ELLA"You are a threat to his plans. With your strength, you can literally unify all the packs. And my father doesn't want that. Believe me when I say he's damn pissed." Ryan repeated his words, and I sipped my coffee before answering because I needed a second to process that statement."Ella, you have to believe me.""I am listening to you," I said, lowering the cup. "But this....this is insane.""He's going to start conflicts among the various packs. Once this starts, he will use that opportunity to weaken them.""All the major packs?" I frowned.The waitress returned with his order. She poured him a cup of coffee. "Is there anything else you'll like?" she asked.I could see his impatience as he shook his head. "No, thank you; the coffee will be all.""Would you like a refill?" She turned to me and asked."Yes, thank you," I said. She poured some for me, and the fragrant steam rose from the cup and hit my face.Once done, she took the coffee pot with her and walked out."So you are
THIRD PERSON POVSara glanced at the giant wall clock in the suite's living room. It was ten minutes past Nine.What could Ella and Ryan be discussing that would take this long?Already, it was hard for her to stay still.She paced the floors, her eyes darting to the clock every ten minutes. She couldn't shake off the feeling of foreboding she felt.What was taking them too long?!Ella had said that if she wasn't back by ten p.m., Sara was free to come to the venue."She'll be back before then," Sara said out loud, more to reassure herself than anything else. "Before ten, she'll be back."But that didn't stop her from worrying, and neither did it stop her from pacing. She watched the clock as the minutes ticked by, agonizingly slow minutes that made it look like time had been frozen still.And it was ten pm.Sara couldn't just stay back any longer. She knew she had to do something. It was ten, and Ella hadn't returned yet.She grabbed a coat, her purse, and her phone, and with those,
THIRD PERSON POVSara ran out of the taxi before it even got a chance to stop.“Hey, miss! Your money!” The driver yelled after her.“I’m deeply sorry!” She said. She took money from her purse, put two twenties and a ten-dollar bill into the driver's hand, and raced to the hotel's front door.A few distance away, she spotted two distinct figures, so she picked up her pace."Tristan! Nathan!" She called out.They paused and turned to her, “Sara?"Sara met up with them. She was out of breath but not bothered by it.“There's a problem now." She said. "Ella...she's been kidnapped. I suspect she's been kidnapped."Nathan frowned deeply. "We felt her pain through the mate bond."Tristan grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the hotel room. "Let's go inside and talk about this."Sara nodded tensely.The three of them headed inside the hotel and to the suite Ella and
ELLA“Will you shut up?!" The guard outside my cell shouted, his gruff tone pleading. “My ears fucking hurt from all your damned yapping!”"I’m not shutting up! Not until you listen to me," I shot back. I grabbed the steel bars as hard as I could and pulled, but they didn't budge one bit. "Just listen to me! And I'll stop talking!"The guard turned around and glared at me. "How about I cut your tiny tongue out of your mouth, huh?! Will you shut up then?!"I swallowed thickly. "You have to believe me! You're fighting the wrong fight! Alpha Rambo is a threat to the werewolf society as we know it!""And how do you know that?" The second guard outside said.There were three of them. It seemed overkill that three guards would be needed to keep me locked up, but that, again, just proved how evil Rambo was.My neck stung. The spot that the needle had pierced my neck throbbed painfully. I had no idea what they had inje
THIRD PERSON - TWINS POV"He's not here," Nathan said, exerting his voice. He wiped his bloody fist on the shirt of the warrior he had knocked out and dropped the body to the floor."That fucker." Tristan hissed. He slammed the door shut and walked out.Nathan watched his brother closely, and he could see that Tristan was quite literally about to explode.Just last night, Ella had been kidnapped by Alpha Rambo. They had spent the night gathering the support of all the Alphas on Ella's side. The next morning, before the sun showed its face, they laid siege to Moon-lake Pack.With the power of over thirty Alphas, the pack was subdued in mere minutes. The only problem was that Rambo was nowhere to be seen.Tristan groaned, his hands raked through his hair as he paced the floors. "You'd think that this would be easy, huh?!""I understand, but we..." Nathan started to say, but a sound made him pause. He and Tristan turned, and Ryan was at the end of the hall.Ryan looked between the both o
ELLAI drifted in and out of consciousness, and I became vaguely aware that I was in deep pain.The air smelled different. The damn and moldy smell was gone. And there was a bright light shining down on my face.I groaned deeply and turned my head to the side to avoid the light rays.I realized I was in a different place. It was like a room, the walls dull ivory and subtly getting on my nerves. It was most definitely not that cell anymore.I tried to sit up, but my arms and legs won't move. I realized I was tied to a chair, my legs and hands bound to the large reclined chair.This wasn’t Moon Lake pack. It was so much different here. And I couldn’t tell where we were right now."Impressive." A voice said, followed by clapping. "I mean, I have heard about the white wolf and its powers, but this is beyond my wildest imagination.""Alpha Rambo." I hissed. I turned to him.He walked into the room, his hands clasped and a creepy smile on his face."Barely five hours and all the wolfsbane h
ELLAA day had passed.A day of nothing in this place.I counted the hours as they ticked by as much as I could in this place because there was no way to tell the time.Rambo came in with those masked doctors from earlier, and I was bled again. The enormous blood bag looked even more terrifying in the bright light.I watched my blood leave my body, and I felt sick. Sick to the point that I threw up all over the floor.Someone came in and cleaned it without saying a word to me.I could only pray that the words I had whispered to Kyle would work. I was banking my escape on him being swayed by them.I must have passed out because the next time I woke up, I was alone with Kyle. My hands were untied, and a tray of food was in front of me."You've been asleep a while," Kyle said dryly as I sat up."Try being bled within an inch of your life. Let's see how you like that." I retorted, my tone tired.My head felt heavy like it was stuffed with cotton wool. I stared down at the dinner in front
THIRD PERSON POV"This is the worst," Ryan moaned, his head buried between his hands and his elbows planted on his knees. "This is just the absolute worst.""Tell me about it." Nathan snapped. He glared at Ryan and felt fresh anger course through his veins. They were in this pickle because of his father.They had left the basement rooms back into the open, and instantly, Ryan had broken down. Nathan felt disgusted with that, and he didn't bother hiding his displeasure.Tristan was oddly calm, staring at the basement room door like he was waiting for something to happen. Sara stood beside Ryan, not saying anything to comfort him but not shushing him up.All four of them had an air of despair around them."This is the worst," Ryan kept repeating."Will you shut up?!" Nathan snapped. "How is this the worst? And how are you lamenting more than us?”"Nathan," Sara called worriedly."She was going to help me!" Ryan screamed at Nathan. "She was going to make me fucking whole again!""And tha
ELLATEN YEARS LATER“Welcome, Luna.” The small, bespectacled woman bowed with a smile. “The kids have been waiting. They can hardly sit still at the moment.”I favored her a warm smile. “That is to be expected of kids. You know how they are, young and full of so much energy.”Today, I was to spend some time with kindergarteners at the pack’s new daycare center.Little ones who had no idea at the moment that they weren’t humans, babies, in the sense of the word.She adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses and laughed softly. “Ah, yes. Right this way, please. Would you like anything to drink? Tea or coffee, perhaps?” She gestured to the hallway ahead, where the walls were painted a soft baby pink with motifs of flowers, rainbows, and stick figures playing in green fields.We walked down the hall side by side.“Water is good.”“I shall arrange for that.”We paused in front of a door.From the glass screen, I could see the kindergartens running about, smiling brightly as they chased one another
ELLA“At this point, I think you have a laughing disease or something.""She's just high, we all are.""I'm not fucking high.""Yes. Like you didn't drink an entire winery barely thirty minutes ago.""Can you two quit your incessant rambling and take this gown off me? Hello? I'm trying to get dicked down right now!”Nathan and Tristan turned to me, eyes shiny with mirth.It had been a long day.The wedding after-party stretched into the night, long and packed with fun.And right now, I have a beautiful wedding ring on my finger, which matches my mates' rings, too.We had a joint shower and settled down to drain the Blackwood family cellar."You want to get dicked down?" Nathan asked, his brows wiggling suggestively as he approached me. He pulled me into his arms, and I shuddered just at that touch alone. "Mrs. Blackwood,""Oh, shut up," I laughed to myself. It started small and soon blew out into a wild laugh. "I think Wendy spiked our drinks,""With what?" Tristan hugged me from behi
ELLAA WEEK LATER."We look amazing, don't you think?" Sara said, her head tilted back and forth. "These gowns are the best, don't you think?""Um...yeah. I..." I tried to say something, but my nerves wouldn't let me form a coherent sentence.My hands balked into fists at my sides.My cheeks were tinged rogue, and it wasn't from blushing. I felt a million butterflies released in my belly.I was so fucking nervous! And I wanted to pee too."Hey, hey," Sara said softly. She grabbed both sides of my face and turned me to face her. "What's the matter?""I’m nervous?" I said with an uneasy laugh, and Sara laughed, too."Tell me about it; I am terrified." She put her hands over my shoulders and gently steered me to meet our reflection in the giant mirror in front of us. "But think about it this way: We are about to get married to the loves of our lives. Don't you think that's amazing?"We looked stunning.I had always imagined myself in a wedding gown, but none of my imagination topped the
ELLADr Celia was dead.We found her body and that of the witch who was controlling her outside of the altar, badly burned up.The altar itself was on fire, but the fire was going down as if being suppressed by an invisible hand.Magic was probably at play, we guessed so.Some of the saved werewolves offered to bury the dead.Even as I stared at the dead body of the witch who controlled and killed my mentor, I didn't feel any feeling of satisfaction that she was dead.I would have felt a million times better if I were the one to tear her apart bit by bit and leave her body parts for the vultures and crows to pick her bones clean."There's someone inside there," Tristan said as I watched the wolves dig a grave for Dr Celia.I turned to him. He and Tristan had gone to check the altar, but they didn't get as far as the door."There's a witch inside." Nathan said. "Just how many of them are they?""It's a coven." I said and turned to the altar. "There's a lot of them. And we're going to k
THIRD PERSON POVBeing under a witch's control was like being trapped in your head.Dr Celia didn't know exactly when she fell under the witch's control.All she remembered was waking up one morning and finding that her body wasn't in her control.She had woken up in the lab with no memories of getting there.She still had her consciousness, and the witch would sometimes let her take control for a few minutes or hours at a time, depending on what was needed.Celia did try to break free, or run, or alert someone of what was going on.But before she opened her mouth to speak, she would find herself slipped back to the darkest corner of her mind, and a strange presence would take control of her body.She hated it. Absolutely hated it.It went on for long months. An unspoken rule. "Keep your mouth shut at all times."The witch searched her brain, all her memories, the treasure robe of medieval knowledge and experience that she had. And the witch used them all to her advantage.Not only di
ELLA“What the fuck is that thing?" Tristan asked, his voice carrying the awe and surprise we all felt.The large circle was the size of a small football field. The land strips around it looked like they had been lynched of all life. The circle glowed a pulsing red, dark and ominous, like something from a horror movie."A circle," Wendy said, her voice shaky.I couldn't even speak."I can see that it's a fucking circle, Carter. But what exactly is it?!""We don't know," Nathan replied. "We don't fucking know."We had been able to save most of the werewolves who had been mind-controlled and injured.I couldn't shake off the feeling of something being wrong.Then we noticed a light in the distance, not far from the altar, and traced it to this weird circle."You've got to be fucking with me," Tristan said, his voice cold and angry."Oh my goodness." I gasped, my eyes going wide.Out of the circle werewolves, many of them coming out in their numbers. Their eyes glowed red, signifying tha
WENDY’S POVMy entire body screamed out in protest.The ache had settled deep in my bones, and each step I took worsened the pain.I felt lightheaded and on the verge of passing out.Vomit rose in my throat, and everything felt too bright and too loud.I was bleeding. Those idiot vines had thorns that cut into my skin. The cuts hissed in pain as my contaminated blood flowed out of it.My heart hurt like a banger.I was literally about to pass out on the cold forest floor.But seeing Ella's face above mine, her brows tight with concern, her lower lip between her teeth in a way she did when she was stressed, the smoke and burns all over her body when she had pulled me out of that fire — how could I pass out when my friend needed my help?"Wendy?” She tapped my chin. "Hey! Can you see me? Wendy!""I can," I groaned. “Thank you; I feel better now."I felt like shit.But at least I didn’t feel the burning of that disgusting wolfsbane in my body."Here," Ella extended her hand and helped me
ELLAI burst into the altar first.Inside, the weirdly circular place was dark, even with the numerous candles lit everywhere.I looked around frantically, my heart beating so loud in my ears.My eyes were drawn to an inverted cross in the center of the room, raised on a flat stone altar.There was a girl bound to the cross with tight, thorny vines that slithered and moved across her skin.My eyes widened as I saw the girl, her face bloody and dirty but familiar."Wendy!" I screamed out, my voice laced with horror. I rushed to her side.Wendy's head rolled to the side, and she looked at me.Her eyes were blood red, similar to the wolves who had been under the witch's mind control. She bared her fangs at me, growling in anger."I'll get you out of here!" I cried out. I grabbed the vines and pulled them. "Argh!" I stumbled back, my hand cradled in my lap.The vines cut into my palm, and blood dripped steadily down the cuts onto the floor. Those vines looked alive, moved, and sounded lik
ELLAMy flashlight shot through the dark forest, a flurry of bats scurrying to safety overhead.The twins and I walked through the thick forest, and with each step, the feeling of foreboding over me grew.The forest was too silent.It was too dark.And I could swear I saw things moving at the corner of my vision.Every sense I possessed tingled, and all my instincts warned me to run away—to turn and run.I pressed forward, my grip on the flashlight tight, even though I was trembling.Tristan walked in front of me, Nathan behind me. I felt safe between them, but I was still worried.Perhaps we should have waited till morning.But I didn't want to see what would happen if we waited.Each time I blinked, I saw the map with the red-marked location glaring at me."There's someone here," Tristan said and paused.I looked around, but the shadows in the forest moved and slithered. The beam of his flashlight moved from left to right, too."I feel it, too," Nathan said.A low growling sound rea