Lily sighed, giving up the game.She slid a picture over to him, and he picked it up, glancing down at it.“She’s pretty. Is she a model friend or what? Do you need me to off her?” Vance asked with furrowed brows.“Be serious.“ She snapped at her ex boyfriend, as the waitress dropped the cake and coffee for them.In these parts of the city where criminals resided, talking about killing someone was like talking about the weather. Therefore, the peroxide bleach blonde waitress was unmoved and minded her own business.That was how one survived long enough to settle down, after all.Lily took a sip of her coffee and a forkful of cake while Vance waited.“Well,” he asked. “Don’t make me wait, flower girl.”“It’s Lily.” She sneered, “You said my name not long ago, but of course you might have forgotten that. What with the number of girls your dick sees every week. It must be hard for you to keep up with your own antics sometimes.”Vance gave her a look up and down, before saying, “It has be
Anna was escorted up the stairs by Ethan as he led her back home after the date.The night had been wonderful, and she felt lighter, like things were turning up in a positive direction for once. He had acted like a gentleman, turning up the charm by a lot.However, she had been unable to broach the subject on her mind with him. So when they stopped right at her front door, she pressed her hand against his chest to stop him from leaning in to kiss her.“Ethan,” she sighed softly. “I wanted to ask… after your fight with William, what happened?”Ethan was prepared for this. She had been acting off nearly the entire night.“I got exhausted and wanted to rest.” He replied easily. “I told you, didn't I? In my message. It wasn’t exactly the right time for me to reach out.”Anna felt bad for thinking he was lying to her, and she felt angry at William for causing all of that.“From now on, don’t stay away.” She implored him. She may not have felt the same sort of spark for him that she felt fo
The man made a sound in his throat that sounded almost like an hum of affirmation unwittingly, and Aiden saw the flash of fear and hesitation in his expression. His face, though bloodied and bruised, was still very easy to read.This man may not have known much but he did know something. Something about the girls, or who had killed them. And that something would help them figure out whether this was a werewolf’s doing or not.Aiden was willing to bet that it was werewolves, but he didn’t want to move without a firm confirmation. No need going after human gangs that simply did a little too much. That kind of shit was for the police to handle.“Tell me,” Aiden leaned in. “Or I will take my hands off this. And trust me… you don’t want that. My boss is far worse than you could ever imagine.“The man didn’t respond, and only stared over Aiden’s shoulder. After waiting a long time, he sighed and nodded, before standing up.“Take him to the other room,” the Hunter instructed another of his s
It was so quiet, a pleasant end to the day.Anna yawned a bit as she left the bathroom, her bladder emptied for the night. She barely gave her phone a glance as she switched off the ceiling lights on autopilot, leaving only the lamp at her bedside table glowing in a soft golden hue.No sooner had she tucked herself under the blankets did her phone begin to vibrate where she had left it on the bedside table.Anna groaned; it was already nearly midnight! Who could be calling at this time?!She reached for and picked it up after a few more moments of silent fuming, her moodiness increased as she saw there was no name on the caller ID.“Hello?” She asked in a groggy voice.“Why haven’t you unblocked me yet?” It was William’s voice, sounding displeased.The sense of entitlement that came from him was enough to fill the whole world with confidence, Anna mused irritably, and probably have some left over for the aliens. If there were aliens.“What is it? If I wanted to speak with you, I’d unb
William noticed Anna wasn’t happy from her voice, and he knew he must have said something wrong again.“That’s what you mean, isn’t it?” She continued, in the same tone. “Do you intend to have me hide in the shadows if I ever come back to you instead of facing the wrath of your pack that you screwed a human?”He was speechless.“It’s complicated, Anna. I’m not marrying Lily simply because she’s pretty. It’s a pack to pack alliance.” He tried to explain.But then…“I thought so. You never would actually take my side on something. You clearly just want to have your way but you don’t understand that it’s my life we’re talking about. And I need to be happy. I DESERVE it,” Anna hit back, emphasising on the word 'deserve'.William fell silent, and Anna sighed loudly.“I’m exhausted. I want to go to sleep now.” She declared, clearly done with the conversation.The call ended without another moment spared, and William was filled with such frustration that he tossed the phone without care onto
Anna gingerly knocked on the door to Damon’s office. She had barely seen hair or hide of him. For the three days she had been working here, after resuming work by 10am, she always saw him come in at 12pm like clockwork and didn’t close until after she and everyone else had left.“Damon.” She opened the door a little, and once again was stunned at how dark it was.She stepped inside slowly, trying not to lose her footing in such pitch blackness.Then she heard a voice right next to her which made her flinch.“The light switch is on your right,” Damon said.She chanced a glance at the direction she had heard his voice from and saw two glowing gold pinpricks that made fear shoot into her. Immediately she reached for and switched the light on and filled the room with warm, yellow light.Damon groaned, covering his eyes briefly, and Anna felt the urge to say, “Sorry, sir.”“It’s fine.” He responded after a while, reaching for his sunglasses on the table without uncovering his eyes, and the
“Uncle, you can’t be serious.”Lily stood in the living room as her uncle - whose height made him tower over her imperiously - glared down at her with an intensity that not even her father had in his worst days.Where did this all go wrong, she wondered? Why was her uncle all of a sudden restricting her movements like this? This wasn’t fucking fair! Not at all in any way!However, the Alpha of the Eclipse pack wasn’t so easily moved by her pretty face - he knew his goddaughter very well.“I mean what I say, Lily,” Alpha Drake spoke, his tone grave. “You should count yourself lucky that I do not have this damn talk with your father present. He wouldn’t believe all the things you were capable of.”He continued, shaking his head a little at the sight of her crocodile tears pooling in her eyes, “Don’t think you can make me change my mind, child. You won’t be leaving this pack without my say so from now on. And that is final.”“Uncle…” she had to try another tactic, she thought while rubbi
Anna let out a soft groan as she shut the door behind her. The babysitter had just left, and it was only an hour after Anna had returned home from work. She ran her hands through her damp red strands, and checked on the pasta that was boiling on the electric stove.The aroma hit her and she had to stop her mouth from watering too much.A chime on her phone made her replace the lid on the hot pot and pick her phone up, a wine glass in the other hand.It was Gillian.‘Hey, thanks for spending time with me today. Let’s have lunch tomorrow on your work break. My treat’, the message said, accompanied with various smiley emojis.Anna couldn’t help but smile; the stoic-seeming young woman on the outside turned out to have a very soft interior. She was also quite chatty and expressive when she let her guard down too.Anna thought things were going well now for her - she was getting the hang of handling her children’s werewolf genes, she was seeing Ethan, and of course, she had a nice job and
Lily couldn’t contain her smirk as she saw Anna’s wide-eyed stare aimed at her. It had taken the work of a couple of her connections for her to figure out William’s whereabouts.It had just been her luck that she had a standing reservation here.The Alpha growled lowly under his breath as she turned to look at him. “What a surprise,” Lily remarked with sarcasm dripping from her voice. Then she turned to Anna, the redhead whom she glared venomously at. She blamed the formerly human woman for ruining her life, and her future with William. “Don’t tell me you two are on a little date.“What are you doing here, Lily?” The emerald eyed Alpha demanded.“What? You didn’t think you’re the only one that can step out on a nice night like this?” She scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. “You know, I was just wondering how you two could be here having a good time when you both have caused so much chaos. You, especially, Anna.” She spat out the redhead’s name with such venom that Anna coul
It was an hour later when Anna arrived at her parent’s place.She knocked meekly on the door, and was startled when the door was flung open.“Anna?” Her father was the one who answered it and she could have nearly cried at the relief in his eyes. He pulled her close into a hug and she closed her eyes briefly from the warmth.“Where have you been?” He asked her, curiosity in his voice. “And how are the twins?”“I had to travel for a bit. For work,” she clarified, the lie that she had come up with left her lips so easily. “The kids are okay as well.”She stepped into the house that she had lived in all her childhood.…Anna woke up from the bed of her childhood room early the next morning. Sleep hadn’t come easily but she eventually drifted off. After an hour of tossing and turning, she got up for a jog and had breakfast.“Good morning mum, dad,” she greeted her parents as she returned for breakfast.Her mother eyed her in silence, and Anna could sense questions on her mind. Having lied
“Of course,” William said in an imperious voice. “My brother saw fit to take his anger out on human girls and murdered ten of them in one night. There is even news to prove that, and he has confessed it to me.”Gasps left the lips of all who had no idea, and Camille’s face turned pale as she processed that.“T-this cant be true-““It is the truth,” William turned to say to his mother unabashedly. His eyes pierced hers with a look of certainty on his face. “And it will always be the truth. That is why,” he continued, turning to his brother. “From now henceforth, I cut all our ties to him.”There was a wave of confusion in the air and Alpha Drake seethed silently.“You are banishing him from your pack?” The Alpha of the Eclipse pack asked and William nodded in the affirmative.“Now that you have seen the truth of what caused the Hunters to come into the city, you have no right to hold these charges over my mate’s head. And you will release her at once. Council, your decision?”The Elder
The next morning, as sunlight streamed in through the windows and bathed the room with a warm glow, William stirred first.Anna slept soundly in his arms, both of them half-naked. The memories of the full moon the previous night made him smile. It had been better than he had expected. Luckily his Beta had fulfilled most of the duties William delegated to him, so the Aloha was free to enjoy the night with his family.“Hey,” Anna woke up with a small whisper leaving her lips. She felt his warmth all around her and she felt safe.It had been a long time coming, she thought, and she didn’t want to leave the bed anytime soon.“Sleep well?” He smirked down at her as she pressed her body against his.“Too well,” her voice was akin to a purr as she spoke. “Anyway, I think it’s nearly last breakfast. I’ll have to get ready to go into the city soon.”Ah yes, that.William’s mood soured and she noticed it quickly.“Will,” she sighed and leaned into him. “Please. You know this is necessary.”“I k
Anna was surprised to find Ethan approaching them.“Ethan?” Camille also sounded stunned to see her younger son there, and coming to Anna’s defense.“Mother, enough of this,” Ethan said in a calm tone, not showing any signs of anger.“B-but-“ Camille’s face reddened, out of anger or embarrassment or both… she didn’t know.“Focus on the festival. Stop with this,” he told her. “Focus on the festival.”“Focus on the festival? What about the Eclipse pack, and our relations with them? What about Alpha Drake?”“Everything is being taken care of,” Was all Ethan said before turning to glance at a stupefied Anna.She looked away, not wanting to show emotion to him of all people.She noticed the twins were staring at them from afar with curiosity in their faces.Camille was shocked at her younger son.“Ethan, I had never expected you of all people to defend her after all she has done,” she vehemently said.“And I am not,” Ethan sighed; his mother was hard to dissuade when she fixated on certain
“This is so cool!” Andrew jumped atop the picnic blanket in an excited manner that Anna couldn’t help but smile.There was a buzz of excitement in the air.As Anna played the snacks and fruits out for the twins to eat, there was the sound of a throat clearing that made her and William turn to see who it was.“Alpha,” it was a guard who bowed deeply. “There are some delegates from the Grey Hills Pack and the Moonlight Pack here. They wish to see you.”William refrained from giving into the urge to pinch his nose and only let oit a small sigh, and nodded.“Very well. I will be there in a bit. Have them wait for me in the study,” he ordered the guard and dismissed him with a wave. The guard bowed and left, before William turned to his mate, meeting her gaze.Before he could say anything, she spoke, “It’s alright, Will. I’ll handle things here for the time being.After William left - but not before giving her and the twins kisses each - she sat and enjoyed the snacks while they watched m
Ethan wasn’t surprised about his brother wanting to spend time with his family, and he kept his opinions on that to himself - being the one who never saw the point in all that, he wouldn’t even touch that topic with a fucking ten foot pole.However, he did have a point to make.“It’s easy to forget your duties if you focus too much on your family, brother,” he crossed his arms as William’s glare increased. “Alpha Drake will come for blood soon enough. I don’t think we’re ready for that in any way.”“Let me worry about that, Ethan. And focus on enjoying the rest of the day. The festival is just starting, you wouldn’t want to miss it. And afterward, Ethan, then we will have much to discuss.”William’s words made Ethan’s brows furrowed in confusion. Why did his brother have that tone, as if he had some plan he had kept under his sleeve? It couldn’t be could it? The Alpha had never shown any indication in the past day of strategizing.However he couldn’t outright question the Alpha now.“
Anna didn’t know what to say after William was done talking. She had not expected to hear that sort of thing coming from him. He used to be so stone cold towards her, at least on the surface… and now things had changed. For the better or for worse, she didn't know just yet, but she was pleased and warmed by it.“Will…” she began to say only for him to continue.“Anna, all you have to do is promise me that, and I won't have a problem with anything else. No matter what, don’t forget you're my mate and you are my top priority. You and our children, and our family. It matters more to me than anything.”The honesty wasn’t one thing he expected either to come from himself, especially with her. He had once prided himself on being unruffled by shows of love and affection that most other 5 men his age seemed to fall under the thrall of. William particularly recalled an occasion in which a VIP client spoke fondly of his wife and daughters and asked William if he had any himself to which the Alp
The sight of her two children writhing in pain on their beds made her heart beat faster and she rushed towards them, frantic.“Andrea? Andrew?” She pressed her hand atop their foreheads to check their temperatures and found, to her dismay, they were feverish.The sight of their pale, withdrawn faces even in their sleep was heart wrenching. Anna felt helpless. What could have been wrong with them? They were fine yesterday!As though some supreme power had read her mind, the door opened and William walked in, his lips moving.“Good morning-” his words were cut off as he took in the look on his mate’s face. She looked incredible, her hair down to the blue dress she wore, but it was the display of terror in her eyes that stopped him in his tracks.“What’s going on?” he asked, and she rushed to him, tugging him to their children’s beds.“They were like this when I found them. Will, what could have happened? Maybe they ate something or… or-”The emerald-eyed Alpha grabbed his mate’s hands a