The 6’2" lean men in suits who look like cloned bodyguards form a wall behind Marcus, standing at attention in front of the cars, and he stands in front of them, wearing a wife beater, facing me and folding his bulked arms like the boss he fancies himself to be. “It’s you, again.” I make an exasperated sigh. He chuckles. “Don’t look so disappointed. You know I run this operation.” He grins arrogantly. “No, Mike runs this operation. You are just an errand boy.” He growls in response. “Just be grateful that you are still under the boss’s protection, or you would be screaming like a girl right now. I know you are going to mess up again, and I can’t wait.” I stare at him when it finally clicks. Marcus hates me because I’m valuable to Mike, and he hates the fact that his boss needs me more than him. I ignore his empty threats. “So, ten men, huh? I didn’t know you were so afraid of me.” “These men are here to keep you in control, because you need to be tamed like the animal that you a
WillowI stay in the bathroom for some time, looking around for a way out. I look up at the air vent. If I can find a screwdriver or a pair of scissors to open and climb into this, I can probably move through the ceiling and find myself elsewhere, but what about Leo? What if they hurt him?“I hope you are okay, Leo.” I whisper, and I walk out of the bathroom to face the poker face. I find him sitting on the couch and scrolling through his phone. “You have been in the bathroom for an entire hour.” He says without looking up. “I was fascinated by the walls.” I roll my eyes at him. “There’s no need for that smart mouth. I’m the one in charge.” He slightly tilts his head up to glance at me.“Yeah, you have made that clear,” I retort.He sighs and continues to scroll through his phone.“You have a nice bathroom, by the way, I almost took a bath,” I say to get rid of the uncomfortable silence and to try to distract him from texting people he might be sending over to kill me or ship me of
Willow Alpha or Mike or whoever his real name is unfastens the blindfold, and after my eyesight has adjusted to the light in the car, I look out of the window of the limousine to realize that we are back in Seattle. “Champagne?” He asks casually. I glare at him, and he chuckles. “Oh! The walls have gone up again. You don’t trust me.” “I have never trusted you,” I mumble. “But you seemed so comfortable in the penthouse, I almost thought we were friends.” I shake my head in disbelief. I felt a little comfortable, but I couldn’t befriend my kidnapper. “You are a lunatic!” He winces. “I’ve been called worse.” “Really? I can’t imagine why.” I roll my eyes. He titters. “Your coldness towards me came out of nowhere.” “It did?” “Yeah, ” He grins. The car stops, he gets out and holds out his hand, but I walk out without taking his hand again, and he chuckles. I look around the parking lot and my jaw drops when I notice that we are at Preston, one of the fanciest restaurants. He hol
Willow “Did you kill someone?” I ask him. He remains quiet for a few seconds, and I wait impatiently. “No,” he finally says. “Then it can probably get fixed.” “ I wish...” He exhales. Then he looks at me, his face filled with sadness. “I’m sorry for making your life a mess. I’m the one who went to the club, and I’m the one who went to the apartment when you told me to stay away.” I say to him. “It’s not your fault, this is all me.” The waiter comes back to take his food and drinks order, and I also order a drink. "Don't worry, I'm going to pay for our meal," I say to her. "No, you can order anything, you are not allowed to pay.""How much did my friend give you?" I eye her suspiciously, worried that she might be left with little money. She chuckles, breaking eye contact."Okay." I hold my hands up in defeat. "I'm sorry for being nosy." She laughs before walking away."Mike," he sighs. "He gave her ten thousand dollars, we are probably going to use $1 500 because the restura
Willow “No, that’s impossible.” I shake my head. “I’m serious, Leo makes limbicus and sells it to Mike, who sells it to other drug dealers. Why do you think they never found the lab results of the drug used to spike your drink?” I gasp. “Did Leo bribe the hospital staff?” “No, I thought you knew that limbicus is untraceable.” “But Marcel...” “Marcel confessed, remember? And he had the limbicus with him.” “No, not Leo.” I shake my head. “Think.” He looks at me, his green eyes daring me to deny what I already suspected. “Leo kept saying I was going to hate him if he told me the truth.” “See?” He raises his eyebrows. “I’m going to kill him,” I say between my teeth. “No, calm down.” He puts his arm around me. “Don’t tell me to calm down, you are also a traitor. You watched me befriend him and you didn’t say a word.” I remove his arm and I glare at him. “I, I didn’t want you to think I was jealous and bitter.” “No, you should’ve said something.” “I told you not to work with
Leo As Willow walks out, Chloe gazes at her, then shifts her attention back to me, takes Willow’s seat, and starts eating the crab left on the plate. I raise my eyebrows, “I thought you were going to talk to her.” “No, I’ll see her later,” she says dismissively. “Right now, I need to talk to you,” she sips the mojito mocktail that Willow left behind and she smiles, noticing my confusion. “Talk to me about what? Do you want to order something?” “Maybe a drink later. I want to talk about us, but before that, I want to talk about Willow’s kidnapping.” She says casually. “I have handled it. What about it?” I ask defensively. “You are pretty defensive for someone with scars. They need to pay for what they did to both of you. Do you know why they kidnapped her?” “No,” I shake my head and immediately regret it. Wrong answer. “I think I should hire a PI to find out, and I will find her a bodyguard. They can’t kidnap her without a reason. Unless you are hiding something from me.” She
Leo “No!” I take a deep breath. “I’ve had it with people using Willow to get what they want from me. I won’t allow, I won’t allow...” This damn pain! "Professor Brown," nurse Marie nods as she passes and I nod back. “If you don’t do it, I’m going to make her go insane, slowly.” He stares into my soul, his jaw clenched and his green eyes gleaming with fury. “I’m going to make her lose confidence in herself, and you can’t tell her my plan or I will reveal your little limbicus secret.” He continues. “You petty bustard!” I manage to string up a sentence between breaths. “Let her go! She needs to move on, to find someone better. Don't involve her in our fights.” “Why do I get the feeling that, that someone is you?” He titters. “I wonder how Alpha Hunter would react to this. His son is in love with a human.” “Don’t, don’t mention that monster!” “That monster is a father figure to me, and he is going to make me an alpha.” “I would die before I let that happen!” “Fine by me. At least
Willow “What are you girls doing? Why is Chloe not taking my calls? Am I interrupting your girl time?” My mom’s call wakes me up. “No, Chloe is probably asleep.” I try to ensure that she doesn’t sense my confusion. “Probably? I thought that your dorm had only one bedroom.” “We decided to sleep at a hotel. Didn’t she tell you that?” “No! She just told me that she is out of the hospital and you two decided to spend some time together. I wanted to come.” I chuckle in realization. “She’s okay, mom. I’m glad that the two of you patched things up.” “Me too,” she sighs. “You girls are all I have.” “And you are all we have. I have to go, we’ll call you later.” “Just forget to eat healthy food.” “Forget?” I laugh. “Don’t forget,” she titters, making me laugh more. “I love you,” she says. “We love you too.” I take a quick shower, and I prepare myself for what is probably going to be a long day ahead. I grab a cloth and delicately pick up the 1 kg pack of limbicus from Liam wrapped
Willow “You managed to protect your little boyfriend?” I shiver as Liam’s warm breath slightly tickles my neck. “I underestimated you.” “I need to turn around. I want to face you,” I try to keep a steady voice. “Anything you want, babe,” he whispers before letting go and taking only two steps back. I turn around to face him, a smile plastered on my face, hoping that he can’t hear my loud heartbeat. I cover the trembling of my voice with a chuckle, “Do you think you've learnt your lesson?” “You think you are now invincible?” He chuckles bitterly. “Let me tell you about Leo, he is acting like he can stand you because he feels sorry for you, and he wants to spite me. Once I’m done with you and out of your life, he will be done, too. He will find a way to get rid of his ridiculous guilt. Leo will never ever get committed to anyone and I feel sorry for you. Ask him if he ever had a girlfriend.” “What do you mean when you say when you are done with me? You don’t own me!” “I can stil
Willow “Like in werewolf books?” I ask in what I hope is a nonchalant manner. “Yeah, you know I never read those, too much fantasy.” She says dismissively. “You watch vampire and werewolf movies, Chloe.” “Yes, to see the hot guys.” I murmur in agreement, and we both end up giggling. “So, he was doing this to imitate what he read in books? He is such a geek.” She rolls her eyes. I let out an uncomfortable chuckle. “What did he say in return?” “He said he accepted my rejection,” she says absent-mindedly. “That was when I felt the intense pain. The pain is gone, but I feel this sadness and emptiness.” “Nnnno! It can’t be,” I mumble. “Can’t be what?” “Nothing.” I shake my head. “It’s just a stupid theory that I have.” “You believe in werewolves?” “Of course not,” I shake my head. “Oh! No, you do,” she says in an accusatory tone. “You are a scientist, Willow. Even a five-year-old probably knows that it’s impossible.” “I assure you, I don’t believe in that,” I say defensively
Willow “Leo, please leave.” I look up at him. My eyes avert to the pencil on the floor. He picks it up and gazes at me. My heart beats faster as his eyes burrow into mine, his face void of emotions. “Leo?” I whisper. His jaw clenches, he exhales, and then opens his mouth as if he is about to say something. Then he walks out. I open my mouth, but I decide against asking if he ate something, or what on Earth is he doing on campus when he is supposed to be recovering? My phone rings as I lock the door to head to my meeting with Jeremy. Jeremy’s name appears as my screen flashes. Jeremy apologetically tells me he has to cancel our plans, informing me he has an emergency meeting with his agent because of his fan meeting. “I’m so sorry, Jeremy. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.” “You didn’t. I had so much fun. But, why did I risk my career for you?” “You have just said...” “Just in case I’m in trouble,” he interjects. “I know that the cops weren’t happy.” He laughs. “You kno
LeoAfter tossing the entire night, I prepare myself for work in my lab on campus. That’s all I need right now, as much distraction as possible. I feel a growth of my emptiness within. There's Asclepius’ silence, the recently broken mate bond, and Willow’s coldness.It’s a relief that Willow knows what I have done and doesn’t think of me as a saint, but the weight of what I have done still weighs down on my shoulders. Her image of when she was crying and screaming on the floor keeps replaying itself in my mind, causing me to wince.After leaving my car in the parking lot, I head to her dorm room to find her locking up and dressed up in a pretty red dress. She looks up at me, her eyes cold and unwelcoming.“How are you feeling?” I ask her, surprised that my hands are slightly shaking.“I’m okay,” she says dismissively. “What are you doing here?”“You are not okay, you were crying your eyes out yesterday.”“And whose fault is that?” She glowers at me, but gestures for me to get in. “
LeoThe door busts open, letting in about a dozen police officers who throw themselves into my apartment. Their shouts fill my house and three German Shepherds frantically search the area. I watch as three other officers follow the dogs as they move to the sink and away in uncertainty. Two police officers walk to me. I slowly get up, glaring at them before they get to me. How are people going to take me seriously when I look this fucking weak?“What the fuck?” I roar in a low tone, keeping my eyes on them. The rest of the officers are not paying attention. Instead, they search the cupboards, yelling at each other to work faster. “Sir, you are under suspicion.” One officer who looks young, and probably fresh out of the academy, says timidly.“For what?”“Drug creation,” the authoritative brunette lady next to him chimes in. “Sir, we are really going to need you to co-operate. These allegations against you are serious.”“There are other cops in your other apartments. It is said that
“Leo, please give me that,” I hold out my hand. “I’m sorry,” he shakes his head. “I will get you bodyguards if I have to, but I’m not staying.” “You are being unreasonable! You are being a coward.” “Willow, what you are trying to do won’t work. I deserve this.” “Every night before I fell asleep, I imagined myself making a person who created limbicus suffer. When Liam told me it was you, I got so mad, I felt betrayed. I wanted to make you pay.” I blink back the tears. “I never thought I would meet the person who created limbicus and say these words to him, but I want you to forgive yourself. You are a good person, I don’t care what you think.” “How did you buy this?” He wrinkles his nose as he gazes at the packet in his hand. I feel a sting after my ignored speech. “Liam did.” “I thought as much.” He clenches his jaw. “If I go to jail, I think he will set you free. You will be of no use to him.” “Use?” I chuckle awkwardly. “Liam and I started dating before I met you, we didn’t
Willow TW: Mild mention of suicide “Whoa! The hottest TA on campus needs my help?” Jeremy’s still cheerful voice says on the other end. “Jeremy, you are such a flirt,” I force a chuckle. “Only with you.” I force another flirty chuckle. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asks. “Jeremy...” I hesitate. “I need your help.” “If I help you with whatever you need. What do I get out of it?” “Anything.” “Hmmm... How about a date?” He asks as if the idea has just popped into his mind. “Fine,” I sigh. “A date is okay. We will never ever be together, just to be clear.” “I just want to spend a day talking to you. What do you need, my queen?” “If you said this under normal circumstances, I would be blushing right now,” my lips slightly curl up. “I need you to organize a fan meeting at the location that I will send to you, and it needs to be held right now. Just do something, do some fan signing and stuff.” “Now?”“Two dates?” I plead. “I don’t want to come as desperate to my fan
Willow I walk into Chloe’s hospital room, half expecting her to be asleep, but I find her sitting up, her eyes focused on her phone. “Chloe!” I throw myself in bed next to her and hold her in a tight hug. “Are you my sister?” She places her palm on my forehead. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine,” I chuckle. “I’m glad,” she grins. “Willow, Leo loves you. He can’t even hide it, everyone can see it. His protectiveness, the way he looks at you, and how his eyes light up when you are around.” “He’s supposed to be your man,” I frown in confusion. “We both know he would do anything for you,” she shrugs. “Because he feels guilty. Please don’t make me change my mind.” “Guilty of what? Change your mind about what?” “Chloe, Leo is not the person we thought he was.” “What did he do? Does he have something to do with your kidnapping?” She asks. “No, it’s something else. We had a fight.”“People have fights all the time, I want you to think about it. I'm not asking you to marry him, I just want
I freeze in the middle of the living area, begging my frozen brain to think of an explanation, while trying to keep my eyes away from the sideboard. The room gets quiet gain, and I exhale when I realize that it was a false alarm. “I’m doing this for Marcel,” I whisper to myself to get rid of my guilt. “You still here,” he sighs when he finds me in the kitchen, dishing up for him. “There’s no need to be rude, I just want to ensure that you eat.” I glance at him, in his black pajamas, his almost dry hair tousled, and my senses get bewitched by his scent, which smells like a mixture of wood, leather, citrus and something sweet. “You smell good,” I blurt out. “It’s not too strong, but it’s...I don’t know how to describe it.” “Thanks?” He smiles weakly. “It’s just a lotion. Willow, I told you to keep your distance. I don’t want to put your life in danger again.” He sits on the barstool, and I hand the plate to him. “Luckily, my life is not in danger. Mike is not all that bad.” “He