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51. No Backing Down
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Aline's Choice 52. Chocolates Do Not Suck
-Aline-{Valentine's Day Eve} I've decided I'm a moron, believing that a singular thought would make him, the spitting image of Chris Hemsworth, magically appear in my room, or, at the very least, at my front door. I'm a blithering idiot. But not as big an idiot as Jian, though, so that’s some consolation. Ugh! I slap my palm to my forehead and shake my head. Hell, I don't even know if Stefan's in the same time zone, never mind whether he's next door with Felicia right now! I finish my internal self-condescension and finally shower, change, and put my hair up. I'm pleased to discover my mane is now long enough to put up again. Clean, and no longer feeling maudlin, I pad barefoot into the living room. I think about making tea. I squinch my face. I hate tea. Since Lance’s wedding, though, I've been drinking tea. Drowning myself in it, really. Someone at school told me that it would be soothing. It is. Soothing, I mean. But it tastes like flowers. And right n
Aline's Choice 1. Ache
-Aline- Under the cover of the trees that mark the perimeter of Golden Gate Park's Polo Fields, I watch the pack converge over Talu’s broken body. I’m too far away and I can't make out her face, but I know among them is Mei, the girl who has a thing for that vampire who says he’s not out to suck people’s blood. I grimace with disgust, knowing Talu believes she’s his soulmate. I despise the word soulmate and hope I never find mine. The sound of Mei’s weeping carries on the night wind, touching my sensitive ear. It is the sound of ultimate heartbreak and I wonder at that. My own shattered heart unwittingly reaches out to the girl as she climbs into the truck to hold an unconscious Talu. I wonder absently why Mei isn’t following our mortal enemies to their hideaway near the cliffs overlooking the ocean, leaving us to lick our wounds. God, Talu must be in terrible shape if Mei isn’t following her vampire lover home. She should be with him and his merry band of bloodsuckers gloating abou
Aline's Choice 2. A Little Bit of Tenderness
-Aline-Jian cuts the engine when we pull into my driveway in San Francisco’s Lake District. My yard abuts the Presidio, a national park with forests and miles of trails, devoid of humans in the dead of night and the early morning. I recently discovered this fun fact when I turned into a werewolf, with a sudden desire to hunt and the relentless urge to sprint from one end of the city to the other.As with most nights, there are no lights on at home. My mom must be out playing mahjong with my aunties again. I am disappointed, even resentful, that she rarely thinks to wait for me like normal mothers would if their teenage girls were out past curfew. She could have at least left a light on. I pull off the borrowed helmet, frowning as I shake my head to loosen my hair since it feels plastered to my head. Like silk, it falls against the back of my neck. I reach up to push a lock over my ear.Jian holds out his hand. I assume he's asking me for the helm
Aline's Choice 3. Retail Therapy
-Aline-I avoided taking my werewolf form for almost two and a half weeks because I don't want the guys to read my mind. Fortunately, the next full moon that will compel the pack back to the polo fields won’t happen for another week. Also, I’m learning to manage my anger so I don’t unexpectedly shift. I just haven’t figured out how to shield my thoughts from the pack when I am in wolf form. I desperately want my moment of weakness with Jian to stay a secret. He's probably unintentionally revealed it to everyone by now, though. The thought of that rankles. I'm hoping the guys won't believe I had a breakdown. Instead, I hope they discard Jian's thoughts to the pile of his other wannabe hero fantasies where I star as the damsel-in-distress.As if, I snort to myself.I'm lying on my back, on my queen-sized bed. My thumb repeatedly slides against the smartphone’s screen as I absorb the good news that Will, my brother, just deliv
Aline's Choice 4. Hell or Glory
-Jian- I relish the reverberating slam of the door behind me. The doorframe shakes but is still in one piece. Though I'm thoroughly annoyed that it didn't splinter, I am thankful I don't have to explain my extraordinary strength to my already suspicious mother. After I shut the car door without saying goodbye to Aline, I felt the weight of her gaze on my back as I climbed the steps into my house and out of her sight. I'm selfish enough to admit that I wanted her to stop me, just like she did the other night when she allowed me to witness her vulnerability. It pleases me more than it should that she picked me out of the entire pack to comfort her when she was so exposed. It couldn't have been easy for her. That's the thing of it. She’d asked me to stay once before. Why didn't she do the same t
Aline's Choice 5. Lightening the Load
-Aline- Somewhere between Jian's place and mine, I decided that if I have to live the life of a wolf, I will not run around like a shaggy dog. So, I took a quick detour to my new, as of today, very talented hairdresser. To her surprise and admittedly mine, I marched right into the salon with my waist-length, straight black hair to demand she just cut it all off. She left me with just-barely-touching-my-shoulder-length hair. With the bulky weight of my mane on the salon floor, I feel a lighter load on my shoulders. I roll down the driver-side window, wondering why I hadn't just cut it off months ago. My lips scrunch, knowing full well why I hadn't cut it. Lance liked my hair long. I tried to preserve other things, too, I realize, hoping he'd come back to me. The hope died in August on the night of the full moon. Compelled to rush outside, I followed the internal call to go to the polo fields. I phased when I stepped under the closest grove of trees in the Presidio. Even though it wa
Aline's Choice 6. Splintering
-Aline- I wince and continue making my way to Talu's room. As I stride past the human girl, Mei frowns when I don’t ask for help to find Talu’s room. It's amusing but irritating since I pretty much grew up in the Wu house. Why is she in Talu’s house, anyway? Shouldn’t she be playing house with her vampire? My lips curl in disdain. She steps into Talu’s room behind me, wearing a medical-grade mask she hadn’t worn when she let me into the house. Talu gives her an approving smile while sending a superior look my way. I'm annoyed and wish the girl gone. I am angrier at Talu and his supreme smugness. He looks too much like Lance and not the happy-go-lucky guy who played Hide-and-Go-Seek with me when we were kids. "Knock it off, Talu," I grumble, fishing out my KN-95 from my purse. I put it on, grateful for something to hide behind. “I came to apologize, with a peace offering.” From my fingertip, tied together at the laces, dangle his new d
Aline's Choice 7. Girl Talk
-Aline- Mei smiles at the sound of her name falling from my lips, deciding it is an invitation to sit across the table from me. "So, are you with him?" My overwhelming curiosity outstrips my need to ignore her presence. "Talu, I mean?" "Yes, I am," she says. A wide smile splays across her face. I throw up a little in my mouth. "Are you sure? I thought vampire guy, Chasewhatever, was your one and only?" I marvel at her ability to go from her one true love to the recovering werewolf in the next room. The lemonade I gulp to hide my disgust is a tad too sweet. I cough a little. "I’m sure. It's Talu for me. I loved Chase, but..." Mei’s voice trails. I take pity on her. "Let me guess. The leech, this Chasewhatever, shattered the love you had for him when he dumped you for no good reason. The bloodsucker wants you again, but you can’t go back to him. You’ve filled your empty spaces with my wolfy pal?" "Sort of." Mei lets out
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Aline's Choice 52. Chocolates Do Not Suck
-Aline-{Valentine's Day Eve} I've decided I'm a moron, believing that a singular thought would make him, the spitting image of Chris Hemsworth, magically appear in my room, or, at the very least, at my front door. I'm a blithering idiot. But not as big an idiot as Jian, though, so that’s some consolation. Ugh! I slap my palm to my forehead and shake my head. Hell, I don't even know if Stefan's in the same time zone, never mind whether he's next door with Felicia right now! I finish my internal self-condescension and finally shower, change, and put my hair up. I'm pleased to discover my mane is now long enough to put up again. Clean, and no longer feeling maudlin, I pad barefoot into the living room. I think about making tea. I squinch my face. I hate tea. Since Lance’s wedding, though, I've been drinking tea. Drowning myself in it, really. Someone at school told me that it would be soothing. It is. Soothing, I mean. But it tastes like flowers. And right n
Aline's Choice 51. No Backing Down
-Jian- I sit on a log watching Stefan’s blond head as he carefully dusts off something that looks like a wooden box. He sets it aside with patience I do not possess. He does not open it, but moves instead, to pick up another artifact and clean it. It's unnerving to watch how exacting his movements are, almost loving, even reverent. "Jian, did you know your name means 'to see?'" Stefan's tone is casual and conversational. I look at him as he bows over whatever he holds in his hand. "What? Did you find that in one of my ancestor's artifacts that you pulled out of the ground?" Stefan lets out an appreciative little laugh at the annoyance in my voice. His eyes still focus downward as he carefully removes dirt from a crevice in yet another wooden box. "No. I looked it up on the internet." I stare at him open-mouthed. "You're cyber-stalking me?" "What?! No!" His gaze whips up to meet mine. Then he smiles and he's even more good-looking than before. The si
Aline's Choice 50. Of Curses and Legends
Readers Note: This chapter hops between Aline and Jian's point of view to explain the mythology. Thank you for understanding. -Aline- "So she cursed him - us- forever," Felicia says, her voice suddenly quiet. "She left him impotent among humans and shifters, unable to father children, one of the primary duties and the greatest of all blessings given to the clan's leader. But to make matters worse, he was to walk the earth attracted to the most deceitful and conniving of all human women for eternity." My brows knit as I process this information. Impotence, doesn't that mean…? Felicia lifts her index finger and then allows it to droop. Wide-eyed, I lift a hand to cover my open mouth. Poor Stefan, indeed! "How long?" "Too long, really," she says with a sigh, a wry smile on her face. "It's been so long we've lost count. At least through the Middle Ages. As you might imagine, it frustrated him through the first hundred." My eyes must be the size of dinner
Aline's Choice 49. Werewolf Puberty
Author’s note: There are a lot of point-of-view switches between Jian and Aline in this chapter. Thank you for understanding!__________________-Jian-(in San Francisco, at Talu’s house)Talu’s warning pounds in my head. I've been wallowing in self-pity for two weeks. He's right. I'm not proving myself much of a man here. And he is now allowing me to show myself worthy of Aline. I sigh and stare pointedly at the sheaf of papers he removed from the manila envelope. "So, what did the leech find out?"My gaze shifts warily between the papers and Talu. "First, let me tell you what Mei’s ex- told me." And so he tells me how the bloodsucker was hunting in the woods during a stopover to Europe at the same time the terrible twins paid Mei a visit. That was also the same night Talu was with Aline on a jet plane bound for Syracuse.####-Aline- (in Syracuse at her place)We're still on the porch and I'm mulling over Felicia's suggestion.“So, why not both?”Her words bounce aroun
Aline's Choice 48. Lessons On Love
-Jian- "What do you know about the archaeologist?" my voice is a low growl, frightening even to me. I've just stormed into Talu’s room, having left Lance, who proved himself a worthless fool, spouting on and on about how an imprint is never wrong and imploring me to leave Aline alone so she can get on with her life and find happiness. "Hell if I will!" I cursed his useless hide as I slammed out of his house an hour earlier. Stupid Lance! Using this Stefan guy to assuage the guilt he feels for breaking up with Aline the way he did. A little voice in my head suggested I'd recently done the same. Maybe hurt her even worse. But as I made my way to Talu’s place, I roared at the tiny, nagging voice to just shut the hell up. Now, I glare at my best friend. Talu’s expression is impassive at the onslaught of my tumultuous, emotional verbal assault. My eyes track him as he moves to the desk in his room. He pulls out a manila file folder that reeks of bloodsucker. My n
Aline's Choice 47. Something to Consider
-Aline- I'm wrapped up in an oversized cashmere sweater, legs curled beneath me on the wicker loveseat on the back porch in Syracuse. Even my werewolf's body heat can't quite keep me warm against this cold, empty feeling inside. The night of Lance’s wedding keeps replaying inside my head as I stare, unseeing, out into the upstate New York winter. The mid-winter chill is so much more here than in the temperate winters in California. My hands cradle a cup of now tepid tea. I hear a door open and turn to greet Bella, only to grimace at the crazy, blonde bitch who steps out onto the porch. In my peripheral vision, I watch Felicia gracefully fold herself into the wicker rocker kitty-corner to my seat... too near. For two weeks, I've avoided her. Now, I am too tired and melancholy to bother getting up and leaving. Besides, I got here first. I huff out a cloud of hot air against the freezing morning, showing my unhappiness at her undesired company. There is no sound other than our combin
Aline's Choice 46. The Other Guy
Aline left for Syracuse without a goodbye from me. I knew I couldn't see her again without groveling and I refused to do that to myself. After all, a man has to preserve some dignity. I haven't spoken to anyone since Lance’s wedding and it's been a couple of weeks. So, now it’s February, and I am still so pissed I can't see straight. In the weeks since the wedding, I didn’t hang out with my pack brothers or hit the clubs with friends from work. Instead, I torture myself with my new, self-imposed daily task of overseeing the actions of this man, Aline’s imprint. The guy I’m convinced will not only take away the woman I love, but who also wishes to rape our land. So, maybe I'm being a touch too melodramatic. But I am miserable, and therefore, I'm entitled to my feelings. I kick the dirt at my feet. Through slit eyes, I take measure of Stefan and decide he is my my unofficial love rival. On looks alone, he could claim Aline as his own. He could do so just as soon
Aline's Choice 45. Mother Knows Best
-Asena Cai- (Jian’s Mom) I find my boy sitting in the darkness out in the backyard. From the kitchen window, I take in the sight of him. He's still wearing his tuxedo, his tie undone, the wine colored swath of color hangs around his neck against the white-white of his shirt. His dark hair is in wild disarray around his so familiar, handsome face. There is heartbreak in his expression, so happy only hours ago. My heart cries out for him. I rush upstairs to change and make my way to sit quietly beside Jian. I say nothing as he hangs his head. I watch the steady drip of silent tears fall onto the back of his large, strong hands. In the moonlight, the drops glimmer against his naturally tanned skin before sliding into the dark green grass beneath our feet. I wait for him, offering him my strength simply by staying beside him. I know my son. He does not want me to witness this weakness. He never did as a boy and I know it pains him more as a young man to know I am watching. "It hurt
Aline's Choice 44. Unexpected Comfort
-Aline- I crumple to my knees, not caring in the least that I am muddying this damn $300 dress. Sobs wrack my body as I grieve for a love I’ve only just realized I can't live without. I wail against an imprint I can not make myself refuse. I feel the sudden heat of two hands cradling my wracking shoulders. The warmth is not human. I silence myself, drop my hands to my lap, and turn to look up, eager to discover who's standing behind me. "So now you understand the force of an imprint." I stare at Jian's mother as though she's sprouted another head. She is the last person I expect to see, the very last. How can she know about my terrible secret? "I know what you are, Aline Kam. I know because I have been you." I shake my head. She can't possibly know because she can't possibly be a werewolf. She stares at me and answers aloud the unspoken question relayed by my head shaking. "But I am, Aline. I know what you are going through." She
