After leaving the forest, Amelia followed Darren back to the packhouse of Green Lake.The electric power had already been fixed by one of Darren’s warriors. When they walked into the cluster of warm lights in the middle of the dark night, everything around them looked cozy and homely.The house was still full of dust, empty with nobody in it, but with Darren together, Amelia just felt she was back in her long-lost home.Darren held her hand the whole way, taking her to the fourth floor. There was the pack’s Alpha and Luna’s bedroom first, and then his young sister Emily’s, and then his.“Em was already six years old by then, but she was still afraid of sleeping alone. Every night, I must stay here beside her bed, reading stories to her, keeping her accompanied until she falls asleep, or else, she will cry.”He sat on the tiny bed, looking at the dusty little bunny in his hands.“Sometimes I got tired, so I pretended to fall asleep before her. She would run to my room with her bunny an
The next day when Darren woke up, it was already in the morning. There was a little rain in the middle of the night. The air that came from the open window was fresh. Birds were singing loudly like they had never been so happy before.Darren sat up from the narrow bed of his childhood bedroom, and then went into the bathroom to take a shower. Everything around him was small but familiar. It created small bubbles at the bottom of his heart but also reminded him of misery.After the long, deep sleep at his childhood home, the initial shock of finding his true identity had faded away, and so did the numbness which paralyzed his whole person. He was now able to think and act. Anger and hate were resuscitating in his head.Hunting down all the wolves who were once part of it and letting them pay along with Fay was a done deal. He would find a way to do it without arousing suspicion within the Wolf Committee. He was the heir of the Green Lake. That’s a secret he should never let anyone know
Amelia felt in a dilemma.She knew Adam meant it when he asked her to go to Switzerland with him. But he was a vampire original, and it was obvious that he requested it to enrage Darren.After leaving the dungeon, neither she nor Darren spoke for a long time. When they walked back near the packhouse, beside the emerald lake, Darren suddenly turned and grabbed her shoulders, “I am not going to let you go to Switzerland with him. It’s too dangerous. We find other ways to track down Ian.”“But what about the time limit?” She asked blankly, “What if the Moon Goddess’s relic asks me to kill Ian tomorrow? And … even if we can find him in other ways. Still, it will take a lot to get him from vampires. Many people might die. We can’t let our warriors risk their lives for that. They are our family, right?”Darren pressed his lips. What Amelia said was true, but how could he let her go abroad with a vampire original who was obviously coveting her?“They will do what they have to do. That’s what
Amelia led the way to leave the forest with Adam.Darren told her to take the lead no matter what. It’s important for her to build the confidence to confront Adam. Amelia followed his advice. The first thing she did when she went back to Adam was to make her requirements. “I will only go to Switzerland with you by commercial airliner. And I want my mate and my warriors to be my bodyguards.”Adam tilted his lips, “Your mate can follow us, in a different car and plane, of course. But I won’t allow him to enter my house. Apart from that, no warriors are allowed. Trust me, you won’t want to bring a bunch of wolves to a coven of vampires. It’s provoking war.”Amelia looked back at Darren. She mind-linked him. Darren nodded his head.Amelia agreed, “Fine,” she added. “But it’s only a business trip. We are going as acquaintances, not even as friends. Don’t you ever mention honeymoon or things like that. Nothing is going to happen.”Adam shrugged his shoulders, “Fine with me.” He grinned, sa
The rest of their road trip was pretty calm. Adam didn’t tease Amelia again or try to push her to do things she didn’t want to.When they arrived at the airport, Amelia noticed Adam’s face was stern. He looked angry, which was odd because he had just successfully made her kiss him.“What?” When Adam took her suitcase out of the backseat, she couldn’t help but ask.Adam turned and looked at her, his mottled golden eyes were cold as the dead, which was scary. Still, Amelia mustered her courage and asked, “Why are you angry?” She was afraid that he might do something bad to her mate.Adam answered nothing. He just picked up her suitcase and then walked into the building.Darren’s car slowly parked at the roadside too. He didn’t get off, just looking at her from the driver’s seat. Amelia nodded her head to him, then followed Adam to enter the building.It was a busy airport with lots of passengers in it. Amelia had never taken a plane before. It took her a while to finally spot Adam at
When the plane landed in Zurich, it was around 7 at night. Amelia was awakened by Adam. He crouched down beside her seat in the aisle, and then waved his hand in front of her closed eyes, calling her gently, “Wake up, Amy. We’re home.”Amelia opened her eyes reluctantly. She still felt tired and sleepy. But the moment she saw that face staring at her closely, her sleepiness flew away. She almost jumped up but got stopped by the safety belt.“What are you doing?!” She yelled frantically. Adam curled up his lips. He still loved it when she was in a panic. But now, he started to wonder. Maybe that was because he loved every little part of her, no matter her happiness or tears.“I am calling you to wake up,” he said. “We are here in Switzerland.”Amelia looked around and found that all the other passengers had gone. She felt embarrassed for sleeping through the whole trip. She wiped the corners of her mouth subconsciously, and then unbuckled her safety belt. Adam had already stood up.
Amelia sent a text to Darren first, and then went to the bathroom.When she stepped out of the shower, the extremely long day in North Europe had finally turned to night. It felt as cold as water. Amelia wrapped herself in the bathrobe, and then sat in front of the dressing table, prepared to dry her hair. Right before she turned on the switch of the hair dryer, the door was knocked. Amelia heard a young female’s voice coming from outside, “Miss Foster, this is Mia. Mr. Kowalskyi sent me here to take care of you.”Amelia stood up and opened the door, then saw a young maid in uniform standing outside. She was a human, young and vibrant, almost like a teenager. She had this big, enthusiastic smile on her face, which suggested that she loved her job. Amelia felt glad to finally see some humanity in this cold ancient castle. She smiled back at the maid and then invited her in. “Please come in. Nice to meet you, Mia.”Mia was holding a bunch of colorful dresses and some jewelry boxes.
Adam had made plans for tonight.Long before he asked Amelia to Switzerland with him, when he was still in her bakery shop typing, writing, and observing her, he had already decided what he would do to her once he brought her here.When the night came, he would invite her for dinner for sure, but before that, he would have her dress like a princess, even make her wear a splendid wedding dress.After she cried throughout dinner at the table, he would “ask” her to dance. In the company of the beautiful symphony of Shubert, he would flirt with her, tease her, and even terrorize her by pretending to bite her. “I am going to transfer you to a vampire,” he would whisper in her ear, gliding his sharp teeth through the soft skin of her delicate neck.Amelia would be so scared, and then she would run and hide.He would chase her through every single room of this huge castle, having some weapons and exits prepared for her, giving her fake hopes now and then, but quickly push her back into deep
Nine’s POVUp to today, I still couldn’t fully comprehend why I stopped for that teenage girl on that day.It was one of the coldest winter nights in this strange country, chill, dark, and the iciness was just seeping under your skin.There was no wind that night, just snow, flake by flake, but in quite large sizes, falling off from heaven.I walked aimlessly in the thick snow on the street. The melted mud soiled my furs on my legs.There weren’t many street lights either, just cars and scarce passersby running past hurriedly. I heard loud music and laughing noises coming from those colorful stores on both sides of the street. It was still early in the night, but the street was so dark and quiet like it had been devoured by the demon.I walked haphazardly on the sidewalk, eyes fixed in the air, mind wandering restlessly.It was the 60th day I arrived in the city. As always, I found no one even slightly looking like my aim. It was quite disappointing, but I didn’t think much about it.
Amelia was waiting outside the village in the car. Up to today, they had been traveling around the country for 7 months. They paid a visit to Emily first, and then went to Fay and Gregson’s son and all the other wolves who were once part of the murder.They hunted down every wolf who was responsible and made them pay their debts.James’s house was their last stop. After today, they would head back to their home and start a new life.Amelia said “No” when he asked if she wanted to visit her parents with him. Darren knew the reason. James and Doris were just the most ignorant and stupid couple he had ever met. Harm would be the only thing they might have caused Amelia if there was a reunion.He wrapped his coat a little tighter because of the autumn’s cold wind, then quickened his steps to the outside of the village.The sky’s color was sullen yellow today. While he was still far from their car, suddenly he saw Doris standing beside it with Amelia. His heart clenched. He then ran toward
James was pretty upset about his retirement life.Nearly three years had passed since he lost his pack to the rogue he hated most, Darren. Though he had successfully persuaded himself to accept the fact and have a life with nothing a long time ago. Still, he was worried all the time about his adopted son, Ian. Three years ago, right after Darren took all his property from the Wolf Committee, Ian showed up at his front door later that day with a heavily wounded face. He plunged himself into James’s arms and cried. “The Rogue has put a wanted notice on me. He wants me to be dead!”James patted his back and sighed, knowing it was the ending of his and his pack’s glory. Still, he had this tiny expectation left in his heart that maybe someday, Ian could find a way to defeat Darren and regain everything. He was a smart kid, and had always been. And, he was the heir of the most powerful pack, Green Lake.At that point, James could hardly tell. Did he adopt Ian out of his condolences to hi
“Mom, Dad, Emily….”He drifted back to his childhood in that cold, suffocating lake water, reliving everything that was so treasurable and amiable for him….When he was sinking, the lost memories of his slowly grew back piece by piece. He remembered how his sister fell from the cliff on the exact same day, and how Roy caught him in the lake, then took him to a secret chamber underneath it. That’s how he survived.“Hope you can have a normal but happy life, kid.” Roy sighed and wept beside his bed, then did something to his wounded eye. He couldn’t remember.Next, another surge of hatred and fury overwhelmed him.Now he could see clearly how he and his sister saved that wounded rogue boy in the forest, but got betrayed and attacked by him.“Fuck you! Fuck! How dare you use the Alpha tone on me?!” The rogue boy cursed, riding on top of him, using that sharp rock in his hand, repeatedly beating his head. After crushing his left eye, the rogue stood up and started to kick his chest and s
Adam had no idea why he agreed to help Mia. Mia was just an orphan he picked up from the street 10 years ago. A girl who had grown up, but refused to leave. When he told her that she was free to go at any time, she just said, “You need someone to take care of you, Master. And I am that perfect someone”, and then stayed as his maid.Adam didn’t try to persuade her. He didn’t even talk with her that much. He wasn’t a passionate person, had never had too many emotions. During the past 600 years, he had witnessed the death of too many people. For him, people were just things, or even less than things. Because things can last and stay, while people change and decay so quickly.No matter what kind of lives they have, or how reluctantly they behave, the endings of them are just the same.They will all die eventually, being buried into the earth soundlessly, and then quickly dispersed into nowhere.Years later, sometimes even days later, no one would ever remember them. Only he, the outsid
The moment Amelia heard that she felt her blood freeze.She quickly turned her head and then looked towards the castle, then saw Jovian grabbing a young girl in uniform by her throat, dragging her to the window.It wasn’t the girl who served food for them tonight, but Mia. The torch dropped on the floor had ignited the curtain beside the window, the whole place was about to sink into fire.Jovian giggled at the window, tightening his grip on Mia’s throat, “Guess what I will do to her, baby brother? I am going to eat her alive, starting from the fingers.” He reached his other hand to Mia’s wrist and broke it off like it was a chopstick. Mia screamed out of pain, but it was quickly cut off by the hand on her throat. Her face instantly turned purple. Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes.“Or I am going to rape her right here and dismember her. You hate that kind of thing, don’t you, little brother? I hear you deprived a wolf for a human girl.”Adam’s face turned pale. Ameli
When Amelia headed back, the temperature within the manor had suddenly dropped.The whole place somehow went into dead silence. Ominous coldness infiltrated her skin. Amelia kept her footsteps light, eliminating the sounds she made to the minimum. Way before she made it to the castle, she had already heard that cocky male voice laughing and shouting from inside it.“Where are you, Adam?”“Come to meet your big brother!”“It has been 70 years since the last time we met. Don’t you want to treat your brother to a drink?”His tone was both playful and vicious, sounding like provoking a fight or seeking conflicts. No matter who he was, his visit here was definitely not kind.Amelia quickly climbed up to a huge maple tree outside the castle. She hid herself on a branch under those lush leaves, observing the castle, trying to get a peek at what was going on inside.From the opened window on the façade of the building, she saw an average-height figure wandering through the hallway on the se
After going back to the castle, they said “good night” to each other.Adam parted with her in the lobby. He didn’t want to frighten her by escorting her to her room.Amelia took the elevator and went back alone. After entering her room, she loosened her hair first and removed all the ornaments Mia decorated on her.After that, she picked out one of her own dresses from the closet. She didn’t wear it. Instead, she wrapped it around her waist and then shifted.The castle was high, but the second floor wouldn’t be a problem for a deft wolf like her. She pushed open the window using her paws, and then jumped out through it.The dirt underneath the window was soft, tinged with the mixed scent of different kinds of plants. Amelia stopped there for a second to identify the direction. And then she moved her legs and sprinted. She was heading towards her mate who was guarding her outside those tall grey walls.She just had one of the greatest nights of her life. She couldn’t wait to share it
Adam had made plans for tonight.Long before he asked Amelia to Switzerland with him, when he was still in her bakery shop typing, writing, and observing her, he had already decided what he would do to her once he brought her here.When the night came, he would invite her for dinner for sure, but before that, he would have her dress like a princess, even make her wear a splendid wedding dress.After she cried throughout dinner at the table, he would “ask” her to dance. In the company of the beautiful symphony of Shubert, he would flirt with her, tease her, and even terrorize her by pretending to bite her. “I am going to transfer you to a vampire,” he would whisper in her ear, gliding his sharp teeth through the soft skin of her delicate neck.Amelia would be so scared, and then she would run and hide.He would chase her through every single room of this huge castle, having some weapons and exits prepared for her, giving her fake hopes now and then, but quickly push her back into deep