KEITHEN (RUM) We arrived back at the manor, and he wasted no time. Rose was carried to my room, much to my rancour, then thrown on my bed—the same one from that night I made love to her—and I felt a mocking chuckle in my mind. From him to me, of course. As though he had it all planned, and I had followed it through. Like a fucking obedient pup. Goddess blast it…. She scrambled across the sheets to face me: those pretty eyes held mine. But I could only watch as she backed away like a frightened fawn. Fuck. What was I thinking. Why didn’t I see it? Wanting me to kill Rose was part of his plan to lead him to her, in case I defied him again. So I did, and as soon as he got hold of my consciousness, the full control of me, he went back for her. Argh! You’re a dumbass, Keithen Hooks! My nose took a strong whiff of satisfaction and then my lips spread into a devious grin. 'She underestimated me, as usual.' My voice rang in a dead calmness that doesn't belong to me. 'My sweet
ROSE How much time had passed? I don’t know. The coldness kept jabbing my bones, squeezing my muscles and lungs, leaving a tiny gap of survival just enough for me to stay in the torment. Keithen… did he manage to keep his essence? What if he tried to save me and give up his essence? Will he die? He will die. Oh God—dess…. Please, Moon Goddess…. I’ve never asked you for anything. Please, save Keithen. Isn’t he one of your children? He’s been bad before but he isn’t a black lamb. He’s a good lamb—what the fuck am I saying? It’s the Moon Deity! ‘.... Rose?’ Oh hell… it’s that damn voice again. Tell me how to get out of here so Keithen won’t think that I’m in danger and tries to save me. Please! ‘Miss Rose!’ A deep, scratchy voice pierced through. Huh? I tried to open my eyes but they felt like boulders. ‘Miss Rose!’ THUD! THUD! THUD! Wait. Give me a sec—ARGH! My eyelids tore and split open slightly. The orange glow from outside entered my eyes and I caught the shadow of some
ROSEThe plan was simple. All they had to do was to distract the dark whims as I tried to get close to Keithen. Once I’m close enough, I will disperse that dark shit inside him once and for all. The cold wind grazed the tips of my white fur as I speared through the forest, towards the place where it would all come to the end. The line between good and… evil. With Keithen, did the line exist at all? ‘We’re here!’ Umberto cried and we both came to a halt, just like everyone else, who’d been sprinting along with us. An army of werewolves—human and wolf forms together—from all four packs of the last Howling Five. Through the gap between the two Alphas standing strongly in front of me, I saw an ocean of grass—various intensities of brown and grey—swaying with the sweeping wings. More werewolves. Millions of them. ‘W-What are they?’ I breathed in awe. Umberto kept his snout ahead. ‘Wolves from the other packs. The Howling Five are the largest five packs—but we aren’t the only ones
THE DARK WHIMS You wanted to see me… your wish is finally granted…. He knew who it was without looking. His sweetest. The mother of all those vile creatures borne from his essence. And her betrayal. A low chuckle of bitterness vibrated from him—he, banished to the depths of blackness, can’t be seen or heard but only felt. He should be satisfied. Fulfilled. Yet, the emptiness within him deepened another depth. Anymore and he’d be swallowed whole, vanished, worse than death. At the thought, cold sweat of fear glided down his heart. He stared at the bleakness that held his ground as tears of the unknown bit the back of his eyes. ‘Yes, finally. I get to see you again….’ A drop of his pain splattered on what seemed to be his knuckles and evaporated to steam. ‘I tried and tried… centuries and centuries… if I had known that this was all I needed to do, I would have done it sooner.’ What remained of a broken heart clenched his jaw to keep more tears from spilling. ‘Your ans
ROSE‘I used fresh tomatoes and minced beef—just the way you like it, sweetie.’ Daddy’s voice rang above me as a huge plate of bolognese spaghetti slid into my view. ‘Bon appetit, my little one!’ Oh God. Tears damped my fleeting lashes. ‘Sweetie, what’s wrong?’ Immediately, he sat down beside me. ‘Why are you crying? C’mere.’ The warm arms of protection and love enveloped me once more. ‘Hush, hush….’ The same hands rubbed my back. Somehow, they felt like feathers. Through my blurred view, I faced him with seriousness across my face. ‘I’m dead, aren’t I?’ And he froze. His eyes blinked thrice. Then, he glanced at his wife—my mother—who’d been watching me, elbow propped on the dining table and chin resting on her hand, and smiling gleefully. ‘Should we tell her?’ he asked. And she widened her smile. ‘Of course. She didn’t say we have to hide it from her.’ ‘She?’ I pouted as worried thumbs brushed below my eyes, wiping gently. ‘She who?’ ‘The Moon Goddess.’ My eyes bounced be
ROSE‘I told you, her fingers moved!’ ‘Goddess blast it. Just some fucking fingers and you rushed me back here? Am I a fucking joke to you?! Do you know what it fucking feels like to get a billion dollar deal only to know that it’s a fucking scam! STOP SCAMMING ME!’ Jesus Christ, that’s loud. ‘Please stop throwing human words at me—I don’t understand! Stop it, Ellis! I’m not doing anything—he’s the one with the killing stare!’ Oh my Lord, my ears are bleeding. What are they shouting about?‘Maybe I should put your mate in a coma, huh? Then tell you that his fucking eyelashes moved! He’s waking up! Come quick!’ Oh fuck, this weight is sinking me down. ‘Urgh….’ I need to—I want to get up—something tells me that I need to move this weight. ‘—touch him and I’ll bite your ear off. Then I’ll sew it back with twigs!’ ‘Mmm…’ Shit. My chest isn’t moving. My toes are wiggling but my thighs are stuck. ‘Urgh….’ Head won’t lift too. ‘Rose!’ A deep voice. ‘Can you hear me?’ I know that v
ROSE He pulled back, very slowly, sliding out, rubbing my slippery walls, pulling more wildness through my veins to my belly, boiling passion inside me, while his blue eyes fixed on mine, fiercely chaining me to him, demanding my stay, as though he knew of my secret. I love you. They seemed to say. I closed my eyes and jerked his face down to crush his lips on mine, telling him to take me as he would want. And he slammed in, his own passion roaring through me, clenching me around him, wrapping us together like the damp sheets beneath us. He sucked my tongue over and over as he pulled back and rammed in, over and over, driving more and more of his raging passion into my bloodstream, pushing me higher and higher until I tipped off with earth-shaking ecstasy. Burying his face into my hair, he growled, ‘You’re mine, Rose.’ Moulding my body along his, he drove in deeper, sending me swiftly up another peak. ‘MINE.’ ‘YES!’ I sank my teeth into that slick, hot skin along his thick
KEITHEN I stomped through the streets of the market, Where the fuck is she?! (‘Shall we let Alpha Kee hold our cub?’ muttered a fruit seller to his mate) I started jogging, my head bobbing to get my blind spots, my eyes searching like a hawk. Goddess blast it! ‘Keithen!’ She suddenly appeared before me, her mouth moving, munching, her black eyes squinting in puzzlement. Then, she broke into a huge grin; a bag of something shot up, blocking half her face. ‘Want some?’ WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GO? DID I NOT TELL YOU TO STAY THE FUCK CLOSE TO ME?! I stared at her. In the past, back there, I would scream at her. Even now, my mind was screaming, wanting to scream some sense into her. My hands itched with a strong urge to grab her by her shoulders and shake the stupidity out of her, to wake her the fuck up. What was she thinking scaring the shit out of me like that? But something in her smile punched my chest with relief. And all I wanted was to hug her. The bag moved aside