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
“And what exactly do you mean by, ‘You are Maverick Prill, and room 232 is yours?’ What about the second room? My room?” Aurora asks, her voice laced with irritation as she faces the overly-peachy receptionist.“Exactly what you heard,” the woman replies with a smug grin, eyes flicking over Aurora. “Do you have trouble hearing?”Aurora nearly scoffs at the woman's dismissive tone. This was the problem with dealing with humans in a pack-dominated world—no matter how polite they tried to be, their underlying rudeness always slipped through. Aurora could bet anything that if this woman were a werewolf and knew her reputation, she'd be speaking with a lot more respect.“So, are you saying there’s only one room reserved under our name?” Maverick asks, his eyebrow raised. It’s clear he’s having a hard time processing this, especially since he personally made the reservation for two rooms.“Yes, handsome. It appears that way.” The receptionist looks Maverick up and down, twirling her hair and
It took some minutes before she got a semblance of control over her actions, Ferix and the rest of them were still on their knees, facing the direction of the hall.Aurora hurried to move away from them even though it proved to be great difficulty to try something else when she was supposed to obey the command.She wasn’t about to let this chance go, this was the opportunity she wanted to make sure that she had, it was the best time to use the antidote to the dark magic control that the witches had someone under.If she could release it and cast a spell to make it litter the air, no matter where the controlled people were, they would break free of their curse, some slower than others but surely.The controlled puppets have their mind and attention over to another being powerful than the one that is controlling them and this higher being didn’t require them to have their guards up.Of course, she could still use spells and magic. The witches must have been so stupid to think that she c
The abyssal portal at first glance might seem like a normal portal that could take people from one place to another just like every other one that had been seen.But it was different.Once anyone entered the abyssal portal, there was no coming back for that person, they would be gone and gone forever.Aurora remained rooted to the spot she was, beside Maverick who was still unconscious, she waited to see what they were trying to do.The Mistress left where she was and Mani took over and right before their eyes, she started directing the puppets inside the portal, the mindless creatures didn’t even have any expression on their face as they continued to fall into their doom, which embraced them one after the other.“You should absolutely stop this fucking madness! Did you fuckers forgot that these people are living and have their families somewhere?If you are so sure about your abilities, why don’t you remove the control you have over their mind and see if they would willingly jump int
“Where is Maverick?” Aurora asked, staring straight at Mitch, there was no need to spend a lot of time wondering why she had never suspected him or how she had looked right past where there clues littered around. It was no use crying over spilt milk, the only thing she could do at that moment was make sure that Maverick was alright.Easton, Alec and the rest would be okay, because she already had the solution to bring them out of the clutches of those controlling their mind, she just wanted to make sure that she had as many puppets as possible around when she released it into the air.If she wasn’t able to do that, she would just save these few and find another chance for the others.“Why are you asking me?” Mitch asked, the usual warmth that was always present in his tone was still there and he was still talking politely like he always did, as if the situation hadn’t changed at all. Aurora almost couldn’t stand it but she wasn’t in the right situation to show him how much she hated i
Ferix cleared his throat before he straightened his shoulder, all his attention on the two women leading them as if he was deeply invested in where they were going.At that moment, he really looked like he wasn’t going to say anything but then he opened his mouth and started talking.“There was someone who was threatening and blackmailing both me and Carly, both of us were under him.He would send us on different missions and have us do some things for him.”Ferix had moved to stare down at his hand, before looking around sheepishly, still not meeting Aurora’s gaze.“What he had over us was strong enough to keep us obedient over the years but we got tired of it and demanded for freedom, seeing that we have been working for a lot of years.He agreed to release us but we had to do one last job.”“Stalking me?” Aurora raised a brow at him.“Keeping tabs and getting information from and about you.” He corrected me.“That’s practically the same thing.”“It was supposed to be a simple task,
“I knew that you would be shameless about it but I didn’t expect that you would show it as deep it runs in your veins,” Aurora scoffed. “It must feel good to finally step out of the suffocating mask that you have been keeping yourself under for the past years.”“There’s no need keeping the pretense after everything is already out,” Stephanie replied, her voice had switched to the gentle voice that she had always addressed people with before and Aurora almost wanted to kick her face for it.“You have been with Maverick for the past eight years or so, I am sure that you are part of the people that helped them form the way to prevent Aurora’s twin soul from taking over her body, if your aim was Aurora all along, why the hell did you not just take her that time?” Ferix mused loudly, staring at Stephanie who had gone to rest her body against the wall, her arms folded across her chest.“It was because the time wasn’t right, it wouldn’t be of any advantage to me if you ended up staying at th
Ferix stared at Aurora with shocked eyes, then to Stephanie who was sitting with a confused expression on her face. He didn’t understand why she was treating Stephanie like this, if it had been him, he wouldn’t have had a hard time wrapping her head around this.‘Was her twin soul acting up?’ He couldn’t help but wonder in his head.“Wh…What are you doing?” Stephanie asked, staring at Aurora with an upset expression which made the latter scoff.“At this point, you are still denying it?”“I have no idea what you are talking about!” Stephanie exclaimed. “I know that you don’t like me for some sort of reason but aren’t you supposed to have something concrete if you want to take your anger out on me?!”“Something concrete? I am sure that what I have is more than concrete. You know too damn well what I am talking about.” Aurora moved closer to her and grabbed her jaws, tightening her hold and making Stephanie groan, Ferix just sat to the side and not bothering to say anything—it would be j
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