“What do we do with Bri?” Brian asked.“I don't know.” I said, watching Bri who was tied up to the chair, her head falling backwards. Anyone would’ve assumed she was dead, if she wasn't letting out generator-like snores. “Tap her to try and wake her up.” Brian said to one of the hefty men who I now identified as guards from his pack.He nodded then walked over and tapped Bri’s shoulder. When she didn’t respond, he tapped her again. This time, her face scrunched up and she squirmed in her seat, shifting and groaning till she opened her eyes.“Uh… Anna, leave me alone!” She said, fluttering her lashes sleepy, then they widened as she took in the view of where she was. “Where am I?”“A basement at one of my stores.” Brian said. “Help!” She began to scream again.“There’s no use.No one will hear you from here.” I explained and sighed, walking up to her. “Bri, please I need you to comply with me.”“Why wouldI? My Dad would kill me if he found out that I knew about a professor-student re
"Hey, how are you?" I said to Brian over the phone. "How's it going at the pack?""Honestly, it's rough, but it's okay. I might just need to stay a few more days." He sighed. "Oh." "Why 'Oh'?" He asked. "Nothing." I shrugged. Nothing like not having him not being available on my birthday. I heard the door click, confirming that Raina was coming in. "I'll call you later, okay?" I said, sitting up straight. "Why so sudden? Is something wrong?" He wondered but Raina opened the door. "Hey, Raina!" I greeted loudly, so he could understand. "Oh, bye. I love you." He said then I ended the call, paying attention to Raina. She stopped and narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you okay? What's with the energy?" "Nothing. I'm just really happy to see you." I lied— actually, half-lied. Jumping off the bed, I scurried to meet her. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat at the cafeteria." "Yeah, do you mind if Tone tags alone?" I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Whatever, he can come too."
Standing in front of the mirror, I tapped some powdered foundation under my puffy eyes. My jade green eyes suddenly shot a reflection at me that resembled Tone and I sighed. It has been a week since he found out Blade wasn't my real mate, yet he still wasn't talking to me. He had ended up seeing my mark, so once again, I had had to lie that it was from Blade, so he wouldn't be suspicious, but Blade had just ruined it all. My thoughts ended in a sigh. "I don't like my life." Raina had headed out, so I chose to give Brian a video call when my phone started buzzing, a reminder popping up on my screen: 'MY BIRTHDAY'. The reminder alarm started getting louder when I turned it off. "How the heck could I forget my own birthday?" Clicking my tongue, I shook my head and dialed Brian's phone. Maybe he'd know what today was. When he answered, he had a wide grin that automatically made me smile. He knew my birthday! "Why do you look so happy?" I could feel my cheeks already turning red. "Y
They all looked at me like I had grown mold on my head. "Sexy?" Raina repeated. I nodded. "Yeah." "Come in," Tone said to him. "That's an awkward adjective to describe your uncle, isn't it?" Anna aske, eyes squinted at me.“What do you mean?” Bri chuckled. “I call my uncle sexy all the time to tease him. It’s obvious her uncle is sexy.” She said and from the slight redness of her face, I could tell she was embarrassed after saying that. “Yeah, Lyric goofs around a lot.” Brian said, walking in. He took off his suit coat, exposing his skin-tight shirt clung to his body, his chest build almost ripping out of his shirt and his abs not failing to form an outline under the fabric. Was it because I was drunk or did he look extra sexy today?“Happy birthday, Lyric.” He said, handing a bag to me. He had been holding it but I only noticed it now. “Thanks.” I grinned, taking the bag from him. I peeked into it, and the moment I saw a lace fabric at the top, I immediately covered it, makin
Everyone in the room, once again, fell silent. “What do you mean by “uncle”? Are you… are you related to him as well?” Tone said, his face twisted up in confusion. “What do you mean ‘as well’?” He frowned. “He’s my mom’s brother.” “He’s also our dad’s step brother.” Tone responded defensively. “I’m sorry for chirping in, but who is he?” Anna asked, jerking her head at Blade, her face turning pale. “He’s Lyric’s boyfriend… and Mr. Brian is Lyric’s uncle.” Raina gasped, her hands to her mouth. “Does that mean you’re related?” she glanced between Blade and me and gasped again. “What the hell is going on? How are you her dad’s stepbrother?” Blade glared at him. “What’s with the li---” “This has to be a misunderstanding.” I cut him off, my breath trembling. “I think we’ll be heading out now.” Bri said, pulling Anna up. “Bye, Lyric. Happy birthday once again.” My birthday was anything but happy. How on earth were Blade and Brian related? However, I forced a smiled at them. “Yes, th
76Blade’s face turned a hot shade of red as he glared into Brian’s eyes. “I hate you.” he said through gritted teeth, shot a glance at me, then stormed out of the room. “What the hell just happened?” Tone said, standing in front of me. “It’s… I don’t even know… I didn’t know he was Brian’s cousin.” I sighed, running my hands through my hair. “I hate this.”I hissed. “Why are you acting all nervous now? You created this mess. First, by dating your professor, how foolish of you.” Tone glared at brian. “Then you led the poor dude on to make him fall for you.”“I never led him on!” I cried. “You did.” He grabbed his bag. “You wanted to do everything you could to hide the truth from me, and I must say you went too far with Blade. You didn’t need to use him as a shield.” “You were finding out, and I didn’t want you to!”I watched a strange, unfamiliar emotion flash in his eyes. “Why? Did you think I'd Intentionally put you in trouble?”“Yes!” Then, he frowned. “Are you crazy? I may h
"What does he have to say to me?" I muttered to myself, watching Brian spill out words. However, instead of listening to what he was teaching, I could only focus on how sexy his lips looked. He had gotten a new haircut, and gosh, it made him look a hundred times more gorgeous. My boredom worsened and made my eyes trail down to his chest. He was in a button-down shirt, but with every gesture he made, it hugged against his 8-pack abs. His gaze locked with mine and he mind-linked me. 'You look like you're undressing me with your eyes. How about you do that in person when you come over?' I flinched and caught the slight smirk on his face. Anna and Bri, sitting beside me, cast a raised-eyebrow glance at me. "Are you okay?" Bri asked in a whisper. I nodded. "I'm good.""You sure? Your face is all red. Are you sick?" I shook my head and immediately averted my gaze to the board, pretending to pay attention. Their gaze still burned on me a bit till it finally left me, giving me the cha
“Wh-what?” I stammered, my mouth dropping.“I know it may seem a bit sudden since we haven’t been together for a year yet, but I promise you, I’m certain and ready to spend the rest of my life with you.” He said, holding my hands, but I pulled them away. “Are you kidding me? Is this a prank? Why’d you propose to me all of a sudden, in your office?” My forehead creased.“I just… I don’t know. To be honest, the whole situation with Roger and Blade– before I knew he was Blade— just made me want to not just mark you to werewolves, but mark you to the general public.” He admitted.“You don’t need that. I’m yours. You don’t need to mark me for the public.” I found myself frowning.“I know, I know. Regardless, I want to marry you. I want you to be fully mine in all aspects. Plus, I want to respect your wish to wait till marriage. It has honestly been really hard to watch the most sexy being in my room be around me, yet I have to be patient, because I love you. “However, I want you, and I
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