~ISSAThey shrieked as I came at them. One of them sent a vine at Iran's neck but he was fast. He dodged. He was like a blur, escaping all their attacks as he came at them in all his glory. I felt like a spectator, watching everything happen from Iran's eyes. He revealed his claws and grabbed one of the witches. She was cloaked in black just like her companion and she screamed even louder than before. This caught Iran off guard and he released her while trying to shield his ears from the sound. In his moment of weakness, the second witch took up the opportunity and sent a vine of darkness at his neck.Iran groaned as the vine closed around him and I went down on my knees from within. I might have been an observer but I could feel every pain that he felt. The witch pulled us into the darkness while Iran released a roar in an attempt to break free. But the first witch recovered and sent her own vine of darkness to Iran. "Not so tough now. . ." They whispered in a sickening voice t
~YULIAI froze in my tracks as I registered the man who was supposed to be my uncle— before me. Seeing Issa shirtless, wet with sweat— was the last thing I had expected. The emotions in his eyes resembled that of a broken man. It was as if a violent storm was raging within them. They were fixed onto mine in such a way that made my intake of breath unsteady. Suddenly, he took a step toward me and I instinctively backed away. He picked up his pace with an urgency that made me question his intentions. My wolf panicked and I widened my eyes at him, preparing myself— stilling myself for what was to come. Yet when he got close enough, he shocked me with his next move. He pulled me into his arms. He wrapped his arms around me without uttering a word once and my eyes only grew wider. Since when was Issa so caring? Why on earth was he hugging me? And of course, my treacherous wolf began to relax against his warmth. His entire essence filled me and went up my nose in such a way that he
~YULIA"I will rip all your hearts apart!" I jumped in my spot and my mouth instantly went dry. I helplessly watched as all their faces began to turn pale with fear— maids and guards alike. There was no telling what Iran was going to do to them. He was losing control. "Who did it?" He demanded again and his words almost made me lose my balance. I looked from the maids to Issa. Even if someone was willing to say anything, I doubted if they would be able to utter a word under this condition. "Fine, I'll help you decide," he whispered ever so calmly yet in such a dangerous way that my legs refused to move. He grabbed a maid and she began to whimper on the spot. My heart sank when I realised that he was going to kill her. I looked to Miles, hoping that he would intervene but the man remained rooted to his spot. I did not know it when my legs developed a mind of their own and pushed me forward. "Iran!" I yelled and almost slapped myself for daring to confront him.He shot his crims
~ISSAI raced back to my room, my heart pounding so hard— it seemed as though it would disconnect itself from the veins connecting it to the rest of my body.I felt like a character in a horror movie, pursued by a ghost. But in my case, I was running from something— someone who wasn’t present but whose memory haunted my entire existence. As soon as I entered my room, I slammed the door shut so hard that the loud banging sound echoed throughout my room. “Breathe Issa,” I whispered to myself— my hands still on the knob with my forehead resting on the door as I listened to my pounding heartbeat.Slowly, I backed away from the door till I reached my bed and sat on it. I looked down at the key in my hand and my body trembled violently as the thought of him crossed my head again.“Stop!” I screamed as I buried my head in my palms, trying to shut the awful voice playing in my head."You're worthless!" Echoes of his voice rang through my head. "You can't do anything right!" Yelled the voic
~YULIA“I never went to the garden.” I folded my arms at him while shaking my head slowly. He stared straight into my eyes and my wolf danced aggressively within me as his forest green eyes seemed to glow.He was definitely crazy— probably losing his mind.“Can’t you see that you are hurt and there is blood all over your clothes? How do you suppose all that happened?” He demanded softly, his voice gentle like the breeze on a summer night.I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. He was right. There were blood stains on my clothes and my head spun like it was in a wheel.I suddenly felt unsafe and simply wanted to be left alone.He stretched his hands to touch me but I flinched away; scared that he was playing tricks on my mind, scared that he was only looking for a way to ignite a dangerous fire between us, one that wouldn’t be quenched easily.“Don’t touch me!” I yelled and rose to leave his side. But a piercing pain passed through my head and I fell again.I closed my eyes
~ISSA"What? Have you lost your mind?" Yulia screamed and I was taken aback by her outrage. She glared daggers at me and I just knew that if she had the power to burn people with her eyes, then my body would have lit up in flames.“I would never move in with you!” She yelled while getting off the bed this time.She staggered and almost fell. Her fingers were shivering and her face was pale. The drugs the pack healer had administered to her had not finished its work but she just wouldn’t listen.I stood up and wanted to run to her but she darted her fingers at me, signifying me to stop.“Why are you being so stubborn, Yulia? Can’t you see that I am doing all I can for your safety?” My hands were in the air, trying to make her see things from my point of view.As I spoke, I attempted once again at approaching her but for each step I took forward, she retreated two steps back every time.“Stay where you are! Don’t
~YULIAIssa stared back at me nervously. There was an uncertainty within his eyes. He looked like someone who liked to read people and it probably made him furious that he could not easily read me. I sighed inwardly and focused back on the task at hand. I couldn’t believe it myself that I was considering his offer but there was nothing I could do.“Yulia. . .” He took a step closer.His gaze, his eyes. Everything seemed to burn with a passion that made my heart race. There was this look in them that felt so good and awkward at the same time, I just couldn’t name it.Having him stare at me this way made me speechless, gosh! He could literally take my breath away without moving a muscle. “We. . . We would not share the same bed, under no circumstances.”“Really? Is that all you want?” He asked as if he had expected more from me. Shit! I should have been more demanding. Perhaps I pushed my luck to ask for luxury. Stupid Yulia! Yara stirred in disapproval but I did not let that gove
~YULIAThere was a silent pause for a while as I waited for the black box to speak again. “Hello, I am Alexa, your virtual assistant and new best friend! And who are you?” It asked.I heaved a sigh of relief when I finally understood what it was and my heartbeat slowed down to its usual pace. I had realised I wasn’t in trouble. Hearing too much witch talk recently must have made me super anxious.I had read about these virtual assistants in school. It was no threat. Could never be one, hopefully. “I am Yulia, and I want to take my bath.”“It’s nice to meet you, Yulia, would you like me to stream any of your favorite music while you take your bath?” Its voice was cheerful and I could not help but smile at it. “Yeah sure, play me. . .” I paused. I could have easily named a song from some of my favorite artists but I didn’t.The virtual assistant thought it was Issa earlier and wanted to play his favorite song.
~YULIA“We should go,” I whispered to Issa as I pulled him towards the door. He was still gazing at Deucalion with eyes of steel and I had to pull him a bit before he reluctantly moved.As we reached the door, Deucalion called after us, his voice infuriating as he spoke. “Tell her who she really is, Issa, she deserves to know that much before we come for her.”I wanted us out of there before Issa unleashed his unstable wolf at everyone in the house. Simmering with rage, Issa literally stomped down stairs and I followed him.“Issa! Wait,” Iris called after us. But Issa did not stop and neither did I. “Please!” Iris persisted. “What?” Issa thundered as he turned around. Even I was a bit startled by his angry outburst. Andrea was beside her sister with an embarrassed look. “You know that we mean you no harm, right?” Iris said. “We had no idea he was hiding such a dark secret from us.”“Tell him to prepare himself, if he believes that I am just going to take this without a fight, he s
~YULIAI felt a bit light headed as those words left Deucalion's mouth. Helena Craven was the first child of light. But it still did not explain why she wanted me dead. Or what she needed my blood for.“I think I need a drink,” Andrea broke the silence and went to her father’s cabinet. Iris had a distracted look while Leia just kept quiet. “How did she lose her powers?” Issa asked.“She was born with those powers, Issa. And she could do amazing things with them. She could burn anything to a crisp just like Ms. Moonshadow here almost did to Iris,” Deucalion said. “And if we are going to continue this discussion, I think you should tell her what her real name is and her family.”He said this to Issa. I looked at Issa. “What is he talking about?” “That is between me and her, Deucalion, not in front of your daughters,” Issa replied curtly. ‘I will tell you everything when we get home, not here,’ he mentally told me. I understood his precaution. The less the craven sisters knew about
~ISSAIt was the first time I saw Deucalion actually look nervous as he poured himself a drink. We were all in his big study waiting for him to start talking. I realized that even his daughters had no idea that their mother was alive.“What is she talking about, Daddy?” Leia asked in a shaky voice. “You told us mom died.”Deaucalion sighed. “Clearly, I lied,” he replied as he walked to the large window overlooking the garden in his huge backyard.The room instantly went cold at this revelation. No one said a word for a while as we all took our time to process this information. His daughters glared at him with the feeling of utter betrayal in their eyes.“Why?” Iris demanded in a tight voice, as she was the first person to recover.. Deucalion shook his head. It was as if he was in a nightmare and wanted to wake up by all means.The doors to the study suddenly burst open with Andrea and a man passionately kissing and moaning. I did not think they noticed us as they grabbed and rubbed
~YULIA“He really wants your seed so bad; he is involving the council?” I asked Issa as he sped down the highway. “This is so ridiculous,” I added in annoyance.Issa sighed and made no reply. I could see that he was deeply thinking of what to do. “You can not refuse this can you?” I asked.“Unfortunately, no,” He replied. “There has to be law and order or else everyone will just do whatever they want. That was why the council was made. To keep everyone in line and it will speak badly of me if I do not follow it. Not that I care.”Clearly, he did care and he was just in denial. I understood that, Issa being who he was, hated being told what to do, especially by those that he knew were beneath him but he had to lead by example.“I find this suspicious though,” he said. “Petr could have made this move immediately I turned him away but he waited until we both found out about Helena.”“You think he is part of it?” I asked.“I know that he is part of it, I just need to make the connection.”
~ISSAI was not surprised that the dead don’t ever stay dead. I was surprised that the dead wanted what was mine. Helena Craven was alive and that only meant two things. Deucalion lied to me or he was unaware that his Luna had cheated death. Either way, I was going to get to the bottom of whatever the fuck was going on.What did Helena Craven want with Yulia? Why did she kill my sister? The Craven family had a deep dark secret and I would do anything in my power to find out what they were hiding.“Are you okay?” Yulia’s voice invaded my thoughts as I drove home. “You look sad.”I frowned at her, puzzled at what she said. “I have a sad face?” I asked in disbelief.“I think you forget that emotions are part of your being, Issa, even if you do not believe it.” She sounded genuine as she watched me.. “I feel betrayed,” I told her. “Helena is supposed to be dead but now that I am hearing she is behind all these, I do not know what to think.”I pulled into the driveway of the beach hous
~YULIAI could tell that Pete felt the change in the atmosphere as he glared at me and Issa. I understood how he felt. One moment he was this close to having his revenge and the next, he was disowned by his own father.“This was not how you imagined it would pan out, did you?” Issa asked mockingly as he put his phone back into his pocket. He looked at the men behind Pete. “And because you all blindly followed him, I am curious, what did he even offer you?” “Don’t tell him anything,” Pete ordered the men.“Why should we listen to you?” One of them asked. “Yeah, the way I see it, we have no reason to be here right now, we’re fucked because of you.”“I can get us out of this!” Pete thundered desperately.“I cannot wait to see how you do that,” Issa said as he watched. He was clearly entertained by Pete’s helplessness. I was curious myself as I watched on. I had some questions for him.“I know some things about you, Frostwood, some things you do not want to go public,” Pete said. “Ac
~YULIAIt was mesmerizing looking at the sea as it crashed on the sandy shores of Issa’s private beach house. The moon shone brightly as the waves rose and fell. “I had never seen Miles so angry before,” I told Issa as he joined me at the balcony overlooking the beach. It was different at night as the sands looked more like night ash while the water took on the colour of the sea.“He has every right to be, it was about time anyway,” Issa replied. I turned to him.“How long are we going to keep hiding everything about us, Issa?” I asked him. “Because at this point, I do not care who finds out what we are.”He sighed. “I have never felt fear in a while, Yulia,” He said. “But when it comes to you, that's all I feel. I am afraid of what might happen after everything we do comes to light and I still do. However, I am done hiding you from the world.”It was a bit refreshing to know that Issa could feel afraid and I admired the fact that he was willing to talk about it. I understood his p
~ISSAI did not need to guess who was behind this to know that it was Pete and his father. I could taste their disgusting scent on my tongue.“I guess Albus was right,” Jamal said. “The killings were just a distraction.”“So, Pete was in on it from the start?” Yulia asked, her voice tinged with rage. “That means his whole reason for befriending me back then was so he could deliver me to whoever wants me dead.”I felt vindicated. “I knew the son of the Swine was a piece of shit the moment I laid eyes on him.”“The Swine?” Jamal asked as he looked at me. He was probably pissed that I knew one more thing that he did not know.“A drug dealing werewolf mob,” I said with a shrug. “Pete is the son of their leader, Thaddeus.”People were already coming into the house to pack up the bodies into the ambulances.“Care to explain why a drug dealing werewolf mob just dumped ten dead bodies in your house?”“It is kind of complicated to explain,” I replied as I looked around the house. I knew that Y
~YULIABloodshed was becoming second nature to me as I watched the heart burn. It did nothing to change how I felt about Mom’s death but at least I was sated that the people behind her murder were dead. Yet it seemed like there was still one person to find.“Let’s get out of here,” Issa said and held out his clean palm. I took it and he led me out of the dead lawyer’s apartment. I felt like there was something I needed to do. We were a few feet from the house before I stopped and turned back to it.“What is it?” Issa asked as concern masked his face.“I need to do something,” I told him. “What?” He asked.“I need to burn this place to the ground,” I told him. “It is the only way that I can move forward with my life. This house was built on the kindness of my mother, I need to raze it to the ground.” I told him.He nodded. “The fireplace,” he said. “We can set something on fire, a pillow, anything and spread it all over the place.”I shook my head. “I have a much better idea,” I sai