Austin's POV"Ellie?" I call out.The clinging and rattling of bottles stop. It's her. She takes a step back, and straightens. Turns to look at me.I'm frightened at who I see in the kitchen light. Ellie's eyes are red and swollen. I move closer to her. The lines are as visible as the line of a pant underneath a tight skirt. Her face is all smeared with snail lines of tears. Running from her eyes down south like tyre tracks, are black eyeliner marks.I look her over. Notice the slight shaking of her body, which graduates into a dangle.I interpret that she's already drunk, and she's trying so hard to keep her composure in control so I don't notice.But I do.I don't even have the mind to ask her what's wrong anymore. I don't think it will matter even. What will she tell me? Some confounding story in her state of drunkenness?I close the distance between us and Ellie falls into my arms.Ellie struggles desperately to keep her eyes wide open but the effect of the booze in her system and
Third POVThe smoke rings form a circle in the air, and if it were not for the fact that she is swimming with booze, she would have thought that it was a picture of her pudenda.The thought infuriates her so much that she stabs the cigarette out in a tray.She had heard the news of Anna and Austin's engagement, as announced by that cunning snake, Devonshire. What the hell were they thinking going to the press with something like that? As far as she is concerned, it cannot be possible. She has tried so hard to get Austin back, all through the years, and what does she get?Nada.Nothing.She has beauty, she has class, she has soul, she has an accommodating pussy, everything a man like the Alpha King will want. But he doesn't want any of these from her. Instead, he leaves her and goes to pursue the ones who should be referred to as remnants. Bottom of the food chain. Or something much more preposterous.She wonders if Austin might be doing all of it just to make her jealous of him. Well,
Third POVA tall guy, who looks twice Ellie's size, stands up from a chair."Oh, welcome fellas, we have been waiting for you."Ellie's eyes roam around the welcoming committee. Counts six bloodsuckers. It's easy to identify them because of that smell of blood. Like metal. Like sucking on a coin. They are all dressed in dark clothing. And right on a table dripping with blood, is someone, who doesn't look part of the gang."That's our guy," Jaden clarifies, like he's reading her thoughts.Tall Guy crooks a finger at the body, pouts. "Oh, beauty goddess over here? Had to take care of him. Cover our tracks. Before people like you start finding things out.""What have you got to do with this?" Ellie demands.Another pout. Ellie takes a wild mental guess that he must be gay as well."What's this?""Anna's death.""Oh, Anna Devonshire's?" He scoffs. Looks at his men. "We had a good time with that one, did we not?"They chortle. Mumbles of agreement flood the Magnificent Six. Tall Guy wiggle
Third POVAustin gives Jaden a serious stare and walks out of the room. Gets in the backseat of the Range after Ellie and shuts the door."Cruel, right?" Austin asks again, like that was a mistake and he's expecting Ellie to correct herself.But she doesn't."That's what I said.""Don't be ridiculous, Ellie. How come you abscond to go stay with some guy in his house for two days?""I did not abscond to stay at Jaden's place for two days. It's not even two days. And I was helping him out."Beta comes in and starts the engine. Puts the car into drive."Helping him out with what?" Austin demands."None of your business," Ellie snaps."Beta, goddamn move this vehicle!"Dutifully, the driver adds pressure to the pedal. Austin decides that he won't say anything to Ellie during the drive. It's better they get home first. Though, he can't stop himself from stealing glances at her. But she doesn't return any. Just stares out the side of her window.The Alpha King wonders if Ellie is trying to
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
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 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
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