LIANAOnce again, our date was cut short by an emergency. The relaxed, happy atmosphere we had been enjoying shattered instantly. Zaylen's expression was a mixture of shock and urgency."I have to go to the hospital," he said, his voice strained."I am coming with you," I replied immediately, standing up and grabbing my things.He shook his head, his eyes filled with concern. "Liana, you don't have to. This is—""I insist," I said firmly, cutting him off."You don’t have to come," he said, his voice strained, but I shook my head firmly."You shouldn't be alone right now. I am coming with you," I insisted, a bad feeling gnawing at my gut. There was something in his eyes that made me uneasy, a tension I couldn’t ignore.Finally, he relented with a sigh. "Alright, let’s go."As we rushed to the car, a sense of dread settled in my stomach. Something about this felt wrong. I couldn't shake the bad feeling engulfing me.Zaylen's hands shook as he gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles
LIANA“Who is this girl you brought, huh? Your Luna?” Ryan spat, his eyes blazing with fury. “You think you can take over my pack by pushing me to the side? You can never do that! I will never let you take my place!”I averted my gaze, trying to block out his hateful words, and looked back at Zaylen. His eyes were filled with pain and resignation, his shoulders slumped. My heart ached for him.“Zaylen, we need to get your wound treated,” I said softly, my voice trembling with concern. “Come on, let’s go outside.”He nodded solemnly, and we turned to leave. But as we moved toward the door, Ryan’s voice rose again, filled with venomous rage. “That bastard doesn’t deserve treatment! He doesn’t even deserve to live! He thinks—”I slammed the door shut behind us, not bothering to hear the rest of his rant. The venom in his words echoed in my mind, but I pushed it away. Ryan was clearly not in his right mind. His accusations were wild and filled with a madness that seemed to consume him.W
LIANAZaylen’s face was ashen, his eyes wide and filled with a fear I had never seen before. He looked traumatized, his whole body trembling as if the weight of the world was pressing down on him. The usual confidence, the strength I admired, was gone, replaced by an overwhelming vulnerability.I took his hand, feeling the cold sweat on his palm, and guided him gently towards the elevator. The silence between us was heavy, laden with unspoken fears and questions. We needed privacy, a place where no one else could hear the conversation that was about to unfold. The rooftop would provide the solitude we needed.The elevator ride was agonizingly slow. I kept glancing at Zaylen, his blank stare fixed on the floor, his breathing shallow and erratic. When we finally reached the rooftop, I led him to a chair and gently pressed him to sit. His body seemed to collapse into the seat, as if all his strength had left him.I knelt in front of him, placing my hands on his knees, trying to ancho
ZAYLENAfter I had pushed my dad off the railings, I went into deep denial. I orchestrated the entire event to seem like a tragic accident, even though my intention was cold and calculated. The truth was too heavy, so I altered my own memories to the point I genuinely believed it was an accident. I convinced myself that I was innocent, allowing myself to live without the crushing weight of guilt.Once he fell into a coma, I had to step up as the alpha. My dreams of escaping this suffocating life evaporated. The university I longed to attend became a distant fantasy. Instead, I settled for one in the neighborhood, a compromise that kept me shackled to my responsibilities. It felt like a punishment, a self-inflicted sentence for my crime. Every lecture, every mundane day at that local university was a reminder of the future I had sacrificed. It wasn’t all bad. I managed to take care of Noelle and myself, proving that we could survive without our father.I finished recounting my conf
ZAYLENThe rain started as a light drizzle, tapping gently on the roof of the hospital where Liana and I had been sitting. The sky, once a dull gray, now seemed to weep, urging us back inside. As we moved inside, Liana's words sliced through the sound of raindrops pattering against the windows."Zaylen, your dad must have been awake for more than a few days now."I turned to her, shock flooding my system. "What? How can you say that?""Think about it," she said, her voice calm but insistent. "A long-term coma patient shouldn't have the strength to even stand up, let alone throw a vase at you"A chill ran down my spine as her logic sunk in. "That... makes sense," I admitted, my mind racing back to the celebratory party weeks ago. I recalled Edgar's cryptic words, the ones that had seemed odd at the time but now fell into place with an unsettling clarity."Edgar," I said, almost to myself. "At the party, he said something strange. Something that didn't quite fit. He knew about what I
LIANA I sat at my desk in the bustling office, surrounded by the familiar sounds of typing, running coffee machines, phone calls, and coworkers chattering. My best friend, Lara, sat in the cubicle next to mine, her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun as she focused on her computer screen. We had been friends since college, and I couldn't imagine working in this office without her. Her sweet, comforting words always made everything much easier. I glanced up from my work and caught a glimpse of my diligent boyfriend, James, walking toward me. He flashed me a quick smile before disappearing into his own cubicle across the room. James and I had been dating for over seven months now, and I was grateful that he also worked in the same office. I have heard people say it's a bad idea to date your colleague, but I, on the other hand, thought it was nice to have a beloved someone to share lunch breaks and vent about work with. There were so many topics we could relate to, and we just
ZAYLEN I watched three pairs of eyes on me, entirely shocked at my appearance, as if I had manifested out of a UFO with three heads on my shoulder. Judging by their astonished look, it totally slipped their minds that this was my office and I always worked overtime. But today, I wasn’t in the mood to work much overtime, so I decided to go home, only to find the guy named James getting sandwiched between two women. How can boys be so dumb? First of all, you shouldn't cheat. And even if you do, do it carefully. How can you get caught? It just ends up with everyone having bad blood. Anyway, it was not my business, but I had to step in because it was happening in my territory. I couldn't tolerate enmity among co-workers. It affected the work environment and work quality; besides, that James guy wasn't even making great reports either, despite having two women in his arms, which made me a little bit curious: what did either of them see in this dude to fight over him? “What’s going
LIANA “Where to now, Boss?” I inquired, not knowing his full address. He had just told me the area he lived in, not the exact location. “Which block do you live in?” “Well…” Zaylen twitched his lips as he thought. “Keep going straight for a bit.” I kept driving according to his instruction, and when we were passing by a park, Zaylen spoke up abruptly, “Stop here.” Immediately, I hit the brakes. “What happened?” He shrugged and opened the door. “I want to take a walk at the park for a while,” saying so, he stepped out of the car, leaving me alone and absolutely clueless. Should I leave him here? I was assigned to drop him home, which I had done already—technically. But surely, the park wasn't the place he called home, was it? So in other words, I still had to stick with him. Instead of waiting inside and getting bored, I decided to follow him. Looking up at the dark sky, I thought I would spend the entire night crying in my bed with a sad tub of ice cream in my lap. But here