"I told you he was a jerk," I dashed my bag angrily on the bed once we got to our room."Well you wouldn't blame him for acting that way," Ariana pointed.I shot her a stern look "Huh?"Ariana gave a sigh of exasperation. "Claire, help me out here.""You see…you were not really much of a welcoming match when Nico came along. You were more of "go away, don't look into my eyes, I feel awkward after our first night" Kind of Ella," Claire grinned.Somehow, they found this amusing, while I wallowed at the fact that Nico wasn't enthusiastic about my upcoming birthday."You didn't give him the chance to be free," Claire continued. "You totally snubbed him.""I didn't," I argued."You did too," Claire persisted."I didn't.." I continued stubbornly."Yes, you did Ella," Ariana cut in firmly. "You didn't look into his eyes, didn't talk back to him…tell me, was there a hello or hi that came from you?"The room went silent as they both stared waiting for an obvious answer.I swallowed my pride an
The chuckles and giggles around the house sprouted me out from the bed. I had left school a few days ago and planned to have my birthday at home with Dad and Nana, along with a few friends of mine.Today was it, today was my birthday, and I felt oddly strange about it. I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't want to expect anything. Ariana and Claire pushed the idea of sending invitations to a few of our friends, left to me, I just wanted to hide myself in my house and blow off the candlelight off a little cupcake while making one simple wish; that mom be present.18th birthday always seemed something to be pumped about, turning into an adult, making your own decisions, and the rest of them. But my 18th birthday, although it made me feel excited before, was currently making me feel nervous. There were going to be a lot of people coming to my house for the first time, a lot of whom I was never friends with, but would be exchanging birthday greetings as soon as they walked in like we
Dad selected the music, he said he didn't want anything that would attract squirrels, and by that, he meant rough college boys. Even though I wanted to celebrate with my family, I saw this coming, I knew merging both sides of my world would somewhat be difficult, but I wanted it to work, it could be the best combo to go down in the history of birthday parties….or the worst."You better straighten your face or you will chase your guest away," Nanny spoke from behind me.She was right, I was nervous, sick, dizzy, confused and tensed. I didn't know how this was going to end. I was the celebrant, and I was supposed to come out for several people to feast their eyes on me while I gave an appreciation speech to half of the crowd I never spoke to."If there would be guests in the first place," I said, slightly worried at the low turn-up of people present. I was beginning to doubt if Ariana and Claire were really friends with the people they invited.. Or they didn't just like me."Don't sound
"You know, you can stare at me all day or... you can talk...it's your choice," Nico smirked.Nico had never been more gorgeous with his amber eyes staring at me like that. I looked up at him as his huge body towered mine.He was here, Nico was really here. Ariana did say she gave him an invite but I didn't think he would come. It gave me a lot of chills to see him in my house. The music blanked out and suddenly I zoomed away with it.His lips moved, but I didn't hear a thing."Ella, hey Ella," Claire snapped me out of my night dream. "I would be in the kitchen...setting the cakes," she teased with her eyebrows.I knew what she was doing, and gratefully, I wanted to be alone with Nico, but at the same time, I didn't want to, because there was this new weird feeling always lurking around whenever he was near."Al..alright," I stuttered.Nico moved in to close the gap between us. He scanned me from my head down, causing me to swallow hard. "You...you look stunning Ella," he smiled softly
There was nothing more I wanted than to avoid these two people from having to stay in the same room. Michael may seem calm now, but no one knows how he may react to Nico being around. Not like who came to my party concerned him...I just wanted peace."So that is why I thought it necessary to apologise," Michael concluded.I gave a nervous laugh and nodded my head. "Are you alright?" Michael asked."Yeah.. yeah I am," I looked away from Nico."So... is my apology accepted?" There was that cheesy smile again.The air crackled with awkwardness as Nico approached us. Their mutual dislike cast a thick shadow, palpable even before a word was spoken. I was quick to pick up on the underlying tension and felt a knot form in my stomach. It was like walking a tightrope, trying to keep the peace between two storm clouds ready to unleash.Nico's arrival sent shivers down my spine. His usually easy demeanour when he was around me was shrouded by a forced smile, a thin veil barely masking his discom
I still felt the room’s silence creep under my skin. They waited for an answer and I needed to give them one now!A nervous chuckle left my lips as I thought of a reply worthy enough to take me out of this mess. “Nico is a very social person as we all know...I mean, who doesn’t like him?” I forced a smile.“I know I don’t,” An unfamiliar voice came from the circle. The room burst into laughter at the honest joke that aimed to ease the rising tension.“But still...” The room went quiet again. “That doesn’t answer the question Ella,” Michael shot me a calm look I knew was far from what he projected it to be. He aimed to ruin me and he was backing down either.“Well, I don’t care if she likes me or not...I like her...I like Ella and that is what matters.” Nico raised his eyes to meet mine and for a split second, the wind stopped and the room felt empty.Was this Nico trying to come out about his feelings to me in public, or he was just doing it to save my face?The crowed “Ooed” and sque
The truth or dare game had been a desperate attempt to inject life into the sterile party, a last-ditch effort to feel something, anything, besides the gnawing emptiness. And when Nico, confessed what seemed to be his feelings in that hushed, unexpected moment, the dam holding back my emotions broke.Nico froze, the shock reverberating through him, a tremor that ran deeper than mere surprise. "Let's go outside," Nico blurted, his voice rough with nerves. "Just for a minute. It's getting hot in here."I stared at him long and hard, trying to read his expression. Of course I wanted to be civil, I needed to be civil, I wasn’t going to blurt my desperation. I hesitated "It's my birthday, Nico. Celebrants don't abandon the ship." But the sincerity in his voice, the desperation to escape the suffocating heat of the crowd, tugged at my heart. "I should stay," I murmured a protest that sounded more like surrender."It won't take long," Nico promised, his voice a threadbare lifeline. "Just...
Christmas came early, and everyone prepared to go back to their different destinations. The deal about Nico and Iofficially dating was no longer news in Tulane. Everyone stared while we stood together, sat together, and even walked together. Nico on the other hand always gave them a lot to talk about, he was either nibbling my ears, holding my waist or grabbing my ass. The ass grabbing I quite liked, but I was always conscious of who was watching, especially after Michael went MIA after my birthday party.I hadn’t said anything about Nico yet to Dad or even Nanny. I was scared Dad might reject him, it was either that or I was too conscious of him being a werewolf around my family. My thoughts were so heavy on me that I sighed loudly forgetting I was still in the middle of a conversation with Ariana and Claire. “Is anything the matter Ella?” Ariana was more worried about me not listening to her story than the reason why I drifted.“No... it's just going to be a long Christmas without
Two months later“Hurry up! We are going to be late!” Claire screamed from down the hall.“How did she get to dress up so fast?” Ariana asked. Lola opened the door from outside. “Hey you guys, I think we should hasten things up, or else we would miss the speech.”We hurried along with her, excitement surging through our bodies. It was the graduation ceremony. Nico was graduating! I was super excited about it because he had several fallbacks in school that made him re-take a lot of classes, extending his year of graduation.“What took you guys so long?” Claire examined us.“Sorry Claire, we were just trying to get prepared for the ceremony,” Ariana smiled.“Are we done with the chit-chats?” Lola was getting impatient. “Alrighty then, let's go!”“I thought you said we were going to miss the speech... the ceremony hasn’t even properly begun,” Ariana frowned when we got to the ceremony ground.“Well... better late than never,” Lola shrugged.“I don’t think that’s the best way to use tha
“Would you stop pacing around and glancing at your watch nonstop?” Lola said. “You are making me lose my cool you know.”“Yeah... you are keeping us on our toes here,” Claire agreed.I had finally told them everything that happened during our visit to see the witch. They were most excited about the demise of Elena. Telling the pack on the other hand was a hard choice to make, but we had to make it. Nico called for a meeting and the pack was informed about the progress and conditions involved.“As the leader of this pack, it's my rightful duty to choose what’s best for us. But I also must lead you without spite and a regretful heart. The condition brought to us by the witch is not one that we can control. And it would be selfish of me to do this without telling my pack about it. That’s why I have called this meeting, to hear from you brothers... and sisters,” Nico’s voice thundered with authority. “What your take is on this... and whatever we decide as a clan shall stand... no matter w
It was shiny like they had been soaked into a bowl full of glitter. I looked at the tiny bottles as we drove back home. The cure.It was finally in our hands, but somehow I couldn’t help but wonder if we made the right choice. Was the cure going to cause a feud between brothers and friends just like Agnes said? Was it going to bring death? Was it going to get to its final stage of completion? “If after forty-eight hours the blood of a willing hunter is not mixed in the potion, the potion ceases to be active. And don’t bother about coming back here to look for me... because you won’t find me.” She vanishes into thin air after laying the potion on my arm.I looked at the potion again. It had already been mixed with my blood and that of Nico’s. Now it was up to my Dad. Forty-eight hours.#I held on to it tight, like my next wake depended on it.****“Are you sure about this ?” Nico looked at me with concern.I nodded. “It’s now or never Nico.”“You know the last time all three of us we
Nico drove at a speed that made my inside turn. We informed the pack of our search and they offered to tag along, but we told them it was something we had to do by ourselves.“Remember, when it looks like danger is lurking, howla at us,” Lola made a wolf joke.Ariana and Claire were also aware of our trip and they offered support in the only way they knew how to. “If anything goes wrong, just call us and we will dial 911 straight up!” Ariana said.“You can’t bring the police to a werewolf and witch fight,” I reminded them smiling.“Oh... that’s right,” she gave a cringed look. “But still,” her eyes spewed concern. “Be careful.”“Promise to come back to us,” Claire said.“I promise.” I hugged them. After a few hours on the road, Nico, like he was reading my mind, chuckled. “What funny,” I asked him.“Nothing. I was just wondering why they all made it look like we were not coming back.”I laughed. They did make it look like that. Everyone reacted in a way of love that was easy for them
The familiar smell of grilled barbecue stung my nose. The noise in the restaurant was never changing. Customers still ranted about their orders, and servers hurried their way to please. “You mean you can’t remember those group of chatterboxes who sat down at that table two weeks ago?” I asked the waiter, already frustrated.“No Ma’am. It's impossible to remember the customers we have here in a day because we are highly patronised,” he bragged. “Not to talk of the ones from weeks ago,” he shook his head sympathetically. “They were like four of them,” I continued adamantly. “Three elderly men and one woman,” I searched the waiter's eyes, waiting for a positive reply.He shook his head. “Nope... nothing Ma’am. I am so sorry,” he picked up his iced drink and resumed his duty.“Let it go, Ella,” Nico sounded drained.“Let it go?” I shouted, and then realised I might have drawn attention to us. “Let it go?” I repeated in a calm voice. “Why would you say that? You know how much this means
“Wait, so you guys killed Garry?” Claire asked confused.It had been a week since we heard last from Elena, and everything seemed to have gone back to normal. I was back at the dorm and so was Lola, except for the time when she needed to go get stuff from her coursemate or go buy groceries, which I knew was a BIG FAT LIE!Ariana and I were cool again, and we were closer than ever before. The tension had tied between us, and they had learnt to accept me for who I was. Dad on the other hand was still finding it difficult to adjust to my new development. He never picked up his calls or replied to my voicemail. Nanny was more welcoming than he was, and she always invited me to come over for the weekend, but we all knew how disastrous that would turn out to be at the end.“No, we didn’t,” I tried to pass a clear message to Claire for the umpteenth time. “I wasn’t a wolf at that time, but I knew of their secret. There was a werewolf hunter who was sent to hunt them down and kill each one of
Relief washed over me as I stared at the pack that gave me so much pride. Finally, the time was here and there was no turning back now, not even for Elena.Elena stared at them for a few seconds and burst into laughter. “I see... I see what you did there,” she looked at me. “Very clever.” She turned to face Nico. “And what makes you think your little friends can stop me?”“We might not be able to put an end to your existence... but we can stop this foolishness of yours,” I said, opening my palm to release my claws. There was a distraction now, so whatever move I made, I was sure to have the backing of my clan. I cut through my net with my claws and landed on the floor with my feet. Claire and Michael looked down at me, I could almost see the surprise in their eyes, but this was no time for pity party or storytelling. I quickly removed the knife from my pocket and aimed at their net, setting both of them free.“You are out-numbered Elena,” I turned to face her. “There is nowhere to hid
The building smelt rusty and reeked of herbs and portion. A typical witch den. We searched all the empty rooms but couldn’t find Ariana or Elena.“Any luck?” I asked Claire. She shook her head in response.“Are you sure about this place?” Michael was beginning to get uncomfortable.“Yes I am,” I said. “My Dad gave me this location, and he is sure about it.”“Are you sure about your Dad?” Michael’s impatience was rubbing off on me in a very displeasing way.“Well if you think this is not the right place, why don’t you go ahead and find the right one then,” I snapped.“I didn’t say that,” he tried to deny.“But you assumed it,” I retorted.“Guys, guys,” Claire tried to ease the tension. “We are not even halfway there, and we are already fighting. How are we going to get Ariana back if we continue like this? aren’t we supposed to be together in this?”Claire’s words sunk deep, reminding us of the reason why we were in the god-forsaken building in the first place. “Now,” she continued whe
The silence in the study amplified the beat of Dad’s heart, I could hear his breath slowly leave his lungs, his feet turning cold and his eyes lifeless. “What are you doing here?” there was a spite in his voice that I could not ignore. “Who let you into this house? Aguiella!” First time I heard Dad yell Nanny’s name, and it was not in a pleasant way.“There’s no need for that,” I lowered my voice, hurt by how quickly Dad wanted me out of the house. “I won't be staying for long,” I searched his eyes. “I... I just need your help.”“Whatever it is you have come for, I am sorry to say, but you have wasted your time. I don’t need you to be here, I don’t want you to be here now leave.” There was nothing calm about the way he said it, even though his voice seemed calm. He steadied his eyes on me, and I searched for the tenderness it once had, but it was gone!Of course, I knew waltzing into Pa’s house wasn’t just going to be a walk in the park. I didn’t expect to be specially treated now tha