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Chapter 5
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2024-11-27 19:15:33Avery's POV
NIGHT FELL.
“Do you want some water?” I turned weakly at Jameson. I was seated in front of the fire he had created, wrapped with my blanket to keep me warm.
I nodded weakly but without collecting the water bottle from him.
“I don't want to remove my hands. Can you please feed it to me?” I pleaded, not wanting to remove my hands that were under the blanket.
He sighed soundly before crouching, he held my jaw with his index finger and I drank from the bottle.
This little contact sparked some emotions within me and I knew it was the same for him. After I was done, he didn't say anything and also sat beside me.
“Thanks,”
“It's nothing,” he responded without looking at me. I bit my lips nervously for what I was about to say.
Clearing my throat, I did that to get his attention.
“A-About earlier, I'm sure that I wasn't hallucinating and….”
“Why didn't I see her then?” He cut me off, turning to face me. This made me swallowed the rest of my words. The bond was making it hard for me to respond to him and I don't like how I was giving him the satisfaction of intimidating me.
“I know what I saw,”
“Okay. Let's agree that you did see the old lady. What should I do about it?”
“I feel like she's bad and we need to report to the school. I don't feel good about it. She said some weird things that kept ringing in my head,” I stated, recalling how she mentioned Anna being weak.
“We will report to them when I see her myself,” he declared and I wasn't liking where this conversation was heading to.
“You think I'm crazy, huh?”
“You said that yourself,”
“What do you really take me for?”
“A heartbreaker!” He shouted that got me flinched because I wasn't expecting that tone from him at all.
“Do you really wanna pretend as if nothing happened?”
“We are not talking about this,” I stated with a slight frown, standing up on my feet.
“Oh really? Well, I shouldn't expect anything less. That's because you like Flair,” he stood up as well.
“Excuse you?”
“Excuse you, young lady!”
“Don't get me pissed, Jameson,”
“Now you're mad?”
“Do you even realize what you're saying?! These are false accusations, @sshole!” I yelled at him with the same intensity. The wood burning made me see his expression, he was clenching his jaw with his hands fisted.
He pointed his index finger at me, about to talk before I heard a rattling sound behind me. Instantly, I moved closer to him and gripped his wrists.
The fear of him leaving me alone just like what happened earlier surpasses the banter we were having at the moment.
“Someone is coming,” I said to him in a hush tone with my hands around his arms. He was quite taller than me, looking down at me calmly.
He wanted to remove my hands from his hold but I held him tighter.
“We are a team. We need to put our differences aside,” I told him with gritted teeth. He wasn't doing anything. I was scared of us coming close to a wild boar.
“I told you. I saw fire. Come quickly,” we heard a voice coming from that direction. It sounded familiar but I couldn't place it before they revealed themselves.
“Amelia,” I called out in disbelief, not expecting to meet her here. Flair also came out, they both looked tired.
“You're a wolf. I wonder why you didn't smell them,” Jameson scoffed, he walked away but I didn't care about what he thought. Now I have people I'm familiar with beside me.
“How is it going with you guys?” Amelia asked me, I didn't respond and only sat down.
“I will make the camp for us. Let me go talk to Jameson,” Flair said, Amelia hummed before Flair walked away and Amelia sat beside me.
“You don't you wanna talk about it?”
“I didn't tell you something was wrong,”
“Why did he give that comment?” she asked, referring to Jameson's words before he walked away.
“Scratch that, is it possible to be hallucinating when I'm brooding?”
“Why did you ask that?” I began telling her about the old lady I met. She listened attentively until it was time for her to respond.
“Flair and I did some research about this forest before we came here. We were told that an old woman, who died centuries ago, has her soul lingering around. She was a witch that got banished because she used dark magic,” she explained.
“Why did she reveal herself to me then?”
“You need to always thick around Jameson and not alone,” she advised and I pouted, scared of the unknown.
“To cap it all, my belt got damaged in the process,” I informed her, looking down at the broken buttons.
“You don't have to worry. We are all together and we will find the treasure together. But I'm not sure if you will make it alive,” she said in a creepy manner and I furrowed my brows.
“Stop it. Are you trying to scare me?”
“Maybe not darlington,” she smiled before her face began to change into that old woman. Making my heart dropped in my chest.
“What?” I mumbled, afraid as I rushed to move away from her.
Bab terkait
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 6
Avery’s POVAs the trees enveloped us again in the forest, the air wrapped cooler around us. The heat from our previous disagreement was still in my chest making my heart ache, not that I would dare say so. Because Jameson was stomping beside me with stiff limbs and shoulders, as if each step he took was a protest at the uncomfortable ceasefire we had just negotiated.I saw the slightest flash of irritation on his face when I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye without turning fully to him, but it was gone as quickly as it had sprung up. Normally, he was so stoic, so detached. It annoyed me.I bit the insides of my cheeks slowly so as to not send my mind back toward the harsh words we had exchanged just moments before. I held tightly to the strap of my backpack as we walked further into the woods. The trees on either side of the narrow route stood as though the sentinels, their gnarled limbs reaching out as if to snare us. My body shivered as the fragrance of decayed foliag
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 7
Avery’s POVThe morning showed through the thick cover of the canopy, like the sun itself feared to shine into this area of the woods. I held tightly onto the map, brittle edges flaking off with every contact. Jameson strode a few steps ahead, his gaze roving over the ground with calculated precision.“This map is useless unless we know where we are,” I muttered, piercing the tense silence between us.Jameson didn’t look back, but his shoulders went stiff. “Then why are you clinging to it so much?”His tone was terse, and his patience was clearly fraying. I seethed behind the back of his head, fighting the impulse to retaliate. He always did that — shut people out, deflect, pretend he had it all under control. But the reality was apparent in his rigid posture and the keen edge in his voice. He was just as lost as I was.With every step the woods around us thickened. The trees towered like giants with darkened, scarred bark. Fog started to creep along the floor of the woods, wrapping a
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 8
Avery’s POVThe low menacing growl echoed through the quiet forest; It exposed its teeth like an unseen wind, freezing me to the bone. My breath seized in my throat, and I clutched the pack's strap so tightly that I thought it would break.“Jameson,” I whispered, the words barely audible above the loud pounding of my heart.He turned quickly, already gripping his knife handle. His expression changed from annoyance to sharp alertness, all in an instant. "Don't move," he ordered. His voice was absolute."But what's—" I tried to talk.“Shh, I’ll tell you later,” he added. His eyes glanced fiercely into the looming shadows ahead as if looking for some enemy in them.The growling reappeared, louder this time, and the forest shook. A boar emerged, huge and bristling, its tusks gleaming like ivory blades.I swallowed hard, tasting the lead at the back of my mouth.“We are going to back away,” Jameson said softly, in a voice that held both firmness and calm. "Take your time and keep your eyes
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 9
Avery’s POVAs the group walked along through the thick forest, the air felt strange. I looked straight ahead, pretending not to notice the frequent sidelong glances Jameson was throwing in my direction. My hands formed into fists at my sides. The last thing I needed was him coming and trying to establish some sort of dominance here.The others around us were whispering among themselves. It wasn’t difficult to feel the rising discomfort because the shadows felt like they were growing longer by the minute. Every rustle of leaves, every whisper of the wind, felt like hidden warning signs in this unnatural-feeling living forest.Amelia fell in step beside me, her face white and drawn. “Avery,” she said, leaning even closer, “I don’t like this. There’s something…off about this place.”I nodded, speaking below my regular level. “Stay close to me. Trust no one, least of all those who appear too self-assured.”In front of us, some of the more aggressive students, led by Sheila, barked orders
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 10
Avery’s POVThe voice froze my blood. Dripping with malice, it cleaved its way through the chaos like a knife. “Did you think you could just step in and take what belongs to the cursed?I turned toward the source of the voice, my throat choking on air. All I could see was a figure wrapped in shadow, their height, and their stance, crushing and monstrous. They were wrapped around us, and the air grew colder. I could feel my hands trembling.Jameson yanked me behind him, and although the quiver I heard in his voice showed his humanity, it embodied the image of a protective man. “Who are you?” he asked, although his hand on my arm showed that he was nervous, too.The figure laughed, a sound so hollow and bitter it nearly broke my chest. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What you’ve disturbed is what matters. What you’ve unleashed.”Before Jameson or I could respond, the ground beneath us popped to life again. A tremendous fracture appeared in the soil, and the faint, haunting reflection I had
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 11
Avery’s POVLong after the words had left the forest, the whisper buzzed in my head, rattling against the walls of my skull. “You cannot escape”.Jameson gripped my hand a little tighter as we walked back toward the forest trail. His silence weighed heavy, his thoughts a storm I could not see.For a while, I welcomed the silence. Bits of images I couldn’t make sense flashed in my head—images of the glowing symbols, of the twisted creature, of the figure cloaked in shadow. They were like shards of a nightmare puzzle, missing pieces, lying more disorganised than usual.But one thing was sure, the curse was not some joke. It was alive and it had its sights on us.“Do you think we’re safe now?” The silence was broken by Jameson’s voice.I looked at him, his profile sharp against the faint moonlight. He didn’t meet my eyes, his gaze straight ahead, but the tension of his jaw betrayed him.“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I don’t believe that it is over.”He sighed heavily and raked his hai
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 12
Avery’s POVI grabbed my satchel strap tighter, gravel and sticks crashing under the soles of my boots as Jameson walked in front of us. The depth in his step matched the tension that had been building since the morning.We were just out of supplies. Earlier, Amelia had mentioned in a polite whisper that our water supply had been reduced to just one flask, and the couple of strips of dried meat we had left could not last another day. I looked back at her — Amelia's usually calm attitude was breaking down, and her gaze shifted to Flair, who walked in her shadow.Flair, usually the jokester of the bunch, had an uncharacteristic seriousness to his face. He glanced into the shadows of the trees, as if he could feel something we couldn’t.“What’s the long face, Flair?” Jameson called out, the tone tinged with challenge.Flair shrugged but remained silent. Jameson halted, turning to him with a brow arched. “If you have something to say, now is the time.”I put a hand on Jameson’s arm before
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-12FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 13
(Sharing a tent)Avery's POV My heart suddenly began to face rapidly. I didn't know exactly was wrong but the air around me was strange.Suddenly, Jameson took my hand and started to run, "Stop! I don't want us to get lost," I said but he chose not to listen because he kept on dragging me, making me follow him."Do you want to get lost alone? Besides, I know the way around here," Jameson said but I shook my head and sighed.After running a long distance, he finally stopped causing me to stop running. I tried to catch my breath, taking my hand up to my chest while breathing rapidly."Why are you breathing like that? We just ran a little," Jameson said. I gritted my teeth in anger before dragging my hand away from him in anger, "You're unbelievable! Oh my God. Why am I even surprised?" I said and took my hand up to my hair."You're overreacting! What is your matter?" Jameson asked and arched his brows, wondering what was wrong with me while I was wondering what was wrong with him."W
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2024-12-19
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FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 83
Noah stood beside me, his body tense but composed. Across from us, Dominic checked his gun, his expression unreadable.Raven’s voice crackled through the comms. “Security is heavier than expected. She knows something’s coming.”Dominic didn’t flinch. “Doesn’t matter.”He motioned for his men to move.I exhaled slowly, steadying myself.And then, we went in.---The first thing that hit me was the smell.Oil. Dust. Gunpowder.The warehouse was massive, stretching into darkness, illuminated only by flickering industrial lights overhead. Crates were stacked high, some sealed, others cracked open to reveal weapons, cash, documents.Lisa had been preparing for war.And we had just walked straight into it.A guard rounded the corner, rifle raised.Noah moved before I could react.A single shot. The man crumpled.No hesitation. No wasted movement.The others followed. Dominic’s team swept through the warehouse like a shadow, taking down guards with brutal efficiency.We advanced quickly, clea
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 82
The city never slept, but for once, I wished it would.I sat by the window, watching headlights streak past on the rain-slicked streets below. The low hum of traffic and the distant wail of sirens blended together, forming an eerie symphony that filled the silence in my head.Behind me, Noah was still asleep.His breathing was slow and steady, the rise and fall of his chest almost hypnotic. He hadn’t gotten real rest in days—none of us had—but exhaustion had finally caught up to him. I knew he needed the sleep.And yet, I couldn’t close my eyes.I reached for the passport again, flipping it open under the dim glow of the city lights.A new name. A new identity.A way out.Dominic had left it for me before disappearing into the night, his expression unreadable as he’d placed it on the table between us.“No strings. No pressure. If you want to disappear, I’ll make sure no one finds you.”No one.Not Lisa. Not her people. Not even Noah.The thought sent a hollow ache through my chest.I s
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 81
Avery’s POVThe weight of it all didn’t hit me until I stepped outside.The cool night air rushed against my face, mixing with the distant scent of smoke and gunpowder. The mansion—Lisa’s fortress—was a mess of flashing red and blue lights, agents moving in and out like a swarm.Lisa Monroe was in custody.It was over.I wanted to feel relief. I wanted to let out the breath I’d been holding for what felt like years.But all I felt was exhaustion.“Avery!”I turned just in time to see Noah pushing through the crowd, eyes wild with panic.Before I could say a word, his hands were on my face, his touch firm but careful, like he was checking to make sure I was real.“You’re bleeding.” His voice was sharp, urgent.I blinked, and that’s when I felt it. The dull ache in my shoulder had sharpened into something burning and raw. The bullet wound.“I’m fine,” I managed, even as my knees threatened to buckle.Noah didn’t believe me for a second.His arm wrapped around my waist, holding me upright
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 80
Avery’s POVThe gunshot cracked through the hallway, sharp and deafening.Instinct took over.I dove to the side, barely registering the blur of motion as Noah grabbed my arm and yanked me behind cover. The bullet struck the wall where I had been standing a second ago, sending a spray of plaster into the air."Move!" Dominic barked, already drawing his own weapon.Noah shoved me behind a marble pillar, pressing his back against it as Lisa took another shot. The bullet embedded itself in the wood of a nearby door.I gasped for breath, my pulse hammering. Lisa’s footsteps clicked against the floor as she advanced, slow and deliberate."You never should have come here," she called out, her voice eerily calm. "You had your chance to walk away."Noah shot me a look—silent communication. He was going to flank her.I nodded, gripping my pistol so tightly my fingers ached. My whole body was screaming at me to run, to escape, but I forced the fear down.Not this time.Lisa had hunted me for to
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 79
Avery’s POVThe night dragged on in silence, thick and suffocating. Sleep wasn’t an option, not when my mind wouldn’t stop racing. Lisa was out there, hunting us. We had barely escaped the warehouse, and now we were holed up in a safe house that felt more like a waiting room before a battle.I sat by the cracked window, watching the city beyond the darkness. A few flickering streetlights cast long, distorted shadows across the empty road. The world kept moving, oblivious to the war we were about to start.Behind me, the soft click of a keyboard filled the room. Raven was still working, hunched over her laptop, eyes flickering across the multiple screens in front of her. Dominic had disappeared into one of the back rooms, probably getting whatever sleep he could manage. Noah was standing near the doorway, arms crossed, his entire body rigid with tension.“We should be doing more,” he muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear.I turned to him. “Raven’s doing everything she can. We hav
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 78
Avery’s POVThe tension in the air turned thicker as it pressed against me while we moved through the alley way. The sound of our footsteps against the wet pavement was an indelible reminder of how exposed we were. Every threat is in form of shadow, each sound outside seems to promise danger.I kept my head down, fingers wrapped tightly around the strap of my bag. Noah walked beside me, scanning the surroundings with his eyes, muscles tense under the coat. Caught behind were Dominic moving as carefully as we were, presence that stood silently as his assurance. Raven had given us a safe house, which it turned out was across the city and far from where we could get caught before reaching. "We need a car," Dominic muttered with his voice barely above a whisper.Noah gave a sharp nod. "We can't risk public transport. Lisa's people will be watching every terminal, every bus station." Swallow hard-groomed nervously, trying not to let it win me. Only hours before, the explosion at the ware
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 77
Avery’s POVLisa grunted as we fell down, her haggard hair disarrayed in perfect arrangements; her face sculping great twists of frustration. I didn't allow her even a second of respite. I straddled her, took the front of her pricey silk blouse and slammed her head against the marble floor.She gasped, but I could barely hear it over the chaos that erupted around us. Gunfire cracked through the air, and Dominic's deep curses mixed with the sharp clicks of Raven's tech. Noah was shouting my name, but I couldn't focus on him right now.To put it another way, Lisa has been tearing my life apart over many years. If I did not end this thing now, she would never stop.She recovered quickly, raising her knee into my ribs to knock the breath from my lungs. I rolled away instantly to just slide out of the way of her next attack when she lunged at me.Well, she was not some pampered socialite-she was trained and ready for situations like this. Her punches are controlled, deliberate, but mine ar
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 76
Avery’s POVThe alarms screamed so loud, they had me rattling through my bones. Red warning lights flashed on in the estate halls, sending spooky shadows down the marble floors. My heart hammered in my ears as Raven seized my wrist and pulled me across a tall display cabinet, just before a couple of guards sped past."They know we're here," came Raven's angry whisper, tightening her fingers on my arm. "We've got to move." I swallowed. I nodded. There was no time to digest what we had just heard in that meeting room-the cold, calculating voice of Lisa, condemning me like another obstacle in her way. The weight was heavy on my chest, but there was no way fear would help me. Action would.Outside were Noah and Dominic. If the alarm had reached them, they surely were racing to get to us. Or were they? I turned to Raven. "What's the exit plan?" Her gaze flicked across the hallway, darting from door to door. "We have to make it to the southern wing; that's where the utility tunnel is-it
FATED REJECTION: BOUNDED BY LOVE, DIVIDED BY FATE Chapter 75
Avery's POV The SUV sped through the darkened roads, a whiff of burnt rubber still hanging in the air. The sound of gunfire had finally faded away behind us, while inside the vehicle, the tension was all-consuming. Nobody said anything, but the unspoken truth was palpable—we had barely managed to escape, and Lisa would not let us go that easily.I leaned my head against the cool window, while my body rattled with tremors from blood loss and an adrenaline crash. Every now and again, I would slip in and out of consciousness as Noah clutched me tighter into him to keep me propped upright. His face hard with concern. He held my hand as though he were afraid to let go, his eyes on my face."Stay with me," he said roughly.Dominic was still gripping the gun in the front seat, still glancing intently between the side mirror and the road ahead. "How bad is she?"Noah bit out, "She needs a hospital. She's losing too much blood."I tried to speak, to soothe them, to say I was okay, but my tong
