LILITH’S POV:Finally escaping Yvonne feels like a breath of fresh air.I round a corner and walk further by a bit, stopping at the door of my room and push the doors open, wanting to just fall face flat and sleep the rest of this already tedious day.Unfortunately, my bed space isn’t as free as I had left it.Ariel sits up right as though she’s been expecting me with a small smile on her lips and cookies on a tray next to her.“You came just in time.” She says, patting at her side expectantly.The whole vibe feels very weird but the sight of warm cookies bribe me instantly and I give in.“What flavor?” “Butterscotch.”I take a piece, nibbling on it and feel all the stress in my body melt away in seconds.“Bribe accepted. What do you need?”She turns to me suddenly, gripping both my hands in hers while staring intently into my eyes.“I have a confession.”“Okay…this is totally not creepy.” I say sarcastically.“I feel embarrassed saying it.”“Not much surprises me at this point.” An

LILITH’S POV:The day I’ve been dreading finally approached, and I’m waiting just at the entrance for Yvonne to be finally done getting ready so we can leave.The main objective today is to pay a visit to a few of the impoverished parts of the pack, the areas where most of the Xenos reside and deliver food provisions and take notes down on what they need.I’d never thought Kain would be interested in what actually goes on, but if he really wanted to fix anything he should focus on the stigma against outsiders that runs vividly in his pack.We were meant to have left two hours ago but because of Yvonne and her hour-long preparation, we have not. There’s no surprise there.Though my job here is to essentially stop Yvonne from doing something drastic or stupid, it seems as though I have to tell her what to do at every turn.Thirty minutes more and she finally emerges from the door, dressed in a lavish sequin dress that reflects the sun's rays a bit too much and heels.It's an outfit too

LILITH’S POV:There’s no guessing it, it definitely has to be Yvonne’s plan to get rid of me by tossing me into a desolate and abandoned well.Unluckily for her, she needs to do more than this to achieve that.Before I can think, I need to get rid of the throbbing in my shoulder. From the feel of it, the bone must have shifted from its socket during the fall, the skin around is equally bruised and battered.I wince while trying to sit up with one arm and then bite on my lower lip, counting to ten backwards.Once I reach one, I push back at my shoulder with enough force to pop the bone back into its usual spot.“Aaargh!!” I scream from the pain that wrecks through my entire body from the shoulder.It dissipates in seconds, leaving an only slightly throbbing shoulder with a joint that is too weak to be used for now.I fall on my back, gasping for air and taking a break from the pain.I hate this so much; I hate that I have to deal with people like Kain and Yvonne just to have a livelih

LILITH’S POV:By the time I open my eyes again, it's already morning and the thundering rain is over. The fire place in front of us has already been put out.I try to sit up but something firm holds me from moving forward. I realize I’ve been sleeping on Kain’s warm bare chest all through the night while wrapped in a thick blanket.Memories of the night before and all the shit I had said files in one by one, and the embarrassment hits as well.I must have been really fucked up to have cried in front of Kain and let him see a little too much of me.I lift his protective arm off me, jumping to my feet and putting on the dry clothes Kira had laid out for us in a rush. I don’t want to be anywhere near Kain right now, for some reason.The residual pain in my ankle causes a little limp but it's technically fine.“You’re awake.” He says groggily, now moving and rubbing on his tired eyes.His actions almost seem cute but I don’t let myself fall for it.“Yeah, I am.” I say coldly.He sits up j

LILITH’S POV:From the way she stares at us with a weird look on her face, I suddenly feel really awkward being carried in Ivan's hands.“Drop me.” I say.“No, your ankle will only get worse if you put so much pressure on it.” He denies my request abruptly.I try to wiggle off him but his hold is firm and by the time I want to say something else, she’s already walked up to.“Ariel, I—” I try to explain but she cuts me off.“I heard what happened. I wanted to check if you were okay.”“Uhm, yeah, just a bruised ankle. Besides that, I’m totally fine.” I respond as cheerfully as I can.Her expression remains the same while seconds of silence passes, fucking awkward silence. Her eyes remain fixated on his arm holding me.“If you’ll excuse us, Miss Ariel.” Ivan says formally once there’s nothing left to say and walks past her with me in her arms.I turn back to look at her as we move away. She remains standing at that spot, motionless for seconds until we enter the building.She must be ups