THIRD PERSON POV:Adrenaline kicked in as Hazel was grabbed, causing her to scream, then Riley put a hand over her mouth as he rested his back against a tree. By now, she already knew it was him from his scent, causing her brows to furrow.She relaxed a bit, which made him take his hands off her, then she pulled away, turning to face him. Deep down, she was happy that he didn’t give up on her, but a part of her was angry because of the false panic attack he gave her.“I’m sorry, I couldn’t stay away from you,” he said to her, then reached for her hand.Hazel found her body becoming weak as her tough-girl attitude vanished the moment he drew her in. His hands went around her waist, pulling her closer with the box in front serving as an obstruction.Riley grabbed the box, placing it on the ground.“That’s better,” he said with a smile hanging on his face. “You look breathtaking,” he continued, causing Hazel to turn her face to the side to hide the reddening of her cheeks.Yesterday, he
THIRD PERSON POV:Hazel pulled away from Riley as she heard her name echo repeatedly from Finn.“I should get going,” she said to him, and he nodded with his hands still wrapped tightly around her.He didn’t want to let her.“I’ll be fine. The triplets take care of me very well, and Bella too.” When she said this, he shut his eyes, placing a kiss on her forehead.He knew this, but he didn’t want just that. As her mate, he wanted to be her support system, but he knew better than to push it.“Okay,” he muttered, letting her slip out of his hands.He ran his thumb over her face, wiping off the stain of tears. She held his gaze for a split second before kissing his lips.“I’ll see you at dinner,” she said, picking up the box from the ground.Then she made her way out of the bushy surrounding to the clear path where she saw Finn, who was already walking ahead of her. She hastened her pace, tapping him gently on his shoulder. This startled him, and he turned around with his arms in a defens
THIRD PERSON POV:For the past ten minutes after meeting with Hazel, Riley lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as if it held the answers to his questions. His phone was on silent, so he had no idea Hazel was calling him.His life just had to be difficult. Why him? He questioned the moon goddess in frustration.“Aren’t you coming for the game at Noble’s cabin?” Ian asked.Riley barely heard him, as his mind was far away.Ian’s patience wore thin, so he walked over and tapped Riley’s legs, which lay flat on the bed. The touch jolted Riley back to the present. He sat up; the mattress creaking beneath him.“I’m heading out for the game at Noble’s cabin, and I—”“You can go without me,” Riley interrupted, his voice flat.Ian’s face fell slightly.He knew Riley was still hung up on Hazel. It bothered him because of the hold she seemed to have on his best friend. The Riley he once knew had vanished in the past three days.“If this is about that Howlstone girl, then I’m disappointe
THIRD PERSON POV:The message on Hazel’s phone startled her, sending a jolt through her body. She jumped to her feet, her breath hitching in her throat.Her clothes lay scattered around the room, and she hurried to collect them, slipping each piece on in a rush. She looked over at Riley, who was still fast asleep, and she slipped out of the cabin without a word with her heart aching with each step she took away from him.As Hazel rushed through the shadows back to her cabin, she nervously changed Riley’s name on her phone to “Bella.”Fae had a way of getting what she wanted, and she couldn’t disobey her due to the Nyx’s spell, so she had to be in character. Her heart raced as she made her way inside, the early morning chill biting at her skin.When the siren blared across the campgrounds, Bella blinked awake. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Hazel sitting on her own bed across the room.“I thought you were at Riley’s?” Bella asked, her voice groggy with sleep. She gave Hazel a
THIRD PERSON POV:As soon as it was six in the evening, Fae took out the potion Nyx had given her and gulped it down. For a split second, she felt her heart stop, and she fell to the cold floor, grasping her chest as the pain surged through her.After a few minutes, it stopped, and she stood up at once, looking at herself in the mirror to see that she was still the same.“Now to make contact,” she said to herself, making her way out of her cabin to join the other students on their way to the food hall.From a distance, she spotted Hazel heading to her cabin, prompting her to plunge into the crowd of students. Luck smiled at her as she spotted Bella with the triplets.“Is it just me, or has Hazel been acting off? She asked me to meet her in the woods, and I have only ten minutes, so I’ll join you guys later. This Riley thing is getting out of hand,” Bella said, leaving.Fae trailed her closely until she left the campgrounds and took the narrow path that led into the woods.“Hello, Bell
THIRD PERSON POV:Hazel looked down at her watch to see that it was past seven, and Fae wasn’t back yet. She sensed something was wrong, so she got to her feet in an attempt to leave when Sebastian walked into the cabin.“Where is Fae?” she asked, her brows shooting up, and Sebastian shrugged nonchalantly.“She asked me to meet her here, so I did,” he said, walking past Hazel to sit on the couch.Hazel tried to sit back, but her spirit was uneasy, causing her to grab her bag from the couch and race out of the cabin without looking back. She knew the triplets wouldn’t let Bella stay in the food hall, but part of her felt something was wrong.She raced down the campgrounds, making her way to their cabin. The moment she opened it, she saw the triplets hovering around Fae, who had her tongue tied with Finn’s.“Shit!” Fae cursed, pulling away from Finn, and they all turned to look at her, the triplets uneasy as they turned away their faces from Hazel.“What is it I haven’t seen?”“Bella!”
THIRD PERSON POV:Hazel’s world blurred as she heard the news, and she felt her heart stop momentarily. Riley was dead, and she hadn’t gotten to spend time with him. It was her fault; she had been foolish, and she should have loved him more, she told herself as tears flowed down her eyes.The world around her became a blur. As the security men let go of the triplets, they rushed to Hazel, who was stiff with her knees on the ground.“Hazel!”“Hazel!”They called out to her, but she could barely hear them as her entire being froze. Riley was gone.Kai grabbed her hand, trying to pull her up, but she grabbed his legs, burying her head in them, bawling out her eyes.“No! No!” she screamed, her body shaking against his knees.Ryder wrapped his hands around her stomach from behind, pulling her up to her feet.“Come on, we need to get you out of here,” he said, and Hazel shook her head, struggling against his grip.He knew how much it hurt, but if it was true, she had to get away from the sc
THIRD PERSON POV:“Hazel,” Ryder called out, rushing to her as she stood still with her feet planted on the ground.She found herself unable to move, and as Ryder’s hand touched her arm, she felt a chill up her spine. Why was this happening to her? She questioned herself as tears formed in her eyes.Her heart was heavy, and she tried to fight the tears, but she couldn’t. It was true Noah had been terrible to her as a mate, but did he have to die? Did everyone around her have to die? Who was next? She questioned herself as Ryder wrapped his arms around her, placing her head on his chest.“It’s okay, Hazel. It wasn’t your fault, and he was a douchebag, so you can’t cry over him,” he said as he patted her hair gently.Hazel remained in the comfort of his arms while the twins closed in on them.“Ryder’s right, and even though death is too much of a punishment, you can’t cry over him because it wasn’t your fault,” Kai chipped in.“No, no. I could have done something, and I should have done
THIRD PERSON POV:The trio drove for hours, finally making it to the frost pack.“I was not going to Howlstone because I did not have time for their numerous security checks,” Halle said, and Hazel took out her phone, asking Bella to meet them at a restaurant.She placed her phone back into her pocket.“Bella and Finn would meet us at the restaurant. I told them Halle didn’t want to go to Howlstone,” she explained to Riley and Halle as Riley drove to a random restaurant in town.Soon, they came to a halt and stepped out of the car. Then they made their way through the sliding doors of the restaurant. They chose a booth and made themselves comfortable. Then Hazel communicated the name of the restaurant to Bella and Finn. Luckily for them, Bella and Finn were close by, and soon they walked through the front door.The cozy atmosphere of the restaurant felt at odds with the tension that hung over them all. As they approached them, Hazel felt a bit of relief, which allowed her to soften he
THIRD PERSON POV:The early morning sun crept through the curtains, casting a soft glow across the room. Hazel stirred first from her slumber, her body aching as she shifted against the cold floor. A dull, throbbing headache pounded at her temples, and when she blinked her eyes open, the events of last night felt like a hazy blur.Next to her was Riley, who groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His hand instinctively reached for his head, as if trying to push away the pain.“Ugh, what the hell happened?” Riley mumbled, squinting at the ceiling before glancing over at Hazel with confusion etched on his face. “Why are we on the floor?”Hazel pushed herself up, groaning as the ache in her muscles intensified. Her mind felt foggy. It was a jumbled mess of fragments of last night, but as soon as her eyes fell on her spell book, which was on the floor, she remembered the spell, and the shifting table, and the wind that took them out.Her voice faltered as everything pieced together. Then sh
Third Person Pov:After a few minutes, Hazel sat up in bed as sweat clung to her skin while she stared blankly at the dark room. The thoughts of what had happened earlier still swirled through her mind, and Riley’s comforting presence next to her did little to soothe the icy knot of fear and dread settling deep in her stomach. Something about the nightmare didn’t feel right—it felt far too vivid, and too real to be just a dream. Her parents’ faces and the accusations in their voices couldn’t be figments of her imagination, and the witch in her refused to let it go.“No,” she whispered in a shaky breath.Riley’s hand rubbed soothing circles on her back. “Hazel, it was just a nightmare. It’s okay—”He tried to convince her with a sleepy voice, but Hazel shook her head sharply, pushing the covers off her body as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.“It wasn’t just a nightmare, Riley,” she said firmly, trying to steady her voice. Her parents had never come to her, and now that the
THIRD PERSON POV:One would have thought Bella was crazy because of what she was seeing, but she was far from that. She wasn’t the only one plagued by ghosts, but no one knew this for now. While Bella was battling the ghost of Joseph Black-Moon, Hazel was in the Dusk Pack with Riley, trying to enjoy her weekend.They had spent the entire day driving from the Frost pack to his father’s mansion at a beach with a good ocean view. Finally, they got there in the evening.“My butt hurts,” Hazel groaned as soon as Riley came to a halt in the enormous mansion in front of them.Riley leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You can rest all night now, and we can do whatever we want tomorrow.”He spoke as though he hadn’t been the one driving the entire time while Hazel had done nothing but play songs, read a book, and sleep through the entire ride. They both got down from the car, and Riley took Hazel’s bag from her, grabbing her hand with his other hand, then they made their way to the front door. He sl
Bella:“What?” I asked, staring at Finn.“Is something wrong?” Finn asked, and I shook my head at once, shutting my book and getting to my feet. “Bella, is something wrong?” I felt a slight shiver as his hands grazed my skin, then I turned to face him.For a moment, I battled with my mind, wondering if I should spill what I knew to him, but if I didn’t, I would have to solve whatever this was, and I didn’t want to follow the same path I did with Fae.“He is the man from my dream last night.” The words came out of my mouth, and Finn stared with his face contorted in confusion.I sighed, then walked back to the bed.“I had a nightmare last night,” I said to him, and he sat close to me as I started narrating everything I could remember from the dream.I ended by saying, “The dream felt so real, and I have a scar from it.” I showed him the mark on my hand, and he ran his hands over it.“According to Hazel, you didn’t kill Bonnie, so why is she mad at you? She should be mad at Sebastian.”
Bella:Today was cheerful enough for most of the students at Howlstone Academy. The vibrant energy of exam prep filled the air, a relief from the tension that had shadowed the halls two weeks ago when Fae was expelled. There were no bullies lurking around to ruin the day, and for once, I didn’t have to glance over my shoulder, expecting someone to plot my demise.As usual, I walked to class with Hazel and the triplets. The sun streamed through the tall windows, casting long beams across the polished floor, but something about the brightness felt off. It was too cheerful, too perfect. As soon as we stepped into the hallway, the bell blared through the air, startling me.“That’s the bell for class,” Hazel said, her voice snapping me back to reality.“See you guys later,” I said to the triplets, giving them a quick wave as I grabbed Hazel’s hand.We made our way down the corridor, the familiar hum of conversation and footsteps filling the space. At our lockers, I grabbed the books I need
THIRD PERSON POV:CONTINUATION OF FLASH BACKAll hell was let loose when the Luna knew that the first child would be a girl, but there was nothing she could do immediately. This made her decide she would stress Evelyn out so much in order to cause a miscarriage. She started maltreating Evelyn throughout the pregnancy, but she never did this in front of Herald. She was a saint when he was around, but the moment he stepped out, the two women were at loggerheads.Herald believed that Evelyn’s constant nagging was from the effects of the pregnancy, so he provided more material things for her without waiting to hear her out each time she tried to complain to him. This continued until the Fifth month of the pregnancy when Evelyn started spotting. The stress had weighed her down so much that her body could no longer take it.She was placed on bed rest, and she feared her baby would die. That same night, she woke Herald up because she was in a lot of pain, but he didn’t believe that she would
THIRD PERSON POV:Evelyn knew that her life without Fred wasn’t going to be rosy, but she didn’t expect what her in-laws had in store for her. On her first night at the Rune pack, she asked for a room where she could be alone, but her mother-in-law laughed.“What do you think you are here for?” she questioned, and Evelyn stared at her, unsure of what she was playing at. “You just got married, and you act like you do not know what couples do on their first night together. I mean, you have done it before, so continue from…”“I didn’t sleep with Herald,” Evelyn said, but Kate didn’t care.She had achieved what she wanted, and she was certain she had secured beautiful and strong grandchildren to take over their lineage.“Lie all you want, child, but you will sleep with your husband tonight, and you both will produce an heir for this family,” she said, and then Evelyn watched the guards move her things into Herald’s chamber.Herald, on the other hand, didn’t return on time that night. The
Bella:I felt the air being knocked out of my lungs as I asked my mother the question. She hurriedly shut the door, then faced me, shaking her head.“Why would you say that, Bella?” she asked, and I shrugged.“That day in your office, when Hazel talked about things that reminded you of the past, you glanced at me. You must not like me that much, and I definitely remind you of something you want to forget,” I said, watching her shut her eyes momentarily.“I do not hate you, Bella, and I never would. Of course, you remind me of my past because you are my daughter, and I’ve had you for sixteen years plus, and—”“Mum, stop!” I cut her off, raising my tone, forcing her to fall silent.I was tired of being driven around in circles. I wanted answers.“I need to know what happened with you and Dad because it kills me every single time I think about it,” I said, and she scoffed, shaking her head.“You do not need to know everything, Bella, and it’s called the past for a reason. So, do you want