EvaI awoke feeling like my head was filled with lead. I could barely move my head without feeling like my skull was splitting in two. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t open my eyes. There was a terrible buzzing sound in my ears that made me feel like I was surrounded by wasps. I groaned and tried to roll over. A sound in the room made me open my eyes abruptly, ignoring the pain. I saw a woman dressed in a white uniform leaving the room, which so happened to be the room at the clinic. I’d been here before, and the idea of being back was so depressing. I was here. What happened to Ghost Moon and Nox hadn’t been a dream. The woman—a nurse—returned with the doctor behind her. I tried to remember his name but nothing came to mind. He approached me with a small smile on his lips and said, “Hello, Eva. Welcome back to the real world.”“There’s nothing real about this,” was my answer as I tried to get into a more comfortable position. “My head hurts a lot. Is there any way I can get
EvaI was still safe because Cyrus didn't know that I was pregnant. This babies was Nox's, not his. Something rebellious in me wanted to tell him that I was expecting just to see the look on his face. It would be a great way to show him that I wasn't going to get back with him, not even if my life depended on it. But my maternal instincts stopped me from doing such a careless thing. This wasn’t about revenge anymore. I had to think about these babies now. Cyrus could hurt me if he found out about this, just to satisfy this senseless jealousy he was harboring. I didn't know why he felt so entitled to me. I thought I loved him, so that made me feel a tiny bit responsible for what happened. All that came to an end when I met Nox, though, and realized that what I felt toward Cyrus wasn’t love. I’d been with him out of necessity. I was in heat and so desperate to be claimed, and he was there. Taunting me. I went to Nox willingly. One thing that changed ever since I heard this news was
Eva“No,” I said. It was the only word that I could even think about uttering. “It’s the truth,” she insisted. “I had to run away from Kolton to hide away here. I was afraid of him and afraid of what he could’ve done to you. I didn’t want him to ruin you the way he did his daughter, Leonora. She’s a terrible person. And you, Eva, were always meant to be good.”“You’re my mother,” I said even though I couldn’t quite believe it. It wasn’t a question. Right now, I wasn’t even sure of what I felt about this. Maybe my senses would return to me slowly. “I knew the Convent would be your best shot at freedom,” she told me. “I knew they wouldn’t mistreat you. It wouldn’t be like abandoning you in front of someone’s door and letting them treat you as they wished. No, in a convent, there would be religion. You’d be treated fairly. It was also the last place he’d look. Meanwhile, I stayed here, where it wasn’t that far away. I changed my identity and worked for the Daxen family. If Kolton ever
CyrusI took another swig of the drink in my glass. It was incredible that it didn't matter how much I drank; it was impossible to forget all this shit that was happening to me. I was sick and fucking tired of thinking all the time yet my body—my very nature—wasn't letting me get shit-faced. Why couldn't werewolves get drunk?I knew it wasn't the right way to cope with all of this but I’d run out of options. What else was there to do? My family hated me. The woman I loved hated me. I just wanted to push this all away for a few hours so I wouldn’t lose my mind. Apparently, the universe was intent on not giving me a break. Eva didn’t want to see me. Never in a million years would I have thought that such a thing could happen. In my mind, she was crazy about me. She didn’t love Nox and he was keeping her there against her will.Now, she was telling me a different story. What did I believe? That was the question that I couldn’t answer. It could very well be that the shock of breaking
EvaI figured out that prolonging my stay at the clinic was going to be an essential part of my plan. If I could just stay out of his house, then I’d have a chance to break free. I had a list of complaints for Dr. Steyne the next time I saw him. Not everything was an exaggeration but it was enough to keep him busy. It was just in case Cyrus started coming up with wicked plans to have me moved to his house instead. He was so controlling that it was very much possible for him to do that. While all my pains were being healed, I had time to think. Doing so was of the essence and would only benefit me in the long run even though there was a lot that I would prefer to keep buried. The situation with Marcia was still crazy in my mind. She was my mother; the woman who had abandoned me at that Convent. Every time I’d imagined meeting her, I assumed that I would feel anger or even resentment for what she’d done. I felt none of those things, though, particularly because now, I was carrying ba
EvaThe man walked with me until the car parked out front. His blade never left my neck, not for a second. It was easy to say I’d die for this and that but when the time came, I almost always realized that I didn’t want to die. Now, I had my babies to think of. I tried to see the positives in this situation. For starters, I was being taken away from Silver Crescent and to the city, which was where Kolton resided. Once there, I’d have an easier time finding the rest of Ghost Moon. The problem was that I would have to figure out how to escape along the way. The car door was opened for me and I had no choice but to slide into the seat, where I found myself facing a man whose face was all-too-familiar to me. Kolton.A wide smiled thinned his lips as he looked at me. He said, “Amazing. I never thought this day would come, darling Eva.”The door was closed as he said this and I felt the sound deep in my bones. Kolton went on staring at me even after the car roared to life. I took note
I woke up suddenly.The car wasn’t as dark as it was last night but it was definitely still dark. I stared out the smoked window and couldn’t tell if the sky was cloudy or whether the windows were that great at keeping the sun out. I glanced to my left and saw that Kolton was there, staring at me. I had the impression that he spent the whole night staring at me and it freaked me out. “How did you sleep?”“Not so great,” I answered. Kolton smiled. “We’ll be reaching the compound shortly. You’ll find that it’ll be a lot more comfortable there. I already have a room ready for you.”Was I supposed to thank him?The next time I looked out the window, particularly the windshield, I saw that we were rapidly approaching the city. It was exciting but at the same time, I knew I had to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. I wasn’t seeing a way of escaping so far, and I couldn’t be so optimistic that I would. Also, Nox wasn’t around to save me. I’d have to do it myself. This brought te
CyrusEva was gone. Just like that.Nobody could tell me what the fuck happened and why she was missing while a woman was dead. Did Eva kill her to escape? Would she be so cold-blooded?I realized that I didn’t know the answer to that question. As was customary, everyone was blaming me for what happened. They blamed me for bringing Eva here and causing this whole mess. The woman’s family wanted blood, and if I weren’t Alpha, they would’ve gotten the revenge they wanted. I had no idea where to start looking for her. The surrounding woods was the first place but to be honest, this felt like the first time she disappeared. We searched for hours and didn’t find a trace of her. Not even her scent lingered around. What was this madness?I went home. I stopped looking. It was like a part of me gave up. I didn’t want to put in any effort anymore. What was done, was done. I was hurt by her actions. Angrily, I even thought to myself that if she wanted to leave, she was free to do so. Lockin
EvaThe sound of Jace calling me interrupted my train of thoughts. I looked over my shoulder and saw him running toward me, holding something. It appeared to me like his toy superhero was broken again, and he sounded like he was going to cry. “Mommy, look!”I took the toy from him and offered him a gentle smile. “When Daddy comes home, he’s going to fix it, okay? I don’t know how to.”My son looked at his toes and made a disheartened noise in the back of his throat. I knelt in front of him, grabbed him by the arms, and said, “Hell be back soon. He just went to get something.”He huffed an, “Okay.”“Why don’t you sit down and I’ll bring you something to drink,” I said. “What do you want? Some juice? Soda?”“Juice!”Just like that, he was cheerful again, the broken toy completely forgotten. I lured him some juice and snacks, and then he sat down and amused himself with eating. I watched him from the kitchen, happy beyond reasoning. The last few years weren’t easy for any of us—but the
CyrusI stopped in front of the door to the shitty apartment. I knew somebody had to be inside because the baby was crying. I could hear it. They didn’t leave him alone, though. They never would have. By now, Kolton was dead. When Brock stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life, I’d backed away but not without giving it much thought. He guaranteed me that he would kill Kolton as he should have years ago—the way he said it was a confirmation of everything. Our whole story. The reason why Nox left. Why things turned out the way they did. Nox had been right. It was all Brock’s fault. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that for a while. Now, I was sure that I didn’t hold it against him. It happened a long time ago, and maybe I was too grateful for everything he did for me to judge him for something he clearly regretted doing. Maybe I always knew that Nox was right. Deep down, I’d suspected it. But Brock had always been a solid figure in my life, even more than my parents we
NoxAll around us, there was chaos. I could positively say that neither of us expected an ambush from Kolton. He’d taken everything from me, so what else did he want? He wasn’t here; only his men were. The one thing that saved us was that we still had a few weapons left or we would’ve been screwed. Also, Vivian’s people joined us right on time. I could tell by the way they were fighting that they had been thirsty for Redwood blood for a long time. Men. Women. Kolton didn’t discriminate. He had every able-bodied person in his pack fighting us. The only person that wasn’t here was him. Coward. What else did I expect? He loved to watch shit burn from afar. He always had other people doing his dirty work. “Where are you Kolton!?” one of the guys who had been with Vivian asked out loud as he slammed someone’s knees in with a baseball bat. “Where are you hiding!? Come and face us, you fucking rat!”Could I say we were winning the fight? I wasn’t sure. Many of the people here were strang
Eva I cracked an eye open and saw that the sun had risen. I didn’t move for a very long time. I was so tired. Tired of feeling pain. Tired of having to wake up with horrible memories of the night before. It was then that I prayed to the goddess for strength. I couldn’t do this anymore. There was only so much one could take and I’d reached my limit. For a moment, I lied on the hard rocks of the mountain and wished for death. I’d never done it before because all my life, I was raised to believe life was a gift, but my body was tired of fighting. I wasn’t sure how much time passed. I was fully conscious of everything going on around and within me. The sun was high in the sky but it was a bitterly cold day. I knew that my only solution would be to shift and I had to do it quickly or I’d die of hypothermia. However, I couldn’t find the strength to even roll to my side. Then, something incredible happened. I thought about the baby that had been inside of me—the baby I’d been carrying f
Nox Time was going very slowly in this house of horrors. Someone must have injected me with poison and left me sitting on this bench to die because how else could this burning be explained? No, I remembered now why I felt this way. It was when Vic told me that Eva had been taken that I became paralyzed with shock and fear. Despite all our attempts to make sure she wasn’t recognized and found by Kolton, we lost. The baby hadn’t been taken, and Vic was organizing to have him taken home. He was a healthy boy, so why not? The doctor didn’t have any protests. What it sounded to me was that Kolton wasn’t interested in the baby. If he were, he would’ve been gone too. As for the doctor, I could’ve crushed his skull in with my cane and wasted time interrogating him, but there was just no guarantee that he was the one who even placed the call. Maybe it wasn’t him. In fact, there was a very high likelihood that it wasn’t him but someone else on his team. Maybe one of the nurses. He knew wha
CyrusI couldn’t believe my fucking eyes. Did…did this man just push Eva off a cliff?I looked at him slowly, shock rooting me to the spot. I felt like I was losing my fucking mind here. There was no way that I just witnessed this. I looked back at Leonora and saw that she was walking toward us. I watched her stride past me and peer over the edge of the cliff. She looked around and then nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good. Now, we can get going.”Something about the way she said those words—maybe it was how casually she said them—made me break away from my trance and race toward her. The man noticed this and immediately rushed to intercede me. Leonora peered back at me with unbothered eyes. Once the man touched me, I made a fist and punched him directly on the face. He staggered backward, getting closer to the edge. It was then that the malignant thought to push him crossed my mind, and I felt every muscle in my body force me to do it. I lunged at him and shoved him as hard as I cou
EvaOpening my eyes was a painfully slow process. I had such a hard time figuring out where I was. Every time my eyelids parted just a little I was being blinded by bright lights. I tried to put a hand over my face but found that I couldn’t move. Why was this so familiar to me?I also had this feeling like I was moving even though my feet weren’t touching the ground. It was so strange that I felt a sense of urgency that helped me insist on opening my eyes despite the brightness. I looked to my left and saw someone grabbing the side of the bed I was on while looking straight ahead. This person was wearing a dark denim jacket and a beanie. I didn’t recognize this person. Then, I looked to my right and saw shoulder-length hair and a familiar build. Cyrus?The fear I felt was enough to make me open my eyes wide and realize that I had to get away from him. I tried to turn on my side and felt a lot pins and needles all over my body. I felt no pain, so that was the good thing. However,
Nox Fear was a living, breathing thing inside of me. I couldn’t focus on anything else other than getting Eva to the hospital safely. At first, it hadn’t been an option. We all knew how Kolton was well connected to the hospitals in this city. It was the one place where he had the chance to catch his enemies in a vulnerable state. However, Eva hadn’t regained her consciousness and she was still bleeding. It was enough blood to stain her clothes but at least it wasn’t like she was hemorrhaging. Even so, we didn’t know what was wrong with her and Kyra didn’t know how to help us. I wasn’t going to risk her life. When it came to keeping her safe and healthy, I was ready to face anything. Besides, there was a chance that Kolton wouldn’t know about this. “Hurry up, Vic!” I said, agitated. He was in the wheel and I was behind with Eva. Ursula was in the front seat. Only one car filled with our people was following us. It was crazy how our numbers had been reduced so drastically. Sweat w
EvaA few hours earlier...Nox had been getting better and better with time. In the first week, he could only stand, now, three weeks later, he'd been taking several steps without falling. He claimed that he was now feeling sensations in his legs, which meant that he was finally healing. This was a miracle. I was so busy helping him that I barely noticed the time flying. Every day was an accomplishment and I was so proud of him. My heart swelled with pride. Nox wasn't a quitter; every time he fell, he'd get back up. It was so inspiring, watching him achieve this. It brought tears to my eyes every time I thought about it. Everyone was happy for him and supported him in any way they could. It was great to see everyone working as a team. It was clear that they respected him very much. All his fears concerning people looking down on him because of his condition disappeared and I hoped he understood that he was wrong. We never talked about it, though. It was better to leave those fears