The night was dark, with only the gentle light from the moon shedding and casting its warm glow over the earth. Stars littered the night sky, and against the pitch black backdrop of it all, the scene above looked nothing short of a beautiful painting. The sound of leaves crunching underneath someone's feet cut straight through my thoughts. Immediately, I turned to the side, and standing a couple of feet away from me, was a black wolf, tall and mighty with its beady eyes staring down at me. A couple of moments passed as we both stared at each other, none of us daring to move. Something swirled in the pit of my stomach and before I could make sense of all that was happening, I found myself transforming back into my human form. My fear heightened when I realized whoever it was, was still in its wolf form. I didn't have to think too much because I'd barely mumbled the rest of the questions, before the wolf morphed into his human form, and the moment he did, a huge smile made its wa
WILLOW“Could you move that a little to the right, please?” A frown made its way to my face almost immediately. They’d done what I asked them to do, but it wasn’t looking how I’d pictured it in my head. Gesturing to the vase, I motioned to the left. “No, take it back a bit. Yes, a little to the left.”I stifled a groan the moment they were done. It still wasn’t right. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the perfect position to keep the vase. “That’s fine.” I sighed, finally giving up. The nerves were getting to me. “Just leave it as it is and make sure everything else is perfect. Nothing must go wrong tonight. Do you understand?” “Yes, ma’am.” The maids nodded in unison before dispersing to get everything else done. “You.” I pointed to another maid. “Make sure these glasses are sparkling before I get back.” I ran my thumb over the rim of a glass nestled on the buffer table. From where I stood, it looked clean enough, but I wanted everything in there to shine. Tonight must be
WILLOWA groan escaped me as I stirred awake. Tingles spread through my limbs as I turned and tossed. My eyes were heavy, and if it were up to me, I wouldn’t bother opening them again. What was the use? The last thing I wanted was to set my eyes on Asher after what he did to me. How could he? How could he reject me moments before his party where he was supposed to announce we were mates? I should have known he had a reason for asking me to keep our relationship a secret until it was time for the announcement at the party. He fooled me. Memories spilled over me. I pressed my eyes tighter as I tried to recall the events of last night. After Asher had walked out on me, what happened? I took a few bottles of alcohol, and then what? “No.” I gasped out loud and jolted upright, peeling my eyes open. Maybe if I hadn’t, I would have had more time to think things through. The moment I opened my eyes, a bolt of pain shot through my head. I stifled a groan as I cradled my head in my hands. I’d
CARTER No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get Willow's words out of my head. With every passing second, her voice grew louder and louder in my head, her facial expression taunting me all the more. “I never asked you to marry me.”“I didn’t mean it. I was drunk as hell, and I didn’t know what I was saying.” “Why would you even want to marry a weak omega like me?” Really? Was I supposed to believe that? Was that really the truth? A hand ran through my hair, and I sighed. I flopped back to the bed, the bottle of alcohol almost falling from my hand. The drink hadn’t dulled the pain of her… rejection, only made it worse. The memories of last night tried to take over, and I took another gulp from the bottle to prevent that from happening. I refuse to remember how perfectly her boobs fit in my hands. How much she giggled when she palmed me from the front and asked if it would fit inside her. It fitted quite alright, as we later got to find out. Too well, and just the reminder of how
CARTERFuck. Fuck. Fuck. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Heck, I didn’t even see this blowing up in my face at all. How could he? How could Dad set such a condition for me? Thinking about Willow's proposal was one thing. Going after her with a proposal of mine was another. A part of me hoped Dad was joking. He loved jokes. He told them most of the time, and it would have his guests howling with laughter. But when I stopped by his office today to give him his usual cup of morning coffee, he brought up the ultimatum for my coronation. I had to think of something fast, but my head was blank. The coronation was days away, and I didn’t know where to begin. I had to think of something, and fast, too. Knowing Dad, there was no way he would sit back. I could bet on the old man’s life that he already had a backup plan. A backup plan I was sure I would hate. The only solution was to get myself a Luna before that day. But I was stumped and at a loss of ideas. I had no girlfriend, ei
Willow No matter how hard I tried to forget it, the memory just wouldn't budge. It felt like it had been permanently etched into my mind and no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it, I was only wasting my time. It didn't help that I was a chronic over thinker. Even the littlest inconvenience could have me thinking about a million and one ways how I could have avoided it or how I could have acted differently to change the outcome.I hated this. I hated feeling like this. I let out a frustrated groan as I allowed my face to fall flat onto the empty space on my vanity. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of something lying dormant just a couple of inches away. At first glance, it didn't look like a lot, until I stared at it long and hard, and the moment I did, I felt my heart drop to my feet immediately.It was a necklace, with a heart pendant at the center. It was dangling at the edge of the table and it made me wonder how it hadn't fallen off by now. Maybe if it did, the broken pie
Willow. I clutched tightly to my purse, almost like my very life depended on it. In a way, I guess you could actually put it like that, because in the last couple of days I was so I was losing my grip on reality and maybe holding on to my purse would give me the satisfaction that I still had something under control, even though it was just a facade. “Willow?” Someone's voice by my side was all it took to pull me out of my thoughts. A quick glance at my side showed the owner of the voice to be none other than Carter. “Are you okay?”“Yeah.” I was lying through my teeth, but he didn't need to know that. “I'm fine.” That was all Carter needed to know that the conversation was over, and thankfully he didn't push it any further. When he'd come to pick me up this morning, he was all smiles and I couldn't help but feel infuriated. How could he show up at my place just like that, almost like he'd forgotten about the events of that night.The night we fucked. For hours on end, I coul
Willow. I swallowed as Carter walked towards us. He was still a good distance from us, but it wasn't enough to dull the rage that radiated from him. His eyes held nothing but fury in them and for a split second, I wondered who it was trained at. Me, or Asher. I snuck a glance at the man by my side. He didn't look at all fazed by Carter's mini outburst. If anything, he looked more relaxed, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, almost like he was expecting Carter to do something. Something tugged in my mind and I glanced at my waist. Asher's hand was still wrapped around me. I froze, but peeled his hand from my body almost immediately, but it was too late. Carter had already seen it and from the looks of things, he didn't seem very pleased. I shifted awkwardly on my heels as I waited for Carter to walk up to us. In nothing less than three strides, hr was standing. Right next to Asher and I.“Carter.” Asher spoke up first. His voice was low, dangerously low if you asked me. “It's
The night was dark, with only the gentle light from the moon shedding and casting its warm glow over the earth. Stars littered the night sky, and against the pitch black backdrop of it all, the scene above looked nothing short of a beautiful painting. The sound of leaves crunching underneath someone's feet cut straight through my thoughts. Immediately, I turned to the side, and standing a couple of feet away from me, was a black wolf, tall and mighty with its beady eyes staring down at me. A couple of moments passed as we both stared at each other, none of us daring to move. Something swirled in the pit of my stomach and before I could make sense of all that was happening, I found myself transforming back into my human form. My fear heightened when I realized whoever it was, was still in its wolf form. I didn't have to think too much because I'd barely mumbled the rest of the questions, before the wolf morphed into his human form, and the moment he did, a huge smile made its wa
I gently pushed the door to my bedroom shut. When a small click reached my ears, I heaved a sigh of relief. I had no idea why I'd just done that. Mum was probably halfway to slumber town now, so why was I so worried that I would have woken her?I sighed again, before gently clasping my hands together. A slight tremble rocked my fingers, but I kept them together, going they would stop soon.Luckily for me, it didn't last long. The moment I witnessed the last of it, I headed to my study desk in the corner of the room and pulled out my books. I had a test in the morning, and AP Chemistry, isn't something you just waltz through with an empty brain. I knew there was trouble the moment I read the first line and was unable to grasp anything. After trying for the second and third time, and still nothing had changed, I just knew I was cooked. There was no way I could focus on studying, not when there was something on my mind. No, not something. Someone.Zayn.No matter how many times I t
Silence filled the air, except for the tip of my fingertips drumming against the steel table in front of me. I had no idea why this man, Shadow, had gone with steel tables. Did he not have any class? I understood that he ran an underground business and was trying to keep things tough and scary, but who said the affairs of the underworld couldn't be spiced up with some class?Take for example. I was a perfect fit Or perhaps the steel table wasn't such a bad idea. Now that I thought about it, it wasn't exactly useless. Let's say Shadow's warehouse happened to get raided by a rival group right now, this steel table could actually come in handy. Just by flipping it over, it could actually give Shadow ample time to bring out his gun and attack. “Why don't you take a picture?” I let out suddenly, causing Shadow to flinch. I watched as he blinked back a couple of times, obviously trying to readjust his eyes to his surroundings again. A sly grin made its way to my face immediately a
I stood rooted in my spot, my blood boiling. I didn't even bat an eyelid when the sound of Alessandro's car driving out of the compound reached my ears. My mind whirled with a million questions and a thousand more thoughts. How dare he? How could he even do such a thing?I'd always perceived Alessandro to be a heartless and ruthless monster, but the last thing I expected was him bringing a little boy into the equation. Leo was still a little child for fucks sake!I pressed my eyes shut, and the moment the darkness engulfed me, I regretted it immediately. Leo's bruised back and face filled my vision, his wounds taunting me. I shook my head as I imagined his wails and sobs.Leo was a delicate boy, the best kid in the whole world. He didn't deserve any of that and that wasn't even the worst part. The part that made my blood boil and crack at the same time was the fact that it wasn't his fault in any way. I'd brought this up on him. Me, I did that. Strip. Alessandro's authorita
My heart leapt to my throat as the sound of something scurrying along the floorboards reached my ears. I sucked in a deep breath as I sunk deeper to the edge of the wall, my back coming in contact with the bed's fluffy headboard. As I hugged my knees, I rocked back and forth, hoping the little gesture would calm my thumping heart and calm me down a bit, even if it was in the tiniest of ways.It didn't work. It wasn't working. Not at all. Not yet. I sucked in a deep breath as I allowed my heartbeat to return to its steady pacing. I heaved a sigh when it finally stabilized. I was tired, tired of living like this. But did I have any other choice? I wasn't sure. I didn't think so. It'd been two days since I walked out on Alessandro. Tao days since I'd locked myself in my room and refused to come out, and even as time ticked by, I still wasn't sure if I regretted my decision. A frown appeared on my face at the thought of a sour memory. No matter how hard I'd tried to forget a
Fear raked through my body as my heart steadily picked up its pace. Cold chills raced up and down my spine as I stared wide eyed at the scene in front of me. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I was cursed or something. Cursed to always find myself in situations like these. But that wasn't the part that bothered me. A little curse here and there never hurt anybody. Hell, maybe I'd even cursed myself. I did have a knack for messing around with Ouija boards and all when I was little. The part that bothered me was how I always managed to find myself in situations like these, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. After Dagger had dropped the bombshell and given me an ultimatum, I was stumped. I went blank. He couldn't get my attention until he poked me with something. I didn't think much of it, but now that I did, I couldn't shake off the feeling he'd done something. Ejected a tracking device or chip into my body maybe, or perhaps he'd even poisoned me. The ideas were end
I watched as the blue flames lit the tip of the cigar that was tucked in between my fingers. As I pushed the flames closer to where I wanted it to be, something caught my eye. How the hell I was able to notice it was strange to me, but now that I'd seen it, I just couldn't ignore it. Just in between my fingers where the cigar sat, Red hue tainted my skin. I wasn't exactly sensitive and I barely bruised, so this was definitely a discovery. A sly smirk made its way to my lips. I didn't even have to think hard to figure out why the skin in between my fingers was pink, or better still, turning red. For the past hour, or more, I'd been replacing rolls and rolls of cigars the moment I exhausted the last one. At some point I'd lost count of how many of the smoke machines I'd inhaled, but I knew they were a lot. I was pushing myself and maybe if I didn't hold back, I would finally know my limit. If I actually had one, that is. I exhaled a huge puff of smoke, after inhaling for a coup
My mind reeled with a million and one things all ar once and I swear if I didn't find a way to stop it, I just might run mad on the spot. I'd just told them I knew Alessandro. Shit. If I was being honest, I had no clue if I'd done the right thing or not. I suspected foul play the moment I realized I wasn't Alessandro’s captive. Who else knew of my existence? Papa had taken a wide step back from indulging in businesses that were a norm in mafia families, so there was no way I could be in someone's radar. But the moment he knew I recognized Alessandro, I just knew I was in deep shit. I hated Alessandro, literally everyone did, even Antonio. But as I stared at the murderous glare my captor wore as he arranged an array of weapons I didn't recognize, I quickly came to the conclusion that there were more people that hated the man. Even more than I did. And it shocked me to the bones.Who the hell was he? Was he working alone? What was his relationship with Alessandro? And what
Chapter 82Destiny's POV I was anxious, and literally nothing I did was calming me down. Instead, the more I tried, the more I failed woefully at it too. There wasn't any technique I hadn't tried. I had tried counting to ten and back again, and even making a conscious effort at trying to regulate my breathing, but it just wasn't working. It was a surprise how Carter hadn't noticed how fidgety I was. Or maybe he had, he has just decided that he wasn't going to comment on it, and even that didn't sit right with me.My stomach churned, pulling me out of my quick monologue. Before it could let out another sound, I folded my fingers in front of my belly. I wasn't exactly sure it was going to do anything, but it was too late to try to take back what I'd just done. So instead, I fixed my gaze as I tried to remove the invisible dirt that had found their way underneath my nails. The car was silent, save for the gentle hum from the engine. The civilization that whooshed by also seemed to