RAELYNN Theo slowly released his grip on Rai's shirt and hurried over to my side, his brows furrowed in concern. "I'm alright," I said, slowly rising to my feet. Rai stared at me, his burning gaze locked with mine. I lowered my stare to his elongated claws, tension gripping me as I acknowledged how deadly they looked. I'd never seen him so riled up. "Put away your claws, will you?" I said through gritted teeth. Without a word, he turned away from us and started to make his way down the hallway. Then he halted. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor in front of him. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight," he said, clenching his fists. Blood dripped from his palm as his claws dug into his flesh. Swallowing hard, I watched him make his way towards the staircase, disappearing past the door. "He's a mess," Theo commented. My stomach tightened as unease washed over me. I hated to admit it but Theo was right. Rai was a wreck. Did it make me feel bad for him? Only a little. "What'
IZZY Several Years Ago, "What's that?" I asked, glancing at my brother who stood in front of his open locker, his gaze fixed on what appeared to be a love letter. It was the first time I'd ever seen him smile at the sight of a love letter."Do you know who wrote it?" I asked, nudging him on the side. He shrugged, refusing to avert his gaze from the paper in his hand. "She has always been so obvious about her feelings," he commented."So, you'll ask her out?" I said and he winced.My eyes widened. My brother, the perfect Rai Vidal was clearly nervous about asking a girl out. "This is insane. You're actually nervous," I said and he slammed his locker shut, shoving the letter in the pocket of his pants."It's none of your business. Why don't you run along?” he said and I chuckled."She's such a lucky girl. Most girls suffer from unrequited love. It's both painful and sweet. But what's truly sweet is having mutual feelings for each other," I said and he smiled. "I'l
RAI As soon as Izzy left my room, I suddenly felt drained and regret sank into me. I knew she truly cared about me, but I couldn't bring myself to accept it because I knew. I knew I didn't deserve to be happy or cared for. I was better off embracing my own karma. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Returning to my bed, I sat down, burying my face in my hands. My phone buzzed and I picked it up from the nightstand. Raelynn had just sent me a message. It read:'Listen to whatever Izzy has to tell you. She cares about you. Also, make sure you set up an appointment with a healer. You're not in good shape. Don't ignore it or it'll only get a lot worse'I stared at the screen of my phone in disbelief. "What's it to her anyway?" I muttered. Glancing outside the window, I took a deep breath. Perhaps, Raelynn was right. Maybe there was something wrong with me. Closing my eyes, I tried to get myself to relax. An image of Raelynn's face appeared in my mind's eye and I sighed. Was it re
RAELYNN "Why are you really here? Why did you return after five years? Who the hell are you?" Rai demanded, his voice laced with irritation. I wondered why. We'd always been hostile to each other but it seemed to have become much worse. "I already told you. I only returned because you asked for my help," I said and his gaze darkened. "Are you sure? Are you certain that you did not show up just to exert your revenge on me?" He demanded and I scoffed, picking up my bag from the couch. "Is this really why you called me to your office? To accuse me? You're just as shameless as always," I said, and he narrowed his eyes at me."What? Shameless? Stop trying to change the topic. Admit it, you have malicious intents and --""That's enough," I spat, tightening my grip on my handbag. His expression faltered as I approached his desk and halted right in front of it. "It was my day off yesterday. You called me out of the blue and I went out to you. I didn't abandon you when I saw you
RAI Rosy cheeks and bright chestnut eyes. I doubted that I would forget how she looked tonight. When I leaned in with the intention to kiss her, Kairos growled in my head in anticipation. He had pushed his way to the surface and was eager to mark her. But I knew better. She wasn't my mate. Not anymore. The loud honking from the car parked behind us snapped me out of the haze that had kept me irrational. So I slowly pulled away and cleared my throat. Without a word, I turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. Raelynn remained silent as I continued to drive. She kept her face turned away from me as she gazed outside the window. Her shoulders were slumped and her overall body language indicated how exhausted she was. "Raelynn --" I start to say and she interrupted me without looking at me."It didn't happen. Nothing happened tonight. Let's keep it that way," she said in a monotonous voice. Clenching my jaw, I sharply exhaled through my nostrils. The bitter burn in
AUSTIN "What the hell happened last night?" I said to Nadia who was was sitting by Rai's bedside. Rai on the other hand, was lying on the hospital bed, unconscious. When I first heard about his fainting episode in the elevator, I'd been worried that something was terribly wrong with him. But, after a few days passed, and nothing happened to him, I was convinced that he was fine. "Will you not say something?" I said to Nadia and she glared at me. "I don't like that tone," she said through gritted teeth and I narrowed my eyes at her. I'd never seen her with such dark expressions before and even though I knew she'd always displayed a false image, I was still surprised. "He was perfectly fine yesterday at the office. What the hell happened to him?" I asked again and she lowered her gaze to the ground, tucking a few strands of her hair behind an ear. "Are you trying to say I did something to him. It's unbelievable but...father called him and asked him to marry me. Rai was so a
RAELYNN I stared at the screen of my phone with a heavy pressure lingering on my chest. I'd told Austin that I didn't care about whatever happens to Rai. But there I was, wondering if I'd done the right thing. My phone suddenly rang out and I picked up the call the moment I saw the caller ID."Hey, Theo," I said."The twins are missing," he said and I froze. "W-what?" I breathed, stuck with terror. "We're still searching for them but it appears that they have been abducted. We found an ominous note in their rooms," Theo said, his voice trembling. "No. Not my babies. Please find them. I can't lose them--"The sound of an ear piercing gunshot rang through the air and I instinctively went down on my knees as the glass window shattered, eliciting a scream from me. Trembling, I lowered my head as another gunshot echoed in the room, a bullet embedding itself in the wall of the hotel room. The whole place went silent but I remained hunched over on the floor, my heart threatenin
RAI I narrowed my eyes at the monitor in front of me. Displayed on the screen was a live video of Raelynn confronting Susan. I should've known that she would try to do something like this. If she wanted to satisfy her curiosity that badly, she shouldn't have let me find out about it. However, the moment she turned away to leave, Susan called out to her and I stiffened. Listening closer to their conversation, I fixed my gaze on Susan who was visibly trembling. "Who was it, Susan. Don't be afraid. You can tell me," I heard Raelynn say. Susan started to back away, shaking her head vigorously. All of a sudden, her neck got twisted in a gruesome manner, blood splashing all over the wall. A muffled scream escaped Raelynn's lips as she stumbled backwards, her hands clamped over her mouth. Shooting to my feet, I instantly mindlinked Jared. 'Get her out of there, right now.'He responded immediately. 'Yes, Alpha.'My blood boiled in my veins at the thought of whoever was responsible
RAI I couldn't sleep that night. Nadia had threatened to print wedding invitations and send them out without my approval. It shouldn’t have bothered me but it did. I'd planned to avoid Raelynn as much as I could. However, she'd called me the next morning, asking me to come to her office. Sitting directly opposite her in her office, I couldn't look away from her for a second. Whatever attraction had been growing between us seemed to have escalated. My wolf was just as unsettled."What is this sudden meeting about?" I said, trying to distract myself from thinking about how good she smelled."I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for Izzy," she said, rising to her feet. I frowned at her, puzzled."Izzy asked me to examine you. She thinks there's something seriously wrong with you," she stated. I scoffed, leaning back on the seat. "Sure."Raelynn halted in front of me and bent over a little. Then she brought the chest piece of her stethoscope to my chest. I stiffened, startl
RAI Kissing her again for the first time in five years made my heart pound in excitement. I hadn't felt like that in a while. Nothing else mattered in that moment. It was petty of me to stake my claim in such a tense situation. I had no excuse. I had reached my limits at this point. When I pulled away to see the emotions in her brown eyes, I realized what I'd just done. Her eyes were clouding up with moisture and a spark of rage enveloped her beautiful brown eyes and my chest tightened. Against her will, I'd just kissed her. "Rae..." I started to say, reaching out to hold her. But then, she slapped me across the face. It stung but I knew that I deserved something worse. Even so, I couldn't stand the fact that she'd just been on a date with Kyan. Kyan lurched forward, grabbing me by the front of my black shirt, his eyes fired up with fury. "How dare you? You are her ex-husband. You have nothing to do with her," he growled. "I'm leaving," Raelynn said through gritted teeth.
RAELYNN The concern in Kyan's voice brought a smile on my face. "I'm okay. I didn't get hurt," I said to him. I didn't think he needed to know about Susan's death or how I was barely keeping myself from mulling over how she'd died in front of me. "That's a relief. You've gone through so much," Kyan stated and my smile widened."I appreciate your concern for me, Kyan. I haven't done a lot for --""I'm inviting you to dinner. Tonight," he said and I went still, tightening my grip on the phone. The last thing I wanted to do at the moment was attend a date. Especially not after everything that had happened within the past few hours. "Kyan, I'm not really interested in any of that," I said to him."Come on, Raelynn. You've been through a lot. You should relax and unwind. Trust me, you won't regret it," he stated and I heaved a sigh."Fine.""That's great! I'll send you the address of the restaurant. I would have invited you to a private dinner at my home, but I don't want to co
RAI I narrowed my eyes at the monitor in front of me. Displayed on the screen was a live video of Raelynn confronting Susan. I should've known that she would try to do something like this. If she wanted to satisfy her curiosity that badly, she shouldn't have let me find out about it. However, the moment she turned away to leave, Susan called out to her and I stiffened. Listening closer to their conversation, I fixed my gaze on Susan who was visibly trembling. "Who was it, Susan. Don't be afraid. You can tell me," I heard Raelynn say. Susan started to back away, shaking her head vigorously. All of a sudden, her neck got twisted in a gruesome manner, blood splashing all over the wall. A muffled scream escaped Raelynn's lips as she stumbled backwards, her hands clamped over her mouth. Shooting to my feet, I instantly mindlinked Jared. 'Get her out of there, right now.'He responded immediately. 'Yes, Alpha.'My blood boiled in my veins at the thought of whoever was responsible
RAELYNN I stared at the screen of my phone with a heavy pressure lingering on my chest. I'd told Austin that I didn't care about whatever happens to Rai. But there I was, wondering if I'd done the right thing. My phone suddenly rang out and I picked up the call the moment I saw the caller ID."Hey, Theo," I said."The twins are missing," he said and I froze. "W-what?" I breathed, stuck with terror. "We're still searching for them but it appears that they have been abducted. We found an ominous note in their rooms," Theo said, his voice trembling. "No. Not my babies. Please find them. I can't lose them--"The sound of an ear piercing gunshot rang through the air and I instinctively went down on my knees as the glass window shattered, eliciting a scream from me. Trembling, I lowered my head as another gunshot echoed in the room, a bullet embedding itself in the wall of the hotel room. The whole place went silent but I remained hunched over on the floor, my heart threatenin
AUSTIN "What the hell happened last night?" I said to Nadia who was was sitting by Rai's bedside. Rai on the other hand, was lying on the hospital bed, unconscious. When I first heard about his fainting episode in the elevator, I'd been worried that something was terribly wrong with him. But, after a few days passed, and nothing happened to him, I was convinced that he was fine. "Will you not say something?" I said to Nadia and she glared at me. "I don't like that tone," she said through gritted teeth and I narrowed my eyes at her. I'd never seen her with such dark expressions before and even though I knew she'd always displayed a false image, I was still surprised. "He was perfectly fine yesterday at the office. What the hell happened to him?" I asked again and she lowered her gaze to the ground, tucking a few strands of her hair behind an ear. "Are you trying to say I did something to him. It's unbelievable but...father called him and asked him to marry me. Rai was so a
RAI Rosy cheeks and bright chestnut eyes. I doubted that I would forget how she looked tonight. When I leaned in with the intention to kiss her, Kairos growled in my head in anticipation. He had pushed his way to the surface and was eager to mark her. But I knew better. She wasn't my mate. Not anymore. The loud honking from the car parked behind us snapped me out of the haze that had kept me irrational. So I slowly pulled away and cleared my throat. Without a word, I turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. Raelynn remained silent as I continued to drive. She kept her face turned away from me as she gazed outside the window. Her shoulders were slumped and her overall body language indicated how exhausted she was. "Raelynn --" I start to say and she interrupted me without looking at me."It didn't happen. Nothing happened tonight. Let's keep it that way," she said in a monotonous voice. Clenching my jaw, I sharply exhaled through my nostrils. The bitter burn in
RAELYNN "Why are you really here? Why did you return after five years? Who the hell are you?" Rai demanded, his voice laced with irritation. I wondered why. We'd always been hostile to each other but it seemed to have become much worse. "I already told you. I only returned because you asked for my help," I said and his gaze darkened. "Are you sure? Are you certain that you did not show up just to exert your revenge on me?" He demanded and I scoffed, picking up my bag from the couch. "Is this really why you called me to your office? To accuse me? You're just as shameless as always," I said, and he narrowed his eyes at me."What? Shameless? Stop trying to change the topic. Admit it, you have malicious intents and --""That's enough," I spat, tightening my grip on my handbag. His expression faltered as I approached his desk and halted right in front of it. "It was my day off yesterday. You called me out of the blue and I went out to you. I didn't abandon you when I saw you
RAI As soon as Izzy left my room, I suddenly felt drained and regret sank into me. I knew she truly cared about me, but I couldn't bring myself to accept it because I knew. I knew I didn't deserve to be happy or cared for. I was better off embracing my own karma. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Returning to my bed, I sat down, burying my face in my hands. My phone buzzed and I picked it up from the nightstand. Raelynn had just sent me a message. It read:'Listen to whatever Izzy has to tell you. She cares about you. Also, make sure you set up an appointment with a healer. You're not in good shape. Don't ignore it or it'll only get a lot worse'I stared at the screen of my phone in disbelief. "What's it to her anyway?" I muttered. Glancing outside the window, I took a deep breath. Perhaps, Raelynn was right. Maybe there was something wrong with me. Closing my eyes, I tried to get myself to relax. An image of Raelynn's face appeared in my mind's eye and I sighed. Was it re