Willow The world around me blurred immediately. I blinked back a couple of times, but it did nothing to ease my vision. instead, the more I blinked, the more blurry things got. I pressed a hand to my forehead. A dull throb was beginning to form and it was well on its way to spreading throughout my forehead. It hurt, but I didn't think anything could top the news I'd just heard right now. "If you so much as fail, then consider yourself no longer a part of this family." Clara's words echoed in my head, and the more it did, the more the weight of everything rested on my shoulders. Why did I have to go through all of this? Was this all some kind of a test? if it was, was the result worth it? Because there was no way I would be going through all of this and not get anything worthwhile out of it. It wasn't a secret that the circumstances around my marriage to Carter weren't ideal, but that didn't mean I wanted to be chased out. I was literally all alone now. My hopes that Asher
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
Destiny's POV I squirmed in my seat as the ends of the makeup brush tickled my cheeks. I wanted to giggle, but even I knew the makeup artist wouldn't exactly take it lightly and I wouldn't blame her one bit. Ever since she started, I'd been restless. Why? Because it was my boyfriend's coronation today. A huge grin made its way to my lips at the thought of that. Kaius had been looking forward to this day since he was little and now, the day had finally come. And even with that, I still had more reason to celebrate. Not only was he going to take over as the new Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, he would also be announcing me as his mate to the whole pack. Tonight. My grin grew even wider as I thought of it. I'd always known it would happen, but as I counted down to the special moment, my excitement grew. Kaius and I had been together for a while now. Forever, if I was being honest. After his mum, the Luna , had found me in the bushes on a stormy night twenty years ago, eve
Carter I stood rooted in my spot for the next couple of seconds. Maybe if I could pretend I hadn't heard them, they would leave right? It always happened to me. Most times when I was too preoccupied with a thought, so much that it bothered me, if I ignored it for long enough, it would just leave. And if anything could be possible in my mind, it definitely meant it could be possible in real life too, right? I hoped. But I was wrong. The nervous glance that Colin threw my way was all the indication I needed to know that my imagination hadn't worked this time. The mystery person who had interrupted us was still there and I couldn't help but wonder if they'd overheard us or not. “Excuse me?” The mystery person spoke up again and if I was being honest, there was something off with their voice. “What's going on there?” Colin and I locked gazes again. I wasn't the only one who'd heard the uncertainty in his voice, Colin didn't miss it too. But what if I was wrong? What if it was al
Carter My footsteps echoed with each step I took but I wasn't the least bit bothered about that. I had bigger things to think about , bigger than wondering if I was waking up the entire mansion or not and I could bet my life that anyone who was in my shoes was going to agree too. Although right now, for the sake of their sanity, I wouldn't want anyone else to be in the position I was right now, not even my biggest enemy. If there was one person I would wish this on, then it had to be Asher. A frown tugged at my lips immediately. The mere thought of him always soured my mood and I wasn't sure how to feel, now that he had popped into my mind. A part of me was happy because I was right, and the other part couldnt help but feel mad. Without even trying, he had already successfully dampened my already bad mood. Why wasn't any of these things happening to him? Asher was pure evil and still, he got away with literally everything. Just look at the arrest on his coronation day, and the
Willow My mind was a mess, but that wasn't even the worst part. A million and one thoughts danced around in my head and a good number of them were questions, questions I didn't have the slightest answer to. One would think with how busy and messed up my mind was, I would be searching for answers, or trying to piece together a couple of things that would at least give me a clue of what was going on. But I didn't. Instead, I allowed the war to rage in my mind. Anything to keep me from thinking about it. I pressed my eyes shut, and regretted it immediately. Just waiting for me, was the memory I'd been trying so hard to forget. It hadn't been too long since it happened, but I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I'd replayed it more than a million times in the last sixty minutes. Sophie's voice echoed in my head, he words crashing into every part of my skull. I wanted to say I was numb, but literally every part of my body knew it was nothing but a lie. I didn't want to feel pain, but a
Carter's POV I paced around my study, the sound of the soles of my shoes slapping hard against the tiles. It wasn't a particularly pleasant sound, but at this point, I couldn't bring myself to care. You could say I was tensed up, but even I knew it was more than that. I felt more than a million emotions all at once, and none of them were happy or pleasant ones. For someone who'd spent the better part of their childhood maintaining calm and decorum because it was required by the alpha, I was gradually losing it. I was gradually losing my grip on the control of things and it didn't sit well with me. The more I thought about it and the more I tried to come up with a solution for it, the more downhill everything seemed to go. A frustrated sigh slid past my lips. Without thinking, I ran a hand through my hair. My gaze wasted no time in locating the clock propped way high up on the wall and the moment I read what the time machine said, a frown made its way to my lips. I hated how thin
Bella's POV “Bella.” Arthur's words echoed in my ears. “What are we now?”He had asked, and even though it had been quite a while since the sentence slid past his lips, it didn't make it any less irrelevant. I should have known that question was coming, in fact, a tiny part of me was expecting it, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I was barely recovering from the effects of everything that had happened in the past. The house, rescuing me from the kidnappers, taking care of me, being by my side at the hospital, and that wasn't all. If we were talking about the tip of the iceberg, then that had to be it. Despite all and everything that had happened, Arthur had every right to ask the question he had just asked, and you could say my inability to answer him was based on the fact that I was also trying to figure out the answer to his question too..What were we? If I was being honest, I never saw a future with the man whose arms I was in at the moment. Everything had started wit
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