★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★The sun was brutal overhead, baking the field until the air shimmered faintly. I suddenly missed the cloudy, cooler weather. It was nicer. It was yesterday, but I’m already missing it. This heat is back with a vengeance. But at least the roads will clear up soon enough. Even with the buzz of voices and the shuffle of feet, there was a strange, heavy stillness — like the whole pack was holding its breath.I stepped out of the house, clutching the jar tight in one hand, the small, delicate brush in the other.All eyes shifted to me.The glass jar was filled with the concoction I had spent all night perfecting — a near-invisible liquid that would do what no simple test ever could.It wouldn't force the imposters to shift.Wouldn't burn them or cause a dramatic scene.It would just mark them.Subtle. Effective. And then force their skin to react. If this isn’t their real form they’ll shift into the real one. That’s how this is supposed to go. I tested it on
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★The engine sputtered, letting out a high-pitched whine before descending into a series of jarring clunks, each one louder and more ominous than the last. A metallic scraping sound joined the cacophony, like nails on a chalkboard, before the car gave one final, wheezing groan. The momentum ebbed, and with a reluctant shudder, it jerked to a halt, silence settling like a heavy curtain in the aftermath of the mechanical chaos.“HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHY NOW? WHY THE FUCK NOW?!” I yelled, banging my head on the steering wheel over and over again. The honking sound didn’t even stop me from freaking out. I’m not even near this stupid godforsaken town. And this piece of crap has given up on me. I hate THIS!Okay, you might need some backstory to understand why I’m freaking out. This is all the fault of my estranged mother. Two days ago she sent me a letter. In these modern times, she sent me a fucking letter. After twenty years of pure silence, after running out on
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★“What is this?” Lionel asked as he picked up the piece of paper I’d thrown away. Shit. He looked at me after unruffling it up, and reading through it. “why is she writing to you? From dusty creek?”Yeah, creek. Right. Is that even a place? Is it like a small venue in New York? Hmm.“I don’t know. I just got the letter. I don’t know why she hasn’t reached out in twenty years. Okay, what am I supposed to do?”Ezra growled, “Do what you always do when you don’t want to entertain bullshit. She doesn’t get to see you. She never called, never even bothered to check in to see how Dad was doing. no. You can’t go.”normally, this would be a given. I hate my mother. But I have to admit that what she did reroute my brain. Our family was perfect, and she ruined it. However, I can’t seem to feel that bubbling hate right now. I truly want to know. My therapist- yes, I have one. When you key an old lady’s car at sixteen, call her a dying floozy, punch her grandson, and
▄︻デ══━一 COLTON HAYES💥 She’s beautiful. No, I’m sorry, beautiful doesn’t even cover it. This woman is the most stunning female I have ever come across. Dark skin that practically glows under the sunlight, smooth and rich like the earth itself. Her black hair falls in waves, catching the light like silk, and every inch of her body tells a story. She’s curvy, with just enough softness to make me want to reach out and hold her, and there's a confidence in the way she carries herself that makes my chest tighten.Her red strapless shirt hugs her like it was made for her, showing off the natural swell of her chest, and that brown flurry skirt… damn, it moves just right when she shifts, teasing me with every single movement. Her brown boots with heels make her legs go on for days, and I can already imagine how perfect they’d look tangled up with mine.She’s not just pretty, she’s got that raw kind of beauty, the kind that makes everything else around her fade into the background. I can’t lo
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★I’m not sure I’ve ever been on a bed more comfortable than this. I wore Colton’s shirt to sleep, his bar soap smelt like actual daises, and the house reeked of hand made, I built it myself nonsense. God, I feel like throwing a tantrum. This stranger gave me a ride when I was stranded, and a place in his home, I could have been a serial killer. I sat up straight and exhaled.I could try to be less of a bitch. Hopefully, I’m not here for long, and I can meet with my mother and then head home. To where life truly is. Not on a farm, in a place that shouldn’t be on the map.Getting out of bed, I walked towards the window in time to see the sunrise. My god.... it’s beautiful. Wow. I can get the same view, from my penthouse. Only with less grass. Still pretty though.I’m just not a connect-with-nature kind of girl. Which reminds me, my charger is also in one of those bags that I left. God, my brothers must be losing their minds. I have to hurry. Get a bath, get
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★My mother seemed to have aged gracefully, and it infuriated me more than I expected. She looked like someone who hadn't endured the wreckage she left behind, someone untouched by the destruction she caused. I forced a tight smile, biting down hard on the bitter insults swarming in my head, begging to spill into the open. She looked at me, her eyes already swimming with tears.“My god, Vanessa, you’re all grown.”I felt the words cut through me like a knife. All grown. What did she expect after twenty years? That I’d freeze in time, waiting for her to decide we mattered again? I swallowed the lump in my throat and replied, my voice clipped, barely holding back the sarcasm.“Yes, twenty years apart does that. Uh, you look good. I didn’t know you had remarried.”Her face flushed, a fleeting expression of guilt crossing her features before she looked away. “I’m sorry... I didn’t want to explain everything over the phone. Come in, meet Tom and the kids.”Kids?
The world tilted. My stomach churned violently. I staggered back, clutching the edge of the couch for support before doubling over. I vomited into a nearby potted plant, the acidic taste burning my throat.“Vanessa, please—”“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, my voice raw and trembling as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “You didn’t contact me because you missed me or wanted to fix things. You brought me here to save your other daughter’s life. Or that you have a grandson. You don’t even care how I’ve been, how your sons are doing, how Dad is coping—no, suffering—because of you. Do you even remember that the mate bond doesn’t break just because you left? You're not even divorced! You didn't have the guts to get the papers! Do you even know what you did to him? Does Tom know his wife is still tied to her soulmate? Both in bond and by state law?”“Vanessa, lower your voice!” she hissed, her eyes darting nervously toward the kitchen.“I will not!” I roared, my chest heaving. “You’r
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★My shoes and i are not made for the farm life. I don’t need to explore farms to know that to be the truth. The farm is huge, and a definite sign of generational wealth. According to colton, no one in the pack paid or built their house. His family did all that. They supply light, and water as well. All the pack members have to do is a pay a monthly sum, and help around the farm. Imagine getting a four bedroom duplex for three thousand dollars a month- which includes light, electricity, and water. That’s an insane deal if you ask me. How are the hayes family not broke with this sort of hospitality?The biggest houses on the land belonged to his family. His house has a total of seven bedrooms, from what i gathered, and I’m guessing so do the others. This excludes the two living rooms, two extra guest bathrooms, the basement, attic, library and office. This man is rich rich. My family aren’t poor, the only reason we have a house in manhanttan is because m
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★The sun was brutal overhead, baking the field until the air shimmered faintly. I suddenly missed the cloudy, cooler weather. It was nicer. It was yesterday, but I’m already missing it. This heat is back with a vengeance. But at least the roads will clear up soon enough. Even with the buzz of voices and the shuffle of feet, there was a strange, heavy stillness — like the whole pack was holding its breath.I stepped out of the house, clutching the jar tight in one hand, the small, delicate brush in the other.All eyes shifted to me.The glass jar was filled with the concoction I had spent all night perfecting — a near-invisible liquid that would do what no simple test ever could.It wouldn't force the imposters to shift.Wouldn't burn them or cause a dramatic scene.It would just mark them.Subtle. Effective. And then force their skin to react. If this isn’t their real form they’ll shift into the real one. That’s how this is supposed to go. I tested it on
▄︻デ══━一 COLTON HAYES💥 The morning sun was climbing higher, burning the mist off the fields, but it couldn’t burn away the heavy feeling pressing against my chest.There was a tension in the air so thick you could chew it — the kind that got in your lungs and made it hard to breathe.I pulled my jacket tighter around myself as I headed toward the field.Ahead, a long line of our people stretched out, the entire pack spilling across the open grass like soldiers waiting for orders.Mothers rocked babies against their hips, murmuring soft reassurances into tiny ears.Toddlers clung to their fathers' pant legs.The older ones stood stiff, their gazes darting around nervously, like they could feel the edge of something coming too.Dad was up front, clipboard in one hand, glasses slipping down his nose as he called out names with military precision. He doesn’t wear- when did he get glasses? I thought... well, i guess old age caught up to him. Beside him, Ross scribbled notes, checking eac
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★The last of the mixture swirled thickly in the glass jar, settling into a cloudy, pale gold.It didn’t look like much — just cloudy water, harmless if you didn’t know better — but if it worked the way it was supposed to, it would tear the shapeshifters' disguises apart in seconds.I tightened the lid, setting the jar carefully down on the counter. My hands were steady, but everything inside me buzzed with nervous energy."Alright," I said, stepping back and wiping my hands on a rag. "We’re doing this old-school."Colton, sitting at the edge of the couch with my laptop still balanced beside him, lifted a brow. He’d moved from the kitchen when the smell got too bad. It is not a pretty thing. The smell fades after the final ingredient is added."Old-school?""Yeah," I said, pulling a second, smaller container from my bag — this one filled with individual vials of the concoction. "We’re calling everybody out. Every single person living on the Silverridge farm
▄︻デ══━一 COLTON HAYES💥 Vanessa worked like a woman possessed.The area of the kitchen filled with the sharp scent of alcohol and something bitter and chemical as she laid out the supplies I’d picked up. Plastic containers. Droppers. A bag of strange powder, she explained, was essential for the reaction. She had a focused, stubborn set to her mouth as she moved — no hesitation, no second-guessing. It was impressive as hell. She’s like an incredible hybrid who can do so much. Sure, I’m not happy that part of the ingredient calls for her blood. But what can I do? I got the first aid kit and laid it on one of the stools.I leaned against the counter, arms crossed, trying to ignore the throb in my side. It wasn’t bad. Not like it had been. Just a reminder that pushing my body harder than it could handle had a cost"Hey," Vanessa said without looking up. She was grinding something down into finer powder with the back of a spoon. "While I’m working, can you check out the Fa-derico twins? I
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★Morning came slowly and pale through the windows, slipping past the heavy curtains in thin ribbons of light. I blinked awake to the scratchy fabric of the couch under my cheek and the familiar, comforting weight of a blanket draped over me. Colton must have gotten up when he woke up in the night, and he’d done this, which is nice, but I was supposed to be caring for him. For a moment, I didn't move.Just breathed.The room was cold. The fire in the hearth had burned down to embers during the night, but there was a kind of peace in the stillness that made me want to stay frozen there forever. This small place that’s meant to be hot as balls is turning into a colder place, which makes me feel like I’m a bad omen. Then a soft sound broke the quiet.I lifted my head blearily to find Colton still asleep, sprawled halfway across the couch, one arm hanging off the edge. His breathing was slow, steady, his face relaxed in a way I hardly ever saw. It made someth
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★The road back to Silver Ridge Farm was even worse now than when I left it. The bike rattled under me with every bump and rut, every patch of churned-up mud grabbing at the tires like hands trying to pull me down. My jeans were soaked up to the knees, my boots caked and heavy, but I kept going, forcing the wheels to spin.By the time I made it to the edge of the land, my thighs were screaming and my lungs burned from the cold air.And then I saw him.Colton.Leaning against the hood of his truck like he’d been planted there — arms folded tight across his chest, head lowered so that the brim of his hat shadowed his face. He didn’t move when I coasted closer, didn't call out. He just stayed there, like a statue carved from stubbornness and worry.Guilt stabbed deep into my gut. I told him i wasn’t leaving the house today, but that’s me. I can make a split second decision, and go for it. It doesn’t take much for me to follow a lead. I slowed the bike awkwa
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★I worked quickly, snapping picture after picture, my hands steady despite the adrenaline racing through me. Most of the documents were in legal jargon, but a few words stood out — property acquisitions, dummy corporations, shipment manifests. Enough to make any cop with half a brain raise an eyebrow.Satisfied I’d gotten everything, I shoved the drawer closed and straightened up, ears pricked for any sound from outside. Still nothing.Good.Better to get out now before my luck ran out.I backed out of the bedroom the same way I’d come, retracing every step carefully, barely breathing.As I reached the kitchen, something on the counter caught my eye — a small, black notebook half-buried under a takeout menu.Temptation warred with caution.I shouldn’t stay longer.But this could be important.I snatched it up quickly, flipping through a few pages. Most of it was notes, addresses, some names I didn’t recognize — but one page was folded and marked with a sta
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★I left a text for Colton before I could lose my nerve:/Going into town. Gonna try and break into Nora’s.Be back soon. Don’t freak out./Short. To the point. Exactly the kind of thing guaranteed to make him freak out. But I shoved my phone deep into my jacket pocket before the guilt could settle in. I couldn’t afford guilt right now. I needed answers, and if Nora really was who I thought she was, waiting around wasn’t an option.The bike I borrowed from one of the families on the farm was old—probably older than me—and creaked under my weight when I climbed on. The handlebars wobbled. The chain looked one good ride away from snapping. But it would do.The muddy road leading out of Silver Ridge Farm was even worse today. Recent rains had turned the dirt into deep grooves of slop, and every push of the pedals sent a spray of mud up my jeans. My boots were already caked, my fingers frozen from gripping the cold metal, but I leaned into it. I welcomed the di
★。\|/。★VANESSA DAVIS★。/|\。★It was buried.Like someone had wanted it to be.I’d been combing through articles for hours, the motions mechanical now, almost numb. My mind was on autopilot—just picking through keywords, cross-referencing names, digging into obscure land deals that didn’t make sense, tracking down vague, half-mentioned connections between people who seemed irrelevant at first glance. The rabbit holes I’d gone down had been endless, some of them leading nowhere. But I couldn’t stop. I had to find something. Anything besides what I found about the drug dealer. Still, I wanted more details. My eyes were aching, and my fingers were numb from tapping the keys. I was running on nothing but cold coffee and the burning need to dig deeper. I had spent the better part of the morning and afternoon chasing down leads that now felt pointless. But then… I found it.It was another old article, buried under thousands of newer headlines, hidden like someone had intentionally tucked i