Live Life In Crescendo Novels & Stories

Outside, the shadows lengthened toward evening, and somewhere in the vast Mooncrest Estate, an Alpha she barely knew was making decisions about her life. Decisions that, judging by Isabeau's fear, might mean the difference between survival and destruction.

"We both are. Which is why we need to be smart. Trust no one at court, watch everything and figure out who the real enemy is before they make their next move." "Great. So I'm engaged to you, living in a palace full of people who might want to kill me, trying to learn how to be a princess, all while hunting down a mysterious conspiracy. Anything else?" Louis smiled, a real smile this time. "Welcome to royal life, Princess Khalifa. It's exactly as fun as it sounds." The carriage turned toward the palace gates and I saw my future spreading out in front of me like a battlefield. And I had no idea how to win.

She would never go back to that, but they were grown now and she had the right to go out for a picnic and enjoy herself! “What is your problem, Sean! I didn’t intentionally upset any of you. I just got back from a life-altering event! Jack understands what I’ve been through. Have you ever been on the brink of death like that. On the side of a mountain, clinging to life? This can’t be equated to drug addiction!” Though she herself had thought them similar when she was trying to survive.

“If it comes on us we stay low. No sudden move.” “And if it does not leave?” “Then we deal with the next moment. Not the whole night at once.” The sounds stopped for a long stretch. The silence that followed was worse than the movement. Both of them strained to hear. Nothing. Only their own hearts and the faint rustle of the blanket when one of them breathed too deep. Ezra whispered, “I can still feel the old life thinning. Even now. Strange.” “What remains is still only us and the ground. That has not changed.”

In my past life, I was brought to a riverside villa to live with Wanda. She would personally cook soup for me daily and express her concern. She treated me like a princess. I'd naively thought my life had changed for the better until I accidentally overheard her conversation with the butler. What I'd heard made a chill run down my spine and destroy my fantasy. It turned out that a large piece of cement had crashed on two people during the earthquake. Moving it would save one person but fatally crush the other.

*** GIANNA *** Back to reality. As soon as the plane landed, I felt the change. All day, I've been avoiding thinking about this, about going back to my real life, but I guess there was no escaping it now. Although I sat in the car with the Russo family, I already felt the loss. The weekend is one I'll store away in my mind for those rainy days to come because I'm sure I'll never have another like it.

I calmly tucked away my acceptance letter from Northern Werewolf University. When I stepped into the villa, laughter floated out from the dining room. At the table, my parents and Tatiana were happily eating together. The moment I walked in, the warm atmosphere turned icy. I pretended not to notice. I no longer tried to force my way into their little circle as I did in my last life. I simply sat down and picked up the cutlery with quiet, practiced elegance. In my previous life, I worked tirelessly to catch up on the Alpha family's aristocratic etiquette, yet Tatiana's natural poise only made my awkwardness look like a joke.

I ran toward the crowd, toward the people who had chosen to celebrate the life I had rebuilt. They surrounded me and began singing "Happy Birthday." In the warmth of their voices and the glow of the candles, I closed my eyes and made the first wish of my life that truly belonged only to me. "To a life well lived, Cindy!" The candles went out. Cheers rose around me. I took a bite of cake and watched the last edge of the sun sink behind the mountains. All the blood-stained memories of Manhattan drifted away with the cool evening breeze, left forever in the ruins of a life I would never return to.

In the background there was soft music and the sound of running water. Arabella raised an eyebrow. “Where are you?” “Spa. They have this new treatment with warm stones and I cannot explain it but it has genuinely changed me as a person.” A pause. “And a masseuse named Luca who looks like he should be illegal.” Arabella snorted softly and dropped back onto the couch. Cressida spent approximately forty percent of her lifetime in a spa soaking away. “I might start a war.” Cressida laughed. “Please tell me this is about Sebastian. I’m bored.”

“You have a purpose, and that doesn’t include sitting back and enjoying the show.” Cressida nodded, her eyes locked on Alaric’s. “Okay,” she said softly. “But sometimes, you need to let go and breathe. Life’s like a river—if it doesn’t flow, it stagnates…” “You work, you play, you live. Otherwise, your mind’s just a dusty road, collecting dust and nothing more.” “Let’s talk in my room—properly.” Alaric said, reaching for the wheelchair’s handles. Cressida stepped behind him, her hands extending to help. “Let me.” She offered.