AstridWe had just finished dressing and walked into the living room when there was a firm knock at the door. Tristan went to answer it right away. I sat awkwardly on the couch to wait for them. I heard the door open, hushed voices, and then the door closed again. I gasped in shock as Eddie walked into the living room. There was a deep, purple bruise beneath his left eye. “What happened?” I asked as I rushed towards him. I remembered the muffled thud that I’d heard during the argument with him and Solomon. His dad really must have hit him. “I’m fine,” Eddie said dismissively. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” I looked at Tristan for help, but he looked just as lost as I was. Despite his distaste for Eddie, I could see that he was disturbed by the state he was in. “Did Solomon do that to you?” I demanded. “Look, I’m just here to warn you,” Eddie pressed, pointedly ignoring my question. “Take a seat,” Tristan instructed, indicating the couch. “I’m getting
AstridMy mind felt numb as all of Eddie’s words settled into my mind. My memories were suddenly altered. In light of this information, I was forced to question every interaction I’d ever had with Solomon. I couldn’t accept that he wasn’t the cold, hateful man I remembered. I couldn’t see him as some kind of well-meaning but flawed protector. I couldn’t believe that the most frightening single experience of my life was all a fake. I remembered the feeling of biting down on my would-be kidnapper’s fingers. I remembered the fear that had overtaken me when they tried to grab me. I could still see the look of fear on Victoria’s face when she was trying to comfort me. This didn’t seem real. It had to be a nightmare. But even in my nightmares, things weren’t this bleak. Solomon was trying to get rid of me, and he was willing to go to such extremes as ordering Eddie to seduce me and take me away to live outside of Bridgewater. He really thought that someone was trying to kill me. He
AstridI couldn’t stop thinking about the way Victoria had talked about mom’s illness. Coupled with the warning Eddie had given me, it felt like something was being hidden from me. I was running out of patience with it. There was only one person that I could think to ask about what really happened and that was the healer. I had tried to talked to them before, but the man that had been working that day refused to speak to me. He had looked nearly panicked as he told me that he was too busy to talk to me.I had to try again. What else could I do? I left early in the morning so that I could stop by the healer’s clinic on my way to campus. I thought about phoning ahead but decided against it. I didn’t necessarily want anyone knowing that I was going and I didn’t want to risk the conversation being overheard. The healer’s clinic was a small, squat concrete building with a flat roof lined with flowering vines. It was a welcoming-looking building, but I felt apprehension as I walked i
TristanThat night, Eddie slept on the couch, while Astrid stayed with me. They’d both returned to the packhouse the night before, despite my objections. But tonight, I was able to convince them both to stay where I was sure nothing could happen. To be honest, it bothered me more than I wanted to admit to see the shape Eddie was in when he arrived yesterday. The bruise showed just how intense and dangerous things had become. Not even the son of the Beta was safe from the crossfire. Astrid slept nestled warmly in my arms. I didn’t let go of her all night, not even when my arms fell asleep. I found it difficult to fall asleep myself. I didn’t expect anything more to happen tonight, but there was an uneasy feeling hanging over me. Things were calm now, but there was definitely a storm coming. What Eddie had told us was true. I could feel it in my bones. I wasn’t even surprised by the revelation that the Luna was murdered. It was difficult to hear, but not surprising. The Luna h
AstridI felt a little nervous about going to Tristan’s class. I knew that it didn’t make sense, but I had the oddest feeling that people would somehow know we’d spent the night together. If they did, it was most likely because of the fact that I was wearing his shirt. No one would be able to tell that, though. It was tucked into my pants and I was wearing my jacket. The only giveaway was his scent lingering on the fabric. It was a little thrilling, knowing that anyone paying attention might be able to pick up his scent and realize what it meant. I breathed a sigh of relief when class started and there was no sign of Lilian. I wasn’t sure what kind of a scene she might cause in light of how her little revenge plot had ended. When I signed into my student email this morning, there was an email from the Dean declaring that the results of the investigation into the rumors about a faculty member were available and that the faculty member was found to be innocent of the charges aga
AstridI didn’t want to go to dinner, but I didn’t want to start another argument with dad either. If I tried to stay in my room, I was sure that’s what would happen. He could be extremely confrontational when he was upset. I didn’t feel like arguing or causing a scene. The calm in the packhouse might be a facade, but it was one that I didn’t feel the need to shatter. At least, not at this point. I felt more calm by the time dinner rolled around and I was confident that I would be able to hold my tongue long enough to get through a meal. I would just avoid looking at dad and take a bite every time I wanted to say something snarky. It had worked before. The thought that dad had some idea of what was going on with the secrets in the packhouse was upsetting. It made perfect sense, though. He was the Alpha. It would be more concerning if he was clueless about things. But why wouldn’t he just be honest then? That’s what was bothering me the most about all of this. The depth and b
AstridThe past few days had been an exhausting cycle of surging anxiety and crushing hopelessness. Ever since the conversation with Solomon, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the entire packhouse was part of some grand conspiracy that revolved around me. I didn’t feel safe anywhere. It was impossible to sleep soundly. I wanted desperately to go stay with Tristan, but I didn’t want to get him into trouble with dad. I didn’t know what he might do if he decided that Tristan was deliberately subverting his will. I couldn’t risk it. But that didn’t stop me from going home with Tristan after school every night. Being in his arms was the only time I felt truly at peace. While I was in his apartment, I could convince myself for a little while that things were normal. We ate dinner, we cuddled on the couch, we talked for hours, we made love… it was perfect. I dared to hope that when this was all behind us, we could live like that every day—a life together that wouldn’t have to end whe
TristanToday started out on a pretty good note. I had graded my last midterms, which was always a relief. As stressful as exams were for students, they weren’t exactly enjoyable for teachers either. Having my grading finished before the weekend meant that I wouldn’t have to bring any work home with me. That meant that I would be able to focus my time on Astrid. She had been under an incredible amount of stress since the conversation with Eddie and needed all of the support she could get. If I could offer her a distraction, then I would. She seemed reluctant to talk any further about the situation—mostly because we had no new information. It didn’t do any good to go in circles about it. It only stressed her out more. The last thing I wanted was to add to her unhappiness. As the day wore on, an unsettling feeling of anticipation settled over me. Something was wrong. I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of impending disaster. The sensation left me feeling cold and
AstridThe festival had continued the next morning just as Solomon promised, but it was obvious by the increased guard that something was going on. The visiting Alphas and Lunas had arrived that morning at the packhouse demanding answers, and Solomon was the one to give them. He explained that the threat had been neutralized and that he gave his personal guarantee that there wouldn’t be any other issues. He offered to arrange a guarded escort for anyone who wanted to leave early. After a private conversation with Slade, it was decided that everyone was staying. I didn’t ask Solomon about what else was said, I was just glad that he was able to handle it. That night, while the party raged in town, I met with Solomon and dad alone. I wanted Tristan to be with me, but I understood why he couldn’t be there. Having Solomon there was going to have to be enough. I sat alone in the chair across from dad’s desk. Solomon was standing near me with his arms folded tightly across his ches
AstridVictoria was handcuffed to a wooden chair in dad’s office. There were guards outside of the window and the door and a patrol was rotating outside of the building in case any more of her creepy friends showed up. The house had been cleared room by room, so we knew no one was hiding inside and waiting for a signal to attack. We were all standing in the office in tense silence. I had no idea what was going to happen next. I was confused and scared. That attack was aimed at me. I had no idea why she would go to such lengths to try to hurt me. I had cleaned the blood off of myself, but I could still smell it and it made me nauseous. Tristan had his arm firmly around me, but he didn’t say a word. I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for him to face Victoria right now after everything that she did to him. Dad stood awkwardly In the middle of the room. He hadn't made eye contact with anyone since we entered and I wasn't sure what to make of that. The only person who seemed le
AstridThere were dozens of people gathering in the garden. It was hard to see what was going on ahead of us, but I knew from the sickly sweet smell of perfume that Victoria was here. I hadn’t realized how strange it was that she wore perfume until Tristan had pointed it out. He said that he smelled it during his kidnapping and it was the thing that tipped him off to his kidnapper's identity. “It took a while to figure out where I’d smelled it before, but almost no one in the pack wears perfume. The artificial smell is too abrasive,” he explained. It hadn’t struck me as strange because perfume is so common in the human world. I was used to it. But Tristan was right—wolves often didn’t wear perfumes or colognes. The smell was too overpowering.I cursed internally. If I had realized it was strange earlier, I might have figured out that something was going on with Victoria before it got this far. She must be using the scent to cover up something, probably the toxic herbs she w
AstridIt was a cool autumn day and the garden was still in bloom. The scent of foliage was carried across the city on a gentle breeze. The streets were buzzing with excitement as the Lunar Festival officially got underway. Tristan had spent the better part of the morning preparing the garden for our presentation. Dean Parker had arrived early in order to help him. I was busy inside greeting the Alphas and Lunas that were going to be watching the presentation, and hopefully agreeing to take part in the program. “Welcome to Bridgewater,” I said for the sixth time in a quarter-hour. “Thank you so much for joining us for the festival this year.” “Thank you for having us,” a tall, robust woman with dark hair said. She was the Luna of Moonriver, Gwendolin. I had met her once before when I was a little girl and I remembered being struck by how strong and beautiful she was. I felt the same way seeing her now. Almost a little starstruck. “It’s our pleasure,” I assured her. “And
Tristan The amount of time that had passed without answers about Victoria's whereabouts was concerning at this point. The Alpha was operating under the assumption that she had fled into another territory. This put him in a difficult position because as much as we needed to find her, he had no desire to alert the other packs of what was happening. Reporting her as missing would look almost as bad as reporting her as being on the run—there was no way to address the problem without causing a scandal. So, with the Lunar Festival fast approaching, the packhouse was focused on preparations rather than the missing fugitive that had killed the Luna and kidnapped me. It was maddening to everyone in the packhouse except for Alpha Anthony. He was the only one who seemed confident that Victoria wouldn’t show her face. I was grateful for the Alpha's decision to allow me to stay in the packhouse because I didn't think that I could handle being away from Astrid right now. I was having a h
AstridAfter Tristan's rescue, it became clear that he was not going to be able to finish the semester. Dean Parker agreed to approve medical leave for him and Dr. Sanchez agreed that he would take over his classes for the remainder of the school year. The Dean was disturbed to learn that Tristan had been kidnapped from campus, and as a result of that and the incident in the bathroom with Lilian, the school was investing in a series of new security cameras. They were also considering updates to campus security and increasing the number of emergency call boxes on campus.Dean Parker was a lot more willing to implement changes than dad was. Unfortunately, the only change he’d agreed to make was to allow Tristan to temporarily stay in the packhouse.Solomon was taking things a lot more seriously. I was grateful that he was willing to take matters into his own hands when necessary. I couldn’t believe how incredibly stubborn dad was about this. Lilian had confessed that Victoria was
AstridDad brought down the full force of the pack on Bethany's house. Within 10 minutes of our phone call, the guard had filled the house. Dad was personally interrogating Bethany in a side room. I couldn't hear anything but the occasional sob from her. I'd seen him angry before. I knew how he could be and even I had never faced him in the state he was in now. I wasn't entirely certain that Bethany was going to walk out of that room. The healer arrived shortly after dad. She came directly to Tristan and knelt in front of him. I moved aside to allow her to work. Her long, thin fingers moved deftly as she checked his eyes, looked into his mouth, and checked his vitals. The look of concentration on her face was as emotionless as a statue. About 20 minutes after the guard arrived, there was a commotion from upstairs. I heard a woman shrieking and men shouting. The side room opened and dad stepped out. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded. Just at that moment, a guard came
AstridTristan was in this house. His scent was strong, and I knew deep down, that he was still here somewhere. I should have gone for help, I should have waited for dad or Solomon, but I just couldn't. I'd been looking for him for days. There was no telling what state he was in. Bethany would be suspicious about my coming here. They would move him as soon as I left, I was sure of it. I couldn't take the risk. ‘Take me to him,’ I told my wolf. ‘Quickly.’ My body moved at her discretion. We went down a side hallway to a locked door. I twisted the knob as hard as I could, but the lock wouldn't give way. I growled in frustration, but this wasn’t going to stop me.I slammed my shoulder into the door, not caring if Bethany heard. The sound was dull and muffled. I did it again and again. I put my full body weight and strength into the wood of the door. It cracked and then flew off of the hinges. A dank, damp smell met me as I looked down a set of wooden stairs into a dark basemen
Astrid I was even more tired than I realized, and I slept until the next morning. When I did get up, I quickly dressed, and then I groggily made my way down to the kitchen. My stomach was growling. I hadn't eaten anything in over a day. I wasn't sure what I was going to find, considering Solomon's promise yesterday about having everything replaced. What I hadn't expected was to see that he had taken my comments about pre-packaged food very seriously. Everything in the freezer, the refrigerator, and the pantry was in an individually sealed packet. But that didn't guarantee that Victoria couldn't tamper with anything. It sure made it a lot more difficult for her, though. I gratefully took a freezer pack of smoothie mix and made myself breakfast.Once I ate, I found it a lot easier to think clearly. I should have waited for Solomon, but I couldn't. That didn't mean I had to be careless about how I went about this. I knew that there was something about Victoria that I didn't know.