MARCELLO "What are you talking about?" I asked my wolf. "What mate?" "The restlessness you feel around her, the strong pull you feel towards her, the way you just cannot bring yourself to stay away from her, and how you'd do just about anything for her, it's not just all for nothing, Marcello, it's the mate bond." He explained, and I did not need a soothsayer to tell me that he was talking about Valeria. "She is our mate." "How do you know all these things?" I was still skeptical. "Irrespective of the block you put on me, I still feel what you feel, see what you see." He said. "I just could not communicate with you. And if you've been unsure about it all the while, I'm here to confirm that she is our mate, we were destined for her and her for us." "Then you must already know that she hates me more than anything in this world." I told him. "That may be true. But it's only a matter of time before she will succumb to this bond. You just need to be patient with her." He advis
VALERIA It was going to take a lot of strength to do what I was about to do. I was about to take a trip down memory lane, a path I did not want to take at all. I really just needed these men to understand that they could not take the amulet away from me if that was what they were planning. "What I am to tell you is not because I want to justify myself for lying yesterday, it's because I want to prove to you that I have every right to keep this amulet." I started. "This amulet is the sole reason I was outcast from my clan, the reason I became a rogue." Veronica let out a low gasp and I lowered my gaze to my fingers. "I was eleven when the south of Cyacruse was first raided." I began. "They killed both my parents so my aunty who lived up north took me in. She was my mother's older sister and the first child of my grandfather; apparently, he was bored of life so he passed down all his properties to her and just killed himself. And that was how the amulet ended up in her possessi
MARCELLO Alan made me go along with him to see who he called the ambassador of our pack. Now, I had never heard of this person before, and unlike the other people Alan was trying to gather, this person was not an omega, he was a gamma. Alan explained that this person was a good friend of his father and he also thought that my presence would do something to persuade him into helping us. The ambassador's home was in the valleys near the borders on the other side of town so it took a while to get there. The building was modest, as opposed to the houses of some other gamma nobles that I had seen before. The guard at the entrance let us through the gates once I spoke to him. And immediately we stepped in, the ambassador was standing in front of his building, almost like he was already waiting for Alan, but he looked a little bit surprised to see me. As soon as we were within earshot, he asked Alan, "Why have you brought the Alpha's son here?" "To show you that I was serious a
VALERIA "The ambassador has managed to convince the minister of defense— who happens to be his brother— to join in on our mission." Alan was pacing to fro as he spoke. "He has asked for two more days to get the Alpha's advisor on board. If that's successful, I think we'll be good to go." "Wouldn't the involvement of the advisor be risky?" Veronica asked. "What if he declines and says something to the Alpha?" "He won't." Alan seemed so confident about that for some reason. "Believe me, most of those people in powerful positions would jump at this opportunity to take down the Alpha because he has done despicable things to just about everyone in this pack." "Well, that's one valid explanation." Veronica shrugged and sat down beside me. "So what do we do while we wait?" I tuned out of the conversation when Alan started talking about gathering as much information as we could. What was really bothering me was the dreams I had been having for the last couple of days. In those dream
MARCELLO "You felt someone watching you?" Alan stared at Valeria in confusion. "Yes. I know for a fact that someone was there, even though I did not see them." Valeria responded, confident as ever. "How—" "It's the amulet." Veronica cut Alan off. "It's heightening her powers. She's getting more sensitive to the slightest things." "So someone was actually there?" I spoke this time. "Who could it be?" "Bran?" Alan suggested. "No, I doubt that." I shook my head. "He would have challenged me then and there. It's not his way to play hide and seek." "Then who? One of your father's guards?" Veronica was looking worried. "What if they followed you here? What if they've sent for more men to come here and apprehend us." "Calm down, Veronica." I sighed. "It's possible that it's one of his guards, yes. But I doubt that they could follow us here. None of them can match neither me nor Valeria's speed." "O—okay, that's good." "Why were you guys at the river in the first place
ALAN My heart raced as I stared at the piece of paper. Who in the world could have left it here? And who did they want to find it? Was it possible that it was meant for all of us at the same time? I crumpled the paper and stuffed it in my pocket as I stood up straight. "Forget about this." I told Marcello firmly. "We have bigger fish to fry right now." "What if it is more important than we think?" He countered. "We cannot just dismiss it like that." "If whoever it is is not bold enough to show their face then we should not be thinking of them." I faced him. "Veronica and Valeria are already worried enough as it is, we do not need to add irrelevant things like this to their troubles." I really wished that I actually believed that the piece of paper was irrelevant. Deep down, I knew that it meant danger. And it was even worse that I had no idea who wrote its content. We walked back to the cabin in silence, both of us choosing not to speak our minds. As soon as we entered, i
VALERIA When I heard the loud, angry, growl behind me, I did expect to turn and see the giant silver wolf that was standing behind me. It was only by his eyes that I knew it was him. Marcello. But I was still terrified. Even though, somehow, I knew that he would not hurt me. I ran away from them, him and that big, black, wolf. And when I turned back again, they were already biting and clawing at each other. I looked away from the gory scene and closed my eyes. My hands were already trembling, I had never been so scared in my life.Someone grabbed my hand from behind but before I could scream, I saw Alan as soon as I opened my eyes. Veronica was the one holding my hand. I let out a shaky breath as my nerves relaxed, even though I could still hear Marcello's growls as he was fighting that wolf."Shit." I heard Alan curse under his breath as he watched the fight. "You guys need to head back to the cabin. Don't stop until you get there." "What? No." Veronica argued. "We can'y just lea
MARCELLOIt was at the darkest time of the night that she usually came out to swim in the river, and I would watch as her clothes would fall to the ground, exposing her skin like milk. The first time I saw her, I was high up in an oak tree, watching out for intruders as it was my turn that night. As soon as I sighted her, my first instinct was to attack, but the moon cast its silver glow on her face and I was stopped in my tracks. I had simply not seen anything like her before. Her grey eyes caught the moonlight beautifully and, at that moment, all I wanted to do was to watch her exist.Since then, I had taken it upon myself to be on the lookout every night. Not because, I wanted to be of service to the pack, no. It was just a silly excuse to come out and see her again. Plus, should any other wolf sight her here, she would be as good as dead.Now, there were two reasons I had not yet approached her. One, she was very obviously a vampire. It was easy to decode that given how pale her
VALERIA When I heard the loud, angry, growl behind me, I did expect to turn and see the giant silver wolf that was standing behind me. It was only by his eyes that I knew it was him. Marcello. But I was still terrified. Even though, somehow, I knew that he would not hurt me. I ran away from them, him and that big, black, wolf. And when I turned back again, they were already biting and clawing at each other. I looked away from the gory scene and closed my eyes. My hands were already trembling, I had never been so scared in my life.Someone grabbed my hand from behind but before I could scream, I saw Alan as soon as I opened my eyes. Veronica was the one holding my hand. I let out a shaky breath as my nerves relaxed, even though I could still hear Marcello's growls as he was fighting that wolf."Shit." I heard Alan curse under his breath as he watched the fight. "You guys need to head back to the cabin. Don't stop until you get there." "What? No." Veronica argued. "We can'y just lea
ALAN My heart raced as I stared at the piece of paper. Who in the world could have left it here? And who did they want to find it? Was it possible that it was meant for all of us at the same time? I crumpled the paper and stuffed it in my pocket as I stood up straight. "Forget about this." I told Marcello firmly. "We have bigger fish to fry right now." "What if it is more important than we think?" He countered. "We cannot just dismiss it like that." "If whoever it is is not bold enough to show their face then we should not be thinking of them." I faced him. "Veronica and Valeria are already worried enough as it is, we do not need to add irrelevant things like this to their troubles." I really wished that I actually believed that the piece of paper was irrelevant. Deep down, I knew that it meant danger. And it was even worse that I had no idea who wrote its content. We walked back to the cabin in silence, both of us choosing not to speak our minds. As soon as we entered, i
MARCELLO "You felt someone watching you?" Alan stared at Valeria in confusion. "Yes. I know for a fact that someone was there, even though I did not see them." Valeria responded, confident as ever. "How—" "It's the amulet." Veronica cut Alan off. "It's heightening her powers. She's getting more sensitive to the slightest things." "So someone was actually there?" I spoke this time. "Who could it be?" "Bran?" Alan suggested. "No, I doubt that." I shook my head. "He would have challenged me then and there. It's not his way to play hide and seek." "Then who? One of your father's guards?" Veronica was looking worried. "What if they followed you here? What if they've sent for more men to come here and apprehend us." "Calm down, Veronica." I sighed. "It's possible that it's one of his guards, yes. But I doubt that they could follow us here. None of them can match neither me nor Valeria's speed." "O—okay, that's good." "Why were you guys at the river in the first place
VALERIA "The ambassador has managed to convince the minister of defense— who happens to be his brother— to join in on our mission." Alan was pacing to fro as he spoke. "He has asked for two more days to get the Alpha's advisor on board. If that's successful, I think we'll be good to go." "Wouldn't the involvement of the advisor be risky?" Veronica asked. "What if he declines and says something to the Alpha?" "He won't." Alan seemed so confident about that for some reason. "Believe me, most of those people in powerful positions would jump at this opportunity to take down the Alpha because he has done despicable things to just about everyone in this pack." "Well, that's one valid explanation." Veronica shrugged and sat down beside me. "So what do we do while we wait?" I tuned out of the conversation when Alan started talking about gathering as much information as we could. What was really bothering me was the dreams I had been having for the last couple of days. In those dream
MARCELLO Alan made me go along with him to see who he called the ambassador of our pack. Now, I had never heard of this person before, and unlike the other people Alan was trying to gather, this person was not an omega, he was a gamma. Alan explained that this person was a good friend of his father and he also thought that my presence would do something to persuade him into helping us. The ambassador's home was in the valleys near the borders on the other side of town so it took a while to get there. The building was modest, as opposed to the houses of some other gamma nobles that I had seen before. The guard at the entrance let us through the gates once I spoke to him. And immediately we stepped in, the ambassador was standing in front of his building, almost like he was already waiting for Alan, but he looked a little bit surprised to see me. As soon as we were within earshot, he asked Alan, "Why have you brought the Alpha's son here?" "To show you that I was serious a
VALERIA It was going to take a lot of strength to do what I was about to do. I was about to take a trip down memory lane, a path I did not want to take at all. I really just needed these men to understand that they could not take the amulet away from me if that was what they were planning. "What I am to tell you is not because I want to justify myself for lying yesterday, it's because I want to prove to you that I have every right to keep this amulet." I started. "This amulet is the sole reason I was outcast from my clan, the reason I became a rogue." Veronica let out a low gasp and I lowered my gaze to my fingers. "I was eleven when the south of Cyacruse was first raided." I began. "They killed both my parents so my aunty who lived up north took me in. She was my mother's older sister and the first child of my grandfather; apparently, he was bored of life so he passed down all his properties to her and just killed himself. And that was how the amulet ended up in her possessi
MARCELLO "What are you talking about?" I asked my wolf. "What mate?" "The restlessness you feel around her, the strong pull you feel towards her, the way you just cannot bring yourself to stay away from her, and how you'd do just about anything for her, it's not just all for nothing, Marcello, it's the mate bond." He explained, and I did not need a soothsayer to tell me that he was talking about Valeria. "She is our mate." "How do you know all these things?" I was still skeptical. "Irrespective of the block you put on me, I still feel what you feel, see what you see." He said. "I just could not communicate with you. And if you've been unsure about it all the while, I'm here to confirm that she is our mate, we were destined for her and her for us." "Then you must already know that she hates me more than anything in this world." I told him. "That may be true. But it's only a matter of time before she will succumb to this bond. You just need to be patient with her." He advis
VALERIA The presence of the amulet did not let me rest. My fingers ached to activate it, and it was only a matter of a few minutes before I succumbed to its pull. Veronica was sound asleep when I checked on her, so I took the amulet, sneaked out of the bedroom, and went out the back door into the backyard. It was only a few minutes to sunrise and, if I successfully activated the amulet, I would not have to run away from it again. Instead, I would get to feel it for the first time. I looked at it in my palm, the words for the activation spell ringing in my head. Then I inhaled deeply and held the amulet to my chest as I said the words out loud: "Like the force of a flood, wield your power through my blood." And just like that, what felt like electricity coursed throughout my veins, making my eyes roll to the back of my head as my body vibrated uncontrollably. I could not see anything except a bright, red light in my vision, and my grip on the amulet went tighter, causing m
MARCELLO "Are you really sure that my father has that amulet?" I asked as I watched Alan pace to and fro in his room. "Yes, Marcello, stop asking me that." He looked at me briefly. "Your parents were arguing about it yesterday in their room and, as usual, they were really loud while at it." He chuckled and stopped moving to look at me. "Your mother thinks it should just be destroyed, alongside anything related to vampires and the prophecy. But your father thinks that they could still find a way to activate the Solis amulet." I sighed and pinched my nose, they really did have loud arguments these days, since the night that my father gave us the news of Bran's probation. But that was not the crux of the matter at the moment. "Well now, you want us to steal it. So what's your plan?" "By twelve midnight, they'll both the honouring the invite to the first shifting of the Beta's daughter and they'll be out a few hours."