Arya "Marry . . . me?" I ask. Don't get me wrong. I don't feel bad about that. How can I, when it's Arthur who's asking that from me? I love him and I will do anything for him, and being together for the rest of our lives would mean the world to me. But I still can't believe that I managed to find someone like him. Someone so good and so genuine. Someone that's not like Levi at all. I freeze. Levi? Did I just think that? I try to take back the thread of memories in my head, but it slips away pretty quickly, leaving me with the conclusion that Levi might be the boy in my memories who said some bad stuff to me. It’s all just faraway now. All the feelings seem to be gone. "Yes," Arthur tells me with no hesitation. "I liked you since I first saw you, and my love for you now only grew when I got to know you. I'm sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Tears start to brim around my eyes, and it feels good that this time, it's not because of pain. It's because of the
AryaThe pain is too great for me to bear. I don’t know what’s happening around me anymore, but I do know that I just crashed into what looks like a meeting between Dad and his important people.And by crash, I mean literally crashed into their table.I feel the wooden structure exploding against my back, as well as the shuffle of papers and the crash of coffee cups on the floor. I expect the pain to come but it doesn’t. Instead, I just feel a numb kind of sensation on my back.I have a strong feeling that his otherwise deadly collision against the table is actually cushioned by my prickly fur.The men around me all yell and flinch as I try to straighten up. In my head, I can feel Ivory’s chaotic joy and her immense freedom. I can hear her letting out a long and joyous whoop, which registers as a long and shrill howl that echoed in the tight space.Meanwhile, King Samuel is in great shock. He carefully approaches me as his men press themselves against the wall, trying not to get flatt
AryaSilence. There’s only silence among the four of us. I stare at all of them and their expressions are all different.Daphne looks shocked. Maria looks skeptical. Kate looks confused. This could have been a comedic situation if it weren’t for the fact that Arthur himself did not react too well when he found out. I would be hurt if my friends all think the same way about me too.“Um. . . .” Daphne is the first one to speak. “So you’re not their niece?”I shake my head. “No, I’m not. I had to pretend that I am until my Lycan comes so I can have proper recognition, and I got my Lycan just recently.”The three of them nod and look at each other. Then silence again. This makes my nerves skyrocket. What are they thinking? How are they feeling? How exactly are they taking the news?I want to ask them all these questions that are plaguing my brain but I decide to wait for their reactions. I don’t want to force them to accept it if they don’t feel like it’s going to work.Quietly, I take a
AryaThe words seem to float off the paper and around my head, swirling like a halo of taunts and bad memories.Suddenly everything starts to come back.Now, I remember growing up in that pack, Shadow Moon. I remember being called the weakest link. I remember my brother Daniel and my parents there, who were the only ones who were kind to me. And finally, I remember Levi Ellis.The Alpha who rejected me the night of my birthday there.The rejection feels like it happened yesterday. Suddenly I can feel the old hurt again. Suddenly I’m back in that pack, facing the cliff and choosing death over the pain that was given to me so heartlessly.For a whole moment, I can’t breathe. That’s why I wasn’t welcome there. That’s why my power never matched up to any of theirs. This Kingdom is where I belong.And that place has been the source of my worst pain.Tears start to fall rapidly down my cheeks. My parents look horrified.“Why are you crying?” Mom asks in alarm. “What are you crying about? Wh
Levi“Are you not coming with us?” Theo asks me absently as we both enter the arena for fighting practice. “I mean, it’s going to be really fun.”“Well, if you refuse to tell me what you’re up to, I’m afraid I would have to decline,” I say in an emotionless tone.That has been my tone for days now. Emotionless, bland. Lifeless and weird too, according to my dad.Unfortunately, that is also the only tone I can use for whatever “party” Theo and Daniel are planning to throw for me. They say it’s supposed to make me feel better and maybe amp up my performance as an Alpha too, which is something that my dad wants me to improve immensely.Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m not trying my best to be everything they expected me to be: a dynamic and active Alpha who would be able to finish his tasks seamlessly and without losing a single notch of energy. The kind of Alpha who would be perfect in all his endeavors and yet still manage to find the time for personal stuff, like love and marriag
Levi"Daniel?" I ask in confusion, backing away from the women until I almost stumble on my own feet. "Daniel, what is the meaning of this?""It means fun, my brother," he says, coming up behind me and patting me on the back before pushing me towards the ladies. "They are all yours, Alpha."I hate the teasing tone in his voice and it's so foreign to me, so new that I suddenly feel the urge to slap it out of his mouth. But as soon as he gets close, I manage to take a whiff of something that smells sour and deep from him, the smell of alcohol. It's basically swirling around his body like a second skin.Why is Daniel drunk? Do his parents know? So this is their idea of a party? This was their plan all along? To invite a bunch of strangers over to our pack and have them all come at me?Anger is starting to rise in my chest but I try hard not to explode right then and there.I also know that they have my best interests at heart. I know that as braindead as this is, this is actually their
Levi"What?" the girl on my lap asks after a full beat. "What did you say?"And that is when the whole situation comes crashing down on me. Here I am, sitting on a couch in some kind of basement behind the arena, with my closest friends. Theo is passed out drunk. Daniel is making out with five women at once. And I'm here with a woman on my lap grinding on me. I don't even know her name.I'm pretty sure she told me, but I forgot. The reason why I forgot? Because I was too drunk and too emotional that her facial features got blurred, either by alcohol or my imagination, and I thought of her as Arya.Then I redirected all my desire for Arya onto this girl, whose name I decidedly forgot.To top it all off, I also called her the wrong name to her face, after telling her that we should get out of here so I can have my way with her.That's how much of a douchebag I have become.I shake my head, trying to regain more of myself and my wits. Meanwhile, the girl is still on my lap and she's
LeviSuddenly my whole body snaps to attention. For some reason the sound just feels . . . ominous, and I can’t shake off the feeling that someone is watching me.That someone has been watching me this whole time I was in the forest.My first hopeful thought is that it’s Arya, who’s lingering in the woods watching over me. But as delusional and as hopeless as I am, I knew that that would be stupid and impossible. I would have tracked her scent by now since we are mates, and I have been looking for her all this time.My second thought is that maybe Naomi followed me, but I don’t think she wants me enough to do that. I am perfectly confident that she just targeted me because I’m an Alpha but she doesn’t really care for me at all.My third thought is my friends, who are both probably passed out drunk by now. They would not be coming here sneaking up on me and watching me.That leaves me with a possible stranger and a spy that I probably haven’t noticed until now.I look directly at the d