ELIANA.“Adam.”The sound of my Grandmother’s voice drifted me out of my thoughts and as I raised my eyes to meet hers, she tried to sit up. “Where is Adam?” She asked again as if I hadn’t heard her the first time.I did. Getting the words out of my lips was just the difficult part.My throat was dry and sour with a hard lump throbbing inside of it. I reached for her tender hands and just as I was about to speak, the door opened. I turned my eyes to Ivan, one of the Pack nurses who usually stopped by to give Nana her medicines.Immediately the door opened, a burst of sunlight filled the room.“You didn’t come home last night” She yawned. Ivan walked up to her bedside, took her temperature and dished out about three different colored pills. He also brought her a plate of porridge to go with. Nana loved oatmeal and porridge, they were her favorite meal.We all had one in the Pack. Ever since we were little, my father trained us to be satisfied and content with natural foods rather than f
ELIANA. “This is the part where I kill you.”At the sound of Denver’s deep voice, there was a rumble in the skies. The air was charged with tension just as he swung across to where the other was. Blake, he’d said. That was his name.Up until this moment, I didn’t even know Denver had a brother. Throughout my stay in Black Mountain, I didn’t see him once, and neither did I hear that name. Which could only mean that they weren’t so close. But watching them tear each other apart wasn’t even on my bingo card.Denver had transformed in a split second, so did Blake. And as soon as the moonlight bathed across their furry skin, the ominous growls of the two wolves reverberated through the night. My eyes charged open but I didn’t leave the shed where Denver had told me to stay.He lunged himself at Blake, slashing across his face with sharp claws. His arms clamped around his neck as Denver aimed to sink his razor-sharp fangs into his brother. But the other, a silver-furred werewolf, a darker
ELIANA. The sirens blared loudly from a distance on this cold autumn morning on the outskirts of Oakland. The wind was in the withered trees and the streets were eery. Why wouldn’t it?News had only just spread that Adam’s body had been found.I mounted the front porch with my arms folded across my chest. I let the breeze sweep through my hair as I swallowed a hard lump down my throat. Shifting my gaze, my eyes fell to my Grandma. She was weeping, utterly broken at the news of Adam’s passing.This was someone who’d stuck with her from the moment she was unlawfully banished from town. He’d sneak out to the cabin with leftover food and was even the first to have the nurses prescribe her some medications. Because let’s face it, Nana was old.She was getting even frailer by the day. But the reason she even made it thus far was because of Adam. I understood her devastation, which made it even harder for me to contain the guilt that ate into my chest. He was devoured by an animal, they sai
ELIANA.“Eliana, wait!” Ivan held out the door as I stormed inside angrily. My fist folded up and my mind was racing with a thousand thoughts.“Eliana!” It took him shouting much louder before I finally came to a halt and with tears in my eyes, I threw a look back at him. “What are you going to do now?” His hands fell to his side and I just shrugged.“Anything but stay here while they’re killing my father slowly. I can’t believe this” I ran my hands through my hair as a tear dropped down mycheeks. “Jaxon must be stopped—““I know that too, we all do. But we have to be wise about it. It has to be at the right time otherwise,” “There is no right time!” I snapped. “You didn’t see my father the other day, I did.” I added.“And I’m not sure how much time he has left, I’m not sure how many doses they have to give him till it’s over but I’m not going to sit back and let it happen” I was about climbing the stairs when Nana wheeled herself out on a chair. Perhaps it was because of the noise b
ELIANA.“Eliana”“Eliana, I’m calling you. Where are you going?” When he reached for my arms, I turned back to face Denver. “Did you really have to come in?” I muttered under my breath.“I had it all under control. Now, Jaxon would be wondering what exactly is going on between the two of us that you had to step in and save the day” I scoffed, detaching my wrist from his.“That’s what you’re worried about?” His hands fell to his hips. “I already told you I can handle all of this by myself—“ “All of what?” He interrupted. “Jaxon!” I raised my voice.“I had it all under control.”“Yeah I clearly saw that” Denver remarked sarcastically and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Come on, Eliana. We’re already passed this. I said I was going to protect you and when I saw him enter the house, I stepped in to protect you” He replied and a light scoff escaped my lips.“That’s the thing Denver,” I paused. “I don’t need you to protect me.”“Six years I spent by myself, all alone. I was doing well protecti
ELIANA.“This is a serum” Ivan stretched out of his hand and in it was a plastic amber bottle. An arch came between my eyes which fell to him. “I might have used the lab back in the Pack to create some sort of antidote for your father” He added. I couldn’t whether to be relieved just yet.“Now, it’s not a total cure. Unless somehow we’re able to stop them from poisoning him, that’s our greatest chance. But this—“ He handed it over to me, clenching my palms right after.“This could slow down the progression of the poison in your father’s system and it could buy us some time until we come up with a plan” He continued. “Ivan” My eyes narrowed thankfully.“I did say we were going to figure something out, didn’t I?” He shrugged.“Thank you” I muttered. I had no idea he was even working on something but it was about time for some good news around here. My gaze fell on the serum as I held tighter around it. “Your father,” Ivan paused. “I’m doing this for him too. He may not have shown it in
ELIANA. “Can you stop walking so fast?” Denver was breathlessly trying to keep up with my pace. I plummeted my feet forward even more, desperate to avoid being next to him at all costs. I’m not sure if he could tell.“I said wait!” In a split second, he transported close enough to grasp me by my arms. I was forced to a halt, looking into his eyes, she was still trying to catch his breath. There were people around, a few of my Pack members who I recognized but luckily not one of them saw me.I was trying to flee from Denver but at the same time, I was still trying to remain as undercover as possible. “If you didn’t want me here, why then did you come into my car and ask that I drive you here?” Denver asked. A sneaky scoff escaped my lips. “Because my Grandmother insisted” I shook his hands off mine. Narrowing his eyes, Denver was taken aback for a moment. “Left to me, I would’ve been well off doing this all on my own” I brushed past his shoulders, wounding his ego even more, a delig
ELIANA."We really should get going." Looking back and forth at the empty halls, we made our way back down in the same direction that we came. From here, to the dungeon and then out through the stable."You see, you actually needed my help.” Denver scoffed all knowingly. “You in fact couldn't have done this on your own" He referenced what I’d told him when we first got here and I rolled my eyes to the back.Partly, because what he said was true. "That makes two apologies that you owe me" He hissed and even though it may have been true, there was no way he was getting anything fromme. We jumped into the dungeon and wasted no second to walk out through the door that led into the stable. The air in here was warm and dry and I felt something prick the back of my throat. All that was here was just bundles of hay laying around and a couple of tools. I looked up at the door—and it wasn’t so far off. We were almost out.Very nearly, in fact. When suddenly, we heard voices echo through t