Lila's POV Dominic didn’t try to persuade or make me stay. He stared keenly at me for a long while, as if pondering over what I said.“Fine.” My heart skipped when he agreed.I didn't think he would let me have my way so easily.“I can leave?” I asked in surprise, just to be sure.“I didn't say you could leave.” He responded and I was taken aback.“You said fine, what did you mean?” I questioned further, a frown forming on my face.“You're not leaving; I'm leaving," he stated. Jonathan turned swiftly to look at him, his brow raised.“Alpha!” He called out as if trying to bring Dominic back to his senses.“Huh?” My eyes widened in the utmost confusion.Dominic turned to Jonathan and said, “I know what I'm doing.” Then he turned back to me.“I can't let you go out there, knowing fully well that people are waiting to get a hold of you.” He explained calmly, his eyes not leaving mine. I swallowed hard; he was right. The people who kidnapped my mom just to get to me, we still don't know
Victor's POV I couldn't help but wonder why Dominic didn’t suspect me at all, he must have really underestimated me. And that only made me furious. Call it an inferiority complex, but I do not like being looked down on. Luther informed me that Lila and Dominic kissed at the diner. How could they be in love when I was still struggling to deal with stigmatization? I had concluded that as long as I was still breathing, I wouldn’t watch them fall in love and get mated. I decided to instill a little bit of fear in Dominic, so I sent him a text. “What if he traces the number back to you?” Morgana asked, peeling the orange in her hands with all seriousness. Her fingers were long and painted in black with only the index fingers painted in red. What a weird way to show her personality.“He can’t. The phone belongs to a dead man.” I said, trying not to remember how I killed an innocent farmer, whose body is rotting below a strange tree in his farm. I bet he didn’t have a family that c
Lila’s POVIt was a regular day at work as usual; attended to patients when needed, avoid familiarity with my colleagues, talked when I was required to, and avoided unnecessary drama. That’s how I live, so you could say my life was an ordinary one. But deep down in my ordinary life lies traumas, hidden from the world—pains buried deep within my soul. I opened the door to my house, hoping my mother would be in a calm state as she was always in a different mood each day, due to her manic depression. I didn’t see her in the living room, so I went straight to my room first so I could change and take a shower first. At least I won’t have to deal with seeing her face after all the work I did today. I noticed the drawer in the right corner of my room was slightly open. I’ve been living with OCD for almost half of my life, so I’d never leave my drawer open like that. I walked closer to it and took a peek inside, only to discover that my piggy box was gone. My heart started racing, and I cou
Lila's POV My arm was covering my face, and I already considered myself dead or badly injured. I heard bones breaking, but they weren’t my bones, so I dropped my arm to see. There were two men, throwing punches at the man who was about to attack me—they kept punching until he fell to the ground; dead or passed out, I didn’t care. I rose to my feet and took careful steps towards them, afraid they might jump at me the way the man on the ground did. I was about 2 meters away from them, so I bowed my head a bit, “Thank you for helping me out.” I said, rubbing the arm I fell on. I didn’t get any response from them, instead, the eyes of the man with the jet black hair and hazel eyes were fixed on me, while the other man with the well-trimmed brown hair kept exchanging glances between me and the other man. Honestly, if I were to judge their appearance, I’d say they must be walking models. I’ve never seen men as good-looking as they were. “I said thank you,” I waved my right hand in fron
My back collided with the car as I kept screaming. My screaming stopped the moment the wolf jumped into Dominic’s arms, licking his face. It was the same reaction dogs give to their owner when they return home. I looked ahead and saw other little wolves, playing in the background. But I almost fainted when I saw some of them shapeshifting. I turned to face Dominic who had dropped the wolf in his arms on the ground. He gave me the look that said, ‘I told you.’ I shook my head slowly, saying ‘This can’t be real,’ in my mind.As if he could read my mind, he shook his head slowly, following my action, ‘It is real.’ I interpreted his head shaking that way. I stepped further away from him. Why would he bring me into the wolves’ den? He ought to have left me in the woods. “I know you exist now. So, can I go back home?” I asked, hoping he could sense the nervousness in my voice. “Come with me,” he didn't even wait for my response before he started walking towards a house that had a sign
“Then you must know who I am,” I said, holding onto the door to the passenger's seat.“Of course, you must be his mate, or perhaps his rejected mate.” She chirped in her birdy tone.“Julian…” Jonathan called, but it sounded as if he was cautioning her. “Is Dominic at home?” She asked, but her gaze was fixed on me.“Yes,” Jonathan replied.Without saying another word, she headed towards the house, humming a lullaby.“Tell me, it had been planned that he would reject me even before he met me right?” I asked Jonathan, but deep down I already knew the answer. He didn’t reply to me, and he entered the car, starting it immediately.I closed the door to the passenger seat and went to the back seat. He opened his mouth to protest, “Nothing will make me sit beside you in front,” I beat him to it. He figured I wouldn’t listen to him regardless, so he moved the car and we left the pack.I felt betrayed, not because I was rejected by him—but the fact that he already had an arranged mate, and I
Dominic’s POV We were coming back from the annual werewolves conference held in New York. I was already tired, so I decided to take a nap. I asked Jonathan to turn off the AC so I could open the window. I love the smell of nature. Five minutes into my nap, I caught the smell of vanilla in the air—just vanilla. It’s very intoxicating and I knew I had not smelled something like that before. “Stop the car,” I said to Jonathan, removing my seat belt. He stopped without questioning my orders. The SUV following behind us stopped too. I stepped out of the car, likewise Jonathan. I instructed the rest of them to stay behind, while I mindlinked Jonathan about my new discovery.Finding my mate was something I had always prepared for. And I wondered what she was doing deep in the woods.“Could she be a rogue?” Jonathan said through the mind-link as if reading my mind. “Let’s find out,” I said, leading the way as I followed the scent. I saw her lying on the floor, her arms protecting her fa
Lila's POV Judith shifting into a werewolf wasn’t something I thought I’d witness in my lifetime. And to think her wolf was very strong too because she already took down three of those wolves. I scrambled behind a tree, hiding myself away from the fight scene. Judith fighting against six men was a lot for her, even though she was able to take down three of them, the other three managed to hit her as well, rendering her injured and weak. I felt a sharp pain in my scalp as a hand grabbed my hair from behind, I let out a heart-wrenching scream before turning to see there was another one; they were seven, not six. “Let me go!” I yelped in pain. My vision was immediately blinded by the hot tears that was getting ready to stream down any moment from now.“If you don’t want to die with your friend over there, stop resisting and follow me obediently.” The wolf that held my hair sneered. I could feel his hot breath on my neck, I felt even more disgusted. The pain in my scalp was intense. I c
Victor's POV I couldn't help but wonder why Dominic didn’t suspect me at all, he must have really underestimated me. And that only made me furious. Call it an inferiority complex, but I do not like being looked down on. Luther informed me that Lila and Dominic kissed at the diner. How could they be in love when I was still struggling to deal with stigmatization? I had concluded that as long as I was still breathing, I wouldn’t watch them fall in love and get mated. I decided to instill a little bit of fear in Dominic, so I sent him a text. “What if he traces the number back to you?” Morgana asked, peeling the orange in her hands with all seriousness. Her fingers were long and painted in black with only the index fingers painted in red. What a weird way to show her personality.“He can’t. The phone belongs to a dead man.” I said, trying not to remember how I killed an innocent farmer, whose body is rotting below a strange tree in his farm. I bet he didn’t have a family that c
Lila's POV Dominic didn’t try to persuade or make me stay. He stared keenly at me for a long while, as if pondering over what I said.“Fine.” My heart skipped when he agreed.I didn't think he would let me have my way so easily.“I can leave?” I asked in surprise, just to be sure.“I didn't say you could leave.” He responded and I was taken aback.“You said fine, what did you mean?” I questioned further, a frown forming on my face.“You're not leaving; I'm leaving," he stated. Jonathan turned swiftly to look at him, his brow raised.“Alpha!” He called out as if trying to bring Dominic back to his senses.“Huh?” My eyes widened in the utmost confusion.Dominic turned to Jonathan and said, “I know what I'm doing.” Then he turned back to me.“I can't let you go out there, knowing fully well that people are waiting to get a hold of you.” He explained calmly, his eyes not leaving mine. I swallowed hard; he was right. The people who kidnapped my mom just to get to me, we still don't know
Dominic's POVMy wolf had been restless ever since I kissed Lila. I didn't expect to act on impulse like that—neither did he.All I knew was that I wanted to remind Juliana of where she stood, but what surprised me most was Lila retracting her kiss. Who does that? She continues to astonish me.Jonathan and I have finally narrowed down our hunt for the witches to three individuals, but records indicated that they were all deceased.Jonathan and I brainstormed, and it became clear that one of them must have faked her own death.We decided to trace their origins and see if they left any clues that could lead us to the truth behind their disappearances.As I checked my wristwatch, I realized Jonathan should have returned by now.Just then, he walked in with a strange expression on his face. It was evident he had some grim news.I leaned back in my seat, prepared for the confirmation of my worst fears.“They're all dead. I have a full report on their births, lives, and deaths.” I crossed m
Lila's POV Should I go to Dominic and ask him if what I heard from Julian is true or should I just sleep in my room and ponder on it by myself? There was warfare happening in my soul. Of course, I ended up pondering about it all night. And I finally concluded it was best I stayed away from Dominic. But I still gave myself the benefit of the doubt—I decided to ask Judith about it. Even if it meant guilt-tripping her until she talked, I planned to do it. Judith stopped working the moment she moved into the pack. She said it wasn’t her dream to be a nurse, but she had to deal with it because she had been protecting me. So, she started taking a course on fashion—it was her dream to become a fashion designer. Good for her, now she has a dream. I, on the other hand, still didn’t have a dream. I chose to become a nurse because it was well-paying, and it was the only stable job that could pay my mother’s debt and also grant me access to legalized loans. I chose nursing to survive. It
Juliana’s POV I couldn’t stop tears from rolling down my face. I knew Dominic had told me on several occasions, even before he met his mate, that I would never be more than a sister to him. We weren’t blood related so why should I be his sister? I remember how I used to follow him around when I was still a pup. It was uncommon for werewolves to joke about their child getting married to another wolf, knowing the wolf probably had a soulmate somewhere. But my dad wouldn’t stop talking about how nice it would be to have Dominic as his son-in-law. So, I grew up believing one day he would be mine. The moment I turned sixteen and I couldn’t smell him as my mate, I knew I’d have to double my effort in loving and trying to win his heart. And given the all-prophecy saga around his soulmate and how he was so not bothered about finding her from the get-go, I felt he was indeed finally going to notice me. But now what? Did he kiss her? How could he do that to me? I was certain he
Lila's POV Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one taken aback this time. How could someone be so shameless? I shook my head as I tried fanning myself with my hand to cool the hotness I felt from within. I turned to Brian, who also had a shocked expression. “Is this one of the rituals she does every year?” I asked out of deep curiosity.“No, this is new.” He replied in a low voice. He proceeded to take a sip from his cocktail, clearing his throat right after as if he had something to say. “Juliana, everyone is watching.” He sounded irritated. That was probably the first time I’d heard Brian sound like that. Juliana didn’t reply, but instead, her eyes were fixed on Dominic who was probably in a daze or unbothered by what just happened. Anyway, I couldn’t figure out what was going through his head at that point. I had to applaud his composure in my head. “She’s so annoying,” Brian muttered under his breath, but it felt like he said it on purpose. I could hear him ‘cause I was sitting c
Lila's POV “You are crazy Judith!” I said, throwing a pillow at her. What a ridiculous suggestion. I stood up and headed for the door. I swung it open and pointed outside. “You should take your leave if you have nothing useful to say,” I stated calmly. I needed to get rid of her before she polluted my mind.She kept laughing. She had been laughing after my exclamation; I knew she found it amusing, especially when she caught me blushing, too. She was beginning to get under my skin. “I was only joking. You shouldn’t be standing there.” She patted a spot next to her, and continued, “Come sit and let’s talk.” She raised her hands in the air as if she were surrendering herself. I rolled my eyes at her childishness. How was she different from Brian? But I could swear I’d kick Brian in his groin if he ever tried that shit with me. Instead of taking the spot she offered, I went to sit on the bed instead.“Now be serious,” I warned, my voice steady and stern. She dropped her hands, adju
Lila's POV I must have left them utterly speechless, their jaws hanging open in disbelief. They were too shocked to say anything.After that intense conversation, I retreated to my room.I wash away the day’s stress in a warm shower before sinking into the comfort of my bed. I lay on my stomach, the fabric of the sheets cool against my skin, hoping the cramping pain in my abdomen would subside soon.I heard a knock on my door, I decided not to answer, thinking whoever was at the door would leave if I didn’t respond. But I was wrong, the person kept knocking.Reluctantly, I peeled myself off the bed and walked over to the door, turning the handle to reveal Judith standing there, her expression a mixture of concern and determination.“Judith?” I asked in a soft voice, the surprise barely contained. She held a thermo bottle in her hands, its sleek design gleaming in the dim light, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was inside it.“I heard you were having cramps,” she said, her voic
Lila's POV Brian choked on the water he was drinking, spitting it out. Luckily, no one was close enough for the water to splash on them. My mouth widened in disbelief. Luis really said that. It wasn't new information, but his delivery was completely off.If it had been someone else saying it, I might have supported their point, but I couldn’t bring myself to agree with Luis. Though Dominic wasn't great to me, I would choose him over Luis— it was a choice of the lesser evil."Says who?" Dominic asked in a deep, authoritative tone, his hands calmly resting in his pockets. What trick was he trying to pull?It was already a known fact that we had rejected each other. I slipped my hand into my pocket as the pain in my stomach intensified.Luis shifted his gaze to me, “Lila, were you not rejected?” That bastard, why did he have to drag me into it? I laughed weirdly at Luis’s question, what was he expecting me to say? “Who told you I was rejected?” I asked without batting an eye. There w