~BREE~ I had enjoyed torturing Zander; god, Isabella was right; the satisfaction it gave me was unexplainable; it somehow gave me peace; at points, I thanked James for selling me to Asher because it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Asher. Asher had just called; he was on his way as I had a meeting with Glinda. I was waiting for Zander to return while connected to Isabella, who was going to tell me what to say. I had sent him on a false errand, and trust me, it was all Isabella's idea. “Two minutes and twenty seconds late,” I repeated after Isabella, pretending to glance at my wristwatch. I'm not sure she was not even right; well, he seemed to buy it, and God, you must have seen his face; he looked shocked. I'm sure he never saw this day coming. I never saw it too, a day where I would ask him to make coffee, let alone ask him to clean the toilets. Well, I was going to argue with Isabella about that as I thought he would not agree, but he surprised me and agreed. You won't under
ALASKA, PETERSBURG FOREST ~BREE~ I looked at the table satin one more time to make sure it was in the shade Alpha Zander wanted. I didn't want to give him a reason to lock me up in that rat hole again; my stomach was still hurting from the starvation, and do I even remember why he locked me up there? The truth is, he did it for every reason. Even asking him if he wanted orange juice or apple was a crime, as he would lock me in the dungeon for days without giving me food, claiming I was being disrespectful. I don't even know how I was still alive—well, alive and dead at the same time as the pain in my stomach and the wounds on my body were eating me. I just had to carry myself through today because today is a special day. Today is my birthday; I am finally twenty-one, and I will find my mate. There was no party or anything, but today seemed to be my lucky day as Alpha Zander was hosting a ceremony to announce his engagement to his chosen mate, Luna Ruby. Ruby is from a
~BREE~ I was excited that Rain was back, but I knew if Alpha Zander or any of the pack members heard of it, I would be tortured, and he would summon the witch to bind my powers and Rain because I knew whenever Rain was here, my powers were also back. I quickly moved back. I knew Beta Kaden just wanted to get rid of me; he didn't need me to check the champagne as it was always enough—Luna Rosa, Alpha Zander's mother, can never go a day without a glass, so when my back hit the wall, I got to my senses and dashed out of the kitchen and went straight to my small room. Yes, I had a room, or, let's say, a shoe closet, as there was a little bed; it used to be a shoe closet, but the time they started torturing me, they moved me here as it was inside the mansion since they didn't want me far away in case one of them wanted to release stress. Reaching the little room, I closed the door and rested my back on the door as I caught my breath. My head moved up and down, and I placed my hand
~BREE~My legs were shaking; I could barely hold my weight, but knowing better, I took the pain and forced myself to stand on my feet because that's all I could do. Alpha Zander didn't give a shit about me, so crying or falling to the floor would just give him a reason to punish me.“Alpha Zander,” someone pushed me off the way and rushed to Alpha Zander; I guess he mind linked him and asked him to come here.“Kaden,” Alpha Zander sounded like he was in a little pain, but he did well to mask it as next he stood to his feet, and I don't know why, but I was now watching his every move. He whispered something in Kaden's ear, which he didn't need as he usually said, and did anything in front of me.“You piece of shit! You…” I wasn't expecting Kaden to kick me in the stomach, as when the pain hit me, I fell on my knees and held my stomach, which felt like it busted from the inside—a man's kick is painful. “You killed them for yourself; I bet you're a witch or something because how did she
~BREE~“I won't come back here.” Kaden's voice brought me back to reality as I struggled and stood on my feet before I made my way to my bed, where my bag was.“Ouch!” A whimper escaped my lips as I tried to clean my cheeks, but they were sore from the slaps.‘I'm so sorry, Bree. I'm sorry I'm weak.’ Rain apologized, but it wasn't her fault. I didn't want her to take account of Zanders' behavior, but unfortunately, I couldn't say the words as I was in so much pain, and with Kaden's warning, I quickly got to my bed and opened my bag; nothing was in it since I didn't have anything. The only thing I had was my old jeans and a tee; those were the only belongings I had, including the clothes on my body, track pants, and a white tee, which Kaden gave me earlier as I would be serving his guest and I couldn't look dirty.I walked to the little mirror and looked at my reflection. I know I always looked messed up and bruised, but looking at myself like this on my birthday was heartbreaking, and
~BREE~I don’t know for how long I’ve been locked in this dark room, but it must have been for hours as it was getting darker and darker. I used to be afraid of the dark, but not anymore; now it was just something that gave me peace. Yes, my once-fear became my peace, as at least in the darkness I would forget about my misery and try to live another person's life.If you ask me, I won’t even know when things started to go wrong—was it when my real parents died? When I met Jocelyn? When I got into that fight? Or when I mistakenly served Amber the wolfsbane? I honestly didn’t know, and I didn’t want to give it much thought.I turned to the old woman whom I’d been calling since I got here, but there was still no response. Maybe she had died because the smell in here didn’t just feel like rats; she was dead as if she had been asleep, I could have heard her snores.The thought of her death caused tears to roll down my cheeks freely; she was my only hope, and I once promised to get her out
~BREE~I was too tired to think of that, and even if I wanted to, I knew I couldn't go anywhere as my legs were sore, so I crawled toward a tree, when I reached it, I closed my eyes as the words came naturally on my tongue.“I Aubree Swan an Omega cut ties with the Moon Valley pack; from this day forward I should no longer have anything to do with anyone that comes from that pack.” I instantly fell back as soon as I was done saying that, as I felt my body being ripped apart and I didn't know if I was seeing things, but a shadow-like creature came out of me and disappeared in thin air.“Ouch!” I whimpered in pain as I felt the same stinging pain from when Zander rejected me. I knew this was a pain of cutting ties with the pack; the Moon Valley hasn't taken me in as their own, but I've been there for years, and it naturally became my home.I needed to rest, even if it was just for a few minutes. I didn't know where I would be going from here but wasn't losing hope. I was sure after a na
~BREE~Despite everything I went through, I've never for once thought I would wish this upon myself, but here I was wishing the floor would open up and suck me in. I couldn't go with Alpha Asher; he was a monster, and I didn't want to lose my body parts. Death was way better than this.Everything happened so fast that next I found myself seated in his limo. He was internally staring at me; his stare was burning my skin and I felt it tingle. I was so nervous that I wished Rain was with me; she was smart and could keep me company; she could tell me that everything was going to be okay even when I knew it would not. My life didn't turn upside down, as it already did years ago; now it flipped to the negative side because this was far worse than being in the Moonvalley pack.Even deep in my thoughts, I didn't miss his voice when he said we had arrived. I looked up at him as he was sitting on the seat across from me, but I quickly looked down as our eyes met—he hadn't stopped staring at me
~BREE~ I had enjoyed torturing Zander; god, Isabella was right; the satisfaction it gave me was unexplainable; it somehow gave me peace; at points, I thanked James for selling me to Asher because it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Asher. Asher had just called; he was on his way as I had a meeting with Glinda. I was waiting for Zander to return while connected to Isabella, who was going to tell me what to say. I had sent him on a false errand, and trust me, it was all Isabella's idea. “Two minutes and twenty seconds late,” I repeated after Isabella, pretending to glance at my wristwatch. I'm not sure she was not even right; well, he seemed to buy it, and God, you must have seen his face; he looked shocked. I'm sure he never saw this day coming. I never saw it too, a day where I would ask him to make coffee, let alone ask him to clean the toilets. Well, I was going to argue with Isabella about that as I thought he would not agree, but he surprised me and agreed. You won't under
~ZANDER~“Luna Aubree might be from the Shadow Walker's pack.”“Alpha Thiago's pack?” Shocking would be an understatement because how was that even possible? How could Aubree be from the Shadow Walkers? How on earth did that even make sense?I mean, just earlier, Stephen informed me that Jack, the man Dad killed, was from the Shadow Walkers, and now this. It was too much of a coincidence. I mean, Aubree's mother was from my pack. Did it mean she was with Jack or maybe another Hartford? Well, whatever it was, I was going to find out.“Alright, did you do what I asked?”“Yes, Alpha, five men are by the River Ash pack as we speak.”“Good, keep digging, and don't give Rosa and Henry food today. I need answers from them, and I know they can only speak on an empty stomach.” I ordered, and after he agreed, I ended the call and continued on my way to get Aubree coffee that was less sweet.It didn't take long to get another, as the woman there seemed to like me. I didn't understand why, as I e
~ZANDER~Okay, if I didn't know Stephen well, I would think he was exaggerating, but unfortunately, he wasn't. If he was mentioning it, then it means he was suspicious, and he never mentions anything unless it's fishy.“Betray me?” I didn't understand how.“I'm not sure, Alpha; I wanted to ask for your permission to look into him.”“Of course,” I said. Kaden was my beta, and he was given almost the same respect as me. That's why he had to ask for permission. “Investigate him, but make sure he doesn't find out for now.”“Alright, Alpha,” Stephen nodded, and after that, I excused myself after reminding him to do everything I asked him to. Well, it was a shame that Kaden was not trusted; Stephen the gamma is the one acting like a beta.I was already outside. I was going to skip breakfast today.Outside, I got in my car and drove straight to the company. It didn't take me long to arrive, as I was already parking. After that, I headed inside.“Yes, she's here,” the receptionist informed me
~ZANDER~No, I couldn't allow Ruby to hurt Aubree. I mean, Asher had her back, but The Blood Moon's strength was equal to Asher's. I don't know about how powerful Aubree was since she was a witch, but I couldn't risk it.“You can't do that.” I said, and she turned to look at me, “You can't use your brother's power to hurt Aubree.” I said, well, everyone thought Alpha Blake and Dante were twins; I mean, they were just a year apart. That's why they were confused as twins, but they were not. We who were close to them knew they were a year apart. It made most packs fear them because they thought they had twin power, but they just used it for their gain as there was no twin power at all.“Oh wait…” she chuckled, almost not believing me. “Are you defending her? I mean, she got you in this mess; she's the reason you lost my brother's help. You lost your company, so how is it that—”“She's not the reason. Please, I'm just looking out for you. I—”“Oh quit the pretense, Zander!” She raised her
~ZANDER~ I couldn't still believe Ruby was here to see me. I asked Kaden to let her in and asked Stephen to not leave my side. “Get five guards to be outside the office door; we don't know why she's here,” I instructed as I walked out of the room and headed for my office. Stephen connected to the rest of the group, and when we reached my office, we found five guards standing by it. I entered with Stephen following behind, my gamma. Stephen was very strong and also had special powers, so I wanted him close. And no, I was not scared of death. I've never been scared of dying. I even used to go to war when I was just fifteen, so no, death never scared me, but at this moment I wanted to stay alive for Aubree. I wanted to get to the bottom of everything, seek her forgiveness, and get those who were supposed to be punished what they deserved. I also love my pack; although it was cursed, I still hoped Aubree would be kind enough to save it.
~ZANDER~ It's been a week since Mom and Dad confessed to their crimes. Dad said he ordered guards to kill Jack, while Mom admitted to betraying her friend, Olivia. I didn't know who these people were, but I didn't accept such crimes, so just like any crime, I ordered my guards to lock them up in the basement. They've been there for a week; they were treated like criminals only that they still had three meals unlike the rest, and they were not tortured, as I couldn't bring myself to hurt or watch people hurt my parents. I woke up early today because I had to be at work by seven. I haven't gone to work as Isabella asked me to wait for Aubree to return. I knew she was at a couples resort as I asked Stephen to watch over her. I knew Asher was there and that she was safe with him, but I just couldn't help. Ray was restless. ‘It's time to win our mate back.' Ray said, and I nodded my head. I was not fully into it. I mean, I've always seen Aubree as
~ISABELLA~ I didn't know what to say; they already loved Aubree; if they found out she was much more powerful than me, they wouldn't hesitate to worship her, and I didn't want that. “Speak now before I order the guards to make you,” Cora threatened. She was eagerly waiting for me to speak. Well, I tried to think, but I couldn't come up with any convincing lie. “I…I-” “She's talking about Alpha Zander…" Antonio sidestepped me, which if on a normal day would make me so angry, but today wasn't a normal day, so I was grateful. “Alpha Zander wants Luna Ruby because of the strength she can give him, so my cousin and I are talking about that.” Antonio lied, which was convincing enough for Raven as she rolled her eyes and walked away. I took in a deep breath before I turned to Cora, who didn't seem convinced. “What are you saying?” She asked, “Do you take me for a fool? I clearly heard you mention the Luna’s name.” "No, y
~ISABELLA~ Antonio sounded desperate, which could work as I could use it to my advantage. One thing about Antonio is that he was smart; that's why Dad thought he was the right person to take over the company, but that couldn't happen without him marrying me. “I will help you,” I said, and he started thanking me, but I cut him, “under a condition.” “What do you want?” "Well, you shouldn't be asking what I want at this point because you will do anything just so I can help you, right?” “You're right, so can I go now because I'm already in the woods?” "Okay, wait for me. I'm on my way. I will take you there myself,” I said, then ended the call before I looked up and thanked Goddess for being on my side. “If she let this happen, then it means Asher and I were truly meant to be; she might have forgotten to create a bond for us,” I said as I packed my things in my handbag before walking
~ISABELLA~ I was in shock; I couldn't believe Aubree was special. I mean, I've always known that Asher was not really in love with her, but I didn't expect it to be because of her powers. I thought it was to get back at his brother, but wow, this was just a lot to take in. I sat on the seat and thought of what to do now. Sure, bringing Zander and Aubree close would not work if Asher also wanted to keep Aubree for her powers, so I had only one thing to do: kill her. But how? Asher was always by her side. How will I kill her? I ran my hands through my hair as I tried to think of ways I would kill her. I stayed in the office and asked all those who knocked on my door to go to hell. Humans were very annoying. I never dreamt of working in a company. I didn't like being around humans. That's the reason I ran away from my family. I didn't want to be CEO of the Hunters Enterprise, my family company. My only dream was to marry Asher, but now