Third POVIt is a crazy world with a lot of insanities running in between, and then shocks, that one would think he is constantly sitting on barbed wire. Or they rather, because Grace and Joan are shocked.They haven't seen him for a long, long time, since high school. Best times and days missed.Grace, who smiled at Ellie, always had a crush on the Alpha King. He was handsome, smart, and quite gentlemanly. Some of their teachers then, branded him as the most quiet student in the class.There was a day when Austin was absent from school and their Philosophy teacher had to punish the whole class for creating a hullabaloo. He had made a particular reference to the boy who always sat at the back of the class, keeping his cool, but capable of writing anything he was asked to. He expected them all to emulate Austin. He never bragged, in as much as he was royalty.From that moment on, Grace began to have eyes for Austin. It wasn't the teacher's exaltation of him that prodded her, it was jus
Third POVThe sky is the color of horse vomit. Ugly, and grotesque in between. For the fact that it is the weekend makes the day seem a little bit awkward, as if there's been some mistake and it should be Monday instead of Saturday. The traffic is much, the snake skin road looks tireless, every damn where is grumpy and lackluster.It's a stakeout today also. Ellie and her team of detectives meet at Jaden's place by eleven in the morning to finalize things up. They are in the garage and Jaden is quite nervous, keeps looking out the window, checking if someone's coming close to the building."You should lose the edginess, Jay," Anna says. "You're making me worry about you.""It's my dad's garage, Anna. If he sees me having a convo with two girls in here, he'll think we're about to have a threesome."Ellie makes a face, puts one palm over her mouth like she's holding back a puke."How many porn videos have you watched this week, Jay?" Anna asks."Why?" Jay says. "What has that got to do
Third POVKarma. That thing can be a bitch sometimes, especially when one is enjoying his or her own slice of life so much, and then the dices roll and everything changes to a new level. It hurts more than heartbreak, stopping the speed of one's life and staring at you directly in the face and asking, "Ellie?"Ellie spins around when she hears that voice. Standing right in the middle of the hallway is the one person she would never have thought possible to be here.Austin regards her with a look of horror, his eyes walking swiftly up and down her body like a weaving rod.Ellie is unable to even say anything, her mouth loses its skill for forming words, and it's a pity her eyes aren't made for that purpose because all she can do at the moment is stare at the Alpha King.Jaden is the first one in the lobby and he stops at the top of the stairs the moment Austin whizzes past, following Ellie's almost indistinct scent.Jaden watches as Ellie bursts out of the hotel room, eyes still on the
Third POVA gasp of surprise escapes Ellie's mouth and her resolve and composure are attacked by panic. She immediately decides to rear backwards, hoping to hide beside the couch, in case he hasn't seen her.But how wrong she is. The hand holding the marker cannot be mistaken. And Austin is no fool. Before she can react, he reaches out a strong hand and grabs her left arm, pinning her to the couch. Nowhere to run to, sweetheart.Even in the dark, he notices the slight shade of uneasiness that flits across her face. The inside of his head is a freaking Temple Run right now so it takes him a while to realize that she is wincing from his grip on her lean biceps.When he speaks, his voice comes out groggy. "What... the hell... are you doing here?"Ellie stops wriggling for an escape as she considers his question carefully. Austin fell asleep on the couch some hours ago and from his breath, she did realize that he had been out drinking. Pathetic, she thinks. But his brain would still be mu
Austin's POVMy desire for her on this very night is as strong as a vampire's love for human blood. I can tell. I have killed a couple of them over the past years that I have ruled as Alpha King.Their thirst for this red liquid is always insatiable. One bloodsucker can drink blood from twelve humans and spend all of it on the strength and longevity it gives. There is no storage tank for them, it is abysmal. I can tell this too. I have gutted a couple of them to know that gory fact.For them, blood isn't food. It's just a medium of sustenance. That is why I see them as a curse. And that is why I can never stop killing them.Falling into the urgings of my wolf means I have to become a vampire for this night, and do the unthinkable. And that is one line that I do not want to cross."I cannot," my mind reaches into that one place where I talk with my wolf. His name is Kennedy. And he is as terrible as I am. He can be very opposite in an annoying manner. Sometimes, he keeps me silent when
Third POVAustin rises from the pool after three hours and sits on the bank, letting the chilly night breeze caress his moist body. He feels some relief, and the pain in his head is not there any longer.It always frustrates him, this psychological burden he has to bear, dealing with the effect of wolfsbane in his blood.He thinks about the flawless strength of past Alpha Kings he has heard of and read about. Of their invincibility. How come his has to be any different? Couldn't there be a one time cure for this poison inside of him? Must he live with it even though it was an accident during a bloody war?It sounds like punishment, rather than an affliction. At least, he knows that one could get a remedy for a particular distress. But who or what could release him from this penalty?His body dries up and he gets up on his feet, locates his clothes and puts them on. Austin hears the gamma guards talking and he puts on his footwear and walks to the front of the palace."Thought you guar
Austin's POVToo much information, I think, as I walk out of the palace and yell at a guard to open up the garage door for the Escalade. One thing I like about this car is that I hardly drive it. Whenever I do, it mirrors the way I feel inside, because the bodywork is red.I press the ignition button, and shift the vehicle into gear. Just before I zoom out of the open gate, I beckon on one of the door guards. He comes over and bends just outside the car window."Your Majesty?""Make sure she stays indoors until I return. She is not to leave the grounds, by any means possible, and that includes even sorcery. "The guard cocks his head to one side, his coiffure almost tilting with the gesture. "But... sorcery, Your Majesty?""What? She's capable of anything." I floor the pedal and the hardly-driven Escalade's meter runs up to 40km/hr.In the side mirror, I see the guard watch my departure. I can probably guess what's going on in that head of his right now. Total confusion. Couldn't seem
Ellie's POVBut it's like they say: It's not being smart, it's employing people that are smarter than you are that will give you true success."Then dump it if you can't depend on its certainty and look for a better source," Jaden advises."Yeah, you're right," I agree, emptying my juice. "I should ask more questions.""And if you ever need anything, tell us, we're more than ready to help," Anna assures.I nod. "Thanks, guys."Then Anna makes a face. "The captain of the school football team wasn't happy when we showed him pictures of his beloved in a hotel room with a man whose upper half I asked Jaden to make blurry. He kept banging on the table to know who the hell that was.""What did you guys tell him?" I ask."See no see, tell no tell," Jaden says cryptically, and Anna looks at him like he's lost his brains. "Just a confraternity slang, Anna. We told him that the man in question was too important for his identity to be revealed. If he really wanted it, he'd have to pay a fortune.
Ellie’s POVI watch in horror as Jaden coughs up blood, his body convulsing with the effort. My body freezes for a few minutes as I realize what I have done. I know I had expected this, but planning it and seeing it happen are two different things. Plus, it’s too late to turn back now.Jaden glares at me, his eyes filled first with surprise and then with anger and betrayal. "Why?" he croaks out, his voice barely audible. “I thought you loved me.”I fall to my knees beside him, my hands shaking. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I have to protect Austin and my people. You and your vampires are a threat that I can’t let go free."Jaden's eyes widen in disbelief. "You set me up?" he gasps. "After all that we've been through, you would do this to me?"I stare unflinchingly into his eyes. "I had no choice," I say, my voice hard. "I had to do what was best for my people. Your death is what’s best, for all of us. I know your plans now, I know Cathy is on her way to the battle with the rest of your ar
Ellie’s POVJaden had gotten too dependent on my blood after the last few battles, and it was all I could wish for.The poisoned blood would be running its course now; I can feel it in my bones. I try to ignore it, and most of the time I am able to, but some nights I am hit with vicious fevers and cold sweats. I am always better in the morning, but my body, and my resolve, have gotten weaker and weaker.If I am this weak, that means Jaden will be too, even if he doesn’t show it. He would never suspect that I am responsible for the weakness, though. I overhear him once telling his subordinates to fetch him fresh humans for blood instead of refrigerated blood from their usual blood bank.Gross.Jaden pampers me, and Cathy shoots daggers my way each time she sees me, but their attention, extreme as it is, doesn’t matter. All I want is Austin, but I can’t contact him.Not yet. It will be too soon.But as the days go by, I start to realize that the vampires are planning something big. They
Ellie's POVI stare at Jaden, feeling my world shatter into a million pieces. I can't believe what I'm hearing.So he is a vampire, and not just any vampire but the vampire prince, the very one who has orchestrated the war between werewolves and vampires. The one who has caused so much bloodshed and chaos. And yet, here he is, standing in front of me, looking just like the friend I had come to know and care for.I feel a wave of emotions washing over me - shock, anger, betrayal - each one so intense I can hardly breathe. How can he have deceived me like this? How can he have been so callous as to use me, to manipulate me?My mind races with questions, but I struggle to form any coherent thoughts and I only manage to ask one."Why, Jaden? Why go through all this trouble?"Jaden says nothing, but he gives me a huge toothy grin that shows off his fangs. I try to muster a little anger, but all I can focus on is the fact that Jaden has been lying to us all this time. Was anything he said o
Third POVAustin growls internally as he barks orders at everyone around him. It was supposed to be a night of laughter, joy, and love. The guests had arrived early, and the festivities were in full swing. Ellie looked radiant in her red gown, and her laughter echoed through the trees as they danced. Austin had watched Ellie all night, unable to keep his eyes off her, feeling his chest swell with pride and something dangerously close to love.She was radiant, filling the space with her presence, and he wasn't the only one she trapped in her spell.The night would have been perfect, but the vampires just had to show their faces, and now he is needed. His Gamma Warriors have gathered at the first sign of trouble, and he needs to lead them into battle. He knows he has to abandon the party halfway through and rush to get rid of the vampires. It's not a decision to make; after all, the safety of his kingdom comes first.As he walks through the guests, he grabs Ellie's hand and gives her a
Ellie's POVAfter the day Cathy flees, I hear the rumors swirling around the pack for days before someone, Beta, finally says it out loud: Cathy has defected and escaped to somewhere unknown beyond the werewolf border.My heart sinks in my chest at the thought. Cathy is strong, more powerful than any one wolf has ever had the right to be other than the Alpha King himself. If she has left, it means something is seriously wrong.There's something significant coming. She has a plan.But nobody knows what it is.I can't stop thinking about Cathy as I walk through the forest, trying to clear my head. Knowing the things she was capable of in Austin's presence, I shudder to think of what she will now be capable of without the power of the Alpha King hanging over her.The sound of wood crackling fills the air around me, so I look up and see Jaden leaning against a tree, right where I asked him to wait.Jaden and I had been together for some time, but something inside me has shifted recently.
Austin’s POVI wake up to the sensation of someone's warm breath on my neck, and I realize that I have spent the night with Ellie. My body feels sated and content, and most of all completely healed, but my mind is restless. There is a nagging feeling that something is off.While we were together, after the first time in the tub when I carried her to my room, I had noticed something. There was no blood, and she was more willing than I could have ever imagined.As we lie there, basking in the afterglow, I notice a strange look in Ellie's eyes. It was almost as if she was feeling the same thing I was. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was a familiar feeling that was hard to shake.This situation with Ellie and me – the feeling of her arms wrapped around me and her moans in my ears, the fact that I could even take her over and over again – it triggers a sense of deja vu, but I ignore it.I notice Ellie’s deep breaths even out and I turn my face down to hers. There is one question
Third POVThe force of the explosion rocks the road itself, sending debris wide and other drivers running. A siren sounds from far away, but the firefighters would be too late. Ellie is knocked unconscious, unable to climb out of her burning car.Luckily, a few people who would be very familiar to Ellie if she is fully awake rush to the scene, and dazed Ellie coughs continuously as a pair of strong arms pull her from the wreckage.Free from the smoke and soot, Ellie gasps and shoots upright as fresh air fills her nostrils. She is disoriented at first, her eyes darting around her as she fights to bring her breathing under control, and a familiar voice sounds from behind her as a blanket is wrapped around her shoulders.“Don’t worry, El. You’re safe now.”Between gasps, Ellie manages to look behind her and is greeted by Beta’s worried face.“What… what are you doing here?”He scoops her up into his arms and signals for the people surrounding them in a tight circle to spread out. While t
Third POVPast events run through her head like a bullet train along a rail line. She remembers them all. Nonfiction. Because they all happened the way she planned. Coupled with the information in the letter in her hands, Cathy cannot be mistaken.Ellie is really her biggest enemy.She never saw the signs, never got too suspicious of the fact that there might be something going on between the benefactor and the beneficiary.So he cares about her. Really does. But why pretend? Why put on a facade that she is just his adopted daughter when she's obviously more than that?Or does he know about the sudden deaths that always befall his chosen mates and decide to protect Ellie by telling a public lie because he really cares about her?Cathy shakes her head and slowly sits down on the couch. She rereads the part where the letter says that Ellie has been investigating the real cause of her parents' death for the past two years.Markus and Rebecca Roze.A wicked smile breaks her face apart as
Third POVEllie knows that Austin is wrong about Jaden and her. He is always wrong about her personal life, but she doesn't even understand why he still tries so hard to get involved.Why come to the table if all you have to offer are condemning insinuations that make no sense nor convey any atom of truth?The look on Ellie's face is lost on the Alpha King. He watches as a tear crawls down her face like a gecko stalking an insect prey."Isn't that what you want?" he demands.When Ellie tries to vent her disapproval and disappointment, words choke in her throat like a knot has been tied around her voice box. She feels the hurt clench her throat, dissipates down and across her upper half that she begins to shake like a child whose brain has been taken over by jaundice.She sobs.And the quakes break her down. Piece by piece. When she cannot take it any longer, Ellie pushes forward and runs out of her room. She doesn't bother to shut the door this time."You can run all you like, but you