JASMINES POVA sharp ache shot through my head, stirring me awake. I groaned as I forced my eyes open. They felt heavy, protesting against my will to open them. My entire body was cold, and I could feel my skin resting on cold metal that sent a shiver coursing through me. I blinked against the bright white light, forcing my eyes open finally. The first thing that hit my nose was the strong metallic scent of blood, mixed with something else—chemical perhaps. I could hear the echoes of distant voices before they dropped. Then, everything rushed back in a blur. The memories of what happened—was it a few minutes ago? There was no way to know what time it was as everywhere was dark except the white light flickering at the center of the room. My body stilled for a moment, then I made a move. A sting pierced through my legs, sending a jolt of pain running up my spine. I winced and lowered my head to see what it was. My legs were chained. Likewise my hands—were strapped to the metallic
JASMINES POVI took a deep breath in, lifting my face from the position it had dropped to after the energy surged through me. I expected it to have been strong enough to burst me out of the straps, but I guess it did what it could do—throwing her across the room. “What have you done!” Bryan yelled, taking quick strides across the room. His fingers wrapped around my neck, squeezing it with every strength he had in him. “What did you do to her?” “You should… probably step away,” I struggled to speak. He glanced at Lucy—she was regaining herself from the pieces of wood that shattered on her body, burying her in the pile. “You ingrate!” He cursed. His grip loosened around my neck with force, giving me the chance to take in as much air as I’d been deprived. “Get me out of here!” He coughed, choking on my words. Bryan left to attend to Lucy. He assisted her to her feet, and I could still see the rage in her eyes. It was there, lurking behind the pain that came from shock. She grasped
LUCY’S POVI walked out from where I hurled myself into for shelter, bridging the sweat off my hair. The place was in a mess—smoke gassed the entire room, its toxic smell making my stomach twist. The machine was fried, leaving most of its wires dancing by its sides.The smell choked me, forcing me to cough. With my elbow, I shielded my nose, while my eyes scanned the room for her.I spotted Bryan lying in the middle of the mess. Several things collapsed on him, and I thought I saw blood streaming from underneath one of them. My instincts kicked into Ron to his aid, which I did immediately.“Bryan,” I called, taking the things that obstructed my path off. They were a lot—from the woods from a frame, to some parts of the machine that exploded, and a part of the wall that crumbled in him. He groaned as he struggled to get himself free from the mess.“Don’t move. You’ll only make things worse,” I said. I searched around for an easier way through the mess, and that was when I spotted my
BRYANS POVI parked the car at the front of the house, leaning back into the chair as I pulled the keys out. “This is my home,” I answered Lucy. She’d been curious ever since we headed out, probably because I chose not to handle this her way.Funny enough, this was her first being here despite how many years of dating. I kept this part of my family away from the world due to the amount of love I had for them. We were, however, seen as rogues. Perhaps that’s who we are. Lucy has always known that I belong to a rogue pack. She just didn’t know what pack it was. Seeing the shock on her face only made me more excited.“I thought you said your home was taken away from you? she asked, leaning forward to get a proper view of the people moving from place to place ahead of us.“I did say that. But you should have understood what home I was talking about,” I told her. My first home, which I referred to as the home I never met, was the Creeks mansion.I grew up in the outskirts of the city,
BRYANS POV“Liz, please.” I followed her behind, keeping up with her quick strides as she made her way back to the house. “It’s just going to be for a few days,”“A few days?” she turned to me. “Those…few days…as you call it, is enough to bring this little home down. You and I know how much effort we put into securing this place, into the protection of this land. Yet you want to sweep it under the bus all because of what?” She snapped.I sighed, seeing that this was already a lost argument. In our territory, we had no alpha or king. But we had people recognized for their strength and influence. My father was one of them, and that made him one of the most respected people in the rogue lands. Marrying Elizabeth, and her neutral ability to fight a warrior that she is, bestowed that same respect on her. Her say was final, and if she refused to grant me my request, no one else would. I glanced at Lucy who was watching from a distance, then back at Liz. “This one time, Liz. I promise to
LUCY'S POVBryan was serious about leaving Jasmine in the trunk till the following morning. He acted like we didn’t come with anyone else, all his attention focused on Liz. Her body had gone cold, and he was massaging it with a warm towel. I sat across the sitting room, watching him while Adrian got himself engaged in a discussion with some adults outside, sitting around a fire and passing bottles of drinks. “Is it always this quiet?” I asked, taking the first step to speak since I realized he was bent on saying nothing until Liz woke up. “Not always,” he replied. “Liz bore some type of light. Her absence must have dimmed that light. The reason why most of the women have refused to settle until they see her,” he said. A few hours after Adrian compelled the crowd that gathered in front of the house, some women stopped by again to see Liz. I was the one who spoke to them, giving an excuse that she would be back from her evening walk. Two more hours passed since I did that, and they
CAINES POVDistant murmurings filled my ears as I stirred awake. My eyes fluttered as they received the rays from the white light hanging above my head. For the first few seconds, I was blinded by the light. After what felt like minutes of waiting, the light got dim, giving me a chance to take a view of my environment.“He’s waking up,” a voice said. It sounded muffled like he was speaking to me or someone else with water in his mouth. I tried to turn my head towards the direction of the sound, but a sharp pain shot through my head.“Ouch!” I winced, reaching to hold my head. The pain seared through, touching every nerve as it sent cold signals down the rest of my body. “Easy son,” my father's voice said. His footsteps rang in my ear like they were stepping on glass placed beside my ear, and I was forced to close both ears with my palms until I felt his hand on my neck. “You’re fine. You’re with family,” he said. Slowly, I let go of my ears and turned to him. He was still standing
CAINES POVI stood before the grand mirror in my chamber, my reflection staring back at me, hollow-eyed and unrecognizable. The blue ceremonial robes draped over my shoulders felt heavy, suffocating, as if they carried the weight of every choice I hadn’t made for myself. The deep blue fabric was adorned with intricate silver embroidery, the symbol of my family stitched proudly into the chest. A reminder of the duty I could never escape. The servant attached the last piece of gold ring to my finger and took a few steps away from the mirror. “All set,” he bowed. Today, as per tradition of the house of Creeks, my marriage was to be held in the old traditional ways. Given the kind of line we descended from, our marriage process usually involved various types of rites. First, we would go to the river to get bathed under the moonlight. Also, there was the one of getting the head of an antler from the woods.A third was also mentioned to me, which involved the Sheet's reveal. It was con
CAINES POVI stood before the grand mirror in my chamber, my reflection staring back at me, hollow-eyed and unrecognizable. The blue ceremonial robes draped over my shoulders felt heavy, suffocating, as if they carried the weight of every choice I hadn’t made for myself. The deep blue fabric was adorned with intricate silver embroidery, the symbol of my family stitched proudly into the chest. A reminder of the duty I could never escape. The servant attached the last piece of gold ring to my finger and took a few steps away from the mirror. “All set,” he bowed. Today, as per tradition of the house of Creeks, my marriage was to be held in the old traditional ways. Given the kind of line we descended from, our marriage process usually involved various types of rites. First, we would go to the river to get bathed under the moonlight. Also, there was the one of getting the head of an antler from the woods.A third was also mentioned to me, which involved the Sheet's reveal. It was con
CAINES POVDistant murmurings filled my ears as I stirred awake. My eyes fluttered as they received the rays from the white light hanging above my head. For the first few seconds, I was blinded by the light. After what felt like minutes of waiting, the light got dim, giving me a chance to take a view of my environment.“He’s waking up,” a voice said. It sounded muffled like he was speaking to me or someone else with water in his mouth. I tried to turn my head towards the direction of the sound, but a sharp pain shot through my head.“Ouch!” I winced, reaching to hold my head. The pain seared through, touching every nerve as it sent cold signals down the rest of my body. “Easy son,” my father's voice said. His footsteps rang in my ear like they were stepping on glass placed beside my ear, and I was forced to close both ears with my palms until I felt his hand on my neck. “You’re fine. You’re with family,” he said. Slowly, I let go of my ears and turned to him. He was still standing
LUCY'S POVBryan was serious about leaving Jasmine in the trunk till the following morning. He acted like we didn’t come with anyone else, all his attention focused on Liz. Her body had gone cold, and he was massaging it with a warm towel. I sat across the sitting room, watching him while Adrian got himself engaged in a discussion with some adults outside, sitting around a fire and passing bottles of drinks. “Is it always this quiet?” I asked, taking the first step to speak since I realized he was bent on saying nothing until Liz woke up. “Not always,” he replied. “Liz bore some type of light. Her absence must have dimmed that light. The reason why most of the women have refused to settle until they see her,” he said. A few hours after Adrian compelled the crowd that gathered in front of the house, some women stopped by again to see Liz. I was the one who spoke to them, giving an excuse that she would be back from her evening walk. Two more hours passed since I did that, and they
BRYANS POV“Liz, please.” I followed her behind, keeping up with her quick strides as she made her way back to the house. “It’s just going to be for a few days,”“A few days?” she turned to me. “Those…few days…as you call it, is enough to bring this little home down. You and I know how much effort we put into securing this place, into the protection of this land. Yet you want to sweep it under the bus all because of what?” She snapped.I sighed, seeing that this was already a lost argument. In our territory, we had no alpha or king. But we had people recognized for their strength and influence. My father was one of them, and that made him one of the most respected people in the rogue lands. Marrying Elizabeth, and her neutral ability to fight a warrior that she is, bestowed that same respect on her. Her say was final, and if she refused to grant me my request, no one else would. I glanced at Lucy who was watching from a distance, then back at Liz. “This one time, Liz. I promise to
BRYANS POVI parked the car at the front of the house, leaning back into the chair as I pulled the keys out. “This is my home,” I answered Lucy. She’d been curious ever since we headed out, probably because I chose not to handle this her way.Funny enough, this was her first being here despite how many years of dating. I kept this part of my family away from the world due to the amount of love I had for them. We were, however, seen as rogues. Perhaps that’s who we are. Lucy has always known that I belong to a rogue pack. She just didn’t know what pack it was. Seeing the shock on her face only made me more excited.“I thought you said your home was taken away from you? she asked, leaning forward to get a proper view of the people moving from place to place ahead of us.“I did say that. But you should have understood what home I was talking about,” I told her. My first home, which I referred to as the home I never met, was the Creeks mansion.I grew up in the outskirts of the city,
LUCY’S POVI walked out from where I hurled myself into for shelter, bridging the sweat off my hair. The place was in a mess—smoke gassed the entire room, its toxic smell making my stomach twist. The machine was fried, leaving most of its wires dancing by its sides.The smell choked me, forcing me to cough. With my elbow, I shielded my nose, while my eyes scanned the room for her.I spotted Bryan lying in the middle of the mess. Several things collapsed on him, and I thought I saw blood streaming from underneath one of them. My instincts kicked into Ron to his aid, which I did immediately.“Bryan,” I called, taking the things that obstructed my path off. They were a lot—from the woods from a frame, to some parts of the machine that exploded, and a part of the wall that crumbled in him. He groaned as he struggled to get himself free from the mess.“Don’t move. You’ll only make things worse,” I said. I searched around for an easier way through the mess, and that was when I spotted my
JASMINES POVI took a deep breath in, lifting my face from the position it had dropped to after the energy surged through me. I expected it to have been strong enough to burst me out of the straps, but I guess it did what it could do—throwing her across the room. “What have you done!” Bryan yelled, taking quick strides across the room. His fingers wrapped around my neck, squeezing it with every strength he had in him. “What did you do to her?” “You should… probably step away,” I struggled to speak. He glanced at Lucy—she was regaining herself from the pieces of wood that shattered on her body, burying her in the pile. “You ingrate!” He cursed. His grip loosened around my neck with force, giving me the chance to take in as much air as I’d been deprived. “Get me out of here!” He coughed, choking on my words. Bryan left to attend to Lucy. He assisted her to her feet, and I could still see the rage in her eyes. It was there, lurking behind the pain that came from shock. She grasped
JASMINES POVA sharp ache shot through my head, stirring me awake. I groaned as I forced my eyes open. They felt heavy, protesting against my will to open them. My entire body was cold, and I could feel my skin resting on cold metal that sent a shiver coursing through me. I blinked against the bright white light, forcing my eyes open finally. The first thing that hit my nose was the strong metallic scent of blood, mixed with something else—chemical perhaps. I could hear the echoes of distant voices before they dropped. Then, everything rushed back in a blur. The memories of what happened—was it a few minutes ago? There was no way to know what time it was as everywhere was dark except the white light flickering at the center of the room. My body stilled for a moment, then I made a move. A sting pierced through my legs, sending a jolt of pain running up my spine. I winced and lowered my head to see what it was. My legs were chained. Likewise my hands—were strapped to the metallic
JASMINE’S POVI slammed my fists against the door, frustration bubbling in my chest. There had to be another way, but I couldn’t see anything in the dim glow of my wolf vision. The rusted gems from the statue were the key—I was sure of it—but going back for them meant wasting time.Caine didn’t have time. And I could feel something in my guts. Something about the whole situation didn’t sit right. My wolf stirred restlessly in my head as I ran my hands around the steel door, searching for something—anything. Still, I found nothing. “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath, giving the door one last kick before turning back the way I came.I raced up the narrow stairway, my footsteps silent against the old stone floor. The moment I climbed out through the stairs, I hurried back to the statue, checking the tray and around the floor to see if there were remnants of the gem in them. All empty. All roads lead back to the main entrance. I had to make it through. Not just making it through, but