Later that night, right after dinner, I found myself standing in front of the mirror again. Compared to the dinner with Felise's parents, I could not hold onto my excitement at that time. However, at this second, by wolf never felt the same feeling anymore. My legs were trembling. And my heart was beating like hell. I could even see the sweat running down my neck. "Shit," I could help but utter profanity. "Are you certainly going that far to avenge your dad's death?" "Why? Do you have any better idea to get the justice he deserves?" asks my wolf. "Nothing," "Exactly! So, before you become a deranged man talking to yourself in front of the mirror, better put on some clothes since you still have to meet your stepbrother." After putting on some clothes, I rushed to the address where the masquerade ball is to be held. "What took you so long, Ezra?" those were the first words that came out of Razel's mouth as soon as he greeted me from the exit of the building
Before I could do something, I glanced at Felise, who was more stunned and dumbfounded by the situation. Her fingers were shaking continuously in fear. "Is it true that this man's hurting you, Felise?" despite the urgency of the situation, I have to get to the bottom of what certainly happened before I appeared. The incident was fast. If I am not mistaken, it took me around three minutes in the restroom and this was what happened next. Someone got murdered in cold blood. Based on my abrupt observation, neither Razel nor Felise was holding anything, a dagger or a gun, apart from my stepbrother's elongated claws. Perhaps he stabbed Lance with his claws straight to his heart while fighting with him. "He was trying to rape me, Ezra," Felise was having a hard time building those words but it was a good start. "And Razel was just trying to help me." Razel and Felise both smell alcohol. And so was Lance and his girlfriend. Speaking of Lance's girlfriend, I searched th
The next day, I went to school an hour earlier than my regular schedule. I patiently waited for Felise and Razel to arrive at the main entrance. However, my first second of waiting turned into a minute. And the minute turned into an hour until the first morning bell. Neither of the two walked passed the gate, and I am certain of it. And the thought started to bother me when I did not give them a call or message as soon as I got back to my apartment. None of them notified me if they safely made it back to their respective places either. "Perhaps the two made not just one round last night, Ezra," says one of the security guards. I asked them if they knew my stepbrother and Felise so I have enough reason to stay at the main gate and they nodded their heads in agreement. They knew my brother from the rugby team and Felise as one of the goddesses in our school. But I could not help but frown at what the security guard just told me three seconds ago. "What exactly do
Despite the uneasiness, I smiled at Mom to make her feel that nothing is going on between me and Razel. She must not know no matter what happened. "Of course, nothing happened, Mom. I'm just worried that Razel did not show up in today's training session. Our Coach also asked me to come over." I produced some reassuring sounds to make sure she could not sense anything. "Are you sure?" Mom asked, her worried voice started to calm. "Was it because of the upcoming big game?" I don't know how she knew about the big game but to make her stop asking questions, I simply nodded to her. "Yeah, and your son plays a very important role in the game. Everyone was worried for the team. And it so happened that not everyone from the team knows about his address." My wolf started to sense that her mother's instincts started to fade off. Her mood changed a bit. And her eyes were cleared of doubts. "Razel? Please, open the door! Let's talk about last night." I continued while knoc
"Should I do this by force then?" Razel's dad added. "Get inside, everyone!" then he pointed his sharp gaze at me, "That includes you." "Ezra is just passing by, honey," Mom replied. She even forced her voice to stay calm as much as possible. "He just passed by to tell Razel about their rugby training session. Our son did not go to school the entire day. So their Coach send Ezra since not all his classmates and friends know about our address, right Razel?" Mom said those words without looking at Razel. Because if she looks into his eyes, she might show signs of hesitation. And that we cannot afford to show it to the pillar of their home. A dad's intuition, I believed, was stronger and more commanding compared to Mom's. What dads always believe will always be heeded. "Mom's right, Dad," Razel finally defended us. "I was too drunk last night. And my head keeps spinning so I decided not to go to school. I did not get the chance to answer any of their calls and message
"Fine," Aric said back, "but do you think you can hide that for the rest of your life? You killed someone, Ezra. Needless to say, you brought his body into the pack. I can keep my mouth shut. What about the pack? My wolf may be the pack leader but I have no control over their mouth. They have their freedom to speak." Aric's statement cut deeper into my heart and mind. And as far as I could remember, there were around twenty of his men greeted me that night. Let alone those who witnessed the burning of Lance's car. Why didn't I think about that before delivering Lance's body to their den? My wolf should have known better. I already planned this in advance. But it never crossed my mind the possibility that what exactly happened in the parking lot that night to unfold. Needless to say, my wolf doesn't even have any idea what happened to Lance's girlfriend before Razel killed him. What I know the gap between me and them spends a few seconds, not a minute. Shit. I did
I heaved an abrupt sigh as my wolf felt at ease upon hearing the good news. The three of us are safe for now. But that doesn't mean I have to let my guard down. Right after classes, I went straight to the rugby field for an urgent meeting with our coach. We were supposed to have an early rest tonight because our big game is tomorrow. This game will be my first ever big event in my whole life. "What's going on?" I asked Razel as soon as I grabbed my seat next to him. "Did I miss something?" Everyone was already in their respective seats when I got to the field. And most of them were murmuring to the person next to them including Razel. "Don't know. I just got here too. Perhaps Coach will brief us for tomorrow's big game like he always does." he replied. Right. I almost forgot Razel did not come to class the entire day. Whatever his reason is, I believed, had something to do with Lance's disappearance. Perhaps their pack was already in a mess searching for his
I could not help but heave a sigh as I could not believe the number who knows about what exactly happened to Lance was increased with one. The worst part is that he was someone loyal to Lance's dad - to the pack. We were supposed to keep it hidden, just the four of us, Mom, Felise, and Razel, as much as possible. But now that we were added with one, my wolf started to expect that, eventually, someone gets arrested or worse, get killed. No secrets that can remain hidden forever as they say. But what am I supposed to do? Felise, Mom, and I were also involved in this mess. And there was no turning back. "Mom...," Razel tried to compose his words, "If not because dad stopped Mom at that time-" his knees weakened like jelly as he dropped his butt on the floor. "At that time," he continued, "At that time, perhaps our alpha could have killed Mom with his claws and fangs." Then he lifted his swollen eyes at me. "Brother Ezra, I'm scared." he began crying, "I'm scared. I'm
"You are the ones who killed me in the first place, Mom, Dad. My happiness. My rights. And on top of that, my future. What kind of parents do that to their daughter? I'm so sorry if I disrupted your peaceful dinner." Before I could lose my love and respect for my parents, I evacuated the house with a heavy heart and endless tears. There are no more words or courage left in me that could convince them. So I decided to focus on building my second family which is the pack the way Ezra and I wanted it to be. Piece by piece, we achieve a few things on our bucket list. Our numbers increased to a hundred. Three days later, our fifty became a hundred, and a hundred became a thousand in a matter of days with the help of Razel's pack and Ezra's endless effort to solve every problem every time we encountered one. On top of that, we haven't heard anything from the rest of the packs around us either, giving us enough time to become strong. For me to become the best version of
"No," Ezra blurted, "Let's stick with the plan. Baptism and the Mating Night. Rust will help you guys with the flow of the events. I'll be patrolling the perimeter to make sure the plan succeeds tonight." Right after insisting, Ezra shifted into a wolf and ran away. Yes. Running away would be the perfect definition of what he thinks he's doing right now. He wants to hide his feelings - that he was hurting by the fact that I am going to mate his stepbrother. I know Ezra more than anyone in the world. His pain was excruciatingly unbearable that was why he could not bear to see me getting mated to Razel. All though it was his plan in the first place, he didn't want to turn back on his words even if his stepbrother already confessed to us the possibility of not getting anything from their pack. As soon as Ezra was gone out of my sight, Rust ordered us to begin the baptism. Right after the successful baptism of the Crescent moon pack, I found myself in the middle o
"How about let's prove that your alpha is useless? Kill them all!" Alexander ordered his wolves before he shifted into one. His boisterous growls produced mild movements of the ground, scaring the hell out of everyone, including Ezra and Razel. Before anyone could lay their claws and fangs on my pack members, I jumped on top of Alexander and landed alongside Ezra and Razel. My desire to kill washed over me while shifting the color of my eyes. We already lost two of our pack members. Those numbers all end there. Alexander and his wolves were taken aback when I growled louder than him. My growls did not just produce continuous movements on the ground and shoo all the wild animals around us but shook off everyone's nerves. There was this strange energy that surged in every fiber of my muscle, reverberating through me like a bolt of lightning. I could even feel my claws and fangs increase in size. Sharpened by the seconds. The brown hair attached to my body refl
"No, I highly doubt that," Ezra replied, compared to me and Razel, his voice still filled with hope. "There is another group of wolves a few meters away from the house. They have Mom and your father in that car." That makes sense. My senses were focused only on those werewolves above us. Diverting my heightened senses away from them did not even come to mind. Indeed, there, not far away from the house, stood ten more of Alexander's pack, surrounding the car where Razel's parents are held captives. Ezra's werewolf instincts about Rustom holding them alive were precisely right. Rustom had his motive for letting them stay alive. That also makes me wonder why Alexander agreed to help us save Razel's parents in exchange for Lance. Does that mean he also had his motive for keeping Lance? If there was one, what could it be? But no matter what that is, I must be prepared. "There were thirty werewolves in total surrounding us right now," one of our new members conf
"What will happen to them?" I asked those security guards who dragged me to the parking lot and hopped me into someone's black BMW car by force. Then we took off. "Don't give me that kind of glance, old man." I continued, this time, with a demanding tone, "You knew something. What does Aric wants from them?" "We don't know what Alpha Aric wants from them exactly, but I heard it will not do good to both of them..." As the old man kept on talking, I kept my eyes glancing in and out of the car, especially the direction we were heading. Based on my quick observation, we are not heading to my apartment, my parents' place, or Aric's den, but to the airport. Behind me, if I am not mistaken, were two large luggage bags. What's going on? I know what I did was unforgivable. But are they planning to separate me from Ezra? No. Aric is going to kill them. We still have an unfinished business with Alexander. And we just built our own pack. I must do something because my
Ezra nodded, "Simply because I closed my eyes back then. What if they notice and attack us all of a sudden?" he replied. I don't know if he was simply teasing me or not with his response. His overflowing rage toward me twenty seconds ago, but our ten long seconds kiss, melted and turned into a fine blushing. However, it does not change the fact that he wanted me to mate with his stepbrother. "Sorry," I uttered softly, "But I'm afraid my wolf cannot mate Razel right now, Ezra." "May I know the reason?" he insisted, his voice started to calm down as well. Perhaps he already confirmed that those wolves just passed by were already gone. There was no other way they could have sensed anyone's presence underneath the abandoned house because Ezra and Razel securely surrounded the place with human poop and other disgusting smells to distract a werewolf's heightened sense of smell. Even if we were outside sitting inside the car, they could bearly trace us either because
Ezra's serious expression cut deeper into my heart. However, my instinct senses something more than meets the eye. It seems to me that he had something in mind that he was afraid for me to know. A part of me wanted to ask him about it but I know today is not the best time to push it through. Ezra still has something in his mind. He had to save his Mom to be able to make peace with his stepbrother. Let alone we still need to negotiate with Alexander which I still found not an assurance that their parents are still alive a the moment. That one concern alone could turn everything upside down. The best thing I can do for myself right now is to support Ezra's plan. In order to help Ezra build the pack, my wolf must address the mess I made at the wedding first. I don't want to pour fuel into Ezra's blazing fire so I must make sure he or Razel do not get involved with it. So I proposed to Ezra to explain to us about the Crescent pack. Part of his job being my advisor is
As soon as I reached the middle part of the red carpet, my feet lost their will to move forward. My throat dried all of a sudden accompanied by the tears in my eyes flooding my cheeks. "Ezra, please, save me. I can't do this anymore." I uttered to myself. Everyone in the wedding venue, most especially the groom, furrowed when I simply looked him in the eye. Doubts were apparently displayed all over my face. The moon goddess seemed to have heard my impossible prayer when everyone's attention was shifted onto someone else - to the person who just slammed the door of the church open. I slowly turned around and found a familiar face. Though his entire face was covered in sweat and dirt, my instinct can never get mistaken. My knight in shining armor just arrived a bit late but it was the thought that counts. "Razel," I softly mumbled his name. Even though he was not my true knight in shining armor, it was the thought that counted for me. I don't what exactly happene
"Right," Razel nodded his head, "Aric and his men will be out the entire day to attend the wedding. It will be our only chance to achieve the plan. Ezra and I must take the opportunity of them being gone to search for Lance in his den. Is that what you mean by it, Brother Ezra?" "It is the only way I could think of we could save our parents, Felise." Ezra agreed. "We hope you understand that. Please, do me a favor. I need you to get married to Aric tomorrow." My heart feels like I was left all alone and got sunk into the bottom of the wide blue ocean that the two could do such a thing to me as though none of them considered how I might feel about it. I want to save their parents as much as they do, but I did not expect it to be this way - hurting me badly. Selling me to the wolf whom I hated the most. On top of that, my love and care for Ezra was unconditional. I may have promised him that my wolf would do everything to make him happy, but no matter how hard I try