AryaThe next Monday, I wake up early for school, but my energy is unbelievably low even though I almost passed out on the bed because of exhaustion and sadness.I hurry preparing everything I needed for school and I go down the stairs to leave. Mom sees me and beckons me over to the dining table. "Come here, Arya! Come eat.""I'm not hungry," I say, and I just leave the house.Outside the palace, a car is waiting for me. A guard opens the door to the backseat and I get in.The trip to the school is quiet and sad, and I hate that I have to be alone with my thoughts for nearly an hour. I try to distract myself with some views outside the car but my mind is still spinning with images of Arthur lying on the side, bleeding and wheezing. . . .The car stops and I the guard opens the door for me.I don't know if it's just me, but for some reason all the students I pass by turn to face me and look at me, and I get this bad feeling. Maybe it's just because I'm not with Arthur and they're curi
AryaA series of emotions start to flash in my chest. From bafflement to fear then back to confusion. I look at Arthur and he’s staring at me intently. I guess a part of me wants this to be a joke, but the single look on his face tells me that this is far from a joke.I swallow hard, shifting my weight from one foot to another. “I . . . don’t know what you mean.”He looks around again before lowering his voice and leaning close to me. “Those Rogues that attacked us in the beach house, and probably some that attacked the Dark Howl Pack . . . well, they have been dead at some point. Something is bringing them back to life to do its bidding. Something that we can’t recognize and have no trace of.”My pulse starts to race. “How did you know this?”“I started to suspect when they got close to me and I smelled them,” he says. Nancy leans closer to us to listen in but Arthur doesn’t stop. He looks at her too. “They refused to die. No matter how much I hurt them it seems that they just spring
AryaFor a second I don't know what to say. I just look at Daniel, my smile stuck on my face."Well?" he prompts after a while of me not saying anything. "What do you think?""I don't know," I say after a beat, feeling Arthur's arm tensing around my waist. "Did they say why they want to talk to me?"He pauses to think about that for a moment, but he then shakes his head and shrugs. "No. They didn't say anything about it. And I personally have no idea why they want to talk to you."When he sees my confused expression, he quickly adds, "No, they're not angry or anything. It really doesn't seem like anything negative. They're just asking about you and how you are doing. I don't think it has anything to do with. . . ."He trails off, but he doesn't need to continue. I know what he means and I know that he's talking about Levi.And I don't know why, but I just automatically say, "I'll be there."Then I realize that that's a mistake, because the temperature seems to have dropped ten degrees
Arya“I didn’t say anything,” I insist, and to my horror, tears are starting to brim my eyes. “I didn’t mean anything by it, Arthur. I’m just going to come see his parents and it would be a civil event.”Arthur doesn’t say anything more. He just backs the car off the driveway and then we’re in the road.“Arthur,” I call out to him, trying to touch his knee and look at him imploringly. “Please, talk to me. I want to know what you’re so angry about.”“I’m not angry,” he mutters. “I’m afraid.”I frown in confusion. “Afraid of what?”“Afraid that the mate bond is not going to be severed,” he says, and his voice drops even lower. “Afraid that someday, you will realize that he’s what you want and you will leave me.”His words hit me hard, almost like a direct punch in the chest. I look over at him but he’s already focused on the road. I clench my jaw, trying to hold back the tears long enough to talk, but my words start to fail me.No sound comes out of my mouth. Before I knew it, we’re alr
LeviThe damage in the Shadow Moon Pack is nothing I have ever seen.For the past days since the attack, that has been the focus of everyone: getting everything ready and seeing to it that all the damages are assessed and repaired.In over a thousand members, thankfully only ten people were injured, including me. We didn’t have any casualties apart from that, and that makes me really glad. Our pack is still whole. We didn’t lose anyone.Our homes, on the other hand, are a different matter, since we have to start from scratch and build some of them from the ground.The ones who suffered the most damage from the Rogue attack are the Omegas.It’s something I already expected, since after living with them, I have come to realize that their homes are . . . well, not made from the best material.So as we start our rebuilding projects, I appeal to Daniel and ask him if we could use some of the better materials to rebuild the houses of the Omegas, and Daniel was actually all for it.It’s Mond
Levi"What?" is the only thing I can say, and I feel like that sums up the whole statement that my dad just said.The words feel like they're floating around my head and the only thing that made contact are the words 'dinner' and 'Arya'."I said, we're inviting Arya over for dinner this week," Dad says. "She can come whenever she pleases. Of course she's a princess and she's bound to have a pretty busy schedule. We must make way for her so just be prepared for that."My heart starts to race. I don't know if it's just me being dumb and sleep-deprived or if this is bringing out a legitimate feeling of dread and nerves, but right now my head is swimming and my body feels so light that a small breeze can probably take me away right now.Still, I manage to find my voice and ask, "What for? What are you inviting her for?""Just to catch up," Dad says, and he smiles. That's when I knew that he really does mean it, that his intentions are pretty genuine. But that does not ease the growing fea
Arya“Arthur . . . enlisted?” I ask, my voice fragile, but I don’t dare show any kind of emotion on my face. I know that if my mom finds out about what Arthur and I fought about, it would be bad. I don’t want them to interfere. “Since when? I didn’t know about that.”Mom stops examining one of the monitors and turns to me. “Huh, okay. Well, he just messaged us a while ago, right around the time you got home, actually. We’ve been offering the job to him since the whole event happened, though.”I clench my jaw. I want to scream and cry in frustration but I keep my calm, even to my own surprise. “Oh, okay.”Even though I sounded pretty normal, she must have sensed my surprise because she holds my hand and says, “Maybe he’s just about to tell you, my love. Why don’t you come to talk to him?”“I’ll do that,” I mumble, then I just say my quick excuses before hurrying out of the throne room.I rush inside my room, trying to keep it together long enough to take out my phone and try to call Ar
Levi“Dude, you’re bleeding,” Daniel says lamely as he sees the marks on my stomach. “This can’t be good.”“Just hand me over some bandages.” I motion for him to go on and fetch me some. “I’m not in pain in any way. I think the effort of the day just reopened some things and that has to be pretty normal, right?”Daniel doesn’t look very convinced by my lie but he quickly runs off anyway and comes back with some disinfectant and gauze. I take off my shirt and crumple it into a ball so I can hide it in the washer much quicker later, and Daniel helps me soak the gauze in some disinfectant before dabbing away at the mess.Contrary to what I originally thought, the wounds didn’t completely reopen. There are some areas that have been scratched open, though, and I don’t know what caused that. I don’t even know why they caused so much bleeding.As I wrap up my torso and wear the extra shirt that Daniel also brought, I can’t help but get worried about what the scratches would do in the future,