Sebastian Despite the reason Troy sent me, I was happy to be home with Mario. The city was exhausting. Hiding who I was, constantly pretending to be interested in the women throwing themselves at me, seeing the hurt in Mario’s eyes when I’d kiss one of them to keep up appearances...it drained me and killed me a little inside every time I had to do it. It hurt even more when Mario did the same things I did, even though I knew it was necessary. Where we were from, sexuality didn’t matter. The Goddess fated us with our soul mates, and their genders were completely irrelevant. It could have gone either way for Mario, his previous mate was female, but I never cared much for female company. Mario and I were fated. I wanted to mark him, finally claim him as mine and gift him with immortality, but we both agreed that it was a bad idea while we lived among the humans. More than anything, I wanted to go home where I'd be with my own kind, but I wanted to go to a peaceful home, not the war z
Troy Before I went to the hospital, I changed out of my expensive suit and into a non-descript pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. I crouched in the bushes outside the large, grey and white building, concentrating on one of my darker powers. Wolves called it shadowing. It was one of the rarest talents and also the most difficult to control and master, even for those that were born with the ability. When I was ready, I left my hiding place behind and strolled across the road to the hospital. If I let my concentration slip for just a moment, I’d be exposed and would have to turn back. I couldn’t afford to lose my focus for even a split second. I entered through the front doors with all the confidence of someone who belonged there. A nurse stopped me and gave me a big smile, “Mister Bailey,” she said. “It’s late. Who are you here to see?” I didn’t answer her. The moment I spoke, I’d lose concentration and break the spell. I walked straight past her and stopped to look over my sh
Quinn Not once did I stop to question Elize. I didn’t ask her why she helped me or how she managed to sneak us out of the mansion. Raf was asleep on his post, barely registering as I snuck past him, and we met no one on our way to the garage. Troy warned me that his guards were everywhere, but no one tried to stop us or came out of the shadows to drag me back to my room. We didn’t leave through the front gate. Instead, Elize directed me down a bumpy, barely-there driveway, which led to a locked gate at the back of the estate. The guards on duty were fast asleep. Elize snuck into the guardhouse, retrieved a set of keys and unlocked the heavy gate. It swung open with a loud squeal that shattered through the night air, and I thought for sure that screaming gate would wake at least one of the guards, but they happily kept snoring away. I didn’t relax until Haverton was far in our rear view. Afraid that Troy would track my phone, I switched it off and used Elize’s phone to map a route
Quinn One of the Lycans grabbed me by the upper arm and roughly dragged me back to the car. He opened the backdoor and shoved me inside. I landed between the front- and backseats, knocking my forehead very hard on the floor. Dazed from the blow to my head, I struggled to my hands and knees, before grabbing the seat and pulling myself onto it. I touched my brow and winced when I felt the edges of a bump the size of an egg. I rolled onto my back and stared at the dark roof of the sedan. I had no idea what would happen next. Maybe that was for the best. Elize still lay curled up in the space between the passenger seat and the dashboard, sniffling and whimpering softly. Guilt started to gnaw at my guts. “I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “Why?” she asked through her tears. “I got you into this mess.” “You didn’t. I wanted to do it. You don’t know about this world. I knew this could happen, and I did it anyway. You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t help you.” “Why did you help me?” Elize
Quinn Troy bundled me into the car, strapped me in, and got in on the driver’s side. He adjusted the seat, moving almost all the way back, before he started the engine. Not once did he look at me or acknowledge my existence. I felt worse than snake shit about everything that had happened, but there was nothing I could do to change things. The silence stretched out into an eternity, and I kept myself occupied by watching Troy. I’d never seen him drive before, and it was fascinating watching his movements. The way he gripped the steering wheel, and how his big hands smoothly shifted gears, even the way his eyes focused on the road was mesmerising. The atmosphere in the car was thick and uncomfortable. I didn’t even feel this vulnerable and small on the night he bought me. “What will happen to Elize?” I asked after a while, unable to take his silence one more minute. The muscles around Troy’s jaws clenched. His voice was flat when he answered, “Harold lost his mate a few years ago.
Troy I was a little surprised by the power behind Quinn’s blow. Her wolf felt my presence, and she was slowly making her way to the surface, made evident by how hard she struck me. Quinn had no idea yet what was going on, and she was completely out of control, but I couldn’t let her do what she wanted. Young, inexperienced wolves had a tendency to develop nasty habits if someone wasn’t around to temper them. Usually, all this would have happened when she was a teenager, surrounded by her pack for support and guidance, prepared from birth for the awakening of her wolf. It was harder on wolves that had no one. I didn’t lie when I told her that the only thing stopping me from rejecting her was the fact that she couldn't control herself. That, and the promise I made to Shawn. I would have torn myself to pieces and sent her packing with her two million dollars before I traded Elize for her safety - it was the only way I could spare both girls, but in the end, I had very few options, and
TroyI had to dig deep to stay awake for the last leg home. I was so tired that I wanted to vomit.It was never a good idea for me to use that much energy and to push myself to the brink of collapse. It made it more difficult for me to control my wolf and the part I'd come to think of as the monster - the broken parts of my human soul that I gathered and locked away.The closer we got to the mansion, the quieter and more fidgety Quinn became. She squirmed in her seat and tore at her dress. “Don’t worry about the others,” I said, misunderstanding her discomfort. “They won’t treat you any different.”“No,” she replied. “That’s not…I’m wondering how I’m going to apologise to Missus Lowry.”“You aren’t going to apologise.”“I have to. It’s my fault Elize is-”“It’s mine. I made the deal. Elize decided to drug the staff and attack her grandmother, not you. You are the princess, you do not apologise to your subordinates.”“Even if I am wrong?”“Yes, even if you’re wrong. Always stand by you
QuinnI sat on my bed, staring at the dresser next to the open window. I had an insane desire to leap through that window to freedom, but I’d fall to a sure and painful death if I did.When I woke up, I found my door locked, and when I called out no one answered or even acknowledged my existence. Panic threatened to engulf me, but before it could overwhelm me, I reminded myself that this was not my childhood home, I wasn't lockied in the closet, and sooner or later, someone would come to get me.My best guess was that Troy was punishing me for what I had done. I hadn’t seen him since we got home late this morning and he staggered off into the mansion without so much as a goodbye.I got up to shower, dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt, then sat in the window, and gazed out at the terraced garden in the back. If I looked closely and squinted just right, I could see the overgrown road that led to the manned gate in the back.Someone knocked on the door and the scent of