Irene:Neither of us say a word; I release the breath that I have been holding for far too long. I stare around the table; they are still looking at us, still smiling, waiting for our next word.My chest is heaving frantically, what the dragon lord just offered is not a big deal, at least in the eyes of others. Alpha have multiple wives at once, it’s not a big deal.I should have seen it coming, sooner or later, Enrique was going to wed another wife for political gain, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon, normally a year or two, I grip the edge of the table hard, trying to calm my breathing, I can feel Enrique’s eyes on me, watching me intently.I attempt to appear composed by looking around. Rowena stares at me with eyes that are impossible to read. She looks away when I stare at her back.“Don’t make a decision now, Alpha Enrique. You are still staying a day, if I assume correctly. After having this lunch, my generals are throwing a party right here in this weyr-house, maybe you
Rowena:In nightshade pack, I get to do countless things that I wasn’t even allowed to do in my father’s weyr, for instance, I don’t have to wear those itchy pins in my hair anymore nor do I have to wear those gowns that my mother forces me to wear.Here in Nightshade pack, there’s this freedom that I have never dreamt of having. At first my parents were reluctant to let me go but I told them that I was going with Irene and Enrique so I could convince him to marry me, which of course, I wouldn’t be doing.I think my father is desperate to have Enrique as his son-in-law, and I still don’t know why. Sooner or later, I will have to return back to the weyr, but for now, I am going to stick around and see what I can discover about myself.Irene already paid for my hotel expenses in full, Royal Hotel, known for its extravagance, has everything ready for me..Today I am wearing a polo shirt and jeans as I walk into the Royalty Bar, it’s also owned by the Foyers. Everywhere I go, their family
Enrique:A week passes by in a blur. Presently, we are having a meeting with the council members, as always I am seated in the center, my beta, Tyler at my left and Chase, my gamma, at my right.Agnar rolls up the map, outlining it on the table. “When evaluating this last night, it would be a bummer if we were to launch an attack directly in the border, this can damage lives and properties.”I furrow my brow at him. “So, your best decision is that we lay it down for a bit?” I ask.“Yes.” Agnar says smoothly, “We will be losing countless armies if we are to start fighting now.”On some level, Agnar is right; Dante doesn’t care about his men at all, he doesn’t give a damn if they all die in the war. On the other hand, I do.“This isn’t funny, warrior Agnar.” The oldest woman in the council says, stretching out her frail arms, she’s sixty but her mind is sharp. “Our people are dying, Dante is a cruel bastard, he’s launching attacks at the border and what? You want us to stay and look bec
Iris:I found a job yesterday and I quit today. It turns out that dealing with people can be exhausting sometimes. I got a job as a waitress in a restaurant that was near the pure-blood academy. The only reason was that I thought they were filthy rich and would tip me very nicely.Turns out they are just a bunch of brainless rude idiots and they don’t even tip me, just because their fathers have some kind of reputation doesn’t mean they get to treat me like trash, for fuck sake, my father is also an Alpha.However quitting now means I am a broke ass, I have nothing in my bank account and I am so hungry, I made a plan to save my money to get the fuck out of Tyler’s house.Today isn’t the best day for me, I have been searching for a job, walking around in the cold, sighing I unlock the front door and step inside, wringing out of my pea coat and dropping it on the rack.“Any one home?” I kick out my white sneakers and place it where it’s supposed to be. Like expected, the house is so eer
Enrique:For the first time in his life, Tyler invited all of us for drinks; this is really shitty because when you know someone who always abides by the rules and suddenly they break it one time, you know that something is going on.He also sounded really vulnerable in the group chat which is weird, because Tyler always knows what he’s doing, he’s organized and works like a robot. When Chase, Agnar and I reach Royal Bar, Tyler waves at us from his booth, Hunter shoots us all a glare.Oh great, apparently Tyler finds it nice to invite Hunter, drinking with Hunter is hell, because he acts like the big brother amongst us since he’s older and dictates what drink we should drink and how much we should get drunk, today is going to be so boring.“Hey.” Tyler says weakly as we all sit down, he’s not smiling and I am bothered, something is wrong.“Does this have to do with Gia?” I ask and we all look at Tyler worriedly, he has dark circles under his eyes that show he isn’t sleeping or he does
Red:“Why are you grinning like an idiot?” The darkness towers over me, his dark eyes looking at me, he’s holding a mug of coffee with his real initials written on it. He’s already dressed in a charcoal suit for what he has to do today.I place my phone aside, scowling. “None of your concern.” I tell him, but as always, he can read right through me. I think that’s why he picked me in the first place, because he could read and see me. It’s funny because no one can read me, except the darkness.“Are you talking with a woman?” There’s a hint of mystery and something else I don’t like in his voice, he walks over to the fridge, pulls it open and grabs a pumpkin spice drink. “Really?”True to my word, I did texted Rowena and we have been texting for the past few days, sometimes we text late into the night, I don’t know much about her yet, but I know that she’s far away from home because her parents are forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to.But, I didn’t tell her much about myself
Irene:Linda and I are in her sitting room, discussing plans for our new project. As expected, Linda and Hunter stay in this huge mansion all by themselves but Hunter visits the pack-house every other day.The living room is fancy, glowing with a dim amber light, the fendi casa sofas draped with knitted pillows are facing each other across a glass coffee table, the windows are shut and covered in white sheer curtains, the fireplace behind the sofa is flickering with a warm amber light, above the fireplace is a large silver ornate mirror that reflects the grand piano tucked in the corner of the room.Before I came, Linda already prepared a kettle of earl gray tea and English scones coated in jam and cream, which makes it hard to focus because they are so good; I am reaching out for another bite when Linda says.“Irene!” She scolds me, “We haven’t even revised the project and you are in your third scone.”“Well.” I shrug and reach out to grab a scone. “It’s not my fault you make really
Enrique:When I heard from Tyler that Irene was with Dante, the only thing I kept thinking was whether she was okay. I had to shove Tyler out of the driver’s seat and drive all the way to Lunar Crest pack, Hunter’s pack with him.The moment I saw the shimmering letters of Royal Restaurant, I rushed to the entrance only to find a trembling Irene almost falling. My eyes are burning with enough crimson so I am gentle to hold her, as not to hurt her.“Are you okay?” I ask, she feels dizzy as I lead her towards the car, we get into the passenger’s seat and I signal Tyler to start driving, soon we are soaring out of the restaurant, I scan her body for any bruises or something, my wolf is fuelling with anger, I want to punch Dante, and fucking kill him for even having the guts to talk to Irene.Irene blinks, staring ahead.“Did he use his fucking eye trick on you?” I ask gently, wondering why she looks so dazed, she nods her head negatively, and I urge her. “What’s it then?”“Something weird
Irene:We both stumble to the floor, me gripping the knife, aimed at his neck. Dante’s on the floor, breathing raggedly, looking at me while sweating. “You are making a terrible mistake, Irene.” His voice comes out rough, tiny, almost scared.I want to laugh so badly, the almighty Dante acting scared. Good, he should be scared.I pin his wrists tightly and drive the blade into his shoulders, he howls painfully before kicking me off with a force that knocks the breath out of my lungs, my body hits the floor, the impact rattling my bones. The room starts to spin in my eyes and something starts surging through me.My powers, wild and uncontrollable. My chest claws painfully and the walls start to tremble, cracks spilling the wall. The pressure builds in my chest, shit. The house is going to collapse with everyone in it.We are all going to die, even on the floor, I see Dante crawling to the exit, clutching his bloody shoulders in pain. Fucking Coward.My legs feel like jelly as I try to
The Darkness:Red and I are waiting in the car, while Gia is in the hospital, she specifically told us not to come in. She’s still angry at me, not even saying anything to me.I don’t blame her though; second chances are rare for people like me. Earlier, I had met with the doctor who told me about the Primordial Wolf blood, and deciding to give Enrique has been entirely my decision.“Stay in the car, Red. I am going in.” I tell him, opening the door, but of course, Red trails behind me, hands tucked into his coat jacket. Together, we walk into the doctor’s office, and while everyone’s scared to see me, Enrique’s father yells the most at me.However, the moment I tell them I am here to transfer my blood, the room falls quiet. Gia stares up at me from her wet lashes, batting away the tears. Something squeezes inside me, seeing her cry like this, it does something to me.Finally, Enrique’s father says, “we don’t want your blood.” I raise my brows at him and his wife nudges him in the sho
Anna:Mama, papa and I are seated in the dining room, alongside Hunter and his wife, Linda. The atmosphere is gloomy as I pick on my chicken salad, for days now; I haven’t had that much of an appetite.Just yesterday, the weyr withdrew their dragons, and for some unknown reasons, the darkness sent the letter of withdrawal. Our pack is now war-free, but some damages were made to the buildings and of course, our pack suffered loss. The money that Hunter’s pack donated to us and our pack’s net worth is enough to fix everything in a month, but the true loss hangs with us all. The death of my beloved brother, Enrique.I have spent the past few days catching up with mama and papa, they have been the best supportive parents ever and even though I feel very bad about Enrique, they haven’t left me out of their sight.I push away the chair, feeling very bitter. “I will like to be excused from dinner,”Papa looks me in the eye, his eyes crinkling around the corner with concern; my stomach churns
Irene:I don’t know how many days have passed since I have been in this tiny cell. Whenever I am asleep, someone comes to take out the bucket, though I refuse to use that, my bowel is certainly paying for that. In the mornings, someone brings cold toast that tastes like sandpaper and in the evening all I get is cold pudding that tastes like it is made from the sewer.At first, I refused to eat any food, who knows if that motherfucker is poisoning me slowly? Besides, I want to relish in the fact that Dante doesn’t like to see the plates returned with the food intact. But after a while, I couldn’t take it anymore. I eat the food like my whole life depends on it, because, let’s be honest. It does.Oh. The lovely things I took for granted, what I will give to have a steaming bowl of rice or adobo, Linda has been making that Filipino dish for me and it tastes heavenly.I can’t tell night from day here, aside from the tiny light in the window, if nothing kills me here, then I am sure boredo
Rowena:“How could you?” I am yelling angrily at my parents, after finding out that they gave Red their armies in exchange for marriage, I have been fuming in anger. I rushed over here as soon as I could to tell them to withdraw the armies. “Because of your selfish decisions, countless people are dying in nightshade pack!”How was I so ignorant? Red told me that my parents were agreeing to our marriage because of the contract for the plant his pack grew, why did nobody tell me about the armies? They left me in the dark and plotted it secretly.The only worst thing than being insulted is being ignored.My parents are seated on the chair, staring at me as I yell and pace across the room. The omega comes in with a tray of a kettle. I keep quiet as she pours the tea into their teapot, when she offers me a cup, I politely decline and the moment she steps out, I resume yelling.“You are very inconsiderate.” My body is trembling and I know that any moment from now, I am going to break down a
Irene:It is as though it’s in slow motion, the moment when the dragon releases Enrique, I let out a loud squeal, my lungs burn, I don’t think I ever yelled like that before.I go to the edge of the bridge, planting my hands on the railing as I watch Enrique collide with the water, closing him up. It’s impossible to watch, tears are rolling down my eyes. I sink towards the floor, my body numb.“Enrique.” I mumble. This can’t be. He can’t die, right? He’s a Primordial Wolf, he can’t fucking die. But Primordial Wolves can die from drowning. Pure anger shimmers inside of me as I stand up. Anna is currently yelling at him, tears stinging her eyes. She’s not the only one feeling the loss of her brother. “You said you wouldn’t kill him! You went back on your promise. You are horrible.”“I never said otherwise.” He says calmly, turning towards Gia. “Let’s go.”She steps back, her posture wavering. “You killed Enrique, you fucking killed him!”He had no right to kill him; the darkness is suc
Enrique:There’s a saying that when you are dreaming and you blink, everything just disappears, actually no one says that but I can’t believe it.I blink.I stare.It’s her, my eighteen year old younger sister, Anna De Luca, dressed in black, holding a pistol and standing beside Dominic. My mother is the first person to rush forward, choking back tears.“Anna?” She calls out gently, attempting to hold Anna but one of the men tries telling her to back off, she grabs his hand and flips him towards the floor, everyone, excluding my father and I, gasps. There’s a reason my mother was a warrior.“Mama.” Anna smiles a bit, embracing my mother, my father joins and they embrace tightly, meanwhile I stand there, feeling completely stunned. When she finishes embracing them, we stare at each other and I know. It’s her. My younger sister, the one I named. The girl that destroyed nearly all slumber party with the boys, the girl that’s so fucking smart.I run towards her, and crash her into a tight
Irene:I wake up with a throbbing headache, the light from the window reflects on my face. It is weird waking up to a different room where there’s no scent of Enrique, the bedroom is cozy, but it isn’t home. The bed is soft, but there’s no warmth of him.The room is silent, I miss waking up to the rhythmic beating of his chest or his slow breathing beside me, there is no rustle of sheets, or his arm draped over mine or his gentle murmur in my ear.It’s funny because once upon a time, I always longed to wake up beside him, to hear his good morning, to catch him shirtless just shuffling around the bathroom, to see his toned muscles, to kiss him hungrily, those are the moments I craved for, but now, it just feels so lonely.A tear slides down my face and I wipe it away roughly, looking around. The room is plastered in soft beige colors, but what I miss is the vibrant colors of his warm amber eyes.Groaning, I sit up straight and check my phone, countless messages from Iris, Naya, Chiara,
Enrique:“Fix what you did.” Tyler growls, dropping a stack of heavy folders on my mahogany desk. “Else I quit as your beta, forever.”“I have every intention of fixing what I did.” I look up from my computer, before standing up. It has only been a few hours that Irene has left and I feel like utter shit. I even texted Hunter, asking for the progress of Irene, but dude won’t tell me, he says Irene needs her privacy, I just want to know if she’s alright. Fuck him.Tyler sighs when he looks at me. “Iris doesn’t want anything to do with me, just because you hurt her sister. She says she’s loyal to Irene; please just fix what you did.” He runs his hand through his hair, tugging at the strands. “I just want Iris back.”“And I want Irene back.” My sigh is much heavier; I walk towards the windows, pulling at the blinds. The flash of sunlight reflects in my face and I wince gently. Tyler joins me, though he’s frowning.“You are taking it too hard on yourself.” One hand rests on my shoulder, “