I woke up the next day feeling like a weight was lifted out of my chest after the conversation I had with Tobias last night. It was relieving that I wouldn’t carry that much guilt any longer and it was also quite liberating how I wouldn’t pretend anymore. Though I would admit, we were both heartbroken by the fact that, after all of the things that we’d been through, we weren’t meant for each other. I could sense the hesitation in his voice—like he was uncertain if he wanted to let me go. But we both know it was the right thing to do.
After our lunch this noon, Giofré announced that he needed us in his office so we complied. I was sitting on the chair in front of him and Tobias was just standing in the corner, his attention was glued outside the window as Agatha paced back and forth in front of us.
Giofré clasped his hands and placed his elbows on his desk as
We rushed outside of the cottage and trailed behind Lucas. My heart pounded tremendously and my mind was in an uproar as I thought about the warlock spotting us here in the bayou. As soon as we reached the middle of the village, I held my breath and roamed my eyes around to find the warlock. Most of the werewolves were out of their cottages and they didn’t seem bothered—I wondered if they knew a warlock was here. With Giofré’s nervousness, he raised his hands to catch everyone’s attention. All eyes flitted to him as they waited in anticipation. “Go inside your houses!” he loudly announced and everyone didn’t seem startled nor bothered. They were just confused as their murmurs filled the air. “Now!” With his dominating tone, everyone complied and hastily entered their houses.
We bid Tobias and Giofré goodbye as they stood on the roadside with a stoic face. Giofré didn’t quite like the idea of me leaving the bayou and before we could even approach this car a while ago, he was so hesitant to let go of my hand. But as soon as I made him realize that he should stop constantly worrying about me because I could take care of myself, he soon gave in. Now, Agatha and I were inside the car—I was in the driver’s seat and Agatha sat on the shotgun. Tightly gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, I tilted my head to the side to look at Agatha. She was staring out the windshield while her elbow was on top of the window. She bit her finger—I bet her nails were already chipped because of her constant fidgeting. When she noticed me staring at her, her brows furrowed as she brought her feet down from the dashboard. “What are you
As Agatha and I got out of the car, we halted when we heard the thunder roar from above. I tilted my head up and was greeted by the gloomy sky, cloaking the once bright atmosphere. Then Agatha slipped her hand inside her pocket and pulled her phone out. The screen flashed on her face as I watched her from across the car. “It says here that there’s a hurricane coming.” She frowned on her phone and slid it back inside her pocket. “Great, now we’re returning home drenched in rain.” Before we could even leave the roadside and head to the field, the drizzle of raindrops poured on our skin as I placed my hand above my head. “We need to hurry,” I told Agatha. We stepped out of the fiel
“You found the alpha,” Aunt Odessa concluded, her mouth almost gaped as she stared at me in utter shock. “So that’s it?” I asked and raised my brows. “I will marry the alpha of the pack so the entire werewolves will have the strength needed to defeat the warlock?” “I’m not certain if it’s the only loophole, but once I figure out another possible way, I will be more than willing to help,” Aunt Odessa moved closer to me and grasped my arm. “I’m sorry for what’s happening with the werewolves. I should’ve been there to help you. “This is the prophecy the werewolves have been talking about,” I concluded. The prophecy about the
Giofré then curled his lips to a tight smile before uttering, “I understand.” “It seems like your relationship with him is stronger than what I expected. The time when I was so skeptical of you that I tried to lure you in that abandoned building, but then I saw Tobias instead, that pretty much says how much he cares about you.” “That’s how the pack works, Portia. The werewolves protect their alpha.” “But I know Tobias is more than a beta. It’s like you two are brothers,” I remarked and wondered about why Giofré didn’t choose to rip his head off when he thought he killed Valerie. “To be honest with you, your relationship with him reminded me of my relationship with Valerie. We were just like that: we’re willing to sacrifice for each other and despite our conflicts, we still choose to stay by each other's side.”
After the announcement and we all went back inside the cottage, we were all standing in the living room, waiting for someone to utter a word. I knew the announcement made Tobias really uncomfortable and all I could do was stare at him blankly. As I was tapping my foot on the wooden flooring, Agatha said, “Well, since the hurricane has stopped and I can finally head back to my apartment, I think it’s about time to say goodbye.” “Aren’t you coming back?” I asked. “My apartment needs me right now and I also need to have a life on my own. My landlord will probably wonder if I still live in his apartment building so I really need to go home. But don’t worry, I’ll be back for the wedding.” She laid a hand on my shoulder as I
Warning: This chapter contains an explicit sex scene. ~*~ His breath brushed against my face as he leaned back with a smirk creeping across his face. I gulped and my heart skipped a beat as I thought about sharing a bed with him. Reluctantly nodding, he extended his hand out so I would go ahead of him as I proceeded, leaving the dock with him trailing behind me. When we were nearing his cottage, he reached for my hand, pulling me closer to him as I giggled giddily. I swung the door open, causing the creak to reverberate through the empty hall as we stepped inside. Lingering my eyes around the empty living room, I looked behind me and saw Giofré shut the door close. I then watched him approach until he was already towering in front of me, grazing his hands on my shoulders.
I slowly fluttered my eyes open as the morning light filtered through the open window, striking my face as I scrunch my nose. My cheeks were laid on Giofré’s firm chest as I stroked my fingers along his body hair. Our naked bodies were tangled up together, wrapped in a white blanket with our bodies emanating warmth. Tilting my head up, I was greeted by Giofré’s sharp jaws with stubble running around his mouth. He was still asleep and he seemed like a fragile little angel. With a smile slowly appearing on my face, I lifted my head and moved closer to his face. I swept some of his black locks and caressed his cheek with my thumb. It didn’t take a while before his eyes fluttered open and he saw me, staring down at him. He tugged his lips to a smile as crinkles began to form by his eyes. “Good morning, beautiful,” he said, his voice sounding croaky.
A few years later I peered through the oven before grabbing the potholder and pulled it open. The smoke and the aroma of the freshly cooked chicken made its way through the kitchen, as I laid it on the counter. I saw someone moved at the side of my eye and when an arm suddenly laced around my lower torso, I giggled and turned my back around to face Giofré. “Hey,” he said in a husky voice before leaning his face to me and placed a kiss on my lips. I curled my lips to a smile and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Hey, hun. Have you already considered my proposal?” “You’re making it sound like we’re dealing a business matter.” Giofré chuckled before pulling away from me. He moved to my side and opened the fridge, getting a glass pitcher before continuing, “I’m still not sure about it.” “Why not?” I shrugged. “I mean, we’re not leaving this town completely. There’s
It had been a few months after that tremendous crisis we had gone through in defeating the dark soul and the other supernatural creatures that dared to destroy our living. We had survived that tribulation and we managed to get back up and rebuild everything that was destroyed, especially our pack. It still hadn’t struck us that the war was over, and the crippling anxiety was still lingering around. But those circumstances taught us the biggest lesson in life: no matter how hard it gets or how unbearable life gets, you get back up and fight. It felt as though we were trained as soldiers—battle through hardships and face the biggest hurdles that came along the way, not knowing if we would survive. But we fought anyway because we had some people to protect—those people we cared about. I once thought that, perhaps, I was supposed to get rid of all the pain in order to find genuine happiness. But I figured,
The veins bulging from Elspeth’s face began to diminish and she fluttered her lids open, gasping for air as she came back to life once the knife was pulled out of her. But when she tried to move from her spot, she failed because her body seemed to froze because of the spell Aunt Odessa cast upon her. With fury building up in her eyes, she stared at Aunt who was chanting under her breath while sprinkling some salt on top of her. She screamed in torment as soon the particles touched her skin, and I could imagine how much it must’ve hurt her. It might’ve felt like there was a burning sensation on her flesh because of the smoke her skin emanated as soon as the salt landed on her. She groaned loudly, too loud that not even the rainstorm could overpower her ear-splitting voice. As Aunt Odessa continuously chanted the Latin words written on the pages, the wind became more aggressive, making me almost lose my balance. The candles were still lit and the wind didn’t swe
Agatha opened the trunk as I dropped Elspeth’s body inside, with the knife still plunged in her back. Her pale skin turned to grey and purplish veins became prominent on her skin, some even bulged in her neck and face. As soon as I got Elspeth inside, I turned to look at my right and spotted Lucas and Weston, running toward the car while Lucas lifted a body on his shoulder. I motioned them to hurry and, once they were already in front of me, Lucas dropped the body beside Elspeth. His face immediately came into my view—eyes shut close, mouth parted, and his skin was almost as pale as Elspeth. My heart clenched at the sight of him and I couldn’t help but cover my mouth in shock. I hadn’t seen him after the incident and it pained me tremendously that this was what happened to him. All of these, defeating the dark soul and the vampire, was for him and the pack. Though his loss caused me to be wretched inside, it brought out the suppressed st
We arrived at the mountain of witches, venturing through the forest with my arms wrapped around the book protectively. All of their attention averted to me as soon as we halted, so I roamed my eyes around and took a deep breath. “Aunt!” I shouted, but my voice was overpowered by the thunder. “Aunt Odessa, we have something for you!” The vigorous wind caused the leaves that had fallen from the trees to fly around us as we scooted closer to one another. And just as I thought that Aunt Odessa wouldn’t appear immediately, I heard her voice from behind me saying, “Portia.” I turned my back to face her and when she noticed the book in my grasp, there was a sudden spark in her eyes. She tugged her thin lips to a half-smile and slowly approached our vicinity. “We got the grimoire you were looking for.” I
Our clothes were soaking wet because of the rainstorm and we had to drop by in Giofré’s house to find some clothes to wear. And since almost all of our stuff were stuck there, we managed to change our clothes so we could head to our destination which was the library. Library of Hillford was the oldest library in this town and was the main library of this city. It was one of the largest libraries in this country, containing the oldest—ancient—books that only the Hillford was authorized to have. I remembered, during high school, I had been there once. It was for a research and when we got the chance to use the computers, we found some skeptical files in there that the librarian was quick to notice. As soon as they thought we were snooping around—like what usual highschoolers do—we were kicked out. That was the only memory I had in that place, never had I thought that the grimoire would lead us to that lib
I approached the voice and, as I got closer to the end of the hall, the light of the torch reflected to the iron bar where I spotted Weston, seated on the ground near the rusted bars. He was staring at me in dismay, his eyes hinted sorrow as if he was about to tear up. He tilted his head down to hide his face, shifting from his seat before he sighed. “Weston,” I mumbled his name, walking closer before crouching down beside him. The muffled groan of the werewolves inside this place was the only thing I could hear aside from our heavy breathing. “I’ll get you out of here.” I gripped my free hand on the bar and immediately flinched as soon as I realized that it was made of silver. Silver tarnishes because of the sulfur substance in the air. “You can’t get me out of here.” His voice was laced with hopelessness. “And I do not know if I can still fight.” “If I can muster enough strength, t
Under the stormy night where darkness engulfed the forest and the trees were soaked up with rain, their branches falling on the ground as their leaves rustled, we ventured through the woods and hid behind a huge rock that stood just in front of the warlock’s tower. We viewed the vampires guarding the place from afar and we kept our noises as inaudible as possible so they wouldn’t sense that there were other creatures around. As we held the wooden stakes, with Agatha holding the crossbow, we all stared at each other to plan for an attack. “There are about twenty of them outside the tower, and some were roaming around inside,” Lucas said, peering through the huge rock as Agatha and I leaned against it. “We already manage to escape kill most of them last time, I’m sure we can do it again. Maybe we have more advantage because of these weapons.” “But what if the warlock suddenly shows up?” Agatha asked and I sighed in frustration. &nb
“We’ve been in the dwarves’ village to find some answers. They told us that only the witches have the ability to resurrect a dead body. But since the nature wouldn’t allow this loophole to maintain the balance, it was near to impossible to find a grimoire containing a complex magic,” I told Aunt Odessa but she shook her head as if disagreeing from what I said. “There’s, indeed, a grimoire containing the spell that could resurrect any creatures.” She pulled away from me, her hands falling to her side as she started pacing back and forth. I glanced at Lucas and Agatha and noticed that they were already shivering from the cold atmosphere, but they chose to stay in my vicinity to watch me intently as I talked to my aunt. Agatha mumbled something under her breath, mouthing what now to me. “You’ve seen the grimoire?” I asked, raising my brows and casually glancing