I startle so hard, whoever is in the other end of that voice loses their grip on me.My senses are jumbled, knocked all over the place from the darkness. Seeing no other option, I run in whatever direction I can. I don't care about the bramble that catches around the hem of my pants. Nor do I care about the low hanging branches and twigs that snap in my face as I frantically run blindly in one direction.Head first into a tree.A flash of bright light in my vision blinds me for a moment. I stand still, gripping my hands to my head, waiting for the spike of pain to diminish.A rumble of a laugh from behind me. "There are things we learn the hard way, don't we?"Twisting around, I stare blindly into the darkness. My breathing is so rapid, I can hardly hear if the man in front of me is talking. Whoever they may be, there is a potential they are out here to kill me. Or...Or..."I think you need to calm down."Embarrassment is the first feeling. Followed by relief, which is soon consumed b
Finding an excuse for why my face is cut and bruised isn't coming to my mind as easily as I had hoped.A first aid kit I had found underneath the bed is a blessing. A smear of antiseptic cream and a plaster strapped over wound is all I can do. The bruises, which surround both my eyes, and part of my forehead, a dark mess of blue and purple, have no hope of being hidden. And at this point, no hope of being explained.Naturally, at breakfast, it was Aiden who pointed it out."Someone is desperate to win this competition," he says, sliding into a seat next to me. I have no patience for Parker. He seems pretentious and almost everything he says can be seen right through. I don't think I'm the desperate one.Sighing deeply, I place my toast back on the plate, reluctantly giving him my attention. "Aren't we all, Parker?""Nasty battle wound," he says, that grin manifested from constant compliments about his straight, white teeth. Reaching up with prying fingers, he gets so close, he almost
I had zero clue how to respond to that. There was no flinch in his gaze. No sudden smile to express his joke. No reprieve for the increasing silence, heavy with expectation. He simply stared, those dark eyes slightly narrowed. This must be how he interrogated information out of people. I felt as though I was about to spill every secret I had ever kept, even the most mundane kind. I treaded carefully. “I have no doubt you’re already aware of any secret that I might have.” If he was offended by my tone, he made no mention of it. The impassive expression reaching the tightness of his jaw to the defined angle of his cheekbones. Were I not so shaken, perhaps I would have admired his hardened handsomeness. Instead, I was insinuating that he knew what he needed to about me. That intimidating the evidence out of me was enough to inform him of what he knew. “I want you to elaborate on it.” Part of me wanted to pretend I didn’t know what that meant. But I did. Maybe it was because I was af
I couldn't sleep that night. My mind was whirling, pouring over every word Kael had said to me. I'm not sure if it was his intentions to make me confused, but if it was, he succeeded. I never knew his family had died...or gone missing. I'm not sure what he had meant. All I know is he has on family left, and is left alone to be an Alpha. Is that why he has Silent's? Tomorrow we are revealing our secrets to Juan. Part of me wonders what I should say, considering no one else surely knows about this. Juan will be surprised. I would surely make it to the next round... But can I really say it? A foolish part of me feels as though it's a special secret I share only with Kael. Like no one else can know. This is my downfall. Sighing through my nose, I turn over on my side, looking at the moon that glares straight into my room, alighting my bed covers in a silvery glow. Right as I thought my luck was changing, I'm back where I started. I should enjoy the freedom before I'm whisked off into
In all honesty, I was not looking forward to today. Last night, I hadn’t slept at all. I’d stared at the ceiling until the dawn broke. I couldn’t get Thorran out of my head. This morning I had woken up cursing to myself. I knew I was not allowed to be thinking about him like I was. I was here to become an Assasin, where my job would be to protect and serve him. Nothing more. But was that why I had dreamt about him last night? It may have only been fleeting, but it was all him. Those dark, sultry eyes...tall stature... soft, rousing voice. It was obvious. I needed help. Everyone seemed as anxious as I was. Aside from Aiden, who was finding amusement in harassing Mira. I ignored them both, joining everyone else in worrying about what today would entail. We’d be finding out what our next challenge would be. After last time, none of us could predict what Thorran and Juan had decided would happen today. I was just hoping I didn’t see Thorran today. As usual, Juan had us line up in fr
My first thought was that I had to tell someone. My second thought was questioning what I was meant to do. It felt improper to continue watching his scandalous act took place, but I was stunned by what to do. All I knew was this shouldn’t be happening. It was forbidden to have a relationship with an Assassin or Trainer. And yet here I was, witnessing Cynthia making out with Juan.I had to interrupt. It might not be the best thing to do, but what if this was a mock situation? What if I was meant to intervene and stop Cynthia from getting eliminated? Was this my chance to protect her?With all these questions needing to be answered, I could barely make sense of my thoughts. I was a good person, and I good person wouldn’t let something this unfair happen.Right?"Hey, what’s going on?" I asked, emerging from the shadows. I had no weapons or any means to protect myself if Juan’s next motivation was to turn against me. If this was a simulation like I was hoping it was, that should be how
I had no idea who on Earth this Shinee was. By the way, he looked at me, he assumed that I should at least have an inkling. Yet just because I didn’t know who he was at first glance, that didn’t mean that I was not feeling terrified the moment my gaze landed upon him. It didn’t mean I didn’t see something in those strange, lavender-colored eyes that could frighten even the bravest souls. The fact that he was immortal, for starters. No one looked like that, asserting that aura and confidence without being of high power. But what an immortal was doing on a mortal soul was something that baffled me. I eyed Shinee and cast a rather pointed state in Thorran’s direction. "Well, I didn't know this was going to be a party." "Neither did I,” Thorran mumbled in return. His tone was low but being werewolves, we did have our superhearing. Almost instantly, my cheeks flushed bright red. I should have just stayed in that forest. I should have never walked into this cabin. What on Earth was I th
Waking up the morning of the new week left me feeling queasy. There was no way today could go down smoothly. I was convinced that I would be eliminated but when they announced someone else’s name, I was left speechless. I honestly thought it would be me since I had revealed last week between Cynthia and Juan. Now that I wasn’t sent home, I was left up late at night wondering why it was not me. Cynthia has been ignoring me. In fact, she had been ignoring everyone, going cold and distant to even her closest friends. But none of them had glares sent their way when passing her in the hall. Something was up and I had a feeling that it would go down this morning, at the next meeting in the gym. Boy, I was right. Trailing behind everyone, I wandered into the gym, head hung low. At this point, I couldn’t care less what the next part of the competition was. I had an inkling that Juan would keep terrorizing me by giving me the hardest time until I eventually left the competition on my own m