ARIANNA’S POVWe drove past a mob of people running towards the farm. How nice of them, ready to help. Good thing they had not shown up earlier. These were good, helpful neighbors. Those hunters did not deserve them.We were about ten minutes out when we heard sirens. That actually took long. I guess that’s what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere,“Are you okay?” Luciano asked. This had to be the tenth time he had asked me that question since we got into the car.“Are you?” I asked back, tired of telling him that I was okay.“I’m fine. And it’s not the same thing.” he said.“Why? Because I made you force me to turn?” I asked him.“Well, that is one thing.”“What’s the other thing?” I was getting irritated now.“You killed someone tonight. At the farm, when we were picking them off one at a time. You did a lot of damage, but you let me get rid of them.” he explained.I realized earlier tonight that one of the reasons he didn’t want to make me shift; other than the obvious p
CARTER’S POV“Fuck!” I exclaimed and threw the bottle of bourbon at the wall. It hit the wall with a thud and fell to the ground where it started to pour out. “Did you see that?” I asked Ciara “It didn’t even break.” She looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. “I’m in so much pain, I can’t even throw hard enough.” I explained angrily. “If you are in so much pain, maybe stop trying to throw things.” she suggested.“And where does that leave me? Unable to function!” I answered my own question as she seemed to not understand.“What’s on your neck?” Ciara asked with a shocked look on her face.“What’s on my neck?” I walked slowly to the standing mirror on the landing of the staircase.I had to move slowly, my joints hurt if I tried to move at a normal pace. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes had sunk into my skull. I was emaciating in real time. I looked closely at my neck in the mirror. There were green, web-like lines running up my neck. I walked back to
CIARA’S POVHow dare he say that. I did not live my life to spite Arianna. She was of no consequence. And I did not start a relationship with him because of Arianna. Granted, it was funny watching him renounce her and it was basically the moon goddess dropping a blessing at my feet. I mean he had rejected her already, I didn’t make him do that. If he had accepted her then I would have gone about my business. I approached him because he was the Alpha and he clearly hated Arianna. It was a good thing to bond over. “So because of Arianna?” a stupid voice in my head asked. “O shut it” I responded in my head. My life did not revolve around my sister. So why are you mad?” That stupid voice again. I was staring down at Carter. He was sitting in his chair looking weak and pathetic. He did not have the power to tell me to be quiet. “Or what, Carter? What will you do? Take me on the hood of your truck again?” I asked him. “I remember it worked quite well. I didn’t hear your voice for days
CIARA’S POVIf anyone knew where I could find Dylan, it would be George. New packs usually kept in contact with their old healers. I made my way to George’s for what felt like the millionth time since I got back.I had been trying to convince him to talk to the witches on Carter’s behalf but he insisted that he did and they would not listen. A part of me didn’t believe him. It was no secret that he didn’t like Carter. In my head I could picture him dancing over Carter’s withering frame. I walked up to the door and knocked. “Come in.” I heard from inside. I walked in, George was sitting on one of those old people chairs that had a recline and everything. He had a book in his hand that he seemed really into.“Hello Ciara. How are you today?” He asked.“I’m good George, what are you reading?” “Just a book on herbology. I’ve been meaning to get to it.” He explained. “Anything in there that can help Carter?” I asked.He gave me a look that said he was tired of that question. I put up b
CIARA’S POVThe directions Dylan gave me were not directions. Anyone who followed them would get lost. Which is exactly what I was at that moment, lost.I was in the middle of the woods, there was no one around here. There were no houses, where were the wolves living? I heard rustling in the bushes and out came Dylan. He was shirtless with a big smile on his face. He approached me with his arms spread wide, “Ciara, good to see you.” He enveloped me in a hug. “Nice to see you too.” I said, feeling very awkward. “Why are we in the middle of nowhere?” I asked him.“This is where we live.” I looked around us, there was no one else here. “We?” I asked.“Yes, we. Come on, I’ll show you.” I followed him further into the woods until we got to a clearing. There was a fire pit in the middle and logs around it. It looked very much like a camp. “Guys, she’s here.” Someone shouted from above.I looked up in the trees and it all made sense, there were makeshift tree houses. They didn’t look
CIARA’S POVDylan was looking at me funny. He had heard me, he just didn’t know what to make of it. “Why would I do that, Ciara?” He asked.“So you can turn the mystic moon into this, only difference would be indoor plumbing.” I told him. I tried to lighten the conversation with a smile but he was gone. “I can’t do anything for the mystic moon. That’s Carter’s pack, not mine.” “What if it were yours?” I asked him. He turned to face me now. It looked like he was done with the innuendos. “What are you saying Ciara?” he asked me.“I’m saying that the mystic moon needs an Alpha.”“It has one. Carter. Your boyfriend, I might add.” He said.“Don’t remind me, please. Anyway, Carter is not really at a hundred percent right now. You can challenge him and become Alpha. Like you were always meant to do.” I explained to him.I watched a multitude of emotions flicker across his face. Confusion, excitement, doubt, uncertainty.“I don’t need to challenge him. I have a pack of my own.” He said.
CARTER’S POVI looked at my reflection in the full length mirror. I looked like I was hexed. Considering I had no idea what Luciano stabbed me with, I guess I could be hexed. Hexes were the worst, it was also George’s best guess. If he was right then there was no way out of this for me. I would walk a slow pain filled journey to my death. Curse Nadia. What did I ever do to her for her to do this to me? Not only did she tell other witches not to help me, if this was really a hex then it would not matter who wanted to help. Only the witch who places the hex can remove it. I had been in so much pain lately, I actually tried calling her. All my calls went straight to voicemail.In hindsight, leaving threats on her voicemail may not have been the best approach. I did leave an apology, but she still has not called back. I would find a way, I was not going to go down like this. “Max!” I called out. He ran in seconds later. “Any idea where Ciara has been since yesterday?” I asked him.
CIARA’S POVI knew Carter was weak but I at least expected a fight. Watching him writhing on the floor with drool running out of his mouth was just embarrassing.He could not even get through his change let alone fight. Everyone who gathered to watch didn’t seem to understand what was happening. “Is that part of it? “What the fuck is happening?”“Can he stand?” I heard these questions randomly from the crowd. This was beyond bad for Carter. If he couldn’t even turn, how did he plan to survive? It actually explained why he was absent during the full moon. Dylan walked up to Carter’s shivering body and placed one leg on top of him, signaling that the fight was done. If we could call it a fight. Dylan standing with Carter beneath his feet was the signal everyone needed to stop feeling sorry for Carter. The screams of joy were deafening. It was like years of pent up frustration could finally be let out. I ran inside Carter’s house to grab blankets. When I got back outside, old man M