In the past timeline, I was sixteen when I first realised I had feelings for Aleric, eighteen when I knew I was in love with him.
All my life I'd grown up believing that he would be mine one day, hoping I would make him proud. I was groomed, controlled, and moulded to become the perfect Luna from the moment I was born.
I remembered my first shift, how it felt once I saw him with the mate bond connecting us. It was like the air around him shimmered, beckoning me forward, demanding that I gravitate around him. If I focused enough, I could even still recall how his skin felt on mine; like tiny sparks of pleasure wherever it touched. So strong, an incredible leader, and capable of feats in battle no one else had accomplished. Those were the good memories of Aleric I'd buried.
So why was my mind surfacing this now? Maybe I was trying to justify to myself that at one point in my life I'd wanted this. That the old Aria would have revelled in this moment. To wear an Alp
'Three hundred and one… three hundred and two… three hundred and three… three hundred and four….'I crept my fingers like legs along the wooden panel as I sat curled up on the seat of the windowsill nook. In my head, I would count the steps I made until my hand couldn’t reach any further… then I’d repeat. How many steps could I count until I was eighteen?Everything felt like it blended together, almost as if two timelines were now indistinguishable. It must have been at least a month or two since they dragged me in here kicking and screaming. I had tried to run the minute I saw where they were taking me, a reaction that surprised even myself. But this place held worse memories for me than even the trial grounds where I’d died.'*“No, not here,”*' I had said adamantly as they tried to force me to go inside. '*“Anywhere but here.”*''*“This is
A loud knocking sounded at my door the following morning, instantly waking me up.It was dark, maybe dim morning light, but definitely earlier than I had expected to be disturbed that day. It was so early that I knew even Lucy wouldn’t have arrived yet.Despite my best efforts, my brain had refused to quieten down after I’d gone to sleep the night before. Figuring out a possible theory to do with Thea had awakened a new spark within me, one which had prevented me from settling my mind down. As a result, I felt exhausted from the little rest I had managed to get.I pulled myself out of bed sluggishly and made my way to the door, opening it to see a dishevelled looking Aleric on my doorstep. It appeared that early mornings still disagreed with him even after all this time.“...Aleric? Why are you here so early?” I yawned, too tired to conduct the required formalities.“So you just open the door for anyone without checkin
“If we can request a forty per cent decrease to our alliance tax for just the next five years, I believe that this amount alone would allow us to grow exponentially,” the Alpha from the Red Star pack said. “You’d easily see the missed returns back in full from the tax break, though I think easily more than full, once our annual revenue grew further. Currently, we have several plans in place for expanding our business interests, but we’re just short of the funds required to implement.” Aleric took a moment to consider before finally replying. “I’m happy to allow that,” he said, “but I would expect an increase of trade goods to come through the Winter Mist during that period of discount, something that would assist with both of our economies. In addition to that, I will also add the condition where, should you fail to increase your total gross income after ten years, the Winter Mist will reserve the right to claim the amount in missed taxes during the initial five year
The rest of the meeting went without further incident and soon everyone disbanded from the meeting hall to congregate outside. It was sunset by this point and I could feel everyone’s exhaustion around me as they waited for their sleeping arrangements to be made available for the night. Aleric and I stood to the side, avoiding further interaction after the events that had occurred. Not that I imagined anyone would be upset by that. If anything, they would be grateful for our distance, not wanting to find themselves as the next subject of our focus for too long. But there was one individual I had a feeling wouldn’t pick up on that obvious social cue. An individual who had just left the building, their eyes beginning to scan the area around them. Without hesitating, I quickly pushed Aleric around the corner of the meeting hall building to hide ourselves from none other than Alpha Fredrick. Only he would be brazen enough to not let sleeping dogs lie. Or i
'Reach for it…' 'Stretch...' I dug deep within myself, searching where I had felt that familiar energy first stem from. Before it used to always feel like it was just out of arm's length, as if only the tip of my fingernail could graze it, but now it felt as though I needed several more appendages just to get anywhere near it. But it was there. I had to believe that it hadn’t just been my imagination. 'Stretch just a little further…' But then I exhaled quickly in release, panting from the strain it had caused to my body. I’d been sitting on my bed practising ever since arriving back at my guest lodgings. However, since starting over an hour ago, there had been little to show in progress. I knew there had to be a trick to this, some sort of internal cue to summon it. Elder Luke had mentioned that this energy was something that could be trained but I was now trying to accomplish it with a sever
…. With a sudden lurch inside my chest, my eyes flew open. I was gasping heavily, trying to compensate for the suffocation that had afflicted me only moments earlier. … Except I wasn’t mounted on the glass shard anymore.... I was in my bed. My hands frantically grabbed at my body, inspecting for any sign of damage… but there wasn’t any. So it wasn’t real? But I had felt it. It couldn’t be a dream. I know it wasn’t a dream. But it ended up easier than expected to figure out exactly what had happened. The nausea hit me first, forcing me to throw myself over the side of the bed and empty out the contents of my stomach. Then the ringing in my ears followed… then, finally, the bloody nose. ...It was a vision. Easily the longest one I’d ever had; the realest one I’d ever had. Somehow it had been strong enough to show itself even with my collar, now punishing me with the worst side effects I’d ever had to date.
I awoke the next day sometime in the mid-afternoon. Not that it was very surprising given the events that had occurred the night before. Confusion was my initial reaction, finding myself in a strange bed, before my mind finally caught up. It still all seemed so crazy that, had it not been for the aching in my body, perhaps I would have thought the entire thing was just a nightmare. Or maybe I could have at least pretended it was. I changed into some clothes that were left for me and made my way into the living room, my movements all still incredibly stiff… only I found the quarters to be completely empty. I knew it was unreasonable to expect Aleric to be here but a part of me was still on edge from almost being kidnapped. Had he left to speak to Tytus in my stead? A knocking then came from the front door, making me jump, and I approached it warily. “Yes?” I called out. Without any warning, the door then swung open to reveal Alexander behind it
“...What’s her name?” I found myself asking politely, though I didn’t really feel present.Truthfully, I didn’t feel much of anything. My body had gone completely numb, falling into autopilot responses as I struggled to come to terms with what Cai had just told me.He found his mate.But he was only nineteen. He shouldn’t have found her so soon.‘Caius knight dies at the age of twenty-one with no Luna, mate or child’. That was the future for Cai I had known. Yet somehow this timeline had changed enough that he had met her earlier. It was a cruel slap in the face as reality reminded me, once more, that it would refuse to ever let me be happy. Even for just the few years I thought I might have had with him.“Caitlyn,” he replied awkwardly. “She seems… nice. Sweet.”‘Nice’? Really? That was the best he could say about the woman