I sighed once Enzo disappeared through the crumbling doorway, his hand relentlessly waving over his shoulder in a crude farewell. Then, I pushed myself onto my feet to walk towards our baggage that has been chucked into one corner in a hurry earlier to fish out the now-empty vial of pheromone cologne. It was so small that it fits conveniently into my palm which was probably why I never really considered the possibility that it was bugged. I held it up at eye level for a closer inspection. Nothing. Then the thought hit me. I unscrewed the cork stopper and after much struggle, surprisingly managed to take it apart with my hands, revealing a small almost capsule-like device inside that flickered with a red light. "Dammit", I cursed under my breath before throwing the empty bottle, tracking device, and bits of cork out the window both for good measure and out of frustration. It was a mistake that I hadn't been wary of Enzo and those rebels just because they showed me a little kindness.
"So come here," he said with a smile, patting the space in between his legs. "I want to hold you." I stood up but instead of doing as I was told, I loomed over him with my hands on my waist. Tilting my head, I remarked, "Rather than that, don't you want to take a dip in the river?" "Do I smell that bad?" Frowning, he pushed himself to his feet while raising an arm to smell his armpits. I laughed at him before walking over back to our baggage, grabbing some towels, and then walking out of the cottage with my arm linked with his. It was warm and sunny enough for a swim so I thought it would be a good idea. We walked side by side. Excited, I would often gleefully jump over exposed tree roots or kick a bunch of dried leaves on the forest floor, sending them flying over us like confetti. Dylan repeatedly reminded me to be more careful so that I wouldn't slip. I would feel like a child being reprimanded by a parent each time. I didn't think that children would listen so I pretty much pla
"We were only supposed to wash up."I felt Dylan's chest vibrate against my back as he chuckled. His arms tightened around my waist. "We did, though."After drying up and changing into a clean set of clothes, we were relaxing under a tree on the shore of the river. I sat in between his legs and let myself rest against his bare chest, listening to the calming sounds of distant birds chirping, tree leaves rustling in the breeze and the trickling of the water. I then shifted in my seat so that I could face him a little.I eyed his chest, my fingers grazing across the scars in his torso. They were mostly claw marks and scratches, except for the one right at the center—the one he got from the gunshot. I could feel his stare on me as I studied the memoirs of his past injuries. My hand stopped at the one by his stomach. It was the smallest of them all."Where did you get this?" I asked him, tilting my head up to meet his gaze."Oh, that," Dylan looked at his stomach and smiled. I could almos
I watched in amazement as Dylan poured some kind of golden syrup on top of my stack of pancakes. I thought I did a great job in pretending that I enjoyed the coffee that he offered me last time, but apparently not when he ordered a cup of hot chocolate for me instead. I took a sip from the cup as he pushed my plate back towards me with a small smile."Eat up," he said. "Try to finish your meal in a few minutes, it's dangerous to stay here longer than we need to."I nodded in agreement before digging in, slicing up the pancakes before chucking them into my mouth enthusiastically. My tongue was delighted at its flavor. It tasted just as good as it smelled.After a fifteen-minute walk, we managed to find the nearby village with ease. It wasn't as small as I thought it would be but it wasn’t crowded either. We had decided to drop off our dirty clothes at a laundry shop and have a quick breakfast at the diner just a story above while waiting. Fortunately, the building had little to no surv
"Are you okay?"Dylan groaned as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and stretched his neck, turning his head side to side. Then, upon seeing me looming over him with concern, he gave me a small smile before replying, "A little bit stiff, but I'm fine."Apparently, Lance's way to get Dylan through the checkpoints without getting caught was by stuffing him into a secret compartment at the back of his van. It was small—meant as storage for smuggled goods like weapons and chemicals—so it was no doubt uncomfortable for a tall adult man to stay in for the duration of the hour-long ride. I fought the urge to protest, albeit barely.I turned to Lance to give him a stern look but he was already long gone, leaving us two in the parking space just right outside the only access to their camp. Reaching out a
"She died. Some werewolves just thought that it was entertaining to beat up a young human girl when her master wasn’t looking," he shrugged like he wasn't affected by it one bit. His nonchalance made me mad. Then, he pointed a finger at Dylan, "And this man right here saw it happen. He just didn't care enough to help." I turned to look at Dylan who remained quiet. I knew that it was in the past and he was different now, but the fact that something like that happened made me feel uneasy. He avoided my stare and resorted to glaring at Enzo instead. Guilt. Even without admitting to it verbally, I could tell that much from his body language. Mixed emotions that I couldn't quite pinpoint filled me up, making my stomach lurch painfully. I opened my mouth to say something that I probably would regret, but fortunately, Enzo beat me to it.
I swore I only blinked, but when I opened my eyes again, I found myself looking at a shabby ceiling. I felt something cold resting on my forehead so I raised a hand to check it out. A wet towel."Ugh," I groaned as I sat up. I was in the same room that was prepared for me, but this time, I wasn't alone. Dylan sat beside the makeshift bed, dozing off with his head leaning against the wall.I was feeling a lot better after that nap. A slight headache pounded against my temples and I assumed my fever had gone down. My stomach was still churning weirdly a little, but barely. It was both fascinating and embarrassing to fall that sick over a mere three-hour trip.Craning my head, I stared at Dylan's sleeping face. His forehead was a little bit creased as if he was having a bad dream. I instinctively reached out a hand to smooth them out, softly rubbing my thumb across it, but the sudden contact stirred him up. I automatically retracted my hand and froze, hoping that h
Dylan's frown deepened as he clutched the manila envelope tighter. After listening to Enzo's annoying recap of his instructions, he crushed the burner phone with his hand and threw it into the nearest road drainage. He had heard the whole thing over and over again for the past week, but despite his constant assurance that he already memorized it like the back of his hand, the blonde werewolf still insultingly felt the need to remind him.The image of Isabella, his now-pregnant mate, popped up in his head, making him feel even more annoyed than he already was. The last thing he wanted was to leave her alone in such a state, especially if she was with another male werewolf who used to supply her with pheromones when he wasn't around. It took all his might to not transform and throw a tantrum right then and there.After taking a deep breath to gain his composure, he walked towards the Hayes estate. He never imagined that a day like this would come—when he would walk u
Felix watched the cherry blossom trees through the window. A book that he was supposed to read sat on his lap, but the last thing he wanted to do was study. The weather seemed too nice to spend the day doing something as exhausting as studying. If his tutor would allow him so, he would’ve run out to the grassy field outside and laid down as pink petals rain over him while he admired the clear skies. He heard the door creak open and he failed to suppress his groan. Begrudgingly, he took his book and opened it to a random page to pretend that he had been doing what he was supposed to be doing all this time. “It’s been a while.” He looked up from the page he was staring at and found Addie hovering by the doorway. She was wearing a dress and light makeup while a small smile hung on her lips. It was his first time seeing her in a couple of months, and in such garb at that! Felix let his book fall onto the floor as he jumped out of his seat to run to her. A
“So, you’re still not over that plan of yours to convince humans to cooperate with us?” Addie questioned Enzo with a raised eyebrow. She sighed and leaned against the backrest of her chair. “I thought we were going to use the high-security personnel? They don’t hire humans for that.” “You see, that security team’s strength is in numbers,” the werewolf began to explain. “They are excellent individually, of course. But their strength is amplified by much because they work as a single unit.” “And so?” “Dylan. Ash. Ethan,” he said as he raised a finger for each name before pointing a thumb at himself. “And me. We’re going to be taking them on one-by-one, as much as we can.” Felix gasped in amazement. “Wow, really?” “Yes. Then…” he leaned towards the table, pressing his palms against it for support. His red eyes glinted with mischief, just as it always did whenever he comes up with an idea he’s confi
Addie took a cautious step back into the hut. At the opposite corner of the room, she found her father sitting on the floor with his hands handcuffed behind him. She expected Felix to at least land a punch, but surprisingly, Mr. Barlowe was unscathed. She wasn’t certain whether Felix being able to overwhelm her father by his pheromones alone was frightening or impressive. The scent of familiar pheromones still lingered in the air, but it wasn’t enough to make it difficult to breathe. To her right, she saw Felix opening a window to air out the room. She then removed her helmet and goggles to properly meet his gaze. “Hey,” he said with a small smile. With a tilt of his head, he gestured towards Mr. Barlowe who was sitting silently in the corner. “If you want to talk to him, you should do so before he passes out.” That’s when Addie realized that Felix had deliberately avoided leaving any noticeable injury on her father out of consideration for her. She smiled ba
Addie realized that it became easier to breathe. Her lungs didn’t burn and the lightheadedness was gone. She took a deep breath and true enough, Felix had stopped emitting his pheromones. He was only a half-blood but his pheromones could easily overwhelm full-blooded werewolves. She shuddered to think about just how strong his father, Dylan Hayes, was. “Do you feel better now?” Felix looked up at her, his eyes back to their ordinarily dark hue. Without the golden eyes, his features were prominently Isabella’s. “Yes. Thank you.” Then, they pulled away from the hug. He thought about how nice it felt while it lasted and was guilty for thinking that his sudden pheromone outburst had at least amounted to something. Felix grabbed his goggles and helmet that were left abandoned on the dirty floor moments prior to put them back on. But just when he was about to, Addie spoke. “About earlier…” His hands froze and he felt her gaze on him, but for some re
It had only been a few months but the nostalgia hit Felix harder than he expected. It was difficult to properly look at the familiar poorly maintained streets and shanties through the dark tint of the van windows and his oversized goggles as they drove through. There were a bunch of stalls and carts set up on either side of the road, just as it always did at this time of the year. Though many were still skeptical about the whole werewolf-human coexistence propaganda, it had become a tradition to treat the presidential visit in the outskirts as some kind of a festival. Some stalls had a display of an assortment of homemade delicacies while others advertised fun games. Felix remembered running around the neighborhood as a child with a few loose change in his pocket. All the games and food made him excited so James would make him wear contact lenses despite his protests. When he grew older, they would have their own business set up on the road instead of celebrating. Ei
“It might snow today.” Felix turned to his right and found Addie. She had her head tilted up to join him in staring at the night sky. Thick, gray clouds made it impossible to see a single star. “Seems so.” “You nervous?” She craned her neck to meet his gaze. He should’ve felt embarrassed to be caught staring, but he kept the eye contact, letting himself drown into her now -familiar silvery eyes. Addie stared back, a small smile slowly making its way to her lips, “You’re nervous.” “Does it show?” “Yes,” Addie held up a hand to cup his face. Gently, she grazed his cheekbone with her thumb. “Your eyes turned yellow again.” She had her hair up into a ponytail and he wondered whether the cold wasn’t bothering her at all, so his gaze trailed down to her red ears then to her bare neck. Wordlessly, he took off his scarf and wrapped it around her. She seemed to be surprised at the gesture but grateful nonetheless. It was the scarf his mother ha
Isabella’s bullet wound had reduced into an almost-scar. There was still some noticeable redness and swelling on her skin, but she already regained full mobility on her right arm. Nonetheless, when she decided to finally get out of bed that morning, Dylan insisted on assisting her. Despite finding his concern flattering, she couldn’t help but get slightly annoyed at the exaggeration of it all. Craning her head to her left, she cocked a brow at her lover who had a strong arm snaked around her waist to support half of her body weight as she walked. “Dylan, my injury is on my shoulder. Even if my wound isn’t healed yet, I can still walk just fine on my own.” It took a few weeks for his pheromones to heal her wound as the bullet was lodged quite deeply into her flesh, almost penetrating through her back. But for a human, that was already more than impressive. “But…” he looked back at her with a frown and an adorable subtle pout. “What if you fall and hit
“You should live on without me.” Dylan’s voice echoed in her ears, drowning out the sound of the breeze blowing and the curtains flapping. Amidst her shock, she only had enough strength to slowly shake her head and say, “No. I-I don’t want to.” “Without my pheromones, the first few months would be difficult,” he smiled wider as he explained, but the bitterness in it and in his voice was still evident. “But since you’re human, your body can adjust to it slowly.” No, that’s not what I meant, she thought. Tears blurred her vision, and the painful lump in her throat didn’t allow her voice to come out. Isabella wanted to argue or move to embrace him and keep him from leaving. How can I live without you? He cupped her face and wiped away her tears with a thumb. His touch was gentle…too gentle. It felt as if he was paranoid about bruising her skin again. “After all, this bond wasn’t meant to happen in the first place.” His
The sound of the gates creaking open gave Isabella the strength to snap out of her fear and push Lucas away. She spotted a familiar figure standing by the gates through her peripheral view and she swore she felt her heart drop to her stomach right then. Slowly, she turned her head and, true enough, Dylan was right there, out of breath and shooting daggers at Lucas with his dark eyes. Lucas, confused and annoyed at the interference, followed her line of vision and found the werewolf standing a few yards away from where they sat. He sighed and stood up, returning the same menace he was giving him. “I assume your Isabella’s husband?” “D-Dylan…” Lucas briefly looked at her past his shoulder before scoffing at him. “‘Dylan’? I heard people around here call you ‘Kent’.” Dylan didn’t bother replying. He turned his gaze to Isabella, who remained frozen in fear on her blanket, and took brisk steps towards her. He noticed how her eyes darkened with his every st