"Hey stealer, get up!" My body jolted awake when a foot landed painfully on my arm. I winced at the pain that coursed through my arm before getting up from the ground. An older woman stood above me, her face morphed into an annoyed frown. There were two guards beside her, their faces clouded with hate."Who are you?" My eyes narrowed as I looked at her."Such disrespectful bitch." She hissed loudly and glared at me. "Keep all questions to yourself and get up like I said."Her voice was loud but not enough to make me succumb to her orders. "Like I asked also, who are you?" I was going to make sure everyone here gets the note that I'm not weak.She hissed and turned to guards. "Drag her along, I don't have time for this." She ordered and stormed out of the basement.The guards came to me like she ordered and grabbed my hands roughly, pulling me from the ground. "Hey, let me go." I snarled but they did not even budge. They dragged me up the stairs, not caring as my feet hit against the st
I closed my eyes and let out repeated short breaths, trying to make the pain go away. My hands trembled as I stood up from the ground, planting my gaze on the floor. Why would he do that?"Out!" The maids scurried out of the kitchen at his single command.Fear coursed through me when it was just the both of us in the kitchen. "What the hell were you trying to do?" He barked with so much venom in his voice.I couldn't answer, there was absolutely nothing to see. How could I tell him I was blinded by rage so I attacked. That's a big no, he wouldn't even believe me. "Bella." He scoffed and moved closer to me, leaning down his placed his lips close to my ears. "If you ever try to hurt any member of my pack Bella, I would kill you in the worst ways ever." His voice came out as a whisper, then he moved away from me."You can just kill me now." Anger coursed through me, I was tired of being treated like nothing but a piece of trash, he should just kill me since my existence is nothing but th
Bella's POVI returned to my room after a few hours of working in the kitchen. My waist hurts a lot from standing for so long. I shut the door and walked to the small bed, lying on it. My eyes closed on their own and I heaved out a sigh of relief. My entire body felt weak and drained, the girls never came back. I was left to work with other woman, Nina. She did little or no job, leaving me to do everything. My body felt numb as I laid on the small bed, all strength drained out of me. As much as I wanted to sleep right now, Damien's words echoed in my ears. "You got a lot to do tonight." What does he mean by that? Shivers ran down my body when I remembered the events at the hall. He wasn't going to do something like that again right? My hands went to the shackle on my neck, my fingers running over it. I understood immediately that it must be the reason he put the shackle on my neck. Whatever plan he had, he wanted me weak so he could carry it out. I turned around the bed, pushing her t
"Hey, don't worry, okay? everything will be fine." She placed her hands on my shoulders in a comforting manner."No, it's fine. I'm fine." I shook my head, heaving out a small sigh. I wasn't going to worry about this, just like before I'll accept my cruel fate just the way it is."Well.." Linda scratched her head nervously, looking towards the door. "I better leave now, they'll be here anytime soon." I hated that shivers ran down my spine when she said those words. The shackle around my neck made it worse, reminding me how hopeless I am."It's fine, you better go before they meet you here." I replied in contrast to what I had in mind. I needed someone to stay with me, and give me a few encouraging words before they came. The thoughts of what might possibly happen grew fear. Heavens! I've never felt so afraid before."Hey, it'll be fine." She placed her hands on my shoulders, a sympathetic look on her face. "Just don't try to let her out, he isn't a weak alpha. He might-""Linda, it's f
His brows rose in recognition a few seconds after he stared at me. He looked away, pretending he doesn't know me. I walked to them, led by the guards, standing right in front of them. Both men paused whatever they were talking about taking their gazes to me. "Oh she's here." I did not have to look to the door before knowing it was Noah. He walked in with a cup of red wine in his hands. He plopped down on the seat beside Damien. "Matteo, like what you see?" He took the cup to his mouth, taking a sip, wiggling his eyebrows.I could feel Matteo's gaze on me, he must be feeling accomplished knowing he was finally getting what he longed for. He comes to the pack sometimes, he's friends with Alpha Hezekiah, it was just once he saw me and yet he couldn't keep his lustful desires to himself. He tried finding a way to get me, even went as far as asking the alpha. But he couldn't get me as I was always locked in my room. "Of course I do." Matteo replied with a smirk on his face. They used to
The sound of the door slam was what pulled me out of my sleep. I tried to move but winced when a sharp tore throughout my body. My neck felt stiff, probably from lying on the ground for too long. A small whimper escaped my lips when the incident of last night came flooding in my head. I tried to bury every memory of it, tried to forget but it wasn't working. It seem like it was imprinted in my head, to torture me every second.Mustering all the energy I could, I stood up from the ground, biting on my bottom lips trying to stop the painful groans that threatened to escape them. It was still dark outside and the bed was empty, making me realize Matteo had already left. I didn't want to cry, it was totally useless. It was a fucking waste of time, because no matter how hard I cry, it wouldn't change a thing. It wouldn't stop my mate from hating me. My heart felt heavy, there was a heavy lump in my throat but I tried to bury every emotion, pretend that I'm strong even though I'm quite the
“What is this? I almost rolled my eyes when he asked.“It’s just me drinking water.” I crossed my arms under my breasts, turning my face from him. My brows rose on their own accord when he stood up and walked to me, standing a few meters from me.“And what was the order you were given?” His voice was suddenly cold, deep without emotion.“Not to drink water?” I know how this might get in trouble, a part of me screaming to me to shut up and apologize to him. But I felt like messing around, I just wanted to see him get angry for absolutely no reason. “You know you could get punished for this right?”“This is hilarious.” I rolled my eyes and chuckled, shaking my head in amusement. “And immature, so what if I have water huh?” I raised my head up high, as if challenging him. “I worked all day, doing everything I was told to, and now you’re going to punish me for what?” I wanted to poke his chest hard, but that would be much of a problem, and I definitely can't handle that. “I don’t blame y
Cold chills ran down my spine, making me shiver and my eyes went to the men behind him, their mischievous faces making fear generate in me. “Damien did not permit you to.” Those words tasted bitter in my mouth, because I knew deep down in my heart that if he were here he’d definitely give his friend the permission. “Well, yes he didn’t, but he doesn’t value you, you know?” His lips stretched into a smirk and he leaned closer to me, adding in a whisper. “Doesn’t even believe you’re his mate.” My eyes went wide in shock and I opened my mouth several times to say something, but no words were forming at all. “You know?!” My fists clenched tightly in anger as I tried to restrain myself from hitting him. “You know!” The words came out again, this time a feeling of sadness washed over me. If he could sense it that I was Damien’s mate, then that could only mean one thing, which is, everyone could sense it. They could feel that I’m his mate, but refused to say anything about it. Refused to he
Eleven years laterMarilee's POVOnce again, I'm woken by the aggressive sound of my alarm ringing, I blindly reach to grab it and threw it across the room. The satisfied sound of it smashing against the wall makes me lie on the bed again, taking a deep breath."Marilee, what the hell was that?" I heard dad say as he walked into the room. "Marilee, that's the eighth alarm in just two weeks!" I don't reply to him but bury my face into the pillow, trying to fall asleep again. "Marilee!" Dad yelled again, pulling the duvet off my body. "That's it! Get up, you're going to be late for school!""Can I get just ten more minutes?" I mumbled, curling myself into a ball."No, get up now." He held my arm, pulling me from the bed. "Geez, you'll be sixteen in a few weeks do I have to keep doing this?""If only you'd let me make a choice here," I grumbled, frowning as he placed me on my feet."I hate school, yeah say that again. Marilee, you would be a future leader, you need to make the other kids
Bella's POVIt's been exactly eight weeks since that ugly incident happened. Eight weeks of reconstructing the whole pack, we moved them from the woods where they had been hiding back to the pack. Most parts of the pack were destroyed, especially the packhouse, but it was a chance to change a few of the settings of the packhouse.We laid the dead to rest, using a few weeks to mourn them. It wasn't easy for Damien to get over the guilt of killing his best friend. Taylor was doing quite well now that she had her father, Helen was right. She would be the same if she were with me, she just needed someone very close to her. Heather was back with her parents Zoe and Tobias who were survivors of such long captivity. Damien has been very close to Marilee who seemed to enjoy his company more than mine. It wasn't so hard to convince her that he was her father, she could feel the bond and gave in quickly, besides she had been waiting so long for her 'daddy'. They've grown closer more than I was
I froze, feeling shivers run down my spine when he said those words. I managed to stand up, staring at Damien in shock. Those words rang in my head over and over again.What could it mean?“The stupid symbiosis experiment went wrong on them and now they aren’t what we think,” Freya answered my question and I shook my head trying not to believe it. I did not want to feel hopeless, not after coming this far.“ But there could be something, to save him right? Like an antidote?” I asked, rubbing my palm on my pants.“You really think those scientists make an antidote for all of their mistakes? Do you think they ever fix them? Snap out of this Bella, we have to find a way to bring him back ourselves.” I pressed my lips tight, trying to shove back the cry threatening to escape my lips."Okay." I sniffed, taking in several deep breaths. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the others take several steps back after sighting Damien. He stopped in front of the cell, looked to the side to stare at t
I lunged at the guard closest to me, grabbed him by his neck, and twisted in the wrong direction; I heard a snap and his body went limp. Weak humans! I used his body as a shield for a few seconds as the other guards opened fire and as shooting wildly at me. Knowing it wasn’t going to last and dropped him and moved with speed to dodge those bullets, but I was shocked the most when it seemed the whole world stopped, I could see the bullets in the air, moving very slowly while I just stood watching. What the hell is happening? I looked down at my body to see those magical flames around me; it was on every part of my body, looking so soft. I guess this was what Helen meant by being gifted by the goddess with special powers. I felt really strong and it was like my fingertips were filled with electricity. Well, let’s put this to good use. I held the bullets and the air and threw them back to the men, then everything turned back to normal and they fell to the ground dead. They must’ve called
I tried to push all nervousness and doubts aside as I stood before the huge abandoned-looking laboratory. I see they did a pretty good job hiding from the authorities and the government. I walked around the building, tucking my hands into my coat's pockets. I was dressed in black shirt, black pants and brown coat with white sneakers, comfortable enough for me to run when I sighted the camera. I stopped, immediately I saw the first camera, moving closer to stare up at it. My lips curved into a smile when I saw the red tiny light and without waiting another second, I turned around, walking away in hurried footsteps. As soon as I was out of sight, I took to my heels, hidiny between tall buildings in the area."I'm done." I said, speaking through the mind link to Noah. "We're watching the cameras, just stay where you are till we see the results." "Okay," This was our plan, quite crazy though. Noah suggested we let the hunters come for us, that way we'd be better prepared. They would def
Returning to the Library, Helen insisted I take some rest and continue with the plan later. Knowing she was right and I was feeling quite weak already, I did as she said, retiring to bed since it was late evening already. She gave me a room that consisted of just a middle-sized bed and a small table at the corner of the room and a wardrobe of course; thankfully it had a bathroom in it. So I took a shower, changed into my nightwear, and decided to take some rest. I clenched my fists, biting back a growl when I heard a knock on the door. Shit! I was just a few seconds away from drifting into sleep. Pushing the door I did not expect to see Jane standing outside, clutching a pillow to her chest. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” She asked in a timid voice, pressing her lips innocently. “Just for tonight.” She added, rushing her words. “Jane?” I tried to hide the smile forming on my lips, turning my face to the side. “I’m fucking thirty, not a fourteen, sixteen years old kid.” I rolled my
Few minutes later we walked out of the room after trying off our tears with a profound determination, my brows raised in confusion when we sighted the rest of the workers including Helen all laughing as Marilee stood before them.“Mom.” She ran towards me immediately after she noticed my presence.“What is going on?”“Mom, I was telling uncle Alexei that my name was marry me.” She spoke, staring up at me with an innocent smile.“What?” I chuckled in amusement, moving to sit at the table where they all sat.“Yes, I told him marry me!” She repeated, rolling her eyes.“You know that’s not your name, don’t you?”“I actually wasn’t telling him my name,” She crossed her arms behind her, stretching her lips into a plain smile. “I was telling him to marry me, he just didn’t get it.”“Whattt?” Alexei shrieked, bursting into another fit of laughter.“Okay, that’s enough Mari, you don’t go around telling people to marry you,” I spoke, pushing all playfulness away.“Oh, and you did not also get t
I looked back at Helen with shock all over my face, completely awed at the revealed. "How could you? I mean all this while?""I thought you might've felt it," Helen replied with a shrug of her shoulders."I always felt it, but I ignored it, I thought it was just you." Helen chuckled as I kept glancing between her and the workers. "You know the first thing you should learn now is not to ignore every weird sign you see or feel. It's could mean a lot more." I nodded, understanding her point. If I'm going into a big fight now, even the littlest details or suspicion mean a lot."So, do you guys have a secret pack here also?""No, no. They're just...""We're rogues." The first guy spoke, cutting Helen off. "I'm Alexei." He stretched out his hands for a shake which I accepted immediately. "Bella," I said with a smile on my face."We all know your name already." They all burst out laughing, making me feel hysterically stupid."Silly me." I chuckled, scratching my head in embarrassment."Let
I closed my eyes and leaned back into the seat when the announcement of the preparation for the landing boomed from the speaker. Five years and I'm back in Russia, only this time around, I feel like a coward for running in the first place. The kids were quite excited for different reasons though, Marilee was happy she was going on a plane for the first time, and Taylor was happy she was away from school for a while. Heather showed no form of excitement, just staring outside the window before she asked the question that made my heart clench. "Are we going back to the pack now?" Her small tiny innocent voice came through. "No, baby. Not yet." I replied, hiding my emotions with a smile on my face. "I do not like Australia." She heaved out a tired sigh, shaking her head. I knew right from the start she never liked it, but chose not to complain about it. "We'd talk about that later baby." I planted a small kiss on her forehead, wrapping my right arm around her shoulders, and pulling her