Apologies for taking so long to update. Tomorrow I'll be working on more lycans! Thank you all so much for your patience!
OpheliaErnesto was like most werewolves, which meant he was built like a mountain and had muscles larger than my face. His tanned skin was slick with sweat, which made little sense considering it was nice and cool inside Alpha Neil’s office.That meant he was nervous about something. Why, though?I pointed to myself, a contrite smile spreading across my face. “Oh, you think I’m Aisha? Right, I almost forgot.”The magic holding my façade in place slipped. It cracked before Ernesto’s very eyes, peeling away like flecks of porcelain off an old doll.“Who…” He trailed off, eyes skating over my low-cut top, pleated skirt, and combat boots with knee-high socks.I snapped my fingers. “Up here, Ernesto. Goddess, you’re like fifty. Get a grip, old man. You seriously don’t remember me? I’m a little bit offended. Try and think hard. I was different back then. Sweeter. Kinder. More naïve.” A harsh edge entered my voice. “I was destined to be your Luna once, but like everything else that too was
OpheliaAlpha Neil threw back his head and let loose a laugh that rippled across the crowd. Many of the warriors joined in, their eyes flickering with equal parts humor and malice. The way they roamed over me, lingering on the places where my skin showed, was nothing short of telling.They saw me as a weak, pathetic woman who had yet to learn her place.Many in the crowd—those who had lived under Alpha Neil’s thumb for generations—didn’t so much as chuckle. It was the women who looked on in silence, their expressions carefully guarded.The rest watched on in shock at seeing a small, seemingly defenseless girl challenge their Alpha.“I’ll do no such thing,” Neil smirked. “I’d much rather take you into custody where you’ll be of use to me. I’m sure your second chance mates will be happy to know you’re safe and sound.”The wind kicks up, stirring around Alpha Neil and shooting across the crowd where it ruffles my clothes and causes my hair to fan out around my shoulders.I press my tongu
OpheliaThrough blood, sweat, and tears I was now the Luna of an entire pack.I relished the irony that it was the very pack I’d been destined to rule over and would have had Alpha Hunter not rejected me.It brought a smile to my face imagining his ghost rolling in it’s grave, frothing at the mouth at the realization that both he and his scumbag of a father had lost everything.“She’s a cheat!” One of the warriors shouted shortly after the crowd had climbed to their feet. The cry came from a muscled warrior whose baby face told me he hadn’t seen many battles if any. “She used that knife to kill our Alpha!”I cracked my neck, wincing at the little jolts of pain that shot down my spine. Spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground where Neil’s body lay, I smiled at the warrior.“Your Alpha,” I cooed. “Who had his son publicly reject me because I refused to bow and submit? Your Alpha who then had said son place a dark bond mark on me, replacing my will with his own. They made me a slave.
OpheliaI kept my mind blank and expression neutral as I walked up the steps leading into the safe house.Had I not taken another dosage of my daily potion I would have been drowning in a sea of volatile emotions. All of which stemmed from the fact that somehow my father had torn open a portal on Lunar Isle.That wasn’t at all what I had in mind when I said I needed a distraction.I pinched my lips together and took a moment to compose myself before opening the front door. Surely he knew that wasn’t what I had wanted. As angry as I was with Jude and Ryker I never wanted innocent people to suffer.Not having access to my emotions didn’t make me crave bloodshed. Sometimes, in situations such as Ren Nakamura or Ernesto, it was necessary, but not in this case.“Ophelia, right on schedule.” My father said by way of greeting as I slipped through the dining room. He stood in the small kitchen, leaning against the counter. Sitting on top was a cutting board. A butchers knife stuck out of it,
OpheliaI shook my head as if that would untangle the clusterfuck of information currently rattling around in my skull.“Opening a portal into the heart of the demon realm wouldn’t just let a few measly demons through. It would let them all through. It…It would be chaos. Bloodshed. The end of—of everything.”“No, that’s where you’re wrong.” He insisted. “Our ability will allow us to control the demons. They’ll act how we want them to act. Think how we want them to think.”“But I can’t control demons!” My voice had a shrillness to it that made me wince. My father pulled back, a small but knowing smile on his face that gave me pause. “You think I can control them.”“Yes, I do.”His answer was a punch to the gut for reasons he wouldn’t understand. If I could control the demons—if I possessed that ability from the very beginning—then it truly was my fault that Denver, Arielle, and Sara had died. It was my fault Coop was now possessed.I could have saved them all had I known.My magic reac
OpheliaMy mate was getting married.Even worse, he was getting married to my sister.My wolf’s anger bled into my veins until I could feel it thickening my blood, pumping hatred into my heart until it’s acidic taste danced along the back of my tongue.“Be calm,” I told her. “We need a level head if our plan is going to work.”Discreetly and with great care I had the warriors from my pack slowly remove themselves from Lunar Isle. With news of Ryker’s wedding rippling across the island, it was all too easy for them to slip away unnoticed.All except for Aisha, who stubbornly insisted she remain by my side.“With all due respect, Luna, I am your Beta. It’s quite literally my job to stand by you.” The female said, her chin lifted with pride. “I ask for the sake of my honor that you allow me to remain here.”Her long hair was slicked into a high pony, which was currently draped over her shoulder. She wore a black tank-top that showed off her chiseled arms, and a pair of leather pants fitte
OpheliaPaling, Kimberly spun around and took off towards the back of the temple.A dark smile tugged at the corners of my lips. Kimberly had never been the smartest, but clearly she was intelligent enough to know that even with the spell she’d placed binding her to Jude, neither of my mates would dare protect her from me.She shoved her way through the crowd, which were stampeding for the doors in sheer panic. Swatches of bland colored fabric flitted before my eyes during the chaos.Smoke filled the air as the wooden benches ignited.I had no intention of killing these people. I merely needed them to act as a distraction so I could confront Kimberly. In a few minutes Aisha would open the doors and let them scurry out like a hoard of finely dressed cockroaches.My magic hadn’t just affected the temple itself, but the land around it. Vines began crawling in through the shattered windows, winding around pillars and those in the crowd. Several screams rang out as the vines snagged people
JudeSeveral days before the wedding…“The fuck do you mean it just closed up?”Ryker pinched the bridge of his nose. Exhaustion weighed heavy on him, but after three days of straight fighting it weighed heavily on all of us. Still, he was shorter tempered than usual. It was unlike him, but then again loss of Ophelia was still clawing its way through the tattered remains of our souls.“I mean what I said Jude,” he snapped, tugging on the sleeve of his dress shirt. The white material was stained with blood, but he made no move to change. “The tear or rift or whatever the fuck you want to call it closed up. Si è chiuso! It’s not there anymore. The rest of the demons that managed to slip through have been killed as well. We have a few fire elementals out there burning the remains.”Well, that explained the smell of charred ass lingering in the air.Nova walked in, freshly showered and stinking of lemon-scented soap. “Don’t either of you find it strange that Beta chick practically jumped
OpheliaWe left the manor exactly as it had been, shifting into our wolf forms to travel to the nearest town. The run helped dull the sharp edges of my thoughts, but the moment we arrived, reality came crashing back down.The town was small and worn. The kind of place where the streetlights flickered, and the air smelled of cheap gasoline.The motel wasn’t much better with its peeling paint, flickering sign, and lobby that reeked of mildew, but it had a bed and hot water. That was plenty enough for me.Inside the cramped room, I told the others, “When I was traveling with my father, I met a demon. One of Hell’s princes.” At this Nova paled. I knew she was thinking of the demon currently trapped in her bedroom—the incubus. “It showed me a vision where my mother was alive and well. She wasn’t twisted by dark magic, or corrupted, or anything like that. She was just herself.”I left out the other parts. The ones I couldn’t say without severing ties from my father entirely, and that would
OpheliaThe front porch creaked beneath our weight, the sound deafening in the silence. Every whisper felt like an accusation, every breeze a paranoid thought that chilled me to my core. I was sure my father would step out from behind a pillar, or a hedge.I inhaled deeply, reaching out with my magic. “There aren’t any wards on the house.”Nova made a face. “That’s surprising. We had a hell of a time making it through the forest, but this place has nothing?”“Morningstar likely assumed no one would get this far.” Sterling crossed his arms. “Or, depending on which point we entered, the wards we encountered could have varied entirely.”“It did feel like they intersected in some areas,” I pondered aloud.“That is elaborate. Like a moving puzzle.” Ryker huffed. “I’d expect nothing less.”I reached for the door handle, my fingers grazing the cold, swirling metal. A sharp sting shot through my finger, and I jerked back with a wince. A drop of blood welled on my fingertip.“Damn it,” I grunt
OpheliaHe balled his hand into a fist and the earth trembled before splitting open. Vines with wickedly sharp thorns, curved like the blade of a scythe, lunged from the ground like vicious snakes. There was a yelp, followed by a wail of pain as Jude’s vines struck the wolf closest to us.Nova fell to the ground, her mouth open in a soundless scream. Blood spilled from a deep gash across her chest, one right below her collarbones. Jude turned, his eyes wide with curiosity. “Well, fuck, that’s not good.” “Grab below her arms!” Ryker bellowed at Sterling, who jumped into action to haul Nova up. She let out a pained groan that twisted my stomach into knots. There was so much blood. So much crimson. “Focus, tesoro. We need you to keep up the protection shield as long as you can. Sterling has herbs on him that will heal her, but we need space to use them.”His voice snapped me out of my panic, and I nodded. Drawing magic from the earth was slower with all the wards in place. I was confide
OpheliaFor the next hour we trudged through the uneven terrain, navigating over thick roots and jagged rocks, the towering trees pressing in from all sides.I continued to rely on a mix of my magic and the blood racing through my veins to lead the way. My fathers house was still mine to some degree—still mine by blood. I was beginning to realize that in the magic world, blood held power.The further we delved, the harder it became to see ahead—especially with the fading light. Branches hung low like skeletal fingers, clawing at our clothes.Eventually the air thickened with humidity, and soon, fog curled along the ground, rising in creeping tendrils. It clung to our skin, damp and warm, carrying the scent of earth—rich, almost sweet.“Watch your step,” Ryker said a moment too late.Nova’s mouth flew open as her foot caught on something unseen, her balance pitching dangerously forward—straight toward a steep drop-off we hadn’t even noticed. Jude reacted first, clamping his hand over h
OpheliaRyker found me alone the following morning putting some final touches on a few potions. They were a bit hasty—especially the fire repellant potion—but they would do the job should my father’s protection methods turn … violent.I felt him approach as I always did, his soul brushing up against my own.“I shouldn’t have said it,” he admitted to my back, his voice quieter than usual. “Threatening to dark bond you wasn’t just wrong, it was abhorrent. Unforgiveable. I knew what it would do—”Exhaling sharply, I spun around, the bubbling cauldron now at my back. If this acid potion singed my hair off I’d be pissed.“It was smart. You were thinking like an Alpha.” He blinked at me, shock morphing the handsome contours of his face. “Seriously, it drove the nail home. It was my reaction that convinced him. I know that’s why you didn’t tell me beforehand. My father firmly believes we hate one another now. He’ll never suspect what we’re doing tonight. So, I don’t need an apology.”Whateve
OpheliaI used to be the kind of girl who wore every emotion for the world to see. Blame it on the choices I’ve made, or the things I’ve done, but I now had this box deep inside of myself where I stuffed the emotions deep.They bled out. They always did. It wasn’t an impenetrable box by any means, but the world no longer had to witness my emotions devouring me one bite at a time.It was in this box that I stuffed the pure terror of seeing my father standing in Edwards’ living room.My father stood beneath the light fixture; his hands clasped in front of him. His suit was the color of ash and neatly tailored to fit his body. I let my eyes linger on the harsh set of his jaw—on the sharp line his facial hair made as it carved its way up his cheek.Stuffing the last finger-trembling crumbs of fear into that box, I met his cold gaze.He was furious.I could feel his magic here even though he wasn’t casting. His shadow stretched along the back wall; this distorted thing.My stomach dropped
OpheliaThe scent of salt clung to the air in Shreveport, carried in by the crashing waves at our backs.Aisha stood at my side; her braid twisted into a tight knot at the back of her head. Her face was expressionless, eyes trained on the street ahead.Lamps on either side flickered in the humid light, casting golden pools onto the pavement. Music trickled from the open doors of nearby bars, blending with the chatter of people. Shops were still open this Friday evening, their signs buzzing softly, drawing in customers.Kids ran around with bags stuffed full of candy from the shop at the corner. Several times since moving here I had passed that very store, my mouth watering for something Lucille would’ve never let me have. Tourists snapped pictures beneath hanging lanterns, oblivious to the danger breathing down their very necks.I hid in the shadows between two shops, four warriors at my back flanking me on either side. They remained in their wolf forms, their heavy breathing a reassu
OpheliaThe night air drifted in through the open window, warm and slightly humid. Crickets chirped in the distance; their song broken by the occasional cry of some animal deep within the trees. The ocean was too far away for me to hear the waves, but I could still taste the sea on my tongue.Ryker sat across from me, his silver eyes unreadable. His fingers were threaded as he processed what I had just told them. The soft light from the chandelier, and the protection charm I cast over the room, caught the sharp angles of his face, casting shadows along his jawline where his black curls brushed against his skin.Jude, on the other hand, didn’t have the patience for silence. He kicked his combat boots onto the coffee table and flashed me that familiar, razor-sharp grin. “So let me get this straight. You want us to help you break into your father’s manor, which is most definitely crawling with enough magical wards to fry our brains, to search for proof that he stole your mother’s soul?”
NovaI slammed my binder shut, startling several people at nearby tables. Running my fingers through my hair, I felt the tension ease from my scalp as I pulled my ponytail free. The notes I had spent months taking were all blurring together, the dark ink forming thick lines—lines like the ones that ran across the demons body.Everything about him was so terrifying and peculiar. The stark black hair with the white stripe. The crimson eyes. The bands tattooed around his arms and throat. And don’t even get me started on his tongue.Shaken from my thoughts, I realized I’d been sitting there with my fingers pressed against my lips, my entire body trembling.“Sterling,” I called out over the mind-link, the one thing I had that the demon couldn’t track. “You available?”“What’s going on, beautiful?”“Need you to pick something up for me, but it might be hard to find.”“How long do I have?”“Um, a few hours.”“You are very lucky I love you.”My attention drifted back to my hair. Just a few st