ASTRIDThis was a first time for me- a party. Not just any party but one at Hunter’s and he e texted me to go alone. Did he seriously think I would agree to going to his place alone? What if something happened? What if I didn’t fit in? A billion questions raced through my head as we headed to class, but I kept them to myself. Instead, I thought of what to wear, how to act and what to say. I barely heard nothing or paid attention to anything happening around me until my name was called. “Astrid!” The teacher’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I blinked up at him, caught off guard.“Are you listening?” he asked, his tone sharp.I nodded, lying through my teeth. “Yes, sir.”“Then keep your mind in class,” he scolded before turning back to the rest of the students. “We’ll be starting a group project. You’ll work in pairs.”I groaned at her words, I did not deal with the awkwardness that came with being paired and working with a new student. And to confirm my dread, the teacher called
JUSTINThis was my chance. As much as I did not want to let Astrid leave my side, I had to play this right. It was killing me inside to watch her walk away with Hunter, but if I pushed too hard, she would be suspicious and I could not afford that. Not now. Not when I was so close to finally getting the truth. Astrid glanced at me, her eyes filled with confusion, probably wondering why I did not argue, why I did not insist on keeping her close but instead allowed her go with him. The truth was, I wanted nothing more than to stop her from going with him, but I had to stay calm. So I forced a smile and sent a reassuring message through the mind link- our link and told her to keep the walls of her mind down so I could get to her if anything happened. “Do not let me out of your mind, Astrid. Keep your walls down. I’ll be with you the whole time.”She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, understanding what I was trying to say. With one last glance at me, she turned around and followed Hu
ASTRIDRevenge. Hunter was here for revenge.The words played in my head repeatedly, I still couldn't believe it.Justin held both side of my arms and I looked up at him. My eyes searched his for truth and I found them.My mind was blank, frozen, I didn’t know what to say or how to process this all. I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe that Hunter, the one person I thought I could trust, had been lying to me all this time and pretending too. My heart fell, I felt betrayed. It was like I had been kicked in the gut and I couldn’t breathe. Again. Justin watched me closely as if waiting for the words to settle in, his hands coming up and cupping my cheeks. I could feel the warmth of his touch but it was doing very little to calm me. “Astrid, baby,” he said softly, his voice pulling me out of my head. “You do not need to say anything right now, I understand and I’m so sorry that the person you found a friend in is nothing but just another killer. But I need you to promis
ASTRIDI stared at my books, I was stuck on one word and I could not ignore Hunter’s presence beside me. I was still shocked at the revelation of his intentions and plans towards me. He was not a friend, rather he was pretending to be friends with me. He did not care about me nor did he have any good intentions towards me. How am I even going to confront him? I thought to myself as I kept staring at the book in front of me. How could I confront him especially now that Sasha was hovering all around and would not leave us alone, she was acting like a damn fly and I was over it already. When I came to school this morning and saw them, they looked like they were having a heated argument and I wondered if somehow they knew each other and did not just meet at school. I mean if Hunter was hiding his plans, he might as well be hiding the fact that he knew her too. “You don't look, Astrid. You good?” Hunter asked, his voice startled me and drew me out of my thoughts. I nodded meekly, almo
ASTRIDWe were home now and I still could not stop crying. Justin had wrapped his arms around me after knocking Hunter out, he had carried me- a sobbing mess- to his car and brought us to his house. Justin had tried everything to make me stop crying but I just could not seem to stop, I was shaking with tears. I was curled up in his arms and the more I cried, the tighter he held me, his hands rubbing against my back and trying to soothe me. Justin had been right. He was right about everything. Hunter was dangerous, he was bad news. Worse than anything I could have ever imagined. I had trusted him, and found a friend in him. Let myself believe he was someone I could confide in and walk back on if anything happened, someone who understood me. But I was wrong, he was a monster in disguise. And if Justin had not appeared when he did, Hunter would have hurt me and gotten away with it. The tears kept coming, I felt stupid, fear, shame, anger. It all mixed together trying to choke me. I c
ASTRIDI walked closer to him and got back under the shower with him, he went down on his knees and he did not waste any more time as he brought his finger to my pussy and trailed his index finger from my clit down to my entrance, slowly dipping it in. I gasped at the contact, grinding my hips against his fingers. He slipped his finger out of me and before I knew it two fingers were plunging inside of me, curling to hit that spot. My vision blackened and a silent moan of pleasure was my only response, it was the only thing I was capable of doing. “You moan so pretty,” he said as he continued working his fingers in me. I rolled my hips against his fingers, grinding into his hands. He withdrew his hands before he drove them into me again and again, until he was fucking me with his fingers and all I could do was hold on, my hand now in his hair tugging on it hardly. Low, husky moans from my throat filled the room, shouting his name, “yes… Justin just like that,” I moaned sweetly. H
HUNTERI was angry. No, anger was an understatement compared to what I was feeling. I felt a mixture of rage, frustration and something much darker. I sat in my room, the coldness of the floor doing nothing to calm my anger. I knew someone had been in my room and I did not think it would have been Justin. The scent was faint but undeniable. It was Justin. That bastard. It all made sense now. How Justin had been so chill about Astrid hanging around me at first. How he had not protested when I said I wanted to show her something. I should have known he was up to no good. And now, Astrid knew the truth. She knew I had been Audrey’s mate. The thought of it made me laugh, but it was not the truth or her realization that stung. Me being Audrey’s mate did not matter anymore. Not like it once did. I only wanted Astrid- just her. Audrey was dead and gone, the feelings I had for her was nothing compared to my feelings and obsession with Astrid. At first I thought I only liked her, but now
ASTRIDMy mind felt heavy and weighed down with everything that had happened. I was tired- so tired. I was officially done with trusting anyone that was not Justin, it did not get me anywhere anyways, all it brought was heartbreak and betrayal. I was seated on the bleachers, my knees pulled up to my chest, not far from where Justin could see me as he went to practice. A few time when my thoughts wanted to spiral out of control and my head wanted to remind me of what had happened, I would hear him in my mind, his voice and words thereby calming me down.“Don't think about thay asshole, baby. Think about me instead,” his voice echoed softly in my mind. The second I thought about him, a blush made its way to my face as I remembered what had happened last night in the shower. However, when practice started, Hunter sauntered into the field and my heart dropped the second I saw him. His eyes met mine and I felt like my breathe was knocked out of me. And once again I heard Justin’s voice
JUSTINMy heart was pounding against my chest widely and a strange feeling settled over me as my eyes drifted from my father to my mother . I had never seen my parents so- tense like that before, the seemed so bothered about something I couldn’t understand why it was. My father’s jaw was tight and my mother’s lips were pressed together in a tight line as if she was trying to hold back her words. For the first time in my entire life, it seemed like there was an unresolved issue lingering between them, something neither of them wanted to talk about.My mother sat down and my father sat beside her, he held her hands tightly as if to anchor him. Then with a small sigh, he started talking. “There’s something I haven’t told you before and I guess this is the time for you to know, Justin,” he let out, his voice firm but I could tell the tension underneath it. “Years before I met your mother or even began dating her… I used to date a witch.”I frowned at what he said, refusing to believe his
JUSTINI knew something was off about that girl right from the start. And right here, she proved me right the moment she disappeared. Of course, she was a witch but why had she come here only to disappear? Why show herself now if it wasn’t a part of some plan?I turned around and saw Astrid with wide and startled eyes, a million thoughts were swirling in her head. I could hear her thoughts and she was back to thinking about her wolf, back to believing she needed a witch to fix whatever was wrong with her wolf. But not this witch. Raina, Sasha, or whatever she called herself. She was the wrong person for that. A very wrong one and I had this feeling she was dangerous too. It was clear too.I walked to Astrid and placed my hand on her arm, but her mind was too preoccupied with what she was thinking she knew about Raina. “Astrid,” I whispered through our link. “Look at me. She is not the witch you're looking for, snap out of it, baby. Raina is a liar and a friend of Hunter’s. She can’t
ASTRIDI was sure it was him- or at least, I thought I was. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me, spinning my fears into shadows outside the window. I didn’t feel safe. Not anywhere. Not anymore. The only place I felt safe was in Justin’s arms. But what are we going to do now?I was trembling and crying quietly into his chest as he held me tight, his hands rubbing my back up and down soothingly. The only thing that comforted me was his presence and the warmth of his body. Not even a minute later, the room was filled with everyone else. The door burst open, and my parents and Justin’s came inside. I could feel their eyes on me, I could see the worry in their eyes and I started feeling overwhelmed. “What happened?” Justin’s mother asked, her voice laced with concern. “The fucker was here,” Justin replied her, his voice was strained and I could tell he was trying to control his anger. “Astrid saw him.”They all let out a low gasp immediately the words came out of Justin’s m
JUSTINI was torn between staying with Astrid to protect her and the baby and going over to where Hunter was to confront him. I felt that familiar feeling of fear and all my body became tense as my mind started racing, calculating the risks. Under no circumstances must Hunter find out about the baby. If he found out, his games could get dirtier, more dangerous, and I could not afford that. Not now. Not ever. I pressed a kiss to Astrid’s temple, she was too focused on her ice cream, completely unaware of anything happening while mine was melting in my hand, dripping down my fingers. So, I got to eating it and took my eyes back to where Hunter was, but he was gone like he had never been there. I turned Astrid and tried to get her walking so we could get out of there but she wasn’t budging. “I want another one,” she whined, holding out her empty cone. I forced a smile, trying to keep my fear out of my eyes and our link. “We have to leave sweetheart,” I said, my voice steady despite th
JUSTINWith an opponent hot on my heels, I ran across the pitch, the wind whipping over my hair. I didn't care that running had scorched my lungs and pushed my legs to the breaking point. There was only one thing on my mind- reaching the goal post. I focused, dodged an opponent and narrowed my eyes. And Immediately I got to the goal post, I swung the pusher against the ball straight into the net. The stadium exploded in cheers as soon as the ball got past the goalkeeper and into the net.Victory. I turned immediately to the stands, my eyes searching for the one face that made this whole moment worth it. Astrid was there, her eyes shining with pride and a big smile playing at the corners of her lips. I blew her a kiss, grinning like a fool. I could barely hear my teammates rushing towards me, to celebrate with me. The championship game had just started and this was our third win. I ran to where she was in the crowd in the stand as soon as the game ended. I immediately lifted her int
HUNTERI stared at Raina and her mother, Celeste, with a bored expression plastered across my face. The room felt suffocating with their presence, their very existence was dripping with deceit. If there was one thing I had learnt from dealing with these two, it was that they were up to something. The fact that they had the audacity to show up at my pack unannounced only confirmed my suspicions. Whatever they were planning, I needed to figure it out- and fast. I had zoned out for a moment, allowing the dull hum of their voices fade to become background noise, but then, Celeste called my name, snapping me back to the conversation. I blinked, trying to focus on her as she spoke. “Hunter, we heard what happened,” she said with sympathy in her voice and I rolled my eyes. “So, what are your plans now?” She asked, her voice smooth and practiced. It was as if she was trying to sound genuinely concerned, but I knew better. I could see the calculation in her eyes, the way her lips curled into
ASTRID "It was- I…” I opened my mouth to respond, but then it hit me. It has actually been a while. I stared up at her, my eyes widening as a wave of terror and bewilderment passed over me. With my heart pounding, I muttered, "It can't be." “We have… well- it can’t be what I’m thinking right? I mean yes, we have done it a few times. Well a lot since that day but could I really be?” My heart was beating fast against my chest and the room bounced a little in my eyes. Goddess.She nodded knowingly. “There is a high chance,” she replied. “I have a few pregnancy test strips in the pack’s first aid kit downstairs. You stay put, I'll go and grab one for you.” I nodded in response.As she left the room, I felt my mind waving. This was exciting, but also terrifying. This was not the right time at all. A lot was still going on. Hunter was still out there. What if he found out? And school- oh my God, I still had two years left. How was I supposed to manage being pregnant and finishing school? I
ASTRIDA few weeks has passed since I found out about my adoption, Hunter’s intentions and Justin getting hurt. My relationship with Justin had gotten even better and it was flourishing. Even now, I was still in shock at how much had changed so quickly. I no longer felt the weight surrounding me, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I fit somewhere. My relationship with my parents was… progressing. Slowly. But, we were getting there. The hardest part, though, was trying to get used to Justin’s mother change in attitude and how she was so sweet to me now. I was finding it hard to accommodate her but I was sure I’d get there eventually. Justin had helped me pack my things back into the Alpha’s home after everything had settled down and it felt good to be back, surrounded by people that cared about me. And I could always see Justin and not wait or count down until time I would get to see him. Everything was going well. All was well. But there was a nagging feeling at the back
ASTRIDBest news of the year. Hell, best news of my life. She loves me.Astrid, the girl who always made my heart race, who kept me awake at night, and haunted my thoughts whether she was around or not, had finally confessed to loving me back. I felt a raw, powerful feeling go through my veins as soon as she finished speaking. A high I hadn't felt in years. It was taking up all of my mental space, making the physical anguish I was experiencing seem unreal and distant. I forced myself up, scowling at the way the stitches were pulling at my flesh, ignoring the pulsating pain in my ribs. Astrid, always the worrier, immediately moved to get me to lay back down. She attempted to gently lead me back to the bed by saying, "Justin, you're still hurt." But I would have none of it. Grabbing her wrist, I pulled her in until she was inches from my face. I could smell her skin, that subtle aroma that always made me crazy, and I could feel the warmth of her breath. She made an effort to make me