ORLAMaverick and I parted ways after the meeting, after which I wasted no time in heading back home to where those people were being held.On getting home, I immediately rushed into the basement of our home, moving down the darkened path rarely used by anyone. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been down here. Maybe when I was seven or eight.Finally down there, I walked up where Makila stood watching over them. The two men were bound to chairs and struggled against their bonds, sneering at me as I entered. One jutted his neck out and flashed sharp teeth in my direction, and Makila smacked him right in the temple with an iron rod. He fell back with a grunt and went quiet.“Have you gotten anything from them?” I asked.Makila shook her head. “Not yet. Their mouths are clamped tighter than a screw. They must be very, very loyal to their leader. “As Alpha now, I had the ability to use Alpha Dominance. I’d never used it before, but I had to try because it was the only way I could hop
AUTHOR’S POVRyker pressed himself down into the chair, trying to keep himself from doing anything too drastic. If he couldn’t keep his emotions in check, then he would reveal everything going on.He’d known that Ophelia’s return was near, but he didn’t know how soon. Since she’d left for school, things hadn’t been easy for him. For starters, there had been no one to help him keep an eye on Orla, he’d been alone and without company, and he simply missed her presence. Despite what he’d led everyone to believe, his true mate was Ophelia, and not Orla like he’d convinced everyone to believe. That was what made being away from her an even more bitter pill to swallow. He simply wanted her to be by his side, so that he wouldn’t have to face all the struggles alone.After her return, Orla had postponed her torture of the men in the basement. He’d found her attitude towards them surprising, especially with the way she’d stabbed that person. As their Alpha, he’d felt every ounce of their pain
ORLAOphelia’s return completely threw me off balance. I hadn’t been expecting her, and now that she’d showed up, things might not have gone as I had initially planned. I didn’t need her around right now, especially when things were reaching a peak of some sorts.On a brighter note, it meant that all the things I’d placed in store for her could finally start to play out, starting with ruining her relationship with Ryker. As he’d driven a wedge between my sister and I in my past life, so would I return the favor by making it difficult for him and Ophelia to even breathe the same air.I’d noticed Ophelia sneak out of the house when she thought that there was no one watching, and I didn’t need to be told about what she planned on doing. In the days before I’d gone off to school, she and Ryker had become very close. Once upon a time I’d been happy to see them get along, oblivious to the fact that they were both betraying me. Now, I couldn’t be fooled so easily.Ella called, which was anot
AUTHOR’S POVBEFORE ORLA’S ARRIVALAlec took a deep breath as he stepped down from his car. He leaned against it for a few minutes as he watched cars pass by, people hurry to their various destinations, and the electronic billboards advertising one event or the other taking place in the city.He’d missed Saint Terrir a whole lot. The peace of mind he had, as well as the alluring quietness of the town, was something that couldn’t be found anywhere else.When his father had asked him to return, he’d been more than happy to oblige. He knew it was coming anyway—that his father’s two decades of reign as the clan leader was coming to an end, and he’d have to take over as the oldest son. The only hitch to this was that he’d have to have a woman in mind when ascending, because goddess forbid that he becomes an alpha and doesn’t produce any heirs. Till now, he still didn’t understand why such a thing was still necessary. Being married didn’t equate to being wise. It made no sense to him. Besid
ORLAOn finding Alec, I pulled him into my arms and gently tapped him on the face. “Alec.”He groaned, and slowly came awake. After a few moments, he seemed to understand the situation, and jumped to his feet, eyes wide. He gave me a once over, and for a split second, I thought he wouldn’t be able to recognize me. Then, he tilted his head to the side, regarding me with confusion. “Orla?”He’d gotten so much older, but it had been over ten years since I’d seen him last. Of course he was bound to have changed. What made him stand out to me was the bright lock of jade green that sat among his head of curly brown hair, curling over his forehead.“Yes. But there’s no time to catch up now. I need you to tell me what happened here.” I gestured to the scattered store. “Where’s Ella?”Alec rushed into the reception aread without answering, giving me no choice but to hurry after him. “Hey!”He looked all around the store with a frantic look in his eyes. “No. No. No. I just met her. I just . . .
AUTHOR’S POVA hasty bump to her head drew Ella’s eyes open. She looked as far as her eyes could allow, but couldn’t see much. She got the weird feeling that she wasn’t upright, but rather, laying on her side. Her limbs were frozen in an uncomfortable position, and she couldn’t move anything apart from her neck.She tried to open her mouth to make a sound, but all too soon it dawned on her when her tongue brushed against damp cloth that she’d been gagged. Cold, icy fear trailed down her back and she instinctively tried to force her body to move within the range of its confinement, but she could tell that things weren’t going to go how she planned it. For some time she continued moving, trying to find a way to free herself, but something caused the whole place to abruptly jitter, and nearly sent her rolling off where she was lying down.From the looks of things, she was in a car, headed to an unknown destination. Outside the windows, trees moved past, and rays of light peeked into the
MAVERICKOrla’s visit was a pleasant surprise, since I hadn’t been able to keep her out of my mind since the meeting we had with the SAC. Now, she stood before me, clad in a simple t-shirt and plain leggings that clung to herfigure, making her look even smaller. The stark white of her hair stood out even further.I could see in her eyes that she was greatly troubled, and all I could think of doing was to pull her close to me and cover her in my arms. But since I couldn’t tell how she would have taken it, I kept my hands majorly to myself.“I need your help finding Ella,” she said quietly, almost as though she didn’t imagine herself standing before me and asking for help. “She was kidnapped.”The young man, likely around my age, behind her fidgeted awkwardly. “By a witch,” he said.I wanted to be sure I heard correctly. “A what?”“A witch. The people that took her, came with a witch. I could smell her foul magic right from the moment she entered the store.”An interesting discovery. I
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
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