The look on Ben’s face when I opened the door almost made me giggle.With how nervous I was, however, all I could manage was a small smile as he openly gaped at me for an uncomfortably long few seconds. Thankfully, for once, the appearance of my siblings and their friends saved me from having to say anything.Chris’s friends all whistled at me and said nice, although dirty, things, while Misty’s friends eyed me up critically. They would never be caught dead complimenting me, but they also couldn’t seem to find any flaws to nitpick either. It probably also helped that they knew Luna Lannie was responsible, and so any critiques of my appearance would be a critique of her work.“You look,” Ben said after the rest of the group rushed outside excitedly, heading for their cars. “Wow, I hardly even recognized you.”“You look very handsome too,” I said, smiling again despite my crippling fear. And it wasn’t even a lie, as the outfit he picked out made him look even more perfect that normal. I
BenHe’d only had a couple drinks, not nearly enough to affect him as bad as this.But, as much as he wanted to blame his condition on the beer, he knew it started long before his first sip. It was the moment that girl opened the door.It wasn’t the makeup, which she finally seemed to learn to apply properly, or even the hair or clothes. It was her eyes that captivated him, and not for the right reasons. He’d seen that look in many girls eyes, the hungry one that shouted that they, and their inner wolves, wanted to snack on him. She had that same look, and normally this would've instantly put him on the defensive, but not this time.His wolf often yearned to chase after many of the girls who threw themselves at Ben, saying that their wolves were strong and would put up a good fight. It often annoyed Ben, having to argue for hours about why he chose to stay away from people like that. He had enough trouble on his plate without adding a host of fangirls.But this time was different.It
I wasn’t going to cry.Pulling my knees to my chest, I rocked back and forth on the ground and counted. I knew from that first dinner that he had no interest in me. I knew that he didn’t look at me the same way I looked at him. And I knew that trying to flirt with him tonight was going to backfire bigtime.And yet, it still hurt as bad as that first night when he rejected me.I never had any intention of actually trying to seduce him tonight, but from the moment I opened the door and saw the look on his face, a warmth and boldness started building up inside of me through the night. When he helped me out of the car, when he held my hand while we mingled, when he ran each time I needed a new water, and especially when we started dancing.I never felt so alive before.Nor had I ever laughed so much in such a short amount of time. And when my brother, his friends, and their friends all started to take a turn at dancing with me, I was left speechless. Even more so when I saw the look on Be
I was too tired the next morning to worry about how I looked.The sun wasn’t quite above the horizon yet as I walked down the street towards the northern outskirts of the town where Elder Lord Roland lived. Luna Lannie, after punishing me for ruining her cloths, and making it clear that I was going to pay her back for every penny, scrubbed the word off my forehead and did what she could to fix my hair. The scrubbing hurt a lot, but the haircut, at least, managed to calm me enough to get a few restless hours of sleep.“What’s with the new look,” Ben said as I walked past the house he was staying at. He jogged over to walk beside me, falling into place on my left. I saw him the moment his house came into view, but I still hoped that he had other plans this morning.I pulled my hood over my head without a word.“An interesting choice,” he chuckled nonchalantly. “It’s not my cup of tea, but as long as you dig it.”“I take it you didn’t get into Lord Roland’s Manor,” I asked, hoping to cha
Ben“How is old Drake doing these days,” a voice echoed through the study when Ben stepped inside, closing the door behind me. Looking over at the source, he found Roland sitting in a comfy armchair in front of a roaring fire. He wore no shirt, exposing countless battle scars across his torso, and when his powerful green eyes turned to take him in, Ben saw another scar running across his throat.“He is doing well, Lord Roland,” Ben said, bowing slightly. “He was very worried when rumors started spreading four years ago that you’d met your end.”“It nearly was,” Roland chuckled, gesturing to another armchair across from him. Ben walked over and sat down on the edge, ready to defend himself if the meeting turned unfortunate. Roland must’ve sensed this and chuckled again. “Relax, boy. It’s true that I lost my mind in that battle four years ago, but I should be sane for a little while longer. It comes and goes, you see. Now what can I help you with? I hear from my daughter and her mate th
There were only two thing’s people were talking about come Monday.Master Nathian had to drive me to school Monday morning, my right leg unable to support itself anymore. He found a pair of ill fitting crutches in the Manor basement and gave them to me to use. Everyone went silent and stared at me as I hobbled my way inside.Since Werewolves healed so quickly, it was extremely rare to see someone using crutches, and the extra attention was the last thing I wanted. The new medicine Master Nathian made me take before we departed wasn’t sitting well with me at all either. Nausea made me want to throw up, my head felt fuzzy and slow, and worst of all, I felt like I was boiling alive. Despite the chill autumn air, I was already sweating before I even reached my first class.It was in the few minutes before the first bell rang that I finally heard the gossip, once everyone stopped snickering at me and returned to their original conversation. The first thing I found mildly interesting.Appar
“Ayla, please stay after for a moment so we can discuss your latest report,” Mr. Davidson said just before the final bell rang. He made it sound like I would be getting a scolding, but I know for a fact that I crushed that report.“Yes, sir,” I said, my voice weaker than I would’ve liked. I needed sleep, badly, so my body could try to heal a bit and adapt to my new medicine. But my bed was still a long way away.The rest of the class walked out, everyone smirking at me apart from Ben and his three friends. Ben was walking arm in arm with Misty now, and so his attention was all on her as she whispered into his ear. His two guy friends were talking excitedly with Chris and Dillan about Clubs, and Maize was on Misty’s other side.She did glance over in my direction when someone knocked my bag onto the floor, but only for an moment.Sighing, I gathered my belongings yet again.As soon as the last student left, Mr. Davidson checked to make sure no one was hanging around outside the door.“
A cup smacked painfully into my forehead, splashing wine all over me.“Wake up, Cutter,” Misty seethed at me from her place at the dinner table. I’d been standing against the wall in place of the usual two servants, ready to bring my family anything they needed. And with how tired I was, I ended up nodding off while still on my feet. “Cleary, I need more wine.”“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a start, trying to rub my throbbing temple and clean the stinging liquid out of my eyes at the same time as I knelt down to collect Misty’s wine goblet. Chris was chuckling, but both Luna Lannie and Lord Grizzle were deep in a mental conversation.Apparently, they received a letter from the Night King.No one knew what species the Night King really was, and most suspected that he was some kind of hybrid of several. Either way, he was the most powerful supernatural being on the planet, and we all fell under his domain. His Night Guards were always sent in to clean up anytime an incident came up that mig
“Hold still, or I’ll really give you something to cry about,” Luna Lannie seethed, crashing her aura into me. Biting my lip to keep from crying out, feeling lightheaded already, I braced as Margret tightened my corset even more.Ben, Maize, and their friends left school as soon as they recieved the call that their parents had arrived, leaving me alone with Misty and her friends. However, instead of resorting back to the their usual bullying, they continued on as they had this morning, talking about guys in the lewdest way possible. I learned more about my male classmates than I ever wanted too, and all the tips they were giving me to make sure Ben stuck around were still making my ears steam.Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when we returned home. As soon as I was through the door, Margaret stormed up and dragged me away to change. Practically screaming at me and whacking me with her stick for hours as I helped to clean the house and prepare for the dinner. I was a mess
This was by far the best day of school I’d ever had.Instead of classes, we had a pep rally followed by a series of games and competitions. Every year before this, ever since I first came to live in this Pack, I wasn’t allowed to participate. Instead, I was shuttled off to the lodge to begin cleaning and setting up for the weekend festivities.“Come on, I’ll race you to the top,” Ben challenged all of us when we reached the rock-climbing pillars. Ten in total, standing side by side in a row, they were one of the many pieces of equipment brought over from the Warrior Training facility for the day. And once school ended, they would be trasnported over to the lodge for the remainder of the weekend. “Loser pays the next diner bill.”“Your on,” Chris and Dillan say in unison and the other guys are right there behind them. Misty and her friends excused themselves, but Maize seemed even more excited then the guys. She was one very competitive chick.My back was throbbing with each step at th
“Why is she in here?”“And why is she naked?”“She must’ve been punished again, those bandages look fresh.”My eyes shot open to the sound of laugher, and they nearly popped out of my head when I looked over my shoulder to see Lacy, Evelyn, and Bethany standing over me. Scrambling away from them on instinct, I felt the wounds on my back tear. Then, just to prove that the Goddess hated me, I ended up tipping backwards off of bed, slamming into the ground with a solid thud.They exploded into laughter, leaving me to groan in both pain and embarrassment. After much struggling, I got onto my knees and slowly peeked over the edge of the bed. I quickly realized that I was in Misty’s room, and a few faint memories from a couple hours ago flooded into my head. After Rosie applied the silver and treated my back, Misty carried me up here and we took a bath together. I was so weak by that point that I couldn’t even lift my arms, let alone clean myself, so she had to do all the work. Even now, my
I was just so tired.I’d somehow fallen asleep at the diner, the extra shake I was given seemed to push me over the edge. The shot Rosie gave me this morning had started to fade after Clubs, and without it, I could barely stay awake while Misty and Maize took me shopping. It was a dream come true of mine, to be able to go into a store and spend hours trying on new things. Instead, I was angry with myself for spending the entire time in a daze.“Good night,” I said through a yawn as I hugged Maize.“And a good night to you too, Ayla,” Maize said back, hugging me tight. She also kissed me on the cheek, but unlike the confused flutters I got when Misty did that, this one left a warm tingle in my stomach. “Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight since you didn't get any yesterday. A girl needs her beauty rest.”“I will, mom,” I teased, earning me a ruffled head. Then my breath was taken away when Ben moved up and, before I knew it, had his lips pressed against mine.Delirious already, I
Misty“I wanted to apologize again for my behavior up till now,” she said to Maize as they waited outside the changing room for Ayla. “I’m sure you know how overbearing parents can be, especially hot-headed Alpha’s. He might come off as uncaring and cruel, but he’s only doing it because he loves Ayla.”“How do you mean,” Maize asked, giving her a strange look. Misty knew in that moment that she had her counterpart from the Briar Kingdom in the palm of her hand.“Our ways might seem harsh to outsiders,” Misty explained, feigning sadness. “Our weaker elements are sent off to the smaller and more rural Pack's in our territory. Only the strongest are permitted to live here, to go to school here, and to train here. We are like the Spartans of old. Therefore, Ayla never should’ve been allowed to stay here. But father refused to let my sister be forced out. As a compromise, he told the Pack to toughen her up as best they could.”Maizie sighed after a time. “I guess I can understand that. My
Only it never came.Peaking out from behind my backpack, I was met with numerous confused faced. One of the mother’s laughed when she figured out what was going on.“I’m sorry, Ayla,” she said, stepping forward before squatting down a few feet in front of me. Her hands were up, showing she didn’t mean me any harm. “I guess I can’t blame you for reacting this way after yesterday. What with us rushing over here like that?”The other parents started to laugh too and one of the fathers came forward next to the first woman. It took me a moment to regconzine them.“Mr. and Mrs. Lecter,” I said, still hiding behind my bag. They were Duncan’s parents. As if to further prove it, Duncan barged through the crowd to stand between his parents and me.“I won’t let you hurt our Luna again,” he shouted, glaring at them.I groaned. “Duncan, you can’t call me that outside of the cage. You shouldn’t even call me that inside either.”His mother and several others chuckled as his antics. He wasn’t backing
It was strange having Misty and the others pretending to be nice to me all day, baffling many of our classmates and teachers.“What’s going on anyway,” Mr. Davidson asked as he walked me over to the Middle School after the final bell rang. He told Chris and Misty to take charge of warmups until he returned. “I thought I was seeing things when Dillian ran in before fourth period to bring you your crutches. I knew for a fact that they had disappeared yesterday before I could collect them. I requested a set to be brought over from the clinic, but the Principal shot that down. But just now, did I really see Misty showing some affection towards you?”My face heated up, hating that he noticed. Ever since lunch, Misty had been acting like the perfect big sister, not even threatening me or putting pressure on my back. Hugs, compliments, and more pain free physical contact than I’d ever really known. She even had me sit in her lap before Mr. Davidson’s last class started so she could massage m
“Ayla, could you stick around for a minute,” Mr. Davidson asked at the end of fourth period. “We need to discuss your behavior at Club yesterday.”Several of my classmates snickered as they left to go to lunch, everyone in the entire Pack already seemed to know that I pissed off Cythia somehow yesterday. I waited in my seat until the room was empty, then made my way up front as Mr. Davidson shut the door.“Mrs. Louis mentioned that you were looking for me yesterday,” he began, leaning against his desk.I held up my right arm. “I got burned again before school and was hoping to ask if you had anymore of that medicine.”“And how did you get burned this time,” he asked, his voice hard, causing me to keep my eyes on his shoes.“I can’t tell you that, sir,” I said softly.He sighed. “And I suppose you can’t tell me what happened last night between you and Rosie? She called me this morning with some bull about seeing to your treatment.”“That’s what she was doing, sir,” I answered truthfull
“Ayla, are you alright,” Maize said urgently the moment I reached the parking lot later that morning. “Why did you leave in the middle of the night? I’m sorry for falling asleep like that?”She wrapped me in a tight hug as soon as she reached me and my vision blurred when she touched the fresh wounds on my back. I must’ve made a sound because she pulled away quickly, leaning down till her eyes were level with mine.“I’m fine, really,” I said, forcing a smile. Rosie gave me another shot when I woke up, once again making it feel like I’d gotten a full night’s rest. She wasn’t allowed to give me anything for the pain, however, so every time I moved was a struggle. It was also why I carried my backpack in my hands, rather than on my back.“Why did you leave,” Maize asked, her voice getting a bit angrier.“I needed to go home for my medicine and treatment,” I answered truthfully. “I need to take my medicine every morning, and I was due for a treatment last night. That was why Rosie was esc