ASHLEYI strain my ears trying to overhear anything that is being, not that it helped.The door closes and my hope of escaping this leaves my mind not before I see Andrea rushing into the room.“Hey, what happened?” she turned and glared at Ivan who raised his hands up in surrender. “What did you do to her?”She pretty much yells at him and I let out a sigh of relief. Having a big sister is really nice.“Nothing, God stop giving me that look.” He mumbles the last part turning away.“Do you two know each other?” they share another look, more like exchanged glares.“No!”“Definitely not!”I give them an incredulous look but don’t say anything. Andrea sighs and holds my hand, stroking it gently.“Are you okay? Are you sure you’re okay?” I manage a nod.“Just my back but I fell, it wasn’t his fault.”Though it kind of is his fault, wait I think it is mine, I wasn’t looking but he saw me coming literally running for my life but he stood there and let me crash into him. The fair thing would
ASHLEYI gave him a blank stare. He has not done anything to prove he is not a sicko so I’ll keep on thinking until I’m proved otherwise.“I was sent here to protect you,” he speaks softly now and I couldn’t help the frown.“I don’t need any protection,” he smiles.“You do,” I glared at his side view since he isn’t looking at me, he hands me the card he had taken. The one the man gave me last night and it suddenly clicks.“My family is always in danger and he wants you to be protected at all times,” I hold the card with two fingers like a full contact with it is going to infect me.“What do I have to do with your family? If anything you should give this to Drea, she is the one running around with one of you. I, on the other hand, don't even want to meet your brother.” I push the card towards him not even bothering to spare it a single glance.He shakes his head and tells me to keep it.“I ordered lunch for you, don’t go out please. Let’s get your personal security fixed first and some
ASHLEYThe mall is not so far from the hotel so I just decided to walk, not only because I'm scared of being in a car with a total stranger but I would much rather be in the street where someone might see and rescue me if anyone tries to snatch me.Yes, I think I have this all planned out.Trust me, when you develop a sudden paranoia you'll probably do worse. That aside, the walk actually seems nice.People are going about their business and it all looks great to me. I hope I don't look like your typical small town girl looking around shops like some sort of noob but I just can't help it. When you grow up in a small town where everyone knows their neighbor, seeing so many people who barely spare you a glance is pretty much a cause for glee.There's a skip to my step as I walk, I may or may not be imagining myself in a book or a historical novel, it would be great to run into my own Mr. Darcy.I chuckle lowly before schooling my features. I don't want people thinking I'm crazy except n
ASHLEYThere is always a witness, at least I see that in crime shows. I thought, my fingers crossed and my heart full of hope.My eyes snap open when I feel his hold loosening and soon he lets go of me completely and I'm quick to turn around to face him.I moved back immediately as his face came into view. He is dressed in a suit similar to that of last night, except he ditched the tie this time making his look more casual.My back hits the wall of the elevator and I know I'm the visual representation of shock."You?!" I breathe out heavily, desperately tapping buttons on the elevator but it doesn't stop."Nice to see you again," His voice is as deep and silky as it was last night, except now it makes the hairs on my body stand and not in a good way.I don't reply to him, desperately trying to get the doors to open so I can call the cops and tell them someone has been following me and another man wants to kidnap me.Wait, I don't have to wait till I get out of here. They can help me g
LUCAI leave the house as soon as I'm able to get on my feet and if you were wondering if I went to the meeting with the elders, well I didn't.If they want to meet with me and are serious about it, they should make an appointment like every other person. I'm not giving any damn person any special treatment, especially not those old bastards.My phone vibrates with an incoming message, it confuses me for a bit before I decide to check what it is.Ivan: Look where I'm at.I rolled my eyes seeing the message, that is before I opened the image and saw a picture of my mate lying in a bed looking so damn pretty with that little frown on her lips.Me: Get the fuck out of there before I rip you apart.My hand flies over the screen typing out a reply sharply.Ivan is fucking playing with me. He replies with an eye roll which makes me glare, surprising the man sitting opposite me. His jumping reminded me of him and I wave him off, wanting time to calm myself down in private before I go and mee
LUCA“You found your mate, but I only found out on the streets?” I have nothing to defend myself with so I just sighed."Anyway, where is she? I can’t wait to meet her.” she chirps, excitement lacing her voice. “Oh, I'm going to teach her how to make you uncomfortable." She doesn't need to do much, the part of my body presently straining against my zipper is also doing that for her."I'll make sure I keep her away from you," She cackles evilly."That is not going to be possible," We laugh and joke for a while catching up on lost time.Arabella is the youngest and the stray child in our family, that is what our mother calls her. She detests staying in one place so she is always traveling from one country or continent to another, making the only times we see her two or three times a year, when she is feeling generous that is."Do you still have your penthouse here? I'm going home with you but I'm not waiting here with you until you finish your work." I nod in understanding and agreement
ASHLEYWe both stay on our sides of the elevator and you may call it childish but I would rather not be within arm's reach of this creepy weird man that basically forced himself on me last night.I pull my knees up to my chin and hug my legs, it is a vulnerable pose but that is the last thing on my mind.We've been here for more than ten minutes but it feels like hours, endless hours to be honest.My phone conveniently has no cell reception, I know my parents must be worried about me. Will they leave without saying goodbye to me? The thought makes me sad because they will have to, they can't stay late with Theo not being able to drive in the night and they can't stay another day, today is Saturday which gives only Sunday and they need their rest since they all have work on Monday.The man stands up in a rush which scares me a bit making me crawl backward."Shit, this cannot be happening." He mutters running his hands over his face, I look up at him with narrowed eyes when he curses ag
ASHLEYAfter a lot of grunting and sounds the door gets opened and we come face to face with two men in uniform, their eyes almost bulge out of their sockets when they see him and though that is a cause for question, I don’t ask it.Curiosity killed the cat, you know.“Mr. Van Tyson I apologize for the delay, we had no idea it was you in there.”No wonder he has an air of self importance around him, he must be important but that still doesn’t excuse the fact that he is an asshole. Him having saved my life or not, I’m just being truthful.“The director of maintenance is to meet me in my office first thing tomorrow.” They both nod in respect before excusing themselves.A small crowd has gathered but he doesn’t spare them a glance, his hand is still on my lower back which is what pulls me back to reality.“Well thank you, that was a great experience. I hope to never be in an elevator again. Bye.” I mutter all in one breath and start walking towards the door but he holds me by my elbow, s
ASHLEYAndrea and I share a look mostly because we didn't see anyone when we came in and all, some people are already back but not most of them."Open it?" She asks and I shrug, having half the mind to shake my head.With the weird things that have been happening to me, I don't want any more horror movie shit."We'll be fine," Drea mutters and gets up to open the door. We find a girl standing with a wide smile on her face."Hi, I'm Mila. I'm in the next room." We share another discreet look before I muster a small smile."Can I come in?" She points to the inside laughing a little at how Drea is holding the door.She throws me a look over her shoulder and I nod before she lets her in. She finds a place to sit and literally starts chattering and telling us all about her. One thing I can tell is she is pretty jovial and seems nice.She is a sophomore and told us a few dos and don'ts, most especially the guys to avoid."If he wears a leather jacket, don't." She says counting the items off
ASHLEYSince we've already filled our information online we didn't have to go through all that hassle of finding our room or registrations, we only had to go to the admin and get our key then sign that we've moved in.Plus, since most students have not resumed we have a lot of time on our plate and space.Drea and I are sharing a room, nothing new there since we've been doing that basically our whole lives."This is amazing," Mum says, running her hand over my unmade bed.Theo, Dad, and even Sam helped in bringing our things inside, but not much really. Just my books, Drea's posters and things she likes then our clothes boxes."Oh, I'm going to miss my girls," I let her wrap her arms around me, letting her warmth envelop me.Drea joins in on the hug and the familiarity of it almost made me cry, especially when I remember she wouldn't be in the kitchen or backyard when I get home from school every day."We'll miss you too mum,""So much," Drea adds, and after a few seconds like that we
ASHLEYI don’t forget to pray for good luck seeing how yesterday ended for me and I wouldn’t want a repeat, there is something in my mind but I can’t pinpoint what it is. It must not be important.I put on a band t-shirt and pair it with skinny jeans, the weather is warm so I don't bother with any jacket and after staring at the mirror for more than five minutes I finally decide to put my hair up in a ponytail.Waiting for Andrea would be fruitless because she takes very long in the shower. I find the table they are sitting at in the small restaurant in the hotel."Morning mum, dad." I peck both of them on the cheeks before sitting in between Sam and Theo.The former sits up and smooches his mouth as though expecting a kiss, I roll my eyes then push the garlic bread I reached for into his mouth, he spits it out immediately making a gagging sound which gains our parent's attention."Sam!" Mun exclaims, giving him the look mothers give when you're doing something wrong in public and the
ASHLEY“What?” my mouth could as well be reaching my ear and Andrea has to swat my thighs to get me to quiet down.“Don’t scream it to the whole world.” She hisses lowly.“What do you want me to do? Andrea, you can’t marry someone you met two months ago!”“Three months,”“What is the difference?” I swing the pillow at her but she catches it before it connects with her face.“Will you listen to me?” she whisper-yells and I nod, promising her I’ll be quiet.“I told him no of course, at least not yet but I love him, Ash. I know I do.”I’m looking at the crazy doe eyed girl sitting in front of me and trying to relate her to my sister that didn’t care for men that way. I know she believed in prince charming but she doesn’t like love at first sight and this sounds an awful lot like it.“But how can he ask you to marry him? Is he crazy?” I whisper-yell in return, okay more like yell, the whisper part seems to have been lost in my throat.“Shut up!” I nod, putting my hand over my mouth to sil
LUCAElliott is the first person I see when I reach the pack house, unlike some other packs where the alpha and every other notable member of the pack live in the pack house, it is more of a sorority or fraternity house however you choose to look at it for warriors and those in training.It is not mandatory because some of the pack warriors live in houses around the pack with their families or mates, while those that would rather not have to deal with it just live in the pack house where everything is taken care of.“What did the prickly old bastards say tonight?” I grunt inaudibly.“Same usual shit, now I have to deal with the fact that the rogues are holding sketchy meetings,” his mouth hangs open for a few seconds before he shakes his head and falls in step with me.I considered staying back in my office in the pack house and seeing all that has been going on. I know I haven’t paid all that attention to the pack in the past two days.“That doesn’t sound good,” he states the obvious
LUCA“Do you have anything else to say?” My voice comes out calm, the anger that is making my blood boil can only be told from my posture.“No alpha,” I don’t spare him a glance even when he gets back in his seat.It is taking a lot of self-restraint for me to not lunge at him. I can feel my wolf fighting, clawing in my head trying to get out but I fight it. No need to give them more reason to pass rumors around, all I need right now is my mate, and knowing I can’t have her close makes me more angry.“The rogues had another meeting, I was told by the spies sent from the council,” the cold atmosphere in the room dissipates and I run my hand over my face.“Let him in,” I give the permission to let the man that was sent to see them in to relay the news.“Good evening alpha, elders.” He bows at me and then the others in the room respectively before moving to the middle of the room.Like most werewolf council meeting rooms, my seat being the alpha is in the middle with the others all aroun
LUCAArthur is still laughing at what I said. So I reached out and punched him in the arm.Never make fun of a frustrated man, especially if it is sexual frustration. They tend to be violent, I already see him limping with broken arms. He would heal fast of course but I just want to inflict pain on him.“That is completely different,”I roll my eyes taking note of the car stopping, the bright lights from the pack house are reflecting the inside of the car, we don’t seem bothered or even ready to step out.“How different?”“We decided to wait, you have no choice.” He points at me.“No wolf would want to wait months after meeting his mate, keep telling yourself that.” I don’t wait for him to think of a retort before I step out and start my walk to the front door.I hear his voice in my head annoying the hell out of me more.‘When you are on talking and not growling on a daily basis with your mate, I’ll take your word for it but I’ll have you know my mate would be long screaming my name
LUCA“Fuck you,”The statement keeps repeating itself in my head and as much as I wanted her to do just that, I needed to get out of there before I changed my mind and go through with it.Really though, I had been seconds away from stepping out of the car and doing just that but my wolf kept clawing in my head, that and my mother’s endless messages.Speaking of which, the phone starts ringing again almost immediately.“It is the Luna sir,” my most trusted aide says from the front. I consider just leaving her to it since I’m already on my way home but she would not stop calling until I pick up.“Put her through,”“Yes alpha,” he says before connecting the call to my personal cell.“Mother,” I called at the same time the divider between me and the driver went up.“Oh, you actually picked this time.” her tone is flat eliciting an eye roll from me.“What else do you need?” I can picture her giving me her most unimpressed look.“Don’t try to play coy with me, you made me look stupid this m
ASHLEYI turn on my heels and walk through the open door, not bothering to wait and see his reaction.I really hope his eyes are narrowed and stupefied so he looks really stupid like he deserves to look for making me so weak in his presence.He would see who will be ready by seven tomorrow, it may be every other girl in this world but not me.Mum and dad have gone to bed when I reach our floor because it was extremely quiet and the lobby was almost empty with just a few people lingering.The receptionist, who always seems to have a smile on her face, acknowledges me with a nod.I don’t bother checking with Theo, I’m not really in the mood to answer the truckload of questions I’m sure he has. I might just burst into tears.I lift my shaky hands to my lips, not surprised to find them swollen. Again, I curse at him wishing I was some old witch in a vampire novel that can make his dick shrink and his hand break when he annoys me, sadly those things don’t exist and I’m just a normal teenag