[Alexander]I remembered the donut vendor I had once witnessed her bickering with. I greeted the man and ordered a tray as an excuse to make small talk and perhaps find out if he knew the girl.“I’ve always wanted to try these.” I smacked my lips together in pretense as I looked down at the mini donuts glazed in chocolate - I hated chocolate, “The last time I was here, I planned on coming over, but you were fighting with someone.”“Oh,” the vendor rolled his eyes as he remembered what I was talking about, “It was barely a fight. That silly girl was just upset because of the chocolate coating. Said I should have asked first.”I grinned with humor. So Valerie and I had something else in common. She was right too; he should have asked first.“You like it?”I took a bite of one donut, inwardly cringing as the taste of cocoa touched my tongue, and at the same time, I caught a whiff of a familiar scent. “Hmm! You haven’t seen her around, have you?”“Oh! I have actually. She was just there by
[Valerie]I had to admit that I was scared, like a bear caught in a trap. I knew the Alpha would not give up, so I gave in, pulling my weight to a nearby tree and transforming into my human. The transformation was again painless, and I knew that it was my mate that made that possible. But it barely explained why, for years, the pain gripped me each time I transformed back and forth.Alexander changed too - and I realized my mistake early. We were out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, in what he called the Land of The Witches. I had never heard of the witches except around campfires when the elders told us that the witches were not to be trusted, and that back in the day, they used magic to seduce the wolves and snapped their necks any chance they got. But none of us had actually seen one. To me, witches were just a myth.Alexander, however, went as far as accusing me of using witchcraft to ensnare him. I didn’t think that I would ever need to. Looking at him in all his glory, mad
[Alexander]I had never made love to a woman out in the open. But this wasn’t love-making. This was anger at the very brim, unable to hold in any longer. It was as if I was a man possessed - possessed with dire need and the wolf in me unable to show restraint any more. She seemed to enjoy it though - what part of my beastly act had her walls begging for me, I wasn’t quite sure. It could have been the roughness, or it could have been the fact that her mate claimed her, but either way, I felt like crap.The nauseous feeling wasn’t from being with her. It was the act itself, as soon as I released the pent up desire, that made me feel like a dog. In my head, I tried to blame her, tried to blame our circumstances and even our surroundings, but fell short. It was I who was at fault. Or the wolf.I didn’t want to look at her when I finally let go. Not because she wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world; her hair damp from sweating, smeared with a mixture of soil and pieces of broken bark
[Valerie]My mind woke up before any other part of my body did. For a while, I thought I had been dreaming, until a gentle tug between my thighs reminded me that what had happened was very real. Beaming from ear to ear, feeling wholly satisfied and newer than I had felt before, I stretched my limbs and then frowned. My head rested on grass, which was odd. I opened my eyes, and blinked a few times to adjust them to the low light of the crescent moon seeping through the canopy of trees.“Alex?” I turned to my left, feeling his warmth still spread out on the cheek that had been resting on his chest.He wasn’t there - neither was he on my right. I rubbed at my eyes then looked again, but still, Alexander was nowhere my eyes could reach.“Alexander?” I propped my weight on my elbows and looked down at my battered legs, but he wasn’t anywhere near me.“Alexander!” I called out louder this time, and waited. I only received silence in response.I looked all around me, realizing that I was alon
[Alexander]I walked Melissa to her door, feigning a smile when she turned to give me a curt nod, a genuine one curving her lips. I don’t know what possessed me to do what I did, but the regret was obvious, that even she didn’t have any further thought about me going inside with her. The light in her apartment went on, and the curtains closed on her window, just as it did on her desire for me.The wolf cries I heard in the distance didn’t stop. Although in human form, I should have been able to understand why they cried, but only managed to interpret it as a hunt. Maybe my lack of understanding was owed to the fact that I had too much on my mind as I drove back home from dropping Melissa off at her apartment.I didn’t expect her to take rejection so easily. In the two years she worked for me, she came across as a determined woman. But even when she had the crudest thoughts of me, she never did really act on them. I supposed the human was influenced by the Alpha in me, who demanded resp
[Valerie]I was stunned by the mighty being who towered above me; her hair white as snow, billowing out behind her in the wind as she stretched out pale arms and the werewolves around us fell in submission. Her eyebrows matched her hair, and her eyes remained a faded shade of the red they were before she transformed. She was otherworldly - taller than most humans, her skin almost as white as her hair, but still, she was mesmerizing in all her beauty. She seemed delicate, as if her bones may break at the slightest touch, but when she spoke, through blood-red lips, she sounded as fierce as her werewolf looked.“We will not kill you.”Her voice rang through my ears, and I kept my head up, wondering what she wanted from me.“What do you want then?”My human spoke from within, and I was surprised that she understood me even then, casting her feral eyes down on me.“I can sense what you want, child. Tell me what it is.”Sense? How? She wasn’t a wolf just as I was, neither was she human. But
[Alexander]*Two Years Ago*We followed the Alpha through the woods as we left our den and made our way towards the mountain. Mount Diablo - the mountain of the Devil - had become a significant spot for when we needed to gather beneath the full moon. To us, we stood upon the devil - he was at our feet, or paws in this case - as he brought us closer to the moon, carrying us forward as if he was our slave.Our monthly prayers consisted of drinking the holy spirits in our human forms as we circled the sacred scalp in the den, then taking on the form of our werewolves and climbing to the top of the mountain to howl out our thanks to Moon Goddess Selene, and ask for further protection as we protected our land from the likes of witches and vampires. The bloodsuckers had left our part of the country long before I was born, settling in Venice where their immortality couldn’t be noticed by those who didn’t know them. It would stay like that for a few years, until they found another country to s
[Valerie]*Just a little over a year ago*“Did you check your phone? Garrett called a meeting for tonight.” Sophia dumped her weight on my bed, her eyes glued to some video she was watching on her phone.“Great.” I huffed, lowering my glasses to my nose and trying to catch a glimpse of what she was watching.“You don’t sound too excited.” she pointed out, directing her screen to me so I could get a better view.“You don’t say.” I rolled my eyes, also because she was watching cat videos again.“Come on Val! I thought you liked the guy.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”I turned my face back to my laptop and went about typing out my literature review, praying she didn’t see how red my cheeks became. Of course, luck was not on my side, and Sophia poked my cheek with her finger.“This right here is enough to say it all. Can’t blame you though - Garrett is a snack.”“An unavailable snack.” I corrected her. “He’s dating Isabella, remember?”Sophia clicked her tongue in disgust, “It’
[Alexander]** Epilogue **** One Year Later **I didn’t mind that we had had to postpone our wedding. The twins were growing beautifully, and rather normal for babies who had both wolf and witch blood coursing through them. It was Camilla who had explained their rapid growth before birth - Elizabeth, who was afraid of the dark, had closed her little eyes inside her mother’s womb, and had somehow managed to speed up the process of her mother’s pregnancy. Leo, on the other hand, seemed to fear nothing. I could tell by the way he climbed to the very top of the apple tree in the garden to pick some fruit for his sister and him.All those around us, our friends, family, acquaintances, all fell in love with the twins the moment they interacted with them. Leo, with his gift of insight, and Beth with her gift of healing. The girl had a tremendous power to win over hearts, while Leo awed them with his strength and ability to show them what he wanted wit
[Valerie]If I thought I was full of nerves before, I really had no idea what I was in for the afternoon before my wedding.Everything around me was moving fast, and the women who’d seemingly taken up residence in our small, two-bedroom house were moving faster.“Where are the dresses?!”“Where are Valerie’s shoes?!”“Did anyone call the makeup artist?!”Questions like these were flying around, the air thick with the agitation I was sure everyone was feeling. But all the preparations seemed to overshadow me, and in some ways, I was thankful for that. I didn’t quite like being the center of attention, and with only a few hours left before that became inevitable, I sneaked into my room, quietly locked my door, and laid down on my bed.My belly was huge by now, and if I looked up while laying down, it was as if I was staring at a mountain. Watching my babies grow day by day made me miss my mate eve
[Alexander]I had promised Adam one last hunt before the wedding. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, but after all, it was only a few more days until I’d get to wake up next to Valerie every morning for the rest of my life.Over the past couple of days, I’d been packing away some of the clothes I had in my closet, making space for Valerie’s things. The small, abandoned town in Walnut Creek wasn’t exactly ready to be lived in, and I had contracted some builders to redo the dilapidated walls and tile the floors. I’d told them to leave the walls unpainted because it sounded like a good idea to do it myself.I’d been spending most of the day organizing some work files that I was planning to give to Adam while he stood in my place at Young Industries. It was only temporary, while Valerie and I would spend our honeymoon in Greece.Valerie didn’t know about our trip. I’d managed to keep it a secret, and thought
[Valerie]With less than two weeks to go before the big day, I didn’t have much time left. I’d been putting off going to see Camilla in Oakridge for far too long, and decided that if I didn’t do it today, it would never get done.I wasn’t planning on visiting her alone. I was expecting Layla to accompany me, but she was taking longer than expected to come out of her dorm room. It was only when she finally emerged that I realized what was holding her up.Selena’s cheeks reddened the moment she saw me standing outside. I hadn’t seen her in a while, since I wasn’t allowed to hunt, and was too busy with wedding preparations to meet with her. I was guessing that Layla finally found the courage to speak to her, and it didn’t bother me at all. However, Selena looked like a bear caught in a trap.“Hi, Selena.” I waved from the corridor. “How’s everyone doing?”Selena seemed taken aback by
[Alexander]I couldn’t wait to get back from work and visit Valerie that evening. It was as if the moment we were given the green light to go ahead and get married; it had become increasingly difficult to stay away from each other.I was just about to pack my things away and leave the office when I saw Adam making his way towards the door. Putting my phone in my pocket, I stood up and picked up my suit jacket from behind my chair.“Hey man!” Adam grinned as he entered the office.The rest of the building had cleared out, with Melissa giving me a curt nod before she left. News about my marriage had spread through the town, and once Melissa heard about it, she’d given in her resignation. For the most part, I was glad. That one very awkward and meaningless kiss we shared on impulse wasn’t exactly a fond memory, and even while I suspected she was leaving because any hope she ever had before had been stripped by the news that I was gettin
[Valerie]** Two Weeks Later **The day we planned on saying our vows to each other and sealing our souls together into forever was near. I highly doubted that it was nerves for the big day that had me throwing up that morning, or the fact that we were going out shopping for dresses.We’d picked the date - fourth November, the birth of a new moon, as well as the birth of our unification. With just a little less than three weeks to go, planning for the big day was well underway. Everyone seemed to accept that we wanted to do this as quickly as possible, but the only trouble seemed to come from Alexander’s mom, who refused to settle on some private affair. I supposed she had big dreams for her son’s big day - after all, he was the eldest of her children.All the planning didn’t matter much to me. The color of the drapes, the length of the aisle, the style of the dress - seemed insignificant when I was doing the most important thing of all; I
[Alexander]I didn’t want to leave Valerie alone with my father, but she seemed much braver than I was. In fact, I didn’t know why I felt as afraid as I did when I knew that there was no way he could harm her. Besides, he didn’t know the truth yet, and even if he did, he wouldn’t hurt her here, anyway.I couldn’t hear them speaking behind the thick oak door sealing my father’s office, as much as I strained my ears and tried to listen. I wondered why dad needed to speak to her alone, and I could only hope that they weren’t fighting, or dad wasn’t saying anything to upset her.From the kitchen, mom called out to me and reluctantly, I stopped pacing the hall and went to the kitchen. Amelia was helping mom, while Layla played with my niece in her arms. If you asked me, it was possible for our kind to live in harmony with witches. But as the days passed, Layla was becoming less like a witch, and more like a human. But her tho
[Valerie]I couldn’t control myself. I ran towards my father and fell at his feet with tears rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably. I had never realized, until this very moment, how much he truly cared for and loved me.I felt like I had failed as a child. I had often looked at them with anger, hurt, thinking that I wasn’t loved the way others were loved by their parents, and when I found out that I wasn’t actually theirs, I was consumed with a disappointment that now held no weight at all.I had been stupid all along. Suddenly, I was being surrounded by the type of love I had always dreamed of, and even then I had shoved those dreams far into the back of my mind, believing that I was never destined for a grand love. But now things were seemingly coming in full-circle, but one problem still remained.Arthur Young.My nemesis - the man who was responsible for stealing my parents away too soon. And the cherry on top? He was my fated mate&rsqu
[Alexander]I hadn’t slept a wink last night. I have been doing well over this past week in terms of sleep, work and life in general. But tonight, I was just a nervous wreck.Valerie and I had agreed that I would do things the way any normal couple wanting to get married would; by asking permission from her parents. But that wasn’t exactly something I was looking forward to. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t determined to make her mine forever, with our loved ones as witnesses, but because if I closed my eyes, I was still able to feel my cheek stinging from the punch I’d received from her father.I had to admit, it warmed my heart knowing they cared so much for her. But it worried me that they cared enough that they wouldn’t see me as a fit husband for her. It was as if the fact that I was the father of her kids didn’t matter to them. They knew who I was, who my father was and what he had done to her family, and that made