JOSHUA. “Will you be okay, Mom?” Alice’s shoulders shook as her hands clamped on her mouth to stifle her sobs, and my arms wrapped around her as I let her head rest on my chest, hoping my touch could calm her down. She told me that she was recently able to understand why her mom was rude to most males who would show interest in her. She wanted to make sure they would never go for her because Alpha Drex wanted to forge more alliances and was always thinking of mating Alice to anyone who could offer him that. The only thing stopping him was his Luna and Alice’s refusal to date them. Luna Renee’s eyes watered, but it was gone in seconds, her head still held high as she looked at her daughter. “I will be fine. After five years, I’m hoping Roan will let me go back to the place where I was born and raised. But if not, I’m sure I can find my place somewhere.” Roan’s hand on the top of the table coiled into a tight fist, but he didn’t say anything. At this point, I was sure that even if
ALICE. -------------------- Dear Alice, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I have a boyfriend, and we decided to be together. Thank you for everything. River -------------------- My heart was torn into pieces as I looked at the gibberish scribble on the paper. She forced herself to write, and although it was nearly ineligible, I knew it was her handwriting because I was teaching her to write her full name. River was the only word she wrote beautifully among all the words there. The rest, she was struggling to write. I wondered how long it took her to write this. But even if I knew this was her handwriting, the message wasn’t hers. I refused to believe River would leave just like that. “I told her she was too young to be on her own, but she told me she’s been waiting to leave, and she wants to make sure you’re not here to stop her.” Luna Matilda stated, and my hatred for her just kept getting stronger. “No. I don’t believe you…” I said in a cold tone. “What did you say, Ali
RIVER. I was helping the Omegas in the kitchen for lunch when Luna Matilda asked for me again. She asked if I had the letter ready, and I handed it to her. And everything after that happened so fast. I thought she just wanted to check the letter, but before I knew it, she asked me to pack my few belongings and informed me that I would be leaving the territory in thirty minutes. I didn’t even have time to think because she told me if I couldn’t get my things ready, then I would leave with whatever I had with me. So I rushed back to my room and took my backpack. The first thing I grabbed was the piece of paper where my aunt’s address was written. That was the only place I could think of to go after I left this place. I then shoved some clothes that I had in the bag. I had limited space, so I chose only what I needed to have. My eyes lingered on the dress Alice gave me, the one I used when we went out. As much as I wanted to take it with me, I didn’t. I no longer needed the memory
RIVER. “Again, who told you that you get to decide?” He growled lowly before I heard him unstrap his belt, and fear coursed through my whole body. He was starting to unzip his pants when I finally had the courage to move myself. My hands pushed his stomach away as my feet kicked his knees. He staggered backward, and I took the opportunity to run, but he was fast. He caught my hair and slammed my body against the hood of his car. In no time, he was hovering over me. His eyes were dilating, and if looks could kill, I would be dead already. “Please let me go!” I shrieked. My hands were on his chest, trying to stop him from leaning closer. “After you fucking flirt with me, you will leave me hanging? Can’t you feel how hard my cock is already? You need to finish what you fucking started, whore!” I tried to push him, but I couldn’t move as my feet were caged in between his thighs, and I could feel his erection against mine, but before he could dip his face into mine, I saw a hand gra
ALICE. My coiled fist connected with his jaw. I had punched several men in my lifetime, but I was sure I had never hit anyone as hard as I hit Eugene. After Kenneth told us in what state he found Eugene and River, I knew that there would never come a time when I would forgive him. Ever. Of all the females to assault, he chose River — someone who was too good for anybody. Rage was ruling my whole body, and I acted without thinking. As soon as my fist hit him, a loud growl erupted from his throat, and even though he staggered back, he was able to gather his footing right away. And before I knew it, he was launching at me. “You, mother fucker!” He roared, his arm stretching back with his hand balled into a tight fist. He was planning to hit me back. My eyes widened, and even if I wanted to scream, no sound left my lips. But I saw a figure pass me, and the next thing I saw was Joshua lunging at Eugene. His hand snaked around his neck before he slammed his body to the ground. A lo
ALICE. I couldn’t believe it was possible for a pack to hate a future Beta as much as this pack hated Eugene. Joshua put him in the middle of the quadrangle and ordered two whips on his back before he asked his warrior to tie him up on the post. He told him he would remain there all night until he denounced the pack. I knew Joshua could force his father to banish him, but I also knew Joshua wanted to put him there for the whole pack to see. Before we departed, Joshua commanded his men to guard him and inform him once he denounced the pack. But he allowed everyone to throw a punch or two if they wanted. In the beginning, no one was coming near Eugene. Until we were informed by one of the warriors that there were two females, clad in a big hoodie and long black skirt, who came and threw a punch at him. Those females didn’t want to be identified but surely wanted to do that. Joshua told them to just let them and to never block anyone from approaching him. So, aside from these t
LADY RIVER. I didn’t know I had fallen asleep on the train ride to Bernice City. I was grateful the female from whom I bought the ticket woke me up and told me we were approaching the station where I needed to get off. After making sure everything I had in my bag was still intact, I took my aunt’s address out and asked her if it was a long way from the station. She told me I needed to take a bus to get there. I was left with no choice but to tell her I couldn’t read and that I might end up somewhere far from this place. Her eyes softened as she grabbed a pen from her pocket and ripped a piece of paper from her notepad. She began to draw something out of it before she handed it to me. “When you get out of here, you will see a red building. Cross that street to get there. And in the direction where a colorful rainbow arch is, head in that direction. Follow that sidewalk. Just continue forward. You will pass three corners. On the fourth corner, turn left. Here.” She pointed at the
FIVE MONTHS LATER. JOSHUA. The days turned into weeks. And then into months. But we never got the answer we were looking for. River was still nowhere to be found. The CCTV footage of her in the train station showed she went inside a train heading for Atlanta. On the same day, some of my men went to that city. My father didn’t want to spend any dime looking for River, and since I had no jurisdiction to give orders to our trackers, I was not able to seek assistance from them. Cyrus, however, extended his help again and sent his own trackers to do the job. And so did Roan and Kairo since their packs were nearest to Atlanta. But even with them and their friends helping us and using their own resources, we couldn’t find her. Like she just vanished into thin air. Alice had gone to her room the day after she left and checked if she left any clues, but there was nothing telling us where she had gone. She saw Cyrus’ calling cards in the trash bins, and she told him about it. And I