LIAMI removed the leather gloves and wiped my hands clean with a handkerchief. The guards found the man and took him back to his cell. When I was done cleaning my hands, I turned to the two of them."And do you know how he had found out I was going to be there?" I asked, still cleaning my hands although there was nothing on them. I was trying to keep my anger in check."You think we have a spy?" Kris asked."Why don't you tell us, Varis?" I asked, looking at him. He immediately bowed his head."I'm sorry, Liam." He apologized. Kris looked at him with his jaw dropped."You're a spy?" Kris asked."He's not, you bastard. Varis doesn't have the guts to betray family." I said.We were like family. That was sure."He wanted to apologize. So, you told him where I was going." I said, a sort of eery calm coming over me. "Why was he in my territory to begin with? I sent him away.""I thought he was here to apologize." Varis defended himself. "In hindsight, it was foolish. I didn't know he was
MAXINEIt's been almost a week and I still have not heard from Liam. I contemplated going to the pack house to see him but I know how much he hates someone coming over without his permission.I hadn't even seen him in the pack hospital or heard any talks of him in town. It was oddly quiet.When I remembered how coldly he had acted to me, I didn't want to see him anymore. I think it was better like this. If he gave me space and stopped showing up, I wouldn't be worried about him as much.I unlocked my door and just then Lindsey came to meet me. "Hey there, neighbor!" She said cheerily."Oh yeah," I said. "Wait here." I went back into the house and got the blowtorch I had borrowed from her.I went to meet her and returned it. "Sorry, I took so long to return it. Thank you." I said. She took it from me."How was the cake?" She asked."Huh? What cake?" I asked back, confused.She chuckled. "You know, the one you borrowed my blow torch for?""Ohh, that cake. It was okay. I'm not too good w
MAXINEI was shocked. And it wasn't because Liam had just invited me to go to a party. He had invited me to go to a party… with me. He wanted to go somewhere with the outcast."Maxine," Liam said snapping me back to reality. His piercing gaze was on me.I took deep breaths. "I… what about work tomorrow? I have—" I said, panicking and coming up with excuses. What would people think if they saw me with Liam at a party?I wasn't his Luna, I wasn't a wolf. I was nothing. They would see right through me."I will handle that. Do you have a dress or do I have to get you one?" He asked, sternly.I tried to think. The only dress I had for an event was the one I wore that festival when Tobias found Ella as his mate. I didn't know if that was suitable."Let me go get it," I said, waiting for him to permit me to go to my bedroom.He nodded and waved me away. "You can go." He said.I hurried to the bedroom and entered, closing the door behind me. I leaned on it and exhaled deeply. I couldn't stay
LIAMI smiled, excitement cursing through my bones as I held onto the head of the rogue wolf. He was bleeding but I didn't care. I let go of him and he slumped to the floor.Alpha Gerald didn't dare take his eyes off of me. For his good. I had to give him some credit, he wasn't quivering or shaking in his boots. He even had the guts to look angry."What is the meaning of this?" Alpha Gerald demanded, standing to his feet. "Are we going to listen to the confession of a rogue?"I smiled. "You do know that he didn't say a name first, don't you? He searched for the faces in the crowd and then right at you.""How can we trust a rogue?" Another voice out."If you'd like more evidence, why don't we ask Mimcy who had been fortunate enough to overhear Alpha Gerald's conversation?" Liam asked. He gestured and a lady strode out confidently."Did he or did he not have relations with rogues?" I asked."He did. He offered up your location in exchange that they make sure to kill you." Mimcy replied.
MAXINELiam tried to wipe the blood on his face but he just merely smudged it. I didn't know his plan but he couldn't stay at the festival for long looking like this.I reached for the napkin. "Can I?" I asked. He let go of the napkin and I wiped the smudge on his cheek."Let's head back," Kris said to Liam."I didn't want to leave right after crashing their party," Liam said."You're covered in blood," Kris said the obvious."Part of the act?" Liam laughed. Then he turned to me. "Do you want to stay?"I was surprised he was asking me. I shook my head. I didn't belong among these people. "No, thanks," I said."Okay. Let's go." Liam said and he began to walk away. Varis and Kris waited for me to follow behind me before they walked behind us.Alpha Harold intercepted our path. He smiled and held his hand out for Liam. Liam shook it."Thank you for this opportunity, Alpha Liam. I will not disappoint you." He promised."I would expect nothing less." Liam returned. He let go of his hand an
MAXINEVaris and Karis got off their chairs carefully and crouched behind them, facing the door.Liam crouched as well and I did the same. He crouched towards me. "The house is surrounded." He whispered.I nodded. "I know. I think I heard something outside." I replied using the same town.He quirked his brows. He must be wondering how I heard it but I didn't have to be a werewolf to hear things."I need you to go to my room. It's on the other end of the house. Get under the bed and hide. No matter what you hear, don't make a sound." He instructed.I nodded, my heart beating quickly in my chest."Put on my shirt. Go now." He said.I crouched quietly, walking to his room. Just then, I heard the crashing of what was most definitely the front door, followed by a loud growl. The back door burst open but I was already in Liam's room.I grabbed the shirt he had been wearing when we came here hours ago and put it on before I crawled under the bed. I knew then why he had told me to come into h
MAXINELiam was going to kill a lot of people, I was sure. I could feel his murderous intent from here but he was smiling. And joking about the chicken.I helped Varis tie up the unconscious attackers one by one before he started to make some calls. I looked for my phone in the kitchen where I had been using it to cook.It was on the floor, shoved under the refrigerator, probably during a scuffle. I brought it out and found a few scratches but it still worked perfectly.Less than an hour later, cars were pulling over in front of the house. We stood to our feet and walked outside, with Kris of course. He was healing well. We stood, watching the park.Men in formal attire got out of the cars and surrounded the front of the house, turning their backs to it. They were guarding us, when we didn't need it anymore.The Alpha Beck of the Crimson River Pack got out of his car with, surprisingly, my father Alpha Harold. They walked towards Liam."What happened here?" Alpha Beck asked. Although
MAXINEI went to work the very next day. Even though the night before with Liam had felt strange, I returned to work. I didn't want to bet on the fact that he was going to help me out with my job at the pack hospital.I didn't know how long the leave he had gotten me extended for. So, I didn't want to risk it. Besides, I was bored at home.At work, nothing new had happened. It was the usual gossip mill. Some nurse was screwing some doctor and one or both of them were worried. I met some people who had been searching for me to buy herbs. I gave them my number.I was going to stick to delivering the herbs to them. I didn't want a repeat of Alpha Gerald. If more people knew where I lived, the risk of getting attacked was raised much higher.Someone with good intentions could give my address to someone who didn't mean well.As I walked home, I was reminded of Ella and Tobias. I hadn't seen them in days and I don't think I had invited them to my new place. I wonder if they had heard that I
MAXINEI got a job working at the pack hospital again. This time, I signed up to be a real medical practitioner. I was going to become a midwife. There were a few familiar faces at the hospital and lots of new ones.Still, I was grateful to Ronan for giving them this opportunity again.That evening, I walked back into my apartment. The dead herbs were still in a box on the floor in the kitchen. I wondered if I would go back. I used to pick herbs and sell them to women who wanted to get pregnant.It felt like eons ago. Times were simpler. Back then, I saved lives not help take them. That was a time when I didn’t have blood on my hands.I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I wanted my simple life again. It was simple but everything made sense. I didn't have to try to untangle myself from this mess that was my reality.A knock on the door brought me back. Zel was back from work. She worked as a bartender a little while from our apartment. Zel had gotten the job. After the manag
MAXINEI nodded, not trusting myself to speak without crying. Ella was right. I needed to let myself grieve. The love I once had for Ronan still occupied my heart.Lindsey reached out and held my hand. "We’re here for you, Maxine."I squeezed her hand, grateful for their support. They were right. I didn’t have to go through this alone. I had them.Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.***Going back to my old life felt like stepping into a strange place. There was the feeling of losing something. My apartment felt like a place from a faraway memory. Zel was gone and I was feeling so sad.I was back from saying goodbye. I unlocked the door and stepped inside. The space was just as I’d left it. There was still dust over everything. At least, I had something to do with my time.I took a deep breath. I hadn't lost everything. I was still okay.I began to clean up slowly. Lindsey stopped by to help me out and together, we covered a lot. As I was cleaning, I heard a knock on the door.“Are you
MAXINEI wanted to believe her that everything would be okay but deep down, I felt guilt and grief. This was my fault. I pulled back from her and wiped my eyes. I gave her a shaky smile. “It doesn’t feel like it.”She cupped my cheek. “Everything isn't always as it seems, my dear. But, I can tell you one thing I know for sure.” She said.“What's that?”“It's not your fault. I'm sure you don't know where to go from here, what to do, or where you belong. You want to come with me, you want to continue your life back at the place where you and Zel liked and you want to go back to how things were in this pack.” Cinder explained.“But, I see you staying here. This is where your strength lies, where hope lives, where you have friends and support.” She lowered her eyes and winked. “It's where you have a future.”“And, we'll always be here for you to fall back on, regardless of what happens. We're your home away from home.” The Luna Queen said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “I'm very proud.
MAXINEI didn't feel anything. No pain from a stab whatsoever. I looked between us and that's when Ronan smiled. His lips were close to my ear and he whispered, “I would never hurt you on purpose, love.”I didn't know when I screamed.Ronan collapsed into my arms, taking the both of us down to the ground with him. I tried my best to hold his head up on my lap. My eyes traveled down to the blood pouring down the stab wound in his belly.“Ronan,” I called, tears filling my eyes and rolling down my cheeks. He had stabbed himself.My hand shook as it hovered over the wound. I didn't know what to do. The dagger was in his chest.Ronan had chosen death. Death over a life without me.“Maxine…” he called, his voice unnaturally calm for someone who was dying. He reached up to touch me and I guided his hand to my cheek.“I'm here, I'm here,” I cried. “I'm sorry,” I whispered the last part. My hands shook as I held him. I never wanted this. I didn’t want him to die.Ronan gasped. He looked up
MAXINEI held my breath as Ronan kept his eyes on mine. When he was close enough, he stopped. Neither of us said a word. The battle continued around us but I couldn't get myself to make the first move.He didn't either. I wondered if it was hard for him to see me. I wondered if he thought he could fight me. I also wondered if he thought that he could kill me.I spoke up first. “Ronan,” I called. My voice was sounding more longing than I wanted.I missed him, to be honest. I missed sitting down in the quiet and reading books. Strangely, I missed making his cinnamon coffee.Ronan didn't say anything. Instead, he took a step closer. “You don’t have to do this,” he said.There was no hurt, no anger in his voice, just nothing but kindness. I wished he would yell. I wished he would curse me and call me evil for everything I've done.“Come with me.” He said, softly. I heard it regardless of the noise. “We can fix this, Maxine. We'll leave everything behind together.”It sounded so good. But,
MAXINEHe caught me off guard. It meant that he still cared about me. I didn't focus on that though. “I won’t, I promise,” I replied.We stood there in silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to say. I could feel it though. I could feel it. The unspoken feelings and questions we didn't have the time to ask.Or we didn't dare to ask, I guess.After everything that had happened, I still wasn’t sure where we stood. I said I was okay with him hating me but, I didn't know anymore. The lines between us were confusing now. I didn't know how to fix that.But now wasn’t the time to focus on that. We had a mission and that was a priority. Every other thing could come after. We would cross that bridge later.For some reason, Liam stepped closer and I held my breath. “Regardless of what has happened between us, out there?” He said, “No matter what happens, we’ll get through this together. Do you understand?”I nodded. “Together,” I repeated.Before I could say anything else, Zel appeared
MAXINECinder gave me and Zel a brief of the plans that night when she showed us a bedroom. She and the Luna Queen were sharing the one right next to us. They told us to come to them if we faced any issues.Sleep didn't come easy because my mind was entirely on Ronan. I didn't know how I was going to face him again after betraying his trust. But, I knew I couldn't sit out of this fight.The sun had not even risen when I was woken up by the sound of Liam's voice. He was given instructions and I heard more footsteps around the house than the number of people I had seen the previous day.It meant that Liam was already up and gathering the troops. I could hear him giving commands like it hadn't been two months since he was last in power. He was a natural-born leader. He carried this air of authority around him.He was giving orders, explaining ranks and positions for this fight. Every single detail was important to winning.Zel was still asleep, of course. She wasn't a wolf so she wouldn'
MAXINEI chuckled bitterly. “What about now?” I asked. “Will you take me back now that I have a wolf? Isn't that what you've always wanted?”His eyes widened slightly but he kept himself composed. “That would be unfair to you. It would be wrong. If you want to come back to me, I will take you but the choice is yours now. You have a choice and I see now that I was wrong. I’m so sorry, Maxine. I hope you can forgive me.”Tears welled up in my eyes. I hadn't thought about this but I let the anger roll away from me. He was still family. He was my father. “I forgive you. You're my father, whether you abandon me or not.” I said.“Thank you, Maxine.” He said. He reached for me hesitantly. I would have settled for a handshake but he wrapped his hands around me. For the first time in what I knew was forever, my father hugged me.I didn't know what to feel about that.LIAMAfter Maxine spoke to her father, they returned to the living room. However, she moved toward the far end of the room, away
LIAMDespite everything that was unfolding in front of me, my thoughts were stuck on one thing.Maxine had a wolf.I couldn't wrap my head around it. After everything that had happened to her, it didn’t make sense. I glanced at her. The strange white-haired girl was sitting between us.Maxine was staring out of the window. The white-haired girl squeezed her hand. Maxine turned to look at her and offered her a small smile. That was when she caught me staring. She looked away, taking her eyes back to the window.It left me confused. Was she pissed at me? I was the one who had the right to be mad at her. She had chosen him over me. Well, the distance between us was necessary.I didn't know what I would say or do if I were sitting next to her. Kris took a sharp turn, causing Maxine to grab the handle of the car door. I opened my mouth to say something but I stopped myself. There would be time for questions later.“You alright back there?” Varis asked.“We’re fine,” I said. I didn't know i