(Katelyn's POV)As I glanced up, I saw Ryder straighten from his casual perch on the table, his jaw clenched as he watched Simon with a hardened expression. I nudged his leg, looking at him with wide eyes and a slight shake of my head, urging him to keep his cool.With a sigh and a dramatic roll of his eyes, he relaxed a little, though I could still feel the tension radiating off of him.Simon took his seat directly opposite me, setting out a few papers with deliberate precision. “You boys are welcome to go now,” he suggested with a dismissive tone. “The others will be here shortly.”Tyler, unfazed, replied, “No, it’s fine. We’ve got nowhere else to be.”The statement hung in the air, a subtle reminder that I wasn’t alone here and wasn’t about to be. Simon’s expression didn’t change, but a faint sigh escaped him as he settled back in his chair.Silence fell over the room, thick and uncomfortable. No one seemed to want to speak, not even about something as trivial as the weather.I was
(Katelyn's POV)The tension in the room was thick, and I could feel it pressing down on me as I took a deep breath. Helen glanced down at her notes and then back up, giving me a patient, almost gentle look.“We’d like to start by addressing the matter of Harlan and your alleged abduction,” she said, her tone professional but not unkind. “That is, after all, one of the main reasons for our visit.”I shook my head, feeling a sudden urge to redirect them. “That… that isn’t really the beginning,” I murmured, my voice quiet but firm.Helen’s eyebrows lifted slightly, clearly interested. “Alright then,” she said, folding her hands on the table. “Where would you like to start, Katelyn?”I breathed in, steeling myself, feeling the weight of her question settle over me.“I guess... I guess the real beginning was at the Lunar Eclipse Celebration,” I explained, the memory of that first experience flooding my mind. “That... That was the first time that I 'saw' something.”Helen’s eyes lit with cu
(Katelyn's POV)Helen’s pen paused on the paper, her eyes locking onto mine. The hint of sympathy was gone, replaced by a harder, more focused expression.“Harlan found out...” she repeated slowly, as though she were carefully unpacking each word.“Yes,” I replied, nodding. "That's the whole reason he took me, right? He knew about my abilities... He seemed to know more about them than I did. Between him and Doctor Prince, they seemed to have some very high expectations for me.”Roderick’s jaw tightened, and Helen’s brow furrowed as she made another note. Simon, however, looked almost pleased, as if he had been waiting for this part of the story all along.Helen looked up, her gaze piercing but curious. "Doctor Prince?"I nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was his name? He and Harlan were talking about me like I was some kind of science experiment. He questioned me on my abilities and the kind of stuff I could do.""Hang on," Simon interjected. "You're jumping ahead now. How did you g
(Katelyn's POV)I looked down at the jagged line running across the table again, my heart pounding as I tried to make sense of it. The crack stretched from the place where my hand had slammed down, all the way across to Simon’s side, the splintered line cutting a stark path across the polished wood.It looked deep. Too deep. “It was probably already cracked,” I muttered dismissively, more to myself than to anyone else, hoping the words might somehow explain the unexpected fracture. For a second, no one in the room responded. They just watched me with unreadable expressions. Still, I could feel the sharp weight of their disbelief.I swallowed, trying to push back my frustration as I clenched my fists at my sides. “I need to take a break from this insanity,” I stated, my voice low and cold. “I actually can’t believe that you’re questioning me on this. I'm the one who was abducted! I'm the one who was snatched from my home! But you come here...” I stopped myself, breathing in a sharp br
(Katelyn's POV)As I walked back down the hall, each step echoed louder than the last and my anger simmered, but I kept pushing it down, trying to stay calm.Tyler and Ryder were right. I needed to keep my cool if I was going to get through this, but I couldn’t help the frustration that tightened in my chest.I came to a halt as voices drifted toward me from the open door of the meeting room. It was Helen, and she was furious.“I am managing this interview, Simon!” she snapped, her voice carrying an edge I hadn’t heard before. “You are making this impossible by antagonizing her at every turn!”A tense silence followed, and then Simon’s voice broke through, defensive. “I’m just trying to do my job! It’s clear she’s hiding something. She—”“If she’s hiding something, we’ll uncover it,” Helen interrupted sharply. “But hurling accusations at her every five seconds isn’t going to get us anywhere. You’re making this process harder, not easier.”Roderick’s voice was softer but firm. “Simon,
(Katelyn's POV)"He brought Jenna in...” I trailed off, my eyes beginning to water as I pictured her sitting on that chair with blood streaming from her nose."Jenna? Your best friend?" Helen probed, seeking confirmation.I nodded, wiping my eyes, trying my best to keep it together. I just wanted to get through this. I just wanted it done and behind me so that I would never have to think about it again.Helen scribbled something down and looked up, her gaze sympathetic. “And how long were you kept there?” she asked, thankfully not pressing me to share more on Jenna at that point.I thought back, estimating. “I... I'm not sure, to be honest. The days all sort of blurred together. I think it was three, maybe four days? I spent the vast majority of it locked up in his room. He would come by occasionally, bringing trays of food or trying to get information out of me, threatening me whenever he got frustrated.”It looked like Simon was about to say something, but before he could, Helen spo
I stomped along the deserted pavement, my mood as dark and brooding as the fast approaching storm clouds overhead. The library had been my escape from the overhyped Mating Celebration, but even the quiet rustle of pages and the familiar smell of old books hadn’t been enough to calm my irritation. The pack's obsession with this archaic tradition grated on me more than I cared to explain. That, and the fact that my family had booted me out of my home in Colorado and shipped me off to stay with my aunt here in Oregon almost a week ago now.The distant sounds of laughter and music from the celebration drifted through the air. It annoyed me. I couldn’t understand why everyone put so much stock in finding their 'destined mate.' The whole concept felt oppressive, like we were all just pawns in some preordained plan. The idea of 'mates' meant that there was no room for freewill, and that was something that just never sat well with me.My phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling me out of my thought
"I guess it's lucky we're in the bathroom then," I mumbled sarcastically, causing him to chuckle."Do you wanna come out?" the voice suggested hopefully.I sighed, pressing my back against the cool wall, and feeling it's chill seep through me. "No. Not yet. I just... I need a minute," I replied before blowing my nose."Fair enough," he conceded, then I was certain I heard him sit down."Um... Are you staying then?" I asked tentatively."Yeah, if that's okay. I mean, you did say it was a good thing we were in the bathroom if we might throw up..." he tried to justify his presence."I mean, I guess..." was all I managed in response, my tears on pause for the moment as I tried to deal with this weird turn of events.I unrolled another length of toilet paper, crumpling it into a ball and dabbing at my nose, which continued to run. Then I took a deep breath as I tried to regain my composure."Shouldn't you be at the Mating Celebration?" I asked, unable to disguise the bitterness in my voice