Confusing Caleb was almost too easy. He'd been falling for their silly pranks since they were younger.This version wasn't difficult to put together and as expected, Caleb fell for it. As planned, they'd driven in circles around Brighton, stopping at the homes of random pack members, whom Larry assured either suffered dementia or were utterly paranoid, cooked up lies about the next person that'll visit(Caleb) and left instructions for them to dish out to him. When they were leaving they pretended that they'd found out something important, knowing that Caleb would want to know what they knew.They instructed the last person they met to tell Caleb that he'd sent them away because his memory was foggy but that he would give him a map that'll help him. Then dropped a fake map they'd created on the way."That'll keep him busy." Larry joked as they drove off. Andrew chuckled,It'd been a while since they'd had that amount of fun together. It reminded him of how they had taken turns to pran
"The Prophecy about the Chosen one is in three parts. It's really one prophecy divided into three parts because they came at different times. I don't have the original text of course but I'll get my family's grimoire in which they were copied." The old woman said getting to her feet, she hobbled the small shelf and grabbed a thick brown leather book, flipping through it as she returned to her position."Aha," she cleared her throat, "Let's start.""Two lands, two people. One beast, one lethal. Once one, now crippled.The son is come, a child of the beast to free his people,From the clutches of what they deem evil.When the cycle is complete, The beast will awaken,Powers hidden will come to light, And finally, victory shall beWhen the time is come, the son is come, Chosen to defeat, unearth and end the feud. Bringing victory to one people.""That's the first prophecy, the one which makes your people believe that you're their savior.""Interesting," Andrew muttered. Larry smiled,
Caleb gasped for air and slumped on a tree trunk. Glancing at the map in his hands he wondered why it led him around Brighton instead of to the solution to the feud with the witches.When he'd snatched the map out of the trembling old man, he expected that it would lead him to a sort of secret cave or tomb engraved with ancient secrets. He didn't get any of that. Instead, he'd wandered around Brighton like a madman.He growled,"Those fools."Since he didn't know where to start, he decided to find out what Andrew was doing. He had a simple plan. Trail them and cause enough havoc that'll distract and slow them down.But when they started visiting the oldest pack members, he was so impressed by the idea that instead of going with his first plan, he decided to go in after them.Immediately they left a spot he rushed in and threatened the unfortunate fools he'd encountered into submission, asking them to tell him everything they'd told Andrew and Larry.Most of them were crazy and easily
"What are the updates on both your sons?" Mendez asked Douglas as they inspected Brighton's warehouse. Since they were planning a few attacks, they had to ensure that the gadgets and items Brighton had were effective and efficient.Douglas shrugged, "I have no clue. Both of them left Brighton today. Andrew's probably working hard to find the solution, while Caleb is shadowing him."Mendez chuckled,"You know those boys well enough." He said, " but I presumed you would shadow them, especially since this is a critical moment." "The shadows are on a more important mission."Mendez raised a brow,"Is there anything more important than Brighton?""Yes. My life. Some fool is after my life Elias and you know I don't joke with it."Mendez gulped,"Very soon news about their untimely deaths would spread, reminding the other fools and every other person that would even wish it, who's in charge." Douglas continued. "I'm not one to be played with.""Yeah, you're not." Mendez agreed, even though
On the way back to Brighton, Andrew stayed silent, his mind full of thoughts.For the second time since his mother's death, he dug deep into memories he'd suppressed out of anger. The first time was when he involuntarily remembered the good times with his mother and automatically reconnected to the pack bond. It hurt him to think about it as they journeyed to the pack. It hurt to remember that his mother was murdered brutally by a beast like him. It rankled his wolf to remember the hatred he'd carried around for a long time. But there was nothing he could do about it. Besides the clear memory of his mother's death and a few foggy ones of them happy together plus the ones of when the old alpha returned and things took a turn there was nothing else.He couldn't even remember much after her death. His only vivid memory began seven years later. It was on the day a woman (Laura) led him back into Brighton."Larry, can you remember much of your childhood years?" He blurted out."Huh?"Larr
Douglas jumped back and his eyes returned to their normal color. The surprise of Andrew's entrance allowed him to snatch control from his wolf.Noticing the tension in the room, Andrew paused, "What?" Douglas growled."I said, I want to go home."Douglas narrowed his eyes, and Mendez who was leaning on the couch sat up. Both of them exchanged looks then looked back at Andrew."I am leaving the pack and will only return when I come back with answers."Douglas's heart skipped a beat. "What are you talking about?" Andrew remained mute.Mendez chuckled,"You heard him Alpha, he says he's leaving. There's nothing you can do about it."In a flash, Douglas grabbed Mendez by his throat. Mendez growled in irritation and struggled to set himself free from Douglas's grasp. Baring his teeth, Douglas applied more pressure on Mendez's neck. Mendez clawed at Douglas's hands drawing blood as he tried to set himself free. Raising a brow, Andrew folded his arms and watched them with an amused expr
Andrew and Mendez went their separate ways after they landed the next morning. Andrew left hurriedly because he wanted to give Mendez time with his wife before visiting her and he needed sleep.It'd been a long twenty-four hours. He stared out the window of his suite, worn out. New York was so big that he didn't know where to start."What would have happened if he was asked to find the moon witch in a city?" He muttered to himself. Unlike Brighton, the streets were filled with people milling about.He walked to the side drawer, opened it, and brought out the make-do map he and Laura had created at the last minute. He only had a few minutes after the old alpha had bound everyone to leave him alone to prepare himself. He rushed home, grabbed his copy of the witch's prophecy and the moon goddess's rhyme, and was packing up a few essentials when Laura and Larry burst in.Together they created what looked like a map. The plan was that he would stay for a while in Mendez's pack house in N
Emily wore a grin throughout her ride to the hotel.She ordered dinner the exact way Jacqueline had asked her to, sitting down and having a good meal. Forgetting that if she hadn't been so occupied with panicking and crying, she would have scoffed when Jacqueline asked her to 'check-in, order something delicious and eat, then get comfortable.' Because there was no way she was going to relax when the stakes were so high. But there she was, sipping white wine like she'd just put an end to all the problems in the world.Her earlier peril had been completely wiped off her mind. As she ate her meal, she recalled her encounter with Andrew with a silly grin.She had just stepped out of a very refreshing bath when Jacqueline called. Emily squealed as she picked up the call, her heart bubbling with excitement."Girl I'm sorry I called later than I promised. Did you get to the hotel okay? I just ended a series of conference calls with Samantha and a few team members."Reality slapped Emily on
"Did he agree?" Emily asked as soon as her mother reappeared. "Yeah, after a lot of persuasion."Emily released a shaky breath. Her body was burning like she'd been bathed with acid. "Let's get into position then." She said, lifting herself up. The pain was too much had she found herself unable to stand. She staggered backward and fell to the bed. "Emily! What's wrong?" "It's like my body is on fire." Emily hissed,Vanessa came to her and inspected her body."It's the mark from hell. He's suffering from the mark from hell. Are you sure you can do this? I can tell Andrew the plan, I'm sure he'd be happy to do it in your place.""No." Emily said forcefully. The truth was that no one could execute the plan effectively apart from her. Even if they collected the totem from Caleb, she was the only one powerful enough to destroy it. Andrew's strength couldn't break it, and neither could her mother's magic. But her body burned and she wanted to crawl into bed and cry. She'd have to make
Emily purposely ignored Andrew.She also purposely ignored the nudges her mother was giving her, as she narrated her experience to everyone. She also tried to ignore the sparks that were ignited in her body when he pecked her and whispered that he had to go but he'll be back.But when her mother, who'd been attentively listening to her, rose up, dragged him by the side, and hugged him. Envy, heavily laced with anger as she'd never felt before, coursed through her body. It felt as if her mother was betraying her. Jacqueline was the first to notice the change in her countenance.She smirked,"Girl, that's what you get for ignoring your man. Now he's in the arms of another woman." Emily growled and Jacqueline burst into laughter."When did you start behaving like a she-wolf? Hold your horses Em, it's only your mother. It makes me wonder what you'd have done if it was another female."Amelia laughed,"She would have probably hexed her entire generation." She said,"Nah, Em's feeling m
Emily had given up on trying to escape her imprisonment before she realized that it wasn't real. It had been days, yet she'd not felt hungry and she woke up the exact way every time. The sun didn't set, her clothes didn't change, she didn't want to use the bathroom and everything was still and lifeless.The only thing that changed each time she awoke was her strength. It was as if something was sucking out her energy. On the second day of her entrapment, she remembered wandering around the sheet/film that locked her in search of a weak spot or way out until she got bored and forced herself to sleep.Now she could hardly move a limb. Anger at Andrew and his Kingdom burned within her chest. She allowed it to blind her reasoning and she began to blame him for everything that happened.She promised herself that she would hunt Andrew if she died there.She'd been making such plans when she noticed the potted gardenia again.With a lot of effort, she stood up, walked to it, and lifted it of
Andrew and the Compliant narrowed their eyes at Vanessa."Do you understand it? Can you see how clear the prophecy has become?" Vanessa asked,The Compliant and Andrew glanced at themselves and then back at Vanessa."You," She pointed at Andrew, "became the enemy, you were the destroyer. He used your body to commit all these atrocities. Right now your people do not trust you. You'll need to do a lot to regain their trust. The second prophecy has come to pass. Can't you see it? You aligned with the enemies, you brought harm to your people and if I didn't save you, you would have perished.""Oh." Andrew agreed, nodding. "Now I'm very curious about the 3rd and 4th ones. I wasn't one to believe in those prophecies. My husband did and I often mocked it for it. I didn't think the prophecy concerned us witches and hoped you didn't find the key. I even hexed you."Andrew shrugged, he didn't understand where she was going or what she was trying to say.Vanessa chuckled mirthlessly, "And afte
"Where am I?" Andrew growled. His eyes were still shut and he wasn't fully awake.Vanessa, who had been standing behind her kitchen counter from the moment she dropped him, shivered. He's not going to rip you apart. You saved him, remember? She repeated in her head."Where am I?" Andrew asked again, propping his eyes open, then shielding his face with his arms.His wolf prowled around restlessly in his head. It wanted blood and it wanted it now.Vanessa steadied herself by gripping her kitchen counter. Her knuckles turned white and the bones in her fingers threatened to snap.Andrew jolted up."Where the fuck am I?"A shudder ran through her body and she swallowed involuntarily."My home." She said, her voice sounding more confident than she'd expected.Andrew's head snapped in her direction and he growled. Vanessa could see the malice in his eyes and feel the anger rolling out from his pores. Gathering as much courage as could muster she stepped forward. "I've been waiting for
The first thing Shirley did when the bodies exchanged was to try to get hold of Caleb before he fell to the ground.Later on, she would regret it deeply and ask herself why she didn't disappear like she normally did. Maybe it had something to do with the mark from hell that she'd seen reappearing on Caleb's body.Shirley's illusion flickered and she could feel her powers waning out as she bent to check on Caleb and wondered why. After confirming that he hadn't been knocked dead, she vented out her frustration on him and tried to wake him up. After trying several spells that didn't work she shook him roughly and punched and kicked him but he remained unresponsive. She'd also said another couple of spells that were supposed to be potent and yet the effect remained the same."Coma!" She yelled, "You're in an induced Coma you son of a bitch! Motherfucker, you get to sleep while I think of a way to save us!"If she had stopped screaming then and paused to do the actual thinking, she would
The next morning Vanessa snuck into Brighton and stood amidst the crowd of werewolves standing before the platform in the form of a man. She had to dig up her husband's old spell books and read and practice them throughout the night before she was able to perfect the spell. She stood within wolves knowing that any mistake she made meant death. She trembled, her hands were balmy and her forehead was clouded with sweat. Although she was terrified about being exposed, she was more terrified about failing. It seemed like the fate of the whole world weighed on her shoulders and that was enough to make her shake. Before leaving Andrew, she'd given him a sleeping potion and was glad that it was still in effect when they dragged him out of the dungeon that morning."Who are you and what have you done with Vanessa?" She muttered under her breath. Never in a million years could she imagine that she, Vanessa, would dare to do what she'd been doing in the past few hours. It was very out of char
It was the time of reckoning. Caleb thought, trying as much as he could to keep a grim expression on his face when he was bouncing with excitement inside him. The platform had once again been set and the pack members gathered beneath it chatting away as they awaited the death of Brighton's number one enemy. The gates of the dungeon creaked open, shushing the crowd of onlookers. The advisors and some stakeholders, followed by a barrage of guards and warriors who dragged Caleb's unconscious body processed solemnly to the platform and ascended it. Caleb had never felt so powerful in his entire life and he loved it. Thrills of victory ran down his spine and he clasped his eyes shut and struggled to keep at bay, the smile that had been threatening to break out from his lips. "I still don't understand why we are hurrying his death." Someone murmured dispassionately.Caleb scowled as his head snapped toward the direction of the sound. It had come from one of the stakeholders.He sneered
A thrum of energy buzzed in Shirley's brain signifying that some of her spells had been activated. And she knew the exact ones, it was those she'd said to trap the moon witch.A slow smirk spread across her face and she ignored Vanessa's righteous rant. She'd come on her own with the idea of threatening her into submission. But the once pale woman had suddenly developed a backbone of her own and was now shooting back and matching Shirley word to word.Of course, Shirley was irritated and had started thinking that maybe it was time to slice her throat. Shirley's threats were like water on a rock to Vanessa and it amazed Shirley to see her fired up like that.Unexpectedly, the new members of the circle swooped in, grabbed her, and secured her. They'd been hunting for a few days now. Yet, instead of Vanessa cowering like she normally would, she screamed some more and accused Shirley of doing everything under the sun. It had started grating Shirley's nerves when her spells suddenly activa