[Zephyr] I stood outside the room where Diana was being treated by the royal doctor, Lyvia. Alpha Urza was back from his sweet little trip outside the Hidden pack. He towered in front of me. The knights with him stepped to cuff me. He lifted his hand and dismissed them. I smiled to myself and looked into his eyes. “What happened to Diana?” He asked in a dark tone as if I did something to her. “Ask your daughter what your son did to her, alpha,” I said. He turned to enter the room when I said— “I hope you found your answers and proofs.” He glared at me like a hunter glares at the other hunter aiming for the same prey as him. He didn’t say a word and entered the room. I leaned against the wall, pulling my head supine. “Diana…” I mumbled, shutting my eyes. I had to control myself for her. No matter how much I want to kill Reese Xenon, I can’t. I shouldn’t. I tightened my fists, crossing my hand across my chest. “Zeph.” I opened my eyes and looked around. We were alone in

[Diana] Among the tests that Lyvia conducted on me right after I was brought to the hospital, sexual assault was one of them. I had no recollection of the time I passed out. The fact that Reese actually used a heavy drug brought up that suspicion. Thankfully, there was nothing in the reports. But should I be thankful that he didn’t violate me while I was unconscious? Just the existence of a possibility where he could have touched my body while I was unconscious created an unfathomable restlessness in my heart. I hugged my knees to my chest, curling up against the headboard of my bed. I was back in the Xenon palace from the hospital. I wondered if it would have been better if I was never reborn? Because I was just trying to survive again. There was nothing like being alive in my life. All I have done ever since I was reborn is try to get stronger and independent and try to save my father and Lyvia from Reese and Willa. But I had been living in fear of the future every single day.

[Diana] Janus ran his tongue over his inner cheek. “I… was telling Zeph that I wanted to ask Vera to be my date for the prom,” Janus said. “What? And WHAT?” I yelled. “You don’t have to double-what me. I knew you would react like this, so I thought maybe your sunshine could be of some help because he is too good at talking. Talking to girls especially,” Janus said, sneaking glances at Vera. “Ok. Ok. I am trying to wrap my head around all this. You met my bodyguard without my knowledge when he mostly is with me when I am with you. Then you became such close friends in a few weeks and you call him by his nickname — Zeph? I bet he calls you by some nickname, too?” “Yeah, I call him Jan,” Zephyr said proudly. “See!” Janus took a deep breath and said, “look, you don’t have to be jealous, ok?” “I am not jealous! But we have been best friends for years and how is it we don’t have nicknames for each other?” I said. “That’s what you are concerned about? I literally said I wanted Vera

[Diana] “How long do you plan on staring at the question paper? What’s done is done. You can’t change it unless you bribe the teachers, which is impossible after you got Fin expelled from the faculty,” Janus said, sitting beside me in the back seat of my car as Zephyr drove us back to the palace from our academy. It was my last exam. I should have felt relieved, as if I had been free from a cage, but I didn’t… “How could I get the phases of the moon wrong? It was a ten mark question. Five marks solely for drawing the phases and labeling them correctly and the other five marks on the biological effect those phases of the moon have on werewolves,” I said. “At least you got the effect right.” “No, I wrote based on my diagram, which is completely wrong and…” I grunted. “I messed up. I am going to fail. My life’s over. If I fail, I won’t be eligible for the championship.” “Stop overthinking, girl. It’s just one question. Let it go,” Janus said. “Says someone who is going to get the p

[Diana]He patiently listened to every confusion and senseless explanation of how I felt about not being able to feel anything. Honestly, at one point, I was just yammering words randomly. I just liked the feeling of sitting with him on the cold marble bench as the light from the bulbs replaced the natural light.I wanted to be heard even when all I said were random words thrown like a jigsaw puzzle. I wanted to talk without being judged or advised. I just wanted to speak my heart out.I found that hiraeth with Zephyr near that pond under the cherry blossoms.Zephyr wasn’t joking or trying to lighten the mood like he usually did. He was seriously listening to me as if I was reciting some classical philosophy that needed every ounce of his attention to be deciphered.He made me feel like it mattered, even the stupidest thing I said. Like I mattered.“Like you are trapped inside and there is no escape?” He asked.“Exactly. Maybe there’s something wrong with me,” I chuckled nervously.H