Rose's POVThe first person I noted was a man I didn't know. Wouldn't recognize. He was an older man, donning black hair with streaks of gray. No doubt it was her husband.But the second person wasn't too hard to figure out.I turned to face her. She looked nothing like me, with her blonde hair and green eyes. When I was younger, I was told that I gained my appearance from my father's side, but that was something I could never confirm. Whoever my relatives were, were absent throughout my life, and neither of my parents stuck around for me to find out anyways.That blonde hair looked more bleached, stringy curls I inherited from her were short. There were wrinkles on her face, eyeballs that I couldn't recall seeing. She even looked slightly thinner.My mother wasn't the same. She was older and frailer. I could see that from the shock written in her face.My mother….I shook from the rage.She contacted me, only tried to 'reconcile' with me for money.I stepped into the place, only to s
Rael's POV“She's not okay,” Adian told me.His face was grim and narrowed, trying to hold back his anxiety.I had to look away, my stomach curling into the same worry I tried quelling down.“She hasn't been eating properly, stays in her room. I found from Kayla that she rarely contacts them, and even then doesn't broach any subject. Neither of them are aware of the incident and she isn't eager to tell them.”He sighed despondently. “She also hadn't been doing anything. She tries going to the pack school to help, but every pack member there can see she's not okay. What happened with her mother…. she hasn't recovered from it.”Almost a week had passed since I found her tear streaked face in her bedroom. Since I made her a promise that filled me with guilt.I had expected this to happen, though not to this degree. After facing life threatening situations, at times she seemed invincible.But she wasn't. And this incident with her mother had broken her.Despite my wishes to stay with her,
Raels POVBreathe in. Breathe out.Sitting on the floor of my cabin deep in the forest, I could be at peace. Most of all, try to relax for what was coming next.‘Everything will be alright.’In spite of my calming effort, my legs thumped in a rhythm reflecting my heartbeat. I was impatient for this to all end. Grandes, it would certainly have been difficult to tell all Alphas of different cities and packs to come together. I understood that, but I remained looking at the time.I couldn't wait for their arrival. It would spell the end of these problems. Rose would no longer have to live isolated in fear. It would also spell the end of the thing between us.The crunch of footsteps stopped me short. Looking up, I eyed him carefully.“I thought I'd find you here,” he said.I remained silent as he sat down beside me.“You always come here to meditate when you're really bothered about something..” Kayden sighed out, as a way of conversation.I remained silent, focusing on my breathing even
Unknown POVI stumbled across the forest, racing until I reached the asphalt streets.‘Shit.’ Blood flowed down, blocking my vision. Without thinking, I wiped it off only for the burning scratched in my face to reignite again.Rael Allston was a right bastard.Fuck! “Damn him,” I cursed out. Of all the freaking things. I blinked against the pain ebbing from my forehead down to my cheek. It was a miracle that he hadn't picked my eye.I growled in anger at that thought. I shouldn't be grateful for anything, much less that Alpha. The assassination mission had failed and those two idiots were dead.Fuck. We were so well prepared, sneaking into the pack house was the hardest thing so far, especially with the tight security. It'd taken us almost a month to finally get our chance in, and slip in without any notice.It was my fault for not riding her of her life sooner. The moment she fainted in my arms, we could have killed her then and there. But the sleazy idiot Kane had stopped me.“Loo
Rose's POV.Numb. Numb was all I felt as I woke up.‘For goodness sake.’ I was tired of fainting and falling weak. It made me even more vulnerable than I already was.I quickly tried to sit up, noting the IV drip on my arm. What?Looking at the room, I recognized the walls of my room, but all the hospital equipment however was new. So lost in the equipment, I was startled the moment a hand touched me.I wasn't alone. I turned to face an older woman donning a nurse outfit.“Miss Bentley, are you okay?” She asked.It came to me in bits and pieces. My fight with Rael. The library. I was attacked and then…“I… fainted," I said the last words out loud, piecing the last parts.My gaze fell to my arm, white bandages were wrapped around my forearm, covering up the wound I knew was there, even though I couldn't feel it.The reminder of the stabbing pain shook me out of my reverie. I realized I hadn't answered the woman.“You fainted out of exhaustion. We had to put in an IV drip.” She said, li
Rose's POVAdian paused, a mix of regret, guilt and nervousness in his gaze.He should be, I thought venomously I remained stoic, unmoving as I stared him down.Finally, he caved in, breaking eye contact first.“I'll start from the beginning." He sighed out.Bringing me to the couch, he sat down opposite me, visibly uncomfortable. I ignored the guilt of his face, hardening myself. It was time I finally got the truth.“It all started about three years ago.” He looked down.“One day out of the blue we were attacked by a strange creature. It took three people to finally defeat and capture them.” He paused before continuing. “Out of all of them, two died in the process.”I gasped at the grim words. Two dead. As his eyes met mine, I knew that it was going to get worse.“But the strange werewolf was dead. And that was all that mattered at the moment. Until soon we found out that it wasn't just us."Trepidation filled me with his next words.“Not just in this city, but in all our neighbouri
Rael's POV.I took in the cool air, letting the heat simmer down.Finally, the anticipated meeting with the Alpha Council had taken place and it was anticlimactic.I had welcomed them, pushing away all my worries easier than expected. After giving them the information and discoveries gathered, thanks to Mira, they were equally ecstatic.That was my chance to state my sole condition to continue this project.Let Rose go.“There is no need for us to use an innocent human as bait for the Dankehs anymore.” I had tried reasoning with them.The backlash was expected, but I physically had to hold myself back from losing control in the face of their disparaging comments.‘A mere human?’Rose was far more than that. She was more than anything else I had seen. I, who had taken advantage of her naivety and kindness, had tried seeing her in the same way in the beginning and failed miserably. None of them would understand though. They just saw her as a tool to gain victory over the threat plaguin
Rose's POV I followed Jade through the door, shutting it behind me.I had sneaked out of the mansion, thankfully taking advantage of the lack of presence. Even with fear creeping from me, I walked until my legs hurt, moving until I reached the asphalt streets I had told Jade to wait for me in. Jade had taken a taxi all the way to the far end of the place where I met her. I looked away from her gaze, knowing the poor sight I looked like at the moment. It all went away after I entered the taxi, watching the mansion move farther and farther away. It was past midnight when we finally arrived in the city and even further when we got to her place.The timing was unexpected, but it all made sense when the destination wasn't the same one I knew.This apartment was new and different. From the minimal tones and the slightly more expensive look, it was a complete change from her former space throughout college.I looked around in awe. “I didn't know you had a new place,” I said, looking around