"I brought your dress," Caroline tells me as she comes through the bedroom door with many things piled in her arms. I quickly grab some before items go tumbling to the floor.
"What's all this?" I ask.
"I thought we could get ready together, you know since this entire party was our idea," Caroline explains and lifts up the dress for me to see. "Don't you love it?"
The dress is entirely black with an off the shoulder neckline and thick straps. It hugs my body all the way down, exposing every dip and curve with a small, elegant flare at the bottom. Gazing in the mirror, I call to Caroline from the bathroom. "It is very exposing on the top."
"Not too much," she calls back. "Come out; I w
"I have to find him," Eric tells me as I follow him out of the building. We could not find them inside, so Eric insisted on looking further. "What if they want to be alone?" He pauses briefly. "Then we have to hurry. I am not leaving my sister alone with someguyshe just met." I grab his shoulders and force him to look at me. "He is not just some guy, he is her mate."He sighs."You're overreacting. Let's just go home, the party is almost over anyways, and you can relax," I suggest and he agrees after a few more tries.Once in the bedroom, I sit on the bed and take off
"You have to go?" I ask him one last time. "Just for a few days, three at the most." I nod. "Just be careful and don't do anything crazy." Eric and Heath both toss their bags into the back of the car. "I feel like I should be telling you that," he smiles and pulls me in for a hug. I breathe in his delicious scent. I smile brightly. "Well, look at the time, you two don't want to be late." Eric places his hands on my shoulders after I try to rush him in the car. "I will miss you." "Please," his tone turns serious, "be careful. When I come back, I do not want to see one scratch on you, okay?"
"Isabella, what are you doing?"Turning around, I see Caroline standing in the doorway. "Oh, just enjoying the morning."She rolls her eyes and takes a seat at the counter. "Marina should be here soon."We relax until the doorbell rings. Thinking it is Marina, I hurry to answer it, but instead I see Sebastian waiting. It was him; he knows that I followed him into the woods. "Why were you in the forest?" He asks calmly.I motion for him to come in but he counters my action by telling me to come outside. Standing on the porch, I begin to feel nervous. "I saw the rogue.""So you decided to go after it?"Swallowing, I nod. "I wanted to
"So, you are the Luna, Alpha Tates mate?" "Yes, but we haven't been together for long." "Caroline told me that the two of you planned the birthday celebration for Sebastian Tate. It was lovely," Lucas compliments as we sit across each other in the living room. Caroline sits closely beside him as Evangeline is near me. "Caroline planned most of it, and I pretty much watched her work as I constantly fell asleep. I don't know how she manages to work for so long without rest." Evangeline smiles. "That's my Caroline." "Is Dad coming by?" She asks, and Evangeline tells her he is busy helping the newer guards with training, bu
I finish up in the bathroom and change into my clothes, trying to go about my nighttime routine normally. I hear many footsteps coming up the stairs as assume it is the group preparing to go to bed.A few moments later Eric comes into the room, and I close the bathroom door before he notices. I hear him moving around, probably changing himself.Taking a deep breath, my eyes find my own in the mirror, causing me to sigh. My head tilts to the side. "She's not like you," I whisper to myself, repeating his words. "She's been with someone."My fingers grasp onto the thin straps of my plain nightgown before inching them down my shoulders, my mind always telling me that it will be his someday. His fingers will be pulling the straps down, leaving me bare.
"You saw the rogue, then my father, and you decided to walk outside and follow them?" "Well, when you say it like that it sounds bad." Eric takes a breath. "Because it is bad, Isabella, because you could have been killed. Why did you follow—what told you to go out inunclaimedland and make yourself vulnerable?" I watch him pace back and forth from the bed. "I don't know. I was intrigued, I suppose." "Intrigued? Intrigued by death?" "You're overreacting," I tell him. "What if the wolf wasn't my father, what if you walked out
"Eric!" I call to him as the two of us make our way onto the training grounds. Eric's eyes find mine then they move to Alpha Kenn, probably confusing him."Alpha Kenn," he greets. "To what do I owe the pleasure?""My Beta, Lucas, your sister's mate, I have come to collect him and move south, but I recently discovered he left last night. The issue is, no one knows where he has gone.""What if he was attacked," I cut in.Eric sighs, taking a moment to think. "I'll have search parties organized. You and your men are welcome to stay here as long as it takes. Caroline must be worried.""That's an understatement," I tell him."I should jo
After finishing up in the bathroom, I swipe my hair from my face and walk into the bedroom. Eric comes in, and I promptly turn to him. "Are you going out tomorrow to search for Lucas?" "Yes, everything is ready." "Caroline wants to go really bad, but I told her that I would stay with her like you said. I feel for her. I can't even imagine what she must be thinking."Eric disappears into the bathroom while I close the windows, knowing that it will get too cold to leave them open. Caroline has retired to her temporary bedroom down the hall, though I doubt she will be doing much sleeping."She told me that you are getting along with Alpha Kenn," Eric calls to me. "Calling him James?" His tone changes to somethin
There is a knock on the door, so I open it to find Evangeline standing on the porch, looking depressed but different than at dinner last night. Immediately I urge her to come in, but she asks to walk with me outside. Together, we head off slowly in a random direction. The sun is beginning to fall."How's your day been?" I ask, surprised that she came to me in the first place."You told my son to talk to me," she says, getting right to the point. "Thank you for caring for him."I nod, still quite confused. "Yes, I told him to ask about his father's death. I'm sorry if I brought on unwanted questions. It's still fresh and you were clearly in no state to talk about—""No, don't apologize. He deserved to know what happened to his fa
I slip on the black dress and brush my hair, running the bristles against every strand. Standing in the mirror, I watch myself while consistently glancing over at Eric who had just finished redressing himself. He does the same, looking over at me. Eric stands behind me and places both hands on my shoulders, so I softly set my hairbrush down. Our eyes connect in the mirror. "They're downstairs waiting," he murmurs, his arms wrapping around me. I set a hand on top of his as they rest against my stomach. "Will you be alright?"Eric nods then takes my hand in his, running his thumb firmly against the top of my hand, almost as if he is making sure I am really here. Without saying a word he leads me out of the room—my hand still in his, a loose leash&m
After hours of hiding up in my bedroom, I find myself venturing downstairs, worried and anxious to see someone. Caroline gave me an update an hour ago, telling me that Kendra is safe somehow and that Eric will be back later tonight, and then she left the door and went off somewhere. We spoke through the door, me on the inside and her on the outside, like I was locked in. I could have opened it, I could have hugged her and begged for forgiveness, but I didn't. I should of, but I couldn't.The stairs let out a creaking noise as I land on the second to last step and I contemplate hurrying back up. The wood is cold against my feet. The house seems to be dead. No one comes searching for the cause of the creaking noise. I am like a ghost with no one to scare.My mates father is dead, Carolines father is dead, Evangeline's mate is dead, and I
I feel dazed. My memory is a mess, and I do not have the patience to sort through it. There is a certain urgency yelling at me to get up, shouting nonsense, but I can hardly hear what it is saying. My surroundings are soft to the touch, my fingers stroking the fabric beneath me before scrunching into a fist. My back aches, more than the rest of my body at least. I feel bruised, like a fruit dropped to the floor one to many times. The smell of heaven is terribly familiar. Have I died before? I want to open my eyes and take in the city of white, but I struggle to do so. Suddenly, I find myself drifting off again, slipping into a warm darkness. Time is inexistent in heaven. The urge to wake comes to me again, and I do not know how long it has been. An hour? A day? A month? A year? Everything blends together into one lon
I have always taken care of Kendra like a mother. "Kendra!" "Kendra!" My mother was broken, always too hurt to properly take care of a child. All she could do was her job, helping the Luna. "Kendra, where are you!" I would make breakfast in the morning while our mother slept, or while she stayed at another's house. She was heartbroken, and it made her reckless sometimes. I wanted to hate her for it, but I couldn't. I hated her because she let the sadness make her weak. "Kendra!" "Kendr
I imagined death to be a flash of light then darkness. Nothing but darkness. Everything simply shuts off and you are erased from the world and all of its glory. Frightening, isn't it?The gun shot rings in my ears and I wait for the flash of light, or whatever may come. In this moment, I am open to anything.My largest and only regret will be my lack of a goodbye to my mate, as Alpha Kenn got impatient. Hopefully Eric knows that I loved him unconditionally, probably too much, if that is possible. I will die for him, so hopefully that shows him my feelings. If I focus on the things I will miss, I will regret my decision, and it is too late for that.God, I just love him so much. I want to touch him again, to feel his skin on mine, to hear his voice. Everything about him made me feel ful
"Well," Alpha Kenn struggles. "What an offer, but I will have to refuse becauseIsabellais to be my Luna." My eyes cannot leave Eric's. There is something in them. A promise? Safety? Security? Love? Maybe all of them, but definitely love. Suddenly, I am no longer fearful, but determined. He would give away everything for me, and that means everything. He can give me everything, but it means so much more to give up everything. To have nothing, but me. My cheeks flush with color, with life. "You can't have me," I mutter and glance up at him. "Sorry." Some men find this amusing, but Alpha Kenn sneers. "Inject him, then bring him out."
Alpha Kenn's tightening grasp causes my face to scrunch up in protest. My teeth clench, I whimper like a hurt puppy, yet he continues to drag me away from the house and towards the tree line. The burn on my chest throbs. I wonder what kind of monster it takes to be shot and to walk away fine."Let go," I seethe, attempting to yank my wrist from the cuff that is his hand, "you bastard! Where are you taking me!"Adrenaline brings my vocabulary to that of a sailor's."You piece of shit, you think you—""Please, darling," he groans, "resisting is not going to get you anywhere. You had your shot at me; you failed, now let us move on.""Move on?" I gape. "You have ruined everything I
Our conversation is quiet, no more yelling and arguing. We have worn ourselves out, and my body cannot put up a fight against him anymore. My inner wolf was crushed from my actions just a few days ago.The words that left both of us meant nothing that night, and we both understand that. Eric is upset with himself for bursting in on me, I can see it on his face. Many times I tell him that I forgive him, but he doesn't seem to forgive himself.Our conversation is quiet, meaningful, and filled with regrets, and I am dying to move on. Selfishly, I have the power to forgive myself after Eric forgives me, but he cannot seem to do the same. I hate that he is so angry with himself. "I'm okay, Eric," I tell him as I caress his cheek softly. "Please—I'm not mad at you.""What I said to you