Alyssa Nothing was working. Nothing at all. Not even Vivian's show of imitating our dean who had a weird accent and an even weirder personality. Right now, Vivian had spread out a couple of chicken nuggets and was acting out a play, with our dean as the main character of course. On a normal day, I would be howling by now, guffawing and laughing out my intestines, but today was definitely not a good day, not even in the slightest. "Alyssa. Alyssa ?" I shook my head and those thoughts away at the sound of my name. I blinked back a couple of times, and only when my vision cleared did I realize I was having lunch at the cafeteria with Vivian. " Are you okay?""Yeah." I nodded, a bit too eagerly if you asked me. "What's wrong?"" I should be asking you that." Vivian said as she bit off our supposed principal's head. " You look like something's troubling you.""No, it's not. It's nothing." I bit down on my lips after I'd realized my blunder. " I mean, nothing is bothering me."" You
I pressed my lips into a thin line, hoping to calm myself down. I'd been doing that for a while now, but it did nothing to help. If there was anything I'd actually been able to get out of it, it was an aching gum, and dare I say a bleeding lip. I bit back a groan. I hated this. I hated feeling like this and I hated it all the more that there was nothing I could do to stop it. No matter how hard I tried, I only ended up making the situation worse for me. A small sigh slid past my lips. My throat felt parched and I could already tell my voice was going to be hoarse if I tried to speak. My palms felt clammy and I could already make out beads of sweat forming at the top of my head. This slimy liquid wasn't limited to my face either. A cold shudder raked through my spine as slick sweat made its way down my back. With the amount of times that had happened, I wouldn't be surprised if my blouse had been soaked already. Even my thighs weren't free from the assault. I could feel my legs pre
I pressed my lips into a thin line, hoping to calm myself down. I'd been doing that for a while now, but it did nothing to help. If there was anything I'd actually been able to get out of it, it was an aching gum, and dare I say a bleeding lip. I bit back a groan. I hated this. I hated feeling like this and I hated it all the more that there was nothing I could do to stop it. No matter how hard I tried, I only ended up making the situation worse for me. A small sigh slid past my lips. My throat felt parched and I could already tell my voice was going to be hoarse if I tried to speak. My palms felt clammy and I could already make out beads of sweat forming at the top of my head. This slimy liquid wasn't limited to my face either. A cold shudder raked through my spine as slick sweat made its way down my back. With the amount of times that had happened, I wouldn't be surprised if my blouse had been soaked already. Even my thighs weren't free from the assault. I could feel my legs pre
The world around me seemed to fade away. A loud buzzing filled my ears and even with that, it was still a miracle how the only thing I could hear was Arthur's last words. “Your father is dead.” I was still reeling from the weight of the bombshell that had been dropped on me, but no matter how much time had passed or how much I needed to myself, nothing softened the blow. What did he mean by father was dead? There was no way that was possible, it didn't just make any sense. Yes, I was aware that father was ill, but there was no way he could die right? He promised me he wouldn't.Someone's voice crept to the top of my mind. From the moment his words started playing in my ears, I felt goosebumps wash over my skin.“Not might.” Leo's voice taunted me. I wasn't even near the man, and yet he was able to cause the worst fear levels to course through my veins. “He will. He's going to die.”Was it really the truth? If father was dead, then why did Leo try to make some kind of deal with me
I thought I had seen it all, and probably nothing else could surprise me, thanks to the string of bad luck I'd been having. But apparently, I was only being delusional. Nature, or whatever force was responsible for all the bad things happening to me, still had a couple of tricks and things up their sleeves, one of them being my very own mother. I stood rooted to my spot as I allowed myself the privilege of taking in what had just happened. It had taken place so quickly, there was no way I would have anticipated it. One minute I was on the verge of asking Leo to spare my mother and the next, she was literally offering to sell me off, just so she could get some money, and to none other than Leo too. What in the world? If there was someone responsible for how all of the events and everything in my life was panning out, then it was safe to say that at he or she hated me beyond normal, if hating someone could be considered a normal activity that is.Mother and I didn't always get alo
I thought I had seen it all, and probably nothing else could surprise me, thanks to the string of bad luck I'd been having. But apparently, I was only being delusional. Nature, or whatever force was responsible for all the bad things happening to me, still had a couple of tricks and things up their sleeves, one of them being my very own mother. I stood rooted to my spot as I allowed myself the privilege of taking in what had just happened. It had taken place so quickly, there was no way I would have anticipated it. One minute I was on the verge of asking Leo to spare my mother and the next, she was literally offering to sell me off, just so she could get some money, and to none other than Leo too. What in the world? If there was someone responsible for how all of the events and everything in my life was panning out, then it was safe to say that at he or she hated me beyond normal, if hating someone could be considered a normal activity that is.Mother and I didn't always get alo
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 things
I stormed out of the office, my mind a complete mess. A million and one thing ran through it all at once, but I pushed them to the back of my mind. If I thought about it, they didn't matter. A good number of the things that seemed to want to drive me mad were irrelevant, especially after things had turned out a couple of minutes ago. I smiled, and unlike the others, it wasn't half hearted or a tight-lipped one. It was genuine, and something flickered in my chest. Hope, perhaps? Or maybe the glimpse at a future where I was finally getting what I deserved. No, scratch that, who. Who I deserved. I allowed the events from a while back play in my head. Even in a million years, I hadn't seen it coming. If someone had walked up to me and told me this was how it was going to play out, I would have laughed their heads off and probably ordered that they'd be thrown into the dungeon or something. When Bella's mother had walked in, I wasted no time in showing my disdain. She saw it, but I
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