VIOLET
“Fuck my life.”
I cursed underneath my breath, scrambling to my feet. If it was truly rogues, then staying there would spell my doom. I didn’t waste any time and began running in the opposite direction from the howls.
The cold wind whipped past my face but I didn’t care all too much. All that mattered to me was escaping from them with my life. That was all that was important to me. That was all I cared about. That was all I wanted.
My legs ached with each step I took but I knew I couldn’t dare slow down my pace. Any false step would mean my death. I’d suffered and endured so much these past few days. I couldn’t let it all end here. My fingers were clinging hard onto my bag as I sought to quicken my pace.
My heart began thumping faster as the howls began getting closer. They’d taken notice of me. It would be better if I could transform now and run but it would only slow me down and give them an advantage over me.
I could hear the sound of their growls getting closer and closer. The thud of their feet hitting the ground filled my ears. They were right behind me and I could feel the bloodlust emanating from there. They were definitely after my blood.
I increased my speed and began running faster, picking up the pace as best as I could. I was so engulfed in getting away from them, I didn’t bother taking note of where I was running to. All I could think of was getting away from them.
After some time of running, I noticed I couldn’t hear the sound of their growls. There were no thuds coming from behind me. I slowed down to a stop and looked behind me. They were gone.
“Fucking idiots.” I clicked my tongue, trying to catch my breath.
My chest hurt so bad from running so fast. On the bright side, at least I had managed to escape them. I still didn’t understand why they’d stopped chasing me all of a sudden. Rogues were known to chase down their prey to the ends of the earth.
I pushed away the weird feeling gnawing at my chest and tightened my grip on the bag. I had no idea where I was at all. Just as I was about to bring out the map and try to decipher my whereabouts, my whole body froze.
It was pure primal instinct for an animal to know when it was being watched. I could feel it deep in my bones and didn’t even need anyone to spell it out for me. I wasn’t alone. A low guttural sound made me snap my head to a nearby bush. More growls sounded from all around me.
A small gasp escaped my lips as I watched a number of wolves walk out from different directions. Soon enough, I was surrounded by all of them. I tried to step back but there was one behind me.
I was really in for it now.
The biggest of them, a big black wolf walked up to her and stopped just a little away from her. She felt the urge to flinch back in fear but held her ground. She hadn’t done anything wrong. If it came to it, she would not be going down without a fight.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” She yelled out to them.
The black wolf growled in response, its eyes glaring at her intently. For a second, she was sure it would definitely attack. What she didn’t expect was for it to slowly shift back into human form. The tall man walked closer to her, eyeing her up and down with a look of suspicion in his eyes.
“I think we’re the ones who should be asking you that.”
The other wolves shifted into a group of men, all of them watching her intently. She had to resist the urge to squirm under their intense gaze. The man in front of her was probably contemplating if he should just kill her off. Her heart sped up at that thought.
“Check her bag.” He said to one of the other men.
The blonde hair man grabbed her bag forcefully and emptied out its contents on the floor. They probably had no interest in what they saw and turned back to her, annoyance reading all over their facial expressions.
“Who do you work for? What allegiance do you serve?” He threw a barrel of questions at her, not giving her the chance to muster a single answer.
“I-
“You’ll be coming with us.”
Without giving me a chance to defend myself, the others grabbed me and began dragging me with them.
“Hey. Wait one second. This isn’t what you think. Who are you? And where the hell am I?”
They didn’t bother answering any of my questions and just dragged me along with them. My heart beat sped up as various scenarios ran through my head. Where were they taking me to? Who were they? I’d heard of people getting kidnapped this way. Was the same thing happening to me? Would I be whisked off to heaven knows where? My body parts sold off?
I tried fighting out of their grip once again and the black hair man turned to glare at me.
“Do that again, and I’ll cut your legs off.” He threatened.
His threat was crystal clear. Obey or suffer the consequences. Shit. Everything was happening so quick, I barely even had any chance to react. I couldn’t ask anything else. Who knew what they would do if provoked to anger.
Right. The best thing to do would be to just cooperate with them and give them what they wanted. Maybe they’d let me go if I did that. It was naïve to think that way but I didn’t have much of a choice. I remained quiet and let them place a bag over my head.
I didn’t expect the painful blow to my head before everything went black.
Violet’s POV“I said make your pick.”It was odd hearing those words leaving Lucian’s lips. I didn’t think the man was capable of getting over his spite for me to actually say that. Or was this all part of some ruse he was cooking up?I didn’t know why it was so hard to shake of that gnawing feeling I’d be getting. A voice in my head had been at it for a while now, making sure to let me know that this was probably another ploy to embarrass me.Maybe I was just traumatized, but the idea of getting to meet entirely new people who might already have some preconceived bias about me wasn’t all that comforting. Oh well. Not like I had much of a choice in this. It was all a means to an end.My eyes scoured through the fleet of cars that lined the place. Tristan, big and might as he was, didn’t have up to this.I turned to Lucian. “Do all the pack members just keep their cars here? Or is there some specific use for them?”Lucian raised an eyebrow. “They’re mine.”Maybe looking so dumbfounded
LUCIANThe next day came as all other days before it had. Forcing my eyes open was the easy part. It was a routine I was well used to. My body worked with something along the lines of an inner clock. It was almost near hard—impossible even—for me to wake up late. Except for the few occasions where I let myself indulge in a bit of liquor.Apart from that, I was usually pretty diligent with when I got out of bed. Today however was a bit different.I’d be taking Violet out shopping in preparation for tomorrow. The meeting with Blue Stone Pack’s leaders tomorrow was something that would further commemorate Violet’s position.I could still remember Alpha Kane’s words.“This woman that managed to snag that icy cold heart of yours,” he laughed. “I’d be honored to meet her.”A small groan left my lips. Better to get over with it than keep fixating on other options. This was necessary, and I wasn’t chicken.My gaze flicked to the side, noting the barrier of pillows and blankets that separated
VIOLETShould you apologize when you accidentally walk in on someone near-naked? Probably. But this was Lucian here. And he already just cussed me out.“You could have fucking knocked.” He growled in irritation.“Well excuse me for just walking in to the room that’s supposed to classify as mine now.” I retorted, sending him a glare of my own.He growled again, this time more menacing than before. The logical part of my brain was already yelling at me to stop. But I’d be damned if I just let him do whatever he liked and get away with it.Lucian glared at me some more before clicking his tongue in irritation. “What the hell are you even doing here now? Don’t you have things to do? Luna duties to attend to?”“Not that I know of.” I slowly made my way past him and moved to the bed.“Oh?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Then where have you been all day?”I hesitated a bit before letting out a sigh. “With Reese. She’s showing me around the ropes, and helping me with a bit of training.”He let out a
VIOLETThere weren’t a lot that could get on my nerves. However, the time I’d spent in Dark Moon had proven pretty well that it wasn’t always the case. At least not with Lucian.He was like a thorn in my side that just wouldn’t budge no matter how hard I fretted or tried to get him away. Was he doing it on purpose? I wasn’t so sure.I had a goal in mind and losing focus was the last thing to do. Especially seeing how far I’d managed to come despite everything.“Your posture needs more work.”Reese’s words did little to reduce the crease in my forehead. She’d suggested we work on my fighting skills so I could better protect myself and seem worthy in the eyes of the pack members.Strenuous as it’s been, I wasn’t particularly opposed to any of it. If anything, I was immensely grateful for the opportunity.“Come on,” I wiped a sheen of sweat off my brow. “One more time.”For a split second, her lips curved into a smirk. Then she aimed a kick at my head. I winced a little as her leg hit my
Lucian’s POV“Tell me all I need to know. Tristan’s weaknesses and any other loopholes of West Creak that can be exploited.” I went straight to the point just as Violet took her seat.I’d chosen the quiet and privacy of my office to conduct what we were about to do. The walls had ears, and I wasn’t about to risk anything.Violet’s face was devoid of any emotion whatsoever, making it hard to decipher what her thoughts might be. It was something that struck me as odd. I’d chalked my ability to easily read people and what their thoughts might be to years of experience in dealing with people.This…this was intriguing.“If you’re planning on attacking Tristan, you have to be methodological.” Violet explained. “All your plans have to be precise and without any flaws whatsoever.”I scoffed. “You say that like he’s infallible.”“In a way he is.” Violet’s eyes never wavered as she said that. “Every single person in West Creak sees him as a god of some sort, the embodiment of perfection itself.
LUCIANViolet wasn’t the first woman I’d have an encounter with. I’d already met plenty of women throughout my life. Some of them playing hard to get, the others all too eager to throw themselves on to me.As soon as I slammed the door shut behind me, a small breath left my lips. She was determined and had that fire of defiance in her eyes. I wanted to quench it in the coldest way possible. Violet saw herself as some spitfire who would get what she wanted. Poor thing.The sound of my ringtone broke my chain of thoughts. My brows furrowed when I saw the caller on the line.“All these years and you think to finally call me now.”The man chuckled. “And yet you sound so excited to hear my voice.”I clicked my tongue in annoyance. “What do you want?”“Oh calm down, Lucian. Now’s not the time to get all worked up.”“I could do a good work on that ugly mess of a face you have. You’d need it.” I retorted.“Bite back and try to be all snarky if you want.” The man paused. “You know why I’m call