"My main goal in gathering these monsters is to make sure that the students are safe, Ethan. And you already know that." Ezekiel insisted. "We have students who come from different packs and as the head of this institution, I must protect my people. So, none of you like the idea, better stay out of my way." "But they were also your students, Ezekiel, have you forgotten that already?" Penelope mustered her courage this time. "Is that how you are supposed to uphold your vision to this school? Because if it does, I'm quitting." "What?" Ezekiel blurted, then he burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me right now, huh? Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Garcia would agree to that? Get out of this place, the three of you before I will change my mind!" The last thing I want to happen is to make things work, so I convinced Penelope and Aiden to step out of the laboratory and get some fresh air, feel the warmth of the morning sun on our faces. "I can't believe that old man could do it to us," I said,
"That was pretty close. I guess we almost got struck by a bolt of lightning." Aiden glanced at the corner of the road that was burning, shoved, and made a huge hole. If that lightning hits us, probably we could have been ashes by now. "Are you all right?" I asked Aiden when I could see blood coming out of his forehead. "You're bleeding." Aiden reached out to his forehead and wiped the blood on his forehead before he replied. "I'm a bit dizzy but I'd be fine. What about you? You're bleeding too." Both of us are fine apart from the car that got wrecked after getting bumped onto the trunk of the huge tree. Getting struck by a single bolt of lightning was one in a trillion phenomenon. And my werewolf instinct was telling me that a bit of bad luck has just befallen us. For that same reason, I started to wonder if getting us a new place to live under one roof was a bad idea. Then Aiden slid to the hole and took a glimpse. "What are we going to do now?" Aiden asked.
"What the hell is going on?" I could not help but ask myself. "What's going on is that your parents were supposed to visit our son on his mating night. But you leave us with no choice, Ethan." I glanced at them from head to toe. They all looked like my parents from head to toe since the last I saw their coffins being buried in the ground. Enough reason that even a fool would barely believe in their lies. My wolf and I agreed that there was no spell that can ascend someone from the land of the dead. "You can fool my brother and everyone in this place but you can't deceive my werewolf eyes and instinct." I said back. "there is no way you are our real parents, so better show your true faces... Witches!" To my surprise, the two of them burst out laughing. The woman snapped her fingers and a new phenomenon emerged. All the birds flying from the sky also dropped to the ground. Not even a single sound coming from their beaks or caused by the fall was produced ei
"Of course, not." I defensively retorted. "That's not what I meant by it." A part of me wanted to glance at them both, face to face, for them to see my utmost sincerity, however, I cannot do it because I need to focus my undivided attention on the road ahead of us. "Then what?" Penelope was the one who asked me this time. "Because if you regretted being my mate, you could have told me before it happened. I like you, Ethan. You and Aiedn were all aware of that already. I will never regret mating you." Guilt itched my heart all of a sudden even if my ears just heard Penelope's voice. The tone of her voice was stabbing every fiber of my muscles. The worst part is that I don't even have anything to say to defend my case. "Stop the car, Ethan," Penelope added, her voice sounding irritated. "What? Why?" I stuttered, yet I still stepped on the brake and parked the car on the corner of the road. "Are you mad at me because I did not answer the Mating Night?" Penelope hopped out of the car
"Mark, I forgot something in my dorm. Could you cover for me for a few minutes? I'll be back later." I clapped his shoulder and immediately evacuated the place. Penelope was about to follow me to the building but Mark grabbed her hands and wagged his head sideways. As soon as I reached the nearest men's toilet room, even my wolf could not stop the tears from dripping down my cheeks like an open faucet. The truth was, every fiber of my muscles was in high spirits when Penelope finally introduced me as her boyfriend in front of her friends. And even in front of Mark. No distance that can measure my happiness from a few seconds ago. I have been so proud of myself that despite our age gaps. Penelope still accepts me with open hands. Perhaps my wolf could no longer find someone like her in the entire universe. However, my deal with the witches forbids me to be with the woman I love and treasure the most. And staying away from Penelope as far as possible, even if it wa
"I'm a bit exhausted right now, Penelope. Just done with my night patrol. Can we talk tomorrow?" I smiled at her from ear to ear, trying to make the situation less awkward for us. My wolf could not deny the fact that despite the smile I drew on my face, I could still sense Penelope feels the other way around. "On the second thought, I'm taking this basket, okay?" I added before I kissed her forehead and stepped into the room. The tears in my eyes voluntarily dripped down my cheeks as I slowly dropped my butt on the floor. I leaned my back on the surface of the door, trying to convince myself that everything is going to be fine. Penelope was still standing behind the door. I could hear the sound of her tears dripping to the floor. And I could feel her heart aching in pain. "I'm so sorry, Penelope," I uttered to myself, then wrapped my arms around my knees. "You love me and I love you. But I have to end this for the best. I love you, goodbye." "Ethan, I know
Following my confession of stark reality, no sooner had our hushed whispers and teary-eyed confidences faded to a close, Aiden, Penelope, and I quietly parted ways. Perfectly aligned twines of destiny abruptly severed, and our paths diverged in the eerie semidarkness of late evening. While Aiden's silhouette melted into the dimly lit corridors of our separate dormitory while Penelope's car roared to life, whisking her away into the mist enveloped roads, I stood alone under the dying, fluorescent street light. With the last rusty screech of Penelope's ancient Ford receding in the distance, my tentative steps led me back to the ghostly silence of my dorm room. Depositing my weary body on the worn-out armchair, I found myself impulsively reaching for the witch's book - an enigmatic link to our tangled past and an uncertain future. It lay forsaken on the corner desk, bathed in the yellow warmth of the desk lamp, an instrument harboring potent knowledge - knowledge
"What's with that look, Ethan? It's like you were mourning someone in that room." I almost stumbled to the ground the second my ears heard the voice coming from behind me. When I turned around, a flash of my terrible past flickered into my memories. "Mind your own business, Lilith." Right after letting out those words, I slowly dropped my eyes down to her stomach. Who could have thought? Lilith has been carrying Mark's baby for like how long? Five or six months now? Lilith was once my mate. And their baby was a product of their betrayal. Funny to say, but it seems that her goddess beauty no longer works for me. My wolf once high over heels every time I see Lilith. But it was all in the past now. My best friend and mate. I could not help but scoff. "A lot of things happened since then, Lilith. If you think that I am still interested in making up with you and Mark, you got it all wrong." "Once my baby gets born, can you be his godfather?" Those were Lilit