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
EvaMy cries for help were completely ignored. Some time later, my voice was completely hoarse. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even think straight. The worst part was how I couldn’t touch the bars because they were made of silver, and so I was forced to sit in an upright position. It made me feel even more tired. Oh, how I missed the simple pleasure of being able to lie down. I never appreciated that—now, I would do anything for it. I hugged my knees as tears spilled down my face. Goddess, help me. I prayed for her help. I had to get out of here. The silver was so toxic that my skin was flushed; I felt heat emanating off of it. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. I was convinced that if the room was dimly-lit, I would feel a lot better. All these bright lights were a part of his torturing method. I couldn’t even close my eyes and see darkness. The light followed me even in my sleep, which would be nonexistent unless I sacrificed a part of my body. All I could hear was my
Eva I wasn’t sure how long I stayed unconscious for but when I returned to my senses, Eric was still yelling at me. “Eva! Eva, wake up!”I coughed and heard him sigh loudly in relief. “Thank the goddess you’re awake!” he said. “Don’t stand up too quickly!”I turned on my side, groaning. I could still taste blood in my mouth and it was the most nauseating feeling ever. To make things worse, I had this crippling pain all over my body. It was truly horrible. The one thing I paid attention to was moisture pooling between my legs along with a lot of pain. Slowly, I tried to sit up. My vision was blurry but started getting better after I’d blinked a few times. “Are you okay?” Eric asked. “Eva.”I looked at him. He was pressing his face against the bars in order to get a better look at me. I wanted to ask him not to do it but my tongue was heavy in my mouth. It was painful, too, and I couldn’t remember whether I’d bitten it or not. Maybe I had. I saw blood staining my jeans a dark color
Cyrus The plan was set. I'd go to the city and get Eva back. I was prepared to do everything to get her back, including giving Kolton what he wanted. He could get as many pieces of my pack as he wanted; that didn't matter to me. Eva hadn't left because she was done with me. If Vivian hadn't called Kolton and stabbed me in the back the way she did, she would never have left. Maybe we would've reconciled. Maybe things would've been different. That was why I couldn't miss the opportunity to get her back and win her heart. I wanted Eva to know that I wasn't giving up on her. I was willing to die trying. Brock was standing at the door, and when he spoke, he reminded me he was there because I'd forgotten. "Kolton will kill you! I don't understand how you can't accept that. He was going to kill you before."I zipped my duffel bag up. "I know what I'm doing.""Do you?" my uncle asked. "Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe she would rather die than be saved by you?"I shuddered. "That
EvaThere wasn't a single part of my body that didn't hurt. I didn't think it was possible for it to hurt more than it did the first time I was attacked by Kolton's men. Apparently, it was. I'd been wrong. Maybe, in a way, I'd cursed myself.They weren't happy about Eric's escape. The pain inflicted upon me was brutal, vicious, and I could even say cowardly. They used silver on me, and the entirety of my back was on fire. After a while, I'd stopped feeling any pain. There was so much of it that I couldn't feel a thing anymore. Now, I was lying on my front in an even smaller caged, all bent up. I prayed to the goddess for strength because I couldn't find any. I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. I was completely and utterly exhausted, and my body was in shock. I hadn't known that the pain I'd experienced was normal. I thought there was a limit to everything, even pain. After some time of not being able to turn around, I started feeling pain in my hips and midsection.
EvaWhen the car slowed to a stop, I opened my eyes automatically. “We’re here,” Eric said, pulling the brakes. I sat up tentatively, my bones cracking. I was in so much pain. The adrenaline I felt earlier kept me from feeling much of it but now that things were calmer, it was like I’d been hit by a train. Eric got out of the car. I couldn’t see further because the headlights were blinding my sensitive eyes. I saw enough to realize that there was another car right in front of ours. I glanced down at Andy and saw that he was still asleep. All that was left for me to do was wait for Eric to return, so I lied back down. Not five minutes later, the trunk was opened, and I turned my head slowly to see Eric standing over me, watching me, with Vic on his side. My eyes widened at the sight of Vic. I was happy to see him, so much that I could’ve cried.“Vic!” I said, my voice still hoarse. “Luna,” he said breathlessly. He was taking note of all my injuries. Even the soles of my feet had be
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