~ RAINA ~I shifted in the pool of my bathtub. It wasn't surprising that I had soaked myself for forty minutes in my dorm bathtub, during Thanksgiving break. My parents had traveled out of the country for Thanksgiving break, without me. Being an only child sucks. Lyric was gone, so having the room to myself was equivalent to being at home since I'd be alone. Once I was done in the tub, I turned off the rap, hoping she had received my text for the shower to be fixed Wrapping a small towel around my frame, I headed out and walked to my wardrobe to select something to wear. I saw a human-like frame move from my peripheral vision. My body froze, my head slowly turning till I saw a man sitting on Lyric's bed, headphones over his head. He and his bag of chips had frozen when his gaze matched mine. A loud scream escaped my throat and I started throwing items after him from my wardrobe. "Calm down, please calm down." He shielded his face from my attack. "Help, thief!" I screamed. "Hol
After almost an hour of Brian convincing me to run, I gave in and decided to run in my wolf form. Running felt so new. I could feel my paws dig into the sand and grass like never before, so soft and gentle. Maya (muy wolf) wanted to scream in the language of freedom because she was finally on a non–emergency run. I only ever ran in my wolf form when I was running from danger or embarrassment, but here I was, running leisurely with my mate. Brian's wolf was a huge, gray wolf with brown patches around him; his eyes were still a pair of gray eyes that shone even brighter. Not to mention he was double my size and looked like he could trample my wolf with his huge paws. Bigger wolves had always intimidated me, but with Brian, I felt safer than safe. His wolf caught up with mine and he gently knocked me down. "Hey," I barked and ran to jump on his wolf's neck, forcing him down while I bit through the furriness of his skin. He pushed me off and jumped right on me, trapping my paws in
I hid under the heaviness of the blanket, yet my body still quivered incessantly. Weakness had overtaken me to my bones. My skin was hot; however, chills ran within me. Sneezing, my eyes watered and I had to reach for the last piece of tissue on the bedside table to wipe snort off my nose, tossing it into the trash can piled with already-used tissue. Sniffling, I watched the clock ahead of me. "It's 2pm." Brian still hadn't arrived. After ten minutes, I heard a knock. Glancing over, I realized it was locked. He just had to leave without a key? Grunting, I spent longer than usual to stand up, every part of my body aching as I staggered to the door. All the words I was going to yell at Brian were rehearsed in my head. Opening it, there was a package in front of the porch, no Brian.It took the remaining strength I had left for me to lift the box, take it in, and open it. It was filled with pictures of me and Brian from the helicopter ride and just random pictures from that day, some
It was the last day of the trip. Brian, however, had been on his laptop since forever, claiming to be working. I stepped out and took a walk along the shore of the beach, reflecting on my moments with Brian. It was a week, but it felt like two months: I was more comfortable around him and yearned to be with him every minute. Just the thought of Brian made my heart flutter. I had thought I would never have feelings for anyone after Roger, but here I was, back to square one. A stupid thought popped into my head: ‘what if he leaves you too?’Be quiet. I shook it off my head. The thought kept poking my mind, and I needed a distraction. Thankfully, my phone rang. I answered it without checking the caller ID.“Hey, sugar.” Blade’s voice sounded through my airpod.“Hey,” I stopped myself from wincing. "How are you?" "Great. Honestly, I miss seeing you on campus. I don’t know how I survived without seeing you for a week. I thought I was going to die," He joked.I only chuckled. "You'll be
They both flinched away, Raina jumping off the bed. “Y-You’re back?!” She exclaimed, glancing around the room with widened eyes.Walking in, I glanced between both of them and though Tone was trying to play cool, I could read and see his blue-ish green eyes bobbing around his eye socket. “I thought you left when I had called. Why are you still here?” I glared.“I found an apartment a few streets away, but I can’t move in until two days from now.” He explained.“I don’t care. I don’t want you bothering me and my roommate. Why the hell are you even in Dentville?” My reddened cheeks were starting to heat up with fury. “Raina, I’m so sorry he bothered you. It’ll never happen again.”“I–” I cut him off. “ I don’t care what you have to say. I don’t want you in my dorm without permission.” “I let him stay,” She cut me off, pursing her lips. “He explained his situation, and it would’ve been selfish to just kick him out, so after careful consideration, I let him stay here.”My mouth fell ag
Emily couldn’t be serious, right? If I remembered correctly, Emily used to make a lot of empty threats in high school just to bully me and other girls. I frowned, suddenly remembering a time I had complained about Emily bullying me to Roger and he had called me a weak wolf.“You better get that stinky attitude off your face if you don’t want me to cut off your paycheck,” Josh complained, pulling me out of my pool of thoughts. “I’m sorry.” “You better be. Took an entire week off and now you want to chase all my customers away.” he huffed. “Act all flirty and do what you’ve got to do.” he gave his last shot of glare before strutting away with 250-pounds of meat dancing at every step.My shift took forever till I finally clocked out and took the bus home. Still, my thoughts fell back to Emily. It had been over twenty four hours since the text, yet it wouldn’t leave me. Who could she hurt that was close to me?‘Hopefully, Tone.’ My wolf joked and I rolled my eyes. ‘I wouldn’t mind th
What the heck was going on? Was Blade drunk on something?I glanced over at Tone whose eyes were squinted like a detective seeking answers. He had his doubts, clearly, and I had to break that doubt. Swallowing hard, I said and feigned a smile. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend.". "Really?" His grin widened and he rose to his feet, pulling me into a tight hug. "I can't believe this." Once again, his skin contact burned my body. It made me feel like hot lava was on me. I couldn't push him away, so I hugged him back, my toes curling up to try to suck in the heat. This was so wrong and I knew it. I tried to convince myself that it was better than Tone finding out about Brian, but the pang in my heart reminded me that it wasn’t right.Raina squealed, clapping her hands."This is so cute!" I heard clicking sounds like she took a picture and I sent a mental note to myself to delete the picture from her phone. "Something doesn’t seem right." Tone said as Blade pulled away. What again? "Was s
It was my last math class for the semester, and instead of paying attention to the old dude teaching and giving tops for the final exam next week, I was instead thinking about Blade’s conversation. I never expected him to like me as much as he claimed. It's just too much going on. Sighing, I ran my hand over my face. To make things worse, the strange uncomfortable wave of heat that had been running through me didn't leave. My body felt like it was swollen everywhere when in reality, it wasn't. The girl that had always sat beside me lifted a questioning brow at me. "Are you okay?" I nodded, turning to chug my iced water to cool my body down but it didn't work, so I had to sit with my legs tightly crossed, toes curled, hands clenched, just to envelope the feeling. The class finally ended, so I grabbed my bag, ready to dash out when Bri and Anna appeared in front of me, waving. "Hey," Bri grinned. "We thought we'd share contacts, if you don't mind. It's the last day of classes. W
It was the day I had been waiting for, the day I had worked so hard to reach. My graduation day. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection as I adjusted my cap and gown. A sense of accomplishment washed over me, but it was mixed with bittersweetness. The road to this moment had been nothing like I imagined. The journey had been full of unexpected turns—love, loss, battles, and triumphs.In the early days after Brian’s coma, when I learned I was pregnant, I never thought I’d make it to this moment, let alone have my son with me by my side. The idea of balancing motherhood with my education had seemed impossible. But here I was, with my son, my husband, and my pack—ready to take the next step in life, even though I knew it wouldn’t be easy.I smiled softly at my reflection, adjusting my gown one last time. My son, only two years old now, was already napping peacefully in his crib, a reminder of how much had changed in such a short time. Brian had been there for me every s
The first day back in classes felt so unreal. The energy of the students buzzed through the air—laughter, conversations, the occasional groan about assignments—but none of it truly reached me. Not with everything that had happened. Not with everything that still weighed on my mind.Brian walked beside me, his presence a steady force, but even he felt different. Stronger. More protective.As if he could sense what was coming.And he wasn’t wrong.'Goodbye, my love.' He said through mind link, causing my cheeks to flush red. 'Goodbye, my love.' I mind linked back and giggled loud, earning side eyes from two of the girls about to enter my classroom as well. The moment I stepped into my first lecture hall, Professor Jenna’s cold gaze landed on me.Jenna… jeez. How could I forget this witch?A woman who should’ve been nothing more than an ordinary professor, but she wasn’t. She had a fixation on Brian, one she had never hidden well. Before the war, before everything, I had ignored it. Br
~ LYRIC ~ The ray from the sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the pack house, casting golden light over the polished wood floors. I stretched my arms above my head, breathing in the sweet fresh morning air as I gazed out over the training grounds. Warriors were practicing, their movements sharp and precise, but today wasn’t about war or battles.Today was about something far more terrifying:School. Yup, you heard that right. I gotta go back to school. I had almost forgotten that the rest of the world hadn’t stopped when Brian was in a coma, when I was learning to rule, when I had been fighting to hold our pack together. But time had moved forward, and now it was time for me to return to the life I had before I became Luna.Not that I minded.I loved being Luna.I loved the power, the responsibility, the feeling of belonging to something greater than myself. The pack respected me. They trusted me. I had spent the past few weeks proving that I wasn’t just Brian’s wife—
~ LYRIC ~Two weeks had passed. It had been. Two whole weeks. Two gruesome weeks. Two weeks of Brian laying in the hospital with no medical diagnosis. No treatment possible because no identifiable problem. It had been Two weeks of ruling without him. Yes, on the bright side, the pack had completely defeated the enemy and wiped out all of them, thanks to my power (not to brag or anything), so I had been leading the pack as Luna completely, with help from Jordan. Poor Jordan was mourning the murder of his beloved. It broke my heart for him, but Anna got what she deserved. It had been two weeks of waking up alone, staring at the empty space beside me where Brian should have been.Two weeks of trying to be strong while my heart ached in ways I never thought possible.Brian was still in a coma. My mother, too.The healers said their conditions were stable—alive, breathing—but that wasn’t enough. Not for me.Every day, I carried the weight of my pack on my shoulders. I made decisions, I
~ LYRIC ~I couldn’t speak— speaking was too much. I couldn't breathe. Brian’s body lay limp in my arms, his warmth slipping away with every second that passed. My hands were soaked in his blood, trembling as I pressed them against the wound that should have never been there. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. Not at all. What was all that stupid prophecy of saving him about? I had tried all I could, summoned all the power I could find, yet I couldn't heal him quickly. A violent storm of emotions built inside me—rage, grief, desperation—twisting and churning until my body couldn’t contain it anymore. I wanted to explode. Watching the love of my life grow cold and pale in front of me was a sight that stabbed my soul. "I would not let this happen!" I growled and rose up, his pool of blood dripping from me. "No! I screamed."I would not let this happen. A throat wrecking scream tore from my throat, shaking the very ground beneath me. My power exploded outward in a bright
~ LYRIC ~I woke to the sound of gunfire.The sharp, jarring cracks destroyed the peaceful silence of the night, sending a jolt of terror through me. I sat up so fast that the blankets wrapped around my legs scratched my skin, my heart thundering in my chest.Beside me, Brian was already moving. Clearly, someone had experience in years of war and survival that had trained him well because he didn’t hesitate, he didn’t freeze, he didn’t seem fazed. He grabbed his armor and weapons from the bedside, his body tense with readiness.“What’s happening?” I breathed, throwing off the cover and getting off the bed to match his speed. His eyes were already scanning the darkened room, his jaw clenched. “We’re under attack.”Another round of gunfire exploded outside, followed by the distant shouts of warriors and the sickening sounds of metal meeting flesh.My stomach twisted. I was growing tired of this whole war nonsense and just couldn't wait for it to end . We barely had time to pull on o
“They are here!” A guard announced.I didn’t have time to panic.My vision had given me an advantage, but that advantage would mean nothing if I didn’t act now. The enemy was coming, and they were coming fast.I stood straight ignoring the way my body still trembled from the strain of seeing through time. I forced my voice to be steady, authoritative. I was Luna. They needed to hear confidence, not fear.“Jordan ,” I said, my tone fierce. “Gather everyone. Now.”He hesitated for a while before nodding and rushing off to sound the alarm.Minutes later, the war room filled with warriors, guards, and pack leaders. Their eyes were wide, their bodies tense. They knew something was coming.I took my place at the center of the room, armed with full armor and a gun for myself. .“The enemy is on their way,” I announced. “They’ve taken Alpha Brian as a distraction, hoping we’d be too broken to fight back. But we will fight back. And we will win.”A murmur ran through the crowd as they digested
~ RAINA ~I never should have agreed to this crap. Fake dating Blade was supposed to be easy. A simple arrangement. No emotions, no expectations—just a mutual agreement to keep up appearances. He needed to make Lyric jealous, and I… Well, I wasn’t sure what I was getting out of it anymore. It was initially for the sake of research, but I had barely done any research here. It was all just war, war, war. . At first, it was fun. Blade had a way of making things exciting, always pulling me into his world of effortless confidence and easy charm. I told myself it didn’t matter that he was still hopelessly in love with Lyric. That his eyes always followed her when she was in the room. That I was just a placeholder in whatever game he was playing. But then, somewhere along the way, I started wanting more. I realized it today when I saw the way he looked at her, even when she was barely holding herself together. We were at the training grounds when he spotted her. Lyric stood off to
~ LYRIC ~I stretched my legs across the couch, letting out a satisfied sigh as I sank deeper into the cushions. The warm scent of my mother’s cinnamon tea spread through the air, blending with the soft crackling of the fireplace. It was one of those rare, peaceful nights—one where the world outside didn’t seem so chaotic, and all that mattered was the quiet comfort of home. Tone sat across from me, one arm draped over the back of the chair, his face relaxed for once. For some reason, tonight, he looked… happy. Maybe even at peace. Mom was laughing at something he said, her voice light and full of warmth. I didn’t even catch the joke, but I smiled anyway, just glad to be here with them. In the midst of the war, I could still sit and enjoy a nice family time. “This tea is perfect,” I said, wrapping my fingers around the warm mug. “Mom, I swear, you should bottle this up and sell it. You’d make a fortune.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “It’s not that big of a deal. I just use a l