"Hop in,” Ethan slid down the window from the driver seat and raised a proud brow at them.
Felix stepped over the curb to do just that, but he paused when he felt the slightest tap on his elbow. He turned and saw Addie looking back at the inn's main entrance.
"Wait, I might've forgotten something,” she said quietly before pushing her bag against his chest. "I'll be quick.”
Then, she jogged towards the glass doors before he could even say anything. With a sigh, he shouldered her bag and hopped into the backseat. He felt Ethan's stare on him, and true enough, once he held his chin up, he immediately locked gazes with a pair of blood-red orbs through the rearview mirror. He thought about how different and alert his eyes seemed today and realized that it was his first time seeing the werewolf fully sober. Since he was sitting behind the wheel, it was definitely something to be grateful for.
"Lover's quarrel?"
Felix let out yet another audible sigh
One would think that the Bennets, once one of the most influential packs at a point in the history of the nation, would live in the luxurious heart of the capital. Instead, it was the complete opposite. Felix watched in amazement and surprise at the thick foliage on either side of the road through the damp windows. The figures of old evergreens rushed by as the car sped through the highway, their vibrant colors mixing with the dark grey sky in a blur. Warm air blasted through the car's air conditioning, its subtle whirring accompanied by some random pop music coming from the radio. Through his peripheral vision, he could see Adelyn bobbing her head along with the beat, seemingly unconscious about it, while her lips mouthed the lyrics quietly. Being away from the usual hustle of the city made the trio feel a little bit at ease though their trip wasn't for their leisure. They were reminded of this when a run-down estate slowly came into view. It stood out among the tal
"How did you find this place?” the man spoke, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. Felix felt Addie's grasp on the hem of his jacket tighten so he took a tiny step back to position himself closer to her in a protective stance. In response, the girl pressed her forehead against his back. The contact made it possible for him to feel her body trembling slightly. In the most collected voice he could muster, he replied, "We mean no harm. Can you put the gun down please?" But of course, it was no surprise when the mystery masked man didn't do as he asked. Instead, he only wrapped his hand around the weapon tighter. Felix swallowed in nervousness and forced himself to take deeper breaths in a desperate attempt to not panic. Slowly, he risked one more step backward to create more distance between them. The man took this as an effort to escape so he quickly lowered his aim on the ground and pulled the trigger before returning his arm to its previous positio
The first thing that registered in Enzo's mind was the ache in every inch of his body, but what hurt the most out of them all was the very center of his chest where his heart lay. The pain immediately reminded him of the unfortunate events that unfolded before he lost consciousness. Sounds of the deafening explosion, the agonized screams of countless human slaves as they burned to death, and the loud bang of a gunshot echoed in his ears as if those traumatizing moments were all happening yet again.The fear crept up his throat and if it weren't for the pain impairing his voice, he would've screamed right then. A lone tear slid down his left cheek when he opened his eyes. Upon finding himself staring at the familiar ceiling of Lance's van, the terror subsided at once, and he became thankful for his temporary mutism.His surroundings shook and moved, the feeling of the rough terrain vibrating against his back. His vision was a little bit blurry from t
Enzo leaned forward. “Lance, did you, by any chance, talk to Amelia Crawford about the place we’re heading to?”Lance put the pieces together for a few seconds until the realization dawned on him moments later, his eyes gradually getting wider in both shock and fear and his chin quivering as if he was about to cry. It wouldn’t take a genius to notice that he was on the verge of panicking, so Enzo did what he could and took a deep breath to calm down, hoping that his gesture would have the same effect on the latter.“It’s okay, we can’t do anything about that now,” he told him. Enzo then returned his gaze on the large mob of military men and silently made an estimation in his head. “Just…go straight ahead. As fast as you can.”“Huh?” Lance turned to him in confusion, his mouth slightly agape. Then, after letting his instruction sink in completely, he looked back at the mob. A look of understanding passed through his eyes for a second befo
Enzo didn't bother staying a second longer for his reply and jumped out of the vehicle. A second later, he felt his body warp. His bones cracked, his muscles stretched, and his senses heightened exponentially. Suddenly, the pain disappeared and he felt the adrenaline pump through his veins.The trucks halted when Enzo landed on the asphalt. As expected, when he turned his head to look at either side of him, he noticed two other werewolves landing on their feet gracefully. One had dark fur and amber eyes while the other was an identical copy of him—red eyes and platinum white hair.He opened his mouth and let out a loud roar before dashing towards the military men who were foolishly brave enough to challenge them. Everything around him blurred as his agile form sliced through the cold wind until finally, he buried his sharp teeth into flesh. Enzo ripped one arm after another, the metallic taste and smell of blood overwhelming his senses. The scream of agon
Enzo looked at his image on the broken window pane, studying the healing wound on his chest as much as his subtle reflection could let him. Raindrops slid down the glass and the almost barren trees outside shook side to side in time with the wind. Then, for a quick split second, the sky and everything else bathed in a silvery glow as the lightning struck. Despite being midday, the weather made it look like it was sometime in the middle of the night. Up until that moment, he still couldn't tell where they were, and neither could the rest of the group. The brief perimeter walk Ash and Lance did only resulted to a few more days' worth of firewood and food and no info.With a contented sigh, he pulled down the hem of his sweater. The scar forming on his chest made it clear that he was healing quite well despite the lack of rest and medicine accompanied by the dangerous transformation he forced himself into a few days ago. Enzo continued to quietly stare at the storm outs
Felix sighed, his chin resting on his open palm while feasting on the annoyingly breathtaking view of the evergreens through the broken window and the orange sun slowly sinking towards the horizon. Cold breeze rushed by and grazed his cheek. The weather was cold yet comfortable. And while he let his scrambled thoughts roam free, Enzo Bennet's voice rang in his head, "Sorry, kid. After Ash and I barely managed to escape, we couldn't find anyone else." He was only doing so much because he wanted to do something for James, not because he wanted to meet his parents himself though he was admittedly curious. But so far, as it began to feel like they were already nearing a dead end so early into their search, the disappointment was much more than he expected. Just before he could fully drown in his thoughts, his ears picked up on the sound of hesitant footsteps clacking against the old floor tiles. He craned his neck slightly to peek over his shoulder and saw Addie
Felix tightened his fists and threw his head back in pleasure, just enough for him to still be able to comfortably watch Addie moving her hips against his. She had positioned herself on top of him, her eyes closed and her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. His vision was getting blurrier and blurrier, his head filling up with a lot more pheromones than he was used to. His body ached so much for her that if it weren't for the sleeves of her turtleneck shirt tying his wrists to the headboard, he would've long wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her body up against his to feel the warmth of her nakedness on his chest. The knot wasn't tight though. It was sloppy and half-undone at that point. But freeing himself from it would earn him a rather frightening glare from Addie. He learned that the hard way a few moments ago. He heard her let out yet another soft moan before feeling her nails digging deeper into his skin. A thin film of sweat made her body glisten un
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