Rayne's POVThe agonizingly slow class eventually came to an end. Throughout, I kept trying to avoid Jacob's eyes, but he didn't do so well in keeping the surprise off his face. More than once, he was caught lost in thought until a student called his attention.As I picked up my things and got ready to leave the hall, Celine stopped me. I had almost forgotten that she was even by my side. I still couldn't make sense of our rapid acquaintance, and as much as I appreciated her kindness, I didn't know if I had it in me to make new friends.As the thought of friends crossed my mind, I remembered Savannah and how nice she had been to me at first. With everything she put me through, it would have been foolish to simply trust anyone right off the bat, no matter how kind they seemed.“Where are you rushing off too?” asked Celine. Even then, she still had a small smile on her face. No one could keep their face in such a position for so long without having her cheeks hurt. “To my next lecture,
Rayne's POVWe all kept quiet for most of the car ride. I humbly took the backseat for two reasons: to give Celine the proximity she craved with Jacob, and to also avoid his direct attention. Killing two birds with one stone.Celine didn't even try to hide her staring. She ogled him, making faces similar to the ones maidens wore in all those tragically romantic paintings.All too soon, though, we got to Celine's dormitory, and dropped her off. “See you later!” She waved with an enormous smile before leaving. I could only imagine how happy she must have been. Getting a ride from her crush must have sent her over the moon.But her absence created a gaping hole that had to be filled. I didn't actually want to speak to Jacob, so I turned my head and looked out the window, hoping that time would pass quickly and he'd drop me off at home.He turned on the radio. Static scratched the air for a split second before a man's clear voice replaced it. “It's a new day in the city of New Jersey, an
Rayne's POVThe day dissolved into the weekend, and I left the city to go to Mysticrock to see my family. Sal had been gracious enough to take up looking after Roman and Kairen. I had been planning on just simply hiring a nanny, but she had shot down the idea and volunteered to do it. Kairen was old enough to not need breastfeeding anymore, which made my choice to move even easier. But that day, I missed them all, and wanted to see their faces.The first person I saw at the pack house was none other than Sal, who carried Kairen inside a kangaroo baby holder in front of her chest. “Rayne!” She said my name enthusiastically. “How have you been? I was just about to call you.”I hugged her. “It was a really nice first week, but I needed to come home and recharge.” I stroked Kaiden's cheek, and immediately stretched her arms out to me, making cute garbling sounds.Sal unlatched her from the baby holder and carefully handed her over to me. “How long are you around for?”“Just the weekend
Rayne's POVI started the next week at Lakeside University more cautious than I had been at the first. Now, everyone just looked like a suspect waiting to be uncovered. When my mind drifted to someone like Celine or Jacob, I hoped in my heart that neither of them were the killer. I didn't think I had it in me to survive discovering that someone close to me was wicked once again.Celine found me walking down the halls, with her usual smile on her face. She looped her arm in mine and leaned her head on my shoulder. Surely she couldn't have been a murderer . . . right?“So, how'd your weekend go?” she asked.“Pretty well. Went down to go and see my family,” I said quietly. “Oh, they don't live here in the city?”“No. They live . . .” I thought about whether it was worth telling her in-depth information about my family. “At the outskirts.” In the end, I settled for a half-truth. “Wow. It's no wonder you had to come down here to get an apartment. I can't imagine coming from there everyd
Rayne's POVEven without looking back, I could already tell who it was. Boy, was I glad to see him. It didn't matter that minutes ago I was thinking about how nice it was that I didn't cross paths with. Here, he had the very authority I needed to get out of trouble. But I needed to speak up first so that I got the upper hand and not the others.I hoped that the girl behind me had gotten her emotions under control as I pulled away from her and stepped towards Jacob.His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched me get closer to him, but he neither moved nor said anything.“Hello,” I said to him, mustering a small smile. “What's going on here?” he asked again, looking between me and the other girls.I pointed my thumb at the girl I defended. “She was getting bullied, and I had to intervene. I had no idea that his place harbored such people as well,” I made sure to raise the volume of my voice so that my targets could hear it clearly.Jacob turned to the young girl, who now held her large t
Rayne's POVTensions rise between humans and werewolves when a public attack happens. Rayne's secret identity is almost uncovered.Moonshine was the biggest café in the city. Even by 4pm in the evening, people still waited in a row to get their orders. Soft, calming music played inside, giving the place a warm, cozy feel. On the bright side, most of the booths were empty, which made finding a spot to settle down easy. We found a place in one of the inner corners, and sat down, while Jacob went over to get us drinks. Celine pulled out her phone from her bag and quietly scrolled through it. I expected her to try and make some small talk with me, as was clearly in her nature, but she just continued tapping her small fingers over the screen of her phone. “Are you okay?” I asked.She nodded quickly. “Mm-hmm.” More tapping and swiping.“What are you doing?”She leaned in closer to the screen of her phone. I would've liked to see what had captured her attention so completely, but she sat
Rayne's POVChaos erupted. People jumped out of their seats, screaming like it was the end of the world—it might have as well been to some of them. They rushed to the exit of the café, not caring that the creature they were trying to escape from was closer to the exit of the shop than the inside of the shop. I wanted to raise my voice and tell them that they didn't have to be scared of the man since he wasn't a Rogue, but I bit my tongue. There was no better way to tear off my cover and expose me.I shook my head. Why now? Why did the man shift in broad daylight?The wolf in question turned his head heavenward and released a great howl, further eliciting more screams and actions of panic from the people nearby, before bounding off past the café. I wanted to follow him and understand what had just happened, but I couldn't leave Celine and Jacob. Especially with what I already knew about Jacob, I couldn't give him any reason to doubt or suspect me.Celine's voice was full of awe rather
Rayne's POVI couldn't feel anything. That was what stood out to me. All shapes, moving or immobile, were vivid—almost too vivid to have been captured by my tired eyes. The atmosphere, although I couldn't feel it, seemed like it would need someone to put on something with significant layers to ward off the growing chill.At first, I didn't know where I was, but as I delved deeper and further, it all started to make sense. The way the sky looked, the people moving about, and even the shape of houses. For whatever reason, I was back in Oceanpearl pack. Initially, I had little idea of what it meant or what I had to do, but the further I looked, the clearer things became. I followed a familiar face; one of the lower omegas that usually attended to the high-ranking pack members at the time. People like Reynold or my aunt. The woman smoothed her patterned dress, nervousness was evident on her petite form. Whatever she wanted to do, she hadn't done it before, or she didn't know how to go