JASMINES POV The shock in Caines's eyes was almost comical and I could feel my roof chuckling inside me. Caine blinked rapidly, trying to process what I just said. “Wait…Imani and Harper? Since when? Damn, I knew I should have trusted my guts. Is that what all those shady link-ups have been about? How did you find out?” He asked, running his hand through his hair as he made his way to the window. “There was this night they kidnapped me…” “Kidnapped you?” “Yeah… but nothing happened…no need to freak out,” I said sharply after seeing the look of concern on his face. I leaned against the wall with a shrug. “I don’t think they’ll be much of a struggle now nor will they be a problem now,” I added. Caine’s face was still lit by his smile, his head shaking gently in disbelief. He let out a low whistle and returned to me. “Well…that makes things interesting,” “Interesting? Well, that’s one way to put it?” I replied, crossing my arms. What kept going through my mind was how I was go
CAINES POV “I’ll meet you in a few hours,” I told Jasmine just as she was about to leave. My brother lurked behind my father, hands in his pockets like he was some sort of personal assistant. “Don’t you have assignments to do?” “They’re all done,” he replied. “And training? Aren’t you supposed to join the next batch to train today?” “Dad asked me…” “Dad, Dad, all the time. Dad, when are you going to let your favorite son join the system of how things are being done here? You can’t just let him keep skipping and using your influence as an excuse. He’s lucky I’m not the alpha,” I snapped, walking to my father's desk. “No he is lucky to have you as a brother,” my father followed behind. I sat on one of the chairs facing his table and she kicked the other in. “Find someone else,” I told my brother. “Let him sit, Caine,” my father warned. With a grunt, I let the chair go but with a little kick away from me. “That is what we have come to discuss,” my father took his seat, legs cr
CAINES POV My voice echoed in the hallway, drawing more than the desired attention. I froze just a few meters away from my door, staring blankly at Jasmine who turned to face me. Her sweat-dampened hair clung to her forehead, and the intensity in her eyes made my heart ache. “Yeah?” She asked softly, covering the gap between us. I was doing the same, taking one step with a breath of courage. We stood a few feet away from each other, and everything you had thought about vanished. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words that came out weren’t those I planned on speaking. “I’m in,” I blurted, feeling my wolf kicking angrily against my head. “What?” She asked with a faint voice and a small smile pulsing around her lips. “I said I’m in. Let’s go serve Imani her meal,” I added with a thudding heart. The way she stared into my eyes, I feared she knew better than I was giving off like she could see through my pretense and struggle to keep the truth to myself. But even if this wa
JASMINES POV My heart leaped out of my chest the moment I was pulled down by Caine. The glasses of the diner shattered, spreading screams around as the people inside scurried for safety. “What was that?” I asked, panting heavily with my head buried on Caine’s shoulder. “You mean who,” he corrected, stealing a glance at the scene. “School tugs?” He said questionably. “Stay here,” “Caine, wait,” I tried to hold him back, but he was too swift, walking out of our hiding through the chaos in the diner until he was outside the door. I peeped from an opening on the table I was hiding behind. It looked like it was escalating. Two groups threw bottles at each other while a few on both sides were beginning to morph into their wolf. Caine wasn’t moved by their snarls or threats to each other. He walked in between both of them and ordered them to stop. I wasn’t able to hear him from inside, but their refusal was obvious. They charged at him, the first wolf lunging at him from behind.
JASMINES POV Caine pulled me away from the scene after we heard the footage steps approaching. We squeezed ourselves into a tight corner, our bodies pressing hard against each other while we struggled to filter the air we took in. “Someone was here before us,” Harper said. He and Imani were standing right above the bodies, staring at them in deep confusion and fear, just like we did. “This is bad,” “What do we do?” Imani asked. She maintained a close distance between her and Harper, clinging onto his shirt as he started examining the bodies. “Vampire bites,” he blurted, turning towards our direction. I inhaled sharply, looking away from the hole I was spying on them through. Caine’s palm covered my mouth instantly. “They can’t see us,” I heard his voice in my head. I nodded, and he slowly took his hand off. “Could this be Lucy’s brother?” Imani asked with a quivering tone. “If it is then I don’t think we can hold this little secret any longer. We must report this to the right
JASMINE’S POV The silence that followed my question was deafening. Caine’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as he stared straight ahead. My heart pounded so loudly that I was sure he could hear it from where he was sitting. The words had tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, and now there was no taking them back. “Jas…” “No,” I cut him sharply. “Don’t start giving me excuses now. I know that’s what’s about to happen”. There was a delay in his speech. His mouth was shaking like he was searching for the right words. I sighed, leaning a little closer to him. “Just a yes or no answer, Caine. Do you have feelings for me?” “Why will you ask me that?” He returned, finally staring back into my eyes. I could feel the hurt in my chest, even before he said whatever was going to make my heart feel like it was being squashed by the walls in my body. “What do you mean by why will I ask you…” “You know I am dating Lucy, yeah. She’s your best
JASMINES POV The sun had stayed its descent, painting the sky with streaks of orange and red as the surfing party came together. I was helping set up the drinks, carefully arranging the bottles on the makeshift bar under the swaying palm trees. The sound of waves crashed against the shore, filling it with fresh air that mingled with the laughter of the pack as they worked around me. Yet, my focus kept slipping. My gaze drifted towards the shoreline, where Caine was surfing. His body swayed effortlessly against the waves, every movement controlled and graceful. The way the water gleamed against the tan of his skin made my heart race against my better judgment. “You’re staring,” Isha nudged me, tossing me with bottles of beer. I scoffed, burying my head in shame before turning away from the ocean. “I’m not,” “I saw you, Jasmine,” she said softly, returning to my spot with both hands resting on her waist. “If I were you I’d stare too,” she added, her face drifting back to the o
JASMINES POV Caine’s eyes held mine, steady and serious, a stark contrast to the carefree attitude he’d carried earlier. I tried to gauge whether he was serious or if the alcohol had gotten the better of him. The weight of his gaze pressed pinned me in place, and the soft rustling of the leaves around us only added to the strange intensity of the moment. “Caine…are you being serious?” I asked, pulling away from his face after we’d unintentionally gotten so close to each other. He leaned back slightly, his head tilted to the side as if contemplating how much he should reveal. “Pardon me, I should never have brought that up,” he pulled away and tried to stand. I grabbed his hand, pulling him back to the ground. “You were assigned to me to teach me how to take control of my wolf. If you know a way I could do that then why keep it a secret from me?” “Because it’s never been practiced after the last incident, and my father banned it,” he said, avoiding my eyes. He lifted the bottle
JASMINES POVMy eyes fluttered open, taking in the light that seeped into them. I blinked several times to get a clear vision while keeping my head in place to get rid of the shrill sound in it. After some seconds, I could finally see what was before me. It was a room, not old, but a little untidy. There were clothes scattered around the chairs and the floor. The bed opposite me was unkempt, adorned with feminine wear. I pulled against the restraints on my wrist, but they sent me back to the chair with a harsh tug, the metal biting into my skin. My breath hitched as the realization sank in—I was tied up.Panic surged through me, but I forced myself to stay calm. I took a shaky breath and scanned the room again, searching for anything useful. The place smelled faintly of perfume and something else—something metallic.Blood.I swallowed hard, my heartbeat hammering against my ribs. Who had taken me? And why?The door creaked open, and I froze.A man stepped inside, his back to me un
CAINE’S POVI stared at the clock hanging at the far end of the hospital wall and discovered that I’d walked from end to end for thirty minutes. My mind was restless, and I was eager to find out the reason why I still felt incomplete. My father was still in the ward with Lilian and my uncle. They were interrogating her. That was a plus one to the discomfort that ached my mind. Alyssa was sitting somewhere around the corner. She hasn’t said a word since we arrived at the hospital. My gut believed that she knew something. Something she wasn’t saying to anyone and kept trying her best to hide it away from her expression. But I caught that flicker of knowledge for a second when we were driving Lilian to the hospital. When I asked her, she shoved it aside and claimed I caused damage when I wasn’t sure of my memory. Damage?Uncertain about the fragments of events that crossed my mind?They could call me anything but mad.That was the way Lucy wanted to put it. My newly wedded wife thoug
CAINES POV“Caine, that’s my wife you’re accusing,” my father pulled me back and whispered into my ear through his teeth. I shrugged him off and took steps further, but my uncle stepped in the way.“Caine, what’s come over you?” He asked with a low voice. “This is your wedding. What do you think you’re doing?” “She’s a traitor.” “Stop it!” My father yelled.The peace they were trying to maintain crumbled, and I had deadly eyes staring into mine. He walked closer to me, his eyes wandering in mine like he was trying to know what gave me the audacity to point an accusatory finger at his wife.“What is this all about, Huh? Because you do not want to get married? Is that why you have chosen to destroy that of your parents?”“If you think I’m lying…” I said before taking my gaze away from him and fixing it on Lilian. “Ask her how long she has known my mother,” “Your mother died years before I met Lilian,”“A year, you mean? And that means you're not denying the fact that she knew Mother
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