Adriana hadn't seen that one coming.
The next time Jaina lunged at her, though, she was ready.
She ducked and extended her leg forward, spinning so quickly that she didn't even realize what she had done. In a second, Jaina fell back, ungracefully landing on her rear.
"Good," Jaina said, giving Adriana a not so happy smile. "Your reflexes are quite fast."
"I've never done that before," Adriana said honestly. "I've never fought anyone in my life."
Because she was never able to. How many times had she wished she were able to punch Rhonda in the face, or at least push her away when she inflicted pain upon her? And Alpha Darien... he was so much bigger and stronger, which should have given him a clue that the punishments he inflicted on Adriana were much more painful...
She pushed back the tears that threatened to gush out of her eyes.
"I don't pretend to know what you've been through," Jaina said as she stood up.
"What are you doing?" Rowan backed away from Stacy, pushing her back and making a conscious effort not to use too much strength. He hadn't intended for things to go like this. Stacy looked at him, taken aback by his reaction. "Aren't you happy to see me, too?" She smiled, edging closer to Rowan again. "It's been so long. I've missed you." Rowan backed away, all of a sudden feeling a tingling down his spine. He felt the faint scent of Adriana. But that couldn't be possible. She was with Jaina, right? "Stacy, this isn't the time and place to talk about this," Rowan eyed the omegas guarding the door, who looked straight ahead, pretending not to listen. "But I thought I made it clear when you left that we were no longer a thing." "But I'm back! We don't need to do the long-distance relationship thing anymore. I… decided studying was not for me. Life in the human world is dreadfully boring.” Her voice was as chirpy and fake as he remembered it. “No, we talked about this. I told you
An hour later, Adria found herself on the couch downstairs. Tears streamed down Adriana's face as Marla handed her one picture after the other. After the incident with Stacy upstairs, Marla hadn't let go of Adria, save for the few minutes it took her to run back to her house and return with a photo album filled with pictures of Adria and her family. It was as if an enormous weight had been lifted off Adria's shoulders. A whirlwind of emotions swept through her as she flipped through the pages of the yellowed-out photo album. She did look like her mother, but she seemed to have inherited her father's hair and eyes. She had a past, an existence before the Turnbulls. People who had loved her and wanted her. "And here is the main house, where you were born!" Marla handed her yet another photo, this time of a house that Adriana vaguely recognized. "Your grandfather built it." By now, everyone had given up trying to console her. Rowan paced around the living room, looking like a wreck
Later in the evening, Rowan lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It had been a really long day, beginning with Adria's nighttime encounter and the incident with Stacy.There were so many things he still needed to learn about her. How did her powers work? What had changed when they... turned her? Was that what had happened to her?Her test results would be back tomorrow, probably, and Rowan trusted Jaina to help them discover what had happened, at least on a genetic level.Earlier in the afternoon, he realized Adria had somehow blocked their mind link. He had tried to talk to her while they were dealing with Stacy, but either she was great at ignoring him, or she was simply not listening.As if she had read his thoughts, Adria's voice appeared in his head."Rowan?" she said through the mind link."Adria? I thought you were asleep," he quickly replied. "Do you need anything?"He wanted to ask her if he could go over to her room, but that's not what he had agreed to. If they were really go
Adria's shopping spree with Luna Marie was tiring and an eye-opening experience. Not only had she never had her own clothes, but she'd never had a meal in a restaurant, and it was clear that there was so much she still needed to learn about being out in the world. She had made a mess with the salad dressing and accidentally added too much of it, trying to imitate what Luna Marie did with her own food. Then she dropped the silverware to the floor and Luna Marie kindly slapped her hand away when she was about to plunge the fork back into her food. Back in Black Moon pack, she was lucky if they gave her napkins. They did more shopping after lunch and then finally returned to the house, where all Adria wanted to do was hide. How on earth was she supposed to go on a date with Rowan if she barely knew how to eat like a normal person? "Hello… How's your day going?" Rowan's voice said through the mind-link, startling Adria as she dropped dozens of bags onto her bed. “Hi!” she repl
Why did they smell so similar? It couldn't be his perfume, since the one Rowan used was markedly different. Maybe it was just her senses that were confused. She had undergone a transformation of sorts, even if the effects were less noticeable now. She shuddered when she remembered the strange hunger and hypersensibility she felt while in a daze after Rowan had rescued her. "...I'm sorry about that. Aunt Marla says she's on her way," Luke said, and Adria began paying attention to his words again. "Let me get you more water." Luke stood and held out his hand. When Adria attempted to pass him the empty glass, it bounced off her leg and shattered on the floor beneath them. "I'm so sorry!" She stood, not realizing that a glass shard had flown into her sandal, wedging itself between her pinky toe and her fourth toe. "I'm making such a mess," she cried out, as blood poured out of her foot. Luke didn't even look at her when he picked her up and placed her on the couch. Adria didn't ha
"Sorry. Alpha Rowan," Luke said, nodding towards Rowan. The tension in the air was almost palpable, and after a few seconds of a very strange standoff, Adria began to wiggle in Luke's arms."We're pretty much here. I can walk, really," she said, her eyes dashing between Rowan and Luke.There was clearly some history or bad blood between the two, and she didn't want to be in the middle of it. Luke looked like he was about to protest, but Rowan spoke first. "If he carried you here, then there must be a reason for it." Without so much as a warning, Adria felt Rowan's arms around her, gently picking her up from Luke's arms. "What happened?""It's just a small cut...""Let's go inside," Luke said, gesturing for them to enter the clinic. Adria hadn't even realized that they had already arrived. A nurse rushed toward them, and Luke promptly told him there was nothing to worry about as they navigated some hallways and reached an office with a bed. It was clearly Luke's; the walls were li
Rowan didn't know what to say. He had behaved like an ass, and he knew it, but his pride didn't permit him to say this out loud. Part of him thought that he was STILL being an ass, not trusting Adria with this... issue he had with Luke. But he was angry, and he wasn't known for being a rational man when incensed. "Nothing..." he muttered, stepping out of the car and heading towards the door. When he reached it, he realized he hadn't even let Adria out. Turning, he saw that she had simply exited the car through the driver's seat. The wounded look on her face threatened to make him get down on his knees and beg for her forgiveness."Rowan?""You shouldn't be walking," he said, approaching her. She placed a hand on his chest, stopping him from picking her up again."I can tell there's something you don't like about Luke. Is it anything I need to know?" That was the problem. He didn't really have anything against Luke, other than the fact that he had basically grown up under his shad
"I mean, a little longer?" Adria quickly added, realizing Rowan could misinterpret what she meant. "I'd love to stay with you," Rowan said, smiling at her. "For as long as you want." "Until I fall asleep, then?" "Sure." Adria went to the bathroom to get ready for bed and came out to find Rowan on the side of the bed she didn't use. She almost gulped at the sight of him without his shirt on.He was casually looking at his phone as if this was completely normal.Was he daring her to not... do anything?But then again, she hadn't thought of him when she changed clothes. The pajamas Luna Marie were short, barely covering her rear, and the top was a thin thing that clung to her skin. His eyes drifted toward Adria, who still stood by the bathroom door. She quickly looked away, setting her clothes on the dresser. "Your fan doesn't work," Rowan said as an explanation. "I'll have them come check it tomorrow.""Oh, I hadn't noticed." Adria went towards the bed and got in on the other side
ROWAN Three weeks. It had been twenty-two days since the incident, and Adria showed no signs of waking up soon. For Rowan, it was as if time had stopped: nothing he did mattered more than staying by Adria's side in case she opened her eyes. "All we can do is wait," the head doctor said for the thousandth time, leaving Rowan alone. He had all but moved into the hospital, arranging for Adria to be moved to the biggest room. Taking her to his house would have been more convenient, but he couldn't make the head doctor be there 24/7, and he didn't want a nurse or another doctor to be the only one close to her in case she woke up. At first, so many people had come in to check on them daily. Marla, Cora, Lucien. His mother was the only one who kept coming to spend time with him and the sleeping Adria. Rowan knew she was worried not only about his mental health but his body, too. A quick glance in a mirror showed him he looked disheveled and thinner than he'd ever been. There was ju
The rain kept pouring down on them, but through an opening in the sky, the enormous bright moon shone down on the clearing. The two drenched men slowly turned their heads towards the growling wolf. "Alpha Rowan!" one cried out, stumbling back and falling onto the mud. "No..." the man named Flint said, his eyes widening at the sight of Adria. The wolf wasn't a danger. But those two men... They were the ones who had thrown her into the water. A quick blur of images swept through her mind, reliving the torture they put her through. Adria sprinted toward Flint and the man barely had a second to try to hide behind the car, slipping in the muddy soil and falling face-down to the ground. With a strength she never knew she could possess she picked up the man by the collar of his damp shirt and threw him backward, sending him flying towards the forest. "Alpha Rowan! Stop her! She's a monster," the man behind her cried out, as she slowly walked towards Flint, who lay on the ground tryi
Water filled Adria's nostrils as she realized she was going to die. Something dragged her to the bottom, and no matter how hard she tried to push her body to the surface, the current and the weight pulling her down were too strong. Her desperation turned into resignation with one last try to float back to the surface. So short. The happy moments she'd had in her brief time with Rowan had been so, so short. Why was the Moon Goddess so unfair? She had given her so much just to take it away so quickly. Back in Black Moon pack, there was an old lady who planted strawberries at the edge of the village, and sold them to the Turnbulls every once in a while. Her husband drove her in a motorcycle with an attached cart, and he beamed with pride at his wife when she stepped off with her baskets of strawberries. Adria had always envied them. The simplicity of their life, how they didn't seem to need anything else but each other to be happy. How the husband took care of her and helped h
Rowan sensed something was wrong the second he stepped off the helicopter. In the distance, thunder rumbled and a strong wind howled up the mountain. He was never comfortable being away from the pack for too long, and now he was regretting coming over.“Alpha Rowan?” The helicopter pilot spoke to him via the mind link. “Sorry to disturb you. I don’t think I can take off in these conditions.”“Was this storm in the weather readings?” Rowan replied. There was no other way to put it. Even if the storm wasn’t directly over them, it was unpredictable as to where it would go. “No, just mild rain. And even so, it has been very unpredictable.”Rowan was about to tell the pilot that he could stay in the cabin for as long as he needed, or even spend the night until they’d have to return in the morning, when the sky broke with light. A few seconds later the roar of thunder hit the earth, shaking Rowan to the core.There was no way this was a normal storm. And the last time he’d seen a storm of
The deafening shrill of a smoke alarm began to ring, numbing out most of what Adria could hear. She couldn't shift in such a tiny space, nor was she able to feel anything pertaining to her powers inside the dank bathroom. "Rowan?" she said through the mind-link, thinking that alerting him to what was going on was her only chance. "Please don't run! Exit in an orderly manner!" a lady yelled.The man held on to her with an iron grip, and no matter how much she squirmed or tried to hit him back, he kept her pinned to the wall. "Flint? Let's go, man." Someone opened the bathroom door and then appeared in the tiny stall. "Tie her up." The guy removed his hand from Adria and in that split second, Adria was able to use her arm to claw at him, grabbing his hair and pulling it with all her might. "ARGHH!" The man called Flint pulled away from her, releasing his grip on her mouth. He pulled away from her and a tuft of hair left his scalp in Adria's fingers. Adria screamed for help but th
Adria had been right about the impossibility of having a conversation in the bar.Luke almost had to stand to get close enough for her to hear a word he was saying."...And we'll keep observing the people we have in custody to see what their behavior is like. But there's nothing to worry about. From what we know, vampires can't fully convert Wolves," he said.He had been trying to tell Adria that their discoveries on her blood weren't concerning. They were consistent with the other people they had captured from Crimson Blood pack."I find your unique wolf gene much more interesting," he continued, smiling at Adria.It must have something to do with her strange powers, but she didn't want to discuss that with Luke just yet, so she smiled back at him and continued to sip the beer he had gotten her.She was almost done with the third glass, but the initial numb feeling from the first one hadn't intensified. Perhaps it was the natural resistance to alcohol that Luke had mentioned.A rock s
Rowan stormed out of the hospital and shifted, losing his clothes without a second thought. He didn't care about the rain, about who saw him, or if the stack of papers in his office was still waiting for him to go over them. Right now he needed to be alone and blow off some steam. It had been a while since he took a few hours off to clear his head, and he couldn't help but think that if he had given himself some time to go over everything that had happened in the last few days, maybe he wouldn't be in such a mess. How could everything go downhill so quickly? It was only last night that he and Adria had agreed to try to trust each other. If he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with her, how were they going to be able to do it if they couldn't talk about things? He finally relaxed when his paws hit the muddy soil of the forest, crunching dry leaves beneath them. The steady raindrops falling on the trees and the distant cry of birds and other inhabitants of this place made him
Adria left the hospital feeling devastated, and the gloomy weather outside reflected her pain. A steady, strong rain fell on her as she hurried towards Rowan's house. She was pretty sure he hadn't gone there, and she dreaded the conversation she was going to have with Luna Marie, but the truth was, she didn't have any other clothes than the ones he had gotten her. She was terrified that Luna Marie would think she was ungrateful for leaving like this all of a sudden, but she was sure this was what she wanted to do. No matter how much love she felt for Rowan, they needed to figure out a lot of things before they continued their relationship. Or ended it. She shook off the cold and devastating feeling that idea brought her. What had he meant when he said he was done? Was it really just going to end like this? Luke had stayed behind at the hospital because there was a patient he needed to see, and thankfully, he hadn't even noticed the rain. Or else, she was sure he wasn't going to
Adria wiped the tears off her face as Luke and Lucien entered the office. "What happened?" Lucien said, his eyes darting back and forth between Adria and the door. "Are you Okay?" "Yes," Adria said. "I'm fine." "I... should go," Lucien said, turning. "Let me know if you need anything." With that, he ran out and disappeared behind the doorway. Luke closed the door and eyed Adria sadly. He briefly looked at the box of pills and pouch in her hands, but then looked away just as quickly. "You know, we don't have to talk to the Head Doctor right now. Do you want to go home?" The mention of the word home made a sob almost escape Adria's throat. She had no home anymore. What had even happened just now? Did they break up? Were they really ever a formal couple that could even break up? "I'm not going to be staying at his house anymore," Adria said in a quavering voice. "What?! He kicked you out?" Luke cried out. "He's-" "No," Adria cut him off. "I... told him I didn't want to stay