Sitting at the airport while waiting for a flight, Ava was looking around her surroundings.She had never traveled out of the pack. She was tipping her legs on the floor, watching the people with their families and partners. Either they were going on a vacation or going outside to study or work.Her face was pale. Her mind was lost somewhere else despite staring at the people before her.She felt all alone. Her heart was empty. Her tears had dried and could not come out of her eyes anymore.She looked tired, weak, and exhausted.As last night she decided to leave the pack, she booked a ticket for her tonight. She had some savings that her mother had given her before her wedding to Gamma Harper.She looked down at the bank card in her hand.She had used a lot of that card at her mother's wedding. She recalled that she had bought a watch from Ian on that card as well. It was his birthday present.She remembered how they spent the whole day together, and Ian confessed to her for the firs
Those dark brown eyes were so fierce that she forgot to look at the man's face. When her brow arched slightly, Ava's gaze shifted to her other facial features.He was a young man with good looks."I asked, "Who are you?”He asked the question again. This time, his voice was so cold that it made her flinch.She immediately moved back, almost falling back.But a hand grabbed her hand, preventing her from falling.Ava gasped when she noticed how close she was to falling. The man pulled her up, making her stand straight.His hands, which were holding her hand, caught her attention.It was full of tattoos.For once, her heart shook inside as the tattooed hand reminded her of Ian.When the man let her go, she lowered her head and said,"I am not from this pack. I am sorry. I didn't mean to..."She paused when she thought about why she was giving him so much explanation.She looked at the man. In his dark suit, he appeared youthful. But he looked intimidating and unapproachable.Her eyes wen
FOUR YEARS LATERThe weather was dull. It was freezing outside. The yellowish-orange leaves were falling from the trees, allowing the trees to regrow new leaves.A young woman sneezed as the air rushed past her. She rubbed her nose, which had turned red. She quickly covered her nose with her thick white scarf.Beside her, a young man uttered a mocking utterance."Even after four years of being here, you still can not adapt to the weather in our pack.”She turned to glance at him. Her soft gaze caused the young man's mocking on his face to fade."Brother, stop teasing me," she said in a low tone.He smiled at her and lifted her hand to rub her head."Ava, it is my duty to look after you. You know that."She nodded her head, but then a smile crossed her lips, which he could not notice. As the man stroked her hair, she raised her hand and grabbed his wrist.He paused his movement and looked at her. His blue eyes glowed, and he let out a painful hiss. He quickly yanked his hand away from
Ava blinked her eyes a few times when she heard Cora. She turned her head and said,"W-What?"The other women burst into laughter. Cora laughed and shook her head.“Just kidding. Everyone in our pack likes him. I wondered if you might choose to remain in this pack so you could see him often.”Ava stared at Cora, not knowing what to reply. Cora was the assistant general manager. She had a solid reputation within the company.Selena, another woman, cleared her throat. She managed advertising. She said,"By the way, I have heard that Alpha Dane has a favorite woman. He is very fond of her."Crystal, the brand promotion department's head, nodded her head to agree with it."I bet it's Freya," she muttered.Ava returned her gaze out of the window while listening to the women's gossip.Freya has been a popular model in recent years. She used to work as an exclusive model for this pack company. However, for unknown reasons, Alpha Dane Erickson terminated her contract six months ago. Everyone
After wiping her mouth with a tissue, Ava turned her attention to Rina. Rina gave her a sly grin before grabbing a drink from a waiter. Rina gave the waiter a friendly smile as he focused his attention on her. Ava noticed that and said, "Most importantly, you have to save yourself first. I can see what is going on between you and Simon." Ava was familiar with the majority of the waiters and waitresses working at this club. Because she used to do a job in a restaurant when she was a student. These people were with her in that job. Later on, they joined this club as part-timers and began to search for a job that would be ideal for them during the day. To find the job before them, Ava was fortunate enough to find it. She could say it was a miracle. "You called me. Something must be going through your head right now. Tell me," Ava said. Rina paused for a brief moment before taking Ava's hand in hers. "I need your help, Ava." "What in help?" "My little brother is sick. I need to t
Ava waited for Dane's reply as she stared at him. He was quiet and serene, not how people portrayed him.She did not wonder if they were lying about his cold personality. Because she had witnessed it herself four years ago.It was the time when he stopped her from leaving this pack. She was confused and startled. She felt like he was caging her here.However, over time, she realized where she belonged. She realized how far she was from the truth.Her mother was wrong when she told her that this pack was unsafe for her. The truth was that she believed this was the safest pack for herself.Or perhaps the Alpha of this pack made her feel that way.Ava could see his brown eyes focused on hers. He seemed to say nothing.Ava lowered her tone a little more as she asked,"What happened?"Dane was once the most feared man in the werewolf community. He was the biggest bad boy she had ever met in the past. She was well aware of his brutality and cruelty toward his enemies.Dane's eyes shifted fr
The sunlight fell on the room, dimming it. The man's face was illuminated as the ray slowly descended onto the bed.It did not bother him at all. He continued to sleep, although the sunlight was all over his face.However, a knock on the door caused his brows to twitch. His brows arched as he could hear the people outside."Alpha""Alpha, wake up. It's time for lunch."There were two maids outside the door, giggling as they were arguing who would call him first."Alpha"The man's eyes flung open. His cold eyes gaze at the ceiling. He frowned and turned his head to the door.He heard giggling again. Then a maid spoke again."Alpha—"He cut her off as he let out an angry yell."Fuck off!"The loud, angry tone echoed throughout the room, making the maids shudder inside. Their bodies began to shake with fear.They hurriedly left, terrified that their Alpha would lash out at them.Inside the room,The man stared at the ceiling for a while. His eyes had the coldness of ice. Even waking up f
Ava woke up early as usual. She went to the company. She started a new project, which was for an annual ball. She was designing the costumes for the young models. After the showcase, people would start to buy clothes from the company.Ava suddenly thought of opening her own brand. She chuckled and shook the thought away.Opening a brand meant investing millions to make it successful. Since she was under Erickson Industries, people liked her designs. It had brand value, and she got exposure in just a few months.Without this company, she would be nothing.From looking for the best quality clothes to designing them aesthetically, Ava liked to do everything on her own. Though she had many employees under her and an assistant as well, it did not lessen the pressure of her work.When it was break time, Ava went to the cafeteria and sat at the table with the familiar ladies."I heard Freya is back."Ava started to eat while listening to the gossip girls."She was out of the pack for a long
The boy's friends rushed to him and took him away. "Let's go from here. He must be the head Alpha's man. Let's not mess with him."Abigail was not pleased by Ronald's action. She grabbed his collar and pulled him toward her."Why did you do that? He was about to kiss me."He glared at her and asked, "Have you lost your mind? You were going to kiss just a random guy.""So what?" She asked, blinking her eyes to clear her view."Wouldn't it be just a kiss? I have done it before anyway."After saying that, Abigail pushed him lightly and turned around to walk away.However, Ronald grabbed her wrist to stop her. She glanced at his hand and was about to turn to face him.But before that, he spun her around and pressed her back against the railing. "You want a kiss, right?"Abigail was shocked by Ronald's action. "What—"He did not let her speak as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.Abigail's eyes widened when Ronald's lips touched against hers. She was already drunk, so his li
Ian started to walk down the alley. While walking, he kept feeling pain in his arm. He clenched his jaw when he lifted his arm and glanced at it.He saw blood dripping out of the wound. It was so painful that it was making it hard for him to breathe steadily.There was a burning sensation in the wound, which indicated that the knife was poisoned or spellbound.When he recalled how that wizard tried to harm Ava, his eyes darkened. If he had not meddled between them, he would have killed Ava.Suddenly, his phone rang in the silent alley.He took a pause to pull his phone out of his pocket with his left hand.When he saw it was his best friend, he picked up the call."Speak," he said after inhaling deeply.As if Ronald felt something was off with him, he asked,"Bro, what's wrong?""Nothing. Where are you two?""We are in the—"Ronald's voice paused when Ian heard a voice from behind him."Where are you going?"It was Ava who picked up his pace and came to stand next to him.Ian did not
Griffing moved back along with her. He kicked them in the stomach in defense.He had never imagined that protecting his sister would be so difficult for him. He tried to beat them with his abilities and spells.When the wizards could not move anymore, Griffin turned to Ava and asked,"Are you okay?"She nodded her head in response. Her wrist, which had a small cut, had finally stopped bleeding.She frowned when she noticed Griffin's eyes had grown larger. She turned her head and saw the elder wizard hurry to her to stab her with the knife.Ava and Griffin were too shocked to move, or they could say they were frozen by some spells.Ava shut her eyes to embrace the pain as the death was too close to her.However, before she felt the pain, her body was moved by a hard push.Her body collided with Griffin's and they both fell to the ground.Ava did not know what had just happened."Alpha Ian!"Griffin's scared and trembling voice caused Ava's eyes to fling open. She turned her head and im
Ian's words caught Ava off guard. The wizards that were holding her hand laughed."You were well-known in our coven. They always said you had something in you that no other Alpha possessed. What about revealing that side of yourself to us?"Ian ignored his words as he stared at Ava. He lifted his hands to feel the circle. But the more he tried to touch the air, the more pain surged through his body.He did not want to feel defeated. In front of him was the love of his life. He had lost her once; he could not lose her again.He clenched his jaw, feeling rage for not being able to do what he wanted.The man Ian had let go a while ago grabbed the wooden stick they had brought to scare the young kid. He then charged toward Ian.Ian was so focused on saving Ava that he did not notice what the man was doing.Ava's eyes shifted to the man. Her eyes widened when the man approached Ian from behind."IAN, WATCH OUT!"She screamed, but it was too late. Because the man had already hit Ian's back
Except for Ava, who was unable to move, everyone turned their heads.When they saw the dark silhouette approaching them, their eyes frowned.Their eyes widened at the sight of the red eyes coming closer. It was as if they saw a power in those eyes, causing them to shake inside in fear.The man came to stand a few feet away behind Ava and muttered,"Bloody wizards…"Ava's eyes moved as she heard the deep voice. She did not need any time to recognize the voice. His voice formed a hope in her heart to finally get aid in this situation.She still had not turned. Her gaze shifted to her brother.Griffin was taken aback as his gaze fell on the person standing behind Ava. He murmured in confusion,"A-Alpha Ian?"All the wizards around them got alerted as their body was tensed.Ian's eyes shifted to the man who was wrapping his hands around Ava's waist. The man looked frozen. Ian's eyes moved down to the man's hand, and immediately he let out a low growl."How dare you touch her?"The man tre
Griffin suggested that they go to a club and have a drink. Ava agreed since she also needed to clear her mind.There was a club near the company, but Ava did not want to go because she might run into some of the employees. So they decided to go to a club that was quite far away."Isn't it the north side of the city?" Ava asked when she heard Griffin's suggested club."Yeah, but only wizards and witches go there. That can be our safe place."Ava turned to Griffin, who was sitting next to her in his car. "You almost forget you are a hybrid."Griffin grinned at her and nodded his head. "You are right. I shift a few nights a month. I enjoy my magic more."Ava patted her hand on his shoulder. "You should shift more because who knows when we will need your wolf to take over?"Being a hybrid did not mean only having two kinds combined. Their wolves were also very powerful."Okay, I will shift often."Ava and Griffin went to the nightclub. They got to know new people. Griffin introduced her t
Ava gave them a puzzled look. "Who?"Debra pushed Abigail and walked over to Ava and said, "Don't listen to her. She is just pulling my leg for nothing. Such a bad friend!"Suddenly Ava recalled the interaction between Stephen and Debra. She wondered if Abigail was talking about him.However, she dismissed the thought because she knew her brother would never chase any girl like that. After all, he was one of the members of the Power Gang. Those boys did not chase women; women pursued them.She was about to ask who it was again, but she stopped by a ringtone. She saw who had called her.She received the call and spoke, "Beta Bruno."Debra turned her head to Abigail, making faces at her. Abigail glared at Debra, indicating not to tease her.Ava smiled when she noticed her friends' silent bickering."Freya is coming back to the pack today. So I am not going to come to the company. Tell Alpha I would spend some time with her."Hearing about Freya, Ava felt awkward. She recalled the day wh
Ava left the office in the evening. She had nothing in her mind. She only wanted to go home and sleep. She had worked all day and eaten little. Dane's words kept replaying in her head every time she thought about her future.It looked like fate had never decided happiness in her life. All it wrote for her was suffering mentally.She was depressed and alone in this pack.On her way, Griffin called her, asking her to meet him. She refused by saying that she was tired. She said she would meet him tomorrow evening.The sky was slowly getting dark. The orange shadow in the sky faded into the darkness.Ava paid the cabbie and walked toward her house.It was a house with three bedrooms. Dane suggested this house, so she never considered moving out, even though it was too large for one person.She took out the keys and was about to open the door when she heard the sound of another car from behind.She turned around and was stunned.The car stopped near her house, and two people were getting o
ONE WEEK LATERAva awoke to the sound of a loud alarm. She opened her eyes and did not consider sleeping for a few minutes longer. She sat up slowly, grabbing the phone and stopping the alarm, which would continue to snooze if she did not turn it off.She glanced outside the window. It was early in the morning.Another day arrived, and she had to pass it. She believed she would have to cooperate with her fate without questioning it much.She left the Mystic Shadow Pack one week ago. She did not tell her mate before leaving. That was why her wolf was really upset with her, refusing to shift again.Ava was in real trouble. Her wolf's resistance was really hurting her, making her weak.All week, she could only practice her powers as a witch, but she could not shift and run.The last time she had shifted was when she met Ian and realized that he had become her mate.Ava's phone rang in her hand, drawing her attention away from the window.She received the phone call while getting out of t