, once he had been killed by Aleric. It was debatably one of the craziest political moves Aleric had ever done during his Alpha reign.It started with Caius' father, Tobias, who had managed to lead his pack up the ranks until their power was arguably on par with the Winter Mist. As such, negotiations were required to amend the terms of the alliance. Tobias came to our territory for a meeting with the intention of continuing the friendship between us... and he returned home without a head inside a body bag i

"M-miss, please don't make me do something illegal," Lucy stuttered, taking a step back.I held up my hands to calm her down."Relax! Relax, jeez," I said and ran a hand through my hair, sighing at her dramatics. "I'm doing them a favour really."She still looked incredibly uncomfortable."Do you trust me, Lucy?" I asked.She was silent, hesitating over how to reply back. Probably trying to figure out how to not offend me."Okay, okay, don't answer that," I laughed. "Do you want to get paid while saving a young girl's life?"She took a few seconds to consider before nodding."See? It's not that bad. I promise nothing will go wrong. Just please ensure this gets to Alpha Raymond as soon as possible."She shakily took the letter from my hands."Just don't think of it as blackmailing...," I said, trying to reassure her. "Just look at it more as... exploiting a situation for the benefit of both parties... and then mayb

I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.My mind kept trying to justify his actions, justify how he'd treated me. Really, it was probably my fault for thinking we were closer than he felt we were. I'd realised too late that I'd built up some sort of reliance on him without even knowing.It was such a bittersweet feeling to have had something I craved so close, only for it to be taken away having never realised it was there. And the worst part was that the entire time I'd been back, I'd been telling myself not to get close to anyone again... and yet here I was, crying over a stupid teenager of all people.It had been self-indulgent of me to begin with given the circumstances. I didn't know why I felt I deserved to feel validated by him. Did I think that, if we became friends, then what I did in my past life to him would be forgiven? I still carried that burden around with me, one which still weighed heavily on my shoulders. It was something I'd comple

A million thoughts and feelings swept through me as I scrambled to figure out what to do. Should I wave? Smile? Walk over to him? ...Pretend that I'm actually looking at the shop behind him? It was a sort of nervous energy that made my legs shuffle under me and my heart race.I had so much to say to him, yet so much I shouldn't have said to begin with.And yet the most important thing, at the forefront of my mind, was still the debate as to whether I should tell him about the future. Because I knew he had a right to know, even if I ended up sounding insane.I took a step towards him and began to hold up my hand to wave."Cai—."But I didn't get to finish my sentence as he instantly looked away, turning back down to pack his bag. All I could do was watch mutely as he got onto his motorbike and kick it into ignition, not even bothering to look at me again before he rode off.It was as if he'd just slammed a door in my face. I stood there