{ Rio } { 12 years old } We're just arriving at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I'm thinking about all the things I'm going to eat, when my cousin Laurie forces me and my twin to go with him into the middle of the woods to talk. He's going on about Kingsley once again, complaining about things that don't make much sense. I look over to my twin to check if he's thinking the same thing as me and his eyes alone confirm it. This is weird. "What?" Laurie demands with a frown. "All this time you've been complaining that Kingsley does nothing but harass you, forcing you to play with him, haven't you? Or did I miss something?" I ask, to understand better. Laurie nods, "So why are you complaining now that he finally stopped?" "Ugh, you guys don't get it either," he complains dramatically and drops his head back, "I'd rather that idiot had stayed in Asia forever, but I'm not the problem here. It's my wolf. Kingsley befriended my wolf years ago
{ Rio } There's only one thing on my mind during the two hour drive from Tallahide to Fallonmore: telling my twin everything that's happened. I know he's mad at us right now, but he still has to hear that Laurie is Tallahide's new Alpha, that’s freaking awesome. As soon as my grandfather drops me off at my house, I run up to my room to tell my brother everything he missed out on by being upset. I'm about to fly upstairs when I realize he's in the couch, furiously texting someone. "Hey, dude, let's go to our room," I call out to him, trying to contain my excitement. Alex doesn't even turn around, "Trust me, you want to hear this." "I know what you want to tell me, I already know Laurie is Alpha of Tallahide," he mumbles as if he doesn't care at all, not even looking up at me yet, "Aunt Olivia called dad to brag about it." "Oh yeah? And what did dad say?" I ask, begging him with my eyes to turn to look at me, but he still doesn't. Alex is still upset and I don't even understand w
My essentials are: my clothes, my chargers, my headphones, my tablet, two pairs of shoes, my sleeping mask, my favorite pillow, my stash of favorite candies for the road and my cologne just in case. I leave our room when I'm ready and I walk down the stairs very carefully. Alex is still here, talking to our parents and saying goodbye. I wait a couple of minutes until he leaves the house and then I go down. My mom is waiting for me with her arms crossed on her chest. "Are you seriously going to do this?" she asks, ignoring my outstretched hand waiting for her keys, “Are you going to survive?” "Yes, Mom. I will survive. Give me your keys, please," I ask with little patience. She doesn't budge. My dad is the one who sighs and hands me his own keys. "Take my car. I recommend you don't let Alex know you're following him, he won't take it well," he warns and I nod because I already know that. I grab his keys and catch his tiny body in my arms to hug him with all my might, "Please be
I sigh and ask for the check as soon as I finish eating. It's ten thirty now, logically speaking, I don't think my car is even being serviced yet and I don't think I can find Alex just walking around. I need to find a place to sleep and try to get inside my brother's mind so I can figure out... "Your card declined," the waitress says, holding my card with a grimace. I stare into her eyes expecting her to tell me she was lying or something, but the girl just gets nervous under my eyes, "Sir?" "Can you try again?" "I already have. Several times," she whispers, swallowing. "Okay," I mutter, taking my card back and forcing myself to give her a smile to reassure her, "Can you give me a moment, then? I'll go get cash from my car." "Uh..." the girl stammers as I stand up and grab my backpack, "Sir? Y-you're coming back, right?” "Oh, yeah, totally," I lie and continue walking towards the exit. The girl just stands there, defeated. We both know I'm not coming back, but she doesn
{ Lunanci } The werewolf demon watches me intently as I grab my bag and search inside it. I have a few seconds to do something if I want to save my life and I need to make them count. "Revertere in domum suam," I whisper, raising my eyes to him as I pretend to search, "Non nocuerunt mihi." "What the fuck are you even saying? Are you cursing me out in human or something?” he spits, not sounding like the demon I thought he was, "Where's the money?" I stop pretending to look and just stare at him. For some reason... suddenly I'm not that scared anymore. He just doesn’t look like a bad person. He's a young man, really tall, around six foot three at the very least. He has a clean face, handsome features, light hair and blue eyes. He's also casually wearing a Tom Ford shirt, very white sneakers and doesn't understand Latin. This is not a demon... he’s just some guy. Some normal guy. One who happens to be a werewolf. "I only have fifty dollars," I admit and pull out the bi
"Okay," I reply, closing my eyes to take a deep breath. This can't be it, I'm a smart woman. I can get out of this, "Maybe I'm not a GPS and I can't find your brother with magic, but you can still use me.” "How? Your magic is useless," he mumbles with an unimpressed eyebrow up, "I think you're just a scammer." "I'm not a scammer," I mumble back, starting to get angry. I hate being called that, "It feels like you and your twin brother are connected, like you're a part of each other's soul. I think that... somehow, I could... I don't know, walk around town feeling energy and when I feel it's similar to yours, maybe your brother is out there." Rio looks at me with narrowed eyes, completely skeptical. "Just give up, Lunanci, you're making everything sadder and more pathetic than it has to be. Keep your human dignity and die without begging," he advises and lifts another slice of pizza to continue eating, like a bottomless barrel, "I like you, you have guts, you smell nice and you're
{ Lunanci } Things I know about werewolves so far: they're high maintenance, rich and pampered. And mean. Except maybe the soft-spoken guy who told Rio he's being cruel to me, at least he has a bit of a conscience. I have no idea where Tallahide is, but it looks like I'm going to that place full of other werewolves. I should be shitting myself because they're totally going to kill me over there, but to be honest, I'm excited. My stomach filled with butterflies just thinking about it. All my life I've known there's more to life than just this. Whatever this is. I've always known that life couldn't be this boring, I've always known that there really are all these things that no one believes in. Except for me. Seeing a whole society of werewolves will be exhilarating, even if I end up dead because of it. I think it will be worth it to know that life is actually wonderful before I die. "You're so right, Laurie. I'll do that," Rio agrees after thinking about it for a while, still ea
{ Rio } "Hey," someone says, moving me and trying to wake me up. When I slowly open my eyes, Lunanci is in front of me. I feel confused, "It's time to go look for your brother." "Oh, right," I mumble and sit up on the couch, trying to reconcile how the hell I fell asleep in such an uncomfortable and brightly lit place. That's not normal for me, "Your incense made me dizzy. I passed out." "Really? I'm sorry," she replies with a grimace, "It's necessary to create an atmosphere where I can concentrate better. By the way, I have an idea where your brother might be." "What? Really?" I ask, standing up. Lunanci nods. "I connected with you while you were asleep, I did a whole investigation on your brother. He wants to be some kind of cop or something, doesn't he?" She asks, my mouth drops open and I nod, starting to get hopeful, "Then we can go, I don't know, to some police station and ask around." "Yes!" I blurt out, excited, "You're so smart. By the way, I'm sorry I said you'