جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 116

Ophelia pov It’s day four, which means it’s the last date from my mates. I kind of wish this would never end, but I also won’t back from my own promise, so I’ll just enjoy everything while it lasts. Alister arrives on time, as usual, knocks once and enters my room before I call out for him to enter. He stands in the doorway and smirks, “close your eyes.”“Why?” I ask and get off the bed. “Because I said please in my head,” he says and holds up a strip of black fabric, smiling like he already knows I’ll complain but still do what he asks anyway. “I want to blindfold you for this one.” My eyes dart between his smug face and the fabric in his hand. I cross my arms and try to glare at him, “you’re seriously in my room with a hostage accessory on you?” “It’s a date accessory, Ophelia,” he corrects and steps closer, “just trust me and turn around. Please?”I huff and do as he asks, turning my back on him and closing my eyes, “if this is some stupid prank, I’m telling dad.”“Not a prank

Ophelia povAlister and I return home, hold hands and head inside. And yet, we barely make it through the front door before the ambush starts.Hayes is sitting on the living room couch, Tate stands near the window and Cylus paces the carpet, still impossibly calm but very clearly overthinking about something that might become an issue soon. All three of them look at Alister, then at me, then back at Alister.“Welcome home,” Hayes says and looks at me, grinning. “Your father tried to start a fight club.”Alister stops and squeezes my hand a little tighter, “what?”“Council,” Tate corrects with a grin so wide I don’t think I can take him seriously now. “He wanted us to beat up Alister for the treehouse. Group project, his words not mine.”I stare at them, trying to see if any of them will crack up and admit this is nothing but a prank, but none of them starts laughing. My jaw nearly drops to the ground, “you’re joking.”“I wish,” Hayes says and settles on the couch more comfortably, “he

Ophelia povThe first thing I notice is that the house isn’t nearly as big as mom described it. It looks like every other industrial house - two floors, a porch and a yard that looks like nobody’s loved it in a year. Well, I suppose mom didn’t lie about the place, after all, she did say it was empty and available, not that it’s pretty. Hayes parks in front of it and gets out without a word, walking around the car to open the door for me. He’s been quiet the whole drive and even now, he doesn’t offer any opinion, simply stands in the driveway and looks at the tree line like he’s measuring how fast he can get back to his pack from here.Tate’s the first one to rush toward the actual house, running up the stairs, kicking a clump of dirt off the step. “Fuck me, I can already smell the layer of dust inside this place, we’re going to be coughing for a week.”“It’s a house, not a crypt,” Alister calls after him, smiling from ear to ear as his hand catches mine and squeezes it, “we’re livin