101- Cole

I did not regret many things in my life. Regretting them means that I would have made a different choice, gone through a different path than the one I had right now. But I would have done it again. And again. Without a single thought. “You knew they were together?” Garett’s wide eyes and grin should have set me off. And perhaps, in another world, they would have. But I didn’t care. “And you said nothing?”I stood from my seat. “If that is all—”“Hey, hey.” He blocked my entrance out the door, his green eyes wild and frantic as he chuckled again, shrugging. “You didn’t think of telling the rest of the council? Or making us know your dear friend was fucking your—”My hand shot out, wrapping around his neck as I pinned him to the wall. “Finish the fucking sentence and I’d snap you like a twig. And drop that knife of yours down, you know it won’t do any damage. You’re not stupid.”Garett’s eyes bulged, but the grin on his lips only grew larger as he rasped. “You know, I’ve always thou

102- Remy

“He has the gene present for people with Alzheimer’s but we can’t say for certainty that anything on it will develop yet.” The doctor explained, keeping his voice low. I was grateful that Margot wasn’t here. That it was just him and I. “It’s an indicator, not a definitive diagnosis. We’ll need to monitor him closely over the coming months and run a few follow-up cognitive assessments to establish a clear baseline.”A hollow ache had started in my chest. It kept growing larger, digging deeper with every breath I took. I rubbed my neck. “But he has memory lapses already.”“Yes. Strange, isn’t it?” He pulled out some x-rayscans and held them up to the light box, tracing a finger along the gray, shadowed contours of the images. “Technically, at his age and at this early stage, his brain should show some deterioration in the memory lapses around the hippocampus, but as you can see, everything looks relatively normal.”The doctor pointed to two small, neatly defined curves near the center o

103- Blake

The alcohol was fucking with me. It was taking all of me not to lunge at her. I found myself wondering what I had to do, what I had to break to keep her. Everytime— every time I let my guard down, she was gone. And staying away from me. Hiding. From me. Why wasn’t I allowed to hurt Remy? She was the one who ran to him again. Even after I gave her myself. Even after her kindness to me… ‘Remy is always kind to everybody. You’re not special.’ “Shut up.” “What?” Her voice broke through the dark storms like a ray of sunlight. It wasn’t warm. No. It never felt warm. It felt as if it was breaking through every defense I’d made, burning me. Why did it have to hurt me? My eyes landed on Remy. She still looked the same way from before. The same dress. The same coldness. Except… except I knew she was in pain now. Margot had managed to keep me away the first few hours until Vincent gave her some information that he believed I should tell her. She’d told me… that taking care of Remy wa

104- Remy

My stomach hurt. It hurt so badly that I didn’t know what to do. I tried to ignore it. Tried to act like my vision wasn’t making spots as the car drove but it didn’t work. ‘Remy Lou,’ My Father’s smile was always the brightest thing in the room because it was so rare to see. He would smile a lot at me when I was younger when I asked. And he would be tired but he would smile. No matter what. ‘You know what my favourite thing about looking at you is? It’s seeing how much you look like me if I ever grew pretty.’Wolf’s smile came up. ‘You’re really kind, Remy. You’re the kindest person, I know.’Blake’s car stopped in front of the compound. He stayed silent through the entire ride. His hand stayed on the steering wheel as he looked at the gate with the men now pointing guns at us. “I could just drive in, no?”“No.” My body shook slightly as I pushed open the car door and walked out. I almost fell but it took all of me to hold myself up as I walked forward. I could see the guns pointed

105- Remy

I stopped. The wind picked up as I turned my head to the side. “Daddy?”Wolf grinned at me. “I’m here too, Rem. Not gonna notice me.”“Wolf.” Relief. Pure relief. It was the best thing I’d ever felt as a smile spread through my face. The sudden rush of oxygen back into my lungs felt like fire, but I didn't care. The burning in my stomach, the sickening ache in my chest, the cold dirt beneath my bleeding knuckles— all of it faded into nothing. Why had I been so scared? They would never leave me. My father was standing right in front of me, his hands tucked casually into his worn leather vest. He looked tired, so tired but he was smiling that quiet, rare smile meant only for me. We’d fought so many times that I’d almost forgotten how good it was. How much I loved his happiness. “You don't pick fights you can’t win. What have I told you?”Beside him, Wolf folded his arms, his messy black hair falling into his eyes as he gave me that familiar, easygoing smile. “We won’t be able to feel

106- Scarlett

“You really are predictable, aren’t you, baby?” I could sense the chill running down my spine as Travis slid into the seat. He looked the way he always did for someone who was in a coma a month ago— typical banker attire. Shirt, black tie and pants. There was not a single thing unique about him. It was exactly the same thing I thought when Remy had introduced to him. She was so… herself. And real. And he was like every finance bro ever pushed out of a cookie-cutter assembly line. Unremarkable. Right up until the moment I let him ruin my life.“What are you doing here, Travis?” My voice was tighter than I wanted it to be. The cafe we were in should have calmed me down. The smell of sweet things always did that. But recently… recently, so many things had changed. Not like I had any rights to complain. This was all my fault from the beginning, wasn’t it? All my sins were just catching up to me. He leaned back, spreading his arms across the top of the leather booth as if he owned t