Ari's POV Dev moved closer to talk to me. She was a goddess plain and simple. "We both know Dad won't let you leave the cage and we are both terrified of him. I also know you don't want to fight me because I am a girl, which is noble and sweet…" "Thank you" I quickly said. "You are welcome. It noble but also stupid and foolish since we will be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives" I blinked. "Wait! Are we being forced into a marriage because if we are…" Dev's eyes widened immediately. "Dude, no! I am going to be Beta after my father…your Beta" "But you are a…" my voice trailed off. "I am a girl, we've already established that and this is the twenty-first century also. Maybe decades old traditions of thinking girls are nothing but breeding cows are outdated…I mean we already have a female Alpha in England…having a female Beta isn't so far fetched, Mr. Black" When I looked around, everyone was looking at me. I grabbed Dev's hand and pulled her to a corner. "I don
Ari's POV I moved closer to where she was standing and handed her a face towel to wipe her face. I was covered with shame over hurting her. I should have taken my chance with her father. She had her head down but I could see the bruises. "How badly did I hurt you?" I asked her. She turned around and looked at me. "I am sorry" I murmured. "Don't sweat it…you won fair and square" she said and took the face towel. "There is nothing fair about that fight, I am an alpha blood and you are not" Dev took the bottle water on the floor and took a gulp before spitting it out. "I was sixteen when Papa realized he wasn't going to have his much desired son to be Beta after him. He loves my mother…he couldn't divorce her given the fact that he is madly in love with her and so, as his first daughter I became the next best thing" Her voice sounded sad and it tugged at my heart. I saw the bruise on her face and I trailed it with my hand. "Does it hurt?" I asked her. "No. Nothing does, I
Ari's POV I took off the kumpur on my hand and I tried to put my roughed up clothes in order before heading out with my bag. I took a minute to take in the scenery. This place that hasn't been home in quite some time. Unlike most packs that still retain the old ways like it was still the eighteenth century, Bayblue was infused with a lot of technology, for example the power plant just South of the border that supplied constant power to Bayblue and about six more neighboring packs, Black lightning included. The tractors and expensive farm equipment, the farm keeper had Alpha Ryan commission four years ago, the expensive cars most teenagers and adults drove and the mansion included…. Basically everything one would need to survive the twenty-first century was here yet we didn't turn our backs on our roots, we still kept the traditions like the forest surrounding us was endless. We have rivers and horses, a cohabitated packhouse and an Alpha's point. We still train with spears and a
Aniston's POVIn my distressed time even when I wanted to be alone, I found comfort in the arms of Stormi Black, my mate's younger brother. For the briefest of seconds, I allowed myself to wonder if there was a possibility the moon goddess made a mistake and fated me to the wrong brother.Stormi was warm, caring and loving whereas Ari was the perfect opposite of warm or caring or even human, he was an asshole who wants nothing to do with me…an asshole who would rather kiss a girl he just met than try to work things out between us.I hate him!From the depths of my heart to the soul of my existence I loath everything he stood for. He was a reminder that I am good for nothing and I don't like to be reminded of that by nobody. I am quite capable of beating myself down…this ground I am standing on, can't get any lower.So, Ari thunderbolt Black can do whatever he likes…he won't break something that is already broken.I held on to the boy in front of me, his kindness made it easy to be vul
Aniston's POV "Good thing, I am yet to unpack""I am not saying shit to Alpha Ryan. Bayblue is home for as long as you need it to be'' Stormi said and started walking away.His words surprised me. I guess I was so used to people I know stabbing each other in the back that his integrity surprised me."Really?" I asked him.He turned around and looked at me, he had a little frown."Aniston, I would never go back on my word. I said I will be there for you and I will…for as long as you need me to be"Stormi kept walking afterwards, he barely made it pass the pine tree when I spoke."Stormi, wait""What!" He turned around and looked at me.I exhaled shakily. This was going to be bad."You are right, I should trust you but I am not going to tell you one true thing about me…""Fine, whatever" he murmured."Would you shut up please? I won't tell you one thing…I will tell you two things about me. One, I have two middle names, one is Aniston and the other is Jensen and only my parents and sist
Storm's POV I watched Aniston very closely. I wanted to understand how she could keep it together after the story she just told me. I took a step closer. She turned around and she looked at me. Her eyes saw beyond my face to the deepest place in my heart. I recognized the look on her face. I have seen that look severally in the mirror staring right back at me. The droopy eyelids and posture, the self soothing manner she was rubbing her forearm. Right now, her breathing was becoming lowered and her chest heavier by the second. Then the feeling of being trapped in a little Cage follows, it was not a nice feeling. The worst were the headaches, the nagging pain in the neck, back and chest, it was like having a cold. The worst kind of Cold. I understood Aniston because I have known sadness these past few days. Sadness was…. heavy and Ani was carrying it all by herself. I came closer to her and next thing I knew I was hugging her. I saw her resist, I don't think she was used to bein
Aniston's POV "Stop!" Stormi yelled a few seconds later. Ari slowed down mostly because Storm was standing in the middle of the road. The car made a screeching sound and Ari stopped before he could hit his brother. He got out of the car mad as hell. "What the hell, fool?!" He screamed at Stormi "I could have seriously hurt her!" Wait! Was Ari Thunderbolt concerned about my safety? Well, that question was answered when he came around to check the bumper of his Impala. The fool wasn't worried about his brother's safety or mine, the 'her' he was worried about was his stupid car. "Shouldn't you be more worried about hurting your brother, Jerk?" I asked him. My voice was stronger than I wanted it to be. Ari turned to look at me. "Of course, I love my brother, Aniston but if I run him over, he heals almost instantly but do you know who doesn't, my freaking sweet baby!" "Baby?" I asked and peeked into the car and lo and behold, someone was sitting in the front seat with him. T
Ari's POVWatching her run away from me triggered something in me. It also made me ask myself a question. Why did I torment her about the kiss with Dev?I wasn't a cruel or mean person but somehow she brings out the worst in me whenever she's around me.I mean what about Ani brings out my most horrible and primal instinct?Was my hostility a cloak hiding a deeper problem? Or was I just a bad person?I strolled back to the Impala and I tried to push Ani out of my mind as I drove Dev to the clinic.I turned my attention to the girl beside me. She seemed lost in her own head. I wondered whether I should talk about the kiss we shared, I mean it was the only logical explanation for her showing up on my doorstep an hour after the incident that happened in the gym with a bleeding hand that had a piece of silver dagger still embedded in it.We didn't have a conversation about why she showed up at the mansion instead of going to the clinic. I simply took my keys and I offered to drive her to a