CHARLENE'S POV"Where are you going? I haven't thanked you yet," I stated as I walked beside her, slightly panting from the run. I hadn't been running this long since I belonged to Mystic Moon Pack. Or maybe I had just forgotten how good it feels to run. She looked towards me with a puzzled expression, "What are you talking about? Didn't I just get you out of there?" "I know that, but I also meant, where am I supposed to go now? I can't stay in this place forever," I explained, sounding annoyed. She shrugged nonchalantly, "Why not come with us?" She turned towards me and flashed a smile. Her grin faded after I didn't respond, "Do you need someone to guide you or something?" I stopped in front of the gate and turned around to face her again, "No. I've lived here my whole life. I've never left, until yesterday. What kind of life could I possibly have? Besides, how can you trust me after what I've done?" She thought for a moment before replying, "Well, you did manage to save my lif
CHARLENE'S POV"What the hell?" Suddenly a figure lunged out of a door, grabbing the closest thing to him; a metal chair, throwing it to the side. His eyes widened as he recognized me immediately, "Oh s*it," his expression changing into one of complete panic as he ran towards me. "S*it! S*it! S*it! S*it! F*cking s*it!" My eyes darted frantically from side to side, trying desperately to avoid the knife aimed at me, "Hey, hey, easy. Easy! I'm unarmed!" I screamed hysterically, backing away, tripping over the loose grass. The stranger grabbed my arm painfully tight and pulled me backwards, dragging me behind him into the building, before closing the door quickly behind us. I stood stock still, trying desperately to catch my breath as the man stood in front of me with his hands clenched into fists. He appeared extremely tense, almost trembling. He breathed deeply several times before taking a step back, his breathing visibly evening out. "I… don't know what you're thinking. Or why do
CHARLENE'S POVI scowled and folded my arms across my chest, "I told you I'm sorry. Are you going to stop being mad at me now?" For a moment he stared blankly at me, seeming lost in thought. He seemed reluctant to reply, his face twisting slightly in annoyance, "What the actual f*ck… what happened?" He rubbed at his temples wearily. "I don't understand any of this." "It's complicated." I started shortly. He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, obviously," he muttered sarcastically. There was silence for a while, as I stared at him, trying to work out how the hell to explain what I meant without making it sound totally insane. I ran a shaky hand through my blonde curls. There weren't many things in the world I liked less than explaining anything. I finally sighed heavily and dropped my hand, turning my attention back to the man, "Where am I?" I glanced around briefly, trying to take in my surroundings. He studied me closely for a second longer before replying, "You're in one of the safe houses
CHARLENE'S POV"Sometimes the wolves have a problem with our relationship, I know that. Some even tried to attack me during the battle." He took a deep breath as a flash of regret crossed his features briefly, making his expression turn bitter. He seemed reluctant to continue talking about the matter further. I cleared my throat softly to interrupt whatever thoughts he was having, "Alpha Jaxton seems to think that we'll be okay with your presence here." I waited for him to respond, but he remained silent. I frowned. "Don't you have anything to add?" After several moments, he gave me a tired smile and chuckled lightly. "Sorry," he answered. "Let me catch my breath for a few seconds. I feel like I'm going to pass out any moment now." "It's fine," I assured him with a slight nod. "Take your time." He sighed in relief and rubbed the bridge of his nose before giving me a small smile. "Sorry again." "No, it's okay," I told him quickly, waving my hand to dismiss the apology. "What happ
CHARLENE'S POVHe returned the smile. Slowly, his expression turned melancholic again and I frowned in confusion. "How are you feeling now?" I inquired curiously. He gave me a weak smile. "Better." He told me honestly, before shaking his head slightly. "Still pretty bad. The pain is still very painful…" "Maybe you're just sore." I was concerned. He shook his head immediately. "I don't think so. I don't feel any pain. Besides, this place doesn't hurt, not physically anyway. Maybe I got burned when I was caught? It could explain why I feel like I'm dying. Oh well, I'll deal with it later." He shrugged his shoulders. "O–okay." I blinked at him for a moment before I began smiling. "What?" he asked curiously. "Are you laughing at me?" He frowned in confusion. "I was just thinking…" "About?" He pressed curiously. I bit my lip. I couldn't believe I was considering doing something like this, but maybe I should do it just for the sake of seeing his reaction, to see how serious this real
CHARLENE'S POVBefore I could come up with any kind of ideas, however, he pushed the blankets from his face before turning around, giving me a shy smile. My heart raced rapidly inside my chest as I stared at him with wide, surprised blue eyes, taking in the sight of the bruises and cuts covering his pale skin. It seemed like he had tried to make an attempt at healing his wounds, but ended up failing terribly. They were bleeding quite a lot and he probably had no idea how to properly heal them. The amount of blood that covered his entire body made me feel sick to my stomach. He must have noticed me watching him because he gave me a weak smile. "Hey, it's almost midnight already," he whispered, his voice sounding rather hoarse, causing a knot to form in my throat. "Shouldn't we get back to sleep?" I bit my lower lip, trying to hide the frown that tugged at my lips. "Okay," I replied softly. He nodded, shifting onto his side before reaching out to pull me closer to him. His warm touc
CHARLENE'S POV"What is it?" He asked, narrowing his eyebrows slightly. Shaking my head, I stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. "Nothing." I bit my lower lip as I tried hard to keep myself from looking down. He sighed impatiently before saying, "Tell me." "No!" I blurted out before realizing it could come off as rude. Immediately afterwards I lowered my voice, muttering, "Sorry. That came out wrong. Please don't make me talk about this, please." I closed my eyes tightly, afraid that if I did, he would start laughing at me again. His voice was unusually cold when he responded, "I won't." Slowly opening my eyes again, I turned my head to face the door and took another step backwards, wanting nothing more than to run out of the room as fast as possible. Suddenly the warmth of his arms around my waist vanished, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the hallway. My heart sank when I realized that he wasn't going to try and follow me. I had expected him to want to spend
CHARLENE'S POVIt wasn't fair. I wanted to break things. To rip apart anything or anyone who stood in my way. I couldn't stand their taunting. Their mocking. Their laughter. I wanted to scream until every single part of me was red with rage, but no matter how much I screamed it wouldn't bring back the people I loved. The ones I cared about the most. How pathetic I must look. I'm so weak. As soon as I thought about that, I quickly wiped the tears off my cheeks. Weak. Yeah. I am weak. Always have been. It's always been true. It's always going to be true, and that was fine. Everything was alright. It wasn't my fault. For the first time in my life, I actually believed that. I wasn't weak anymore. I was strong. So strong that the very thought of hurting myself was impossible. But I guess that didn't matter to those bastards anyway. Because they always seemed to find out. When I had calmed down quite a bit and managed to convince myself that everything would be okay, I headed home. When
CHARLENE'S POVA few years later...I am now the Luna of the Vicious Shadow Pack, who destroyed the curse of their pack."So," Jaxton grinned beside me. "Why are you looking at me like that, huh?""Nothing. It's been a year since we met again, Charlene," Jaxton drawled, tracing the line of my jaw with his fingertips. "Can we be like–""Like what, Jaxton?""Like... official now?"I laughed at Jaxton's question and hugged him tightly. People pass around us and they can't stop glancing at us. I let my gaze wander over the rugged lines of his face, his sculpted lips, his eyes which had gone silver when he started talking about our relationship. I smiled widely and pressed a kiss on him. He groaned and kissed me back hard, his tongue tangling with mine. I tasted like mint from the chocolate mousse he had insisted I try today, and it made him smirk. We break the kiss after a while, both panting for breath, but neither of us has said anything. The people walking around us have stopped to w
CHARLENE'S POVSoon after the war finished, Selena declared her defeat in front of Alpha Jaxton, along with a genuine apology of what she did as she merely got blinded by the idea of revenge. She wished to be killed in the hands of the alpha. He didn't know that his parents were the cause of Selena's misery, so he took her in. She had to serve Alpha Jaxton for the rest of her life in exchange for being forgiven. So far, they haven't found the right way to kill her yet. But it won't be long before that changes. The war is still going on and Alpha Jaxton will take advantage if he sees any opportunity to get rid of her once and for all. She was still alive, but Selena has seen what kind of a man Alpha Jaxton truly is. There were no other words to describe him than brutal. In fact, I believe that he's only human. A person capable of loving someone so much, yet having such little care and patience for the same person. I wouldn't expect more from an alpha than that. It would never last fo
CHARLENE'S POVA few months later, Alpha Jaxton couldn't possibly leave me. During the commencement of the war, I was already on the verge of giving birth. My life would be at risk if Jaxton joined the battle. He was left with no choice other than to rely on Beta Xavier when he heard that my parents were about to get killed. Alpha Jaxton and Beta Xavier have been on good terms ever since the alpha knew that Xavier did nothing wrong. Jaxton owes a lot to him, considering how he was the only one who stayed by my side, protected, defended, and fought for my sake. Jaxton and Xavier had become close allies in order to survive. Beta Xavier has completely surrendered, he accepted the fact that no matter how many times the person he loves gets reborn, his love would never be reciprocated. ***"Hey, Charlene, are you okay? What's bothering you?" Jaxton asked. As he held onto my hand, he rubbed small circles into it to soothe away any pain I might've been feeling from my labor. The pain was
CHARLENE'S POVHis arms came around me tightly and his tongue swept past my lips. I moaned. We kissed for what felt like hours before he suddenly pulled away, leaving me gasping for breath. I blinked rapidly at him, trying to figure out exactly what happened between us just now. He still looked nervous and uncertain but also happy. My heart thumped heavily and my face felt flushed hot. He chuckled softly, brushing my bangs from my face. "Well?" "Yes, I..." My voice faltered. I had no idea what to say next. It was all very confusing. Finally, I managed to get the words out. "Thank you, Jaxton. Thank you for showing me your dreams." He frowned. "What are you talking about?" "I... I haven't really experienced anything like that before. The butterflies. And everything. You've been giving me a lot of good experiences lately, without telling me where they come from or when they're going to happen. And I'm just… overwhelmed by it," I finally admitted. I wasn't exactly sure how else to
CHARLENE'S POV"I'm sorry…" There were tears running down his face, and there was no mistaking it this time. His eyes showed it clearly. He was trying to hold back tears, but they just kept coming, streaming down his cheeks in tiny rivers. His shoulders started shaking, as if he wanted to break out sobbing but couldn't allow himself to. And just when I thought he wasn't going to say anything else. "I–I love you, Charlene." The words were barely audible, but they sent a wave of warmth through me regardless. And I couldn't suppress a small laugh. I took his hand. "What's funny?" he sniffled. My expression softened. "That is funny. What you said." But he only looked confused. "What do you mean 'what did I say?' "When you asked what happened in the dream last night, you sounded so sad, Jaxton." I continued to tease him with light humor, trying to distract him from the fact that I was crying too. It worked. A small smile appeared on his lips as he wiped away one last tear that ran
CHARLENE'S POVHis right eye was swollen shut and half of his lower lip was cut through, revealing the bone underneath. His whole body felt like it was in shock. Was he okay? Jaxton slowly moved his eyelid upward. A single tear rolled down his cheek. "Char…" He breathed heavily. Relief and joy rushed over me. Thank goodness he's alright. I pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly against me, trying to absorb all of the heat and energy radiating off his body. I buried my nose into the curve of his neck as I inhaled deeply, relishing the scent of him. It was intoxicating! He smelled like fresh rain and pine trees. As my head started to spin, I realized there were other people nearby. They must be watching us or more specifically. And they're probably wondering how we knew each other or if I even remembered him at all. But this didn't matter. All that mattered now was Jaxton. The moment he wrapped his arms around me I felt safe and protected. So safe and happy. It almost made every
CHARLENE'S POVI couldn't force myself to push him off or push him to continue, even though that was what I desperately wanted. I needed him. I needed to be in control. No one else but him had ever made me feel like this. And I never would again if I didn't do something about this mess we were in. The sound of footsteps interrupted our moment just when I was considering whether or not it would be wise to ask him to stop. A voice from above us snapped. "Is this how you treat the lady you claim to love?" We both looked up with matching sheepish grins, my face redder than a tomato, Jaxtonton's cheeks darker than a ripe tomato, and our clothes crumpled and torn beyond repair. "Who are you?" Jaxton asked, trying to pull himself out from underneath me. I tried to sit up as well but it seemed that my arms still belonged to someone else. "Who did you say you were?" Jaxton asked again, ignoring my questions for now. "I don't know who you think you're messing with, but we are going to have
CHARLENE'S POV"You'll come back eventually, Jaxton. It may take years, but eventually you'll find someone who understands, even if she doesn't love you like you deserve. That's what you want, right?" It seemed so simple when I said it out loud, but it would never be simple with him. I know that now. It was a hopeless relationship. Even more hopeless than the one with Xavier. No matter where we went or what we did, there was always something holding us back from really being together. We stared at each other in silence. Finally he gave a half smile and shook his head slightly before pulling himself up off the couch. We stood for a moment gazing at each other before he leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the cheek. I felt my eyes burn suddenly with unshed tears as I turned my head slightly and pressed my mouth against his shoulder. He smelled of the laundry detergent he used. A strong masculine scent that mixed pleasantly with some sweet, flowery scent he liked to wear. I wrappe
CHARLENE'S POVHe thinks we're incompatible. I had thought he wanted me! But the way he said it, it sounded as though he didn't want anything more than friendship and maybe s*x. I felt disappointed, hurt even, and humiliated. "It just occurred to me that your bloodline isn't completely pure," he explained, "or at least, not entirely. There's a chance, if we're compatible enough..." I couldn't help feeling hopeful. "Yes. If we are compatible, then when our souls touch." He trailed off. His eyes were sparkling. I could feel how badly he wanted me. How much he really liked me. I could see how much he was enjoying our time together. So much so that he would willingly change himself for better. I felt tears welling up inside me. I hadn't expected anything more than being friends. Not that I wouldn't be grateful and happy, of course. But still, this was so unexpected for both of us. I nodded in response to his question, not trusting my voice. "That's perfect, Charlene," he grinned. "We