“Take this, Aurora,” Sadie said, dropping a few files into Aurora's hand. “That's everything you asked me for. Honestly, most of your members are doing a pretty good job too. I didn’t have any problems with them—they followed my instructions to the letter, except for a mischievous few. But all is good, and these are the overall reports. I asked them about it, and they said it was okay for me to give them to you. Some were even annoyed that I bothered to ask them instead of just dumping it all in your hands so you could deal with the stress.”“Yeah, I remember one of the oldies telling you about it,” Layla said with a laugh.There was a knock at the door, and Sadie invited whoever it was in.Hilda stepped inside the office, smiling at everyone except Aurora. Aurora was sure the woman was doing it on purpose. Normally, she wouldn’t care about things like this, but there was an indignant, disdainful way Hilda went about it that hit Aurora in all the sour spots.“I was told to pass this me
Layla had been missing for three days. She had sent enough signals to let them know she was still alive, but had completely blocked herself off from them.She wasn't a wolf who could be easily scented out; she even blocked her mate. Aurora was certain that Layla placed a scent cloaking and anti-tracking spell on herself.Zach was going crazy. The man had dark circles under his eyes and constantly looked as though life had been drained from him. Aurora didn’t blame him. It was crystal clear that Zach was the last person Layla wanted to see.“Have you heard anything from her?” Zach asked, and Aurora shook her head.“Except for the occasional signal that she sends to let us know she’s alive, nothing else.”“Can't you follow that signal or something?” He ran his hand through his messy, undone hair. Normally, it was styled in a pompadour, but he didn’t seem to care about it now. He just wanted to find his mate.“A powerful witch could do that, but not me. First, because I’m close to Layla,
“They want us to come to their pack for a week or two. They want you there. Alpha Vincent claimed that it would assure him to see your face and judge your book by its cover since that was his only way,” Maverick said, and Aurora raised her head, looking straight into his blue eyes.It had been over two weeks since they had really sat together. They hadn’t been avoiding each other, but since the pack councils hadn't made much of a fuss after they both shut them down on the day Mr. Prill and Sally arrived at the pack, they had hardly seen each other anymore.Both of them had been dealing with the issues of their own people privately until something had brought them both to the table.Like the Eastwood Pack issue.“How did their investment in Moonlight Pack have anything to do with us? Did those bunch of asses think that we’d go vandalizing all their buildings or something?” Easton had asked with an eye roll, already annoyed to bring up something Aurora knew nothing about.“The fact that
“So? To what the hell did I owe you this visit, Ms. Brian?” Aurora asked, staring at Phoebe, who stood with her hips cocked to the side, arrogance emanating off her in waves. But it was of no use at the moment, because Aurora definitely looked more smug and authoritative.Aurora wore a black leather jacket adorned with studs, left open to reveal a white tank top with the bold words "Bitch Please" scrawled in red. Her ripped denim jeans were cinched by a chunky belt, and her black knee-high boots clicked against the wooden planks as she shifted her weight. Her messy, shoulder-length hair framed her face in a tousled, effortless style.Phoebe, in contrast, had chosen a sleek white tube top paired with a black pleated mini skirt and ankle-strap heels. Her bold eyeliner and red lipstick accentuated her striking features, while her long hair flowed freely down her back. she found herself feeling overshadowed by Aurora’s commanding presence.Honestly, comparing them, Phoebe looked like a slu
“It would have been better if she had stayed back home under the protective wings of her parents,” Sadie shrugged as they headed to the Moonlight Pack House.“How do you know about it?” Aurora asked, certain that Phoebe wasn’t the kind of person who would let such a huge secret, especially one that happened to be her weakness, out in the open.“You know Ellie?” Sadie asked, and Aurora nodded. Everyone knew the best gossip woman in the Moonlight Pack.“Her daughter happens to be friends with the best friend of the mate of the Beta of the Sinister Smile Pack.”“Sinister Smile Pack? Are they some kind of idiots trying to be villains? That sounds like some idiot named it,” Aurora remarked.“You named yours Lala Land. Are you some kind of fairy godmother trying to bring balance to the kids of the world? That sounds like the name of an amusement park,” Sadie retorted.“Touché.”“Sinister Pack is the twin pack of the Blood Moon Pack, though, and it’s ruled by the same Alpha.”“Why didn’t they
“Layla is one sneaky bitch. I must commend your friend for that,” Stephanie said with a nod. Aurora stared at her with a raised brow.“Does that mean you can’t bring her back?” Sadie chimed in, and Stephanie chuckled.“There are many things I’m not great at, but trust me, darling, finding someone isn’t one of them. That’s my area of expertise,” Stephanie clarified. She snapped her fingers, and Layla appeared in the room, seemingly out of nowhere, mid-motion. She was raising a spoonful of spaghetti to her mouth, a plate in her other hand.At first, Layla didn’t notice her change of surroundings and continued eating. However, she paused when the room’s décor registered as different. She raised her head at the sound of laughter.“OMG! Don’t tell me you were busy enjoying life while we’re here struggling?” Sadie asked between fits of laughter. Layla looked around and glared at everyone, her gaze lingering briefly on Stephanie before shifting away in anger.“What the hell is all this about?
Aurora huffed in frustration as she looked all around for any trace of Stephanie, but it seemed like the woman had dropped off the surface of the earth the moment she left the room. It wasn’t like she had spent a long time there after she was gone.Aurora wanted to thank Stephanie for her help since it wouldn’t be possible for them to find Layla and understand the root of her stunt without her. If Layla came later, there was a big chance Zach wouldn’t remember what he was doing on Thursday afternoon vividly. She was about to give up when she felt a faint presence towards the west. She began to trail the sensation until it led her to a big diner, one she was sure served food fancier than its name suggested.Hesitantly, Aurora entered and spotted Stephanie sitting at a table talking to someone. She was about to walk toward her when she saw Anabella approach from the opposite end, coming through a door Aurora hadn’t noticed. It was then that she realized the woman sitting across from Step
“I didn’t know that Alpha Maverick had a private jet at his disposal,” Easton snickered sarcastically, and Alec scoffed.“What do you think we are? Some barbarians who stay in one place?” Alec retorted.“I don’t think you’re too far from that,” Kael commented.“Except for the fact that this pack is the richest in the whole southern area and top five in the whole world, you must be an imbecile to think that they commute on foot,” Layla chimed in, earning glares from both Kael and Easton.“Which pack are you from exactly?” Easton asked, and Layla shrugged.“Why don’t you switch packs and declare yourself a bona fide member of the Moonlight Pack instead of being a backstabber?” Kael shot at her, but Layla just poked her tongue out at him.“I would have done that, but then that means their beta would have to follow me. You can’t function properly without your Beta, and your Beta can’t function at all without me…” Layla trailed off.“Who fed you those delusions?” Kael asked.“Need I remind
Aurora sat on a steep rock as she stared into the water body that was in front of her, a jar containing the fetus and another small jar that coined some green swirling liquid that glowed lightly in the early evening light.It was the remedy for those controlled by the puppetry art, she had set off and practiced for a lot of time before she was finally able to get it, she had been worried that she might not be able to find a cure before the witches take action—who knew that she would do it right after that thought crossed her mind.She had just taken a minute to sit and assemble her thoughts, take a breather from the usual tension that seemed to be wrecking her body more nowadays.After she followed Maverick's words and started seeing both her and the other Aurora as one, she had been able to feel her on a very personal level.Sometimes, it even felt like they were one single person. Their thoughts align more and they are able to communicate better—it almost feels like a communication
The witches arrived at the entrance of Left Green Woods, but to their surprise, they didn’t have to enter the manor because Maverick was standing out and the Manor door was shut.He glanced at them and paid no more attention to them again, his posture and position suggest that he was waiting for them but his attitude suggested otherwise.Daphne furrowed her brows as she stared at the door. “Why the hell would he keep the door locked, there’s no way we are entering now. Master instructed that we mustn’t let him close the door at all cost.”Rosa rolled her eyes at the woman, she didn’t like her because she didn’t have a good relationship with the Mistress. “Man shut it locked before we even arrived at this place, I am sure that the master can’t blame us for it. The only thing left is for us to go back and report.”“Lycan King Maverick, we would like you to come with us,” one of the sages started but Daphne cut him off.“Don’t start, Ivy, you don’t tell people like him to come along calm
Phoebe stared around as she was being led towards the Mistress’s office, when she arrived at the entrance of the castle, she didn’t have to tell them about who she was before she was told to come along.It seemed that he had informed them that she was coming, she didn’t know why he didn’t tell them straight away but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for her.If she played her cards well, she would be able to turn everything in her own favor.The castle was fairly beautiful but also dark at the same time, it was a stereotypical dark place that one would expect a witch to live in. It seemed that this Mistress is such a cliché person.The man in front opened a door after knocking and fast enough, they were in the study and in the presence of the Mistress herself, there was also a lady standing by her side.Phoebe found a seat without being invited to sit in one, she studied the expression on the Mistress’s face and didn’t like it one bit, it was weird—but she couldn’t figure it out so sh
“Do you want to take a rest now? You have already worked hard since you found the books,” Maverick said, placing down a glass of milk beside Aurora.“Yeah, I should probably rest soon but there’s no way I can now, I want to gather all the facts I can get about the ways of producing the potion that can turn the potion back to normal people.”“You already found out about how to take care of the fetus and you have administered methods on it,”“Yeah,” Aurora hit her back on the chair softly. “Who knew that it was actually something as easy as finding essence fertilizer and using it on it raw? Turns out that the thing is not purely evil.” She mused.“That doesn’t mean that we should relax though, I am quite anxious about this master, he already ordered that they should turn me into a puppet. They are taking their sweet time which could only mean one thing,” she turned to glance at Maverick.“They are preparing something.”She nodded. “So I have to hurry.”“How are you supposed to get the p
A groan fell from her lips, followed by a pained grunt, she heaved heavily and tried to adjust her head to the darkness but she discovered that she wasn’t in a dark room, instead her head was covered by a dark cloth. She tried to move but she discovered that both her arms and legs were tied tightly—she had been abducted!Phoebe regulated her breathing and ease her body, preparing herself to recount the events that happened before she found herself at his place.She had spent quite some time at the spot where she hid, she made sure that the night had come before she set off. One, it would make her mate who might have been expecting her think that she was being stubborn and decided not to set off on that day again, two, she had better advantages at night—it would have been easier to deal with trouble she encountered on the way when her senses were all alerted.She had set off, walking carefully and examining everything and everywhere around her, she even made sure to be as careful as po
“You really do?” Aurora asked and Maverick nodded before he handed over a book that she didn’t know that he was holding. She collected the book from him and glanced at it for a moment before she turned to look at him.“What is this? Where did you get it?”“It is obviously a book and I got it from the training room.”She glared at him in anger before she moved closer to him but he only stepped away from her too. She raised the book in his face. “You obviously have this but you made me try every trick up my sleeve trying to open it when you have the answer? You are a jerk!” she yelled at him but he only rolled his eyes at her.“You might want to hurry,” he replied simply, she huffed and turned to open the book in her hand before she turned to stare at Maverick with surprised eyes.“You want me to use my blood? How am I supposed to do that?” He smirked before he provided a knife out of nowhere, she scoffed in disbelief. “I should cut myself?”“How else? Am I supposed to bite the blood ou
“Listen,” Mr. Brian’s voice started as soon as Phoebe descended the last step on the staircase, he was sitting in the living room and from the look of things, it was very obvious that he was waiting for her. Phoebe paused and regarded him with a blank gaze. “I don’t care whatever excuse you have, I have had it with you. You are going back to Blood Moon Pack today.”Phoebe remained silent, they would have this conversation the day before but when she came back from the hospital, his mother was nowhere to be found and Alec had assigned an important duty to her father.“I have arranged someone who would take you through the way to the pack, once you are out of the border of Moonlight Pack, the only thing you have to worry about are the puppets that would be lurking around,” her father continued regardless of her silence. “I have sought information from some members of the coven that I have good relationship with, they confirmed that the puppets have been reigned but regardless of it all
“I hope you aren’t feeling any pain again,” Sadie asked and Phoebe nodded with a blank expression on her face, she had collapsed as soon as she reached her room the day she met her mate and had extreme fever immediately, she was hallucinating the past events as if it was present and was breathing was erratic.Her parents had no choice but to bring her to the hospital and let Sadie attend to her personally. She was glad that it stopped their rants for a short time.Sadie furrowed his brows at her and stared at her in concern. Even though she didn’t get along with Phoebe, she couldn’t ignore a woman who seemed to be spinning down the depression path with a spiral, she bites her lips in contemplation.“Is everything alright?” She finally asked.“Does it look like it isn’t?” Phoebe replied, and Sadie just nodded in understanding, there was no way to force an answer out of someone who is not willing. She dusted her coat and dipped her hands in the pockets before she started making her way
The door opened and Mani stepped into the dark study that had only dim light at the moment, The Mistress was sitting behind her desk, she was flipping through a book that she got from the archived documents. She was trying to find out all she could about Crystabelle but she wasn’t getting anything through.Witches, no matter how powerful they might be, would have their records in the archives. It was a magic that no one has been able to find out its root, it would automatically record it, even the ones thousands of miles away or were just born or died. As long as you have some witch blood running through your veins you are down, but there was nothing showing up about Crystabelle, it was as if she didn’t exist at all.“What did you find out?” The Mistress finally asked her when she dropped the book down after a futile search.“There’s no way to be exact but she is at Moonlight Pack at the moment.”“Damn.” The Mistress sighed. “So there’s no way to track her movement.”“No.”“How is the