The sun was smiling rather unusually over Lock Heart territory. The previous days of rain made that sunny morning seem a bit out of place. Anna got out of her tent with a slight sense of optimism, which she was sure came with the sun rays that bathed her as she stood at the entrance of her tent, unsure where to turn and where not to.She watched as the camp-like territory of the Lock Heart was already buzzing with activity and the chatters of children, all bright-eyed and bubbling with a seeming excitement that Anna couldn't quite grasp. The sight of them brought back a lot of memories, which she desperately repressed.With a seeming determination not to waste the new energy the brightness of the day had brought, she began walking aimlessly down the straight path between the tents.Walking from within, the Lock Heart's territory seemed just to be an area of land with tents and structures littered all over. As she continued walking, the arrangement became much clearer to her. The metic

"No!" Anna screamed herself awake, gasping for breath as if she had just surfaced from the depths of an ocean. The nightmare had been a suffocating net, tangling her mind and pulling her into the depths of despair. She'd had the same dream of witches surrounding her—it was as if the witches from her dream had followed her into the real world, casting their dark spells on her. Anna's heart raced as she tried to steady her breath. The nightmare had felt so real, and the fear still lingered within her. She sat up in bed, feeling the cold sweat on her forehead. It took her a few minutes to realize that it had only been a dream. But the fear wouldn't leave her. It stayed like a dark cloud looming over her, suffocating her. She held the emerald pendant tightly in her fingers, trying to find some comfort in its weight. There were no signs of daylight outside the tent. She probably had a couple more hours before daylight. "In the morning." The grimness of Lucian's words still echoed in the

"Do you think that she'll be able to pull through?" Carlyle stated bluntly, stealing a glance at Lucian's facial demeanor. "I doubt she's ready for this. She seems too young." "She's doing just fine," Lucian reassured himself, though it was just sheer hope he held on to. He just hoped that Anna wouldn't give up on him soon, or he'd face the hell of Carlyle's accusative "I told you so" statements. "Barbara was much younger." "You know Barbara is a special kind." Carlyle proposed. He wasn't the kind to easily give up an argument so soon. "So, is this one?" I hope you are, Anna. Lucian wondered why he was so quick to take Anna's side. "Barbara was the procreational progeny of two alphas, though she's unaware of that." Carlyle pressed on, making his points as straightforward as possible. Neither was ready to admit defeat in their calm, phlegmatic argument. What a way to put it, Carlyle. Lucian couldn't argue the facts, but within himself, he objected to those facts. His belief in Anna

Anna's palms blushed red, though the wounds from the tree trunk the day before had healed instantly. There's a lot more to do. A strange feeling of anxiety seemed to haunt her with each passing day.She reminisced on Lucian's words as she stared at her face in the waters of a slow-flowing stream on the outskirts of the camp. "Control...power.."It had been a couple of weeks since she'd arrived at the camp. She'd lost track of the days as she'd grown weary of counting after the second week.Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she'd be that far from home and unable to return, with no one to go home to, even if she'd gotten the chance to. Of course, she'd dreamed of adventures, but not this kind."Control....power...." Lucian's words had a way of sticking to her memory. She recalled how closely he'd held her, the calmness of his pulse, the softness of his words, and his warm breath on her neck. She didn't have words to explain the experience.'For goodness sake, don't be ri

Uneasy was the only word to describe the emotion that Anna felt herself drowning into. She was still yet to recover from the occurrence that had just transpired, as they seemed like a distant illusion she'd just gotten out of. The whooshing of the arrows still resonated within her. Her ability to have picked up a sound that far was still somewhat mysterious to her. The prowess of her hearing senses seemed to have taken a noticeable leap. The acuteness was appalling to her. Seated in her tent, she wondered what exactly had been transpiring within this mysterious pack. She clutched her emerald as she thought of Lucian. She wondered why the thought of the mysterious alpha wouldn't leave her mind. With each blin, an image of him was captured in her mind's eye. This too made her uneasy. Her emerald pendant had been glowing a while earlier, to her confusion. She was still yet to understand the unusual jewelry she had received from her mother as a parting gift, as it seemed to glow instant