"No, Zoey, you can't just stand in here," she chided herself softly. She exhaled one more time, squared her shoulder and pushed the door open.To her surprise, it was only Vanessa sitting at the dining table, her brows furrowed as she looked up from her plate."Hi Zoey," Vanessa greeted. "Alexander isn't mad at you if that's what you are worried about."Zoey's eyes widened. She wondered how Vanessa knew what she was thinking. She swallowed hard and stepped fully into the dining room."What… what happened?" Zoey asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Vanessa sighed and put down her fork. "I talked to him about it, he holds no grudges anymore.""Thank you." Zoey smiled, and went to sit down across from her. The knot in her stomach loosened a bit. "What about him?" She couldn't help but ask.Vanessa paused for a moment before answering. "If you are talking about Elliott, then I honestly have no idea. But it will be fine."Zoey's heart felt a little lighter after hearing her last state
The maid seemed taken aback, her eyes wide with surprise. Zoey could see the confusion and uncertainty in her gaze. But Elliott's kiss, though passionate, lacked warmth. It was distant and empty; as if it were merely going through the motions.Zoey's heart felt heavy as he watched them. Many thoughts ran through her mind. "Was this the reason for Elliott's pain and anger? Was he using the maid to mask his true feelings? And what about me? Did he feel anything for me at all?"Tears welled up in her eyes as she clutched the pendant tighter. She had hoped to give it back to him, and hoped that a conversation could start from there, but now it felt meaningless. She couldn't approach him again after what she had just witnessed.She turned on her heels, her legs carrying her away from the painful scene. She couldn't bear to watch any longer. The windy courtyard suddenly felt suffocating, and she wanted to find solace elsewhere.As she ran away, her mind raced with questions and confusion. S
"Zoey!"She heard Elliott call while banging at the door; his voice was filled with worry, and she immediately figured that she was probably hallucinating again."Elliott dosen't care about you, stupid. Why are you punishing yourself by thinking about him? Let it go, you fool!" She scolded herself. Suddenly, she heard the loud sound of the door breaking down. She gazed up and found Elliott and a maid standing at the entrance, staring at her. She locked gazes with Elliott, and she could see that he was even more upset than before.Suddenly, as though she could finally feel her own skin, she realized how cold she felt. She looked at her palm to find it completely white and her face feeling numb.She began shivering uncontrollably as she tried to get off the floor, but her body seemed to have gotten stuck in the position she was currently in. She looked up at Elliott, pleading for support, but he looked away. Just when she was about to give up, she felt Elliott move closer and go down
All of a sudden, Zoey spoke up. "Elliott, thank you," she said, her voice filled with sincerity. "I'm really sorry about everything that happened. If there is any way I can make it up to you, I will."Elliott looked at her with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Anything?" He asked, raising an eyebrow."Anything," she confirmed, her eyes filled with determination. Suddenly, a thought passed through her head, but then she pushed it away.Elliott let out a sigh, shaking his head slightly. "Just shut up and sleep, Zoey," he told her, his voice soft."But Elliott," she protested. "If there is any other way I can make up for my mistakes, I will really do it… I don't want you to be cold towards me again. I miss your teasing, your laughter, your annoying yet playful self."Elliott swallowed hard, her words stirring up things he had been trying to ignore. He doesn't want to let her know how her words affected him, especially down there."Just sleep, Zoey," he said, his voice firm. "We will talk
Elliott woke up, blinking his eyes slowly. He was staring at a ceiling he didn't recognize; its patterns were unfamiliar and the scent of the room was quite girly and strange. His head was heavy and his thoughts blurry.He turned his head to the side and found Zoey asleep, her back against him.A soft smile tugged at his lips as he reached out to tuck a strand of air behind her ear. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, her face calm and serene.As his fingers brushed against her skin, he realized it wasn't him hallucinating her presence. He looked around and realized he was actually in her room. "How? Had I gotten drunk and came into her room instead?" He wondered.He thought hard for a while, and finally, last night's events came rushing back into him, hitting him like a tidal wave as his heartbeat began to speed up again.He realized that Zoey had spotted him with some ladies, and he had sent them away because they disrespected her.But then, he remembered something that made his he
Zoey woke up, stretching her arms above her head. She blinked groggily at the corner wall of her room before turning to the side, expecting to see Elliott. But the side of the bed where Elliott slept last night was empty.She suddenly felt worried and panicked. She got up and looked around the room, but he was nowhere in sight.She sighed and sat back in her bed. She thought back to what Elliott had said last night– "I love you, my mate."The words echoed in her mind, causing her heart to flutter. The butterflies in her stomach were going wild, just like they did when he said it last night.Trying to get it out of her mind, she took a warm bath and headed out of the room. She ran into Vanessa along the hallway. Vanessa gave her a knowing look. "So, how did it go with Elliott last night?"Zoey blinked, surprised. "What do you mean?"Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Come on, Zoey. You guys seemed to be cozy last night."Zoey felt her cheeks heat up. "It's not like that, Vanessa. He was just dr
By the time Zoey woke up, she was back in her room. She looked around, taking a while to remember what had happened. She turned to her side to find Vanessa there, Knitting something in the corner. She looked up when she noticed that Zoey was awake."Zoey, you are finally awake," Vanessa said as she came to Zoey's bed."Are you okay now, Zoey?" She asked, her eyes filled with worry. Zoey was about to tell her she was fine when she noticed something on her wrist. Black veins twisted around her wrist like a bracelet, and her heart dropped upon seeing that.She fell back onto the bed with a sigh. "I'm not okay, Vanessa," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm far from okay."Vanessa put her knitting down. "What is the problem, Zoey?" She asked.Zoey showed Vanessa her wrist, the black veins standing out starkly against her pale skin. "I'm dying, Vanessa.""Why?" Vanessa asked curiously."Elliott is my mate, and he wants me to reject him. I can't bring myself to reject him, a
Uncle Toni was sitting in the car on his way to the Blackwood pack, a smirk on his face as he thought about his plan. He knew that Lynx was too proud to do what was necessary to break the curse, and that would be his undoing, he thought.He had already gathered a group of subordinates who are loyal to him, and they are now waiting for his signal. He had a plan to take over the pack, and he was confident he would succeed.As the car pulled up to Blackwood pack, he felt a rush of excitement. He was about to take control of the pack and he felt nothing could stop him.As he stepped out, he kept a calm and collected demeanor. He wanted to appear innocent, and to make sure that Lynx didn't suspect anything.As he walked into the pack house mansion, he saw Lynx sitting in the living room, looking exhausted. He knew Lynx had a lot of things on his plate, and he felt it's only a matter of time before he would be too weak to defend himself.Uncle Toni's smile widened as he approached Lynx, all
Lynx immediately tore the weak rope that had been used to tie him, and headed for the nearest soldier to him. He instantly grabbed his throat and pulled out his windpipe from his neck, causing blood to fly all around him. He then went for the next soldier, slicing his head clean off with a clean sweep of his claws.He was about to turn to kill another of Uncle Toni's men when he looked and saw that Uncle Toni and Elliott were sorting themselves. He wanted to continue with his killing, but the anger that he had felt within him the moment his eyes landed on his uncle took hold of him.“UNCLE TONI!!!” He screamed loudly as he rushed towards him. Uncle Toni looked over, and after seeing that Lynx was coming, he hit Elliott hard on the chest. The hit was so strong that it sent Elliott flying across the place.“Come here,” Uncle Toni mumbled with his crooked smile as he stood in a fighting stance.Lynx growled loudly and launched himself into the air towards Uncle Toni. It was halfway that
“Does he have to come with you?” Lynx overheard Vanessa ask Alexander as she stared at him. “I don't think you should trust him.”“He has a score to settle with his uncle,” Alexander replied to Vanessa. “This war is happening because of him, so I think it's reasonable that he goes with us.”“But what if–”“No what ifs Vanessa,” Alexander said softly as he placed his hands under Vanessa's chin. He lifted her face to meet his, and planted a kiss on her lips. “We will go and come back victorious.”Vanessa nodded, “I trust you, love.”After Alexander was done talking with Vanessa, he turned and began leading Lynx and the army out of the pack's barrack which was just beside the pack house mansion.They headed towards the battlefield where Uncle Toni had gathered with his warriors. Lynx had caught sight of Zoey on the way out, but he turned his face away just when she was about to meet his eyes.As they drove towards the battlefield, Lynx noticed Elliott kept on moving his car closer to his
Lynx expected Elliott to show up in the cell, but he didn't. He thought Elliott was probably busy with Zoey, too busy to come take his share of payback. He couldn't decide if he could take that as a good or bad thing.He brought his head in between his legs and sighed slowly. Some of his wounds had healed, but his face still hurt. The parts of his face that were swollen had still not gone down, and his head pounded hard. He leaned to one side and closed his eyes, trying his best to summon sleep so that he could take a temporary escape from the pain that he was feeling.Just as his eyes were about to close, he heard the loud creaking sound of the gate of the dungeon. He shot his eyes open and groaned loudly. He thought Elliott had finally come to take his share.With a grunt, he placed his hands on the ground and slowly lifted himself up to a sitting position. He then remained that way as the door swung open. He looked up with his one good eye and was a bit surprised to see that it was
Blackwood Pack…Uncle Toni sat in his chamber wondering what to do next. He had seen the decayed corpse, and it wasn't Lynx's. He could tell because the body structure didn't match that of Lynx, and did not have the aura of an Alpha.He sat there in deep thought when a guard knocked at his door. “What is it?” Uncle Toni asked blankly. “One of the commanders under the former Alpha's rule says he has information on Lynx's whereabouts,” the guard announced from the outside.Uncle Toni immediately got up to his feet upon hearing that. He rushed to the door and pushed it open. “Where is he?” He asked immediately.“He is currently in the receiving room with Beta George,” the guard reported.Uncle Toni hurried through the hallway as he headed to the grand meeting room.The two guards standing on each side of the grand meeting room doors opened it as Uncle Toni approached. Uncle Toni walked in to find one of the former commanders standing there, hopefully looking at him. When Uncle Toni got
Alexander collected the rag from one of the dungeon guards and cleaned his bloody hands. After cleaning every single trail of blood off, he handed the rag back to the guard and headed for his chamber.He knew Vanessa would have still been waiting for him. The thought of that caused a smile to form on his lips– there would be some good for today.When he finally arrived at his chamber, he paused at the door after hearing some sounds coming from within. He placed his ears on the door and smiled softly after hearing that it was Vanessa crying.He pushed open the door and walked in, he met Vanessa on the bed, her face filled with tears. Alexander walked over to her and knelt down beside her as she cried harder.“Why are you crying, darling?” Alexander asked as he ran his fingers through her soft, silky hair. “What is the matter?”“Zoey,” Vanessa replied with a small sniff. “I heard Lynx has got her, he's killed her, hasn't he?”“No, my love,” Alexander said as he wrapped his hands around
Upon getting back to the white phoenix pack house mansion, Alexander immediately got down from the car and went inside the mansion. Lynx's eyes fluttered open as the sounds of footsteps shuffling around reached his ears. He turned to his side with a growl but stopped sharply after he felt a sharp pain at his side. He paused for a few seconds before laying back.“Where in the hell am I?” He asked no one in particular as he coughed loudly. He moved to his side to try standing up again, ignoring the pain that was stabbing at him, and after many trials and errors, he was finally able to sit up straight. He placed his back against the wall behind him and hissed loudly as his aching side came into contact with the moist wall. Closing his eyes, he let out a loud sigh.Slowly, he opened his eyes again, and steadily this time. He turned his head to take a look at his new and strange environment.The only door in the room stood a few feet away from him, but he knew that it would be a real str
Scholes moved Zoey away and looked at Lynx as though scrutinizing every feature of his body. Lynx tightened his fist into a ball, ready to attack Scholes, so that when he was distracted, Zoey could escape.“Next!” Scholes voiced out. Lynx looked up, confused as Scholes stared at him a little longer before quickly moving forward.Lynx and Zoey moved along, and just when they were a bit far from the checkpoint, a few guards hurried towards them. “Alpha Lynx, commander Scholes has ordered us to escort you through a shortcut so you wouldn't get caught by your uncle's men.”Lynx looked up at the one who spoke and searched his gaze in curiosity. “You have to trust us, Alpha Lynx. Since your disappearance, we've been treated nothing less than wrong by the new vicious Alpha. We are ready to help you return to your position,” one of the guards explained.Lynx saw a million and one questions in Zoey's eyes, but the guard gave her a reassuring smile. Lynx could understand why they chose to he
It's been two weeks since Lynx disappeared into the world, and Uncle Toni declared him wanted and ordered the Blackwood force to kill him on sight.Zoey hadn't been a quiet one for the past week where Lynx abducted Zoey to. She had been yelling, and trying to convince Lynx to go and apologize to Sophia's parents for his atrocity.Lynx thought Zoey was only doing all of that so she could get out of there and be with Elliott. He got so mad at her last night when she began yelling at him again that it took all of him not to slap her right across the face.He instead got up in anger and impaled her against a chair inside the hut. He found a few things he could use as a rope and binders, and even a seal tape. He used the binder to cage her hands and legs to the chair, then he went back to her mouth with the tape. Zoey was trying her best to move away and even caught the tape in her hair a few times.Lynx grabbed her head, holding her still, and placed the tape over her talkative mouth. He
Zoey sat down on the small stony bench next to Lynx as Lynx told her about his first love, Sophia. “Why did you kill her if you truly love her then?” Zoey asked.“I felt betrayed, she once professed so much love to me. We didn't start out as lovers, we were just friends. Finally, I agreed to be with her to make her happy because I genuinely cared for her,” Lynx replied.This was the first time Zoey could actually see that much genuineness and care in Lynx's eyes. She could see the sadness and regret, but there was also pain.“After she found that guy, she let go of me; I was no longer a lover or friend. And that's only because that mate of hers told her how insecure he is that we are still friends. One day, I heard they were mated, and I got mad and violent. That might have been the first time Aunt Genevieve and Uncle Toni had seen me so mad and fierce,” Lynx said and his eyes turned darker as he spoke of his uncle.“Well, I got to their shared home with a gun loaded with silver bulle