Despite my resolve, it still took another two months before I finally worked up the courage to begin the difficult journey of becoming Beta.
The rest of Myra's charity event had gone well that day and I didn't see Aleric for the remainder of the fundraiser, which was perfectly fine by me. I could tell Myra was a bit worried about me though and I had to palm it off as no big deal. I didn’t want to worry her. It was her first time seeing me so scared by anything and I could only imagine what might have been going through her mind.
In the two months that had passed, I somehow had reached my fifteenth birthday. I requested that it be kept a quiet affair and so we ended up celebrating it with just my parents and Myra. There were minimal gifts, also per my request, and we all sat and had a nice dinner at my house. Really, I was just happy to be amongst all the people who genuinely cared about me. I’d spent too many birthdays in the past being almost completely al
“Rae... tell me what’s going on. Please.”I looked up into Kieran’s eyes as he begged me to tell him what I’d been so desperately avoiding since we met last year. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, because of course I did. It was just that I didn’t want to ruin what we had by dredging up things that happened in another life. I wanted to keep living a normal life for as long as possible.“Keiran....”It was getting harder to brush it off. According to him, I would sleep talk occasionally, plagued by a nightmare. Or I’d suddenly look off in a daze and be filled with so much sadness that it was strong enough for him to feel through the mate bond. Things that I’d sworn I’d already overcome years ago, but somehow they were coming back. I was running out of excuses and finally, tonight, it had come to a boiling point.I’d had another nightmare... and I’d spoken of killing his sister.He wanted answers, deservedly so. However, I didn’t want to collapse that dam just yet, releasing flood wate
My name was Rheyna Knight, one of the future Alphas of the Silver Mist council.Ten years had passed since I’d been reborn in this bizarre timeline. A world where war had never scarred the grounds I now called home. Here, there was no such thing as suppressors, nor did anyone dare call us ‘Devils’ to our face. I wasn’t sure how many from my generation even knew that term for us existed. Somehow, throughout all the years following Aria’s passing, everything had remained peaceful.There were tensions now and then, sure. As I had quickly learned, it was to be expected amongst our kind. Territories were still fought over, petty squabbles ensued... but never a war. Never anything like what had happened in the timeline I once knew. Where blood and ashes were all that remained of the place I’d been born.This was an era of peace. Where the Silver Mist was amongst the strongest, if not the strongest, pack throughout the territories. Rather than fight against us, most appealed to ally with us i
“Rheyna... you’re here.”My eyes flew open and I found myself sitting at a white clothed table, the sound of live piano music playing as people chatted quietly. I looked around the room quickly, seeing that the place was elegant with beautiful furnishings... and realised that it was somewhere I had been before.I was at the Rose & Thorn, Keiran’s favourite restaurant.“What the... How am I...?”I quickly shot my eyes up to who had spoken and watched as a stunning woman with silver hair sat down at the table across from me.“Aria...?” I greeted numbly, my brain still trying to make sense of this all.But then I remembered.The dagger... the pain.I gasped at the air and brought a hand to my chest, as though I could still feel it embedded there, piercing into my chest. Only there was nothing. Nothing except the dress I’d once worn in this very establishment.“I’m dead,” I finally concluded, realising what this all meant.Aria just nodded her head and gave me a warm smile.“You fought we
I had to convince Kieran to run. Maybe if he could make it to one of the human cities, he’d have a chance of surviving. Blending in amongst the millions of normal people. Nemesis would only be looking throughout the pack territories... right?“Rae... everything is going to be fine,” Clarissa then said, holding a hand to my cheek. “I’m going to take care of it.”“What...? What do you mean ‘take care of it’?”“I’m going to hand myself over to Nemesis,” she explained. “It’s the only way to protect you.”“NO,” I argued, pulling away from her angrily. “We’ll find a way to stop her. We always find a way to keep fighting. Together.”“It’s too late for that.”“Stop saying that! You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for me, Clarissa,” I pleaded. “I’ll... I’ll go with you. It was always meant to be the two of us who won this fight. Back then... during our argument, I never meant to hurt or deceive you... I was just desperately trying to do what I thought was right. But I... I should have spoken
This needed to stop. Now. Even before stopping Clarissa. I knew there would be no coming back once the first blood was drawn.There was only one way to stop this. I just silently hoped I would be strong enough.And so I ran into the crowd, pushing my way to the centre as far as I could go until I locked eyes with Kieran. He must have sensed my presence, appearing surprised to see me, but I quickly turned away before I lost focus, squaring my body and tensing my chest.I needed time. Time to figure out what was happening. Time to check if Allison was still alive. Time to understand the severity of Clarissa’s presence. All of which I wasn’t going to be able to do whilst everyone was about to kill each other.So I did what anyone in my situation would do. What only I could.I took a deep breath and—.“*ENOUGH!*” I ordered, pouring everything into it. “*Everyone take a step back and don’t move*.”I watched as they all lowered their heads, their stances relaxing as they did what I said. Th
It was as if the forest had come alive. The leaves shook... the grass swayed... the rocks vibrated... everything had a life of its own, a tinge of electricity in the very air around me.And in the centre of this ethereal vision, at the very epicentre of it all... was Clarissa.She floated above the water with her eyes closed, a light surrounding her so pure that it was as if it were coming from the moon above. Around her, her silver hair danced in the light, becoming a living halo that framed her face. No longer were there dark circles under her eyes, her cheeks so thin they were almost gaunt. She looked healthy. Healthier than I had ever seen her.She was the most beautiful creature, an otherworldly essence to her.But it was the sheer energy I could feel coming off of her that made me realise what I’d done. That I hadn’t simply saved her life or allowed her to transfer energy back into Selene’s corpse.No...I think… I think I’d somehow created a God.I couldn’t seem to move as I wa