Aniston's POV I looked at the dress I chose to be proclaimed Nick's mate and it was beyond gorgeous. The gown was a pepper red sleeveless that was just the right cut and very fancy, it cost Papa a fortune. I had never worn a designer dress before, Dryer-Red was successful but papa wasn't extravagant. To compliment the dress, I paired it with an expensive black strapless heel.I looked like a paper cut out of a fashion magazine. Even a blind man could see how stunning I looked.I was flawless….every part of me was except my out of control heart.I showed myself to Elena for her professional eyes.She was enchanted just like me."I think you are the most beautiful, elegant soul I have had the opportunity of meeting. And your mate if you find him today will be blown away by your beautiful Ani" Elena complimented me.I didn't tell her, I didn't want to spoil the surprise. "Thank you" I managed a little smile. I was so nervous and had butterflies in my belly.I put my necklace in place
Aniston's POV (present)It was the first time I thought of ending it all. I just remember standing outside my bedroom door with this giant heavy weight on my chest and the thought of going to bed and never waking up again sounded appealing...so appealing that for a moment I imagined standing on the edge of a bridge and just fall to a permanent sleep but that wouldn't be fair to a lot of people.Papa would lose a child, Markle and Anisa a sibling.It didn't seem fair but what about my life or anyone's life was fair.Everyday good people find themselves doing things we never thought we would do, being people we never thought we would turn out to be while assholes like Nick get to live happily ever after. Nothing about this life screams fair and I should be used to it by now but each time life knocks the air out of my lungs and I am left standing outside a mansion reliving the most painful part of my existence, just struggling to catch my breath.I can't breathe. I am struggling and I ca
Aniston's POVStormi and I made it into the mansion. He cradled me like a little frightened girl who couldn't trust her two feet to get her to her destination and I might as well be.I felt drained. Like someone had intentionally sucked out all the energy and all the strength and all the vigor and I was nothing but a husk…a hollow severely damaged husk.I was so God damned exhausted yet I couldn't stop remembering.I guess that's the thing with shoving all your pain and all your hurt into a glass box - once broken it could take forever to fix.And so, I let myself be taken back two years ago. To a time where my future seemed impossible and my zeal for living was severely depleted.Did you know a werewolf can accept his mate in a small ceremony or in the presence of two witnesses but with rejection…God! I am taking a deep breath because thinking about it feels like I am being kicked in my hoochie by a Scandinavian horse.Unlike acceptance, rejection had to be publicized. Yeah, I had
Stormi's POVI know enough about pain to know when someone needs help and protection, and right now was that time.I could feel my blood boil, not literally but it came close enough. I wanted a few minutes with this Alpha Nicholas and I wanted to put my fist through his ribcage and pull out his heart for hurting someone I have come to care about greatly.I walked past several of our domestic staffs on my way to my room. I could see by the looks on their faces that they found it odd that I was carrying a sobbing girl to my room but I think they valued their heads enough to keep their numerous questions to themselves. Only a lunatic would purposely poke an angry alpha werewolf without fear of repercussions.I made it towards the elevator and entered and pushed the button to my floor when Ari stepped in front of us out of nowhere.His eyes were darker and I could hear his heart pounding, it was out of control like he had been running a marathon for the past three hours.When I looked at
Storm's POV I stood up. How could Aniston be the little witch in her story? How could she be that person?When she turned to look at me again, my countenance was grim and she wasn't even a little surprised.How could she not be surprised? I longed to turn to her and shake her until she looked surprised. Then I wanted to ask her whether betrayal was worth it. Maybe if she explained how Anisa felt, maybe I would catch a glimpse of what my Bella was feeling.The girl I love was out there with the notion that I wanted nothing to do with her and I was only trying to save her life but it doesn't excuse the fact that it was the biggest betrayal of the century but I did it to keep her safe but not Aniston.I wanted to ask her whether the feelings of love she had for her sister prior to the betrayal was true or was everything a giant fat lie. But I simply sat still there in the bedroom as she turned and faced the window leaving me lost in my head.Poor girl! I know I should say because I am h
Ari's POVGrowing up I have always been fascinated with firefighters. I thought it was pretty cool to see danger and run straight into it. I would have considered it except wolves and fire weren't best of pals. We hate fire, pure and simple but right now I was doing my own version of running into fire.This fire I am talking about isn't physical but I think they hurt more because the only way through is through the fire and unlike firefighters I get no fancy helmet or shiny fire resistant coat or incredible team mates who are there to pull me out when I am stuck or resuscitate me when I lose consciousness. This fire I get to walk into alone and it isn't by choice. This is definitely not by choice! And I have a reason to believe I am not going to walk out of it unscathed because frantically looking for a way to force my father into allowing my mother back into the pack proved harder than I imagined.The last time I went up against him was a few weeks ago when he tried to murder Luna A
Storm's POV.Ari stood by the packhouse railing and watched our father keenly. It was raining. Raining didn't correctly describe the weather. It was a downpour with thunder and lightning yet I watched my brother watch our father fight most of his warriors under the rain.It wasn't like I was expecting anything different, It's been six hours since my father looked my mother in the face and said"Take a few days to pack your stuff, take half the money we have and when you are ready…leave and don't come back. The boys are old enough to come visit whenever they want and I swear to you I won't stop them. You are free. You got your wish" Since then all the Alpha did was keep busy with pack affairs or work his warriors to weary with his persistent training and drills.I wasn't blind.I could see he was clearly in pain and keeping busy was how he could survive at all. This can't be healthy but I wasn't one to point fingers since I nearly ran myself to exhaustion and almost blew up half my
"Well, suicide girl didn't exactly give him an option. He is Alpha, he has to fight her. She challenged him, remember?" Ari nodded like the load of crap I was vomiting made a lot of sense."Yeah, right…because our very own rational father goes around accepting challenges from girls I am older than and most especially girls with a recent trauma and a death wish. He is venting and he is going to hurt someone!" "Well, I wonder who he is trying to hurt" I said and looked at my mother.I expected my brother to knock some sense into me but he didn't say anything.I moved closer to Luna. What I needed to say, I couldn't say it from the distance I was standing.I saw the Luna's posture as it stiffened. It confirmed my suspicion, she was angry. "How does it feel to have blown up our family?""You don't know what you are talking about, son. This is between your father and I, stay out of it" I was a Wolf, an Alpha and I could hear Luna's increased heart beat and I saw the fact that she was n