The man carrying me set me down on a soft surface. I can feel myself sinking into something plush. The man’s presence disappears from above me and the swish of the flap tells me that he has left the tent. I lie still for a few moments listening to the sound of rustling papers. Then, I open my eyes and sit up. I look in the direction that the sound was coming from and see Clay staring at me. His eyes are open wide and his mouth hangs slightly agape. Clay is sitting behind a table covered in papers. I find that I am lower to the ground than I had previously thought. He towers above just by sitting at his desk. A quick glance around myself reveals that I am surrounded by plush pillows and blankets. It seems like a bed. The only other piece of furniture is a large trunk that sits along the tent wall opposite of me. "How...," Clay starts to say, but falls silent. "Did you think that little drug of yours would always work?" I ask. "It should've," he replies. His han
The tent flap swooshes quietly as it falls into place behind me. I can’t see anyone nearby, but remain on high alert. If I encounter just one guard, I may never make it out of the camp. That guard could send out a warning that I have escaped and the fact that I am carrying Clay’s body would only make it worse. I peek around the right corner of the tent. Nobody. Coast is clear. I move quickly along the side of the tent. Clay’s tent appears to be at the center of the camp and is given a pretty wide berth by the other tents. Hearing voices, I slip into a narrow corridor between the tents that border Clay’s. The rustle of his body brushing against the canvas nearly makes my heart stop. The sound seemed so loud that I thought I would be caught for sure. Thankfully, the men don’t notice and just walk past, not even glancing in my direction. According to the map, Clay doesn’t have personal guards at his tent, but prefers to have them in a wide circle around his tent and his genera
Running through the woods is difficult when you are carrying something that keeps snagging on every tree branch. Every couple of steps, I find myself having to remove the branch that got caught on Clay's clothes. At the rate I’m going, I just might make it to camp by the time the battle ends in a couple of hours. After what feels like the umpteenth millionth time, I decide to walk closer to the edge of the forest, where the branches aren't as thick. The one reason that I stayed deep within the forest was so I could avoid running into any enemies. Now, I don't care if I run into a rogue. I just don't want to have to stop anymore. Dead branches snap and crackle under my feet and leaves rustle as I brush past, pushing my way to the edge of the tree line. With a quick glance around, I ensure that no one is paying attention to me. Seeing no one approaching and hearing no one shouting at me, I launch into a sprint. My feet fly across the ground. By leaving the woods behind, I have
The flap swings shut behind me as I leave the tent. Nobody is paying much attention to me, so I have no trouble making my way to the front of the camp. Standing just inside the first row of tents, I survey the battlefield. Werewolves cover the large field, locked in a fierce battle. As I watch, many fall to the ground either dead or wounded. Knowing Tyler, he's probably near the front of that mess. He'd want to try to save me himself and thus would lead the charge. If I want to find him, I'll need to make my way to him. I break free from the line of tents and start walking towards the ongoing fight. To an outside viewer, I must look very odd as I calmly walk towards a massive, bloody battle. With each step, my heart beats a little louder in my ears as adrenaline fills me. By the time I have walked close enough to make out the difference in scents, I am on edge, anticipating when I will be attacked and join the fight. I'm only a couple of yards away when the first wolf rushe
With Tyler clinging to my back, I leap into the air. Wind rushes past as I soar over the wolves, searching. My feet thud as I land and my nose twitches. I jump to the left, still not finding the scent that I want. A couple more jumps and I finally find who I am searching for, Cole. He stands a couple of yards away from me, fighting some wolves. He, too, is wounded, but not as badly as Tyler. As I close the distance between us, Cole seems to notice my scent because he turns his head to stare at me. Seeing Cole distracted, one of the wolves tries to attack, but I catch it by a leg and toss it away. Enar, are you able to talk to Cole's wolf? I ask. Yes, what should I tell him? She replies. Please tell him to take Tyler back to the camp for medical attention. I will take care of everything here. Alright. As I wait for Enar's response, I throw away some more of the pesky wolves. They just don't know when to stop. Cole also swats away our opponents. We remain that w
Kira darts through the tents and, in no time at all, stops before Tyler's tent. I can hear the murmur of voices within, but can't distinguish what they are saying. Sliding off Kira's back, my feet hit the ground and I pause, unsure. What if I'm interrupting something or what if Tyler is angry with me for some reason? Kira must notice my hesitancy because I feel something large and warm push me. I stumble forward into the tent and the noise stops. Looking up, I see Tyler lying on the bed and Cole is standing next to it. Tyler is wearing pants, but not a shirt, exposing the bandages wrapped around his abdomen. "Arielle," Tyler breathes, as a grin spreads across his face. "You're back." I nod my head and Cole steps towards me. "I'll go call one of our doctors to take a look at you," he says. "There is a bowl of water and a rag sitting on the table for you to wash up, but I don't think it will be enough. I'll send someone with more." Cole slips past me and out of the tent.
I snuggle into Tyler's uninjured side, taking deep breaths. Remaining still, I allow his familiar scent to comfort me and the reality washes over me. I did it. We are together again and though he may have been injured, we are both alive. "Do you want to talk now or take a nap first?" Tyler asks me. I weigh both options. I could use a nap, but at the same time, I really need to tell Tyler what I learned about the mastermind. "We should talk first," I reply. "I have some important information to share with you." "Okay," Tyler agrees. "Please tell me the whole story, though. I want to know everything that happened." “I remember falling asleep next to you…,” I start. “... but the next time I woke up, I was in a dungeon cell. Then, Clay walked in. He claimed to be the mastermind behind the whole plan. He told me that he wanted me to bear his children-" "Did he touch you?!" Tyler growls, cutting me off. "He tried to. He started, but then you attacked thei
"Arielle has already told me what she knows, so I will now give a detailed report of all the information we have. Is there anyone opposed to this?" Tyler asks. The alphas glance at each other, but no one raises their hand."Seeing as there are no refusals, I will start," Tyler continues. "As we all know, we were made aware of this plot when we noticed an increase in rogue attacks. Thus, we formed this alliance. The next major event was Arielle's kidnapping. As you have been made aware, Arielle is a lycan, so barely any drugs work on her, but somehow she was sedated. This means that our opponent has the resources to create a previously unknown drug that is effective on lycans." Tyler pauses as the gasps echo around the table."Do you know what kind of drug it is?" Alp
“Be careful, Kyle!” I call to my eldest as he runs out the back door of the packhouse and into the yard full of people. His younger brothers, Tate and Noah, chase after him. The three boys run through the large tent set up in the backyard as I chuckle at their antics. After defeating the Grim Ire pack and Emira, Tyler and I were finally able to settle down. A year later, Kyle was born. We waited a couple of years to let Kyle grow up before having Tate and Noah. Today, the whole pack is celebrating Kyle’s ninth birthday. “Grandma Claire is here!” Claire announces as she enters the backyard. I chuckle as the boys run over to greet her. Claire was ecstatic when Tyler and I asked her to be a grandmother to our children. She knows that she will never replace my mother, but she still treats me like a daughter. “Alright boys! Let Grandma talk to Mom for a bit. There will be plenty of time to play with her later,” I tell them as they cling to Claire’s hands, trying to pull her
I become aware of many voices around me as my consciousness slowly returns. My fingers twitch to the side and bump against something. The thing moves and then a hand grasps mine. The pleasant tingles that shoot up my arm are all the information that I need to know that the hand holding mine is Tyler’s. “She’s awake,” I hear him cry and several other voices respond. Memories of being locked up in the lab flash through my head and I quickly cast a protective barrier around myself and Tyler. Shouting erupts on the outside of the barrier and I reach up with my free hand to rub my eyes. “Arielle?” Tyler asks. I squint my eyes at the bright overhead lights. All I can make out is a dark figure standing over me. Reflexingly, my fist flies up to remove the threat. It misses the figure and is caught by a warm hand that causes tingles to fly up my arm. “Arielle, look at me,” Tyler commands. I blink several more times, trying to adjust to the lights. My eyes slide around unt
The green lights shoot around the room like little glowing rockets. They crash into my shields and fizzle out. I manage to see a green projectile heading towards the scientists despite the light show happening around me. I quickly throw up a shield around them. They will need to explain any information they have learned and then be judged for their involvement in this at a later time. “Nooo!” Emira shrieks as the green orb collides with the shield and harmlessly fizzles out. “This can’t be possible! I’ve always been stronger than the others!” “Others? What others?!” I question her. “The other lycans!” she wails. I glance at Tyler and notice that he is watching me. We share a look and he nods. “What do you mean ‘the other lycans’?” I shout back. “Did you think you were the first?” Emira lets out a vicious laugh as another round of green bullets collide with my shields. “There have been several before you. My father has been studying your kind for years. E
“So if someone is cursed to sleep, what spell would you use to counter the curse?” I ask Aunt Shanna. “Ah!” she exclaims after pausing to think. “I know just the spell.” She begins to flip through the pages. Words fly past in rapid succession, but I manage to read a few. They mean guard, bind, and dispel. After flipping through half of the book, Shanna stops and points to a page. The explanation of the spell is short and merely states that the spell will wake up the recipient. The magic word is ‘izuzzu’ which means ‘arise’ in the language of magic. This is written at the center of the magic circle and is surrounded by lines that form the shape of z’s. Shanna seems to be watching me because when I glance up at her, she is staring back at me. “How do you end a spell? You said that you end a curse by casting it twice,” I question, looking away from her penetrating stare and back to the book. “Great question!” she cries. “Spells are normally negated by casting the opp
The top half of the page is covered by an intricate design. The center of the design is a small square with a circle surrounding it. Around the circle are letters. Then several concentric rings surround the letters, each one larger than the last. Some are made up of circles connected together. Others are made of octagons and other shapes. The circles end and triangles form yet another circle around the design. In each triangle is a number and each number is different. Finally, there is one last circle that surrounds the entire design and connects the point of each triangle together. I am surprised to find that I can read the letters and numbers even though they are not written in any language that I can recognize. The numbers are in the same order as a clock and the letters at the bottom spell out ‘sleep’ over and over again. Below the design is a short explanation about the spell and how to cast it. “This is a sleep spell,” Aunt Shanna says, interrupting my thoughts.
My nightmare repeats itself over and over again and each time I am younger than before. My helplessness is driving me crazy as I am forced to watch my parents die, unable to help. I wake up for the seventh time and my room is different from how I remember it. The walls are painted purple, but I only remember them being light green. My bed is also smaller. It suits my small, five year old body better than my normal twin size bed. I decide to lie in bed and think about my options. I have tried practically all of them without success. During the third round, I pretended to be sick the whole day, forcing my parents to stay home with me in hopes of avoiding the wolves. This ultimately failed when the rogue wolves broke into our house and killed them. Then I tried going into the city, going to another country, and even visiting the top floor of a skyscraper. Nothing worked. Each time the wolves came without fail. “Good morning, Sleepyhead,” a voice says. I roll my head to t
My eyes open slowly, and I realize that I had fallen asleep on the couch. I sit up, ready to clean up my dishes from dinner, but freeze when I see the room around me. It is smaller than the bedroom in my house, but just as familiar. "Arielle, it's time for breakfast!" voice calls up the stairs to me. "Oh, no. Not this," I whisper as I slowly slide out of bed. The hardwood floor is cold against my feet as I plod down the hallway and into the bathroom. My head barely reaches halfway up the mirror, and my hunch is confirmed. I am the same height as when I was twelve, and I bet today is also my birthday. "Arielle!" The feminine voice calls again. "I'm getting done!" I yell out the open bathroom door. Clanging noises echo upstairs from the kitchen as I shut the door. I get done quickly and rush downstairs. It is hard to believe my eyes when I enter the kitchen. My mom stands in front of the stove, stirring something in a pan while my dad sits at the table reading t
Beep. Beep. Beep. A loud noise awakens me, but disappears as soon as I open my eyes. My vision remains blurry and I swear that I can see a lab room with doctors bustling about surrounding me. My limbs feel heavy and weak. Then I blink and am back in the same bed I woke up in yesterday. I sit up, rubbing my eyes. Nothing has changed when I open them again. I am still sitting in bed covered by my navy blue comforter. My desk stands opposite my bed in the right corner of the room. Both my closet door and bathroom door hang open the way that I usually leave them. I slide off my bed and wait until my feet are buried in the soft, plush carpet before standing up. Then I spot it. My keys are on my desk along with my wallet. I know for sure that I left them hanging up in the hallway as I always do before going to bed yesterday. Perhaps, the day is repeating itself the same as yesterday. If that is true, then I may be in a nightmare. Upon realizing this, my mood immediately improves.
I open my eyes, slowly becoming conscious. The soft fabric surrounding me and lack of pain have me confused. Where am I? Wasn’t I trapped in the lab? How did I get here? Looking around, the room seems familiar. I sit up on the bed and it dawns on me. I’m back home. Not the packhouse, but my old home. Why am I here though? I moved into the packhouse a while ago. I need to go talk to Tyler. He should know. I launch myself out of bed and get dressed as fast as possible. Grabbing my wallet and keys from where they lay on my desk, I practically sprint to my car. I definitely break several driving laws on my way to the packhouse. At one point, I took a turn so hard I nearly flipped my car. My tires squeal as I skid to a stop in front of the large mansion. I don’t even take the time to shut my car door before running into the building and up the stairs to Tyler’s office. The door flies open as I enter the room, accidentally using too much force. A loud gasp echoes in my ears a