His soft lips crashed into mine like a gentle wave and my heart thumped in my chest. I closed my eyes on instinct and enjoyed the moment of bliss. This was a moment that I had dreamed of. It seemed surreal. It was like the world had disappeared and Jade and I just existed alone in time and space; like we were floating in a vacuum and nothing else mattered. He held the back of my neck and gently caressed it. I responded to the kiss with equal passion and it was euphoria. Gosh, he was a good kisser. Goosebumps raised on my skin as soon as we broke the kiss. My eyes shot open and I wanted more. I was breathing heavily and I stared into the green in his eyes. The green was now deeper and filled with raw emotions. In a way, it looked artistic. “Jade…” I said his name in a breathy way. His lips looked tempting and I was using all my strength to hold myself back. “Wh-why did you do that?” He smiled lopsidedly. “Because it’s something I have wanted to do for a while now,” He confessed.

“Oh, no. I’m good. I rather stay home and binge-watch TV shows.” I flashed them a smile that was very believable because it was partly real. This was really good. With both of them out, it would be very easy to play out my plan of escape. “Are you sure? It’s going to be really amazing, you know. Almost everyone in town would be there.” My supposed mother seemed to want me to come along. She continued eating her breakfast and waited for my response. “You could even invite the stray dog along if you want.” She shrugged. “Mom…” I said her name as a way to let her know that it was okay for her to call Jade that. It was rude and just not okay. “Don’t call him that, you know his name. Use it.” I rolled my eyes and drank more orange juice. “I’m sorry. Look, I’m sorry, dear. Jade. I would call him by his name. It’s Jade, right?” “Mm-hmm,” I mumbled. I already knew that she knew his name. And the full one at that. “What about Chad?” My supposed dad joined the conversation again. “I don’t

When all the prisoners were free and we were on board with my plan, my mother and I led the way out of the dungeon area and into the mansion. I could not help the smile on my face as I took in that what I had planned was actually happening. Jade and I were on alert and soon we had led the prisoners out of the mansion and onto the lawn. What were we going to do when we got out of the compound? That was easy. Jade had gotten a bus that one of the prisoners was going to use to drive them all out of the town and somewhere safe. As we all headed for the automated gates, I could see a glimpse of the bus. It was not a huge one, it was medium-sized and gray in color. “Hurry, it looks like the effects of those pies are wearing off!” Jade said loudly and he reached for my hand and held it in his. When the gate was opened, we allowed all the prisoners to go outside first and head to the bus before we even attempted to do the same. But just as my wolf, Eretria, said, the plan was not going

Blood. On the shoulder of Sam’s wolf, blood escaped the wound that I had created. He was in his wolf form so the wound was not too visible because of the fur covering his body. But the blood could be seen. My wolf sprang to its feet impressively and rushed to Sam’s. It tackled him to the ground and began to hit him over and over. He tried to fight back but Eretria was way too strong. There was not much that he could do. “Lucia, that is enough!” My mom rushed to my side. Her face was smeared with tears and her eyes were red. “You’re going to kill him!” She cautioned me, but I kept hitting him over and over. “Kill him? That’s the idea!” My voice overlapped with Eretria’s, causing it to sound aggressive and ghostly. “If you can’t watch this, that’s okay. But stay out of my way.” I turned my attention back to Sam and continued to hit him. Sam was now limp and could barely do a thing, or even defend himself. He only now accepted the hits but stayed in his wolf form because that way he

I was on the cold floor of somewhere familiar: the dungeon area. But I was not free to move around as my mother could do when she was here. One of my legs was shackled to the wall, limiting how far I could move if I wanted to. A dull headache clutched my head and my throat was very dry. Memories about the night came rushing into my mind and I exhaled sharply. Of course, my mind would not let me forget that I messed up; that my plan was sh*t. Of course, I would be reminded that I was just full of myself, thinking that I could be courageous or strong enough to avenge my pack and myself. I was delusional. Even in a new life and with a different body that was much stronger and healthier than before, I was still weak. I had failed. And worse of all, I had not drowned alone. I pulled in Jade and my mother with me. The only good things that actually came out of all this were meeting him, and freeing the prisoners. It made me feel a bit better; just a tiny bit. Everything else was just cr