Sheryl’s POVI didn’t feel the pain at first; the cracking of my bones sounded through the night, echoing across thetrees. The sound was a lot worse than I could have ever imagined. The sound was what made me winceat first.I caught the worried eyes of my mom as I heard more cracking; my arms were twisted in a positionunimaginable. She made my brother and sister stay at the house while a few of us stood in the woods. She was sending me light and energy from her powers, trying to keep my mind occupied and my bodycalm.It wasn’t until my neck twisted and my entire form fell to the ground that I really started feeling the pain. I couldn’t even hear my wolf speaking; I felt her canines ripping through my mouth. My teeth were growing, just as my mouth began to shift form.I screamed as the pain began to course through my entire body. My mother had told me to keep breathing, but I was finding it difficult to maintain my breath. My heartbeat was speeding up to a point where I thought it
Sarah stood in front of us with her arms folded across her chest a glimmer of amusement on her face, but there was also a hint of darkness in her eyes.I could feel Becca’s tension from beside me; she felt uncomfortable around Sarah. That much was obvious. I really try to coexist with Sarah, despite the fact that she stole my boyfriend and quite obviously poisoned me. But it was clear she didn’t want to coexist with me.“We are practicing, Sarah. Is there something you want?” I asked, raising my brows in her direction.“I just wanted to inform you that my father is looking into your scholarship as we speak. You’ll be getting a call from the board soon enough.” This didn’t bother me; I had told her before that I didn’t need the scholarship to stay in this school. Theschool valued my work and wasn’t going to kick me out that easily. Especially not with my father beingthe head of the Alpha committee. They would speak with him before doing anything. Sarah was delusional to think otherwi
Sheryl’s POVI was able to get through class without any other issues containing my powers, but I couldn’t help butthink about Ashton’s whereabouts the entire time. Even Becca could tell I was distracted because she was able to get a few attacks in. “Are you okay?” She asked, eyeing me carefully. “Are you worried about Sarah?”“A little,” I lied. “I just don’t want her to think I’m dangerous.” Becca went to say something, but we were interrupted by Professor Connie behind us. “You must be Sheryl. I’ve heard a lot about you. I look forward to getting to know you a little better,” shesaid with a fond smile.I frowned and stared back at her. “I thought you were only here for a few days,” I say, trying not to sound too rude but I couldn’t help myself. “I’m not really sure how long I’ll be here for,” she admitted. “He didn’t really specify. But I was told youare one of the best combat students. I’m eager to see what you can really do.”“I appreciate that,” I said in return. I paused for
Sheryl’s POV“Sheryl?” Ethan said, staring at me in surprise as I stood outside the Calypso packhouse.I felt my face grow warm as he stared at me.I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain why I was here. Do I tell him I was worried about Ashton? No. I couldn’t say that. “What are you doing here?” He finally asked after it was clear that I wasn’t going to speak. “Professor Ashton wasn’t in class today and I wanted to make sure he was okay,” I answered. My voice sounded distant and small when I spoke. I hated that I was feeling weak right now. Ethan raised his brows as he stared around my face. “You traveled this far to check on him?” He asked. I wasn’t sure how to answer that, but thankfully, he didn’t wait for me to do so. “He has some family problems,” he explained. “He’s been at the hospital all morning with his mother.” Now it was my turn to raise my brows; I rose my gaze to meet his and saw the serious expression on hisface. “His mother?” I asked. Ashton hasn’t really spoken abo
Ashton’s POVI sat on the loveseat on the far side of the art gallery while Sheryl sat in front of her canvas. She had this perplexed look in her eyes as she fixated her gaze on her painting. I had given her some old clothes soshe wouldn’t get paint all over her outfit, along with an apron. Her tongue was out slightly, touching the top of her lip, as she often did while concentrating. I hadtaken note of that while watching her. She bit onto her bottom lip slightly, tugging at it between herteeth. I watched as it grew red and swollen from the intensity of her bite and I wondered at what point she would release it. She had paint smeared on her features as she splattered the brush across the canvas.It’s been a couple of hours since we began the painting; she had to have been almost done by now. “What happened to you wanting to reject her?” Max asked with a little humor in his voice.It was true that I was planning on going to the academy to reject her, but as I got close to the packh
Sheryl’s POVI took a step backward as children came running toward me. Their excited faces lit up as they got closer. “I can’t believe we are actually meeting you!” One of the girls said happily. “You are a legend aroundhere!”“A legend?” I asked, raising my brows in pure confusion. I glanced over at Dee who had a smile on herface. “I don’t understand…”“You fought the bad guys and saved that woman!” One of the kids explained. “Everybody is talkingabout it!”“Word travels fast,” Dee said with a shrug. “You are like a hero to the kids.”“We want to be just like you!”“Teach us how to fight! “We want to fight like the incredible Sheryl!”I must have looked as shocked as I felt because Dee started laughing at my expression as she stoodbeside me. “Can you teach us, Sheryl?” One of the kids asked again.I always had a soft spot for children and saying no to them didn’t sit right with me. As I stared around at all the eager faces, I knew it would be impossible to refuse them this. “Of
Ashton’s POV What the hell was I doing? Everything about her just tastes and smells so good. Her lips are soft and sweet. I thought she would tryto push me off her, but she didn’t. She stood limp against the wall; he eyes fluttered shut as soon as I made contact with her.I bit onto her bottom lip; something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.I nibbled on it; drawing it firmly into my mouth and sucking on it like it was a piece of candy. Once I released it, I paused the kiss.I didn’t push it any further than that. As much as I wanted to continue the embrace, I had to stop myself. She was breathing heavily; I watched as her chest heaved up and down. Her eyes remained closed, andher fair complexion was turning cherry red. “Our mate is growing extremely warm. If you aren’t careful, she will go into heat.” No.I couldn’t let that happen. I had to get out of here. “Take a cold shower,” I muttered.I left without another word. …Sheryl’s POV“Oh, my goddess!!!” Val screamed, rattling m
Sheryl’s POV“Is that Professor Ashton?” Miss Grace asked in a whisper as she slowly stood to her feet.I felt the blood rushing to my head as I stared at the portrait of Ashton. This meant the painting I had for this class was still in my room. How did I make such a terrible mistake like this?“He’s so handsome,” Val breathed lovingly as we took in the picture.I did a really good job at capturing every one of Ashton’s charming features. He had so much personalityin his dark eyes that made my stomach flip.I had to think of something to say, and quickly. “Yes,” I answered, turning toward the class of startled and curious eyes. “This is Alpha Ashton. He’sincredibly inspirational. He’s the youngest Alpha and my father speaks highly of him. He has hugeambitions. I also found out recently that he’s caring for his ill mother, on top of being an incredible professor. I don’t know how he has time to sleep, honestly. But I find myself wanting to be like him. He might not be my biggest ins
“Earlier today,” I answered with a shrug, trying to seem nonchalant. “But you were busy taking Connie tolunch.”“When did you find out about this little vacation?”“It’s not a little vacation,” I said in return. “It’s a huge opportunity. Plus, I’ll be working as Cassie-Ann’s assistant the entire time. Plus, I could get into that school and really take my career to the next level.”“You can take it to the next level here too,” he said, still trying to process my words. “Why do you needto go across the world to do that?”“Because there’s no better school than the one in Monro,” I said, furrowing my own brows together as I stared over at his amazing side profile. He was so handsome no matter what the view. “Don’t you want me to succeed?”I said that last part using a small voice. I was afraid of his answer because it looked like he had beenthinking about it for a long while. However, he didn’t respond. “I was going to tell you about it…” I said in a softer tone. “I just didn’t think y
Sheryl’s POV My heart was racing in my chest because of the amount of adrenaline rushing through my veins. I hadnever done anything like this before but here I was, breaking somebody out of the hospital. “I can’t leave without knowing if Ryan is going to make it or not,” Rachel said, sliding out of bed. I couldhear the hurt in her voice, and it made me feel sad for her. “I’ll keep you updated,” I promised her. “But for right now, I need to get you out of here. I’m going tocall my dad when we are on the road. I won’t let them take you away to that awful place. You almost died the last time you were there. They should be investigated and shut down.”I still couldn’t believe a facility in a place that I love could be so cruel to other species. I had no ideathose with dark hearts could linger in Elysium. It was always such a loving place. Or maybe I have just been too blind to see what was in front of my face the whole time.I zipped her back and threw it over my shoulder as I made my
Sheryl’s POV“So, you are going to go away all summer?” Becca asked with large eyes as we sat in the studentlounge. “Yes, I think so,” I answered with a head nod. “It’ll be a good opportunity for me. Plus, my parent’s thinkit’ll be a good idea.”“What am I going to do all summer without you?” Becca pouted. “Rachel will probably spend thesummer at the hospital with Ryan.”“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” I chuckled, but then I frowned once I thought about Rachel. “Any word on how Ryan is?” I asked, peering over at her. She frowned as well and shook her head. “None yet,” she said. “But they are thinking about getting Rachel admitted into a rehab facility. They want to bring her back to the one she was in a few years ago.”“What?” I gasped, my heart falling into my stomach. “I had no idea she was even in rehab before. But they say she went to some place in Elysium,” Beccasaid, thinking more about it. “They want to send her back. I don’t think the doctors talked to her aboutit
Ashton’s POV“Today, I’ll be teaching you how to shift in the air,” I announced to the class of students. “It’s all in thelegs. We kick off from the ground and then begin the shift right when the legs are being pushed off the ground.”I demonstrated with ease, and I was met with applause. “This is used mainly for sneak attacks. I want you to try and sneak attack your partners. Trade-off eachround.” Everyone went with their partners to a different section of the arena for some space. Sheryl stood in the distance, waiting for me because I’m her partner. We hadn’t spoken since my confession at the art show, and I was hoping we wouldn’t have to talk aboutthis again. It was a moment of weakness on my part, and it wasn’t something I was going to allow tohappen again. Connie was right the other day when she said I needed to stay away from Sheryl. It was for her own good. But her tight yoga pants and a tank top that she wore, hugged her body and fit around her every curveso perfectly tha
Sheryl’s POV“An election? This student committee was my idea,” I said, staring between all the school board’s faces until my eyes landed on Sarah who stared at me with a smug grin.I could tell that her intentions weren’t pure, and my stomach was forming into a tight knot. “Yes, but it’s a student committee. Meaning we need to give all students a chance to—”“Take my role as the leader?” I interrupted; they all looked startled by my stubbornness. I wasn’ttypically a stubborn person like this, but I was honestly hurt that it was this easy for them to just replace me. Sarah folded her arms across her chest. “I’ve done a lot of wrongs while I’ve been at this school. This gives me the chance to do somethinggood for once,” she said, eyeing me carefully. That smug look was still in her eyes though. She was pulling their strings. She didn’t care about this committee; she just didn’t want me to have it. “If I lose, where does that leave me?”“Worried you’ll lose?” Sarah asked, a grin appea
Ashton’s POV“You went to the art show, Ashton?” Connie nearly hissed, stepping in front of me as I sat on the couch in my living room. “What are you even still doing here, Connie?” I muttered, kicking off my shoes. “Didn’t your contract end a week ago?” She pouted, folding her arms across her chest. “Yes,” she answered. “But I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’m in between jobs and my next contract doesn’t start for another couple of weeks.”“So, why can’t you stay elsewhere?”“I don’t know anyone on this part of the continent,” Connie said, shaking her head. “You are my onlyfriend in town, and I’d like to stay close to you. Is that such a crime?”“Are you going to be a pest the entire time?” I asked, but I meant it almost teasingly despite how dry my tone was. Connie could see through my humor right away though and rolled her eyes as she sat beside me. “You are trying to avoid the conversation,” Connie pointed out, reminding me just how well she knew me. “You went to the art show.”
Sheryl’s POV What did he just say?I stared up at him with wide and shocked eyes. I could hardly breathe standing in front of him. We were outside and the air was starting to get brisk.It was growing late in the evening and only the faint lighting of the moon, hidden behind a few clouds, lit up the ground around us. “I can’t seem to get you out of my head,” Ashton repeated, keeping his eyes locked on mine. “And that’s a problem.”I wanted to say something to him, anything, but no words were coming into my head. I couldn’t believe he was saying such a thing. “Ashton, I—” Before I could utter a single word more, he stepped closer to me, closing the small gap that sat between us. He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck to hold my head in place as he paced hisforehead against mine. His breathing slowed down to match mine and his eyes shut for a brief moment before he openedthem and gazed down at my lips.I wanted to stand on my toes and kiss him; I didn’t know what else to say o
Sheryl’s POVThere was a part of me that was hoping that Ashton wouldn’t show up. Emily and Kate were especially happy to meet him when I told them he agreed to come. We spent most of the morning setting up the gallery for the show. The caterers arrived just in time toset up their stations for food and drinks and per request, Brody arrived with his guitar. After talking with Brody over time, I discovered that he was huge into music and that it was a passion of his. I heard him playing in the student lounge and I knew he would be perfect entertainment for the art show. “Where should I set up?” He asked, holding up his red velvet guitar case. “I’ll show you,” I said, walking toward a secluded area where a few paintings were set up. “You can set up your station however you want,” I told him with a kind smile. “Hey, Sheryl! Can you help me place napkins around the tables?” Cassidy-Ann asked from across the room.I nodded to her and went to grab the napkins in the back room. As I was in t
Sheryl’s POV“Absolutely not!!!” Val growled with fury boiling through her. I had to clutch the desk to keep her tameand not lose control. “We will not be introducing these whores to our mate!!”“Maybe he would finally reject us if we did though,” I said, trying to reason with her. Yes, it was painful to think about, but this might be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps this was the pushAshton needed to finally reject us and let us live our lives without the burden of being his mate. My stomach was in a complete knot as I stared around at the eager faces that stared back at me. They were waiting for an answer and Val wasn’t letting me say anything to them. “We know he’s unmated because he hasn’t found his mate yet. We heard through a grapevine that he’s on the market for a chosen mate,” one of the chuckled. “Yeah, that famous singer Bethany is staying with him, trying to get him to choose her. She has a better chance than anybody, but we would also like a shot.”I couldn’t believe what