There was such weariness in the eyes of Adam as he stood at the edge of the waters and watched me play around inside the river. Yes. I had taken him up on his offer, and had decided to pay a visit to the beautiful stream which was damn cold but cool to swim in.I watched him rake his hands across his hair and sighed. And I wondered what could be the problem. Did he remember something bad?“Are you okay?” “Yeah. It’s nothing.” He fixed a fake smile on his face. But his eyes remained the same. Sad. Tired. Was the workload or expectations on him heavy? Or was it because I was leaving? I wasn’t sure of the answer, and I didn’t want to trouble myself with those either. Besides, he would tell me if he wanted to. “It’s just that I don’t deserve you…” He muttered, but I managed to glean the words properly. My ears must be overly sensitive today.I nodded, a slow smile curving my mouth. "Of course you don't deserve me. I'm so good and brave and perfect." My smile was teasing, frankly sexy
“We should go.” Adam said, as we lounged around near the borderlines of the clear water. We must have been lying down there, holding each other for more than twenty minutes, after the third round of sex we had in the water. It was terrific.He was staring at me even as he began to trail his fingers on my arm, then down to the curve of my naked buttocks. I chuckled. “Why are you laughing?” Amusement danced in his eyes. He knew why I was chuckling. “Well, you mentioned that we had to go, but here you are, playing with my buttocks. Do you want to go again? I mean..you know…” I was sputtering now, and Adam was laughing out loud without remorse, obviously humored by my clumsy avoidance of calling the f word or just sex. Even though every last shred of shyness had disappeared during our string of lovemaking earlier, I was still feeling abashed, my cheeks red, when it came to saying the word to him.There was also a freeness to Adam’s activities, like a burden has been released from his s
When Adam and I stepped out of the garden, we came face to face with his circle of friends, and Noami. Naomi’s eyes widened when she saw us walking toward them, with our hands clasped.Claire was growing in anger. But no one paid attention to her.“Where have you two been? In the garden? Since lunch break?” That was Timothy, his voice drowning in incredulity. Adam nodded to the statement, returning to his cool as cucumber self, withdrawing into his shell; his smile, stiff. Noting that, I wished I could drag him back to the cave where his soul had been so lifted and free, and his worries forgotten. But then if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. We were back to reality.“Well, school is over. We should be going so that we can prepare for the party.” Daniel stated, still darting glances between I and Adam. He shook his head afterward, and walked away, without waiting for a response. I knew that Noah and Daniel knew where Adam and I had been all this while. It was written all ove
The first dress was short. Naomi had tried all she could to convince me to wear the dress, but to no avail. The dress, not only short, also hung tight on my whole curves. And as much as I wanted Adam’s eyes glued to me tonight, I wasn’t going to dress like Lilian or Claire to achieve that purpose.“Maya, the dress isn’t slutty. I wouldn’t tell you to wear it if it was so. It’s just short and cute. Well, since you don’t like it, you can try this one. I believe it will suit your taste.” Naomi said, taking the short gown from my hand and dropping it inside her box. Then, she handed me a blue dress, a light with glittering diamond-like crystals adorning it. The dress like the other hung to my curves, but it flowed down to my ankle. A relief. It had a slit that tore from my thighs down; which puts a task on the male folk to imagine what's underneath the gown after the slit.“Wow, you are looking beautiful, Maya. Adam would love it!” Naomi said, screaming the last clause, hurrying to get
NaomiI opened the front door to see my brother resting idly on his car, twirling his car keys around his index finger."You girls aren’t done yet?"I heard a deep voice say and shifted my gaze to the west angle of the car to know who had spoken. Adam. What was he doing here? Oh my. My brother…that traitor. I cussed, glaring at Timothy who shrugged his shoulders. How would I give Maya a heads up now?"Hello Naomi. You are looking beautiful.” Adam said, staring at me with mild admiration. He probably hadn’t expected me to clean up so fine.I smiled, unable to help it. Compliments always felt good."Hello Adam. Thanks for the compliment. You are not looking bad yourself. Did you tell Maya that you were coming?" I stepped down the short stairs, making my way to the duo."I don’t think so." Adam replied, throwing a wink at me which Timothy saw and huffed. My brother looked the other way, tapping his feet on the floor. He was obviously impatient."Stop hitting on my sister in front of
MayaThe party was in full swing when the five of us stepped into the hall which had been selected for the send forth event. I saw a lot of people I knew, including elders, here and there, probably taking in how the party was going and making sure that things were moving as the lycan king wanted it. Adam led us to a table where his friends and his brothers were gathered drinking, talking, and watching me. I noticed that everyone was doing those three activities, especially the last one. I was the center of attention. From the looks on everyone’s faces I could decipher what they are thinking about. One, is that I was looking so beautiful to be Maya, the wolfless pariah. My step brother, Lent, had his mouth open in shock, and Lilian’s facial expression was phenomenal. I wished I could take pictures of their faces. I could also see the mixed emotions of surprise and admiration in my mother’s eyes and the shock in my father’s. The others on ground also had the same look. Naomi had re
Nervously I watched, as the Lycan King climbed the podium and commanded the attention of everyone in the hall. Naomi’s left hand grasped mine and held, offering a much needed comfort. Appreciation rang true in my eyes as I turned and looked at her.“Good evening everyone. I am glad that y'all honored the invitation to be here tonight...as you all know, we have gathered here for the sake of one of ours…”The king continued with the speech; apologizing for the misconduct of his sons; and promising a better life for me outside the pack, in the city of humans. I turned to Adam, to see his reaction, when his father mentioned that a car would be coming next tomorrow to take me to the city of humans. His face was contorted in sadness, even as he redirected his gaze to stare at me as well, as if he had known that I had been staring at him all this time. He gave me a sad smile, and I wondered what that meant. Did it mean that he had given me up; that he couldn’t help the string of fate? M
Outside was cold and empty of life. There was no one I saw loitering outside the hall, except for me and the little girl who had invited me out. Although Naomi had been skeptical about the kind of meet up the girl had proposed, she had finally agreed to let me go. After all, what could go wrong? What could a twelve year old possibly commit against me? Well, seeing the dark and hollow environment, I was beginning to doubt and question that question of mine, especially since the bad feeling deep in my gut was getting deeper and wider. I shouldn't have come out here without Naomi. What was I thinking? I should have let Adam know at least. I had allowed my quest for a stupid information about Claire to drive me. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it. The girl still led the way, and I was about to ask her if we hadn't gotten to a place where no one would hear us yet, when she stopped abruptly and turned to face me. I looked at her, expecting her theory about Claire to resurface so that
Noah sighed at my question; the first sign that showed he was aware of my presence. But Adam and Daniel remained as they were. Noah’s sigh spoke of irritation. I hated it."If you are so irritated with me, Noah, then take your half baked self and leave with your people. Why do you even bother to come here when you know how selective I am with people?" I questioned, folding my arms across my chest, wondering what happened to the fear from before. My moods were similar to those exhibited by females during their menstruation period. Noah gave me no response, not even a glance. He just stared ahead, into space. I hated to be ignored, but I will be caught dead before I admitted that, or reflect that in my face.I looked at Claire. She was just staring at me blankly. "Who the hell are you? Daniel told me the assumptions you had made about them the last time they were here."Instantly Adam and Noah glared at their brother who tried not to squirm under their gazes.Well well well. I see w
As Levina announced that my old friend was here to see me, my heart sank like a stone in water, only because I knew that if Naomi was here, then the triplets were already at the Queen's palace. Before I gave into my fright mode, I noticed that Levina's eyebrow was piqued; she couldn't believe that I had another friend, especially from the pack."Do you know her? Is she your friend?" The emphasis on friends spoke of her unbelief and mild jealousy. This would be the first. Levina is jealous over friendships, but now magic?I gave a slow nod.She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, they are waiting by the counter?""They?" Raul asked, echoing my thoughts. They had come with Naomi to this place? Daniel must have been their director then.Fear gripped me instantly, squeezing my chest so tight I could barely breathe. The memories flooded back without hesitation– the cruel words, the relentless bullying that had haunted me for so long, despite being kept at bay by my sense of 'I have magic now,
Levina darted her eyes between I and Raul, wondering if it was a good choice to leave the drama that was about to unfold. When she stood up, I was sure that she had made the choice to hear a drama she wanted to happen, from me; for if she chose to stay, it might not happen. It amused me. I watched, keeping the amusement away from my face, as she sauntered away from me, to the door. She was about to leave when Raul suddenly called her back, drawing my attention to him for the first time since he had come into the store room. "What's my mother delivery doing here?" It was then I realized that I was still squatting by the carton. Oh god. I mentally palmed my head, since doing that physically would only toughen the uncertain situation we were already in. How do I convince Raul that I had not touched the carton? "I don't know. We had been offloading the cartons when we had seen it." Levina's confidence was something to be envied. Raul looked at her, and then at me. I had stood up imm
I found out that the boy Levina liked was Sinclair. Back in class, when the headboy was listing the rules and regulations by which the contest will be governed by, I had, out of a whim, turned aside to look at my friend; only to find out that she was watching Sinclair as an ardent fan would; not just a mere fan, but a fan in love with her object of fanship. Levina had been been hanging on his every word. And when he had called out her name—as the my campaign manager—listing off the do's and don'ts of her office, I had watched her ears turn pink. I had been amused. But I hadn't told her. That would’ve embarrassed her the more. I had decided to wait until she was secured enough to let me know about her likeness for the headboy and when it had started. Has Sinclair noticed her love for him? I wondered, subtly glancing at her now. Well if he did, he had a good way of hiding it. It made me consider the nuggets I had given Levina earlier; the ‘ignore him yet be in his space’ advice. Sin
This week has been uneventful. I surmised as I watched the professor summarize her teaching for the day. Even my magic classes that had been slotted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays had been uneventful. Seeing as I had a better control of my magic, I just did as they asked me, without any extra flourish. There was not a note of extra in me, of having fun whilst doing magic—not with the threat of Adam and his brothers hanging over me. Since the week started, till now, I had been waiting for the drop of the other shoe, but so far nothing has happened. It was like last weekend didn't happen, like my scar hadn't shown itself. And for my neck, all efforts to cover the mark had been futile. So, I had taken to wearing scarfs around my neck, and since it was a cold season, no one had raised an eyebrow at the piece of accessory which had never been equated to me. I had also gotten more friends, than I would have liked, or rather acquitances—people who liked me because I wasn't an ordinar
As I walked out of the Queen’s palace which was now filled with suffocating air, my heart pounded like a drum. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Adam might have found out who I really was. I couldn’t shake off the fact that he might put two together—the mark and my accurate information on Maya—and conclude that I was she whom he sought. Maya. The thought of this possibility sent shivers down my spine, and my mind raced with fear and uncertainty.For months, I've hidden my identity well, keeping the truth open to my adopted family alone, keeping it tucked away from prying eyes and whispers in the community and the pack. But now, a careless slip, a moment of indiscretion on my own end, and everything had come crashing down—it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Could this be the reason why my significant other hadn’t wanted me to speak to their parents?‘Was it the reason?’There was no response; just the thrumming of energy I felt. She was choosing to keep quiet? Quite unde
Had I dug myself deep into a hole by bringing up the subject about Maya? I wondered, sinking into the tension that had surrounded us after Adam's last statement. Rachel's mouth has never gotten around getting closed, and Raul's grip had tightened on my hand. The triplets all had smirks on their lips, masking, almost completely, the uncomfortableness that the topic on Maya had brought up. I shook my head. Even if I hadn't talked about Maya, the triplets wouldn't have allowed Raul to leave here with me, without making some lame agreement. "Dora, is this right? Did you agree to it?" Raul asked, incredulity ringing in his voice. I hissed from irritation, before I could stop it, causing Noah's smirk to get more prominent. "Why would you think I will agree to such stupid suggestion made by egocentric fools to soothe their egos because a girl turned them down?" "I'm sorry, I just…" "You thought I will be way over my head because three fine ass boys were coming for me." I freed my hand
At my question, I noticed first that the boys became confused. They were still sporting looks that claimed that I was lying, that I was wasting time, but at the same time, I could see the doubt of their own selves, of their own story accounts, like they weren't sure of their earlier stance. I saw it in Adam's jerk, and his subtle staggering back, as if I had dealt him a blow. I saw it in Noah’s lip biting intermittent motions. I saw it in Daniel’s subtle shifting of feet, and twitching hands. Then, I saw Adam dart a glance at his brother, Noah, then at himself—an inward look into his mind—as if trying to recall something that seemed out of his grasp. His brothers were in the same turmoil, and if I wasn't hearing their heart rate, if I wasn't as confused as they are, I might have called them liars. But my ears were attuned to their heart rate, my eyes were attuned to the several emotions that ran through their face in split seconds. The triplets were confused.They were confused abo
I would have said no to Raul's request if we were alone in the hallway, considering the topic I had just bashed Duke for, considering the fact he had been aware of the matter, but for the Lycan boys. Rachel had no place in my thoughts. If I were to deny Raul his request, then the purpose of kissing him in the first place would be defeated. I couldn’t allow that. Not that I regretted the kiss though. "Yeah, sure. I would love that." I managed to say without gritting my teeth, even going ahead to clasp his hand in my mine, when what I wanted exactly, was to slap him for endorsing his family's misconduct. He must have known my thoughts on him, because he instantly made an apology with his eyes. I diverted my gaze, I wasn't going to forgive him that easily, not even with those cute eyes of his. I made no comment as I and Raul walked past Rachel and Adam, not until Daniel called me, right after I walked past him and Noah. "You must think me a joke, if you believed I was going to let y