I woke to an unfamiliar ceiling and bed sheets; soon I recognized the room to be that of Wesley. A groan escaped my lips as the previous incidents flashed through my head. I winced sharply when I felt a stinging pain in my temple when my fingers brushed over the spot where I got hit. Damn it, Eve, you better pray I don’t lay my hands on you. I felt a small pang of disappointment after staring around the empty room, what the hell was I expecting? That my mate would be by my side waiting to see me wake up? Snap out of it Val, such kind of life isn’t for you; accept yours the way it is. I quickly hopped off the bed, ready to go search for Wesley, and put on my shoes which were by the side of the bed before heading out, into the hallway and down the stairs to the living room where giggles and laughter echoed from. My face scrunched into a frown as soon as I sighted Eve, sitting in the living room with her friend, chattering loudly. “Ooh, look who’s here?” One of them called the attenti
After dropping Ariel off at school, I returned to the motel to see Wesley pacing around the lobby. “Hey, you look… disturbed.” I stared at him in confusion, wondering why he was here so early.“Just a case disturbing me, though I’m supposed to have no business with it since Tyler and father would be taking care of it.”“You want to talk about it over coffee?” I asked with my hands tucked in my pockets, tilting my head to the side. A few minutes later, I stood in the kitchen brewing coffee, feeling his gaze piercing into my skin. I held both cups in my hands, moving over the counter to sit by his side on his stool, handing one of the cups over to him. I quickly took mine to my lips, taking a large sip and ignoring the burning feeling on my tongue since it was the only way to ignore the feelings or rather the sparks that saturated my body when my hands brushed against his. Although I was trying not to rush things, it seems I was on the edge of losing the fight of ignoring my feelings fo
I knew I would try but would never succeed at that, because I had a traitorous me who seemed to have the upper hand and probably the support of the goddess, helping her in whatever game she was playing.I let out a small hiss and grabbed the coffee, gulping down the content at once.“Hey, are you okay?” Wesley asked and as much as I tried not to look into his eyes, which were my very first distraction, my eyes moved on their accord, pleased to get lost in those alluring grey eyes. I would try to convince myself that I was under some kind of love spell under the disguise of a mating pull because it was the only way to keep the real me intact, not this strange one who isn’t considering April’s safety.“Hey, you look pretty…” Wesley trailed off, squinting his eyes at me as if searching for the right words to say. “Disorientated, don’t tell me you’re getting all worried because of this.”“No, I’m not.” I tried building a fire that I had kept burning since the day I lost my parents, one th
A few minutes later, we had driven out of that lonely way, heading down the familiar route that led to the packhouse. I could feel Wesley's occasional gaze at me, like he was waiting for me to actually say something. "How did you find me?" I asked, breaking the silence, deciding to come up with a topic that would probably make him forget whatever he had in mind to say.He glanced at me, looking back at the road and let out a small sign before speaking. "I knew you were up to something Valerie, you're like an open book. So why did you go there?""Drop it Wesley, I just wanted to check it out. Nothing else." I folded my arms, fixing my gaze on the window. "What were you running from?" "Nothing, just forget about it, I'm fine." I pressed my lips tightly against each other, trying to ignore the guilt feeling rising in me after my voice came out quite harsh than I expected. I felt even more guilty when he did not say a word, but instead focused on driving. He was only being caring, but
Eve's POV"Tyler!" I called in a hushed voice, hurrying behind him as he walked up the stairs, heading to his room. It was quite obvious he was mad at me and it was all because of that stupid brat! I can't believe anything from Wesley would ever affect me, but yet this daring girl shows up, acts like she's on top of the world and even puts me in such a situation. No one would have ever found out what I had there, I was sure of that!! If there was one thing I spent all of my time doing, it was working so hard to get a good reputation. And most of my hard work did pay. I would be the future Luna. One thing I had always dreamed of being, a position with such high rank that you would never be looked down upon by any member of the pack or even from other packs. I spent close to five years working on that and after being just on the right path to getting what I wanted, a threat dared to show up! Trying to pull my hard earned reputation down to the ground!"Tyler." I called again, completel
Valerie's POVLeaving the garden I decided to head to the training field and probably talk to Wesley about this, but remembering what happened on our way here, I turned around sharply, deciding to head into the packhouse. I stopped right on my tracks as soon as I stepped into the living room filled with loud chattering of a group of women sitting there with the Luna, Wesley's mother. As soon as they noticed me, they stopped talking, fixing their whole attention on me. "Oh, this is Valerie, Wesley's mate." She introduced me with a disappointing look on her face, obviously in a way like it disappointed her that I chose to stay with Wesley. It's still quite surprising how a parent could channel so much hate to her child, very confusing. "You must've seen her with him at the banquet night." She added, crossing her legs and gently picking a glass of wine from the coffee table in the middle of the room."Yes, I did. Still wonder why anyone would choose to sacrifice their lives because of
A few minutes passed in silence and I disengaged from the hug after he exhaled heavily and turned around to face me."Wesley, there's nothing she could say to me that would change my mind about you." I tried to reassure him. After he nodded, I took a step back, looking around the house to make sure no one was watching before I spoke. "Wesley. I saw something in the woods earlier.""What was that?" He tilted his head to the side, furrowing his brows."I don't know, but I think...." I paused and exhaled, before adding. "I think it was the killer."Wesley stared at me for a few seconds, without saying a word like he was just processing all that I just said. "Val, do you know how dangerous that is? He could've killed you!" "But I'm fine, you don't have to worry-""What if he comes after you? What if that is just how he get his victims?!" He ran his fingers through his hair exasperated, already pacing around the room. "What if they saw him and he went after them? Valerie, I would never for
"Thanks," Violet said with a wink to the bartender, a guy approximately our age, before grabbing the crate of drinks and exiting the bar. The cafe was only a few blocks away, but Violet insisted on carrying the crate the entire way, declining my offer to assist her. Well, she was a friendly and extroverted person often referring to me as Luna, a title that I could never attain, yet it gave me pleasure to hear her say it. It wasn't until late evening that I returned home; walking into the motel, I made sure to lock the door behind me before heading up the stairs. A sigh slipped my lips as I entered the room April and I shared and found her curled up on the bed, sound asleep. These past few days, I had been so occupied that I couldn't keep up with picking her up from school and although Wesley helped with that, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for shifting all my attention to the other things I had recently become involved with, forgetting the only person who truly deserved al
Valerie's POVIt's been over a week since I last saw Wesley, which was at Violet's house on the day she died. I tried to reach him severally, through phone calls which he ignored and our mind-link which he had completely blocked me out from. Did he regret mating me?Or had been foolish from the very beginning to think I could find my place in this pack. I don't even want to think anymore cause I've tried so hard to make sense of the situation but nothing is working yet. Sometimes I think maybe I've been doing it wrong all along and what the goddess actually meant by making things right is revealing to them who I am so they can kill and completely wipe out our entire clan. But I'd that was it, there was no purpose of sending me back just to die again. These past weeks had been lonely and very frustrating, due to Wesley's betrayal if that's the right way to call it and April not even giving me a hard time. She told me to my face that I had been the one foolishly trusting them because I
The room is totally messed up, the entire furniture is broken and scattered around the room. There were broken glasses on the floor, and as I walked further into the room, I tried to think of what could've possibly happened here.However, I gasped when my eyes landed on a figure lying motionless on the ground. "Violet!" I screamed, hastily dropping to the floor beside her and shaking her shoulders, but she didn't respond and my heart raced even faster when I saw the blood trickling from her nose and mouth. Paramedics swiftly arrived, but instead of rushing to the hospital just like I expected, they walked out of the house with her on a stretcher and a white shroud around her."What the hell are you doing?" I asked, trying to remain in denial that it wasn't what I was thinking. "I'm sorry, Miss. But she's dead." The world around me stopped immediately, and I dropped to the ground, placing my trembling hands on my chest as my breaths came out in shaky pants, tears stinging the back of
Valerie's POVIt's been a few hours into the party, yet Violet still didn't show up or replied to any of my messages. I told Wesley about it and he assured me not to worry about her since it was quite common for her to do something like this, perhaps she might have never fully agreed to come to the party.Considering her disinterest for the family, it was possible she might have changed her mind at the last second. I tried to push my worries aside, joining them in the celebration. Minutes later, Wesley suggested we go to his room since it was evident that none of us were enjoying the party or were used to things like this. Standing by the window in his room, we gazed at the stars and moon adorning the night sky. "You think this is over now?" I asked, not staring at him but keeping my gaze fixated on the sky. "Well, I can say we have over ninety percent of our problems solved. We're a bit free now, no more bad guys. Everything will get back to normal in a short while. “Wesley replies,
Valerie's POVThe next morning I woke up to the good news that Renée arrived at the pack early, bringing Kyle along to face the authorities since he was from our pack.I dropped April off at school, telling her to be careful before rushing off to the packhouse. I heard Kyle had been locked in the cells in the basement of the house, so I hurried there, seeing Renée leaving on the way. After exchanging pleasantries, I walked into the basement to see Wesley standing before the cell. Kyle's gaze shifted towards me, and a smug smile appeared on his face. "Hey there, traitor." He said, and I tucked my hands into my pockets, not saying a word to him."It's good to see you behind bars," I said, smiling."I bet your mate here doesn't really know who you are and what you're capable of.""Why did you do it?" Wesley asked with a demeaning gaze fixated on him."I wanted power, Wesley. In fact, I was greedy for it and the rest of y'all seemed to settle for less. Accepting the losers you all are, ev
Valerie's POVThe rhythmical beeping of a machine filled my ears even before my eyes fluttered open. The dim light of the white room washed over me—the antiseptic scent hitting my nose, giving me a hint of where I was. Maybe a hospital.I shifted my gaze to the side and found Wesley by the bedside, his eyes immediately glinting as soon as he noticed my movements. "Hey," he whispered, his voice a gentle caress. "You're awake." His eyes were filled with a mixture of relief and worry. "Where am I?" It was difficult to speak, as my throat felt dry and scratchy. "We're back at the packhouse. You're safe now." He took my palm into his, giving it a soft squeeze—his touch warm and reassuring.Confusion washed over me for a moment before my memory started to piece together the fragments. Then I remembered my encounter with Kyle and trying to escape him and his men."Where's April?!" That was the next question I asked, sitting up with a speed that had Wesley staring at me in surprise and confu
Wesley's POVAs soon as I heard gunshots reverberate through the air, I dashed through the forest, not needing to think twice to know that it was Valerie. It has been over four hours we've been searching for her since she mysteriously disappeared. We searched the entire pack and yet there was no trace of her. My wolf was paranoid, demanding we find our mate. And when we saw traces of blood in the back of the house that I was sure belonged to her, we knew something had gone wrong. It was quite difficult trying to put Wade under control, but I gave that up as soon as we heard distant gunshots, letting him shift into his full form completely, without waiting for the warriors or any of the other search party members.I could feel her fear, almost tasting it. She must've been trying to escape from whoever captured her, and if by chance, it was the rogues, today would be the last day they would use their fucking lungs to breathe.I spotted them through the bushes, firing in a particular di
Valerie's POVA piercing pain in my head is the first thing that greets me the moment I slipped back into consciousness. I groaned in pain, noticing my vision was blocked with dark clothing wrapped around my eyes. I tried to move, feeling my muscles numb, but instead, I felt my skin scrape against a rough surface. If I could guess right, my hands were tied to a tree while I sat on the ground with both legs tied together.I heard the loud chattering of male voices around me and footsteps moving all about. Trying hard not to panic, I struggled against the restraints, which was just a wasted effort.A rustling sound caught my attention and through the black fabric around my eyes, I could make out a shadow looming above me. The blindfold is swiftly removed from my face, and I move my gaze around slowly, sighting some men gathering around a fire with drinks in their hands, laughing loudly at their own jokes. There were several young men moving around, none of them even sparing me a glance.
Valerie's POVI recognized him immediately as Alpha Kane. "Miss Valerie!" He called out, stretching out his hands for a handshake. I stared at his palm reluctantly before accepting it. "I didn't expect to see you." He states briefly glancing at Wesley who maintained a cold stare directed towards him."Nice to see you again, Kane," Wesley spoke, shifting his attention back to Renée. "Where's your father?"Renée's eyes clouded with a mix of worry and sadness before she blinked off quickly, replacing it with a stoic expression. "My father was injured during the attack and he doesn't seem to be recovering yet, even though he was just shot with an arrow.""Can we see him?" I asked, feeling a sense of empathy wash over me.She seemed to be contemplating for a moment before she nodded. "Of course, come with me." We followed her into the packhouse which was quite crowded, filled with women and children around all corners. Some of them, moving around while trying to clean and put the packhous
April's POVI shut the door to my new room, bolting it locked before plopping down on the bed, and letting out an angry groan. I could hear the sounds of Valerie's cries from her room, causing a knot to form in my stomach, twisting with exasperation. I loved Valerie, and she had always seemed to make the right choices until she decided to associate friendly with the alpha family. How could she forget the nightmares, the tears, and the anguish that haunted us both? At first, I thought she was only being nice to Wesley since he wasn't in support of what they had done to us, but then Tyler? Why was she even pleased that he changed his attitude towards her? I pressed my palm against my ears, trying to block out her cries. My gaze shifted to the pink diary sticking out of my bag—the diary that made me realize Valerie had given up on finding justice for our parents. Did she even realize how all of this changed me? I wouldn't be surprised if she never knew, since she has chosen to direct h