PenelopeWhen we talked about getting to know each other better, I guess I just thought that conversation would flow better. We're sisters for goodness sake! Shouldn't we have some kind of bond to make this not be uncomfortable?Well, we don't. This is so freaking awkward I just want to bury myself in a hole and never come out. None of us know how to start this conversation on how to learn more about each other. I don’t know how close Donovan and Maven’s relationship was and… I don’t know the first thing about having a sister.I force a smile as I ask, “How about we start with something easy? How did you two meet?”Maven turns to look at Amelia with a mischievous smile and she shakes her head as a light blush covers her cheeks. After a moment Amelia says, “Well, I was new to town and was in my cottage when there was a knock on my door. Maven stumbled in, injured, and he passed out. I didn’t even know his name, but I helped him recover. I left because I didn’t want him to know who I wa
PenelopeIt was hard to sleep and get any rest knowing that tomorrow we will travel back to our pack. We haven't heard from anyone and we're fearful of how things will be when we get there.Donovan and I lie in bed and doze in and out throughout the night as we hold hands. By the time the morning came we were both dreading going home because of the unknown.We walk down the stairs and Donovan is tense. Of course, he's tense, I am too! The unknown is hanging over our heads like a dark storm cloud. Before we leave, I give Amelia a hug goodbye and then I follow Donovan and Maven to the car to head home.The drive there is quiet. No one talks and the hours it takes to get back home seem to drag out.I didn't even notice when we got there because... there's nothing left. My jaw drops open as tears fill my eyes. The car hasn't even fully stopped and I'm ripping the door open and stumbling out as I immediately crumble to my knees as I sob racks through my body and escape my lips. There’s no
DonovanMy life doesn't feel real anymore. It's like I'm stuck in a nightmare, unable to wake up.Life has no meaning anymore.I lost everything except for my mate. Although, I’m grateful that I didn’t lose Penelope… it’s still hard knowing that I lost everything else. My sister, Jack, the whole pack… everything my father and his father and his father, all the way to the creation of the Moon Stone Pack, everything those men did to build this pack up and it all got annihilated.It's all my fault. If I had made better choices, none of this would've happened.I’m grateful that Maven and Amelia are letting us stay in their pack. It’s been a couple of weeks and I still have no idea what our next steps are. One thing’s for sure, I need to get Penelope to see a doctor, but anytime I suggest she check out the Renegade Pack’s doctor, she tells me that she doesn’t want anyone else to know.On the bright side, Penelope isn’t getting sick as much. But that’s the only good part about it. I think th
DonovanIt took us three hours to get here.Penelope has no idea where we are and honestly… I hope that I don’t upset anyone too much. We stand in front of a small cottage and Penelope looks at me with confusion as she asks, “Where are we?”I breathe out, “This is Cora’s house.”She raises an eyebrow at me and asks, “Does Cora know we’re here?”I shake my head no and say, “She does not.”“Donovan… we can’t just show up and demand to live in her home.” Her voice sounds exasperated. She's as scared as I am that Cora will be upset over this.“I know that, Pen. But this is the safest place I could think of… I was just hoping we could stay here for the night and maybe she can help us out in some way.”She presses her lips together and nods and then brushes her hair back behind her ears as I walk to the door and knock on it.It doesn’t take long for Cora to answer me and she looks at me with narrowed eyes as she asks, “How did you know where I lived?”The corner of my mouth twitches up as I
PenelopeDonovan looks at me with wide eyes when we hear Cora yell for me. His eyes dart back and forth and I think he's tempted to tell me not to go. But then she calls out, “I won’t ask again. Get in here!”I scramble to my feet and rush into the other room where she is. She’s sitting on the couch and there’s sweat on her forehead and behind her is a foyer that wasn’t there before. My eyebrows furrow as I ask, “What’s going on?”She looks back at me and says, “Magic, dear. You want a place to sleep and stay hidden, don’t you?”I nod slowly as I say, “Yeah, I do.”“I made that. It’s how I’ve made my whole home be the way that it is. But, I’m going to conceal yours and make that door look like a bookshelf. I don’t know how long the two of you can stay here. I don’t want to draw attention to myself, but… I can’t risk the two of you getting hurt.”I nod, “Thank you, Cora.”She shrugs her shoulders and says, “Go check back there and make sure it’s enough room for you.”I smile softly as I
PenelopeIt takes half an hour before Donovan comes into our room. When he does, he immediately walks to the bed and lies down. He breathes out, enjoying the softness of the bed, and then mumbles, “Huh, surprisingly comfortable.”I roll on my side and look at him as I ask, “Are you okay?”He nods, “I’m fine, Pen. Things are just… weird right now. I trust Cora with my life… I really do. But she’s always been a bit of an enigma. She has always snapped at me if I tried to learn more about her, but then… with you, she just doesn’t seem to care. It’s weird. I mean, I’m happy that she’s being nice to you, don’t get me wrong. Just it’s very odd for me to see when she’s always come off as abrasive to me.”“It could be a gender thing,” I suggest, “She might just be more comfortable with other girls.”He nods his head but doesn't look entirely convinced as he says, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”He yawns loudly and I move my hand up and run my fingers through his dark curls and then trace my fi
DonovanBy the time I wake up, Penelope is already out of the room. The relationship between her and Cora is definitely odd. It seems like Cora actually likes her and that’s just weird for Cora.She's always been so recluse, like a hermit, seeing her get on so well with someone and that someone just happens to be my mate... I don't know, something just feels off.I walk to the kitchen and I can hear them talking, but nothing about their conversation seems substantial. As I enter the room, I say, “Morning, ladies.”I lean down to Penelope and give her a quick peck before turning to look at Cora as I ask, “Are there any towns nearby?”Her eyebrows furrow and she asks, “Why would you need to go into town?”“I need to figure out things with the businesses that I ran. They’ve been successful, but I know they can get traced back to me, and Xavier knows about almost every one of them. I would like to sell them and invest the profits in something different, so we don’t have to worry about mone
FlashbackCoraMy spell went perfectly and one of the coven leaders and my personal mentor, Lilith, praises me, “Great job, Cora.”I smile at her words and I watch as the other young witches or wizards struggle to perform the spell I just cast.I try not to show off, but magic has always come naturally to me. The spell I just did was much more advanced because we’re about to graduate from high school and can try to get into different covens.Lilith walks over to help someone else out, but not before she gives me a wink, reassuring me that I did a good job. The president of our school walks around looking thoughtful, but when his eyes landed on me he says, “You’re quite exceptional, Cora Lee.”I try not to be bashful from his words, Lilith always tells me not to shy away from others because it shows weakness. So I look at him in the eyes as I say, “Thank you, Principal Porter.”He tells me, “You’re going to have your pick of the litter whenever it comes time to apply to covens. I hope y
15 years since Violet was born. Penelope The years have been good to us. I have seen so much of the world and felt more free than I ever could've imagined. It's just the three of us, we never had another kid. We talked about it... more than once, but ultimately we were fearful of how it could affect our safety. Nothing was worth the chance of putting Violet in even more danger than she already is. I lie in bed with Donovan snuggled up beside me. Uneasiness churns in my stomach and I know that something is going on that we don't know yet. Call it my 6th sense or mother's intuition, I just know something's off. Donovan kisses my head and mumbles, "Turn off your thoughts, Pen. Everything is fine."I let out a breath, hoping that he's right. He pushes himself up and looks me in the eye as he asks, "We're fine, we're safe, we'll be at Cora's in the morning."We haven't seen Cora for over 6 months now. We've been in Asia for the last half of the year and although we have enjoyed our tra
Five years later.PenelopeI sit across from Amelia at the table as we each sip on our coffee and watch our girls play together. A few months after I had Violet, Amelia had a little girl that they named Magnolia. It's fun watching our daughters play together, but the interesting thing is how similar they look to me and Amelia.Violet looks almost exactly like me except that her hair was curly like her dad's and her blue eyes had a green circle around the pupil. Magnolia looks just like Amelia, with her blonde hair and jade green eyes. The two of them together like this makes me wonder how mine and Amelia's childhood could've been different if our mom hadn't put me in the Academy and if our dad hadn't been a monster.Amelia brings the cup to her lips before setting it down and asking, "So, where are you headed this time?"Donovan, Violet, and I are constantly moving around. The longest we stay at a place is 1 month before we're going somewhere new. Traveling has become one of my favori
PenelopeI hate waiting. I know that Cora and Donovan are both safe and they are working out a way to get him home, but it’s hard not to feel anxious about the entire thing. It’s been five days. It’s weird getting used to taking care of a newborn and going through this healing process on my own. But because I’m a werewolf, I heal faster than a human would, so I mean, that’s a good thing.It’s harder getting used to take care of a baby. I’ve never been around them much so tending to all of her needs all of the time is very taxing, physically, mentally, and emotionally! Add in all of the drama with Donovan and it’s surprising I haven’t had a complete mental break down from all of the stress.I breathe out as I cook dinner, eager to hear if there was any progress today. I need them back home… it’s hard not to feel depressed when all I have is myself and my racing thoughts.There’s a loud bang and for a moment, I freeze. Is someone breaking in?I think of the fastest way to get to Violet
PenelopeDonovan’s okay? He’s okay!The smile on my face hurts my cheeks, but I don’t care because I could cry from relief. He’s okay. I can’t believe he’s okay and away from Xavier.But then Cora pops my bubble as she says, “You have to stay here, Penelope.”My eyebrows knit together as I question, “What are you talking about? I need to go see him. He’s my mate.”“I know that and trust me, Penelope, he wants to see you and Violet more than anything else in this world, but you won’t be going to see him right now.”I cross my arms defiantly as I ask, “And why not?”She breathes out, exasperated with my attitude, before saying, “Because I’m trying to keep you safe and Donovan specifically requested for you not to come.”Her words hurt and I can’t help the pain I felt in my heart from hearing that my mate didn’t want me. Instantly, Cora’s eyes soften and she says, “I didn’t mean it like that, Penelope. Xavier let Donovan go. Donovan knows he must have a tracker on him or something! Why el
DonovanHatred fuels my blood.Anger fills my mind.All I can think of is how to get out of here and end Xavier's life.I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Xavier is strong, and he is growing more powerful. He brought me back to the Moon Stone pack lands and I know now that he plans to rebuild here and to become an Alpha. But right now, there are days that go by that no one is coming to check on me. I’m learning their patterns and when they’re vulnerable. I need to get home and I would do anything to make sure that I can escape Xavier’s clutches.When I leave here, I can’t go straight to Cora’s, even though I want to see Penelope more than anything in the world. No, I need to go somewhere else. Perhaps to the Renegade Pack. I need to make sure that there is no tracker on me so that I don’t put Penelope and our daughter in danger.I think one of the big reasons that Xavier isn’t worried about me being watched at all times is because he already has a plan in motion. He knows that I wo
PenelopeIt’s been two weeks since Cora came home and Donovan never returned. Life feels like it has lost all meaning without Donovan around.I feel like my baby bump doubled and size and like Violet is moving around more. I think that she’s antsy because she knows that her daddy isn’t home. Or maybe I’m crazy and this is normal for this point in a pregnancy.Cora caters to me constantly. Honestly, she’s going a bit overboard and I’ve tried to get her to settle down, but I think that the guilt is eating her alive and she’s doing the best that she can to get through everything. I still have roughly a month left to get through this pregnancy. That means that Donovan has no help coming for him for over a month. He’ll have to figure out how to escape alone or he’ll have to hold on until I get there.Cora sets a cup of tea down beside me, and she watches me. I can feel her eyes on me and she sighs, “He wouldn’t want you to come after him.’I bite my tongue so hard that tears prickle in my
DonovanMy ears ring from the sound of the cars crashing together. As our car spins out, Cora wakes up and screams. I grit my teeth together as I try to figure out what just happened. Before even getting out of the car to investigate, I know in my gut that this crash was intentional.My wolf is on high alert, knowing that the threat is somewhere we can't see. I huff as I turn to look at Cora and say, “When I get out of the car, I want you to drive off. Head home as fast as you can and make sure no one is following you.”She looks disoriented, but she nods her head and says, “Okay.”I breathe out, trying to steady myself before getting out where I know for a fact that I will be attacked. I open the door and as the dust from the wreck clears; I watch as I see Xavier appear across from me. He stands tall with his arms crossed as he smirks at me. I shut the door behind me and turn my head to the side as I say to Cora, “Go! And keep her safe.”To my relief, Cora doesn’t hesitate to drive of
PenelopeI didn't realize how incredibly boring it would be to be completely by myself. There’s nothing to do. I’ve already cleaned everything, I’ve tended to the garden, I’ve cooked dinner, I’ve scoured the internet for ideas for Violet’s nursery, and now I’m just sitting on the couch, bored.I tried to read a book but I find myself unable to focus. My wolf feels anxious, which is an odd behavior for her. I would let her go out for a run, but I’m pretty sure Donovan would have my head if he knew I went running without him to protect me.I breathe out as I lay my head back. I wish he would call me or mind link me. I would try to link him, but I don’t want to distract him in case he is in danger. Eventually… I fall asleep. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep, but when I wake up, it’s from the back door slamming shut. I jump and I’m wide awake and ready to attack until I hear Cora’s voice yell, “Penelope! Are you okay?”I rush towards her and I say, “I’m fine.” I notice a cut on her
DonovanIt was only a one-day trip to get to the White Fang Pack. Cora and I sit on the outskirts of it and observe to see how hard it would be to break inside. The patrol here sucks. They’re slow, they talk a lot, they are never quiet enough to listen to their surroundings to see if a threat could be present, and they leave their post without waiting for someone to take their place. It’s like they’re begging for someone to attack their pack and take advantage of their vulnerabilities.I grind my teeth in frustration. If my pack was like this, then I could understand how we were overthrown. My pack was ready. We just couldn’t handle how powerful the threat was. But this pack… I feel like I could overthrow them by myself. I wouldn’t. That’s not the kind of man I am and I don’t want to draw attention to myself. I know that Xavier is still out looking for me and because of that, I need to stay down low as long as possible. Cora asks, “What do you think?”“I think I could easily get you