Ellie's POVThe local Full Moon Festival comes once every year. And the werewolves love to make a show of it because this is the biggest day of the year. You can count on it and count everything else out.The moon is at its peak, as full as a pregnant woman's belly due for delivery.It is a little bit of daredevilry on the streets when every wolf goes down on four limbs and runs wild with the wind in its furs."It's gonna be some show," the cheerleaders Captain purrs like a cat, and I have the feeling that she's talking something akin to naked bodies."Like last year?" Anna asks her.We stand at the door of the library, exchanging small talk with Rebecca, and Anna wants to know what the cheerleaders are going to be doing during the festival. Showing off their sexy dances or spreading their legs in an orgy?Rebecca brightens. "Last year was something memorable! But I've got plans for this year.""Finally," Anna breathes. "Tell me about it."Rebecca adjusts her pink sweater, showing off
Third POVAnd suddenly, Ellie is the center of attraction. All eyes turn to her like a beacon, glazing over her like she's ice.Ellie notices the states of concentration and curiosity, and wonders what would be going on in their minds right now. At the least, a lot of questions enough to make an Artificial Intelligence bot overwork.Slowly, Sofia backs away with her twin barracudas, and she stands at a safe distance. If she thinks he cannot get to her easily there, she should have a second thought coming."Nice and easy now, are you?" Austin challenges, and Sofia just regards him like a Freaked-Out Scooby Doo. And, of course, she's buried in Anna's drink.Austin turns to Ellie and puts his hands on her shoulders and gently rubs, like he's trying to get some life into them. "Sorry about that, Ellie. You okay?"Ellie sighs, trying to show off some Impervious Rex. "She was just smarting off, is all.""She won't do it again," he affirms, and smiles thickly.Someone comes over and taps him
Ellie's POV"You should stop behaving like a baby, Ellie," Professor Bernie Halstead chides me and takes his seat again. The previous gesture was just to make me feel somewhat important. Though, I cannot judge his intentions, but a man like this one? Who screws college girls in hotel rooms? Anything can be possible with him."Well, we'll see who cries for mommy, Professor," I say, as a parting shot, with much scorn that I can muster. Then I walk out in him, feeling very conscious of my movements, in case the old worm tries to grab at me.He doesn't. Instead, he chuckles.I don't go up to my room. Too concerned about myself to do that first, and too worried about Professor Bernie sitting comfortably in the parlor. I turn corners and maneuver my way to Austin's study. I knock on the door, less polite than I should have.There is the usual delay, as if he is wondering if he should answer it or not."Who is it?" his voice is muffled behind the door."Ellie," I say, and walk in. At least,
Third POVProfessor Bernie Halstead rubs his fat palms together in excitement. He has played this game for too long to be labeled an amateurish. She will pay, for what she and her friends have done to humiliate him. There's the other girl. But this one will do. For now.He had been very patient, like an unusual dog. For one whole month. Bidding his time. Her guard had been up like an agitated scorpion. You could even see it on a radar, if she were some goddamn airplane. Then slowly, she let it down and he had noticed. That's when he started to prepare.Now the plan was to make sure that no one would be in the house on the day he would put something in the beverage. And this part, wasn't even difficult, as the Alpha King and his butler were always busy with one thing or the other.Today, Austin is not in the palace and the butler is out for shopping.How wonderful. He quickly finished his drink, and politely asked Ellie to get more for him. The moment she left was the one he had been w
Austin's POVEllie shuts the door behind her and my heart nearly stops. And I don't mean it figuratively.What could have gone wrong? Did they have a fight, Ellie and the Professor? Of course, she was never comfortable with me calling on a home tutor without hearing her opinion first. But, right now, I'm beginning to wonder if it's the Professor she has a problem with instead.I walk out the door and close it with less force than Ellie used. I take out my phone and call Beta. When he picks, I tell him to meet me underground.I'm sitting at the chess table when he comes down to the ladder and takes his seat on the other side. For a change, he is wearing a white long sleeve shirt and jeans trousers. He has the shirt buttoned up to his neck.He looks at me, patiently waiting for me to broach whatever I have in mind."She's mad," I tell him."Who's mad, Your Majesty?""Ellie. When I met her earlier, she was rude and sentimental. Reminding me of why she didn't want Professor Bernie Halstea
Austin's POVI turn to the man on the hospital bed, and when he sees the look on my face, his smile dissolves immediately like ice under the sun. Now that I look at him in a different light, not the one of complete reverence and respect for a man of his worth, but one with suspicion; like he might be guilty after all.I pick up the reporter's chair and carry it close to Bernie's bed. His eyes follow me every moment and I'm concerned that they might just fall out of their sockets if he keeps up with that.I don't sit on the chair. I put one leg on it and rest my arms on my knee."Tell me something, Professor Bernie Halstead. How has it been ever since you lost your wife?"Those eyes of his stop darting around like a rat and seem to focus. But not on my face. They are on my arms."Losing Elizabeth was... a tragedy.""I guess so, after I lost my parents at an unusual age."He says nothing to that. I check my phone."And how have you been coping without her, Bernie?"He shrugs. Delays. "C
Austin's POVI walk her to a bench as Beta completes his phone call. When I try to make her sit down so we can talk, she disagrees."Can we just get out of here? The place makes my skin crawl."I nod in understanding. "Alright, Ellie."We walk through the lobbies and I don't leave her alone. My hand is around her shoulders. Beta follows in tow dutifully. It's like a select world outside here. The sky is the colour of a dog's vomit. Seems like it's about to rain hail or something.We sit in the silence of the Range Rover Sport like someone stole the car radio. Both of us in the backseat. However, Ellie keeps her distance. And to me, she seems far away. Close, but far away.The feeling in my heart right now is one of regret, and like the devil's winnowing sickle, is tearing me apart. If I had listened to her initially, she wouldn't be this distraught."It's all my fault, Ellie. I want you to know this. And I'll be willing to make up for it. Anything you want me to do for you, Ellie. You
Unknown POVWhoever said aristocratic banquets are a bore, must have a melancholic temperament. I know all about the black and white suits and ties and the dinners and the need to look the taste for the bigwigs. But that's how you would feel if you just sit on the sidelines and watch. Me, I get involved.I turn off the engine of my red Maserati, and kill the lights. This banquet has been better than the last one I attended at the Chevron Hotel. That one was a pure waste of time, considering our unannounced visitors.I alight and unlock the door to my house. It's a duplex and it's all mine. The loneliness is a good advantage. I get to turn myself on however I want.I turn on the lights as I go. Stop by the kitchen to grab a lighter and a pack of Malboros from a wall cabinet. Then I move upstairs and help myself into my room. The design is animalistic. Of the woods. Not just any, but a special one. One I have been to. I'm the wolf and this is my jungle.I let my handbag drop onto a couc
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