ORLAThe journey to the place that had been specified on the map didn’t take long, but throughout the process, all I could think about was how Ella was doing.While we’d been waiting to leave, I’d gotten a message from an unknown number that told me to come to a certain location all on my own. When I showed Maverick the message, he simply nodded and told me that everything would go well. I wondered what he’d meant, but I decided to just put my faith in him. He was an intelligent man, and as such, had grown up making decisions that others would have deemed too difficult. If there was one person I could trust in this, it was him.During the car ride, I tried to reach Makila, but I didn’t reach her, or rather, I called and she didn’t pick up my calls. It was an unusual occurrence, and since I was already getting consumed by anxiety, it only served as an addition to my fears. I settled for hoping that she was nearby.Maverick came up with the idea that it would have been better for me to
MAVERICKI didn’t want her to go on her own, but I found comfort in telling myself that we would end up reunited later. We had a lot of things to talk about, mainly about the kiss we shared.Although there was a temptation to lose focus on other things, and put my mind on it, I knew that there were other matters that required my full attention. I had to put a stop to the person that had been terrorizing our town for the past three years. Thankfully, thanks to help from Frances and Jules and Everett, we have finally been able to track down the person responsible.Because of this fact, since Orla had to go to the site before us, I couldn't afford to miss even a step involved in this elaborate plan, lest everything fall apart.Once Orla went into the forest, I hopped down from the spot I'd chosen to watch her, and slowly trailed her from a distance, using a slightly different path.Alec followed behind me, far too silent. Anxiety rolled off him in palpable waves that I could almost taste
MAVERICKAll over again, I found myself trapped in a waking nightmare. Right before my eyes, Makila’s face seemed to change, turning from a face that had become almost familiar into one that I knew far too well, for it had tormented me for most of my life.She . . . was the one that had slaughtered my parents. The one that had set everything that I loved ablaze, and left me to be the one to pick up the pieces. I didn’t—couldn’t fathom how I hadn’t observed it sooner, and how I didn’t search deeper with regards to my suspicion of her.“For years, I have taken my time, watching you until the right moment came and I could finally get my revenge. Sparing your life was something that I had to do, although it hurt that I had to.” She bent over Sonia’s corpse and wiped her bloodied hands on her clothes, paying no attention to the fact that the person was once a living, breathing creature. “But isn’t it wonderful that you came right here, to me, after all these years?”Taking her head on woul
MAVERICKI bounded into the woods, with Alec barely holding on to me. The night had come upon us, moonless and sudden. I knew that we were being chased, so I pushed my linbs harder, I made every leap I took higher and further than the last, and I didn’t look back, not even for a millisecond.I unleashed a howl, and hoped that the rest of my packmates would find their way here before Makila did.The ground shook beneath me, and I leaped to the side just mere moments before the earth collapsed inward, forming a deep hole in the ground large enough to swallow me, even in this form.The same thing happened again, and this time, it almost caught me. While I managed to escape it—although just barely—Alec’s unconscious form shifted on my back, and I had to slow down a little bit just so that he wouldn’t tumble off me and get us killed.Deep in my head, I started to feel the pull of a telepathic bond, and knew that definitely, Derek and the others were well within reach, and would emerge very
MAVERICKShe was closer than before. Any moment from now, and I would find her. I weaved past the trees and trampled the earth underfoot.The air had gotten colder, and I could feel it settle in my lungs uncomfortably as I ran. My thoughts were a mess in my head, and my muscles seemed to be running in overdrive, with just one mission in mind. Find Orla.At last, I finally found her. She was a little ways ahead, and wasn’t alone. Her hair had been let down, and now had tinges of red in it. A steady red that flowed from her neck and down her arm. Her fair skin had gotten even paler now, and I didn’t miss the way her breaths were labored. Something about her just looked so helpless.A sharp, acute pain crossed through my heart, freezing me to the spot for a long moment. Like someone had taken a silver knife and pierced me right between the lungs. This pain . . . I hoped it wasn’t what I thought it was.Above her, wiping his mouth clean, was the man supposed to be her boyfriend. From the
ORLAI squinted as I tried to make sense of where I was. My cheek was pressed against a cold surface, and it was the same for other parts of my body. There was no lighting in the place, so I spent a long time trying to think about where or when I was. I also noticed that my whole body felt very weak, which was probably because I got stabbed with a silver knife. Luckily for me though, when I touched my stomach underneath my shirt, it was dry, athough a bit sensitive. The wound had closed, but hadn’t healed completely.I got up to my knees, and tried to feel around for something—anything that could have given me a clue about where I was, but I found nothing. I couldn't even sense Eva. It was like she wasn't even with me at all. I tried to pull on the bond keeping us together, but it was untouchable. I couldn't feel a thing. It was at this point that panic started to sink in at some point. If I couldn't feel my wolf, then what would I do?In my restlessness, it came to my notice that the
AUTHOR'S POVTHREE DAYS LATERSaint Terrir had been in a strange kind of limbo since the disappearance of two prominent individuals in the werewolf community. Ella, after the events that occurred, closed down the clothing shop, and went against her parents orders to stay home. To her, finding her friend was more important than her own safety. She went to see the one person she could turn to at this point—Alec.Somehow, the budding mate bond between the two of them made her keenly aware of his presence, and it didn't take long before he found her at the shabby apartment she'd gone to stay for the past few days.He looked around the place, disturbed that his mate had to stay somewhere like this. "Why did you leave home?"Ella sighed and scratched her hair. The usual bright green of her hair had faded to a lighter color that had the twinge of yellow. "I couldn't stay there. Everyone kept fussing over me, as though I didn't just lose my friend. I've tried for so long to find her on my ow
ORLAI'd seen the sun rise and fall five times through the little window of our cell.Every evening, Maverick and I were given two plates of food each every day. At first, I'd been skeptical about the food, because I feared that it would have been laced with something, but I really had no choice as the days went on. It was better to have something in my stomach, than to be weak and sickly when they finally came for us.Maverick had regained most of his strength by now, but had become very much subdued and sad. I had to force him more than once to actually eat, because if he had his way, he would have chosen death. His pride kept him from receiving help from his captors."You can't afford to keep doing this, Maverick," I said to him when he refused yet again to eat.I looked at the meager meal that was left for us, and my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten in a while, since I had been trying to keep my intake low to stave off the effects of anything the food might have been laced with, a
AUTHOR'S POVA YEAR LATERThe usual belief about life is that a person only lives once. For Orla, though, that wasn't the case. From being mistreated, abused, and ultimately killed in her previous life, she awakened to find herself given another chance to make things right. A chance to fix the wrongs that led to her unfortunate demise. A chance to build that which she should have lost.Another chance . . . to find love.+_+_+Orla bent down, crouching as far as she could go to pat the last heap of rich brown earth into place. She'd always wanted to try gardening since she was a child, and now she had finally made that dream come true.She sighed contentedly, and sat back on her haunches, looking up at the sky whilst wiping off her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand. Although it was still quite chilly, and the ice hadn't completely thawed, strenuous physical activity could still make a person feel like they were stuck inside a furnace.The advice Alec had given her was to plant
ORLAIt felt like an eternity. The darkness. It had neither a beginning or an end. It took me—grabbed me in a suffocating hug and refused to let me go.At some point—I didn't know how long it took, but it came to my understanding that the darkness was of my own making, and only I could free myself from its clutches.So, I opened my eyes, and welcomed the light back in.The first thing I saw was a face. One too familiar, and at the same time, dreadfully disturbing.Blood seeped out of his nose, ears and mouth and dripped on my shirt. His eyes had gone blank, with its usual icy colour sucked into the cold emptiness of death.Ryker was dead.I pulled my hand out of his neck, unable to ignore the feeling of gore and slippery blood. His weight had become suffocating since life no longer flowed through his veins.I pushed his corpse off me, and sat up with a groan. The wound in my chest was still struggling to knit itself back together, but with the bullet still lodged inside of me, it wou
ORLAA gun. That was what he had been holding. I'd failed to recognise the hidden shape in his hand on time. I had been too occupied with other things to think about the fact that he'd probably had a plan B.He fired three rounds without pausing.I only had milliseconds to respond, but I wasn't fast enough. He'd surprised me, and I had to deal with the consequences.Cold descended on me as I realised that I had indeed acted too irrationally. Searing pain bloomed in the left side of my chest, and another in my thigh. The last one grazed my cheekbone, and that was only because I pushed my head to the side just before the bully made impact with my flesh.Blood rapidly started to pool in my mouth, filling up my throat until air couldn't pass through and I had to spit it out before it choked me.I fell on my good leg, clutching my bleeding chest.I hadn't foreseen this. I'd been so eager to get him that I had forgotten how cunning he could be. There was no way he would have just been here
ORLA'Don't think. Don't feel. Just act.'Those were the words ringing in my head as I swung the wooden log into the side of Sonja's head with every power that my body could muster, bursting it open like a balloon. Blood splattered all over my clothes, but I didn't matter. I had killed her. She was dead, and she would never, ever hurt my family again.I had made a promise to go as low as killing just to save my child, and I was glad that I hadn't hesitated when it mattered the most. Although it was a flimsy defence, I had no other option. She had raised her knife to stab Amaranthine, and Maverick was too far away to get anything done.Makila had spotted her and her counterpart from a distance, and was able to perform a spell that teleported us right behind them. We'd also seen the vampires that seemed to also be trying to help her, and decided that it was best to stay out of their line of sight.Sonja's body went limp, and her remaining eye remained wide in horror and shock. She mus
MAVERICKWe followed the trail judiciously, paying attention to the location the trackers had presented us with. We'd gone by car to eat up the most of the distance, but since the trail eventually led into a dense, seemingly unused path, we had to turn to out feet for transport.Under the guidance of the moon, we pressed on, too determined to even stop for a moment to speak to each other. I took mental note of the people with me, and found myself grateful for having such wonderful packmates that were willing to do this with me. Of course, the years had strengthened our bond, but I still was baffled sometimes by their immense loyalty and dedication to me. Amaranthine's kidnapping had been a huge blow to the pack, but it didn't change the fact that she was my daughter, and most of the pressure to find her fell on Orla and I, but they all took the issue and placed it on their shoulders as well, making the weight a little bit easier for me to hear.We kept walking, keeping caution close
ORLANight came, and all our hearts were ready and prepared for what was to come.I stood in the bathroom, staring at my reflection for the second time in six four hours. The time was already a couple of minutes past seven, and as Maverick had told us, it was go time.Everyone else had gotten ready, and those that were at the first part of the plan had left a little while ago. Tim, Everett, Blair, and Avery had gone with Maverick, following the coordinates given on Everett's tracker. From what we'd seen, Ryker and his witch friends hadn't left their positions since the time we had deliberated on the plan. The plan was quite straightforward. Maverick would go with his people to scout the area and then proceed to lure the witches and Ryker out. Again, I had been thinking that I had been sidelined from the plan itself, until Maverick told me that I would go in with Makila to get Amaranthine. Makila's presence couldn't be downplayed simply because she was the only one with prior knowled
ORLAI was sick and tired of waiting for things to happen. The day after my last discussion with Maverick, I'd been unable to rest my jittery nerves. Every second, minute or hour physically disturbed me. I wanted my child. I needed her back in my arms.The fact that I had no idea what they could have been doing to her made me panic even more. What if they were abusing her? Or casting marks on her smooth skin just to cause her pain? What if they were starving her, and watching as life slowly seeped out of her little body?I had to hold on to the hope that she still lived. I couldn't think about anything else.Maverick had called for a compulsory meeting, and as much as I wanted to keep avoiding him, I couldn't turn away when my child came into the picture.The noon was blazing hot, so I already dressed in a black tank top and some denim shorts, baring the skin of my arms and legs. In this, the mark Maverick had branded me with was on full display—an oddly symmetrical line of five dots
ORLA"She's waking up," someone whispered. My eyes couldn't fathom anything but darkness. My mouth felt like something was keeping it from opening, and pain spread at different points of my body, like I'd been run over by something.I opened my mouth to speak, and only a groan could find freedom."Shhh, don't talk. You might hurt yourself."'I already feel hurt,' I wanted to say, but speaking still seemed like a hassle to me. I reached out blindly, and warmth came to my hand. A familiar touch. "It's okay now, you're safe."With a painful flash, the memories of what I'd gone through previously ran through my mind. Makila yelled at me to go.Getting attacked by a woman.Ryker threatening Amaranthine's life.Just like that, my eyes flew open, and a scream finally came out of my throat, wrapped in somebody's name. "Ryker! He has Amaranthine!" I shouted despite my sore throat. Maverick came to my side, rubbing my back and softly whispering, "We know."I looked up at him, recalling my
ORLAIt couldn't be though, that witch was dead. Even if she had escaped death before, it couldn't be possible that she happened to resurrect again . . . Right?The woman before me laughed softly. "Why are you looking at me like that? Does my face ring a bell in your head?""Where is my daughter?" I asked, deciding to go straight to the point. There was nothing worth more than her safety right now. Not even my own curiosity.She frowned playfully. "Your daughter? Hmm." She lazily patted a finger against her chin. "Probably dead by now."Another thing that I found different about her was her behaviour. Sonia had been incredibly loyal to Daniel, and hardly spoke unless it was so say something that showed that. This one had a lighter disposition.The woman didn't even seem bothered at the sound of those approaching. If anything, she seemed to get even bolder. "And what's that I hear? You brought backup?"I looked down at Makila, who still sat behind the shrub, pressing the bottom of her