Cassie sat beside Aria on her bed, waiting for her to talk after finding out all the things that occurred in the past weeks. Of course, she was dumbfounded.
Minutes passed between them, but Aria was still silent, still processing all the information given to her.
"Maybe telling her all those details at once was not a good idea," Jane whispered to her husband. They were standing by the door, watching Aria.
"So, you are saying that I am a werewolf? Cassie, are you on drugs?"
Cassie was out of words too. "No," she answered, feeling defeated for not being able to do anything to make Aria remember. Then, she checked her phone to see if there was already an update from Lizzie about the remedy.
"God!" Aria exclaimed, frustrated about the things she could not remember and the headache she still feels. "This is crazy," she sighed and let herself fall on the soft mattress. She stared at th
Aria woke up with the sun rays hitting her face. She blinked multiple times before fully realizing she was not in her room. She roamed her eyes around the room and looked for any sign of familiarity.The room's walls and floor were made of wood. There was a wide window at the head of the bed, where she could see the falls behind the cabin. The earthy smell of grass and trees lingered in the air.After seeing that, Aria knew where she was. She stood up from the bed, with everything still fuzzy. "She's awake!" a voice said. She didn't have to look up to know it was Matt.'What happened?' she thought to herself. All she could remember was kissing Leo, then she felt this stabbing pain in her head. She felt like it was being torn apart."Hey. How are you feeling?" Matt asked, which surprised Aria. He wasn't usually that gentle. He held her arm to help her walk, but Aria waved it. "I'm fine," she said.
People poured in at the Martin residence at the crack of dawn. Reporters were outside their house, letting the world know about the heinous murder of a teenager who was accused of killing her boyfriend, not once but twice.Neighbors, former teachers, friends, and distant relatives all sympathized with Jane and Harry, who had just lost their only child."I'm sorry for your loss.""She was an intelligent and nice kid. I'm sorry.""She was too young. Is there a lead for the killers?""If you need anything, we're here for you.""We don't believe the accusations to her. She could never do that. I'm sorry for your loss."Those were the words the Martin couple had been hearing for the past hours. People have come and gone, offering their condolences, saying they were sorry, discouraged for the early departure of a young and bright mind from the
Leo looked at Aria's pale face. If he had only escaped sooner. If he had only come home as soon as he felt someone following him. If he had listened to his gut that everything was just a trap. Maybe Aria would still be alive.Maybe they would still be able to live, even without fulfilling their destiny, even they were just ordinary humans.Leo caressed her face. Traced her eyebrows, her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, down to her cold lips. She held her freezing hand, and without suppressing his emotions, he sobbed beside Aria's corpse.Matt put his arm over his brother's shoulder, patting him lightly, letting him cry as much as he wanted to.Matt and their pack lost their alpha, the half of their hope. But Leo, he lost his mate - his one and only mate.Lizzie and Cassie walked into the room, with Lizzie holding a big book that had fragile binding. They both have swollen eyes, and Li
Aria watched over the television the news about her funeral. Jane and Harry, her parents, led the procession while holding her portrait.It broke her heart to see them that way.But she could not let them know that she was alive. Not yet.They need to follow the plan.They need to make it look like she was already dead, so the Valles or whoever was behind the attack would think they killed her.Then, when they least expect it, they will attack. For now, Aria will have to lay low in the cabin - in the falls, the safe haven of Crescent Pack here in Clarke's Lake.Behind Jane and Harry were Lizzie and Cassie, followed by the rest of her schoolmates, former teachers, and mentors.It weirded her out, watching her own funeral. But, ever since she found out about being a werewolf, her betrothal with Leo, and the prophecy, that is the least weird
Aria smiled upon seeing Leo's sleeping face beside her. She stroked his face and studied it. "God, is this real?" she whispered to herself. She ran her fingers thru Leo's hair, down to his cheeks and his well-defined jawline. "I can assure you I am real." "You're awake," Aria chuckled and kissed him. "How are you?" he asked. "I'm feeling good." "You're not sore?" "I am, but it's tolerable. Anyway," Aria said. "We need to go out and ask for an update. We need to discuss our plan, step-by-step." "Can't we just stay like this for a moment?" Leo groaned. Aria was about to get up, but Leo pulled her towards him, so Aria was lying on his chest. "Okay. We have all day," Aria agreed. "But, I have a question." "What is it?" "Where were you? How did you escape?"
"If my biological dad is alive, and he was in Crescent Hills all this time, does that change the prophecy?" Aria asked.Matt and Leo were silent. The discovery that the previous alpha was actually alive is a huge thing. However, it still did not answer the question of why he did not look for the rest of his pack. Or whether it would change Aria and Leo’s destiny or not.‘Brother against brother,’ Matt thought of the prophecy Aria said days ago. ‘And in victory comes the death of the other.’They have been so focused on getting around the prophecy of someone’s death before they could take back Crescent Hills that they did not notice the other phrase.‘Brother against brother.’“That is only one of our many problems. I have another concern,” Matt said.
May 16, 2003Olivia sat by the window, trying to find relief from the heat of the summer night. She stared at the full moon above Crescent Hills and watched the rest of their pack run in the wilderness near them. She caressed her round belly after feeling a light kick from the creature inside it. "I also can't wait to meet you soon, little one," she chuckled. "Did she kick again?" Blake asked, peeping from the door. Olivia laughed and motioned for him to come closer. He bent down and kissed Olivia on the lips, then her full belly. Then, he fondly stroked it. "Are you having fun there, little alpha?""Oh!" Olivia exclaimed when she felt another kick. They gaped at each other, both smiling from ear to ear, then laughed while the rest of the pack howled below the light of the full moon.Their pack always waits for a lunar eclipse t
Bodies of decapitated vampires scattered all over the dungeon to the main hall of Crescent Hills palace.Blake ran out of the dungeon that kept him for years. His eyes were almost blinded because of the sun rays directly hitting him for the first time in many years.His heart sunk as he saw the debris of the battle in their home. The Valles altered everything.The plaza where their pack usually goes to hang out became a burial ground for the corpses of the werewolves killed in the battle.The dried remains of his people hang in the gates of their castle.Because the sun was still out, most vampires couldn't get out of the castle."Seize him!" Bella commanded the wolves guarding the palace. But, their loyalty to Blake remained.As soon as they recognized who he was, they ran by his side."Alpha!" one of them said. "How
It was already seventy years ago since Aria had buried three of the people dear to her heart. It was seventy years ago since the curse of being a hybrid manifested in her life.She buried more people after that, watched them take their last breath as she held them helplessly.For the rest of the Crescent pack, they all met their end and found peace on the other side of the realm.Since she had only shared her abilities with them - taking control of when to shift, vampire-like speed, and heightened senses, not her actual hybrid status, they still stayed mortal.She watched in the background as their skin sagged and white hair filled their head.She wept and mourned and let the earth swallow them - naturally, just like her best friend, Elizabeth France - Wilson.She knew this day would come, but it still hurt like hell. Aria had prepared herself. She and
Aria and Lizzie both dashed to the woods and found a bunch of bodies scattered all around the opening. Blake’s head was still on the spike. Aria glanced at it and clenched her fists. “I will make them pay,” she whispered in between her teeth as she went inside the moonlit forest.They found Cassie kneeling on the ground, embracing Matt’s limp and lifeless body in her arms.With eyes still full of tears, and a quivering lower lip, she looked up at Aria and shook her head. “He’s gone,” she said. “He’s gone,” she said, her sobs echoed in the middle of the night.A few meters away from them was a distraught Leo. He was looking down on his bloody hands, then to Matt. Aria could hear his heart thumping from there.She flashed towards him and tried to make him focus on her eyes.
Althea came back to the castle of Crescent Hills, raging about losing Aria and her pack’s only hope to be free from the moon curse, which would consequently make them respect and worship her.But she was not the only furious one. Amara’s anger made one of the towers of the castle explode and burn. The dark clouds hid the moon, and thunder bolted on every part of Crescent Hills.The kids in each house surrounding the castle trembled in fear and loneliness as their parents were affected by the spell that compelled every Crescent to turn their back against the alpha.Leo's eyes were still
Aria’s life flashed before her eyes. She thought of her parents. They already lost her. How would they feel if they lose her again?She thought of the unjust death of her father, Blake, who was imprisoned for years in his own home and died right after taking it back from the oppressors.She thought of her best friends and her pack. The people who rely on her. The people who had their hopes for her.She thought of Leo.The love of his life.Aria knew Leo would never betray her unless he was under some kind of a spell. The person she met tonight was not the man she married.She has to save him. But how?Aria's tears meddled with the summer wind as gravity pulled her towards the dark hollow below. She marveled at the moon that cast its light over Crescent Hills.
Matt woke up from a nightmare and immediately looked at his bedside table. Beads of sweat trickled all over his forehead. He got up and walked out of the balcony to breathe fresh air.He did not realize it was already a full moon until he saw the majestic Luna shining from above. If it weren’t for Aria, if it were not for the prophecy, they would still be in pain of transitioning as a wolf tonight.He wondered what they were doing in Crescent Hills.Matt went down to grab some beer, and he almost jumped on Cassie when he saw her lurking in the dark garden. “What are you doing there?” he asked.Matt opened the glass sliding door and let her in. “What happened?” he asked. He inspected her, but she seemed fine, except for her expression.“I always have a dreamless sleep,”
Aria woke up with the sound of a woman yelling words she could not understand. The woman had long black curly hair and looked a bit older than her mother. She was holding some kind of herb, her eyes were closed, and below her is a wooden table with a little glass.The smell of wolf's bane, chrysanthemum, and other herbs Aria could not recognize lingered in the air around her. She could feel the two ropes binding her.“Hold her down,” the woman said when she noticed Aria was already awake. Before Aria could even fight back, arms surrounded her, pressing her against the tree she tied at.Aria did not know how many people were there, but she saw familiar faces with vacant eyes as if they did not recognize her.“What did you do to them? Who are you?!” she yelled at the w
Aria grunted in frustration after trying too many times to remove the ropes binding her hand on the two opposite poles. Her wrists were already red, and she could feel every fiber of the rope pricking her skin as she tried once more.Each and every one of her packs was inside the castle, celebrating with the enemy while mosquitos were biting every exposed part of her body.Her wounds did not help her in getting out.Aria tried once more with all her strength, and a muffled scream escaped her lips. She freed herself from the ropes binding her, but not without wounding her own wrist. She ignored the wounds and just ran as fast as she could, hurting herself once more in the shoulder.She knew something was in the drink they forcefully gave her. It seemed like it took all her strength. She ran towards the woods of Crescent Hills and glanced at the moon.
“Where are they?” Aria asked Matt right after torched Raymond Valle’s body together with the vampires they killed. The other vampires escaped death and ran far from Crescent Hills to God knows where.“They are with Abigail,” Matt answered.Aria breathed in relief and glanced at her father. Blake was silently staring at the dancing fire burning the bodies of those who made his life a living hell.“Father.”Sometimes, it still feels odd for her to say those words out. But, they came out of her tongue naturally as soon as she met Blake.Blake turned around, and Aria welcomed him back with a tight hug. “Thank you, for coming back,” she said, trying to speak without breaking her voice, but she failed.Aria sniffed and leaned back.&ldq
The stench on Aria's nostril was replaced by a sharp and thick smell. It permeated the air in the whole new chamber they had reached.The iron-like smell became stronger as they left the secret tunnel. Aria glanced at Leo, who was crunching his nose after the smell hit him. “It’s a lot of blood,” Aria said.They walked further inside that room and had found out why the smell of blood was so strong in that room. Aria gasped after pulling out the huge curtain. Hundreds of bodies, being drained of their blood, were on the other side of that room.Some of them were still conscious that they raised their hand as high as they could, asking for Aria to help them while most of the people there were unconscious, pale, and probably, dead.“Help us,” the girl said in a weak voice. It was almost inaudible. There were tubes all