ANNABELLE I jumped awake with my heart pounding loudly in my chest, my body soaked with sweat and a bitter bile at the back of my throat. Another nightmare you may think… it was definitely another nightmare only that it was different from the other about fighting and being taken captive that I’ve been having recently. It would have been better if it was another nightmare about a war. I could feel my stomach turning.I looked at my side and it was not a surprise that Ezra was nowhere to be found. I’d not really expected him to be present when I woke up in the morning. He must be regretting what we did last night. Even with the dream… or vision I got just now, I could not still bring myself to regret last night. Not when I enjoyed it so much and wanted a repeat every night; the urgency as his mouth fused with mine, the deep sound of his groans and grunt, the way his fingers dug into my lips as he thrust into me over and over again and the way he held me to sleep. Yeah, I definitely wa
ANNABELLE One month of bliss and I could not be more happier than this. My heart was filled with joy and with each passing day, it only got fuller. I might not have my memory and had been told that my dream was to travel the world and become a best selling author but this new life after the loss of my memory was total bliss. I won’t give it up for anything in the world.A week after that mating ceremony where Ezra and I finally tumbled in bed, he and my parents had officially signed the alliance agreement and had finalized everything and our engagement party would be in three month’s time. My parents pack now had the security they needed and I now had a lovely fiancé and two bonus children that I never knew I needed until they were thrust upon me. I’m not complaining but the elders and lord’s in Ezra’s pack were.They did not like me and do I care? No. I won’t let them know I did not care about their opinion though as that would only worsen the bad image they already had of me. It wa
ANNABELLE “Are you okay?” Ezra asked as his hand came to rest on my knee, stilling its movement. I looked sideways at him and chuckled, the sound nervous, “I’m fine,”He cocked his head to the side to observe me and I looked away. He knew how to read me too well, I did not want him to see what I was hiding.“You look… I don’t know. You’ve been restless since we got in the car.” I opened my mouth to argue that it was not true but he kept talking, “You’ve been bouncing your knee and biting your fingers. You only do that when you’re nervous.”I let my hand drop from my mouth as I turned my head to look out of the car’s window. He was correct. I was nervous.We were in his car to the restaurant I picked for us to dine in tonight. At first, I was very excited about sharing my feelings with him. In my mind, he would also confess his feelings to me, tell me how much he loved and wanted to be with me forever and we will kiss and everything will be alright. I did not plan that once we were
ANNABELLE “Only if he stops acting like he’s seen a ghost,”“You’d have the same reaction too if you were him,” my eyes went to Kelvin, “Sorry we are discussing you as if you’re not present,”“No,” he was still nervous and it showed in his excessive gesticulation, “No need to apologize.”Ezra brought everything to an end when he picked up his menu to order. I asked Ezra to order for me as well, just as Kelvin turned to me. The food on the menus looked very appetizing, leaving me with too many delicious options.The nervousness and tension left me as we drank our whole and made small talk while waiting for our orders. I almost forgot why we were here in the first place. It all came back too soon once our food was brought and we were almost done eating.“Are you ever going to tell me what is really wrong with you tonight?” Ezra haze dropped to my fingers which were twisted in a nervous knot on the table. He leaned over the table to peer at me with those dark eyes of his that looked lik
ANNABELLE A loud knock sounded at my door and I groaned as I forced myself to move into another position on the bed. I’ve been lying on my back for the longest time, it was beginning to feel uncomfortable so I turned to my side.The knock came again and I shut my eyes, hoping that it would block out the noise. It didn’t. I knew that I’d eventually have to get up. Sooner rather than later.It’s been a what? Two days or three since I confessed my feelings to Ezra and he coldly turned me down. Time heals wounds, they say, that was a bloody lie because each day, the pain got worse. Especially when the person who had inflicted the said pain did not care.After Ezra told me that he married me only because of the mutual benefits our packs were each going to gain from the alliance, I rushed out, leaving my heels behind, nearly crumpling into a heap on the floor a few times. Thank the moon goddess for small mercies, I made it out of the restaurant and into the car without collapsing like my b
ANNABELLE With the panic came my guilt. The kids had used every opportunity they could to try and get me to leave my room but I was too wrapped up in my emotions to go to them. I have been in here feeling sorry for myself, I forgot about the kids. It was not their fault that their father refused to love me back. They did not know what happened so they must be very worried about me and now they were using drastic measures to drag me out of my head.I made my decision. “Prepare food and ask the kids to go wait for me in the dining room. I’ll be out in a few minutes,”“Alright. Thank you, Miss Anna,” I could hear the relief in her voice and as the sound of her footsteps faded, I dragged myself up from the bed and trudged to the bathroom.Doing well to avoid looking in the mirror and catching a glimpse of myself which I knew would make a little kid piss their pants, I took off my clothes and stepped under the shower. A deep sigh left me as the hot water hit me, reeling my sore muscles.
ANNABELLE It was almost midnight and the kids had refused to let me leave. They were scared that once I went back to my room, I would lock myself up again and refuse to leave for days. They even offered to go with me to my room but I refused so we settled for staying in their room and playing games. As usual, the kids beat me in every game and by now, Dani was beginning to suspect that I was letting them win on purpose. He was wrong. For the life of me, I could not understand anything about the games so how could I possibly win.Their father was not back and it was a surprise. He tried his best to not miss dinner and was always home to tuck them into bed.“Where is your father?” When I could no longer hold it, I asked the kids.Both of them looked at me, surprise on their little faces.“You do not know?”“Know what?” My heart was hammering against my chest as I asked. Did something happen while I was locked up in my room? “He travelled.” Dani said as he returned his eyes back to th
ANNABELLE “Ahhhh!” The assassin's anguished cry was muffled by the mask covering his face as flames engulfed him. He frantically tried to extinguish the fire, but it only seemed to grow stronger, burning brighter and more ferociously by the second. Panic set in, and he stumbled wildly around the room, his screams for help reduced to desperate, garbled cries. Axel had also woken up by now because of the disturbance.I sat frozen on the floor, transfixed in horror as the assassin's body erupted into flames. The twins' screams were distant and indistinct, their voices muffled and faint, as if they were calling out to me from a far-off place.As the assassin's flames-engulfed form stumbled wildly around the room, my eyes widened in horror. Still on the floor, I moved backward, my hands flying to my mouth as if to stifle a scream. My mind reeled, struggling to comprehend the chaos unfolding before her. The sound of the twins' terrified wails was a background sound, but my gaze remained on
ANNABELLE My body moved faster than my brain. I grabbed the kids hands in mine and rushed out of the room before the fire alarm would start blaring again like that night. I was not going to take chances because this was not just any regular person we’ve set on fire, this was Carden, Ezra’s Beta.I made them follow the back door out of the house to the second garage there. It was usually quiet with nobody roaming around there like the main house and garage. “Get in the car,” I made them sit at the backseat of the car Ezra gave me to make moving around easy, and buckled their seatbelts then I got in the driver’s side and drove off.Five minutes on the road, Dani broke the silence. He sat up on his seat as if trying to stare out through the windscreen, “Where are you going to?”“I…” I picked my lips as I glanced at them through the rear view mirror, “I don’t know.”“Okay,” he accepted and sat back with a blank expression.My head was blank too as I was still trying to articulate and wr
ANNABELLE Axel remained with me until the maids left after scolding Dani and taking the lighter from him. Thankfully, they did not catch the whiff of the smell of burnt flesh because they had been too worried about the kids and cleaning things up.Dani knocked on the bathroom door where Axel and I were sitting on the floor.“You can come out now. They’ve gone,”I rose up and dragged Axel up with me before we both stepped out.“Thank you. You did very good,”“Really?” Dani asked, beaming at me, his eyes shining brightly at the praise.“Yes. You saved me,”The smile vanished from his face and his brows furrowed in a frown. “No, we should be thanking you instead. Axel and I would be dead by now if not for you. That man was sent to kill us, was he not?”The kids were smarter than anybody would give them credit for, especially Dani. I was trying to protect them from seeing the man but it was too late. They not only saw the man that was sent to kill them, they saw me kill and burn him dow
ANNABLLEI drew the kids to my front and knelt before them so that our faces were on the same level. They’ve calmed down by now but the knocks were still loud and I could hear one of the maids asking the other to get the spare key for the room. It made my hands shake as I packed it on the twins’ shoulders.Axel had tears and snot running down his face while Dani’s eyes were red and puffy. They’ve visibly calmed down and were no longer crying loudly. They had their eyes on the floor. “Look at me,” they rushed their heads immediately, “Both of you have to calm down. I’ll take care of everything but you cannot tell anybody what happened here tonight. Just got with whatever story I tell them, okay?”I expected them to argue but they nodded and loved to sit on Axel’s bed where they wrapped their arms around each other. I did not know if it was fear that made them both obedient, maybe they were scared that I would burn them down. I could feel my staunch twisting but now was not that turn t
ANNABELLE “Ahhhh!” The assassin's anguished cry was muffled by the mask covering his face as flames engulfed him. He frantically tried to extinguish the fire, but it only seemed to grow stronger, burning brighter and more ferociously by the second. Panic set in, and he stumbled wildly around the room, his screams for help reduced to desperate, garbled cries. Axel had also woken up by now because of the disturbance.I sat frozen on the floor, transfixed in horror as the assassin's body erupted into flames. The twins' screams were distant and indistinct, their voices muffled and faint, as if they were calling out to me from a far-off place.As the assassin's flames-engulfed form stumbled wildly around the room, my eyes widened in horror. Still on the floor, I moved backward, my hands flying to my mouth as if to stifle a scream. My mind reeled, struggling to comprehend the chaos unfolding before her. The sound of the twins' terrified wails was a background sound, but my gaze remained on
ANNABELLE It was almost midnight and the kids had refused to let me leave. They were scared that once I went back to my room, I would lock myself up again and refuse to leave for days. They even offered to go with me to my room but I refused so we settled for staying in their room and playing games. As usual, the kids beat me in every game and by now, Dani was beginning to suspect that I was letting them win on purpose. He was wrong. For the life of me, I could not understand anything about the games so how could I possibly win.Their father was not back and it was a surprise. He tried his best to not miss dinner and was always home to tuck them into bed.“Where is your father?” When I could no longer hold it, I asked the kids.Both of them looked at me, surprise on their little faces.“You do not know?”“Know what?” My heart was hammering against my chest as I asked. Did something happen while I was locked up in my room? “He travelled.” Dani said as he returned his eyes back to th
ANNABELLE With the panic came my guilt. The kids had used every opportunity they could to try and get me to leave my room but I was too wrapped up in my emotions to go to them. I have been in here feeling sorry for myself, I forgot about the kids. It was not their fault that their father refused to love me back. They did not know what happened so they must be very worried about me and now they were using drastic measures to drag me out of my head.I made my decision. “Prepare food and ask the kids to go wait for me in the dining room. I’ll be out in a few minutes,”“Alright. Thank you, Miss Anna,” I could hear the relief in her voice and as the sound of her footsteps faded, I dragged myself up from the bed and trudged to the bathroom.Doing well to avoid looking in the mirror and catching a glimpse of myself which I knew would make a little kid piss their pants, I took off my clothes and stepped under the shower. A deep sigh left me as the hot water hit me, reeling my sore muscles.
ANNABELLE A loud knock sounded at my door and I groaned as I forced myself to move into another position on the bed. I’ve been lying on my back for the longest time, it was beginning to feel uncomfortable so I turned to my side.The knock came again and I shut my eyes, hoping that it would block out the noise. It didn’t. I knew that I’d eventually have to get up. Sooner rather than later.It’s been a what? Two days or three since I confessed my feelings to Ezra and he coldly turned me down. Time heals wounds, they say, that was a bloody lie because each day, the pain got worse. Especially when the person who had inflicted the said pain did not care.After Ezra told me that he married me only because of the mutual benefits our packs were each going to gain from the alliance, I rushed out, leaving my heels behind, nearly crumpling into a heap on the floor a few times. Thank the moon goddess for small mercies, I made it out of the restaurant and into the car without collapsing like my b
ANNABELLE “Only if he stops acting like he’s seen a ghost,”“You’d have the same reaction too if you were him,” my eyes went to Kelvin, “Sorry we are discussing you as if you’re not present,”“No,” he was still nervous and it showed in his excessive gesticulation, “No need to apologize.”Ezra brought everything to an end when he picked up his menu to order. I asked Ezra to order for me as well, just as Kelvin turned to me. The food on the menus looked very appetizing, leaving me with too many delicious options.The nervousness and tension left me as we drank our whole and made small talk while waiting for our orders. I almost forgot why we were here in the first place. It all came back too soon once our food was brought and we were almost done eating.“Are you ever going to tell me what is really wrong with you tonight?” Ezra haze dropped to my fingers which were twisted in a nervous knot on the table. He leaned over the table to peer at me with those dark eyes of his that looked lik
ANNABELLE “Are you okay?” Ezra asked as his hand came to rest on my knee, stilling its movement. I looked sideways at him and chuckled, the sound nervous, “I’m fine,”He cocked his head to the side to observe me and I looked away. He knew how to read me too well, I did not want him to see what I was hiding.“You look… I don’t know. You’ve been restless since we got in the car.” I opened my mouth to argue that it was not true but he kept talking, “You’ve been bouncing your knee and biting your fingers. You only do that when you’re nervous.”I let my hand drop from my mouth as I turned my head to look out of the car’s window. He was correct. I was nervous.We were in his car to the restaurant I picked for us to dine in tonight. At first, I was very excited about sharing my feelings with him. In my mind, he would also confess his feelings to me, tell me how much he loved and wanted to be with me forever and we will kiss and everything will be alright. I did not plan that once we were