I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of what was coming. Even when I knew how it would come. Some think that knowing the future would be a game changing trump card but for me, it wasn’t the case. With every moment, every memory, my heart ached.Frederick escorted me home, in his car, with Nialliv. I acted as if I didn’t know her. It was damn hard as I didn’t know what to say or what to not say. Silence was my weapon and fortunately, she was talkative enough to make Frederick forget I didn’t talk.They sang in the car, told me everything would be alright and escorted me to my apartment’s door.The problem wasn’t that he escorted me. The problem was that Alice saw us. Nialliv had her arm linked with mine and Frederick had his eyes on me, as if I was a precious object. I knew far too well everything was a lie.Alice slammed the door behind her, her message very clear.She won’t stick around anymore.“Don’t give a fuck about anyone,” he pulled a stray strand of my hair and twirled it be
ADOLPHUS’ POV:The air was grim with grey clouds and smoke. The apartment appeared like a scene from an apocalypse movie. It was turned upside down.Everything came to a halt when I closed the door behind me and looked at my sister, standing as if she lost her beloved husband. The smoke emanated from her. I guess this would be enough to make her understand that the human wasn’t worth it.Still, she was an interesting one.“I can’t believe she chose them instead of me,” she started. “Why did she do that?”She whirled, asking me as if I knew what that girl thought. Her type wasn’t one that spilled everything when she was angry. She would keep everything a secret.“I don’t know Avery. You should stay away from her,” I headed to the kitchen and snatched a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “She clearly doesn’t want you to be her friend.”In the middle of downing it, I realised that something bothered me about her, not the mark alone that was connected to me or maybe not, since I didn’
EBONY’S POV:When I was sitting on my bed, wondering how I would spend the week, my heart started aching horribly. It happened before when Frederick was in front of me, when I woke up from my death and found myself in front of my aunt.Could it be the same thing would happen?It would feel nice if I was somewhere better than here but it wasn’t possible.I curled into a ball, clutching my legs so hard to cause pain. I wanted to feel pain in other areas rather than my heart. No wonder the doctor said I had a heart problem, the pain was too real to brush it as nothing.But I don’t want to take the pills.If I keep going, if I endure, the pain will go away, I told myself. And so, I endured for a few minutes that sounded like an eternity before picking my phone and dialled my aunt.All this pain was because of my aunt. If she didn’t give up on me, I wouldn’t be here. Deep within me, Easton was right. Aunt gave up on me; she chose to bring me here. She chose to make me swallow those pills a
ADOLPHUS’ POV:My hand rested on the soft texture of her bed. Her breathing was smooth, after a long night of a harsh fever. She was sleeping. It was dumb to drop the Adagoril pills. She was dumb for not consulting a healer about it.I expected her to show great defiance and refuse everything I wanted her to do but she didn’t. She was serene, almost too calm for my liking, too dull. The fire in them was off.“You didn’t tell me she took that shit.”Alice was sitting on the window stool, her feet flat on the wall. To think that this one gave us this much trouble. It was the first time someone made us both agree on one thing.We must know more about her.“Life is short,” my sister said. “She said she was eating candies,” she played with the two bottles of pills between her fingers. “She made me swallow some and it’s candies. It must mean that she used to take them before she came to Saulville. I wonder why. Adagoril is known for destroying our wolf side.”I was all I could think about.
It shocked me how he paid attention to how I reacted. It wasn’t the only thing that shocked me. Was I this obvious? Did Frederick notice it? Thrown at my face, no word came out. Before I could ponder further, he yanked me from my thoughts. I cried out as he pinned me on the bed, his hard chest looming over mine, his heat crawling under my skin, making me feel things I didn’t want to feel again. His rough fingers wrapped around both my wrists, locking them in a tight grip that no struggle saved me from. “Let me go,” I hissed. “You have no right to do this to me. I will report you for sexual harassment.” I would never apologise for the way I treated Alice. There was no wrong in protecting me from their toxicity. Ask anyone and he would tell you that creepy bastards were everywhere. They were the ones who stuck to me, as if they wanted something from me. His eyes were two pools of storms, pulling me in, threatening my safety. “What kind of game are you playing with me?” He smirked
I miss smoking.As much as I craved the feeling that came from sucking poison into my lunges, I couldn’t afford wasting the little amount of money I had. So until my job starts in three days, I wouldn’t risk spending anything.After Adolphus left my apartment, I shut the door and stayed until I was sure he wouldn’t come. Strangely, warriors from his pack swarmed around the building, keeping an eye on everything. It was hard sneaking around.“What is a young lady like you doing in the middle of nowhere at midnight?”I was startled. I didn’t expect anyone to find me this soon. I sneaked out of the building, away from my apartment because I didn’t trust my keys to keep me safe from Adolphus and his sister. They were creepy.My throat tightened as I stared at the silhouette approaching. There was nothing around to help me see who it was, except for the moon and the man wasn’t standing in the moonlight zone.“Nothing,” I answered. I still kept a knife tucked in case I needed to murder some
“You’re still there?”I whipped my head around, looking at the source of my current predicament.I spent the rest of the night, cold and shivering. I couldn’t sleep because of how terrified I was. For hours, I tried to find my way out. There was nothing around me that would help. I tried to return the way I came but it didn’t work. The waterfall didn’t have time off to let me move.The only thing I didn’t have was the old man’s help.“Greyson!” I yelled. “Get me out of here.”He bit his apple and threw one in the air. My stomach growled. I had no choice but to almost launch myself and get it.“What if I don’t?”“Someone will look for me and you’re gonna regret it.”“Already threatening me, I see. Just barks, no bites. Do you remember what I asked you yesterday?”We talked about different things. He asked me a bunch of questions. How was I supposed to remember what he wanted?“The fire in your eyes, I recognize it. It’s the same as my daughter’s. If you don’t learn how to grow it, you’
Three months later: I laughed as I dodged one of Greyson’s punches. He didn’t hold them back at all. It has been three months since I left that apartment, not even paying rent or answering anyone. My phone wasn’t with me; I left it back home. Moreover, Greyson said it was better not bring it. “Perfect! You’re doing much better than the first day we started,” Greyson said, his voice full of pride. “You’re a natural at this. Only your wolf is lacking and you’ll be much more than perfect.” “Aren’t you complimenting me too much, old man?” I dodged one of his arms that tried to reach for me and snaked around it, outreaching him, hauling myself in the air and landing a critical kick on his face. Greyson staggered backwards but recovered faster than I expected. He immediately launched a series of counterattacks I dodged easily. His punches grew desperate. I used the force of his own flow to direct his attacks; he taught me this before. If I couldn’t block an attack, it was better directi
Rayleigh laughed.“I am being serious here,” I pouted. “Grandpa left me with you because I requested so. I want to talk to you alone. It’s sad that Chronos isn’t around anymore but I think it’s for the better. Now, no one has to take meaningless responsibilities. I guess without them, everything will be peaceful.”“How do you know…?”I cut him off. “C’mon! You’re a smart man. You know there is no way a five years old child will talk like this. I’ve lived through two regressions and I’ve come back again as part of the plan, only this time, this is the final phase. We can’t lose.”“Ah! What happened? Why did Chronos disappear?”“My father was supposed to be the sacrifice. I don’t know why but unlike all the other Chronos sent, I am the only one who got to regress more than a decade. That’s why they left the burden to me. Since my father is still alive, I assume that Chronos took the hardest decision in his life. He chose to die and take the others with him. I don’t know if I should feel
EBONY’S POV:I opened my eyes early in the morning. I drank my milk and sat with my parents having breakfast. They laughed together and nothing reminded me of these moments. I have been waiting for my father’s heart attack for two weeks now and it didn’t happen.I checked my tattoo mark and it was there, just faint and impossible to notice.“Sweetie, do you want more milk? You’ve been sipping on your glass while it’s empty,” my mother said.Mom had long black hair and the palest, bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. They weren’t the normal typical blue. They were lighter and paler, as if they were diluted by white and became as blue as the sky early in the morning when the sun had finally settled in place.“Yes, mom.”And I was five.I couldn’t believe that it worked. My father was sitting there, wearing glasses and reading his early morning newspapers. Our house was small and it was full of magical artifacts. Maybe because I was five, I didn’t remember them. Or maybe because a lot happened af
FREDERICK’S POV:I stood outside, thinking about everything that happened to me, all the regressions, the people we lost. I’ve grown numb to all the deaths. As long as Adolphus was alive, there was always a chance to change the outcome.My final role was to kill him. For the regression to happen, he had to die after her.Now, whether we wanted it or not, things would never be the same. I would go back to the kid I was and Adolphus would go back to his old self too. To be honest, I was always jealous of how he had a choice in remembering or not.He got out of the underground cell built specifically for today.“You certainly put so much into this,” he said.“Of course. But this is where our role stops. No matter how much we want to influence things with our current memories, it won’t ever happen. We won’t remember anything.”“It’s true. But this is the price we have to pay if we want it to work. We only need to someone to warn them. They will do the rest. If it doesn’t work again, then
EBONY’S POV:I was sweating profusely. I would die. I would certainly die. For the second time. I knew this was coming but I didn’t expect it to be this soon. I was trying to make a plan to fix things but it seemed all the effort I spent on that was a waste.“Adolphus, please be gentle.”Adolphus was confused. “Aren’t you mad that I killed your father?”“I’m sure he wanted that. He didn’t play a big role in my life so it doesn’t matter. But can you untie me?”He didn’t untie me because Frederick was ready to shoot me. But thinking about it, didn’t he kill me before too? No, he said that Adolphus must have poisoned me so I was dying anywhere. But I didn’t cough blood, which meant it could be that I wasn’t poisoned.‘Don’t overthink. These jerks planned a lot that they won’t say. Well, since we have no choice, let’s just wait till they settle their score. Maybe they’ll fight.’“Wait a second, you look like shit. Did my father beat you that hard?”Adolphus shot me a glare.“Woah! My fath
ADOLPHUS’ POV:Instead of finding Frederick, I found her father. He was waiting for me in the middle of a clearing, playing with some cards. I shifted back to my human form.“You’re late,” he said. “I expected you to get here faster.”“Where is Ebony?”“With Frederick.”“Alright! I will go find her.”“I am afraid that you can’t do that,” he waved his hand and something shifted in the air. “You have to stay with me here. I want to fight you.”“What are you planning, both of you?” I growled. “She’s your daughter.”“I know.”“And you want to leave her alone.”“Frederick said that every time, you said the same words. That’s why the plan was for you to hate her but you still didn’t do that. He wanted you to hate her, to reject her while she wasn’t aware that you’re her mate. But it didn’t happen. I know why a part of phase 2 failed. When planning, no one thought of how my daughter is a variable.”“You won’t stop me.”I shifted and started running. He didn’t stop me. I thought he was all ta
I woke up in a cell. It was easy to recognize it because I’ve been there multiple times before. It reminded me of the torture I was subject to and how I suffered. I didn’t want to go back. And where was my father?The cell was dark. I couldn’t see anything. I tried to move my hands but they were tied. I was on a chair. I had to wait for a long time. I lost track of counting. Maybe it was the third time I reached one hundred.‘This is getting weird. We were with dad and then everything went black. Any idea?’Yeah, but I don’t wanna say it.‘Ammm… Yeah. Horrible. Dad is a jerk.’After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. It was behind me and I finally caught sight of a lamp and a desk in front of me. Someone stepped inside. I felt him in my bones. Fucking Frederick.“Did you have to make my father into a jerk?”“He understands the consequences, don’t worry?”Frederick walked around and sat on a chair, not far from me.“How do you feel?”“Seriously? You’re asking me that? I fee
ADOLPHUS’ POV:When I saw a white wolf, I was confused. She was running and she didn’t care about the three that followed her. It intrigued me. And then, I felt my mark on her and knew it was my Ebony.I was stricken by how beautiful she was. She looked so free that it made me sad. She didn’t get to shift before and now, she felt how important it was.I didn’t want to overreact but I wanted her. Seeing her naked had only made me want her more. And then, there was her father. I was shocked. When Frederick said someone was telling her things, I didn’t expect it to be someone who was supposed to be dead.‘We gotta do it.’It’s hard to do it.‘We cannot run from this. We have to send her back and as quickly as possible. If she regresses to a time where everything can change, it will be better for all of us. It will undo everything.’But she will remember.‘It doesn’t look like she is suffering anymore. Look at her. She is happy. If she goes back, she will get what she lost and she’ll have
I was a wolf. I was running as fast as I could in the forest, forgetting everything that happened to me. It was so wholesome that I didn’t have to think about anything else. Nothing mattered but running.I felt freedom. Being one with the wind. For thirty years, I’ve never shifted once and here I was, running like a wolf. Nova was happy too. We were happy, ecstatic even. It was a feeling I’ve never felt before.I kept running and running, the wind over my fur but I didn’t feel cold. On the contrary, I felt complete. I finally had the chance to become what I was, a werewolf. We rolled in the grass, chased a few rabbits but didn’t catch them and howled. For the first time, I felt like a child.I didn’t care about anything else.I only stopped when the moon felt so wholesome. I stared at it for a while before I heard a laugh.When I saw who was laughing, I remembered my father, Brandon Wildknight.“Petra was white like you,” he said. When he stood next to me, I realized I was taller than
EBONY’S POV:I closed my eyes and waited for the blood to ooze from me but nothing happened. There was also the fact that I had to deal with a lot of pain. I laid on the ground and curled into a ball.There were a few more gunshots but I didn’t care. It was too much to handle. I hated pain. I hated everything that made me suffer. If this was how shifting worked, I didn’t want it.I heard a crack on my back and then a series of similar sounds followed, but it was slow. So slow that it put me into agony. I wished to sleep it off. Or maybe give my wolf control.Can you take over?‘I am. Why do you think it hurts? It’s because I am taking complete control. Your body is fighting it because you have Wildknight blood.’I felt a warm hand on my hair. It caressed me and then, I smelled something. It was like a smoke that made the pain fade. Slowly, I lost consciousness.Again, my wolf and I were sitting one next to the other. I was conscious of myself so it didn’t sound like a dream and it did