LYNEXIA When I and Dimitri get to the Richards family house, a small crowd has gathered in front of the house. Dimitri didn't want to bring me but I insisted, leaving him no choice. As Dimitri and I exit the car Gavin and Seraphina approach us. Dimitri wastes no time. "What happened?" He asks. Seraphina side eyes me as if wondering why I am here but I pay her no mind. "He was slashed in the throat with a knife. Just like Julianne." Gavin's voice is strained as we emerge into the Richards family. "Where is he?" Dimitri asks. Gavin's expression is enough answer. He didn't survive it. "He wasn't as Lucky as Julianne. When it happened, it was only him and his six-year-old daughter that were at home." "Did she witness it?" I blurt out. My stomach grumbles at the idea of a six-year-old watching those horrors. Gavin's face is enough for me. "Oh my goddess," I whisper, my hand covering my mouth at the shock. "Where is she?" "With her mother. She hasn't said a word to anyone.
LYNEXIA Three days later Dimitri hasn't come to see me. I expected him to be in Julianne's house the next day but to my surprise, he listened to me and stayed away. On the first day, I pretended I wasn't waiting for him while Julianne and I did our silly decoration day. On the second day, I stopped pretending that I wasn't boiling with hasty anticipation for his arrival. Every creak or sound, and every slight resemblance to his voice makes my head snap to the door. On the third day, I have finally given up. I don't give a two cents about him, showing up or not. As a matter of factly, I want him to stay the hell away from me so that I can keep hating him for all the things he'd done to me. The more time I spend in his presence, the more I feel my solid opinion of him wavering. Which I don't like. I have just spent two weeks here, my mind shouldn't change that easily. And I also promise myself to continue to hate him till death do us
LYNEXIA Dimitri is seated behind the desk, asleep while Seraphina stands in front of him, blocking the sun out with her hands over his face. My left hand balls beside me and a dark swirls soaring inside of me at this sight. I want to barge in and shove her hand away as she begins to trail her finger down the length of his face. How tired does he have to be to not realize someone is touching him? When I can't take it anymore, I clear my throat loudly. Seraphina flinches away from Dimitri, turning her startled gaze towards me. Her expression looks like a deer caught in front of a headlight. She gulps visibly before she walks across the room and outside to come to meet me. "Hey, Lyn." She says with her usual unfriendly face. "What are you doing here?" "What can't I do here? I'm going to be the Luna and Dimitri is my Alpha." My throat scratches to say but I hold. That sounds like I'm jealous which I'm not. I don't care about Dimitri or if Seraphina has a silly crush on him. I
DIMITRI "I know who the throat slasher is going to kill next." I startle slightly at the anguish and somewhat anxiety in Lynexia's voice. First, because I was thinking about her walking back into the office the moment she walked out. I was mad at myself for letting her walk out of my office like I didn't care when all I wanted to do was to wrap her in my embrace and tell her how much I missed her though we had only been apart for three days. Acting like I was mad at her when I was in fact not was challenging. Staying away from her required all the restraint that I could summon. Even though I have been busy for the past few days, I still feel her presence in the hollow of my chest. Though I am not the type to stay away when she wants me far away from her this time when she called me disgusting, it ripped my heart apart and the hatred in her eyes startled me. it was like ice was doused on my gleaming hope. I was starting to think that me and Lynexia was heading somewhere but
DIMITRI "Go call them back in," I instruct Wren who nods and turns towards the door. Cradling Lynexia's face in my hand, I gaze deeply into her hazel eyes. How much I miss them so much. "You did good," I say and pull her head to my chest. She relaxes into my touch easily as if she has been waiting for my hug but I know better than to read too much into it. When my trainee instructors enters, Lynexia tries to withdraw but I hold her close, my thumb drawing circles on her cheek. If they are shocked about how I'm hugging Lynexia's head to my body they don't show it. Their attention is on the rough sketch. Zarek picks it up first, exhaling heavily as he studies the rough sketches. I caress Lynexia's soft cheeks. "Is the database ready?" My question is directed to Seraphina. "It is," Seraphina says arms crossed over her chest. "Though it is in its earliest stage." "But we can do a background check, right?" Caspian chimes in. "We should be able to." Seraphina nods. "What
LYNEXIA Dimitri and I haven't exchanged a word since we left the complex. I don't even bother to ask him where we are headed because my mind is too busy wrestling its own demons. I'm anxious about the hard conversation Dimitri and I are going to have and also about this whole thing that I started. I was hasty to spill out what I saw. For once I also wanted to be useful for something so I didn't hesitate. But the moment Seraphina voiced out her doubt, I became engulfed in my own self-doubt. What if it's just my brain playing games on me? What if I have them barking the wrong tree? What if an innocent person dies because I had them going after the wrong tail? Never-ending what-ifs flood me. Of the three times, I have had foresight, and not one has proven useful. So what gives me the stupid confidence that things can actually be different this time? If there is anything I'm good at, it's spewing rubbish and causing more trouble than I am worth. I rest my head on the car window w
LYNEXIA My mouth gapes. "I—." I swallow back. Even I don't have an answer to his question nor can I console him. Not when I'm mad at him for what he did. Not when I hold grudges against him deep inside my heart for everything. I don't let him go, though. I can't even if I want to. My hand strokes his jaw, his stubble scratching against my fingerprint softly. Finally, I summon a word of consolation. Though, even to me, it sounds patronizing. "You are..." "No." He cut me off, resting his forehead on mine. Tension wraps around us like an electrified bubble. From a distance, I hear the sky groans of impending rain. "I don't deserve to be consoled by the woman I hurt." He states firmly, flinching away from my touch. Then he is out of the car faster than I can blink. My hand hangs midair, cold. My gaze follows him as I watch him walk into the house. I inhale, something inside of me shifting. All along, I used to think Dimitri was an uncaring psychopath. A devil who doesn't care
LYNEXIA Over the past few days, Dimitri and I have found a middle ground and we have settled into an amicable dynamic. I don't feel like throwing knives at him anymore and we are rarely at each other's throats. I'm beginning to find his presence comforting which is a cause for alarm. I don't hate him with much intensity anymore. And I feel like if he is ready to tell me what happened five years ago, I'm willing to hear him out. I don't know what is happening to me and to be frank, I don't think I want to know. I'm not ready to face head-on the changes happening inside of me. Gradually letting go of the hatred makes me feel light and some days, it fills me with trepidation because what if this is all Dimitri's elaborate plan and I'm falling right into his trap? The thoughts are too overwhelming so I decide to shut it down completely until further notice. My legs bounce under me. "So what are we doing this morning?" Dimitri and I have started our usual training and it has been fa
One Month Later LYNEXIA The first peek of the morning sun through the window hit my face and I stir awake with a yawn. I sigh, extending my hand to the other side of the bed to find it empty. Of course, what am I even expecting? I reluctantly climb out of the bed, while rubbing the remnant sleep away from my eyes with the back of my hand. The soft pad of my legs echoes in the air as I slip out of the room, making my way to Felicity's room. I used to grumble about me and Felicity's morning routine before everything went down but now I very much enjoy it. After almost losing my daughter once, I now bask and cherish every single moment I spend with her. I guess the saying goes you value something that you have used. Felicity's soft snores reach me as I slowly creak the door to her room open. Her beautiful, innocent face brings a smile to my face before I step into the room. I settle on the edge of the bed, tucking the strands of her hair behind her ear. I watch her sleep
LYNEXIA The words have just left my mouth before Elena lunges at me. "Shut it." She explodes. "I'm about to fucking end your life so stop being pompous." "What?" I scoff. "Were you expecting me to fall on my knees and beg for your mercy?" I say. "Is that it?" She slaps me across the face, the look on her face sinister. I know I shouldn't push her since she can be so unpredictable but I don't stop. "Shut it," She roars at my face. "I hope my death brings you the utmost happiness and joy. You sick, pathetic loser—." I choke on my words as something sharp digs into my stomach. I wince as blind pain throbs through me. I look down to find Elena's claw deep inside of me. Elena smirks. I shock her by matching it with a scornful, tight smile of my own. "Let's get this over with." I grit my teeth, doubling over as she pulls her claws out of my stomach. Blood drips off the corner of my mouth as my stomach starts to leak. "You should have shut it when I asked you to." "Why do you eve
LYNEXIA An ache starts in the middle of my head as I groan awake. I blink, confused as an unfamiliar room that resembles a barn comes into view. As my head throbs harder and more vicious, I try to reach out my hand to grip it but my hand jerks back against a hold. Then I wiggle my body, including my hands and legs. They jerk against a hold painfully that I have to grit my teeth. The headache is so much I have to squeeze an eye shut as I turn my gaze down to look at the state that I am in. My hands are tied behind the wooden chairs I'm seated on and my legs are tied around the legs of the wooden chair. My back screams with pain as it is arched uncomfortably. Panic sets in as I realize the danger I may likely be in. Seraphina brought me here for what? Why has she kidnapped me? What have I done? What is her aim in any of this? I don't have the luxury to think of an answer as I wiggle my hands, trying to cut the bondage around my wrists. The chair scraps loudly on th
DIMITRI"What is this about?" I ask, my voice tight with curiosity as Zarek leads me away from the quarantine camp towards a lone building at the edge "I'm afraid you will have to hear it from the person herself." Zarek glances back at me before he focuses front again. "Hear about what? Who?" I press as we slip into the lone building. A woman whose face is obscured by a veil turns towards me. Before I can ask further questions, she pulls the veil down to reveal her face. "Julianne," I say. "What are you doing here?" Her chest rises and falls with deep breaths. "I may have a cure for the black plague." "You have a cure?" I repeat, my mind reeling. This can't be true. Julianne nods. "Yes." This time, she sounds assertive. "How?" I ask, not knowing how to react to this. "I have been thinking hard about why Gavin, I, and Lynexia didn't get infected even though we came in contact with black ink. I have been racking my brain this past—." "Get straight to the point." I cut her of
LYNEXIA"No." Dimitri cuts me off harshly as if he already knows what I am about to say. My mouth falls open in shock. "But what if I can provide the cure?" Taking up Elena's offer doesn't feel so bad though dying sends a shiver of dread through me. "Let me guess, you have to put your life on the line for it?" Dimitri's eyes flash in disbelief. I grip the hem of my shirt tightly. Deep down, fear gnaws at me, but to save these people, to make this place livable for those I care about, I'm willing to risk everything. "Yes. If that's what it takes.""No, so get over yourself and stop trying to play the savior." Dimitri jolts to his feet, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "Dimi—." "Stop it with this your useless hypothetical theory. You are no savior and you don't have the power to be the messiah." His words cut deep but I know it's the panic talking through him. He shoves his fingers into his damp hair. "I didn't let you hate me for five years just to make you be a sacri
LYNEXIA In a span of two days, things do take a turn for the worse. Bodies ply upon bodies. The shadow pack territory becomes a ghost town compared to how vibrant it once was. The number of people tolled into the trainee complex which is now the quarantine camp increases exponentially. The air is thick with despair and the stench of death. The children have been taken away from the town to a safer place leaving behind the healthy werewolves locked up in their houses and the rest of us brave enough to watch over the infected. The drugs that were given to us by Alpha Henry are running out and our healers are hitting the wall about any cure or drug to reduce the symptoms. Reaching out to other packs is useless because word has spread and most of them wouldn't open their gate to us for fear of being infected. I don't blame, I would have done the same if I were in their shoes. As the dreadful moment passes at a slow, tormenting pace, my mind lingers more and more on Elena. The
DIMITRI I groan. "Huh uh." She bites her lower lip seductively. "Yeah." Her hand squeezes me harder. My head falls backward, pleasure already clouding my thoughts. Lynexia takes my hand and leads me to the couch, pushing me down onto it. I fall easily onto it. Our eyes lock as she sinks to her knees, her fingers reaching deftly to my zipper. As she pulls it down, my cock springs out, thick and hard, slapping against my abs. Lynexia licks her lips greedily, her lustful eyes on me. "You want this?" I grumble as I wrap my hand around my thick girth before moving it up and down my length. She nods eagerly, her breath quickening. "Say it." "I want to take your cock in my mouth, Alpha. I want to taste it. I want to taste you." Fuck, Lynexia saying the sluttiest words with the sweetest voice while looking at me with the prettiest fuck-me eyes undo every part of me. "Take it, it's yours." As I let go of my cock, it slaps on my abs again Lynexia salivates a
DIMITRI When Lynexia walks out of the room. Her face is ghostly pale and her knuckles are bruised. Overall, she looks shaken like she's seen a ghost. I rush to her in panic, taking her hands in mine to inspect the wound. "Are you okay?" It seems to be healing slowly but still, something must have happened in the room with Elena. Her face is distant and she doesn't answer me. "Lynexia," I call her softly then more urgently before she jolts out of her trance. Her eyes dart around in confusion before she meets mine. "What is wrong?" I ask. "Huh?" She says, dazed before she shakes her head slightly. "Nothing." She murmurs in a distant voice. "Did Elena hurt you?" I say as my anger simmers to the surface. I swear on goddess if Elena is the reason Lynexia's knuckles are bruised, I will drag her head through the mud without giving a flying fuck that she is a woman. "No." Her lips pull into a forced smile. It looks natural but I know Lynexia too well. I can see thro
LYNEXIA The moment Elena and I walk out of Dimitri's presence and into a room, the fake facade Elena has on her face falls. Elena sits on a chair while I take the one opposite from it. There is something eager about her today. She still despises me but it is like she is excited about something. Whatever it is that she wants to tell, she can't wait for me to hear it. "What is this about?" I make my voice sound as neutral as possible. Elena smirks, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't have time for this game you are trying to play Elena. Say what you have to say." The words rush out of my mouth. I don't have anything against Elena as much as she hates me but being in the same room as her for more than a minute makes my inside churn. "Trust me, you have all the time for what I am about to say." She says calmly unlike how agitated she used to seem in my presence. I roll my eyes standing to my feet. "Of course. My bad for thinking you have anything better to say." I