Vienna's POV: Before our lips could touch, a voice made us both whip our heads in its direction.“Vienna! Are you okay? I was so worried about you, you know…" The sweet, familiar voice rang out, announcing the arrival of someone, moments before Lola turned the corner and appeared in the hallway. "Asher came out a few minutes ago, and I was waiting, but you didn’t show up. Did he do something to hurt you…?" Her sentence trailed off, her eyes widening as she took in the scene before her: me standing against the wall, inappropriately and impossibly close to Fynn. "Oh." The single syllable carried many implications that made my cheeks burn with embarrassment.Her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets, and her mouth opened and closed a few times, like she was trying to process what she was seeing.“I’m sorry.” She finally managed to push out a few words, although she started stammering seconds later. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I… I…”"Lola!" I exclaimed, a little startled by
Vienna's POV: I felt like there was a gentle, yet powerful force holding my face upwards, towards the Moon Goddess herself. Like the firm hold of a mother's hand, compelling me to raise my chin as my eyes were sealed shut.There was darkness… only darkness around me, and all I could hear were faint whispers all around me. The spirits of the ancestors.The voices were in a language I couldn't understand but still felt familiar… like if I tried hard enough, I might understand what they were saying. But the tones were overlapping and blurring together, filling my mind with words I couldn’t decipher. My pulse pounded in my ears, and the whispers seemed to grow louder and more urgent, pushing into my mind until I thought my head might explode. And then, the force holding me went slack in an instant. My face lowered down and I could feel my body again, as if I was a puppet whose strings had just been cut. But the next moment, I felt a strange sensation, like I was being pulled forward.
Vienna's POV: The effect of the bond was instant, as I felt an electrifying pulse travel from the tips of my fingers to the pit of my stomach. My knees buckled, like I might collapse from the intensity of this moment. But before I could fall back, Fynn’s arm tightened around my waist, holding me steady. Kai finally broke the kiss, his dark eyes glowing. Still gasping for air, I turned to face Fynn. For a moment, he looked like he wasn't expecting me to turn around to face him, and he asked hesitantly, “Vienna, are you sure…? You can–” “Yes!”I cut him off, my heart thundering as I raised on my tiptoes to press my lips against his. His lips met mine, and the bond flared to life again, consuming me from head to toe.Behind me, I could feel Kai’s presence, his chest pressed against my back as if he couldn’t bear to be far from me.‘Oh Moon Goddess, please tell me I'm making the right decision…’Praying silently, I closed my eyes, leaning into the kiss with everything I had. Whe
Vienna's POV: “Or else it won't be my fault, whatever happens to you, in the rage I am already carrying because of this disgrace of my daughter–”“Dad, please…” My voice trembled as I tried to find my voice. No matter what he did or said to me, Lola was innocent and he couldn't vent his frustration there. “Don’t take your anger out on her. She’s just speaking as my friend—” “Shut up!” My father snapped, the words hitting me smack, like a whip. “You ill mannered girl. How dare you tell me what to do? Especially after what you have done, and the disgrace you have already called on the family… rubbing the colour of shame on my face. Don't you dare to utter a single word out of your mouth, let alone trying to teach me what is right and what is wrong!” My lips clamped shut, as he whispered with his teeth clenched tightly. “I am warning you, I don’t care whether you live or die. Do you hear me? I’ll disown you and throw you out of this pack right now if you don’t do as I say. So,
Vienna's POV:It was in a haze of pain, heartbreak, anger and tears that I managed to drag myself to my room, and plopped into my bed as my mind screamed for relief. And this morning, my eyes opened with the strange feeling of my body broken to bits, while my breaths were still resuming their regular schedule as if nothing had changed. Something was digging into my arm… a photo frame containing a picture of my mother– the only physical photo of her that I had left, which was still cradled in my arms. I guess I must have reached for it at some time during the night, but despite my wishes, another cursed morning had knocked at the door; and the day wasn't going to wait for me to be ready before barging in. With a resigned sigh, I shuffled to the bathroom, the water running too hot against my skin as it burned me a little, but also soothed the pain– or maybe numbed me completely. And probably this numbness was the exact thing that my soul was craving… as it finally gave me some of
Vienna's POV:I slowly opened my eyes, one at a time, my heart still beating loudly…but I thought I just heard Gemini's voice.Just the fact that she was trying to save me and making efforts to stop her mom from hitting me… it was completely unbelievable! But sure enough, she was here. Standing at the landing of the stairs, twirling her blonde ponytail around her fingers, looking down at me with a look of pity and smugness. Meanwhile, Tessa’s face was still inches away from mine, her nostrils flaring as she was trying to calm herself down. She dropped her hand, which had been raised to hit me, down to her side, but the fingers were still flexed with remaining anger. She took a few moments to cool off before she turned towards her daughter, placing a doting smile on her face and a glowing look in her eyes that was reserved only for Gemini, her pride and joy.Her real and biological daughter.“Are you ready to leave, darling? Come, let me serve you breakfast. I made it specially for
Vienna's POV:To be honest, attending college today wasn’t as bad as Gemini and Tessa had made me think this morning. Northfield College had it's own environment, totally separate from whatever was going on in the packs. It had been set up on neutral territory after a treaty signed hundreds of years ago, and ruled by a committee of werewolves from the eight neighboring packs. And because of it, it was a rare space where humans and wolves from different packs could join as students and teaching faculty, without fear of revealing their identities. Inside these walls, the pack boundaries and rivalries were not supposed to matter, existing only as background; or at least, in theory. Of course, we wolves were primal creatures and loyalty ran deep in our vein. As a result, occasional arguments and skirmishes tended to break out. But for the most part, the mix of students created a sense of normalcy I desperately needed. The Obsidian Pack, my pack, was only a small fraction of the colle
Vienna's POV:“I am not scared, neither am I lying. Because it's you two who are lying to save this bitch, because there is no way you all can have any proof against me. In fact, you two were not even here, when I made her trip–”“Gotcha! You finally accepted it from your mouth. Now tell me, are you going to apologize to her right away, or do I really have to choose the longer route? Because let me make one thing clear, I am not going to let you go unless you apologize to our Enna!”The expression of shock and frustration only stayed on Gemini's face for a few seconds, after she snitched on herself. And right in front of my eyes, it turned into anger and resentment.Her gaze was burning into me like I was somehow the root of this mess that she was in; and remembering how eager my step mother was about keeping me in the house on lockdown, I felt a shudder climb my spine. Her hatred for me apparently gave her the strength to overcome her fear, and she managed to laugh at the thought of
Author's POV:Tessa sat on the edge of the couch, her fingers fumbling with the hem of her dress. She had finally been convinced to drop her go bag from her; although she still wasn't sure how she had been roped into Gemini’s plan.This girl had a way to convince her to take part even in her unrealistic plans, and today was proof of it. Because even though she hadn't returned her jewels to their real compartments and boxes, she had at least placed the packed bag inside her wardrobe. And now, both mother and daughter were sitting together, working out a story which they needed to tell Orion as proof of Gemini's innocence– the story of the last conversation between Gemini and Vienna. "You'll say it like this," Gemini instructed. "Vienna was going to run away, and I tried to stop her. I was just looking out for her because I didn't want her to make a mistake that would ruin her life. So, I did whatever I needed to do, to keep her from running off."Tessa glanced at her daughter, fro
Author's POV:Asher's body stiffened in shock as he heard Fynn's voice ring through the alley. His heart skipped a beat, surprised that they had found them. After the fight he was sure that they would need months to recover from the physical injuries and for the mental one, they might take few more lifetimes to face Vienna again, and even after he was sure about them never appearing in front of him or Vienna ever again, he was still so cautious about keeping her away from them at any cost.And this is why he had made sure to bring Vienna just outside the pack borders, far enough from any tracking signals, believing he had covered all his bases. He thought he'd be able to isolate her, convince her that he was the only one who truly cared for her. But now, this—Fynn’s voice echoing through the damp night air.Ruining his plans! Making him extremely angry once again.Asher spun around, his eyes flashing with panic as he searched for the source of the voice. Because as Fynn's voice has
Vienna's POV:I couldn’t believe what was happening. One moment, I was walking calmly through the night, and the next, I found myself pressed against something cold and damp, a wetness seeping through my clothes. The burning, acrid smell of smoke invaded my senses, making my stomach churn. My head spun as nausea threatened to overwhelm me. I tried to take a breath, but it felt impossible, like the air had been sucked out of the space around me. My body tensed as I fought to keep my composure, but it wasn’t enough. I was on the verge of throwing up when I saw him—Asher. He stepped into view, his grin wide and unsettling, I felt the feeling of uneasiness growing stronger in my chest. As my heart pounded in my chest, and even though I wanted to , I couldn’t look away from him. With his left hand still buried in his pocket, he made a sweeping gesture with two fingers, and just like that, the thing that had been holding me released its grip. I gasped for air, sucking it in greedily, my
Vienna's POV:I watched them with growing concern, my hands gripping the sheets tightly. But I didn’t even know who I was worried about? Because the two people who matter the most for me were fighting with someone who has never been fair to anyone in any dynamic, but the reason for my fear was sounding logical and illogical at the same time.Was it the fear for Fynn and Kai, that my heart was unable to beat properly the moment they stepped in front of Asher or was I afraid for myself? My protection? That they might not be able to handle so many opponents at once? No, of course not. They were strong, stronger than anyone I had ever met. I had no doubt they could protect me against anything, against anyone.Or was it for Asher? That he was stupid enough to challenge two Alpha wolves who were older and more experienced than him, without knowing their true power? Maybe. Because I wanted nothing to do with him anymore, but that didn’t mean I wanted him dead. He was reckless, arrogant, an
Author's POV:Asher was not here just to take Vienna back with him, but he was there for one more reason… and according to him this reason was equally important in his eyes, even when his father had told him that they needed to pay attention to the first one.He was more intrigued by the story that he has just come to know, and after finding out about this, he wasn't ready to leave any of chances. Just as his father had narrated to him about the story from thousands of years ago, werewolves and humans coexisted in this world, with only a few humans knowing about their shifting abilities. The werewolf packs used to stay as tribal villages within forests, and didn't like to mingle with humans much. But over time, the werewolves were forced to abandon their forests because of various reasons, including the intrusion of humans. It was a new challenge for the packs to try and integrate with human society, while keeping their own norms intact. And naturally, the two species didn't mix t
Asher's POV:A single growl from Fynn was enough to make the guards hesitate and step back from Kai. In fact, his voice made me shudder for a moment, but shrugging it off, I narrowed my eyes to focus better. My brain had already started to make me question every single detail which I knew about them, which wasn't much to start with. There wasn't just a single question that I needed answers for, instead there were plenty of them. First of all, where the hell had these two brothers come from? And what were these strange abilities they possessed? They weren’t just rogues… no, they had to be something else. Something much worse. There is an extremely big clue about them, that all of us were missing, as I am sure I was not able to identify their real identity, then hoping anyone else will have some clue about this was just a waste of time, effort and energy.I was about to lurch towards Fynn, shrugging all my thoughts aside. I don't care who they really are, and as long as I am stronge
Author's POV:Kai’s voice was cold and sharp as steel. “Mind it Asher!! I’ll only ask this once: what the hell are you here for?” His piercing gaze locked onto Asher, staring at the boy like he was an annoying fly on the wall. “Because let me tell you, you can’t take one more step toward Vienna without suffering badly.”Vienna was covered almost completely behind Fynn, who was standing protectively close to her, his arm brushing against hers in silent reassurance. But all her focus was on Kai who was standing near the doorway, physically blocking Vienna from the gazes of their unwelcome guests. He was like a storm barely contained, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.Asher smirked, his confidence unshaken. “What did you think, Maddox? This isn't your stupid college where you will complaint against me, do you get that? You thought that you could just elope with the Beta’s daughter, drag her name through the mud in front of the entire pack, and within two days, bring her back h
Author's POV:Tessa watched Gemini closely, her sharp gaze catching every flicker of emotion that danced across her daughter’s face. Anger. Hurt. Confusion.All emotions were present there, she was just trying to find the exact to express, as Gemini was saying or doing anything, but this was when her daughter suddenly spoke, breaking all her hopes in million of pieces, as she turned towards her and with the dark expression, she announced;And why do you think that I am still going to do what you ask me to do, after what you have already done, because till now, after what you have done, you are the only culprit for everyone and till I didn't help you or get involved in any of your plans, I am completely innocent, because I was also unaware of this cruel of reality of yours and that's make me also a victim of your actions. So, Mom! I have decided, I am not going to be the part of your evil plans anymore and pretend like the victim I really was, till now and just like you said, nobody w
Author's POV:Gemini was sitting like a motionless statue on the edge of her mother’s bed, her body stiff and her eyes staring blankly ahead as if the world around her had stopped spinning. Everything present there was making her feel like they were trying to mock her, in fact there wasn't even any doubt, they were surely mocking her!So after all, this was how destiny played the ultimate prank on her. She had always mocked Vienna for not being the legitimate daughter of their father, when she was the one who was illegitimate…!! And the worst part was that it could have been hidden till the eternity, if only Vienna would have died and Asher would have chosen Gemini. But no, none of this was going to happen; not only was she still alive even after all the effort she has gone through to erase her from this earth, but all her effort had gone futile… not even her masterstroke was going to give her any result apart from making things worse for her. Depression started to crawl in her he