"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
Wiggling my finger in my face, I grinned from ear to ear as the diamond grinned back at me. It was clearly a real diamond, but that was the least of my joy. All I could care about was the fact that I, Lyric Ashton, had just been proposed. Lyric ten years ago would've never imagined a man would ever like her enough to propose to her. However , the tables had turned. 'Where are you at?' My phone chimed with that text from Raina. 'Right outside the dorm.' I texted back. 'Okay, be up asap. The party starts soon.' She texted. Party? What party? As I was about to open the dorm door, I felt a figure step out of the corner and from my peripheral vision, I could tell the person was looking at me. Turning my head in the direction, I frowned at the sight of Emily as she approached me, her heels making a dramatic clink against the concrete. "Why are you here?" I rolled my eyes, my arms folding across my chest. "You little slut." She said, stopping in front of me. Her eyebrows were so dra
The Humidity around me suddenly became unbearable as it was hit and it felt like I couldn't breathe. With my face squeezed up, I opened my eyes, glancing around and realized I was tied up to a chair in a white-walled room. Mom was also tied on the other side of the room, hee neck dropping sideways. "Mom!" I whispered at first just when there was no response, I called out loud, "Mom!" She flinched then her eyes slowly fluttered till they opened. She glanced around in confusion, taking in the view of her surroundings till her gaze met me. “Wh-what’s happening? Where am I ? Why are we here?” She wondered“It’s our old pack, I believe.” WHen I said that, her face turned pale. She began trying to pull her wrist out of the ropes, grunting, but to no avail. “I think they’re awake.” Someone announced, and the door was kicked open. Suddenly, multiple men ran in, some of their faces were familiar, and some were not. Then, the Alpha, Jeremy, walked in, an awkward grin on his face. “Well
~ LYRIC~ Yet again, another raspy cough.my ears were starting to get used to my Mom's cough, and it was uncomfortable. "Come see this," she said, then cleared her throat. "It's a letter from the old pack." "What do you mean?" I walked up to her and glanced at the brown envelope she was holding. It was indeed a letter from our old pack. "What the heck do they want now?" I scoffed. "I don't know. Open it." She passed it. "Why me?" "It specifically says 'To Lyric'." She said, pointing at the label on the envelope. "Oh," I chuckled and ripped it open, revealing the long letter. "It says:"Greetings to the Ashton family, especially to you, Ms. Lyric Ashton. It's our pleasure to write this letter to you and to have you read it. We hope you are doing fine and well. It has been seven years now, and we have been actively searching for you. We have never ceased our search for you. After you left, our pack lost a true gem. We have tried to find answers and our answers revealed that Ro
~ RAINA ~ Lyric, completely unreachable. Dad questioned my whereabouts daily. Tone, forever bothering me. Blade, nowhere to be found. Focusing on Blade, since he confirmed we were mates, he wasn't answering my calls. He had completely disappeared from the campus. I knew only a few students still stayed on campus after school ended, so I wasn't hoping to find him soon. "I can't believe I have to wait the entire summer till I meet Blade again. That turkey. Why would he just run off?" I sighed, not bothering that I was talking to myself, out loud. I stopped and gasped. "What if he transfers?" A girl walking beside me cast an irritated glance at me and walked off. No way! I had to reach Lyric to beg her to make Blade talk to me. Werewolves are actually real? I pondered on that, grinning that I had reached a big discovery. Suddenly, I bumped into a hard figure that was running from the corner. "Ouch," I whined and lifted my gaze to meet Blade. "You!" I squealed. He wanted to res
It had been four days since I had been back home, and Mom's cough was still as painful to hear as it had been the first time I heard it. However, she insisted on not going to the doctor.Also, she was being super nice to me and that scared the heck out of me. What happened to the yelling and cursing at me? Blaming me for every problem in her life? Tone's number was dialed on my phone, yet I couldn't bring myself to call. He cheated on Raina and I was mad at him, but it felt beyond that. I couldn't bring myself to call him anymore because It felt like I had wronged him. I needed to talk to him about Mom but my approach to him lately had been too harsh. He might not want to talk to me anymore."He's the one at fault. Why am I feeling bad for him?" I canceled his number from my dial screen and called Brian instead . "Helllo, baby." He said, requesting to switch to video call which I immediately did. As usual, he looked like the finest piece of cake. His stubble had grown a bit and his
~ LYRIC ~I walked up to meet Brian, giving him a really tight hug. My heart was racing heavily and I couldn’t quite figure out why. “Do you really have to go?” I asked. “Yes. Why do you keep forgetting that I’m the Alpha. Please be strong. This is one of many wars I’d have to go to. Please,” he pulled away and cupped my face, “brace yourself up.”“But Brian,” I held his hands, giving them a tight squeeze. “Can’t you at least wait this one out or postpone it.” “No, I can’t. That’s too dangerous.” He smiled. “You’re overthinking it.”“I promise you I'm not. Why wouldn’t you just listen to me? I don’t have a good feeling about this at all.” “It’ll be fine.” He chuckled. A knock came on the door and Jordan poked his head through the crack of the door. “Alpha, we need to leave now. It’s starting soon.” “Okay, got it.” When Jordan left, he leaned down to kiss me. "I love you." "I love you too." My voice cracked. I stared into his soul, hoping he could read my eyes and tell that somet
~ LYRIC ~ School was finally over. This meant I could finally meet Pat’s granny. Hanging my backpack over my shoulder, I checked out of the hotel. Yes, a hotel. I had lodged in a hotel to avoid Raina at all costs. Today, we had to check out of our dorms, so I had made Brian hire people to help me pack. Raina had called me a billion times and every time made my heart skip a beat, so I completely ignored it. “Hello? Are you still there?” Brian snapped me out of my train of thoughts. “Y-yes, sorry about that.” I apologized, shifting in my cab. “Where are you now?” He asked. “What do you mean?” “You asked me to hire people to pack for you and you’re not here yet. Do you need me to pick you up?” “No!” I quickly responded, and pursed my lips in regret. I just had to make things suspicious.“Are you…okay?” He asked. “Yes, absolutely. I am.” I let out a harsh breath. “I’m at a girls’ hangout. We’re hanging out to celebrate the end of the semester. I’ll be with you right after.”“Oka
“No, Raina. You’re mistaken.””I am not!” she sat upright and gasped again. “The first time I had challenged you… you weren’t acting along.” Another gasp. “Tone is also a werewolf. I dated a werewolf!” She screamed. “WEREWOLVES ARE ACTUALLY REAL!”I slapped my hand to her mouth. “Be quiet. You’re being too loud.”She smacked my hand off. “So I’m right?”“No! You’re not. Nobody is a werewolf. I think the breakup has gotten to you too hard. You're rambling nonsense.”She frowned. “Don’t you dare call me insane. I know what I’m saying and you know it’s true. Don’t try to make me sound foolish. Why are you hiding it from me?”“Stop it, Raina!” I raised my voice. “Raising your voice wouldn’t change the truth.”“There’s no truth. I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re misunderstanding everything. Maybe Blade meant something else.”“You’re lying, and I know that. You’re all werewolves!” She dug her hand into her hair. “What am I supposed to do? I have to tell someone. This is big.
Brian’s Mom, Myla, sat on the couch, one leg confidently crossed over the other. “What sort of question is that?” she made a hand gesture to Celine, and Celine rushed to pour her a cup of tea from the kettle I only noticed sitting on the table. “You know why I’m here. I need you to get off Brian. You took my money, so you might as well leave.”My eyes widened. “That’s right. How could I have forgotten the three million dollars?” My mouth went agape. “Mom would be so glad to know this. “You’re so shameless.” She scoffed. “You’re a good for nothing wench that’s just here to ruin my son’s life. You helped him get the Alpha position, okay? Now what? You expect him to marry you for that? He only did you a favor. You’re a useless, weak, stupid wolf with nothing to show forth. No worth.” My hands were tightening into fists beside me. I swallowed my words, muttering to myself that she was still Brian’s mother. However, she went on. “You’re a worthless crap, a waste to his life. You don’t des
~ LYRIC ~Finals week, finally! As much as I hated to admit it, I was excited for finals week. The exams were annoying, but it meant that once they were over, I had the chance to head back home. Lowkey, I missed my mother. I hadn’t seen her in almost a year! My phone chimed. Opening it, it was a text from Anna: ‘Hey, girlfriend. The semester got busy and I didn't have time to bother you, but here’s your reminder that Brian is still mine and you better get off his back or you won’t be able to see the next semester (smiley emoji)’. “This girl is crazy.” I scoffed. Speaking of Brian, I hadn’t seen him in person in a while. I hoped he was okay. I dialed his number, but it went straight to voicemail. I dialed it again, yet no response. “Is he okay?” I could feel my heart starting to throb harder as I dialed his number again. ‘Hey, kitty. I’m in class.’ When I received the text, only then, did the heaviness in my chest disappear. I was always worrying about him, especially since I heard