FAYE What had I been thinking? That he'd immediately give me the information I wanted? That he'd fall for my little seduction tricks? I hadn't even really tried. My fingers curled into my palms in rage, and I was sure my nails would leave deep little crescent marks on my skin when I looked. I could tell from the sexual frustration in me. There was so much attraction between us, and it really was fucking things up badly. I had to ruin him. Kick him off his freaking stupid high horse and cut him to size. That way they'd know, they'd see what a person became after you made her a monster. I hissed in frustration and trudged to bed, kicking at the covers when I climbed on top. When everything's fell to the ground, I settled a little bit, trying to sleep. The shrill ring of the doorbell rang, and I was startled out of my half asleep state. Only one person would come to see me this late in the night. I got out of bed and replaced the bed covers, picking up a few pillows a
FAYE What stupid light wouldn't stop shining so brightly in my face? I groaned as my eyes slid open and snapped shut again when the rays of sunshine hit me. I always closed the windows, but I'd left them open last night. I grumbled the entire way to the window panes and slid them closed. I wasn't going to be angry. Don't make the rest of your day and angry one, Faye. I stopped to take in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh morning air and exhaling. My eyes found my bedside clock and my heart flew. I was late! I had to catch Yvonne before she left so we'd have that talk. I rushed to the bathroom and turned on the shower, stripping my nightdress off fast and flying into the torrent of water. The cool water hit me first, before it became hotter and I relaxed under the spray of water. My mind kept drifting off to think about the council of elders and their apparent lack of trust in me, and I kept pulling it back. I wouldn't let myself think of the fact that I still had n
NATHANWhat was she playing at? Thinking she could get me to spill away my guts to her.And about Layla.I hadn't spoken about her in years. It felt like a different lifetime altogether. It'd been so long ago I felt like… it hadn't happened.I hadn't lost a family.I wasn't going to think about that. I made deliberate attempts to divert my thoughts towards something else. I hadn't had my hands in her ginger hair as much as I'd like.I hadn't even realized how much I'd wanted her until I'd had to pull away last minute from her last night. It'd taken a lot to walk away, knowing I couldn't talk about the things she wanted to hear. I turned from my room window, the sight too plain, a reminder of all I'd lost here in the Black Saint pack house.A reminder of all I'd fucked up. My mistakes stared me in the face every morning, blinding me with my apparent faults that hadn't been so apparent at the time. I decided not to seek Patrice out, no matter that I badly wanted to ask her what t
FAYE Deep in my chest,the panic unfurled slowly, growing steadily to a higher point. I called Axel on the phone again and again and again, but there was no response. He never ignored my calls. He never ignored my calls, but he was ignoring them today of all days, at this very critical time. I bemoaned my fate, groaning loudly when the phone rang for the hundredths time and no one on the other end answered. I was slowly going crazy, when Yvonne came to me, holding my arm in a tight grip. "Yvonne
FAYEThe underground parking lot was busy, and it cost me minutes I did not have trying to get a space to pack in. I pulled into a space at the end, and walked all the way back to the elevator. Axel stayed in the penthouse here, just one of his many places.He was mostly here, if not at the pack house.I pressed the button for the penthouse and rode the elevator to the first floor, getting off at a brisk walk. I hoped he was in. What would I do if he wasn't here with the moonstone?If I couldn't fix this fast and get the moonstone back to it's vault before any of the elders discovered what was going on?I tried to shake off the thought. I couldn't afford to dissolve into panic now. I got to his door and rang the doorbell. I waited for someone to answer the door, but nothing happened.I didn't have time to waste, I tried entering the code he'd given me before. I keyed in the numbers and waited for the click of the door unlocking. The door remained locked. I keyed in the numbers
NATHANThe silence in the room was loud. No one seems to know what to make of this. It was apparent what was happening though.Some one else— no, some other witch was using the same methods Briggs had used. I was sure of it, and Zelda had confirmed it. The blue markings on Rhea's body were not caused by natural effects. I leaned forward, the palms of my hand spread over the table as I bent, staring across the room at the three people I trusted most in my life."Any new updates on what is happening, Lannon?""Nothing else happened, Nate. I haven't gotten wind of anything unusual at all.""You say she was found in our woods?"Carolyn asked, she'd been away in a trip and had just gotten back."Yes. From the looks of where we found her, she wasn't killed there. They did what they did somewhere else, and then came here, on our turf, to dispose of her." Lannon seethed, his fist clenched on his thigh.He really was worked up over this. And I couldn't blame him. "It would have been a pro
FAYEI gaped at the elders, not sure how to handle the situation now. Granger and Deindre trooped past Yvonne and me to the living room, not bothering to wait for us to invite them in. We all moved to my dining room wordlessly, the tension palpable, and settled down, all five of us.It was painfully obvious that one of us was missing."Axel took the moonstone."Yvonne nodded, her mouth pressed into a thin, hard line.Granger's eyes blazed with fury. "So this was what he meant when he said he would show us."All eyes turned to watch him. "Show us what?" I asked him, not sure I really wanted to know the answer but needing to hear it still."He was furious that you wouldn't mate with him. He said if the council didn't dethrone you, we would have hell to pay."My heart dropped so hard it fell to the floor of my stomach. I felt a little light-headed and I had to swallow and try hard to focus and not give in to the darkness.Yvonne had been right all along.Axel wasn't just punishing me
FAYE It has been ages since I've been at the Black Saint pack house. I can't go there by myself, and I don't have any way of getting to Nathan if I don't go to his company or to his home. Neither of those ideas appealed. The pack members would know something was up immediately if I were to go there. And doubt could easily be planted in the minds of many without them knowing the real reason we were meeting. If me being with Nathan had upset Axel so much, it wasn't hard to imagine how my pack would feel about it. I'd rather I didn't find out. The next best option was to set up a meeting with Nathan. Somewhere it would be just the two of us. No other eyes around to see us. I called Patrice. I had her contact info from the day I'd gone to see her and I knew she was the only one who would help me, no questions asked. I'd set up the meet for 10am tomorrow, at a small cafe downtown, but he'd refused that. Telling me instead to come to the glasshouse. Sometime in the early e
Faye"Yvonne, this place is too much." I glanced around the fully decorated condo, my excitement simmering with the idea of this space being mine to do with as I please.The place is amazing. More than I could have hoped for, and I’ve only made it to the living room. There is a huge fireplace and a big soft gray sectional sofa that looks fluffy and comfortable. Big pillows line most of it and it looks so cozy. There is light everywhere, shining in from the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Vegas."That place is perfect." she told me on the phone."The security is top notch.You can order food whenever you want and they have a gym and a spa downstairs. Everything you need with only a call.""It’s safe," she pushed. "You could come stay with me if you’d prefer. I’d love to have you at home, but I thought you might want your own place."I'd started my post graduate studies, this time nearer to home and I'd gotten a whole condo to stay in for the duration of my studies. Staying wit
TWO MONTHS LATERFAYEI sat in front of Yvonne as she explained the dynamics of our business relationship with some other company.I wasn't listening to her. I was mostly just nodding, so she could continue to speak. "Faye? Faye? Are you listening?"I sighed and nodded, not knowing how to tell her what bothers me. "Faye tell me. You know you haven't spoken a lot about what happened in that forest with the Black Saint. I can't believe you went in there without letting me know." She still spoke of it frequently with anger l, but she was beginning to forgive me. It wasn't everyday a person's niece went to the forest of lost souls and made it out alone. I sighed again and she scolded me angrily."That's the fifteenth sigh today, fifteenth, and it's not even mid morning yet. Why do you sound like you lost a loved one, my dear?""Maybe cause I did lose a loved one?"I told her, my face falling as I remembered said loved one again. "Is this about Nathan?"I looked at her and nodded. I c
NATHANThe witch died how she had planned for me to die. A fitting end for someone who'd come with the sole aim of destroying me. Faye massaged her wrists where those damn fools must have tied her up before. I moved to her and held both her wrists in my hands, caressing them softly, so that the ache could go away.She wasn't responding to me. She just stood there, stiffly by my side. I looked into her face and I couldn't read anything.I missed the days when I would look at her face and see what she was thinking, what she was feeling. "Won't you go after him?" Faye asked, pointing in the direction Axel had run in. I shook my head. "Lannon will take care of him."Her mouth dropped open. "Lannon is here too?""Yes, Queeny. He entered the forest the night before we did.""I can't believe you have been lying to me this whole time. About everything!" She screamed in a hurt tone, stepping away from me. I rushed to her, brushing her still wet hair from her face and cupping her face in
FAYE"Briggs was my sister and you killed her!" she yelled, her voice rising on each word until my ears felt scraped by her shrill tone.Nathan looked bored with the whole thing. He didn't look as bothered by the fact that we were in danger, surrounded by our enemies who had upper hand."So that's why you want to destroy my pack so bad. Well I can't say I'm sorry, Vera. Your sister messed with the wrong pack, just like you're doing now, and she got what she deserved, just like you will." He said, with finality behind his words. She growled and screamed unfamiliar words at him, her magic sending him flying into the concrete wall. I winced as he landed with his arm and felt myself go weak for a second.I was still finding it an ordeal watching Nathan get hurt. It was a lot. "I guess we're done here."Axel said and shifted back from Vera."You can take care of them sweetie, do whatever you please."Vera smirked and strolled around to me.I saw Nathan's body tighten and get ready for a
FAYEMy heart broke at his words and I felt like a sham at his words. I'd believe I could be Luna because both Yvonne and Axel has stood by me and encouraged me. And now he said this?"Imagine my surprise when after years of devotion to the pack, Yvonne went in search of a daughter I had never heard about. A daughter that had never been around. I was passed over for you?" He said like he still couldn't believe it. "It's a fucking joke, my sweet." I felt sick at the stupid endearment.Tears formed in my eyes and I pressed them closed tightly.I knew Nathan's focus was on me, he would go ballistic of I cried. I wanted to hear all of it.No, I needed to hear everything."I didn't want Yvonne to go looking for you, prayed to the moon goddess that she didn't find you, but guess what? She did. Because this dumbass Buffon,"he said, pointing at Nathan, "threw you out. He couldn't even love you properly then and you still went back to him when you returned home. After all I'd done for you.
FAYEI was sitting in a chair with my arms tied down to the arms of the chair when I came to.The black bag over my face was still there, but it wasn't tight around my face anymore.I tried to look through it but all I could see was little light, peeking at me through the bag.All of a sudden the bag was yanked off my head and I found myself looking at Axel. I felt elated that I'd found him, but I also felt angry about what he'd done. And why did he send people to kidnap me?"Axel," I started.He raised a hand, cutting me off. "it's not just you I need to talk to. I want to talk to your lover too. I wonder what could be holding him back. Does he not love you as much as you think he does, perhaps?"I snorted and his gaze flashed with annoyance."Or maybe he's content to abandon you here. Not even bother coming to get you."I glared at him and said nothing.Axel laughed. "Well, either way, we've got more than enough time together. But first, I think your friend is going to want to mee
NATHANThere was a tinkle of laughter in the air when I woke up.The sound was pleasant to my ears and made me ache to find the owner of the laugh.My eyes slid open and rested on Faye. Something was making her happy this morning.I could relate too, cause I felt really happy too. Despite everything that had happened yesterday, it was great to see that we were okay.In fact, we were more than okay. We had finally talked about the part of me that I'd always locked away, never wanted to talk about with anyone, or show anybody.She giggled again, looking up at something I couldn't see and I had to ask her. "Heyy, Queeny." I said, wondering how she'd react this time to the nickname she was always irritated by. "Heyyy." She replied, not really paying me much attention. There was an excitement to her movements though, and a wide smile on her face. I could watch her smile all day, or just listen to her laugh and feel good when the day ended. "What are you doing?" I asked her.Not to
FAYEI held his bandaged hands in my hands. He'd scared the hell out of me when he had run out on me like that. I couldn't believe what I had heard. He'd said Dad, and then he'd started calling out mother.I didn't know what he'd been seeing but it sure felt very intense from where I had witnessed it.There was no one else in the forest except for me and Faye, everything else was false. I told myself repeatedly, trying to quell the worry I had now. What if I was the problem that needed to be stopped?What if I saw things just as clearly as Nathan had?I shook my head and refused to fall for it. "We need to keep moving." Nathan said to me and I agreed.We had to leave that area. We had both taken a drink of the potion now, and nothing more could happen to us for a few more hours.It was getting dark now. I didn't know if this was an effect of the forest magic or something else but we had to rest. We stopped and collected wood for a fire together.We stacked the wood and then s
NATHANI'd scared her badly.For her to have cracked and spilled those tears in front of me.She was so icy now, I doubted she ever cried infront of anyone.I had felt something change between us. She wasn't saying anything now, just walking stiffly beside me. I looked ahead, raising tree branches that hung low so that both of us could make our way through.We trudged on, the low bushes and weeds brushing against our thighs and lower legs.The roots that were off the ground were not easy to spot, and almost brought her down twice, with me reaching out to steady her and getting rebuffed each time.I could take that.For now. I would take it until she didn't want to throw me off anymore. Couldn't reject me.I walked around a tree and her eyes followed me sharperly, showing me she was watching me, even though she pretended not to be. I chuckled to myself, coming out onto the path we were walking.Something felt eerily quiet about the forest.It wasn't just that I already knew it was