After Alfred was done sharing his confession, that was when he could finally bring himself to look around the room.Amelia was openly bawling her eyes out. Valentina was hugging her tight, trying to console her mother while tears ran freely from her own eyes. The poor girl looked so hurt...so betrayed, by her father who was supposed to be her hero."Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God..." Ismena's mother couldn't stop crying. The sound of her sobs was heartbreaking to her. The painful memories of the past and everything her daughter went through was reflected in her wet, red eyes.Ismena felt...numb.She was staring ahead but she couldn't see anything. Her ears were open, but she couldn't hear anything.She sat there, like blank porcelain, while her father's confessions recapped in her mind. His words replayed over and over and over again.She was in the labs when she was eight.She was paired with Wolfaraine.She got pregnant with him.She lost her child and her womb.She died, and was resurre
Alphose searched for Wolfaraine everywhere, but he was unable to find him. Even the cougar couldn't sense him. His Alpha King does not want to be found.He was worried, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he went out in search of Ismena and her family. But, on the way out, he'd seen the doctors and nurses rushing towards Alfred's room. The doctor was shouting orders, while the nurses hurriedly wheeled him out of the room. Through his enhanced senses, he heard the loud beeping of the monitor that was connected to Alfred.He'd gone to the doctor and asked what was going on. The doctor had told him.Minutes later, Alphose walked out to find Ismena and her family. They were still in the backyard. He found them all seated closely together, holding each other together. Even Kassandra was seated with them.One thing Alphose observed very well was that his Kassandra has been a very good part of this family for a long time—they treat her like one, and she treats them like one too. Your Kass
She barged into the open door of her father's hospital room, to see the nurses and the doctor surrounding her father's bed, she couldn't even see his face. "Let's go two hundred joules, come on." The doctor commanded one of the nurses, rubbing the defibrillator together before he jolted her father's chest again. Her father jerked on the bed, but that was the only reaction they got.The machines were going crazy. There was a loud beeping but for the life of Ismena, she can't seem to figure out where the sound was coming from. Her mother and sister crowded her, grabbing her from everywhere in sheer panic. They were asking her questions but she couldn't hear them well. She couldn't hear anything,see anything apart from the monitor.She watched in horror as the lines straightened—until it flatlined, and then there was an even louder beep.The doctor straightened away from him, his lips pursed in sadness, before looking at the nurses and shaking his head. Like a movie, everyone stopped wh
Three more days later, they were ready to go back to Naturiah. Wolfaraine made it clear that they cannot stay any longer in the human world. Wolfhunters have attacked twice, he'd confessed, but he and Alphose had managed to take of them in secret to avoid scaring her mother and sister."Please, come with us, mother." Ismena pleaded again for the umpteenth time. Wolfaraine had agreed already for her to bring her family to Naturiah if her mother was in agreement. But she wasn't.Again, Amelia shook her head, pasting a smile on her face. She seemed to have aged more in the past few days, and the changes tugged on Ismena's chest so much. Her father's death hit her mother harder than she's letting on."I can't, Ena. I want to stay here," she gestured to their home, "Here... Your father's memories are right here.When I move around the house and I can still feel him."Ismena swallowed tightly, glancing behind her at Wolfaraine's inscrutable face before staring back at her mother. "Mother, d
Everywhere was quiet. Too quiet.Ismena rolled over on the bed and curled herself into a ball again. It's been an hour since Wolfaraine had gently placed her on the bed in her room before disappearing through the door. Whether he went to his own bedroom or not, Ismena had no idea.It was just a week ago that Mirian interrupted their love session, crying and bringing the news of her father being in the hospital. It's only been a week again since they'd hurried out of Naturiah to the human world. But, it felt like years ago. A lot has happened since that time.A lot was found out during that time.A lot has changed.She felt like a huge rock had grown in her chest, her heart was that heavy. Tears threatened her eyes and she blinked hard to keep them at bay, it's been like that for long minutes now, and she seemed to be losing that battle.Finally, her nightmares made sense to her. Her blank memories of when she was eight have been remedied. Thankfully, the memories weren't that clear b
He blinked hard, wishing he could block out all those voices, but it would be a futile attempt so he didn't even bother. She was always pouting. No matter how hard the wolf tried to scare her, baring its teeth and growling at her all the time, the girl was never scared of them. She'd purse her lips into a pout, glare at him through those shiny brown eyes before she moves a few distances away from him, lowers herself to the floor, and began telling him stories about anything and everything.That girl was his greatest guilt. It wasn't his packmates who died in that hellhole. It wasn't his female packmates he'd been forced to molest. It wasn't Nalaila. It was her.Just thinking about the little girl was making his heart bleed. He'd been traumatized after being paired with Nalaila, he'd been sick to his stomach. Worry was eating at him when he never saw or heard about his sister for very long days. Only for those monsters to get him high as a kite again and bring a victim much worse tha
It's been so long since he consoled someone close to him. Probably because everyone close to him had died apart from his sister who was still not close to getting healed after so many long years. As an alpha and a king, he consoled his people whenever they needed him, but it wasn't the same, especially when the woman in his arms was his mate.His hand wrapped around her fist and pulled it away from her chest, then he adjusted her, placing her chest to his own chest and held her against him tighter. Then, the Wolf reached out through his chest in a consoling gesture, rubbing against her, soothing her. He closed his eyes and leaned down, pressing her deeper into his chest and rubbing his jaw, his cheek all over her hair. Warmth spread through Ismena's body, rubbing against the pain, dulling the harshest part of it. The pain is still there but it wasn't as overwhelming, as suffocating as it was before.Ismena cried and clung to him for a very long time, and he held her. The night dragge
When the tears splashed on his chest, he blinked deliriously as if it was a dream he never expected to see them. He had no idea that he'd been crying.Taking a deep breath, he wiped the liquid from his eyes and cheeks."It was not your fault, Wolfaraine. Why do you have to take the blame for everything?" Ismena asked vehemently, "You were drugged. You did not drug yourself. They drugged you. It was all their fault."He didn't say anything for a very long time."Those nightmares you have, they were because of what I did to you. You know that right?""If I know that they were because of what you were forced to do to me? Yes, I know." She deadpanned, skeptically.He turned and looked at her. His throat bobbed, "Do you finally have a recollection of that memory?""Yes," she averted her eyes, "It's hazy, but it's no longer a blank slate. Eighteen years have passed.""Your father said you died. You fought for so long but it was just too much, and you died. I ended your life. Twice.""And yo