Aniston POV As Stormi drove us to a place I didn't know, we didn't talk much. I didn't ask any questions…questions a reasonable person should ask like 'where are you taking me?' 'Will I be welcomed?' 'Are you a family of werewolf serial killers?' I know…I know! The last question seemed a bit of a stretch but when you have the kind of bad luck I have then you will quickly realize that anything was possible, I once got stuck by lightning, I mean nobody gets struck by lightning but I did. I once rescued a baby cat but turns out it was actually a baby tiger and the mama came looking for it and found me holding it….try outrunning an angry tiger mama at fourteen, then we will talk. Bad Luck is my new normal but for some reason, I was not bothered. So, I sat there with my eyes closed and my face turned towards the open window. The sound of the wind drowned the voices in my head and the feel of the breeze on my face was soothing, it was my favorite feeling since I stopped feeling joy
Ari's POV I did the right thing. I did the right thing! There is no crime in looking out for myself, right? If a love story like my parents could suddenly go sour…if my mother after twenty three years of what we thought was blissful marriage could tell my hot tempered father that she was never in love with him sending him into a fit of rage we only thought possible in folklore, then there was no way Aniston and I, two werewolves who couldn't be more different from each other survive life as mates. I took a deep breath and stared at the plate of food in front of me. I thought I wouldn't have an appetite for food after leaving Aniston to her chosen fate but I couldn't be more wrong. Apparently, guilt gets better when we are not staring the people we offended right in the face. So, as soon as I made my way back to Bayblue pack, I instantly felt better or at least less crappier than I was. Encountering Aniston had forced me to come home without finding my idiot brother except home
Ari's POV I must have blinked about a million times, which I know is an exaggeration but it really felt like a million times yet the girl in front of me didn't disappear into a puff of smoke like I wanted. I blinked one more time, silently praying that Cephas laced my food with hallucinogenic mushrooms that was making me see the last person I wanted to see and she was somehow standing in my freaking hallway! I blinked again and again and again until the figment of my imagination leaned in like I was something she was trying to figure out and yelled. "Dude, stop blinking! I am real! Surprise!" She had this smile on her face like she was enjoying my pain…how was she enjoying my pain?! I realized I was asking the wrong question. My first question should have been, what the hell was Aniston aka suicide girl doing in the mansion in Bayblue? I opened my mouth to speak but she walked past me to the painting that was hung on the wall behind me. I blinked and turned around. I gotta stop
Ari's POV Sometimes nightmares are real and sometimes they come in form a brown eyed girl named Aniston. I stopped walking and I stared at the source of my pounding heart and the reason I had an insanely amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins bringing me closer to having my first heart attack at twenty-three. "E-excuse me, I could swear you said that my father granted you permission to stay" I didn't blink at all. Sometimes, not blinking can be the answer because I couldn't risk that she might answer my question and it would be lost to me because I blinked. Aniston didn't answer immediately. She first took a spoon full of the porridge in front of her and she shoved it into her mouth before she turned and looked at me like I was an annoying foot fungus. She didn't even bother chewing when she spoke to me. Nasty! "I said Alpha Ryan said I could stay for as long as I want in Bayblue. What can I say? Fathers love me and Stormi was pretty much adamant in his plea to Alpha.
Aniston's POV Let me tell you something about being an Alpha blood…unlike beta wolves and omegas, our pride never wavers. And our strength is unending and if any other alpha blood had overheard Ari telling his father they were beneath him, that wolf would be defending her honor by attacking him but I didn't. I simply sat there with the visible taste of disgust on my tongue, recoiling on how I could misread the guy in front of me. I thought he was good and underneath his nonchalance was a sweet and caring guy that might just give us a chance but how wrong I was! "Aniston" The way he said my name made me look at him. He had a frown and he looked surprised to see me. I guess it would be easier to stab me in the back when I wasn't looking. What a wuss! Ari was wolf in wolf's clothing…. literally. I wanted to say a lot of things to Ari Thunderbolt. I wanted to let him know that his words were like a two-edged sword and no matter which direction I tried to take it, I ended up getti
Aniston's POV I made my way to the balcony, doing my best to get my rage under control, it wasn't easy to do. The look in Ari's eyes stayed with me for some reason. I tried to find my way out of the Mansion to go for a run in my wolf form. It was about the only thing that could get my beating heart back to normal but the black mansion was so huge, I got lost inside it twice. I lied earlier. It shouldn't come as a surprise to you but in my defense, they were all based in truth too or at least on my late mother's identity. I abandoned the name Stillblood and took my mother's maiden name Powell, I took her pack name as well - Wintergreen. And I was going to tell Storm's father that but when Storm introduced me as the daughter of the black lightning pack, I didn't correct him…any name was better than mine. Growing up in my pack as the daughter of Alaric Damon Stillblood of Dryer-Red pack, Bayblue pack was legendary. My papa, even though as strong and wealthy in his own right had one
Chapter Ari's POV In the past, especially when I am angry or fuming with rage, I tend to favor the packhouse gym/training arena to the private one in the Mansion. Mostly because I get to punch people and not get booted to the Alpha or his oddly psychotic Beta for long talks on how I can't go around knocking people out just for the fun of it. This mostly happened in my teenage years but I still get the stink eye from Beta Elijah, Alpha Ryan's second in command whenever a pack member ends up with a black eye. I made my way to the pack's gym passing a few people on my way, some stopped to say hello, others were all too happy to be as far away from me as possible. I am not blind to the rumor that I was just as ruthless as my father and once upon a time, I was but leaving for college and getting my ass kicked by depression and anxiety kind of mellowed me out in a way but people around here tend to hold on to past grudges and I get to keep my bad ass reputation. I made my way to th
Ari's POV "No, I meant it's not fair to them. I am going to beat them up" I swear Elijah almost rolled his eyes at me. "Just fight!" He snapped. I watched Jake and Jonah enter the arena, they were both my age and I know for a fact that they are mated unlike someone I know (me). "Hey, buddy" I waved with a huge smile on my face. This will not be fun. "Alphason…it's nice of you to join us" Jake said and took the first swing. I ducked and returned the favor. He didn't duck. I watched him run his tongue on his split lip and he swallowed his blood. "Lucky punch" he murmured. "Sure" I nodded sarcastically. "Any chance you will tell me why everyone is mad at me or do I have to beat it out of you?" I asked him. "Who said we are mad at you?" Jonah asked and hit my leg, he didn't miss and I fell hard on the cold floor with the air knocked out of me. "Ouch" I murmured and winced from the pain. "Stand up, I don't want to kick a man when he is down" Jonah said in-between his gritted te
R18Warning.This chapter contains explicit sex scene. Please read at your own discretion.Aniston’s POVI stood in the shower naked as a new born baby counting minutes till my hot…hot mate who just told me he was in love with me joined me.Then the doubt started to creep in. He was going to see me naked and be…inside me and stuff. Did I even shave?I am supposed to shave right?! Quick Ani, check!I was about to when the door opened and Ari walked inside and locked the door behind him.He joined me in the shower and stood behind me and let his hands wander.I should say something…right? I could sneak out for a minute and shave my legs.I opened my mouth speak...All that came out was a hum.A hum?Are you fucking kidding me?!A freaking hum like a cave person. Ari ran his hand through my dark thick wet hair that fell to my back before grabbing a handful of it to rub on his cheek. When he was done, he pushed them away to expose my bare back. First he kissed my neck as his left hand
Aniston’s PovI sat on a swing by the playground for a while. God, I don’t think I have ever been so nervous like this before. Forty-five minutes and counting, that is the amount of time I have sat at this spot waiting for Ari to come, refusing to accept that it might just be over for us.I tried not to imagine a world without him, I did just the opposite. I allowed myself to daydream…about a possible future where I was actually happy with the love of my life, we had two children, a daughter named Dani and a son name Ari-Storm. And two rescue dogs and a white picket fence.I knew that the possible of that happening was slim…it got slimmer when I felt the first drop of rain.It was almost an hour, he wasn’t coming.Storm came to sit beside me."What are you doing?" he asked me."Waiting" I murmured."For?" he asked but I kept quiet. "What are you waiting for? It is going to be a downpour, Ani. I don’t think he is coming".I turned to look at him. My eyes had a glint of tears in them bu
Aniston’s POV“Few weeks ago when you told me you love me, did you mean it?” Ari asked.“Yes. I love you”“Okay…okay then, because maybe I can live with your secrets” he murmured. “Even thought it hurts that you can’t trust me with them but I am tired, Ani…tired of hoping I could catch a glimpse of you in my dreams...Tired of hoping, praying that maybe you would give me a reason why I am so untrustworthy. I have recurring nightmares of you lying dead in a ditch somewhere and then I would wake up and pace and scream and pray! I am tired of being left on the side walk”“You asked me to leave, Ari”“Well, you didn’t want to stay. You would rather be elsewhere but with me, Aniston! You chose your bloody secrets over me! That hurts you know”I grabbed his arm. "I am sorry. I got scared and I panicked. And I just…ran. I didn't think, I couldn't think…I just ran. And I thought I would never see you again but you are here and I am here now and I want to tell you everything, Ari…everything fro
ChapterAri’s POVI stared at her face and then everything stopped. Time stopped like I wanted it to, because right this minute…right this second, everything just became too real and I had to deal with it.But I don't want to.I want to go back to the beginning. To the time when I was a boy and my only concern was the butterfly outside my window, when my mother's embrace was the safest place for me.I want to go back to the time when my father's shoulder was the highest place in the whole wide world…to the time when crying meant a smile was just around the corner.I want the beginning, when mother's laughter was music to my ears and father's voice was a source of admiration and solace.I want the little tree house behind the house, I want the fake dance parties and fast car races…to the time of tooth fairies and little gods, when Santa Claus was real…when all I had to be was… good and everything worked out just the way they were meant to be.I want the beginning and the goodies that c
Ari's POV I must have stood there for a very long time, just staring at nothing. Images of a naked man in Aniston’s room stayed with me for as long as i stood there. I mean nothing made sense anymore; nothing seemed real anymore too…everything has gone to shit. “Ari?” Everything seemed so far away like I was floating and nothing was keeping me tethered to earth anymore. Something didn’t feel right. I could feel it from the depth of my soul…I could feel it. I just can’t explain it. “Ari? Hey, are you alright?” Dev’s voice brought back to reality, I turned around and looked at her. She had a smile on her face. “Making this trip is the best thing to have happened to…” “I have to go” I murmured, more to myself than for her benefit. “What? Go where?” she looked puzzled. “I just saw a naked man in Ani’s room” I said and looked at her with this deep frown that came from my soul. “I am so sorry” She said. It sounded like she meant it. “It is a good thing we are here…away from all t
Aniston's POV "No, I am not""Yes, you are. It was idiotic of me to trust someone like Anton, I know but I was going crazy with boredom and…" I was interrupted by Markle "Do you know what is worse than boredom? Death, sis. You went with a strange man to God knows where, outside the scope of my protection and he could have hurt you…really hurt. Did you even think it through….""I am not a child, Mark. I can fucking take care of myself and stop treating me like some porcelain doll that will break at the sign of trouble! I am not breakable! Or I would have shattered a long time ago…so, just stop! Just…cut me some slack" i voiced my opinion strongly before continuing on my journey to my room, he tried to follow me but I stopped him"I know you suddenly want to be a good big brother but Just give me some space…I am serious, Mark, don't follow me!"I walked away and banged the door as loudly as I could when I got to my cabin.I went into my makeshift closet to change into something less
Chapter "Wow…you are really…really bad at threats, Aniston. Laxatives? Laxative was the best threat you could come up with. Even the way you are standing doesn't encourage fear and your face looked like you are about to offer me chocolate"I was taken aback and I couldn't speak. Anton removed his hand from his pocket."I am going to do something I rarely do. I am going to teach you how to effectively threaten someone and get them to take you seriously. Now stand upright, it will make you taller, narrow your eyes…please stop smiling…move closer to your intended recipient, pout and make sure to voice out each word with precision and bone chilling coldness, none of your sweet soprano voice, for Christ sake you are threatening someone not trying to get them to fall in love with you. Now, give it a try" Anton instructed me.I relaxed. I was always in the mood to learn something new.I stood upright earning another inch; I narrowed my eyes and pouted. When I opened my mouth, every word was
ChapterAri's POV Chioma didn't give it much thought; she just went around the table and hugged Veronica. "It won't be enough for the whole project but it is a good start. You can stop hugging me now, I haven't told you but…there is only a tiny hiccup, we need an engineer""Oh that's okay, Ari is one and a damn good one too. I am sure he is happy to help" Lee said and I turned sharply to glare at him in shock.Why on earth would he volunteer me for a project that huge when we leave in three weeks for home?"Will you?" Chioma asked me with a puppy dog look I couldn't turn down."Sure. Excuse us, come on guys" I ushered my friends out the door specifically to get my hands on Lee and murder him.When we were out of a hearing distance from Veronica's office, Lee took off on a run.I looked at Dev and I didn't have to ask too. She seemed pissed off."I will get him and I am going to fucking kill him!" She ran after him leaving just Caleb and I to stand in the middle of the hallway stari
ChapterAri's POV "Yes, that's one reason and second, is I don't want anything complicated right now. Nothing about starting up a relationship with Chioma screams simple. So, just drop it" I told him firmly. "And Lee, don't talk about Aniston like that ever again"Lee was quiet for a few seconds before he said something."Let's see how long you can go without sex, Ari""You make it sound like I am an addict" I turned to look at him."Just saying….the only thing the two of us have in common is the fact that we aren't saints. We all including Caleb love a good bang, maybe you more than all of us""I love sex! I ain't ashamed to acknowledge that but I am not a dog and I have self control. And I refuse to treat women like a sex object. Worry about yourself, Lee"I said and walked away but not before I heard him mutter "you are so full of it"I almost made it to my room which was opposite Chioma's when I saw a boy knocking on her door.He was skinny, average and had a dark chocolate skin