A WEEK LATERThe Silverstone Archive was a grand, high-ceiling room with walls lined with towering bookshelves. The air was thick with the scent of old parchment and leather-bound tomes. Soft, golden light filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting a warm glow over the room and despite the many pack members that were present on the room, it was silent.Emberlynn hurried towards Damien as he strode to the shelf that was at the farthestmost part of the room.Emberlynn had been invited to the library by Damien. Although she had declined at first and desired to visit the embroidery's den, she had thought against it.Lately, he had been seeking her presence even more.Emberlynn didn't want to read too much meaning into all that was happening, but she couldn't help it. Damien's presence next to her, how soft he acted, and the way he looked at her as if she was the only she-wolf in the pack left a familiar sensation in her heart."What are we here to do again?" Damien asked, turning
The air was crisp and cool with the scent of damp earth and greenery.Emberlynn moved quietly on the forest floor that was covered with thick layers of fallen orange, yellow, and red leaves.She was never out in the forest during the morning time until now, and it was a sight to behold. From the feeling of the new spring season to the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling in the gentle morning breeze, she desired to lose herself in the beauty of nature, but she knew it wasn't the time.It was their hunting season. Even though she barely partook in the activity that had occurred before they set out, which was mainly the pack members gathering to share stories, sing songs, and perform rituals to ensure a successful and safe hunt, she had convinced Damien to allow her to be part.She hadn't witnessed any hunt before, so it was her first time. She had thought Damien would object, but surprisingly, he readily agreed and even gave her the earth-toned tunic and leggings she was on.Ev
Silence enveloped the area they were in, and Damien's ears perked up, listening for any movement. Tilting his face skyward, he sniffed, and a smile adorned his face."Today is our lucky day," He said, then turned to Roy, who was closest to him. "Can you take a clean shot if an animal is far away?""No," Roy shook his head. "At this moment, I am somewhat unstable and might make it flee if I do so.""Who can?" Damien asked, turning to Leo and the rest of the members.They all shrugged, shaking their head.Damien sighed, rolling his eyes. He was certain they were all skilled. He had seen them take clean shots before, but he believed they didn't want to. During hunting time like this, they prepared he take the biggest prey while they were fine with the smallest one.Almost everyone was with an animal, ranging from rabbits to antelope.He believed the buck had smelt the aroma of the dead animals, and that was why it was coming their way."I want total silence," Damien said, and he grabbed
For the umpteenth time, her eyes darted between the towering trees. They were all the same.Although she had not created any mark to differentiate them, she felt their texture and scent."Damien, please," She whispered, her heart racing as she heard footsteps approaching her.Sprinting to one of the oak trees in the forest, she hit behind it, peeping to see whoever was coming.After a few seconds of hearing only total silence, Emberlynn let out a shriek as a furry creature jumped toward her face.Swatting her hands in the air, she cried, "Leave me be!"After swatting at her air, she raised her hands in front of her in defense.Her heart thumped wildly in her ribcage as she opened her eyes to see a lovely squirrel on the forest floor, staring back at her in wonderment."Oh, my goodness," she whimpered, gripping her chest tightly. "You frightened me."The squirrel hopped out of her way as she moved forward and onto the oak tree climbing up.Yet, that wasn't the only thing that had its m
"I'm fine; you don't need to bandage the injury," Damien said as Emberlynn started to wrap him up."I need to; it's barely healing," she said, her gaze locked on the deep, ugly gash. "Does it hurt? I applied some healing ointment I got from Betsy in the bandage."Damien shook his head, staring at her face. She looked overly concerned even though she hurt herself."And you're in no shoes to ask if I am hurt or not. How's your shoulder? You shouldn't move around too much." Damien stated, touching her shoulder.Emberlynn winced, and then she smiled as Damien's eyes narrowed on hers."Hey, I am fine. It's almost healed. I only feel slight pain." she said."Slight?" Damien snorted, "And stop trying to downplay the pain you are feeling."Gripping her hands that continued to wrap him up, he stood to his feet."No, stop!" Emberlynn protested, trying to push him back to the bed, but she ended up falling on it instead while Damien was on top of her."You are the one who should stop," Damien sai
Emberlynn sat on the bed, staring into space. Since she stepped into the room, her thoughts kept returning to what had happened and how she had wronged Damien.She couldn't come up with anything tangible, and each she thought about the fury in his eyes, tears brimmed in her eyes. Her heart clenched, and a dull ache throbbed in her chest as though she had been rejected even though reserve was the case.She sighed, blinking back the tears in her eyes before looking towards the door as it opened."My Lady," Betsy said as she stepped in. Her face was contorted in a frown, and she set the laundry basket with her, walking towards Emberlynn's side."Are you alright?"Emberlynn shook her head, biting her lower lips. She shielded her face from Betsy, who stepped closer to her. "Did the Alpha reject you?" she asked and clasped Emberlynn's face.Her eyes moved towards the mate mark that was newly forming.It was up to a week, and the mate mark hadn't fully formed. Although it wasn't often as lon
Emberlynn awoke the next morning with a pounding head and swollen eyes. She groaned, sitting up on the bed, her hands clasping her heavy head."What now?" she grimaced, her gaze drifted to the wall clock and then to the door that opened, announcing Betsy's presence.She seemed overly bubbly today, which was the opposite feeling for Emberlynn."Arise and shine, My lady; it's a beautiful morning," she said, walking to the curtains and opening them. Light streamed into the room, and indeed, it was a beautiful day, but Emberlynn's pounding head worsened.She closed her eyes before falling back to the bed to rest her head, which felt like it would fall off anytime soon."What's good about the morning when I woke up with a pounding head?" Emberlynn whispered.Her throat was parched, like she had swallowed sand for dinner, and her body ached.She tried to open her eyes, but it was almost impossible."Are you sick, my Luna?" Betsy asked, walking towards the bed. She placed a palm on Emberlynn
After staying indoors for a few hours, Emberlynn decided to leave the room that was starting to get suffocating.Also, she left in hopes of running into Damien. Although Betsy had suggested she went to see him, Emberlynn had thought against the idea.Damien didn't want her around him; it was best to avoid any confrontation.Walking around the garden, which was the only place she could have a real quiet time, she sat on the bench, glancing at the sky.A smile adorned her face as she stared at the beautiful atmosphere, and the smile vanished as she heard a voice behind her."You must be the Luna?" It was feminine, and Emberlynn jumped, turning around.Her eyes locked on a pair of piercing green eyes with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. Her skin was smooth, and her silky dark hair was held in a high ponytail.She had a pair of blue jeans and a white dress shirt on, with the top button undone.She looked elegant despite the simple clothes she had worn.Also, she was a werewolf
Seeing the despair on Damien's face as he always wanted to see, a smile adorned Lucian's face. He gazed around the prison room, tutting"Now that I already share my plan with you, I wish you could partake in it, but I am sorry, you are a prisoner and will remain so until I am bored of you. In the meantime, enjoy yourself while I go do my thing," Lucian blew Damien a kiss and walked back towards the entrance."Shit," Damien grunted, gripping his hair in frustration.Emberlynn was in trouble. He stood to his feet and attempted to yank the chain from his hands, but the harder he pulled, the tighter the chain wound about his hands."Magic," he hissed as he felt the burning sensation.He tried to pull once again, but it was futile.How the hell was he going to save Emberlynn when he was in prison? He gazed around, looking for a means of escape, but the only thing he saw was a crack on the wall. The building itself seemed to be mocking him.He had placed Emberlynn in the same position with
Damien grimaced as he stared at Lucian. He was ridden with scars. It was from the attack of the previous day, and they had barely made him heal before he was tossed into the prison.And now he was faced with his worst energy, Lucian. He loathed Lucian with every fiber of his being, and he stared at him with a deep-seated hatred."What do you aim to achieve, and you locked me up? Does Emberlynn even know what you are up to? Does she know the kind of monster that you are?" Damien grunted. He was pissed.He had pushed Emberlynn into the mess, and he couldn't bring her out of it. He had made her run away with a devil, and now he was in the devil's lair."She's going to kill you if she finds out you're holding me captive," Damien said.Lucian chuckled. He tossed his head back and burst out laughing. "If Emberlynn knows she's going to kill you." he mimicked, laughing.Lucian sighed, "The thing is, she's very much dumber than she looks. I thought she was really smart and would have, you know
The Alpha moved towards Jessica, who was currently held down, and growled into her face before he tried to bite down on her neck.Emberlynn howled, and as soon as she did, Lucian appeared in his wolf form in front of her.Stunned, Emberlynn looked at Lucian as he charged at the alpha. She didn't know he was anywhere around the forest area.He must have known she was missing and had tried searching for her like the first time.At least he was right on time before any damage could be done, unlike before. Even though he would be mad at her, it was better than he dead.Lucian and the alpha fought each other, and for a while, it seemed that none was winning until the gammas of the black night pack house arrived, charging at the first Alpha wolves.The Alpha shifted into his human form immediately, yelling, "Retreat, I repeat, retreat!"He was on the downside, and it would be silly if he continued to attack Lucian, knowing there was no way he could win the battle.The Alpha jumped into the
Hurrying out of the pack house, Emberlynn glanced around to ensure she wasn't being followed. She had made sure Connor and Lucian weren't around the pack house.It was one of the reasons she was able to leave freely.Also, she didn't know what both had been up to, but they seemed to be mute and were watching her even more closely, as if he blinked their eyes several times, she would disappear from their sight.Emberlynn and Jessica walked for a while before arriving at the hunting ground. It wasn't far away from the pack house, but it was out of the pack house territory.Jessica turned to Emberlynn, "If you want to be able to hunt well, you should shift. In your wolf form, you can swiftly catch whatever you desire." Jessica explained and nodded towards Emberlynn."I can't shift," Emberlynn shook her head, breathing out."Why not?" Jessica said. She looked somewhat stunned to hear that Emberlynn couldn't shift, but she didn't know why."Why can't you shift? I thought you were here to h
A grunt escaped Damien as he sped through the forest. It was the third day of his journey, running in his wolf form to get to Emberlynn. He had barely taken a break.He had set out three days ago to start the journey.Each time he had thought of relaxing to get his energy back, he thought of her. That fueled his desperation even more.Again, the fact that he knew he was getting closer to his journey made him even push forward harder.Damien wasn't journeying alone. However, he had set out before the others to get to Emberlynn as fast as possible.Yet, he wasn't comfortable traveling with anyone, knowing how dangerous it could be for them. He didn't mind getting beaten or even wounded. Seeing his pack members in that same position would break him.Cadence came to an abrupt halt, his nose tilted in the air, and he sniffled. Cadence's teeth bared, and he growled lowly while swirling around to ascertain the source of the smell.They had tried to mask the scent, but Damien wasn't easily fo
THE NEXT DAYConnor strode to where Lucian was currently on the rooftop of the building. As soon as he approached him, Lucian stared at Connor before turning away from him."Do you have everyone in their position yet?" Lucian asked, using the binoculars with him to gaze into the distance.He didn't see Damien or any of his troops yet, but he knew they could be around the forest area hiding. Damien was smart; he would surely know something was up and wouldn't just come into his territory without getting prepared."Yes, and we are awaiting your order," Connor said."Good, bring Damien to me alive. He's mine. I don't care what state he is in; just bring him to me alive," Lucian said. "Noted, Alpha," Connor bowed and walked away from Lucian.Typing some numbers on his phone, Connor dialled it, and after two rings, the person at the other end picked up."The target is Alpha Damien. He should be brought to us alive, and as soon as I get the route he'd be passing, I shall communicate it wit
Securing the lock on the door, Ria walked back to the bed. She tossed the contents of her bag on the floor, picking them one after the other and dumping them into the pack once again.She stopped when it got to a black metal box with a golden lock. She placed the box on her lap,Opening it, she took out the necklace, lifting it to her eye level.The necklace sparkled in Ria's hand, its delicate chain supporting a pendant that glimmered with an unnatural light. The stone was a fragment of the revered Luna stone, and it pulsed with a soft, ethereal glow.Legend had it that the Luna stone held the essence of the moon's power, and depending on who was wielding it, it could grant them unimaginable abilities or even render them powerless if it had been hexed to do so.She was going to give it to Emberlynn to seep out her powers to the last drop. She had waited many years to do this, and now she was closer to her goal. Despite being twins, she was the first-born twin. She should have been t
A smile formed on Lucian's face as he stood in front of the pictures in his room. There were about twenty in total, decorating the wall in different frames. Anyone who stepped into his room would have thought it was a gallery due to the various artwork on the wall.But he was sure anyone would easily misunderstand him. They might think him a creep, which he didn't mind. At least he was not creeping after someone else. He was only obsessing over his love.It was not precisely his room he had taken Emberlynn to, and he knew that if he had, she'd have asked him several questions about the pictures on the wall. He didn't want to answer such a question, at least not yet. It could jeopardize things and he believed he was close to getting what he needed.Grabbing one of the pictures, he caressed the frame, his gaze looking lovingly at the woman staring back at him with a bright smile.His Emily. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Bright blue eyes, shoulder length black ha
Emberlynn continued to gape at her. They seemed to be about the same age, although the one standing in front of her looked like she might be slightly older.She was too stunned to speak or ask her who she was."I am Ria," Ria said, extending her hand towards Emberlynn, who stared at it before staring back at her.She didn't shake the hand right away."Ria Evergreen, your long lost sister. We are twin technically," Ria added.Twin?"No way," Emberlynn muttered. She had never been told she was a twin. Even before her mother's death, she didn't mention having another child aside from her."I know it looks shocking to you, but it's the truth. I know our history, and I can tell you. How the werewolf slaughtered every one of us to the last, but seeing as I wasn't born without the same powers as yours, I had escaped the brutality.""I do not understand," Emberlynn stated, shaking her head.Selena had helped her clear all the things she had forgotten. She could have noticed Ria in one of her